In his high-fantasy novels, British author J.R.R. Tolkien combined his academic training in languages and his love of storytelling to create Middle-earth, a fictional continent populated by wizards, elves, orcs, dragons, hobbits, talking trees and other mythical creatures.

But Middle-earth didn’t just live in Tolkien’s head: The Lord of the Rings author was also a skilled artist who sketched, painted and mapped the worlds that he was imagining as he wrote about them. Many of the original illustrations in the Hobbit were created by Tolkien himself.

Audiences can now view a selection of Tolkien’s rarely seen Lord of the Rings artworks for free via the Tolkien Estate’s newly updated website.…

Maps help users orient themselves in the real world, but they can also help people escape reality. For centuries, authors have been known to include fictional maps in the pages of their novels, as a way of inviting readers to immerse themselves in imaginary worlds. Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, for instance, mapped the fantastical locations of Elven woods and hobbit homes throughout his imaginary Middle Earth [sic].…