Artist Reimagines Maps Of The UK's National Parks In J.R.R. Tolkien's Style

The maps of Middle-Earth J.R.R. Tolkien created for The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings are among the first examples of a fantasy author creating original maps to go along with their novels.

These iconic maps are elegantly simple, with just enough so the reader's imagination can fill in the rest and beautiful hand-drawn lettering that has become an intrinsic part of the world of Tolkien. 

Since Tolkien is an intrinsic part of UK history illustrator Dan Bell found a natural connection between Tolkien's maps and the map of the UK's national parks, so he is reimagining the UK parks maps in Tolkien's style:

To start his maps, Bell says that he works from an open source Ordnance Survey map, and begins drawing by hand. “I try to emulate his typeface as closely as possible, but have modified his mountains in an effort to develop a little bit of my own style.” He adds in additional details, such as forests, Hobbit holes, towers, and castles.

Presently, Bell has adapted a handful of the UK’s national parks, as well as places like Oxford, London, Yellowstone National Park, and George R.R. Martin’s Westeros, and has begun offering them for sale on his site. Once he’s done with England’s parks, he says that he’ll move on to converting the national parks of Wales, Scotland, and eventually, more of the US’s parks.

-Via The Verge