Map Monday - Narnia!

When I saw the Hobbit cartoon by Rankin & Bass in 1977 (I would be 8) it introduced me to the particular flavor of fantasy that would inspire and lead to a career as an artist and game designer. The next day I went to the school library to get the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The librarian with good intention steered me towards the Chronicles of Narnia as a more age appropriate series.

I will readily say that I fell in love with Narnia as much as I did the Hobbit (possibly more so), it was several years later before I finally read LOTR.

For me Narnia is still as compelling, but in a more innocent simple way than Middle-Earth. I love both series for similar and for very different reasons. Both are filled with strong messages. Narnia evokes a dimension-spanning sense of wonder and magic. While Tolkien's world carries a weight, a gravitas of history and lore.

This map of Narnia is aesthetically pleasing because it is wonderfully hand-drawn. Something that is refreshing to see these days when we are inundated with perfect digital images. I'm not knocking digitally generated maps, they have their own appeal, and have allowed many creators to be freed to pour their imagination onto blank pages with more ease for us all to enjoy.