Left-Justified Fantasy Map: Difference between revisions

Ever noticed how many [[Fantasy World Map|fantasy maps]] will detail the ocean on the left, western side? In many cases there won't even be an eastern or northern shore; however, there may be a southern shore.

 

 

The real reason for this, of course, is that [[Sturgeon's Law|ninety percent]] of fantasy settings are [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]]s of [[Medieval European Fantasy|Medieval Europe]], where the ocean was, naturally, on the left - for the same reason, the North is often a [[Grim Up North|barren tundra full of barbarian tribes]] and the East a mysterious land whence [[Born in the Saddle|ride]] the [[Hordes From the East]]. Another explanation is that ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' [[Follow the Leader|did it first]]. (Note: The Frank Baum series of OZ books had maps illustrated with east and west flipped. However, the only ocean, the Nonestic, is in the far east as Oz proper is technically land-locked.)

 

See also: [[Patchwork Map]]; [[Standard Fantasy Setting]].

 

== Anime ==

* ''[[Slayers]]''{{context}}

* ''[[Shannara|The Sword Of Shannara]]''. Justified: It's actually the Pacific Northwest [[After the End]].

* ''[[Bored of the Rings]]'' (But mainly because it was aping and satirizing the style of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. The map actually has less relation to the story than to the [[Rule of Funny]].)

* ''[[Spellsinger]]''{{context}}

* Used in the book ''Gifts'' by [[Ursula K. Le Guin]].