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If you're reading the book, you'll find yourself drawn to the map over and over again. Enjoy!
I am now in the middle of reading all of works of Tolkien. One of his definitive works for "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" is his background for his mythology. The book he was writing when he died in 1973 is titled "The Silmarillion". This book was finished by his son, Christopher Tolkien.
The book itself reads like mythology. It is not easily read, but is a rewarding reading experience if you have the right tools available. One of the best tools is the map; it gives concrete detail to the descriptions, and helps one focus on where the events took place. which shows the relationship between the Continent of Middle Earth and the Continent of the Undying Lands in the West...not to mention the placement of all the cities, towers, mountains, mansions, gardens, woodlands and pastures that are found there, too.
The map I used for my own personal journey was found in the Tolkien Bestiary by David Day. I was so impressed with it that I made my own copy to track the journey of the Elves from West to East...and then back to West again.
David Day's map is NOT an accurate map as it shows landscapes from all three incarnations of the Earth (Arda); from the Flat Earth of the First Age to the features that existed in the Third Age after Ilúvatar (Eru) changed its shape to round. There is a certain continuity of features (e.g. the Blue Mountains are in the same place on the maps) so the distance and perspective remain the same. Note that Beleriand and Numenor sank beneath the sea in the Third Age and that the Undying Lands were removed from the planet; but their relative positions to the remaining lands are shown on this map.
For more detail, click on the map to get the *much* larger size.
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If you're reading the book, you'll find yourself drawn to the map over and over again. Enjoy!