Arda does seem to have polar caps, though the southern cap is not located in Middle-earth proper, but near the southern tip of the continent known as Dark Land (also South Land). The lands of Forodwaith, including the Ice Bay of Forochel, would fall within Middle-earth's arctic circle. Dark Land looks like it could have broken up at some time to create Antarctica, Australia and Indonesia. The illustration below is based on a sketch of Arda by Tolkien that can be found in The Shaping of Middle-earth (Part V: THE AMBARKANTA):
@ShireofMiddleEarth It's based on a sketch by Tolkien of Arda in the First Age that can be found in the HOME volume The Shaping of Middle-earth. But this map is updated to reflect the Third Age. The south-eastern continent (Dark Land or South Land) might have broken up as a result of the Change of the World to form Antarctica, Australia and Indonesia. That would be consistent with it's location. It's also possible that new lands arose around that same time (or later) in the East of Middle-earth. Here is Tolkien's original drawing:
The map you've posted was a 'thematic' one drawn by Allan Curless for David Day's A Tolkien Bestiary (1979). It is not geographically accurate, nor was it meant to be.
Arda does seem to have polar caps, though the southern cap is not located in Middle-earth proper, but near the southern tip of the continent known as Dark Land (also South Land). The lands of Forodwaith, including the Ice Bay of Forochel, would fall within Middle-earth's arctic circle. Dark Land looks like it could have broken up at some time to create Antarctica, Australia and Indonesia. The illustration below is based on a sketch of Arda by Tolkien that can be found in The Shaping of Middle-earth (Part V: THE AMBARKANTA):
Is this a cannon map?
@ShireofMiddleEarth It's based on a sketch by Tolkien of Arda in the First Age that can be found in the HOME volume The Shaping of Middle-earth. But this map is updated to reflect the Third Age. The south-eastern continent (Dark Land or South Land) might have broken up as a result of the Change of the World to form Antarctica, Australia and Indonesia. That would be consistent with it's location. It's also possible that new lands arose around that same time (or later) in the East of Middle-earth. Here is Tolkien's original drawing:
Can the first picture be labeled? That's the second "whole Arda" map I've seen.
The first one is this
The map you've posted was a 'thematic' one drawn by Allan Curless for David Day's A Tolkien Bestiary (1979). It is not geographically accurate, nor was it meant to be.
I'm sure they do.