A little over a year ago, I called Google’s Middle-Earth Map experiment “mundane“. But now, that is no longer the case.

What started as a portion of Middle-Earth featuring three, then six, semi-explorable locations from The Hobbit storyline (except for The Trollshaws and Rivendell, nothing from The Lord of the Rings) has expanded significantly into a full map of Middle-Earth, featuring twenty-seven locations within Middle-Earth from The Hobbit storyline as well as from The Lord of the Rings. They are as follows (in alphabetical order):

1. Anduin (from The Lord of the Rings)
2. Beorn’s Hall (from The Hobbit)
3. The Black Gate (from The Lord of the Rings)
4. Bree (from The Lord of the Rings)
5. Dead Marshes (from The Lord of the Rings)
6. Dol Goldur (from The Hobbit)
7. Edoras (from The Lord of the Rings)
8. Erebor (from The Hobbit)
9. Fangorn Forest (from The Lord of the Rings)
10. Forest River (from The Hobbit)
11. Goblin-town (from The Hobbit)
12. Gollum’s Cave (from The Hobbit)
13. Helm’s Deep (from The Lord of the Rings)
14. Hobbiton (from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings)
15. Isengard (from The Lord of the Rings)
16. Lake-town (from The Hobbit)
17. The Lonely Mountain (from The Hobbit)
18. Lothlorien (from The Lord of the Rings)
19. Minas Tirith (from The Lord of the Rings)
20. Mines of Moria (from The Lord of the Rings)
21. Mirkwood (from The Hobbit)
22. Mount Doom (from The Lord of the Rings)
23. Rivendell (from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings)
24. Shelob’s Lair (from The Lord of the Rings)
25. Thranduil’s Hall (from The Hobbit)
26. Trollshaw Forest (from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings)
27. Weathertop (from The Lord of the Rings)

That’s a pretty significant list! Not every location is “explorable”, particularly the locations from The Lord of the Rings. Many locations just feature a picture and a short description, rather than the several pictures and descriptions that the original six locations featured. Those original explorable locations still exist in this new Google Middle-Earth Map experiment, however. What I think is a particularly awesome feature is that you can use this map to follow the journeys of the main heroes of the two stories. There are eight (again in alphabetical order):

1. Aragorn (from The Lord of the Rings)
2. Bard (from The Hobbit)
3. Bilbo (from The Hobbit)
4. Frodo (from The Lord of the Rings)
5. Gandalf (from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings)
6. Legolas (from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings)
7. Merry & Pippin (from The Lord of the Rings)
8. Thorin & Company (from The Hobbit)

Last but not least, Google’s Middle-Earth Map experiment added further interactivity in the form of five battlegrounds (which I admit that I haven’t tried yet, but I assume that they do not hold a candle to the quality of a real video game battleground):

1. The Black Gate (from The Lord of the Rings)
2. Helm’s Deep (from The Lord of the Rings)
3. The Lonely Mountain (from The Hobbit)
4. Minas Tirith (from The Lord of the Rings)
5. Mirkwood (from The Hobbit)

I think it’s smart to include so much content from The Lord of the Rings on this map prior to the release of the very last Middle-Earth movie. As I’ve said in other recent articles (#OneLastTime: The Final Trailer for The Final Middle-Earth Movie and Billy Boyd’s “The Last Goodbye” Gets An Epic Music Video), reminding us how far we’ve come will make us want to see the final movie even more. It’s been thirteen years with thirteen dwarves, a fellowship of nine. We’ve seen many battlefields and followed the journeys of many characters. We’ve fallen in love with this home-away-from-home we like to call Middle-Earth. It’s time to journey back #OneLastTime.

What do you think about Google’s expanded Middle-Earth map? Share in the comments!