Maps of Middle Earth on Google Maps

Credit: Julian Nitzsche

Earlier this week I was asked if I knew of any Google Maps that displayed Middle Earth (the setting in much of Tolkien's work). I didn't have any resources in mind so I did a quick Google search for "middle earth google maps" and came up with a Google Maps Mania post about the topic.

On Google Maps Mania I found four examples of the Google Maps API being used to create maps of Middle Earth. Of the four I liked this MapLibs map the best. The map has fifteen placemarks to which you can quickly navigate through the listing in the right hand column on the screen. I do wish that the placemarks included some information about the stories.

Applications for Education
The four maps of Middle Earth that I mentioned above lack placemarks that reveal information about Tolkien's stories. While you cannot easily overlay images on Google Maps, you can overlay them in Google Earth. You could have your students create or find maps of Middle Earth and overlay them in Google Earth then add placemarks to create a Google Earth tour of Middle Earth.