Show HN: An interactive map of Tolkien's Middle-earth
by frasermarlow on 4/7/2026, 8:42:37 PM
An interactive map of Tolkien’s Middle-earth, with events from across the legendarium plotted as markers.<p>I have been commuting a fair bit between the East and West coast, and thanks to American Airlines' free onboard WiFi, I was able to vibe-code a full interactive map of Middle-earth right from my economy seat at the back of the bus.<p>It's rather amazing how much an LLM knows about Tolkien's work, and it was fun to delve into many of the nooks and crannies of Tolkien's lore.<p>Some features: - Plot on the map the journey of the main characters in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. - Follow a list of events in the chronological Timeline - Zoom in on the high-def map and explore many of the off-the-main-plotline places - Use the 'measure distances' feature to see how far apart things are.<p>I also had a lot of fun learning about tiling to allow for efficient zooming.<p>If you are anything like me, this should provide a fun companion to reading the books or watching the movies (note that on this site, I followed the book narrative, and did not include Peter Jackson's many departures)<p>If you get the chance to check it out, I would love more feedback, and if there is demand, I might do the same for Game of Thrones.
https://middle-earth-interactive-map.web.app/
Comments
by: balajeekalyan
Wow! this is so detailed. You are putting vibe-code to genuine use.
4/7/2026, 11:30:06 PM
by: bananaflag
I notice the map is the one from the movies (it shows the Orocarni a bit too close, but it's nice they appear on the map).<p>Maybe when describing historical events you should also put the year (it is given only for some of them).<p>Anyway, very nice work! I think it's appropriate especially for casual fans (especially movie fans) to delve (sorry) deeper into the lore.
4/7/2026, 9:37:33 PM
by: shdh
Using a tile server for this feels hilarious
4/7/2026, 10:34:07 PM
by: topherjaynes
One doesn't simply vibe code into Mordor!(but seriously love this)
4/7/2026, 10:57:08 PM
by: twostorytower
This is awesome! Can you make the zoom in and out smoother? I have to pinch every single time to get to the next zoom level instead of continuously zooming as I pinch.
4/7/2026, 10:29:34 PM
by: kilbey1
Mad respect; I've been working on building maps and it's a LOT harder than it might seem.
4/7/2026, 11:10:52 PM