Google Maps has been good to us nerds. First there was their Street view tour of Diagon Alley, located at the Warner Brothers studios in England. Then there was the Street view TARDIS easter egg, located... well, wherever the hell it wants, because it's a time machine. Now they've given us an interactive map of Middle Earth to play around with.

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smug is only a month away from being released, so it's time to get obsessed with Middle Earth all over again. In order to get us reacquainted with Tolkien's magical realm, HRS UK put together this lovely travel guide so you won't find yourself saying the wrong thing to the locals.

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Dr. Kristine Larsen is an astrophysicist from Central Connecticut State University, and she has decided to use her obviously giant brain for geek good and apply her knowledge to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. She has written over thirty papers and articles on the relationship between Tolkien and astronomy and has, over the years, given numerous talks on the subject at conventions and conferences.

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It takes a special kind of geek to look at The Hobbit and think, "I wonder what the insurance claims from this story would add up to be." Thankfully, Dr. Nils Möckelmann and Andreas Hufgard are precisely that kind of geek. They ran the numbers and figured out how much insurance money Hobbit characters have coming to them.

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As you might imagine, we get sent a lot of geeky things here at the site, but since I started writing for Geekosystem, I don't think I've seen anything as geeky as this. It's The Periodic Table of Middle-Earth, which breaks down the characters from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit into classification by race. It even lists dates of birth and death. This is next-level geekdom at its finest.

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When J.R.R. Tolkien was writing The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, did you think he ever considered someone wearing the maps of the land he created as a dress? My guess is no. The photo was taken by Matt & Kristy on Flickr of an attendee at Dragon*Con. Ma'am, we salute you. (via DJ Judy) Previously in The Hobbit

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Winner of "Best Group Layout" at Brickworld 2011 was Middle-earth from The Lord of The Rings made entirely out of LEGO. The project was completed through a collaborative build that got its start on the MOCpages for sharing LEGO creations, following Brickworld 2010. After a year of planning and building, a team of participants from five different countries built an approximately 200 square foot rendition of Middle-earth. I mean, all of Middle-earth. From Hobbiton to Helms Deep, from Ringwraiths and the Armies of Mordor to the members of the Fellowship - it's all here. We've chosen a few of our favorites, but the entire collection can been viewed on the Journey of the Fellowship 2011 MOCPage.

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Not a trollquote: In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Sir Ian McKellen disappointed Lord of the Rings slash-fic enthusiasts everywhere when he put forth the theory that there's no sex in Middle-earth. McKellen, who is gay and an outspoken advocate for gay rights, laughingly brushed off the interviewer's question as to whether Gandalf would be savvy about gay bars in Tolkien's fictional universe. McKellen:

Tolkien was the only authority on that world, and I don’t think he was very interested in sex, at least not with the evidence of Lord of the Rings. Other people can read into it what they like or what they can. But I don’t really see it. Although I have heard speculation that Sam and Frodo might be an item, but I don’t think Tolkien really saw it that way. I don’t think Peter Jackson does either.

(Vanity Fair via MetaFilter)

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Ennorath is an interactive map of Middle-Earth designed and programmed by Kris Kowal. It allows you to pan across destinations, zoom in and out, look up locations and definitions, and switch languages between English and Elvish. At its highest level of resolution, it spans a full 32,768 pixels tall and wide, though you'll probably only need to use the '3' and '4' zoom levels. Oh, and it's got a very easy-to-remember URL: http://3rin.gs/. Kowal says that the open-source, Creative Commons map is an ongoing project, and welcomes reader suggestions. (via Neatorama | Main page)

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