Map of the Great River

Shortly after releasing details regarding the areas featured in Update 6, Turbine posted the above map on their official Flickr stream. This does not appear to be a very large landmass compared to others, but it certainly does seem to be a remarkably accurate interpretation of the area in question, if you compare it to the official  Middle Earth maps. This area is interesting from a lore perspective as in the past the borders of Lórien extended southwards as far as the River Limlight. In later history the Men of Gondor occupied the southern part of Parth Celebrant and named the area the Field of Celebrant.

I was particularly pleased to see the Brown Lands feature in this update and although it is only a relatively small area it should provide a sharp contrast to Parth Celebrant. These Eastern shores of the Great River where once a rich and fertile country, where the Entwives lived, but the region was devastated by Sauron prior to the Battle of Dagorlad. The regions name stemmed from its withered and scorched appearance and the lack of any greenery growing therein. The exact fate of the Entwives is never made clear by Tolkien.

The lore of this part of Middle Earth has afforded Turbine the opportunity to combine the worlds or Elves and Men, as yesterdays screenshots demonstrated. The Limlight Gorge with its Ent based theme lends another element of diversity. As for the Brown Lands, there is scope for them to be inhabited by a diverse group of enemies. I wonder if the Winged Messenger will feature in the epic storyline as it does in the source text? We shall have to wait and see. My interested has certainly been piqued.