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Draft:Eriador

Eriador
Middle-earth location
Hobbit hole
A hobbit hole in The Shire, the heart of Eriador
First appearanceThe Hobbit
Created byJ.R.R Tolkien
In-universe information
Other name(s)The Lone-Lands, Westlands, Lands to the West
TypeLarge region in northwest Middle-earth consisting of the lands of Arnor to the north and Rhudaur to the east
Race(s)Hobbits, Men, Elves
LocationNorthwestern Middle-earth
LocationsBree, Rivendell, The Shire

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional legendarium, Eriador (pronounced [ɛriɑdɔr] from Sindarin Lone Lands) is a region in northwestern Middle-earth. It lies between Lindon and the Ered Luin to its west and the Misty Mountains to the east. It is a coastal region bordering the sea of Belegaer to its south. Eriador was largely occupied by the northern kingdom of Arnor, inhabited by much of the free peoples of Middle-earth, particularly the descendants of the Dúnedain of the Isle of Númenor. The kingdom would eventually collapse during the Third Age, leaving much of Eriador to became wild and largely uninhabited.[1]

The Shire, in the inland region of Eriador, is settled exclusively by hobbits and encompasses much of the setting in the beginning and end of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It is the homeland of several of the protagonists in Tolkien's works, including Aragorn, a Ranger of the North and heir of Isildur, an ancient King of Arnor, Bilbo Baggins (the title character of The Hobbit) at Bag End in the Shire, as well as his cousin, Frodo Baggins, heir to the One Ring. In the First Age, the lands of Eriador where populated by Men under the influence of Melkor, the primary antagonist of Arda and the source of evil on Middle-earth. His successor, Sauron, obtained rule of Eriador during the Second Age, before the coming of Dúnedain and the founding of the Kingdom of the North largely diminished his power.[2] The Witch-Kingdom of Angmar to the north of Eriador appears during the Third Age with the rise of the Witch-king as The Lord of the Nazgûl and was ultimately responsible for the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Arnor to its south.[3] Following their immigration to the northwest in the Third Age (known as the Shire-reckoning), Eriador became the homeland of almost all Hobbits found on Middle-earth.[4]

Tolkien crafted Eriador as wide lands that would expand the journey to the Wilderland in The Hobbit, east of the Misty Mountains, and as a remnant of Beleriand of the Silmarillion.[5] Eriador contained vast forests, influenced by Tolkien's themes from England, and were harvested by the Númenóreans for shipbuilding by the seafaring Uinendili during their desire to explore the Great Sea of Arda.[6] The Elves of Eriador came after the destruction of Beleriand in the War of the Wrath and those who survived sailed to Middle-earth in the First Age. Settling to the east of Eriador below the Misty Mountains, the Elves constructed a single city in the newly founded region of Eregion near the Dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dûm and and east of Rhudaur.

Literature

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Sketch map of part of Middle-earth, showing the region of Eriador and the lost realm of Arnor

Etymology

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The name Eriador is intended to derive from the Sindarin term "Lonly land" or "Lone-lands".[7][8] The name roots from the Sindarin adjictive and prefix "Er-" or "eryā" meaning "lone" and noun "dor" or "dôr" meaning "land", "dwelling place", or "region", such as that used in Gondor or Mordor.[9] Tolkien intended "Eriador" to be used as an 'old name' to describe all the lands between the Misty and Blue mountains and "bounded by the Greyflood [River] and the Glanduin [River] that flows into it above Tharbad."[10]

Fictional geography

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Further information: Tolkien's maps and Geography of Middle-earth

Overview

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Eriador is described as a large, temperate region in the north-west of Middle-earth, experiencing warm summers and cool winters.[11] Eriador begins south of the Forodwaith, the "Northern Wastes", and extends southward to the northern border of Gondor in the White Mountains.[12] It is characterized by its sparsely inhabited lands and vast wilderness between the Hithaeglr (Misty Mountains) and Ered Luin (Blue Mountains).[13] Tolkien depicts the land of Eriador to be "almost completely barren of wild fauna." In The Fellowship of the Ring, as Strider guides the hobbits towards the Elven sanctuary of Rivendell, the group notes "they saw no sign and heard no sound of any other living thing all that day: neither two-footed, except birds; nor four-footed, except one fox and a few squirrels."[14] To the far north of Eriador are the lands of Angmar, south of the Mountains of Angmar, as well as the colder regions of Forochel, west of the Forodwaith.[15] The trolls of Eriador largely settled in the remote region of the Ettenmoors (or the troll-fells), a barren valley of foothills (or moorlands), known as the Ettendales, situated south of the realm of Angmar and north of Rivendell within the far east of Eriador.[16][17]

To heart of Eriador, the Weather Hills lay between the Bree-lands and the River Hoardwell, or the Mitheithel, traversing eastern Eriador.[18] It is a long range of hills that lays near the East Road containing the southernmost peak of Weathertop where the Tower of Amon Sûl stood during the Third Age.[19] It is encountered by Strider and the Hobbits during The Fellowship of the Ring where the Witch-king, sent by Sauron to recover the One Ring, stabs Frodo, the ring-bearer, with the Morgul-knife and removes piece of the Hobbit's flesh.[20]

Between the rivers Baranduin and Gwathló, the region of Minhiriath lies to the south of Eriador, consisting of the border to the Belegaer sea.[21] Enedwaith, or the Central Wilderness, comprises the lands between river Gwathló and the river Isen and constituted a portion of the old country of Dunland.[22] The wooded cape of Eryn Vorn is located to the west of Minhiriath in southern Eriador.[21] The land was once part of the vast forests that covered Eriador and north-western Middle-earth before they were largely depleted during the Númenóreans harvest for ship-building timber.[21]

Arnor

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In its early history, Eriador was home to the descendants of the Edain, ancestors of the Númenóreans and the first Men who traversed Beleriand in the First Age and later occupied much of Eriador.[23] The Northern Kingdom of Arnor was founded by Elendil, father of Isildur and last lord of Andúnië on the island of Númenor, during the end of the Second Age.[24] The descendants of Elendil would be known as the Kings of Arnor, which included his eldest son Isildur who ruled alongside the Men of Gondor to the south.[25] The original capital of the realm was established in the city of Annúminas beside Nenuial (Lake Evendim).[12] Fornost Erain, below the North Downs, was later replaced as capital within the north of Eriador. Following the death of the realm's king, Eärendur, Arnor was divided into three separate kingdoms: Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur.[15]

Each throne was granted to the three sons of Eärendur.[3] The realms of Arnor would eventually collapse at the Battle of Fornost following a series of constant wars fought between the Witch-kingdom of Angmar to the north, and the remains of the Dúnedain of Arnor fled to Angle south of Rivendell. The realm of Arthedain existed in the core of Arnor, created from the fragmentation of the Northern Kingdom. It is located primarily between the Lhûn and the Brandywine rivers in northwestern Eriador.[10] The realm of Arthedain claimed the land north of the East Road from the Brandywine Bridge to the Weather Hills and includes The Shire west of the Baranduin river. Argeleb II, Arthedain's 10th king, allowed Fallohide brothers, Marcho and Blanco to cross the Brandywine Bridge with a group of other Hobbits where they established The Shire in the Third Age.[11] The realm of Rhudaur is located in the easternmost lands of Arnor and are characterized as the wildest and least fertile lands of the region.[26]

The Shire

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The natural landscape of the Shire, seen here in Peter Jackson's movie set in Matamata, New Zealand

The Shire is located in central Eriador, particularly within the old realm of Arthedain in Arnor.[27] The land is estimated to be roughly 18,000 square miles in size[28], or 40 leagues (120 miles) from the Far Downs to the Brandywine Bridge measured from east to west.[11] It is measured to be 50 leagues (150 miles) from the north to the south, beginning from the northern moors to the marshes in the south. In Tolkien's writings, it is described a as "small but beautiful and fruitful land", beloved by its Hobbit inhabitants in a way Tolkien describes as a "a close friendship with the earth."[29][11] It was considered the most fertile and "well-tilled" part of Arnor during its early years and was used as hunting grounds by the Kings of Arnor.[30] During the waning years of the North Kingdom, The Shire was known as the "splinter-realm" of Arthedain and had been long deserted.[11] While the Shire had been within the dominion of the North Kingdom, the Hobbits of the Shire were tasked with keeping the repairs of the Brandywine Bridge (then called the Bridge of Stonebows), in which they crossed in the Third Age to settle in the lands of Eriador, and all other roads in Arthedain.[31]

During this time, the Hobbits acknowledged the rule of the Dúnedain of Arnor, yet were ruled by their own cheiftains and secluded themselves largely from the outside world of Eriador or Middle-earth.[31] The Hobbits were later granted full authority over The Shire with the fall of Arnor and restored the land to where Tolkien described as "had before been well-tilled, and there the king had once had many farms, cornlands, vineyards, and woods."[32] Much of the Shire's language, weather, and agriculture was inspired by Tolkien's youth in England, particularly his views on Deep England and the lands voluntary simplicity being taken from his witnessing of the extension of the Industrial Revolution.[33]

The settlement of Hobbiton in the central regions of the Shire, features the residence of Bag End, home of the Hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins and forms an end point in the story circle of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The region's chief town is Michel Delving, located on the White Downs within the Westfarthing and is unofficially considered to be the land's "capital" amongst Hobbits.[11]

 

Rivendell, Eastern Eriador

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Fictional history


Vinyalondë (later called Lond Daer) was the first Númenórean settlement in Middle-earth and provided a

 
Part of Eriador to the northeast showing a map of Hobbit origins based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Prologue 'Concerning Hobbits' at the start of The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbits "Long lived in the foothills of the mountains" and "moved westward early", roaming as far as Weathertop; the Stoors "lingered long by the banks of the Great River Anduin".[11]

References

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Citations

  1. ^ Foster 2022, p. 120.
  2. ^ Day 1992, p. 80.
  3. ^ a b Tolkien 1955, p. Appendix A, 1 "The Numenorean Kings".
  4. ^ Shippey 2001, pp. 198–199.
  5. ^ Garth 2020, p. 57.
  6. ^ Garth 2020, p. 128.
  7. ^ Ponty 2017, p. 92.
  8. ^ Salo 2004, p. 252.
  9. ^ Noel 1980, p. 132.
  10. ^ a b Tolkien 1955, p. 319, "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur".
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Tolkien 1954, p. , prologue "Concerning hobbits".
  12. ^ a b Harvey 2011, p. 22.
  13. ^ Salo 2004, p. 377.
  14. ^ Tolkien 1954, p. 71.
  15. ^ a b Fonstad 1981, p. 72, "Eriador".
  16. ^ Tyler 2004, p. 219.
  17. ^ Tolkien 1954, p. 200, "Flight to the Ford".
  18. ^ Rutledge 2004, p. 81.
  19. ^ Tolkien 1955, p. "Note on the Maps".
  20. ^ Tolkien 1954, p. ch. 11 "A Knife in the Dark".
  21. ^ a b c Tolkien 1980, p. "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Appendix D: The Port of Lond Daer", discussion of the name Gwathló, first paragraph.
  22. ^ Tolkien 1996, p. "X. Of Dwarves and Men", "Notes", note 76.
  23. ^ Tolkien 1994, pp. 215, 226, "Part Two. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Coming of Men into the West (Chapter 14)".
  24. ^ Tolkien 1977, p. 127, Chapter 10 "Of the Sindar".
  25. ^ Tolkien 1954, p. Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "The Realms in Exile".
  26. ^ Tyler 2004, p. 538, "Rhudaur".
  27. ^ Fonstad 1981, p. 69, "The Shire".
  28. ^ Smith 2012, p. 4, "Where is The Shire?".
  29. ^ Smith 2012, p. 5.
  30. ^ Tolkien 1996, p. 9, "I, The Prologue".
  31. ^ a b Tolkien 1954, p. 4, prologue "Concerning hobbits".
  32. ^ Tolkien 1954, p. 5, prologue "Concerning hobbits".
  33. ^ Stanton 2007, pp. 607–608.

Bibliography

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  • Foster, Robert (September 20, 2022). The Complete Guide to Middle-earth: Tolkien's World in The Lord of the Rings and Beyond. Random House (published 2022). pp. 1–299. ISBN 978-0593594490.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Fonstad, Karen Wynn (1981). The Atlas of Middle-earth. HarperCollins. pp. 69–78. ISBN 0547524404.
  • Day, David (1992). Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia. Simon and Schuster. pp. 1–80. ISBN 0684839792.
  • Tolkien, J.R.R (1955). The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. pp. Appendix A, 1 "The Numenorean Kings". OCLC 519647821.
  • Tolkien, J.R.R (29 July 1954). The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. United Kingdom: George Allen & Unwin. OCLC 12228601.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Tolkien, J.R.R (1994). The War of the Jewels, "Part Two. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Coming of Men into the West (Chapter 14)". UK: George Allen & Unwin. pp. 215–226. ISBN 978-0261103245.
  • Tolkien, J.R.R (15 September 1977). The Silmarillion. UK: George Allen & Unwin (published 1977). pp. 200–299. ISBN 978-0-04-823139-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Tolkien, J.R.R (2 October 1980). Tolkien, Christopher (ed.). Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth. United Kingdom. pp. "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Appendix D: The Port of Lond Daer", discussion of the name Gwathló, first paragraph. ISBN 9780048231796.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Garth, John (June 9, 2020). The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien: The Places That Inspired Middle-earth. Princeton University Press. pp. 19–140. ISBN 978-0691196947.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Tolkien, J.R.R (1996). Tolkien, Christopher (ed.). The Peoples of Middle-earth. George Allen & Unwin. pp. 1–16. ISBN 978-0261103481.
  • Ponty, Steve (August 11, 2017). The Secret Shire of Cotswold. pp. 1–100. ISBN 978-1527211216.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Salo, David (2004). A Gateway to Sindarin: A Grammar of an Elvish Language from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. University of Utah Press. pp. 100–300. ISBN 0874808006.
  • Noel, Ruth S. (1980). The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 126–148. ISBN 0395291305.
  • Harvey, Greg (April 27, 2011). The Origins of Tolkien's Middle-earth For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1–50. ISBN 978-1118068984.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Tyler, J. E. A. (2004). The Complete Tolkien Companion. Macmillan. pp. 200–219. ISBN 0312339127.
  • Rutledge, Fleming (November 4, 2004). The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 80–81. ISBN 0802824978.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Smith, Noble (October 30, 2012). The Wisdom of the Shire: A Short Guide to a Long and Happy Life. Macmillan. pp. 1–11. ISBN 978-1250026415.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Shippey, Tom (2001). J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. HarperCollins. pp. 198–199. ISBN 978-0261-10401-3.
  • Stanton, Michael N. (2007). The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment (in 639-2). Routledge. pp. 607–608. ISBN 978-0415865111.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
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