Ranger For Hire: Have Horse, Will Travel

lands south of Weathertop and the Road eastwards are described as being "more wooded country" than the lands north of the Road, but there are mostly "bushes and stunted trees...in dense patches with wide barren spaces in between" (Tolkien, "Fellowship", pp. 211-2). These are the Lone-lands of The Hobbit, where no people lived. Although the Dunedain had once dwelt in the region, they could not be living there at the time of the War of the Ring. So the only other logical place where Dunedain might be found would be across the Mitheithel, the River Hoarwell. The Last Bridge stood about 300 miles east of the Brandywine Bridge (formerlly known as the Bridge of Stonebows) just north of the Buckland. 300 miles is about 100 leagues. The Hoarwell proceeded southwest toward its confuence with the Loudwater, the Bruinen of Imladris. Together the two rivers became the Gwathlo and the lands between them were called the Angle. In former days before the rise of Angmar many Stoors had dwelt there under the rule of the Kings of Rhudaur. Northern Rhudaur was a land of hills and forests. The region north of the Angle, beginning at the Road, was called the Trollshaws. Aragorn turned north into this area after he led the Hobbits across the Last Bridge, and they wandered for many days in the valleys and woods until they came back to the Road near the Ford of Bruinen. It was in the Trollshaws that Bilbo and the Dwarves encountered three stone-trolls who had come south from the Ettenmoors to trouble the district. The Hobbit says the trolls had frightened away all the people who had lived in the district. What people? Who were they? When Tolkien originally wrote The Hobbit he couldn't have had the Dunedain in mind because the history of Arnor and Gondor hadn't yet been composed. On the other hand, there were supposed to be many Elves living in Eriador, and yet we hear nothing of them near Bree and the Shire (except for the Wandering Companies which pass through the Shire). It's entirely possible the people of the district were Elves. But if there were Elves living north of the Road in the Trollshaws (near the Ford of Bruinen -- not throughout the region), then could there have been Dunedain living close by? Tolkien tells us that starting with Arahael, son of Aranarth, the sons of the Chieftains of the Dunedain were

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic