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The Historic Baranduin
© Michael Martinez
Jul 9, 2000
(Note: This essay was originally written for a "Fantasy Geographic" project which was never realized, and is intended to emulate the writing style of articles in National Geographic magazine. No artwork was ever produced to accompany the essay. The sidebars were never written, but the approximate placements for them have been left in.)
The hills of Evendim are green and fertile. Looking down upon the ancient city of Annuminas one senses the great moments of history pulsating from its glorious heritage.
It is just after dawn and the sun is rising from a sleepy night over the eastern horizon. Lake Evendim glistens in the morning glaze. Small boats, stragglers from the fishing fleet, approach the city's harbor lazily. They are laden with a bountiful catch. Mother Evendim has been generous with her children.
In the west and south rise the Hills of Evendim, an ancient wall overlooking the mightiest lake in Eriador. Beyond the western hills lie the river lands of the Lhun, old, forgotten, mysterious. In the far north the lands are nearly barren, home to scattered tribes of farmers who eke out a rough existence.
Annuminas is not the city it once was. In its heyday it was the abode of Edain, tall men. They were Dunedain, mostly, a remnant of the mighty lords who came from the Sea. When their homeland was destroyed they came home to the north where their ancestors had once lived.
There had always been Edain in Eriador, and the Dunedain had returned to live among them thousands of years before. But Elendil the Tall came from the Sea he went among the northern peoples and was welcomed by them. They took him for their king. he built a city along the southern shores of Evendim: Annuminas, the tower of the west.
Little of that ancient city survives. Through the centuries and wars Elendil's people dwindled and in time they abandoned the city. Annuminas fell into ruin and slowly the lands it had watched over fell into decay.
The small Baranduin river rises next to the city and flows east toward the distant North Downs for 50 miles before turning south. Evendim empties itself through the river. The pristine waters flow south and eventually reach the Sea more than 800 miles away, a mighty rush fed by many streams. Once the rive turns south, skirting the eastern edge of the Evendim ridge the hills fall behind and give way to flatlands and woods as the river moves toward its destination.
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The copyright of the article The Historic Baranduin in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Douglas Charles Rapier. Permission to republish The Historic Baranduin in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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