Daydreams in Arda

Reflections of the Golden Wood

2009-05-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

Looking West towards the Golden Wood of Lorien from the River Anduin.

Silverlode

2009-05-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

River Silverlode
The name among Men for the river the Elves called Celebrant; it sprang from the Mirrormere in the Dimrill Dale, and flowed east through Lórien to meet the River Anduin.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2001. All rights reserved.

Anduin Approach

2009-05-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

Approaching the Anduin from Lorien, looking South.

The Great River that ran for hundreds of miles southwards through Middle-earth, until it reached the sea in the Bay of Belfalas.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1997-2000, 2009. All rights reserved.

Looking East across the Anduin from Lorien, Mirkwood is across the shore.

The Prancing Pony

2009-03-04T22:42:00.000-08:00

The inn of Bree, whose landlord at the time of the War of the Ring was Barliman Butterbur.

Notes

In the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien tells us that The Prancing Pony had been kept by the Butterbur family 'from time beyond record'. The fact that it had sections dedicated to Hobbits suggests that it probably didn't predate their arrival in those parts from around III 1050. The idea of the inn standing and rem

aining in use for some two thousand years seems rather implausible, but at least it seems to have been several centuries old by the time of the War of the Ring.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2001, 2007. All rights reserved.
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/p/prancingpony.html

Heroes of Arda: Sturmer [as the 'Treasure Hunter']

2009-03-04T22:39:00.000-08:00

Sturmer donning the 'Treasure Hunter' guise.

Clear Night Sky of The Shire

2009-03-04T22:37:00.000-08:00

Full Moon and a clear night sky. The Shire.

The Golden Perch in Stock

2009-03-04T22:34:00.000-08:00

An inn in the township of Stock, north of Bucklebury near the eastern borders of the Shire. It was said by Pippin to serve the best beer in the Eastfar thing.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2000. All rights reserved.
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/goldenperch.html

The Brandywine Bridge by Night

2009-03-04T22:30:00.001-08:00

(view from the Shire side looking Northeast)

The bridge on the East Road crossing the River Brandywine; it marked the eastern border of the Shire. Originally called the Bridge of Stonebows.

Notes

According to the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings the Bridge had been built 'in the days of the power of the North Kingdom', which is a little ambiguous, but would probably place it sometime between II 3320 and III 861. There are some records of bridge-building before the War of the Last Alliance, to help organise the transport of troops into the southern lands, and though it is never stated for certain that the

bridge over the Baranduin was one of these, it seems at least plausible. If so, it would have to date back to the earliest part of Arnor's history, befo

re the end of the Second Age.

(view from the Bree side, facing Southwest)

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2001, 2007. All rights reserved.
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/b/brandywinebridge.html

The Forsaken Inn

2009-03-04T21:52:00.000-08:00

"I don't know if the Road has ever been measured in miles beyond the Forsaken Inn, a day's journey east of Bree"

Words of Strider
The Fellowship of the Ring I 9
A Knife in the Dark

An inn that stood to the east of Bree, on the East-West Road that ran on through the wilds of Eriador and into the distant Misty Mountains. Almost nothing is known about the inn, but it must surely have had very few customers indeed on the bleak and dangerous road where it stood.

It is tempting to think that Bilbo and his companions stayed at the Forsaken Inn on their journey to Rivendell. They must surely have passed it on the way, and though there is no definite mention of it in The Hobbit, we are told there about leaving 'hobbit-lands' with 'an inn or two' that came to an end on the edges of the Lone-lands (The Hobbit 2, Roast Mutton).

http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/f/forsakeninn.html

Heroes of Arda: Deephallow Brewers

2009-03-04T21:49:00.000-08:00

Drunken brawling versus Thaurlach.

Nightmares of Arda: Evil Mural

2009-03-03T09:58:00.001-08:00

An evil mural depicting the 'gift' of the Three Elven Rings by Annatar to the Elves of Eregion.

The Fellowship Departs Rivendell

2009-03-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

The Fellowship of the Ring departing Rivendell under cover of night.

The Green Dragon

2009-03-03T09:48:00.000-08:00

"There's only one Dragon in Bywater, and that's Green."

Words of Ted Sandyman, from
The Fellowship of the Ring I 2, The Shadow of the Past

One of the Shire's many inns, the Green Dragon stood on the Bywater Road, the last building passed by travellers from Bywater on their way towards Hobbiton. It was perhaps most famous as the starting-point of the Quest of Erebor: it was here that a flustered and unprepared Bilbo met with Thorin and his Dwarves on the morning their adventures began. It remained an important meeting-place and a centre of gossip long after Bilbo returned from the Quest, and at the time of the famous Birthday Party, Sam Gamgee was among its regular visitors. For all its proud history, it did not survive the coming of Sharkey and his Men to the Shire during the War of the Ring, and it was a desolate and empty place by the time Sam returned with Frodo and the other Travellers.

http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/greendragon.html

Bag End

2009-03-03T09:32:00.001-08:00

A large and comfortable hobbit-hole, well-known as the home of Bilbo Baggins and his heir, Frodo. Its round green door opened into a large, well-appointed hobbit-hole that took up much of the Hill above Hobbiton. In the tradition of hobbit-holes, all the rooms at Bag End were on the same level, and there were many of these; '...bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes ([Bilbo] had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms...'².

Notes

The exact date that Bag End came into existence is unknown, but we do know that it was excavated by Bilbo Baggins' father Bungo, after he had married Belladonna Took: 'Bungo, that was Bilbo's father, built the most luxurious hobbit-hole for her (and partly with her money)...'. The latest possible date for the building of Bag End is III 2926, the year of Bungo's death, but the context of the text quoted here seems to suggest that Bungo built it rather earlier than this.

from The Hobbit, Chapter 1, An Unexpected Party.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2001. All rights reserved.
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/b/bagend.html

Statue of Bullroarer Took

2009-03-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

Statue depicting Bandobras 'Bullroarer' Took using his club in defeating the goblin Golfimbul during the Battle of the Greenfields, thus also inventing the game of "golf".

Concerning the Battle of the Greenfields:

A battle fought in the Shire's Northfarthing in the year III 2747, the only battle to be fought within the borders of the Shire before the War of the Ring. An invading band of Orcs from Mount Gram were led into the Shire by their chief Golfimbul; they were defeated, and Golfimbul was slain, by Bandobras Took, otherwise known as 'the Bullroarer'.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2002. All rights reserved.
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/b/battleofgreenfields.html

Bilbo Baggins

2009-03-03T09:25:00.001-08:00

At the Hall of Fire, Last Homely House, Rivendell.

The Last Homely House: Hall of Fire

2009-03-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

A hall in Elrond's house at Rivendell. A fire was always kept lit there, and while it stood empty during the day, at night it was given over to the telling of tales and singing of songs.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2000. All rights reserved.
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/h/halloffire.html

Mr. Baggins, I presume?

2009-03-03T09:16:00.000-08:00

My meeting with Mr. Frodo Baggins, on the veranda of The Last Homely House. The Council was waiting to convene and, later, the Fellowship waiting to depart. With the release of The Mines of Moria, the Fellowship has departed and we will soon meet them again in Lothlorien in Volume II: Book 7: The Leaves of Lorien to be released soon!

The Last Homely House: Front Hall

2009-03-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

The Front Hall of Elrond Halfelven's home in Rivendell.

A View from Lord Glorfindel

2009-03-03T09:02:00.001-08:00

A noble Elf of Rivendell, who fought at the Battle of Fornost and, a thousand years later, helped Frodo Baggins and his companions to reach the House of Elrond and evade the pursuit of the Black Riders.

Notes

The question of Glorfindel's identity remains an open one. There are arguments to be made that Glorfindel of Rivendell was the same Glorfindel that was slain in the Fall of Gondolin, returned to Middle-earth from the Halls of Waiting. For a discussion of this point, see the entry for Glorfindel of Gondolin.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2001. All rights reserved.
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/g/glorfindel2.html

Animals of Arda: Roheryn

2009-03-03T08:59:00.000-08:00

The horse of Aragorn, brought to him out of the north by the Rangers during the War of the Ring, and said to have been a gift from the lady Arwen Evenstar.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1999, 2001. All rights reserved.
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/r/roheryn.html

The Last Homely House

2009-03-03T08:56:00.000-08:00

A name given to Elrond's refuge at Rivendell, so called because it was the last outpost in the relatively civilised lands of Eriador before a traveller crossed the Misty Mountains and entered the Wild of Rhovanion.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1999, 2001. All rights reserved.
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/l/lasthomelyhouse.html

Nightmares of Arda: Sauron

2009-03-03T08:53:00.001-08:00

"Of old there was Sauron the Maia..."

Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

Originally a Maia of Aulë's people, Sauron was early corrupted by Melkor and became his most trusted lieutenant. In the Wars of Beleriand, Sauron was the most feared of Morgoth's servants, but after the War of Wrath and the expulsion of the first Dark Lord, Sauron rose to become the greatest enemy of Elves and Men in the Second and Third Ages.

...

http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/s/sauron.html

The Foothills of Ered Luin

2009-03-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

"...and they climbed the heights of Ered Luin and looked eastward in wonder, for wild and wide it seemed to them were the lands of Middle-earth."

Quenta Silmarillion 13,
Of the Return of the Noldor

The Elves' name for the Blue Mountains, the broken range that separated Lindon in the west from Eriador in the east.

http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/e/eredluin.html

Rivendell

2009-03-02T10:43:00.001-08:00

The hidden refuge of Elrond Halfelven, founded by Elrond in the Second Age against the assaults of Sauron in Eriador. It lay in a deep valley in the western foothills of the Misty Mountains, and endured, under the protection of Elrond's Ring Vilya, until the War of the Ring and beyond. After the War, the Ring's power ended and Elrond passed over the Sea, but Rivendell itself remained, at least for a time, in the keeping of Elrond's sons Elladan and Elrohir.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2001, 2004. All rights reserved.
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/r/rivendell.html

Nightmares of Arda: Thaurlach

2009-03-02T10:34:00.000-08:00

Thaurlach, a balrog imprisoned for ages and guarded by the elf Glathlírel.

"Then it is as I have feared. There is little time, but you must know the peril you face! Prepare yourself and listen to my tale.

Long ago, at the breaking of Thangorodrim, Thaurlach flew to this land and I gave chase.

At his coming, all was beset with brimstone and flame, and he eluded me.

For long years he lay hidden, until the Dark Power rose again and Thaurlach awoke from his secret slumber.

He was revealed to me in that moment, and I struggled with him in battle.

With the aid of the wizards I threw down my foe: defeated, but not slain.

Thaurlach sued for pardon at the feet of the wizards.

They deemed he should be imprisoned where he could await his judgment at the end of days.

Long have I here waited for Thaurlach to seek his freedom, that I may end his menace for good if he sought to escape!

When I open this seal, the true test of your will shall begin!"

- Glathlírel

http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Thaurlach

Nightmares of Arda: Durin's Bane

2009-03-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

"Moria! Moria! Wonder of the Northern world! Too deep we delved there, and woke the nameless fear."

Words of Glóin from
The Lord of the Rings 2 II The Council of Elrond

When the Valar came against Morgoth at the end of the First Age, most of his servants were destroyed, but some few fled into the World and hid themselves in dark places. One such was a Balrog, probably the last of its kind in Middle-earth, that escaped into the east from the ruin of Angband and buried itself in the roots of the Misty Mountains beneath Khazad-dûm².

For more than five millennia, the Balrog 'slept' in its deep hiding place (perhaps it was using this time to grow in power, or rebuild its physical form). It remained undisturbed as the Second Age passed, and long into the Third. At last, the mithril-miners of King Durin VI stumbled upon it and it awoke from its long sleep³. Durin was slain by the creature and his son Náin I became King.

It seems that, under Náin, the Dwarves attempted to make a stand against the Balrog, but it was a power too great for them to control. For a year, they attempted to hold their mansions against it, but at last Náin and many of his subjects were slain, and the survivors fled from their ancient halls. At this time too, many of the Silvan Elves of Lórien left their land and escaped into the south.

For some five hundred years, Moria (as Khazad-dûm became known) was deserted but for the Balrog. In around the year 2480, though, Sauron began to put his plans for war into effect, and as part of these, he sent orcs and trolls to infest the Misty Mountains and bar the passes from Eriador into Rhovanion. Some of these creatures came to Moria.

We are not told whether Sauron was aware of the Balrog's existence until then - certainly the exiled Dwarves had not recognised what kind of creature Durin's Bane was. It is clear, though, that the Balrog acknowledged Sauron's authority - if only because it allowed his creatures to remain in Moria. In addition, the messenger of Sauron who came to Dáin II Ironfoot offered to return Moria to the Dwarves, strongly suggesting that the Balrog was under Sauron's power.

Despite an ill-fated attempt to recolonise Moria by Balin in III 2989, Durin's Bane remained a dark and brooding menace in the ancient kingdom of the Dwarves, whose nature was hidden to the outside world.

In January III 3019, the Company of the Ring travelled through Moria on the Quest of Mount Doom. In Gandalf, the Balrog finally encountered a being of the same order and power as itself. As the two Maiar faced each other on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, Gandalf broke the Bridge and the Balrog fell into the depths, but Gandalf too was drawn into the abyss.

Both survived the fall, and Gandalf pursued the Balrog for eight days through the deepest caverns beneath Moria. At last they came to the Endless Stair, and climbed the steps that led to the peak of Zirakzigil. There Durin's Bane fought its last battle - for two days and nights, the Balrog battled with Gandalf, but at last it was cast from the peak, and broke the mountain-side as it plunged to its doom.

Notes

1	The Balrog itself was much older than this - it had entered Arda soon after its foundation as one of the servants of Melkor - but it was not known as Durin's Bane until after its awakening by the Dwarves.
2	Khazad-dûm was already thriving at this time, and it seems strange that the creature should choose to hide so close to a busy Dwarf-city, and that it should be able to do so without the Dwarves' knowledge. As a Maia, it would have the power to cast off its physical form, and this perhaps accounts for its ability to remain undetected for so long.
3	In Appendix A III (Durin's Folk) of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien hints that the Dwarves may in fact not have awoken the Balrog, but that instead it was the growing power of Sauron in nearby Dol Guldur that returned it to life. If this is true, then the Dwarves did no more than release the creature from its subterranean tomb. It is certainly notable that Durin's Bane appeared in the same year that the Nazgûl returned to Mordor.

Statue of Marcho and Blanco

2009-03-02T10:27:00.000-08:00

Statue appearing at the center of town in Michel Delving. It depicts the Bree-hobbits Marcho and Blanco, founders of the Shire.

Mathom-house

2009-03-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

A place in Michel Delving where the Hobbits collected and displayed items they had no particular use for. It was known to contain a store of weapons, and for a time also held Bilbo's mithril coat.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2000. All rights reserved.
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/m/mathomhouse.html

In the House of Bombadil

2009-03-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

A mysterious and powerful being, called by the Elves Iarwain Ben-adar (Oldest and Fatherless), who dwelt in the valley of the Withywindle, east of the Shire. What kind of being he was has never been certainly discovered (see The Riddle of Tom Bombadil below), but at some stage in the past, he seems to have settled at the edge of the Old Forest, setting himself boundaries, but boundaries within which his power was extraordinary. Tom was a creature of contradictions, one moment defeating ancient forces with hardly an effort, the next capering and singing nonsensical songs.

He appeared as an old man, at least in Hobbit eyes, with a wrinkled and ruddy face, bright blue eyes, and a bristling brown beard. He was said to be taller than a typical Hobbit, but too short to be a Man, so he seems to have been about five feet in height. His costume consisted of a blue jacket and yellow boots, and he wore an old and battered hat, surmounted by a feather. He seems to have preferred to wear a swan-feather in his hat, but before he met Frodo and company on the banks of the Withywindle, he had acquired the feather of a Kingfisher instead. In his own house, rather than a hat, he wore a crown of autumn leaves, perhaps revealing something of the elemental powers he possessed.

The Riddle of Tom Bombadil

Tom Bombadil is the prevailing mystery in Tolkien's work. While almost every other aspect of Middle-earth is described for us in exacting detail, Tom is an enigma. We have almost no clue of his origins or his fate, his purpose or even what kind of being he is. It is no surprise that none of Tolkien's characters have attracted more discussion.

This article makes no attempt to pro

vide a definite answer to the 'Bombadil Problem' - it's very unlikely that a definite answer is possible. What we will attempt, though, is to round up the more common suggestions, both from within Tolkien's cosmology and without, and discuss some of the arguments for and against each.

Tolkien himself is uncharacteristically reticent on the question of Tom's identity:, and went so far as to state that he had intentionally left Tom as something of an enigma.

'And even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally).'

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, No 144, dated 1954

Old Man Willow

2009-03-02T10:13:00.001-08:00

A name for the ancient willow tree that lay at the heart of the Old Forest, and from whom much of that forest's hatred of walking things was derived.

Notes

We're never told exactly how old the Great Willow was, but the 'Old' in his name seems well earned, and he was clearly far, far older than any normal tree. He was in fact one of the most ancient of trees in the Old Forest, ' ...ageing no quicker than the hills, the fathers of the fathers of trees, remembering times when they were lords' (The Fellowship of the Ring I 7, In the House of Tom Bombadil). The wording here is vague, but it seems to date the willow back to the time even before the Elves came into the west, making him thousands upon thousands of years old.

Annúminas, City of Kings

2009-03-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

The city of the Kings of Arnor, on the shores of Nenuial. The city was founded by Elendil himself, on the shores of the northern lake Nenuial, near the sources of the Baranduin. It was the chief city of the Kings of Arnor for several centuries, and home to one of the three palantíri of the North-Kingdom.

The available evidence suggests that the city survived for nearly a thousand years. In the early days of Arnor, it must have been one of the glories of Middle-earth. Soon after its founding, the numbers of the Dúnedain of the North began to dwindle, and the population of Annúminas seems to have fallen throughout its history, until eventually it was deserted. At that time the Kings removed to Fornost to the east.

It seems likely that the people of Annúminas were dependent on the River Baranduin for their contact with the outside world. While the Hills of Evendim surrounded the city to the west and south, the city's people could reach the other cities of the Dúnedain that lay along the river³ by boat.

After the city's desertion, it fell into decay, but two relics of its greatness survived: its palantír and the Sceptre of Annúminas. The palantír remained in Middle-earth for more than a millennium after the loss of its city, but was ultimately drowned with Arvedui in the cold northern seas.

The silver Sceptre of Annúminas was the symbol of Kingship in the North-kingdom. A very ancient thing, it was originally the rod of office of the Númenórean Lords of Andúnië. It would have been removed to Fornost by the Kings, and eventually came to be kept by Elrond in Rivendell, it retained the name of its ancient home of Annúminas.

At the time of the coronation of Aragorn at the end of the Third Age, Annúminas had lain in ruins for more than two thousand years. Aragorn refounded the city as a seat of Kings, and dwelt there at least for a time.

Notes

At the Council of Elrond, Elrond recounts some of the history of Annúminas: '...after the war and slaughter of the Gladden Fields the Men of Westernesse were diminished, and their city of Annúminas beside Lake Evendim fell into ruin; and the heirs of Valandil removed and dwelt at Fornost...' (The Lord of the Rings II 2 The Council of Elrond). This suggests an early abandonment, perhaps even by Valandil's immediate successor, Eldacar. The earliest date possible, then, is III 249, the year of Eldacar's accession, but the phrase 'heirs of Valandil' suggests that Annúminas was abandoned somewhat later than this.

It seems reasonable to assume that Annúminas was abandoned some centuries later, at the time of the break-up of Arnor in III 861, and this seems to be confirmed by a note in volume 12 of The History of Middle-earth: 'After Eärendur the Northern Kingdom of Arnor was broken up ... Annúminas became deserted owing to the dwindling of the people.' (The Peoples of Middle-earth I 7 The Heirs of Elendil).

'West-tower' is a literal translation into English, but not an entirely happy one. The Elvish word annûn is strictly not just 'west' but 'in the direction of the sunset'. Hence, Annúminas can equally be rendered 'Sunset-tower'. This is particularly relevant because the city lay in a region called Evendim (that is, 'evening twilight').

At Arnor's height, there were settlements of the Dúnedain throughout Eriador. According to The Silmarillion, they '...dwelt in many places in Eriador about the courses of the Lhûn and the Baranduin...' (from Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age). None of these settlements seem to have survived to the end of the Third Age.

First Entry/Conditions of Reuse

2009-03-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

I am the player of Meriband Hamhill of the Arkenstone server of The Lord of the Rings Online. During my time in the land of Tolkien as envisioned by Turbine, I have amassed a number of screen captures of some of my most beloved and the most well-known sights of Middle-earth.

As The Lord of the Rings Online grows so will my collection of scenes. In the meantime I have a lot of catching up to do....

So sit back with a pipe of your best pipeweed, some good vintage Old Winyards, and enjoy.

Cheers!

All images may be reused for non-commercial, non-profit uses.

Copyrighted text used reserved as noted by respective author.