Forgotten Villages
| This article describes a concept which is mentioned in J.R.R. Tolkien's works, but was never given a definite name. |
The Forgotten Villages were the settlements of the Hobbits after they had migrated westward across the Misty Mountains but before they had settled the Shire.
History
When Greenwood the Great became darkened and was renamed Mirkwood the Hobbits who had lived in the upper vales of Anduin crossed the Misty Mountains into Eriador. The Harfoots moved in T.A. 1050 while the Fallohides and Stoors made the journey c. 1150.[1] The Harfoots settled between Weathertop and the mountains, the Stoors dwelt between Tharbad and Dunland, and the Fallohides mingled with the others (often becoming leaders among the Harfoot and Stoor clans).[2]
Around T.A. 1300 the realm of Angmar arose and the Hobbits began moving west again, with many settling in Bree. Finally, in T.A. 1601, King Argeleb II granted the Hobbits land beyond the Baranduin when the majority of them moved and established the Shire. [1] By the time of Bilbo Baggins all of the earlier settlements had vanished and been forgotten, except for those Hobbits still living in Bree and its environs.[2]
Note
J.R.R. Tolkien never referred to the "Forgotten Villages" by name; they were given this identification in The Atlas of Middle-earth.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Great Years"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, "Prologue", "Concerning Hobbits"
- ↑ Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth, Migrations of the Hobbits
