Folde
Folde Area of Rohan near Edoras, the homeland of the royal family. (A 771, 835, 836; B3 77, 78, Endpaper; C3 12, 87, 89; D3 12, 67, 68; W 185)
Folde was an ancient and historic region of Rohan, close to the King's courts in Edoras, which indeed originally held the King's seat at the town of Aldburg.[1] It was the homeland of the royal family.[2]
The Folde was the centre of the kingdom. Its boundary eastward was roughly a line South-west from the junction of the Snowbourn and Entwash to the mountains; the Eastfold was the land from that line east to the Fenmark between Entwash and the mountains;[3] the Westfold was along the mountains as far as the River Isen.[4]
The defensive center of the Folde and Eastfold was at Edoras.
Etymology
In Old English, folde means "earth, land, country".[5] It has the approximate meaning 'bosom of the Earth', which shows its importance in Rohan's early history.[source?]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The Battles of the Fords of Isen", Appendix (i)
- ↑ Robert Foster, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, p. 148, entry "Folde"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "Map of Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age" [map]
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings" in Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, pp. 770-1
