Forest of Neldoreth
The Forest of Neldoreth was the beech-forest that lay between the banks of the Esgalduin River and the Mindeb River that formed the northern and lesser part of the Kingdom of Doriath.[1]
History
It was in the Forest of Neldoreth that Lúthien was born and later these woods were part of the enclosure called the "Girdle of Melian".[2] It was also under the trees of Neldoreth that Beren first beheld Lúthien dancing in the moonlight. Later, when Sauron had cast Beren into a pit and Lúthien resolved to rescue him, Thingol had her imprisoned in a house built high in the branches of the highest tree of the forest, called Hírilorn.[3]
When Treebeard was carrying Merry and Pippin to Wellinghall he chanted to them about walking in the woods of the First Age. He recalled coming to Neldoreth in Autumn and enjoying the gold and red and sighing leaves of Taur-na-neldor (an alternate name for the forest).[4]
Other versions of the legendarium
On an early draft map for The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien indicated that Neldoreth was the name of the forest on the north-eastern shore of the Sea of Rhûn. This forest went unnamed in later maps.[5]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Map of Beleriand and the Lands to the North"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Sindar"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Beren and Lúthien"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "Treebeard"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Treason of Isengard, "XV. The First Map of The Lord of the Rings", "Map II", p. 307
