Mirkwood

From Tolkien Gateway

Template:Countdown

The name Mirkwood refers to more than one character, item or concept. For a list of other meanings, see Mirkwood (disambiguation).
Mirkwood
Forest
J.R.R. Tolkien - Mirkwood.jpg
"Mirkwood" by J.R.R. Tolkien
General Information
Other namesTaur-nu-Fuin, Forest of Great Fear, Taur-e-Ndaedelos, Greenwood the Great, Eryn Galen, Wood of Greenleaves, Eryn Lasgalen
LocationEast of the Misty Mountains, south of Ered Mithrin
TypeForest
DescriptionDeep, thick, dark forest
RegionsEast Lórien, Narrows, Woodland Realm
People and History
InhabitantsSpiders, Silvan Elves, Woodmen, Orcs, Olog-hai, Nazgûl
EventsBattle under the trees, Fall of Dol Guldur
GalleryImages of Mirkwood
"Well, here is Mirkwood! [...] Greatest of the forests of the Northern world. I hope you like the look of it."
Gandalf[1]

Mirkwood (S: Taur-nu-Fuin) or the Forest of Great Fear (S: Taur-e-Ndaedelos) was a great forest in Rhovanion. It was only known by these names in the latter part of the Third Age, having previously been called Greenwood the Great (S: Eryn Galen) and later became the Wood of Greenleaves (S: Eryn Lasgalen).

Geography

Mirkwood seems to have had much the same boundaries as it did at the end of the Third Age for most of its history. It was roughly rectangular in shape: stretching from the foothills of the Grey Mountains in the north to the North Undeep in the south, and from the east edge of the vale of Anduin to Erebor.

It was bisected by the ancient Old Forest Road. Later, when this road became unusable, a second path through the forest was made to the north. Between the two paths lay the Mountains of Mirkwood. The Forest River cut through the forest's northern end from its source in the western Grey Mountains, joined in the centre by the Enchanted River which flowed north from the Mountains of Mirkwood.

Map of Wilderland by J.R.R. Tolkien showing the northern part of Mirkwood.

South of the Old Forest road the East Bight created the Narrows of the Forest, only one hundred miles across. South and west of the narrows was the a hill called Amon Lanc.

History

Originally called Greenwood the Great, the forest may have once formed part of the vast primeval woodland which covered most of Middle-earth during the Years of the Trees, possibly linked to Lothlórien across the Anduin.[2] The Eldar passed through the area on their journey to Valinor and it was first populated at this time by the Nandor. Unwilling to cross the Misty Mountains, these Elves settled also in the wooded valleys of the river Anduin. They multiplied and were joined by wandering Avari, becoming known as Silvan or Wood-elves.

The Old Forest Road was constructed very early in Greenwood's history by the Longbeard Dwarves to carry traffic between their territory in the Misty Mountains to Erebor, and the Iron Hills.[3]

Second Age

In around the year S.A. 750 the Sinda prince, Oropher, removed from Lindon to Greenwood where he was taken by the Silvan Elves as their lord. This forested region to the east of the Anduin is where Silvan Elves, of Nandor descent and the Avari, lived.[4] Oropher built his halls at Amon Lanc and was accepted as the leader of the Wood-elves of Greenwood, later the Elves of Mirkwood, forming the Woodland Realm.

Third Age

The first millennium of the Third Age probably saw the creation of the East Bight by men living in the eastern eaves of the forest. These men may have formed part of the Kingdom of Rhovanion led by Vidugavia. Men, such as the Éothéod, and Hobbits also lived in the vale of Anduin and were likely responsible for the retreat of the forest's western border.

At the beginning of the Third Age Thranduil replaced Oropher as king of the Woodland Realm. Probably as a result of massive losses at the Battle of Dagorlad the Silvan population of Greenwood was diminished and became mainly concentrated in the hills then known as Emyn Duir. This included the abandonment of Amon Lanc, and around the turn of the first millennium Sauron, under the guise of the 'Necromancer', returned to Middle-earth and in T.A. 1050 built a fortress there. The hill and the fortress together become known as Dol Guldur, the "Hill of Sorcery".

Around the same time as the Great Plague devastated Gondor and Eriador, the Shadow grew deep in Greenwood and evil things reappeared. Later the wise noted this coincidence and considered it a sign of Sauron's return.[5]

Indeed, by the time of Cirion (c. T.A. 2500) Dol Guldur controlled the Balchoth, a tribe of Easterlings who dwelt east of Mirkwood; often they made raids through the forest up to the Vales of Anduin, until they were all but deserted, until defeated.[6]

Sauron's arrival caused a darkening of Greenwood, and at this point it became known as Mirkwood. The children of Shelob, giant spiders, as well as bats and orcs in Dol Guldur's service occupied the forest and it became thicker, darker and covered in cobwebs.[7]

This caused the Silvan population of Mirkwood to retreat even further, residing apparently exclusively in the Elvenking's Halls at the eastern end of the Forest River. The ancient Old Forest Road was abandoned by men and Dwarves alike, with a new but seldom used path being made further from Dol Guldur and the Hobbits near the forest's eastern border migrated away.

Mirkwood remained a place of fear throughout the Third Age, though the kingdoms of Erebor and Dale flourished briefly in the time of the Kings under the Mountain. This prosperity was ended by the arrival of the Dragon Smaug who brought yet further desolation to the area north-eastern Mirkwood. Small homesteads of 'Woodmen' are also recorded as living in the western edge of the forest south of the old road in 2941.[8]

In 2850 Gandalf visited Mirkwood and discovered that the Necromancer was none other than Sauron, who had regained his powers, millennia after the Battle of Dagorlad.

Galadriel casts down the walls of Dol Guldur..

The shadow over Mirkwood was lifted, albeit temporarily, in 2941 when the White Council, prompted by the Wizard Gandalf's discovery of his true identity, drove Sauron from Dol Guldur. Gandalf also instigated the Quest of Erebor which resulted in the slaying of Smaug in the same year. The combination of these two events allowed the re-established kingdoms of Erebor and Dale, as well as the Woodland Realm and a confederacy of Woodmen led by the Beornings to flourish for a brief period.

However, only ten years after these events Sauron, now based in Mordor, sent the Witch-king of Angmar and the other Nazgûl to secretly reoccupy Dol Guldur and begin amassing an army of Orcs and Easterlings there. In 3018 these attacked the Woodland Realm, as well as Dale, Erebor and Lórien, in the opening moves of the War of the Ring.

On 19 March 3019 Thranduil repulsed Sauron's forces in a bloody battle under the trees and mounted a campaign to clear northern Mirkwood of Sauron's servants. At the same time the elves of Lórien led by Celeborn and Galadriel assaulted and destroyed Dol Guldur, and began to cleanse the southern part of the forest. Celeborn and Thranduil met in the midst of the forest on Elven New Year and formally renamed the forest Eryn Lasgalen. They then agreed to divide it between the Woodland Realm from the northern edge of the forest to the mountains, the Beornings from the mountains to the Narrows and East Lórien from the Narrows south.

Fourth Age

Though initially they prospered as the darkness was lifted, the elves of the Wood of Greenleaves were destined either to depart for Valinor or fade into rustic forest spirits. The forest probably then ultimately fell under the dominion of Men, the descendants of the Beornings and the men of Dale.

Etymology

Mirkwood is the Anglicized form of the Norse name Myrkviðr or mirkiwidu, originally hailing from Eddaic poems. Myrkviðr was the name of a "dark boundary-forest ... the great forest that divided the land of the Goths from the land of the Huns".[9] In a letter to his grandson Michael, Tolkien says that "Mirkwood is not an invention of mine", and continues to discuss the origin of the name in Old English and Old Norse writings.[10]

Projected into Old English, the term appears as Myrcwudu in Tolkien's The Lost Road, as a poem sung by Ælfwine[11]:

Sea-danes and Goths, Swedes and Northmen,
Franks and Frisians, folk of the islands,
Swordmen and Saxons, Swabes and English,
and the Langobards who long ago
beyond Myrcwudu a mighty realm
and wealth won them in the Welsh countries
where Ælfwine Eadwine's heir
in Italy was king. All that has passed.

The name Mirkwood was also used by William Morris in his novel The House of the Wolfings (1888).[12]

Portrayal in adaptations

2003: The Hobbit (2003 video game):

Mirkwood is the setting of two large chapters of the game: the first one involves rescuing of Dwarves from the Spiders, while the second covers the Halls of King Thranduil and subsequent escape.

2004: The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring:

Several missions of both good and evil campaigns take place in Mirkwood. In the Evil campaign, the Witch-King is reclaiming Dol Guldur for Sauron, while in the Good campaign Legolas and elven archers pursue the escaped Gollum.

2004: The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth:

Mirkwood is one the battlefields for the non-storyline engagements.

2006: The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II:

Mirkwood makes appearance in both Good campaign and non-storyline skirmishes, in both cases the map is very different from the one in the first game.

2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:

Southern Mirkwood and Dol Guldur are the setting of the game's second expansion, The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood. In its storyline, Celeborn and Galadriel organize a military campaign against Dol Guldur while the Fellowship still resides in Lothlorien (not to be confused with the later battle during the War of the Ring). The announced goal is to saw chaos into Orc forces by destroying as many of their troops, weapons and supplies as possible, to delay an inevitable assault upon Lothlorien. The true purpose, however, is to distract the Eye of Sauron from the company departing down the shores of Anduin. An assault by the Golden Host of the Galadhrim is successful despite minor losses and after establishing multiple camps throughout southern Mirkwood arrives at the walls of the fortress itself. However, without the White Lady they do not have the means of bringing down the walls, so the Elves prepare to swiftly fall back beyond Anduin before the main forces of the Enemy arrive.

2011: The Lord of the Rings: War in the North:

Mirkwood is the setting of one the missions in the game, where Eradan, Farin and Andriel have to rescue Radagast the Brown from a giant spider.

2012-14: The Hobbit (film series):

The Greenwood was a large woodland in Rhovanion. Along with the nearby woodland of Lorinand, It was first populated by Elves trying to get from Lake Cuivienen to the Far West. From then on out, the Elves called it Greenwood. Some of the Elves dreaded the crossing of the Misty Mountains west of Greenwood and stayed there, becoming the Silvan Elves, although some of them later did continue west, becoming the Green Elves of Beleriand. It was later bisected by the Dwarf Road, constructed by Dwarves in an attempt to link their realm of Khazad Dum with their mansions in the Iron Hills. Later still it become the dwelling place of men (who in turn fled from the east where other Men were swayed by Sauron). Some of these Men would go on to migrate west into Beleriand, becoming the Men of the houses of Beor and Hador. Their kin that remained in Rhovanion became the Northmen, and those that remained specifically in Mirkwood were called the Woodsmen of Greenwood. The Skin-Changers were also descended from these. The Woodland Realm After the War of Wrath, Sindarin prince (and refugee of the woodland realm of Doriath) Oropher went to rule the Silvan Elves of Greenwood, just as the Noldorin Lord and Lady Celeborn and Galadriel (also refugees of Doriath) would rule Lorinand. Given the superiority of his bloodline, Oropher styled himself The Elvenking, and became the lord of the Woodland Realm. He used the aid of the Dwarves to build an underground realm under the Mountains of Mirkwood to the North, where his stronghold was. His people built a new road, leading to their realm, called the Elf-path, with an Elven Gate at the forest's western border. Oropher was slain in the battle of Dagorlad, and was suceeded by his son Thranduil. Married to the Elvenqueen, Thranduil would gradually retreat into the underground fortress, as the influence of Gondor reached the southern border of the woods, where they built a fortress on the hill of Amon Lanc. Around this time, the Woodsmen residing in that part of the forest cut much of its trees, creating its Eastern Bight. At some point in the early Third Age, one of the wizards, Radagast the Brown, settled in Rhosgobel on the Southern borders of Mirkwood. Also residing on the borders of the Woodland (specifically, in the Gladden Fields) were Halflings, an offshoot of the Northmen, who would go on to migrate west and away from the shadow of Angmar. Some however remained behind and two of these, Déagol and Sméagol, would find The One Ring, lost to the Anduin nearby. Thranduil's Woodland Realm did not interfere in the wars of Gondor and the Northmen with the Easterlings, but still maintained a friendship with the people of Dale, Esgaroth and Dorwinion (the latter two were involved in a trade route that supplied Thranduil's cellars with wine), as well as the Dwarves that would later settle Erebor. Thranduil sent the White Gems of Lasgalen in order to have them fashioned into a necklace for his wife, but she never got to wear them. Thranduil became involved in the war with Angmar, launching at least one attack on its fortress of Gundabad.. He forfeited when his wife was captured and killed in Gundabad. He placed an statue in her likeness at the Elven Gate into the realm, and began retreating from the affairs of the outside world entirely. In TA 2340, an Orc raid from Angmar resulted in the deaths of two of Thranduil's Silvan subjects and while he hunted the Orcs down and adopted the victims' surviving child, Tauriel, he would not participate in the battle of Fornost and the ultimate downfall of Angmar. Shadow over Greenwood In 2941, a shadow fell on Greenwood. Eminating from the abandoned fortress of Amon Lanc (since then renamed Dol Guldur), it resulted in the trees twisting, their sap made foul. Wild animals were dying and replaced by bats and Giant Spiders. Orcs and Goblins from the Misty Mountains, led by Azog and Bolg, secretly came into an alliance with the Necromancer in Dol Guldur, and the Nine entombed in the High Fells of Rhudaur were released and summoned to Dol Guldur. The stream coming down from the Mountains of Mirkwood became enchanted, as was the forest's air, and the Elven Road - while considered safe - fell into disuse, its bridge over the stream broken. The woodsmen living nearby came to call the forest Mirkwood. Quest of Erebor During Thorin Oakenshield's and Bilbo Baggins' journey, they and their company wished to enter Mirkwood as a shortcut to the Lonely Mountain. At the edge of the forest at the Elven gate, Gandalf was tasked by Galadriel to investigate the High Fells. Before he departed, Gandalf gave the Company one more piece of advisement: The first, he told them to be wary in the forest because the air was befowled with dark magic that would cause hallucinations. Next, he warned them of an stream that had been enchanted with a dark spell and to cross the bridge stone only. He last warned them to stay on the Elf-path, for if they strayed away from it, they would never find it again. The company traveled through the forest and stayed on the path as Gandalf had told them. However, the forest soon began twisting their minds, and causing Thorin and Company to either hallucinate or feel weakened. They travelled for days until they come across the enchanted stream Gandalf told them of but found that the bridge had been destroyed. Kíli had found a way to cross by using the vines to get to the other side. Thorin sent Bilbo across first, but as the Hobbit crossed, Bilbo began feeling the river's enchantment pulling him. Quickly, he had made across but Bilbo, fearing for the others, yelled for them to stop but turned and found that the company was already crossing. Thorin reached the other side before the others. During this time, Thorin and Bilbo spotted a White Stag approaching them. Though Bilbo was amazed by the creature, Thorin immediately fired at the creature, but the stag disappeared. Meanwhile, Bombur had succumbed to the spells and had fallen asleep, forcing the other dwarves to fashion a stretcher and carry Bombur. Thorin began succumbing to the polluted air of the forest and hurriedly led his company off the path. During the rest of their time in the dark forest, Nori had lost trace of the path the company had went on. Bilbo managed to snap out of the dark spell and told his companions they were lost but the Dwarves began to feel the foul air of the forest. Bilbo took it upon himself to find out where he and the company were at. When the company was distracted, Bilbo climbed up a tree while Thorin heard whispers Bilbo had warned him about earlier and told the company they were being watched. Meanwhile, when Bilbo reached the top, he saw they were almost to the Lonely Mountain. At the same time, Bilbo's dwarven friends were captured by gigantic spiders. When he shouted to the dwarves he knew they were in the right direction, Bilbo heard no response from them and saw something coming. Soon, Bilbo suffered the same fate as his companions and was captured by the other spiders. However, Bilbo managed to free himself from his spider cocoon and killed his attacker with Sting. He soon rescued his companions when he saw one of the Spiders threatening to eat Bombur. While the dwarves escaped their captors, Bilbo was separated from the group, where he attacked a baby spider due to the Ring's influence. Soon, the Hobbit heard his company in distress. Legolas of the Woodland Realm cornered Thorin Oakenshield and Company, along with Tauriel and other Elves. After defeating the spiders, the company was captured for "snooping around" in the lost kingdom. Thranduil had Thorin and his company locked up in the King's dungeons with the exception of Bilbo who managed to evade capture yet again and had been trailing the Elves. Thranduil attempted to reach an accord with Thorin but the dwarf refused because he would not give up Bilbo Baggins. Soon, Bilbo freed Thorin and their friends from their cells and the company escaped in barrels bound for Esgorath. Battle of the Five Armies News of Smaug's death reached Thranduil, who took his army from Mirkwood, and led them to the Lonely Mountain. War of the RingBattle of Mirkwood After the Battle of Dol Guldur, when Sauron was banished from Dol Guldur, the Woodland was largely cured from his influence, but Dol Guldur remained out of Thranduil's borders within the realm. During the War of the Ring, Thranduil sent his son and several emissaries to Rivendell to participate in the Council of Elrond. In defending his realm against an invasion of Orcs from the Misty Mountains, Thranduil fended off much of Sauron's forces and therefore contributed to the victory over the Dark Lord.

See also

References

Route of Thorin and Company
Bag End · Green Dragon · The Shire · Lone-lands · Last Bridge · Trollshaws · Trolls' cave · Rivendell · High Pass · Front Porch · Goblin-town · Goblin-gate · Eagle's Eyrie · Carrock · Beorn's Hall · Wilderland · Forest Gate · Elf-path · Mirkwood · Elvenking's Halls · Forest River · Lake-town · Long Lake · River Running · Desolation of the Dragon · Ravenhill · Back Door · Lonely Mountain · Great Hall of Thráin