Northern Waste

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"I shan't call it the end, till we've cleared up the mess." — Sam
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This article is about a region of Middle-earth. For the MERP supplement, see The Northern Waste.
Northern Waste
vast desolated territory
Angelo Montanini - Northern Waste.jpg
General Information
Locationabove Angmar, Mount Gundabad and Ered Mithrin
Typevast desolated territory
DescriptionIcy isolated region with very few inhabitants
RegionsForochel, Forodwaith
InhabitantsForodwaith, Orcs, Cold-drakes, Lossoth

The Northern Waste was a cold and icy region in the far north end of Middle-earth, located above Mount Gundabad and the Ered Mithrin. It was a vast region of mostly snow and ice. The two main areas of the Northern Waste were the Forodwaith and Forochel.

History

The Cold-drakes of the North, who drove the Dwarves out of the Grey Mountains, came from the Northern Waste. The Drakes killed Dain I and his son Frór outside their Halls in the Grey Mountains. Most the Dwarves then moved to Erebor and the Iron Hills.

According to Frodo's poem "When evening in the Shire was grey", Gandalf had traveled to the Northern Waste. What his business was up there is unknown; it is nowhere else mentioned.

In the icy North too, lived a branch of Men called the Lossoth. They were a hardy folk fit to survive in the cold snowy regions of the north. The people lived mostly in tribes. The Lossoth never involved themselves with the world outside their frozen lands and played no known significant role in the wars until King Arvedui, the last king of Arnor, came out of hiding from an abandoned Dwarf-mine in the far Northern Ered Luin and asked for aid from the Lossoth of Forochel. He was able to convince them to aid him, and as a reward gave them the Ring of Barahir. Círdan eventually sent ships for him. On his departure day, the Lossoth warned Arvedui that a storm was coming and urged him not to go, but he paid little heed to their words. He did indeed perish in the storm, and sank to the bottom of the bay, along with the palantír of Fornost Erain and Amon Sûl.