Rhudaur
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In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Rhudaur was a fictional realm in north-west Middle-earth, and one of the three successor states originating from the break-up of Arnor in (T.A. 861), the others being Arthedain and Cardolan.
The name Rhudaur appears to be dialect Sindarin for "Eastern Forests", and indeed Rhudaur was the most easterly of the three kingdoms in Eriador, stretching from the Weather Hills with Weathertop (Amon Sûl) to the river Bruinen (Loudwater). It shared a long border with Cardolan along the Great East Road, and with Arthedain along the line of the Weather Hills.
The land between the rivers Hoarwell and Loudwater was also considered part of Rhudaur. It was called the Angle, and it is here that the first Stoor Hobbits came into Eriador around T.A. 1150. However, due to the increasing hostility of Angmar these Stoors fled the region around T.A. 1356, with some of them moving west to the Shire, and others moving back to Wilderland.
Rhudaur's Dúnedain population was always small, and was always only a small proportion of its people. From the start of its existence, Rhudaur was unfriendly towards the two other successor states, and took part in a bitter conflict with Arthedain over the tower of Amon Sûl and the palantír associated with the tower.
Over time, the more numerous Hillmen came to dominate the Dúnedain of Rhudaur: the latter were either killed or driven off. By this time the Númenóreans were gone from the region, as well as most of the other inhabitants. In T.A. 1356, they slew the High King Argeleb in battle; the Stoors (fearing Angmar) fled south into Dunland, or east over the mountains into the Vale of Anduin. Angmar annexed and terminated the kingdom in T.A. 1409
The Great Plague of T.A. 1636 devastated Eriador. This stemmed the tide for 300 years, because Rhudaur and Angmar were not spared. But the most telling blow was struck in the year T.A. 1975. Arthedain and Cardolan had fallen to the combined hosts of Rhudaur and the Witch-king the previous year, but these hosts were themselves wiped out by a combined army of Gondor and Lindon. The Witch-king fled to the North, and the Hillmen vanished from the histories of Middle-earth. As far south as the Great East Road, Rhudaur became a troll-country; travellers along the Road generally hurried along their way and avoided the Trollshaws.
There is evidence that after the fall of Angmar at the Battle of Fornost the Angle became home to the remainder of the Dúnedain, and the Rangers of the North established several villages there, where their people lived until the resurrection of the northern Kingdom under King Elessar at the end of the Third Age. But northern Rhudaur remained wild and dangerous for the rest of that Age: Arador was slain here by hill-trolls in T.A. 2930, and his son Arathorn II fell in battle with Orcs in T.A. 2933. And in T.A. 2941, trolls captured the Company of Thorin.
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| Realms from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium during the Third Age | |
|---|---|
| Realms of Men: | Arnor | Arthedain | Breeland | Cardolan | Corsairs of Umbar | Dale | Dol Amroth | Dunland | Éothéod | Esgaroth | Gondor | Harad | Khand | Rhovanion | Rhudaur | Rhûn | Rohan | Umbar |
| Realms of the Elves: | Lindon | Lothlórien | Northern Mirkwood | Rivendell |
| Realms of the Dwarves: | Belegost | Erebor | Grey Mountains | Iron Hills | Khazad-dûm |
| Realms of the Hobbits: | Breeland | Gladden Fields | The Shire |
| Realms of the Ents: | Fangorn forest |
| Uncertain population: | Dorwinion |
| Realms of the enemy: | Angmar | Barad-dûr | Dol Guldur | Isengard | Mordor |
