List of Middle-earth roads

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This is a list of roads mentioned by name in J. R. R. Tolkien's stories of Middle-earth. Many roads in Middle-earth were dirt tracks, but paving was also used and in some cases stone causeways were built.

• Dwarf Road - Another name for the Great East Road.

• Great East Road - An ancient Dwarven route passing from western Beleriand, over the Ered Luin, through the Shire, to the Misty Mountains, and beyond towards distant dwarven lands in the East. By the Third Age portions of this road had been destroyed.

• Great West Road - An old road of the kingdom of Gondor passing along the northern end of the Ered Nimrais from Minas Tirith to the Fords of Isen.

• Greenway - A Third Age name for the section of the North-South road from approximately Tharbad northwards when the road had become overgrown with grass.

• Lampwrights Street - Rath Celerdain, a street on the first tier of the city of Minas Tirith.^[1]

• Men-i-Naugrim - Another name for the Great East Road. It is Sindarin for 'Dwarf Road'.^[2]

• North-South Road - The longest road in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional realm of Middle-earth. It ran from the lost realm of Arnor in the north to Minas Tirith in the south. Before the breaking of Beleriand in the War of Wrath, the Great East Road was the longest road in Middle-earth. After Beleriand sank beneath the waves, the Old South Road had supplanted it. In the early Third Age, the road served as the main linkage between Gondor and Arnor. The road was the lifeline between the two kingdoms, and existed well throughout Tolkien's legendarium.

The road begins at Fornost Erain, Norbury of the Kings, the ancient capital of Arnor. From there the road runs 100 Númenórean miles south to the ancient crossroads of the Great East Road at Bree. Below Bree, the road becomes known as the Greenway as it is overgrown with grass due to its waning use in the Third Age. The road passes through the Andrath and meets up with the road out of the Southfarthing from Sarn Ford. It then runs southeast through the desolate wastes of Minhiriath to the ruined city of Tharbad on the Gwathló. At Tharbad the road crosses the Greyflood along a series of causeways and a massive stone bridge over the river. From Tharbad, the road continues southeast through the deserted land of Enedwaith and enters Dunland just west of the Misty Mountains. In southern Dunland, the road turns due east and crosses the Fords of Isen and enters the Gap of Rohan between the Ered Nimrais and Hithaeglir. Upon crossing the River Isen, the road enters the Kingdom of Rohan and becomes known as the West Road. The road then travels westward slowly sloping south along the northern edge of the Ered Nimrais through Edoras and entering the Kingdom of Gondor by crossing the Mering Stream. From the border with Gondor the road continues to the end of the Ered Nimrais to Minas Tirith. From Minas Tirith the road turns due east to Osgiliath where it once crossed Anduin via a great stone bridge. From Osgiliath, the road continues across Ithilien and ends at Minas Ithil, which by the end of the Third Age had become known as Minas Morgul. By the end of the War of the Ring, there were plans in place by King Elessar to restore the ancient royal road.

The road is specifically mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, when describing shipments of pipe-weed from the Shire's Southfarthing to Isengard. Saruman's ruffians also used the road to reach the Shire, as did he and Gríma Wormtongue just before the Battle of Bywater.

Boromir is also mentioned as having used the road, travelling from Minas Tirith to Rivendell. He lost his horse at Tharbad's broken bridge. The Nazgûl also used the road when they travelled north in search of the One Ring.

• Old Forest Road - A section of the Great East Road passing through Mirkwood.

• Old South Road - A Third Age name for the section of the North-South Road from approximately Tharbad southwards. Most of this route had ceased to exist by the time of The Lord of the Rings, with only remnants of the causeways still extant in the fens of Minhiriath. The same term was also used to describe a road in Beleriand in the First Age which ran from the Pass of Sirion, past Doriath, and down to Nargothrond.

• Orc-road - A term used for the road from Angband to Tol Sirion used by the Orcs in the First Age.^[3]

• Qalvanda - The road of death, leading to the Halls of Mandos.^[4]

• Straight Road - The path by which Elven ships could reach Aman.

[edit] See also

• Rivers of Middle-earth

[edit] References

The Return of the King, Book II, P. 272, isbn=0788789848

Unfinished Tales, p. 348, isbn=0395299179

Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth ISBN:0345324366

Greg & Tim Hildebrandt's Tolkien's World from A-Z:The Complete Reference Guide to Middle-earth ISBN:0739432974

Karen Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-earth

John Howe & Brian Sibley's The Guide to Tolkien's Middle-earth ISBN:0061055069

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil also mentions the road.

1. ^ J. R. R. Tolkien (1987). The Return of the King. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Minas Tirith. ISBN 0-395-08256-0. 
2. ^ J. R. R. Tolkien (1980). in Christopher Tolkien (ed.): Unfinished Tales. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Disaster of the Gladden Fields. ISBN 0-395-29917-9. 
3. ^ J. R. R. Tolkien (1986). in Christopher Tolkien (ed.): The Shaping of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, The Earliest 'Silmarillion'. ISBN 0-395-42501-8. 
4. ^ J. R. R. Tolkien (1984). in Christopher Tolkien (ed.): The Book of Lost Tales. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, The Hiding of Valinor. ISBN 0-395-35439-0.