Gladden Fields
| Gladden Fields | |
|---|---|
| J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium location | |
| Other name(s) | Loeg Ningloron |
| Type | Marshland of reeds and Iris |
| Location | At the mouth of the Gladden River and the banks of the Anduin |
The Gladden Fields (Loeg Ningloron in the invented language Sindarin) is a location in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictitious Middle-earth. In this fantasy world, the Gladden Fields are located in the Middle-earth region of Wilderland, in particular where the Gladden river joins the Anduin.
In the year T.A. 2, at the Gladden Fields, King Isildur and his three eldest sons (Ciryon, Aratan and Elendur) were ambushed by Orcs. Isildur attempted to escape by jumping into the Anduin, using the power of invisibility of the One Ring, but the Ring slipped from Isildur's finger and sank to the bottom of the river. Isildur landed on the other bank of the river where he was killed by Orcs looking for survivors of the ambush.[1] Isildur's squire Ohtar saved the shards of Narsil from the enemy horde; Isildur's sons were killed during the battle. This incident would become known as the Disaster of the Gladden Fields.
It was here, twenty-five centuries after the ambush, that the Stoor hobbit, Déagol, retrieved the One Ring from the Anduin and was killed by his relative[2] Sméagol, who became the creature Gollum.
One of three passes through the Misty Mountains is at the headwaters of the Gladden River, the other two being Redhorn Pass and the High Pass.
References
- ↑ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1980), Christopher Tolkien, ed., Unfinished Tales, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, "Disaster of the Gladden Fields", ISBN 0-395-29917-9
- ↑ Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (1981), The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, #214, ISBN 0-395-31555-7