Great West Road

The Great West Road was originally part of the Royal Road linking Gondor to the Northern-kingdom of Arnor. It ran between Minas Tirith and the Fords of Isen in the Gap of Rohan, where it became known as the North-South Road to Arnor. The Great West Road was approximately 425 miles long.
==Geography==
At its far eastern end, the Great West Road met the North-way which came from Minas Tirith through Forannest, the North-gate of the Rammas Echor. The Great West Road then curved around Amon Dîn and ran westward through Anórien. The Road skirted the edge of the Drúadan Forest and passed the beacon hills of Gondor at the foot of the White Mountains.
The Great West Road then ran through the edge of the Firien wood to avoid the marshy land north of the forest. A path marked by a standing stone branched southward off the Road to Halifirien, the last of the Beacon-hills. At the western edge of the Firien Wood, the Great West Road crossed a bridge over the Mering Stream, which was the border between Gondor and Rohan.
In Rohan, the Great West Road passed through the Fenmarch and the regions of the Eastfold and the Folde. The Road traversed the Snowbourn by way of a ford near Edoras, and a track branched off to the city. Further on, the Deeping-road branched off into the Deeping Coomb where Helm's Deep was located.
The Great West Road then curved north-westward for a ways. About two miles before the Fords of Isen there was a sharp westward turn and the Road ran straight down to the riverbank. On the other side of the Isen, the North-South Road began. A branch road led north to Isengard.
In the early days of Gondor, the Great West Road and the North-South Road formed a single Royal Road between the two Kingdoms of the Dúnedain. At that time, the region between the Mering Stream and the Fords of Isen was a province of Gondor called Calenardhon. In TA 2510, that land became Rohan and the Rohirrim were responsible for maintaining the stretch of the Great West Road that ran through their land.
During the War of the Ring, an army from Mordor crossed the Anduin into Anórien and blocked the Great West Road. They dug trenches and erected stakes in the roadway with the purpose of preventing the Rohirrim from coming to Minas Tirith. But Ghân-buri-Ghân led the Rohirrim by a forgotten way through the Stonewain Valley and by-passed the enemy forces. The Rohirrim arrived at the Pelennor Fields at dawn on March 15, TA 3019, and helped win the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
The North-South Road and the Great West Road were collectively called the Royal Road or Great Road. (The Great East Road was also referred to as the Great Road.)
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Groot Wes-pad
Albanian 	Rruga e Madhe Perëndimore
Amharic 	ታላቅ የምእራብ መንገድ
Arabic 	طريق الغرب العظمى
Armenian 	Մեծ Արևմտյան Ճանապարհ
Azerbaijani 	Böyük Qərb yolu
Basque 	Mendebaldeko errepide handia
Belarusian Cyrillic	Вялікая заходняя дарога
Bengali 	গ্রেট পশ্চিম রাস্তা
Bhojpuri 	ग्रेट वेस्ट रोड के बा
Bosnian 	Velika Zapadni Put
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Велико Западен Път
Burmese 	အနောက်ဘက်လမ်းကြီး
Cambodian 	ផ្លូវធំខាងលិច
Catalan 	Gran Camí de l'Oest
Cebuano 	Gran Dalan sa Kasadpan
Corsican 	Grande Strada à Punente
Croatian 	Velika Zapadna Cesta
Czech 	Velká Západní Cesta
Danish 	Storvestvej
Dutch 	Grote Westenweg
Esperanto 	Granda Okcidenta Vojo
Estonian 	Suur Lääne tee
Faroese 	Stór Vestvegurin
Filipino 	Mahusay na kanlurang kalsada
Finnish 	Suuri lännentie
French 	Grande Route de l'Ouest
Galician 	Gran Estrada do Oeste
Georgian 	დიდი დასავლეთის გზა
German 	Große Weststraße
Greek 	Μεγάλη Δυτικός Δρόμος
Gujarati 	ગ્રેટ વેસ્ટ રોડ
Hebrew 	הגדולה כביש מערבי
Hindi 	ग्रेट वेस्ट रोड
Hungarian 	Nagy nyugati út
Icelandic 	Stóri Vesturvegur
Indonesian 	Jalan Besar Barat
Irish Gaelic 	An Bóthar Mór Thiar
Italian 	GrandVia e Ovest
Japanese 	グレート ウェスト ロード
Javanese 	Jalan Raya Barat
Kannada 	ಗ್ರೇಟ್ ವೆಸ್ಟ್ ರಸ್ತೆ
Kazakh 	Үлкен Батыс жолы (Cyrillic) Ülken Batıs jolı (Latin)
Korean 	그레이트 웨스트 로드
Kurdish 	ڕێگای ڕۆژئاوای مەزن (Sorani) Riya Rojava ya Mezin (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Улуу Батыш жолу
Laotian 	ເສັ້ນທາງຕາເວັນຕົກທີ່ຍິ່ງໃຫຍ່
Latin 	Magna Via Occidens
Latvian 	Lielā Rietumu ceļš
Lithuanian 	Didžioji Vakarinis kelias
Luxembourgish 	Grouss Westlech Strooss
Macedonian Cyrillic	Голем Западен Пат
Maithili 	ग्रेट पश्चिम सड़क
Malagasy 	Lalana Andrefana Lehibe
Malayalam 	ഗ്രേറ്റ് വെസ്റ്റ് റോഡ്
Malaysian 	Jalan Barat Besar
Marathi 	ग्रेट पश्चिम रस्ता
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Их Баруун зам
Nepalese 	ग्रेट पश्चिम सडक
Norwegian 	Storvestvei
Pashto 	لوی لویدیز سړک
Persian 	جاده بزرگ غربی
Polish 	Wielki Droga Zachodni
Portuguese 	Grande Estrada Oeste
Punjabi 	ਗ੍ਰੇਟ ਪੱਛਮੀ ਸੜਕ
Romanian 	Drumul Marea Vest
Russian 	Великая Западная Дорога
Sanskrit 	महान् पश्चिममार्गः
Serbian 	Велики Западни Пут (Cyrillic) Veliki Zapadni Put (Latin)
Sindhi 	وڏو اولهه وارو رستو
Sinhalese 	මහා බටහිර මාර්ගය
Slovak 	Veľká Západná Cesta
Slovenian 	Velika zahodna cesta
Spanish 	Gran Camino del Oeste
Swahili 	Barabara Kubwa Magharibi
Swedish 	Stor västravägen
Tajik Cyrillic 	Роҳи Кабир Ғарб
Tamil 	பெரிய மேற்கு சாலை
Tatar 	Зур Көнбатыш юлы
Telugu 	గొప్ప పశ్చిమ రహదారి
Thai 	ถนนเกรทเวสต์
Turkish 	Büyük Batı yolu
Turkmen 	Uly Günbatar ýoly
Ukrainian Cyrillc 	Велика західна дорога
Urdu 	عظیم مغربی سڑک
Uzbek 	Буюк Ғарбий йўл (Cyrillic) Buyuk G'arbiy yo'l (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Đại khủng lộ Tây
Welsh 	Ffordd Fawr Gorllewin
Yoruba 	Nla Iwọ Oòrùn Opopona
Yiddish 	גרויס מערב וועג
==References==
*The Atlas of Middle-earth pgs. 53 & 88-9
Category:Roads
Category:Rohan
Category:Gondor