Eriador

Eriador or the Lone-Lands, was the land between the Blue Mountains to the West and the Misty Mountains to the East and therefore, originally, between the lands of Beleriand (mostly submerged at the end of the First Age) and Rhovanion. It is the location of the Shire and Rivendell and is therefore prominent.
== Geography ==
Eriador bordered to the east in the Misty Mountains. It was there that the Goblins resided and in the Third Age, where Gollum fled.
In the Blue Mountains (and, until the Second Age, Beleriand), to the North in Forod and to the Gwathlo River (and the lands of Enedhwaith) in the South. Thorin's people made a home in the Blue Mountains, and before that, human settlements
The most important rivers were: the Lune (Sindarin Lhûn) which flowed through the Blue Mountains to form the Gulf of Lune; the Brandywine (Sindarin Baranduin) which flowed out of Lake Evendim (Nenuial) to form the eastern-boundary of the Shire; and the Greyflood (Gwathló) which formed the southern-border of Eriador. Other rivers include: the Glanduin, which flowed out of Eregion and into the Greyflood above Tharbad, forming the Swanfleet (Nîn-in-Eilph) marsh; the Loudwater (Bruinen), passing Rivendell in the Ford of Bruinen; the Hoarwellwhich flowed out of the Ettenmoors and over which the Last Bridge passed; the Withywindle of the Old Forest; and The Water, Stock-brook, Shirebourn and Thistle Brook which all flowed into the Brandywine from in the Shire.
Central Eriador was scattered with many groups of hills including the Tower Hills (Emyn Beraid), Hills of Evendim (Emyn Uial), Weather-hills as well as the Far Downs, White Downs, South Downs, North Downs and Barrow-downs (Tyrn Gorthad); Fonstad noted that the "longitudinal axes [of the hills] formed concentric rings". Despite large deforestation by the Númenóreans during the Second Age some wooded areas remained, such as the Old Forest, Woody End, Bindbole Wood (sometimes seen as "Bindbale"), Chetwood around Bree-hill, the Trollshaws, and, largest of all, Eryn Vorn; Hollin was so named due to the large numbers of holly trees which grew there. Other geographic features include Midgewater Marshes, Rushock Bog, and Overbourn Marshes.
Unfortunately, there was deforestation going on in Eriador, causing it to be ruined.
=== Lands ===
* Emyn Beraid
* The Shire
* Breeland
* Trollshaws
* Weather-hills
* Imladris
* Rhudaur
* Ettenmoors
* Hollin
== History ==
=== The First Age ===
It was originally heavily forested, and sparsely populated by some Green Elves and Wild Men known as Gwathuirim, and traversed by Ents. From the Gwathuirim came the people of Haleth who migrated into Beleriand, while some members of the house of Beor would instead leave Beleriand for Eriador. This lack of populace and major settlements gave the land its name as The Lone Lands, or Eriador in Sindarin.
The Dwarves built the Great East Road, which passed through Eriador, between their realms in Khazad Dum and in Belegost and Nogrod, and into Beleriand itself.
=== The Second Age ===
At the end of the First Age, most of Beleriand was sunk, and many of its inhabitants migrated into Eriador. A Noldorin realm was established in Hollin or Eregion, where Rings of Power were forged by Celebrimbor with the assistance of Annatar. Meanwhile, Men who settled in the island of Numenor began to sail back to the shores of Eriador and started settling and heavily deforesting it.
When Annatar was revealed as Sauron, servant of Morgoth, Eregion was destroyed and Rivendell was established as an Elven refuge and the personal estate of Elrond. Other Elvish settlements included the White Towers and settlements on the shores of Lake Evendim. With the aid of High-King Gil-Galad from Lindon, Sauron was driven out of Eriador and back to his land of Mordor, where he solidified his rule of Anorien and Harad, beginning the Dark days.
After the sack of Numenor, its survivors settled in Eriador and Anorien, establishing the northern realm of Arnor in the former and the realm of Gondor in the latter. Another road, the Royal Road, was established to connect the two realms through the lands of Enedhwaith. It crossed paths with the Great East Road in Breeland, which became a settlement of Gwathuirim, later named Bree-folk.
=== The Third Age ===
After Sauron's defeat and the breaking of the Line of Kings of Gondor, the line of Arnor endured. However, after the tenth king of Arnor, Eärendur, died in TA 861, dissensions between his sons fractured the realm. Arnor was divided into Arthedain, Rhudaur and Cardolan. The line of Isildur was maintained in Arthedain, but in Rhudaur and Cardolan the line faded quickly. Arthedain retained Weathertop and its Palantír as well as two others, which led to contention between the three kingdoms.
==== The War with Angmar ====
In TA 1300, the Witch-king of Angmar- a servant of Sauron - established the realm of Angmar to the Northwest of Eriador and began invading both Eriador and Rhovanion. Fleeing out of the latter and into the former were Halflings, who settled in the town of Bree. They would later recieve permission from the High King to cross the Baranduin into the King's old hunting grounds, turning them into The Shire.
After the reign of King Malvegil, his son Argeleb I reclaimed lordship over all of Arnor since Rhudaur and Cardolan had no living descendants of Isildur. Rhudaur refused this claim and allied with Angmar. Argeleb I fell in battle with Rhudaur in 1356. His son, Arveleg I, avenged his father by retaking the Weather Hills, aided by Lindon and Cardolan. However, a great host issued from Angmar in T.A. 1409, invading Arthedain and taking Weathertop. King Arveleg I was slain. Rhudaur was occupied by Angmar and Cardolan was ravaged.
Between these defeats and the impact of the Great Plague, Eriador once again became largely depopulated. The last of Dúnedain of Cardolan were lost to the pestilence at the Barrow-downs. The Witch-king, exploiting the tragedy, sent evil spirits, the Barrow-wights, to infest the area.
In TA 1974, the final chapter in Arthedain's history began. The Witch-king attacked during the harsh winter weather. The capital of Fornost fell, and the remaining Arnorian forces were driven over the Lune river into Lindon. King Arvedui was compelled to flee to Forochel, and ask aid of the Snowmen there. His son, Aranarth, journeyed to Círdan at the Havens to inform him of Arthedain's fall. Círdan responded by sending a ship north to rescue Arvedui. When the Snowmen of Forochel saw the ship arrive, they were uncomfortable and nervous about the escape plan. It turned out that the Snowmen were right. A storm blew in that night and drove the ice towards the shore, and the ship was crushed and sank, with great loss of life, including King Arvedui.
So the North-kingdom ended, but some of its descendants, led by Aranarth, became the Dunedain Rangers. Envoys from Arthedain had journeyed to Gondor to ask assistance from the southern Dúnedain in fighting the Witch-king's forces. In TA 2540, the steward Cirion sent his son Hallas north to the Havens with a powerful fleet. Unfortunately, it was not in time to save Arthedain, and the northern kingdom perished. Círdan and Hallas combined their forces, along with the remnant of Arnor's army, in the greatest joint Elf-Man army since the War of the Last Alliance; this great Host of the West re-crossed the River Lune and marched northward. These allies drove relentlessly toward the Arnorian capital of Fornost, where the Witch-king had occupied the palace complex there. The Witch-king's army could not stand before the allies, however, and began to retreat back towards their capital. Any hopes for an orderly withdrawal were in vain, however. He and the other eight Ringwraiths were entombed within the High Fells of Rhudaur.
==== During the Watchful Peace ====
The Watchful Peace began, and while Rhovanion would still suffer from the Sack of Erebor and the Battle of Moria and Gondor was busy fighting Easterlings and Southrons, Eriador was largely undisturbed, with the exception of the Battle of Greenfields in TA 2947 and a couple of harsh winters, such as the Long Winter and the first and second Fell Winter. The Long Winter of TA 2758 resulted in the freezing of the Bandywine which led to a wolf attack, as well as a following season with little crops, resulting in famine. The fell winter of 2912 resulted in floods which destroyed Tharbad to the South.
==== The War of the Ring ====
This changed when Thorin was spotted near the Misty Mountains in TA 2940, looking in vain for his lost father. Azog the Orc, already allied with the Necromancer in Rhovanion, sent spies after the Dwarf exilarch, but some of those were intercepted by Gandalf instead. This worried the wizard and together with Thorin he hatched a plan to retake Erebor.
On the road to complete this quest the very next year, Gandalf found more troubling signs of disquiet, namely the raiding of a farm on the outskirts of Staddle caused by three Trolls who originated from the Ettenmoors. Even though the Trolls were turned to stone by Gandalf, the area became known as Trollshows. Orcs, pursuing the company on Azog's behalf, reached the borders of Rivendell, where Elrond hunted them down.
In TA 3001, Ringwraiths entered Eriador and the Shire. Three wraiths overran the Dunedain at Sarn Ford while two others stormed Buckland, all heading to Hobbiton and chasing the Hobbits through Green-Hill Country and Marish. The Breefolk kept guard, talking of "strange folk abroad", and indeed the wraiths later stormed Bree before intercepting the Hobbits on Weathertop, and almost catching Frodo at the Fords of Bruinen.
In the aftermath of the war, the Reunited Kingdom was established, with Aragorn ruling not only in Minas Tirith, but also in a refurbished Fornost Erain. The Shire, now expanded with the addition of the Westmarch, became an independent realm.
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