North-South Road

The North-South Road was part of the Royal Road linking Arnor and Gondor. The North-South Road was approximately 600 miles long. It ran between Fornost in the north and Isengard in the south. At the Fords of Isen, the North-South Road merged with the Great West Road.
== History ==
The northern half of the North-South Road was in Eriador. From Fornost, the Road ran south to Bree. Outside the West-gate of Bree, the North-South Road intersected with the East-West Road. At this major crossroads was the inn called The Prancing Pony, where travellers brought news from the south and east.
The North-South Road then passed through the narrow passage called the Andrath between the Barrow-downs and the South Downs. South of the Andrath, a road to the Shire via Sarn Ford branched off the North-South Road. The North-South Road then curved south-eastward through the region of Cardolan.
At the city of Tharbad, the Road crossed the River Greyflood on the southern border of Eriador. Originally, the Road went over the Bridge of Tharbad. On either side of the Bridge, the Road was built up on causeways to traverse the surrounding marshland. However, the Bridge was destroyed by floods in TA 2912 and all that remained was a dangerous ford.
The southern half of the North-South Road passed through Enedwaith, which at one time nominally belonged to Gondor but was essentially a borderland between Gondor and Arnor. East of the Road in Enedwaith was Dunland at the foot of the Misty Mountains.
At the southern end of the Misty Mountains, the North-South Road curved eastward through the Gap of Rohan and ended at the Fords of Isen. Just west of the Fords a road branched north to Isengard. East of the Fords was the Great West Road to Minas Tirith and Osgiliath.
Together the North-South Road and the Great West Road formed the Royal Road, or Great Road, which was the main route by land between Gondor and Arnor. The two Kingdoms were founded in 3320 of the Second Age. Each was responsible for maintaining their own stretch of the Road, and together they built and maintained the Bridge of Tharbad and its causeways.
After the Great Plague of TA 1636, Gondor and Arnor were considerably weakened and could no longer keep the Road and Bridge in repair. The North-kingdom fell in TA 1974 and Fornost at the northern end of the North-South Road was abandoned. The causeways near Tharbad eventually disintegrated and the marshes encroached on the Road. In the spring of TA 2912 after the Fell Winter, floods caused the Bridge to collapse.
Fewer and fewer travellers used the North-South Road and it became overgrown with grass, so that the people of Bree called it the Greenway. However, in the years before the War of the Ring at the end of the Third Age, unwelcome travellers began to come up the North-South Road from the South. Some were honest refugees, but many were troublemakers, including agents of Saruman. Early in 3019, there was fighting in Bree, and the Shire was taken over by Saruman's agents.
The hobbits expelled the Men from the Shire in the Battle of Bywater on November 3, and the Rangers of the North returned from the war and dealt with the other troublemakers. The North-kingdom was re-established by Aragorn, King Elessar, and the North-South Road was open to travellers once more.The Lord of the Rings, Prologue, II: "Concerning Pipe-weed"The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter IX: "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony"The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter X: "Strider"The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter II: "The Council of Elrond"The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter III: "The Ring goes South"The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter VII: "Homeward Bound"The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter VIII: "The Scouring of the Shire"Unfinished Tales, Part Two: The Second Age, IV: "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, and of Amroth King of Lórien"Unfinished Tales, Part Three: The Third Age, I: "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields", NotesUnfinished Tales, Part Three: The Third Age, IV: "The Hunt for the Ring"Unfinished Tales, Part Three: The Third Age, V: "The Battles of the Fords of Isen"The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull: "Prologue"
== Names & etymology ==
The North-South Road was called the Greenway in later years by the Bree-folk because it had become disused and overgrown with grass. It was sometimes called the North Road and the Old South Road.
The North-South Road and the Great West Road were collectively called the Royal Road or the Great Road. (Note that the Great East Road was also referred to as the Great Road.)
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Noord-Suid-Pad
Albanian 	Veri-Jug Rrugës
Amharic 	ሰሜን-ደቡብ መንገድ
Arabic 	طريق الشمال والجنوب
Armenian 	Հյուսիս-հարավ ճանապարհային
Assamese 	উত্তৰ-দক্ষিণ পথ
Azerbaijani 	Şimal-Cənub Yol
Basque 	Iparra-Hegoa Errepide
Belarusian Cyrillic	Поўнач-Поўдзень-роўд
Bengali 	নর্থসাউথ রোড
Bosnian 	Cesta Sjever-Jug
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Север-юг път
Burmese 	မြောက်ကိုရီးယား-တောင်ဘက်လမ်း
Cambodian 	កូរ៉េខាងជើងនិងខាងត្បូងផ្លូវ ?
Catalan 	Ruta Nord-Sud
Chinese 	南北路
Corsican 	Nord-Sud Strada
Croatian 	Sjever-Jug Ceste
Czech 	Sever-Jih silnice
Danish 	Nord-Syd Vej
Dogri 	उत्तर-दक्षिण सड़क
Dutch 	Noord-Zuid Weg
Esperanto 	Norda-Suda Vojo
Estonian 	Põhja-lõuna Maantee
Filipino 	Hilaga-Timog Kalsada
Finnish 	Pohjoinen-Etelä tie
French 	Nord-Sud Route
Frisian 	Noard-Súd Dyk
Galician 	Estrada Norte-Sur
Georgian 	ჩრდილოეთ-სამხრეთის გზა
German 	Nord-Süd-Straße
Greek 	Δρόμος Βορρά-Νότου
Gujarati 	ઉત્તર-દક્ષિણ રોડ
Haitian Creole 	Nò-Sid Wout
Hausa 	Arewa-Kudu Hanya
Hawaiian 	Akau-Hema Alanui
Hebrew 	כביש צפון-דרום
Hindi 	उत्तर-दक्षिण रोड
Hmong 	Sab qaum Teb-Sab qab teb Txoj kev
Hungarian 	Észak-Déli Közúti
Icelandic 	Norður-Suður Vegum
Indonesian 	Jalan Utara-Selatan
Italian 	Strada Nord-Sud
Japanese 	北 - 南道
Javanese 	Lor-Iidul Dalan
Kannada 	ಉತ್ತರ-ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ರಸ್ತೆ
Kazakh 	Солтүстік-Оңтүстік жол (Cyrillic) Soltüstik-Oñtüstik jol (Latin)
Korean 	남북도
Kurdish 	باکور-باşوور رێ (Sorani) Bakur-Başûr Rê (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Түндүк-Түштүк жол
Laotian 	ຖະຫນົນຫົນທາງພາກເຫນືອ, ພາກໃຕ້
Latin 	Septentrio-Meridiem Via
Latvian 	Ziemeļu-Dienvidu Ceļš
Lithuanian 	Šiaurės ir Pietų Kelių
Macedonian Cyrillic	Север-Југ патот
Malagasy 	Avaratra-Atsimo Lalana
Malaysian 	Jalan raya Utara-Selatan
Malayalam 	ഉത്തര-ദക്ഷിണ റോഡ്
Maltese 	Tramuntana u n-Nofsinhar Triq
Marathi 	उत्तर-दक्षिण रोड
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Хойд-Өмнөд зам
Nepalese 	उत्तर-दक्षिण सडक
Norwegian 	Nord-Sør Veien
Pashto 	شمال سویل سړک
Persian 	جاده شمال-جنوب
Polish 	Droga północ-południe
Portuguese 	Rodovia Norte-Sul
Punjabi 	ਉੱਤਰੀ-ਦੱਖਣੀ ਰੋਡ
Romanian 	Rutier Nord-Sud
Russian 	Дорога Север-Юг
Scottish Gaelic 	Tuath-Dheas Rathad
Sindhi 	اتر-ڏکڻ روڊ
Sinhalese 	උතුරු-දකුණු පාර
Slovak 	Sever-Juh cestné
Slovenian 	Sever-jug v cestnem prometu
Somali 	Waqooyi-Koonfur Wadada
Spanish 	Carretera norte-sur
Sundanese 	Jalan Kalér-Kidul
Swahili 	Kaskazini na Kusini Barabara
Swedish 	Nord-Syd Väg
Tajik Cyrillic 	Шимол-Ҷануб роҳ
Tamil 	வடக்கு-தெற்கு வீதி
Telugu 	నార్త్-సౌత్ రోడ్
Thai 	ถนนเหนือใต้
Turkish 	Kuzey-Güney Yolu
Turkmen 	Demirgazyk-Günorta ýol
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Північ-Південь-роуд
Urdu 	شمال-جنوب کی روڈ
Uzbek 	Чимолий-Жанубий Йўл (Cyrillic) Shimoliy-Janubiy Yo'l (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Đường Bắc-Nam
Welsh 	Gogledd-De Ffordd
Yiddish 	צפֿון-דרום וועג
Yoruba 	Ariwa-Guusu Opopona
== References ==
Category:Roads
Category:Eriador
Category:Gondor
Category:Arnor