Everything about Anduin totally explained
In
J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional
Middle-earth,
Anduin is the
Sindarin name for the
Great River of Wilderland, the longest
river in the
Third Age (the original Sindarin name means Long River). The ancestors of the
Rohirrim called it
Langflood. It flowed from its source in the
Grey and
Misty Mountains to the
Mouths of Anduin (Ethir Anduin) in the
Great Sea (Belegaer). In her
Atlas of Middle-earth,
Karen Wynn Fonstad estimates a total length of 1,388
miles (2,233 km).
Source
Anduin began as two different streams near where the Misty Mountains met the Grey. These were called the
Langwell and the
Greylin by the
Éothéod when they lived in the triangle of land formed by it. Their old capital
Framsburg was built at the confluence of these streams where the Anduin proper began. The Langwell had its source in the Misty Mountains, close to
Mount Gundabad and the Greylin began in the westernmost heights of the Grey Mountains.
Course
The Anduin flowed parallel to the Misty Mountains in a broad vale which formed the western part of
Rhovanion, lying between the mountains and
Mirkwood. After passing
Lórien, the river and mountains parted company, and the river flowed through the
Brown Lands (which may have been home to the
Ent-wives) via the
North and
South Undeeps until it flowed through the
Emyn Muil and
Argonath and entered a lake (
Nen Hithoel) through
Sarn Gebir (a series of ferocious rapids). Thence it flowed over the
Falls of Rauros, and past the Mouths of the Entwash and the marshes known as the
Wetwang (Nindalf). It then passed between the
White Mountains and the
Mountains of Shadow through the ancient capital of
Gondor,
Osgiliath, before swinging past the harbour of
Harlond close to the
Rammas Echor south of
Minas Tirith (Barbara Strachey, in
Journeys of Frodo, places the harbour just outside the wall), and the Emyn Arnen and down past the port of Pelagir, entering the Great Sea in the
Bay of Belfalas in a broad
delta known as the Mouths of Anduin.
Tributaries
In order from north to south: the
Rhimdath (Rushdown), the
Gladden (Ninglor) which joined at the marshes known as the
Gladden Fields, the
Celebrant (Silverlode), the River
Limlight, the
Entwash (Onodló), the
Morgulduin, the
Erui, the
Sirith and the
Poros. The first five had their sources in the Misty Mountains, the Morgulduin and (presumably) the Poros in the Ephel Dúath on the border of
Mordor, and the rest in the White Mountains.
Crossing Points
The
Old Forest Road which led from the
High Pass into Mirkwood crossed the river at the Old Ford, to the south of
Beorn's Halls. In the time of the
War of the Last Alliance, a bridge had been there.
There were many bridges in the city of Osgiliath, broken by the forces of Mordor.
Settlements
During the March of the Elves in the
Time of the Trees, the
Nandor left the
Eldarin host when faced with
the great heights of the Misty Mountains, and lived in the Vale of Anduin. Some
of those people later left and became the Green-elves of
Ossiriand, but Elves
remained present even until the time of the War the Ring, strengthened by refugees
from
Beleriand (at the end of the
First Age) and
Eregion (during the
Second).
Settlements in the Vale of Anduin during the Third Age included the northman city of
Framsburg, Beorn's Halls and the
Stoor settlements near the Gladden Fields (where
Sméagol/Gollum was born). It was in the
Gladden Fields in the northern reaches of Anduin that
Isildur was slain and the
One Ring lost; and it was there, more than two millennia later, that
Déagol found the Ring and
Sméagol took it from him. Rhosgobel, home of
Radagast the Brown, and the Elven Realm of Lothlórien also lay in the Vale of Anduin.
Once it had entered Gondor the river flowed past Osgiliath and Minas Tirith and then Pelagir, close to the sea. After the fall of Osgiliath the river effectively marks the eastern limit of Gondor's influence.
Islands
The principal islands appear to have been
Cair Andros, on the borders of
Ithilien and
Tol Brandir in Nen Hithoel.
Carrock, in the north was where the Eagles deposited
Thorin and Company. There was also an eyot, where the
Fellowship rested during their travel between Lórien and Parth Galen.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Anduin'.
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