From the Timeless Halls to the Cracks of Doom: every realm, city, stronghold and wild place of the legendarium.
Showing 73 to 96 of 215 places
The Old Forest is a dark, ancient wood lying east of Buckland between the Brandywine and the Barrow-downs. A survivor of the primeval forests of Eriador, its trees are half awake and hostile to walkers, and it is the home of Old Man Willow and, at its eastern edge, of Tom Bombadil.
Tirion was the white city of the Noldor built on the hill of Túna in the Pass of Light, where its people could see both the Two Trees and the sea. It was the birthplace of Fëanor and his kin and the model for Gondolin; when most of the Noldor went into exile it remained under Finarfin, and Eärendil found its streets empty at the end of the First Age.
Tol Eressëa was the island Ulmo used to ferry the Eldar across the Great Sea and afterwards anchored in the Bay of Eldamar. The Teleri dwelt on it for an age before moving to the shore, and after the War of Wrath it became the home of the Elves who returned from Middle-earth, with the haven of Avallonë facing Númenor.
Tol Sirion was an island in the upper Sirion on which Finrod built the tower of Minas Tirith to guard the pass into Beleriand. Sauron captured it after the Bragollach and made it the Isle of Werewolves; Finrod died in its dungeons, and Lúthien and Huan overthrew it.
Umbar was the great haven on the coast of Harad, founded by the Númenóreans and held after the Downfall by the King's Men who became the Black Númenóreans. Taken and lost by Gondor, it became the stronghold of the Corsairs, whose fleet sailed against Gondor in the War of the Ring and was captured by Aragorn at Pelargir.
Utumno was Melkor's first great fortress, delved in secret beneath the mountains of the far north of Middle-earth during the Years of the Lamps. From it he cast down the Lamps and terrorised the newly awakened Elves, until the Valar assaulted it in the War of the Powers, broke it open, and carried him in chains to Mandos.
Valmar was the city of the Valar in the middle of Valinor, built of gold and silver and famous for its bells. Before its western gate stood the Two Trees on Ezellohar and the Ring of Doom, so that it was at once the home of the Powers and the centre of their counsel and judgment.
Weathertop is the southernmost and highest of the Weather Hills, crowned by the ruined tower of Amon Sûl. The tower once housed the chief palantír of the North and was fought over by the three kingdoms of Arnor; in T.A. 3018 the Witch-king stabbed Frodo there with a Morgul-knife.
Aglarond, the Glittering Caves, were the great caverns behind Helm's Deep in the White Mountains, used by the Rohirrim as a refuge. Gimli was so struck by their beauty during the Battle of the Hornburg that he later led a colony of Dwarves to settle there.
Almaren was the island in the Great Lake at the centre of Middle-earth where the Valar first dwelt in the Years of the Lamps, in the mingled light of Illuin and Ormal. Melkor's overthrow of the Lamps broke the lake and the island, and the Valar withdrew to Aman.
Amon Hen was the hill on the western shore of Nen Hithoel above Rauros, crowned by the Seat of Seeing of the ancient kings. Here the Fellowship broke on February 26, 3019: Frodo saw the Eye of Sauron from the summit, Boromir fell defending the hobbits, and the Company scattered.
Amon Rûdh was a lone bald hill standing in the woodlands between Sirion and Narog, the last dwelling of the Petty-dwarf Mîm. Túrin's outlaws lived in its caves as the House of Ransom until Mîm betrayed them to the orcs.
Annúminas was the first capital of Arnor, built by Elendil on the shore of Lake Evendim. Abandoned as the Dúnedain of the North dwindled, it lay in ruins for over two thousand years until King Elessar rebuilt it and made it once more the seat of the North-kingdom.
Araman was the bleak coastal strip of Aman north of Eldamar, between the Pelóri and the sea, running up to the Helcaraxë. The Noldor marched along it after the Kinslaying, Mandos pronounced their Doom on its shore, and there Fëanor abandoned Fingolfin's host and sailed away with the ships.
Ard-galen was the wide grassy plain lying between the highlands of Beleriand and the gates of Angband. The Noldor pastured their horses there during the Siege, but Morgoth's rivers of fire made it the desert Anfauglith, on which the Battle of Unnumbered Tears was fought.
The Argonath were two colossal statues of Isildur and Anárion carved on either bank of the Anduin where the river entered Nen Hithoel, raised by Rómendacil II to mark the northern border of Gondor. The Fellowship passed between them on February 25, 3019.
Arthedain was the north-western of the three kingdoms into which Arnor was divided in T.A. 861, and the only one in which the line of Isildur endured. Ruled from Fornost, it held out against Angmar for six centuries before falling in 1974, and its last king Arvedui was the ancestor of Aragorn.
Arvernien was the coastal country west of the Mouths of Sirion, the last free land of the Elves and Edain in Beleriand and the home of Eärendil and Elwing, from which the mariner set sail to seek the West.
Avallonë was the haven and chief city of Tol Eressëa, built on the island's eastern shore by the Elves who came back from Beleriand. Its tower was the first thing seen by a ship sailing west, and from it the Eldar sailed to Númenor in the days of that friendship.
Avathar was the narrow, shadowed land south of Eldamar between the Pelóri and the sea, where Ungoliant made her lair after fleeing the Valar. Melkor went there to find her, and from Avathar the two climbed into Valinor to destroy the Two Trees.
Belegost was the northern Dwarf-city of the Blue Mountains, whose masons built Menegroth for Thingol and whose warriors under Azaghâl alone withstood Glaurung at the Battle of Unnumbered Tears.
Brithombar was the northern haven of the Falas, standing at the mouth of the river Brithon. Twice besieged, it was finally stormed by Morgoth's armies in F.A. 473 and its people scattered to Balar.
Buckland is the strip of hobbit country on the east bank of the Brandywine, between the river and the Old Forest. Colonised by the Oldbucks, later the Brandybucks, it was a frontier land whose people were regarded by other Shire-folk as odd for living beside water and locking their doors at night.
Cabed-en-Aras was a narrow ravine of the river Teiglin on the edge of Brethil where Túrin climbed the cliff and slew Glaurung from below. Nienor cast herself into the river there when the truth was revealed, and Túrin died on his own sword beside it.