From the Timeless Halls to the Cracks of Doom: every realm, city, stronghold and wild place of the legendarium.
Showing 121 to 144 of 215 places
Goblin-town was the warren of caves and tunnels beneath the High Pass where the Great Goblin ruled the orcs of the northern Misty Mountains. Thorin's company was dragged into it in T.A. 2941, and in a lake at its lowest level Bilbo Baggins found the One Ring and met Gollum.
Gorgoroth was the barren volcanic plateau of northern Mordor, between the Morgai and Barad-dûr, on which Mount Doom stood. Frodo and Sam crossed it on foot in the last days of their journey to the Crack of Doom.
Henneth Annûn was the secret refuge of the Rangers of Ithilien, a cave behind a waterfall in the hills of North Ithilien. Faramir brought Frodo and Sam there in March 3019, learned of the Ring, and let them go on their way.
Hildórien was the land in the far east of Middle-earth where Men, the Followers, awoke when the Sun first rose. Morgoth went there in secret to corrupt them, and from it the ancestors of the Edain fled west over the mountains to Beleriand.
The Isle of Balar lay in the great bay at the mouth of Sirion. After the fall of the Falas it became the island refuge of Círdan and Gil-galad, the last stronghold of the free Elves in Beleriand and the place where the final ships of the Elder Days were built.
Ivrin was the spring and lake beneath the southern Ered Wethrin where the river Narog rose. Its waters were held sacred to Ulmo; the Feast of Reuniting was held there, and Túrin was healed of his madness by drinking from it.
Lindon is the coastal land west of the Blue Mountains, the only part of Beleriand that survived the drowning at the end of the First Age. It was the realm of Gil-galad, the last High King of the Noldor, and after his death the country of Círdan, from whose Grey Havens the Elves departed over the Sea.
Máhanaxar, the Ring of Doom, was the circle of thrones outside the western gate of Valmar where the Valar sat in council. There the fate of the Elves was decided, Melkor was judged and released, Fëanor was tried, and Eärendil's plea for Middle-earth was heard.
The March of Maedhros was the line of hills and open gaps in the north-east of Beleriand, held by Maedhros and his brothers against any attack from Angband that came round the east. It was the strongest and most exposed of the Noldorin borders, and it was lost in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.
Mirrormere, Kheled-zâram to the Dwarves, is the still, dark lake in Dimrill Dale beneath the East-gate of Moria. Here Durin the Deathless saw a crown of stars reflected above his head, and the Longbeards held the water sacred ever after.
Mithrim was the eastern region of Hithlum, lying about the great lake of the same name. It was named for the Grey-elves who lived there, and it was here that the returning Noldor first made camp and fought the Battle-under-Stars.
Mount Gundabad stands at the northern end of the Misty Mountains where the Grey Mountains branch away east. Holy to the Dwarves as the place where Durin the Deathless awoke, it was seized by orcs in the Second Age and remained their capital in the North, from which Bolg led his army to the Battle of Five Armies.
Nan Dungortheb was the haunted valley between the Mountains of Terror and the northern border of Doriath, where the spiders of Ungoliant hunted and the waters drove those who drank them mad. Beren crossed it alone, and Aredhel lost her escort there.
Nan Elmoth was a dark forest east of Doriath where Thingol first met Melian and stood spellbound for long years. Later it became the home of Eöl the Dark Elf, who there took Aredhel of Gondolin as his wife and fathered Maeglin.
Neldoreth was the great beech-forest forming the northern half of Doriath, between the Esgalduin and the empty lands beneath the Ered Gorgoroth. Here Beren first saw Lúthien dancing, and here Thingol imprisoned her in the tree Hírilorn.
Nevrast was the coastal land south of the Ered Lómin and west of the Ered Wethrin, where Turgon dwelt at Vinyamar before he removed his people to Gondolin. It lay empty afterward until Tuor came there and found the arms that Turgon had left.
Nogrod was the southern of the two Dwarf-cities of the Blue Mountains, famed for the smith Telchar. Its people slew Thingol over the Nauglamír and sacked Menegroth, and their army was destroyed on the road home at Sarn Athrad.
Pelargir was the great river-haven of Gondor on the lower Anduin, founded by the Faithful of Númenor in the Second Age and the home port of the Ship-kings' fleets. Aragorn and the Dead captured the Corsair fleet there on March 13, 3019.
The Pelóri were the mountains the Valar raised along the eastern shore of Aman to wall Valinor against Melkor. They ran the whole length of the continent, broken only by the Calacirya, and after the Flight of the Noldor were made sheer and impassable as part of the Hiding of Valinor.
Rhovanion, or Wilderland, is the great region east of the Misty Mountains and north of Gondor, stretching from the Grey Mountains to the Emyn Muil and from the Anduin to the borders of Rhûn. It held Mirkwood, Lothlórien, Erebor and Dale, and its Northmen were the ancestors of the Rohirrim.
Rhûn is the name the West gave to everything east of Rhovanion and the inland sea: an immense country of plains and unmapped lands from which came the Easterling peoples who attacked Gondor for two thousand years. Almost nothing of its own history survives in the records of the West, which know it chiefly through invasions, through Sauron's long dominion there, and through the two Blue Wizards who went east and never returned.
Sirion was the great river of Beleriand, rising in the Ered Wethrin and flowing south for the length of the land to the sea. It divided West from East Beleriand, and its vale was the road of armies, the hiding-place of Ulmo's power, and the last refuge of the Elves at its mouths.
Thargelion was the land east of the upper Gelion beneath the Blue Mountains, ruled by Caranthir. It was the doorway for the Dwarves' trade with Beleriand and the first home of the Haladin, and it was lost in the Dagor Bragollach.
The Carrock is a great island of rock standing in the Anduin north of the Old Ford, on the eastern side of the High Pass. Beorn named it and cut steps to its flat summit, and the Eagles set Thorin's company down there after rescuing them from the goblins in T.A. 2941.