the lord of the rings war in the north troll statue

Mirkwood is featured in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.ĭuring Thorin Oakenshield's and Bilbo Baggins' journey, they and their company wished to enter Mirkwood as a shortcut to the Lonely Mountain. Portrayal in adaptations Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy The southernmost portion of the forest became known as East Lórien for a time, while the central portion was given to the Woodmen. He escaped during an Orc raid, and fled southwest to Moria.Īfter Sauron was vanquished at the conclusion of the Third Age, the darkness was lifted from Mirkwood, Dol Guldur was utterly destroyed by Galadriel and Thranduil gave the forest the name Eryn Lasgalen (Sindarin for wood of green leaves), similar to its old name Eryn Galen, or Greenwood. Years later Gollum, after his release from Mordor, was captured by Aragorn and brought as prisoner to Thranduil's Halls. After or during these events the White Council attacked Dol Guldur, and Sauron fled to Mordor, his influence in Mirkwood diminished for a while, but Dol Guldur was re-occupied a decade later by three Nazgûl led by Khamûl. Shortly after the Dwarves' escape, they were captured by the Elves. Later, they came across many great Giant Spiders also known as the Spawn of Ungoliant. There, the Dwarf Bombur fell into the Enchanted river (causing him to fall asleep). The Elves then made a path farther to the north, the Forest Road, starting at the Forest Gate and ending in the marshes west of the Long Lake of Lake-town.īilbo Baggins, along with Thorin Oakenshield and his band of Dwarves, ventured into Mirkwood during their quest to regain the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug, taking the Elven path. The Old Forest Road (also called the Dwarf Road or Men-i-Naugrim) crossed the forest east to west, but because it was so close to Dol Guldur the road was too dangerous to travel. By the end of the Third Age they were a diminished and wary people, who had entrenched themselves north of the Mountains of Mirkwood.

Sauron, or the 'Necromancer' as he disguised himself, established himself at the hill-fortress of Dol Guldur, an old Elven fortress in the forest's southern region, and drove Thranduil and his people ever northwardĭuring the Watchful Peace, Dol Guldur was abandoned for a time and the Elves had respite, but after four hundred years Sauron returned to Dol Guldur and pressured the Elves once more. From then on, The southern part of Mirkwood became a haunted place inhabited by many dark and savage things. The area had been called Greenwood the Great until around the year TA 1050, when the shadow of the Dark Lord Sauron fell upon it, and Men began to call it Mirkwood, or Taur-nu-Fuin and Taur-e-Ndaedelos in the Sindarin tongue. Light peering through the thick trees of Mirkwood When Oropher was killed in the War of the Last Alliance, the kingship passed to his son Thranduil. It was around this time that Men, possibly ancestors of the Northmen, began making permanent settlements in and around the forest. The Sindar Elf Oropher, who was the grandfather of Legolas, established the Woodland Realm proper, and it become the primary settlement of the Elves from the Second Age onward. Thereafter, Greenwood the Great was the dwelling of the Wood-elves (the Nandor, Elves descending from the wandering Teleri Elf Lenwë) for many thousands of years. Elves passed through it on their Great Journey from Cuiviénen into the Far West - it was where they made their first long stop before continuing. This forest existed since the earliest days of Arda. During the events of The Hobbit it was home to giant spiders, and the Woodland Realm of King Thranduil and his Wood-elves the Woodmen of Mirkwood also inhabited a small part of the forest. Mirkwood was approximately 600 miles long from north to south, and 250 miles across at its width. Except for ways through the thickets of the forest, there were very few common routes through Mirkwood save for the Old Forest Road and the Forest Path. This smaller river was enchanted (or polluted) to such an extent that it caused slumber and forgetfulness to anyone who fell into it. Tolkien's map as the Forest River, that ran from the Grey Mountains down to Long Lake, and a smaller river that ran from the Mountains of Mirkwood to join with the Forest River west of the Elvenking's Halls. Its natural land features included (in the northern part of the forest) the Mountains of Mirkwood, a sizable river referred to in J.R.R.

Mirkwood was a dense and heavy woodland that made up much of the eastern portion of Rhovanion or Wilderland, that maintained its borders and relative shape for many ages.

Map of Greenwood in Wilderland, from The Hobbit.

3.1 Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy.

The lord of the rings war in the north troll statue