placesontheway

Hobbiton

The Most famous village in the land of the hobbits, The Shire, was Hobbiton in Westfarthing. It was a humble village built on and around Hobbiton Hill with a mill and granary on a stream called the Water. The village became famous because on that hill was the street of Bagshot Row and the Hobbit hole Bag End. This was the home of the most celebrated of all the Hobbits, Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, who played such critical roles in the War of the Ring.

The Old Forest

Barrow Downs

Bree

Weather Top

Rivendell

In the year 1697 of the Second Age, in the wake of the War of Sauron and the Elves, Master Elrond Half-elven fled Eregion with a remnant of the Gwaith-i-Mirdain. While most of the Kingdom of the Elven-smiths of Eriador was destroyed, the surviving High Elves built the refuge of Rivendell in the steep, hidden valley of Imladris in the easternmost Eriador at the foot of the Misty Mountains. Here was hidden the house of Elrond, considered the �Last Homely House East of the Sea�, it was a house of wisdom, great learning and a refuge of kindness for all Elves and Men of goodwill.

Founded during the Second Age of the Sun by Men from Dunland, Bree was the main village of Breeland (the others being Combe, Archet and Stoddle). It is Located at the crossing of the Great East Road and the North Road, which was to the east of the Shire and in the heartland of what was once the kingdom of Arnor, and was home to around one hundred Hobbits and Men. By the time of the War of the Ring, Bree was much diminished in size and importance from the great days of Arnor. It is surprising that Bree survived the destruction of the Witch King (King of the Nazgul) who destroyed the kingdom of Arnor. Bree�s survival is due in part to the protection of the ranger of the north.
To many who travelled these roads, Bree was most famous for the Prancing Pony Inn, The regions most ancient Inn and the best place to gather news and gossip.

COMING SOON

The downlands east of the Shire and the Old Forest were called the Barrow Downs because of the great barrow graves built there. Considered to by many during the Third Age to be the most ancient burial ground of men on Middle-earth, they were revered by the D�nedain of Arnor. There were no trees or water on the downlands, only grass covering the dome-shaped hills that were ringed and crowned with stone monoliths. During the wars with the Witch-king of Angmar (Ring Wraith King), the last D�nedain of Cardolan found refuge for a time among the barrows. However, by 1636 the barrows became haunted by evil spirits called Barrow-wights, demons sent out from the Witch-kings realm of Angmar to do what evil they could. These undead spirits made the Barrow Downs a dread and fearful place. Into such a haunted land, in the year 3018 of the Third Age, came the Ringbearer, Frodo Baggins. But for the intervention of the cheery forest spirit Tom Bombadil, the Hobbits adventure would have been over.

Moria

In the year 1697 of the Second Age of the Sun, in the midst of the War of Sauron and the Elves when all of Eregion was being destroyed, the Dwarves of the mighty masions of Khazad-d?m in the Misty Mountains sealed theie great doors and went out no more into the world beyond. Thereafter, it was considered a secret and dark place, its histories and people were unknown to those of the outside world, and so it was called Moria, the �dark chasm�. In this way the Dwarves of Moria survived the devastation of the Second Age, and happily delved beneath the mountains until the year 1980 of the Third Age. That year, while pursuing a rich vein of mithril in one of their mines, they accidentally released an evil Balrog Demon that had hidden and slept beneath the roots of the mountains since the end of the First Age when it fled after the down fall of the Dark Lord Morgoth. There after Moria became the domain of the Balrog, the orcs and other servants of Sauron. For five year, from 2989 to 2994, a group of Dwarves attempted to re-establish a kingdom in Moria, only to be trapped and killed. It was not until 3019 of the Third Age that the Balrog was at last slain by Gandalf. Although the Balrog was destroyed the great halls remained empty for ever after.

Lothl�rien

The fairest Elf-kingdom remaining on Middle Earth in the Third Age of the Sun was to be found in the Golden Wood just to the east of the Misty Mountains and the gates of Moria. It was called Lothl�rien, the �land of blossoms dreaming�. In this wooded realm the golden-leaved, silver-barked Mallorn trees grew. They were the tallest and fairest trees in Middle Earth and upon their high branches the Elves of Lothl�rien made their homes. Here the Noldor Queen (A High Elf), Galadriel, and the Sindar King, Celeborn, ruled.

Amon Hen

Frodo and Sam

Emyn Muil

Dead Marshes

Black Gates

Ithilien

Minas Morgul

Cirith Ungol

Mount Doom

COMING SOON

By the Third Age of the Sun, the ancient forest that used to cover all of Eriador was reduced to a small area east of the Shire between the Brandywine River and the Barrow-Downs. This was the Old Forest and within it were many tree spirits who made travel perilous. The most formidable of these was Old Man Willow who had the power of enchanting travellers with his whispering songs, entangling them with his roots, and finally enclosing them within his trunk. Fortunately, for the Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin and other travellers, another friendlier Maiar spirit called Tom Bombadil lived by the eastern side of the Old Forest and had the power to command to tree spirits to release there pray.

The �hill of the eye�, one of the three peaks at the end of the long lake called Nen Hithoel on the Anduin River. The other two were Amon Llaw, or the �hill of the ear�, on the eastern bank an unclimbable island pinnacle that stood in the centre of the lake was called the Tindrock. Amon Hem and Amon Llaw had on there summits two magical thrones built to watch the borderlands of Gondor. These stone thrones were called the �Seat of Hearing� on Amon Llaw and the �Seat of Seeing� on Amon Hen. During the War of the Ring, the Fellowship of the Ring made there way to Amon Hen. There, Frodo Baggins sat on the Seat of Seeing and discovered its magical properties by suddenly being able to see for hundreds of miles in all directions.