Lone-lands
The Lone-lands was an area in Eriador, or may even have been synonymous with it.
History
Lone-lands was a name used by Hobbits (and possibly Men of Bree) for the wilderness west of Bree. Roads were considerably worse there than in the Shire, and no-one dwelt there anymore by the end of the Third Age. There were many abandoned castles in the hilly region, which gave it a wicked look.[1]
Lone-lands and Eriador
It is a subject of some debate whether the Lone-lands and Eriador are one and the same. Etymologies given for Eriador certainly suggest such a thing.[2][3] The two mentions of "Lone-lands" were not added until the second edition of The Hobbit, published in 1966,[4] well after the introduction of the word "Eriador" in The Fellowship of the Ring.[5] As the latter was spoken by Aragorn, who would know the Sindarin name, and the former by Bilbo, who would not (yet) know the "foreign" name, it is not inconceivable that they refer to the same land.[2]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "Roast Mutton", second edition
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fredrik Ström, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), "Letters to VT", Vinyar Tengwar, vol. 42, July 2001, p. 4
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in The Lord of the Rings" in Parma Eldalamberon (ed. Christopher Gilson), vol. 17, July 2007, p. 28
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Douglas Anderson (ed.), The Annotated Hobbit, Roast Mutton, note 6
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Strider"
