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{{disambig-two|the region of [[Middle-earth]]|[[Middle-earth Role Playing|MERP]] supplement|[[The Northern Waste]]}}
{{location
{{location
| image=
| image= [[File:Rob Alexander - Forod.jpg|250px]]
| name= Northnen Waste
| name= Northern Waste
| type= vast desolated territory
| type= vast desolated territory
| location= above [[Angmar]], [[Mount Gundabad]] and [[Ered Mithrin]]
| location= above [[Angmar]], [[Gundabad|Mount Gundabad]] and [[Grey Mountains|Ered Mithrin]]
| inhabitants= [[Forodwaith (people)|Forodwaith]], [[Orcs]], [[Cold-drakes]], [[Lossoth]]
| inhabitants= [[Forodwaith (people)|Forodwaith]], [[Orcs]], [[Cold-drakes]], [[Lossoth]]
| realms= [[Forochel]], [[Forodwaith (lands)|Forodwaith]]
| realms= [[Forochel]]
| description= Icy isolated region with very few inhabitants
| description= Icy isolated region with very few inhabitants
| othernames=
| othernames=
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| events=
| events=
| references=
| references=
|}}
}}
The '''Northern Waste''' was a vast cold region of mostly ice and snow, in the far north end of [[Middle-earth]],<ref>{{UT|Map}}</ref> beyond the [[Mountains of Angmar]], [[Gundabad|Mount Gundabad]] and the [[Grey Mountains|Ered Mithrin]]. The main known area was [[Forochel]].


The '''Northern Waste''' (also known as [[Formenor]]) was a cold and icy region in the far north end of [[Middle-earth]], located above [[Mount Gundabad]] and the [[Ered Mithrin]]. It was a vast region of mostly snow and ice. The two main areas of the Northern Waste were the [[Forodwaith (lands)|Forodwaith]] and [[Forochel]].  
The location was also named '''Forodwaith''' ([[Sindarin|S.]], "Nothern lands, people") after the hardy [[Forodwaith (people)|Forodwaith]] folk, who inhabited it.
==History==
The Waste had been made very cold earlier in [[Arda]]'s history because of the presence of [[Utumno]] and [[Morgoth|Melkor]]'s evil cold emanating from it. The region remained cold even after Utumno's destruction.
[[File:Angelo Montanini - Northern Waste.jpg|left|thumb|Angelo Montanini - ''Northern Waste'']]
The region was once inhabited by a hardy [[Men|Mannish]] folk, the [[Forodwaith (people)|Forodwaith]] who gave the region its name. However in later years (possibly suffering by the [[Witch-king]] of [[Angmar]]) their [[Lossoth|remnants]] retreated to the [[Cape of Forochel]].<ref>{{App|Eriador}}</ref>


==History==
[[Dragons]] also dwelt in there<ref>{{H|Party}}</ref> and after many years they multiplied and became strong and made [[War of the Dwarves and Dragons|war]] against the [[Dwarves]]. [[Cold-drakes]] came from the Northern Waste and drove the [[Dwarves of the Grey Mountains]] out of their homes, and most of the Dwarves then moved to [[Lonely Mountain|Erebor]] and the [[Iron Hills]].<ref>{{App|Durin}}</ref>
The [[Cold-drakes]] of the North, who drove the [[Dwarves]] out of the Grey Mountains, came from the Northern Waste. The Drakes killed [[Dain I]] and his son [[Frór]] outside their Halls in the [[Grey Mountains]]. The Dwarves then fled to [[Erebor]] and the [[Iron Hills]]. It is likely that the "[[Goblins]] and [[Hobgoblins]]" that later colonized the Ered Mithrin drove most of the Cold-drakes back into the Northern Waste.
 
According to [[Frodo Baggins]]'s [[When evening in the Shire was grey|poem for Gandalf]], [[Gandalf]] had traveled to the Northern Waste.<ref>{{FR|Mirror}}</ref>


According to Frodo's poem "[[When evening in the Shire was grey]]", Gandalf had traveled to the Northern Waste. What his business was up there is unknown; it is nowhere else mentioned.  
==Other versions of the Legendarium==
[[File:Waste vs forodwaith.png|thumb|The different definitions of "Forodwaith" between the earlier and the later map.]]
In the earliest [[General Map of Middle-earth]] by [[Christopher Tolkien]], the northern portion of the [[Westlands]] is featureless, labeled as "Northern Waste", with the name "Forodwaith", in smaller letters, above the [[Mountains of Angmar]]; this seemed to suggest that Forodwaith is a part of the wider Northern Waste, if not a smaller separate region. This nomenclature was carried over to [[Pauline Baynes]]'s ''[[A Map of Middle-earth]]''.


In the icy North too, lived a branch of [[Men]] called the [[Lossoth]]. They were a hardy folk fit to survive in the cold snowy regions of the north. The people lived mostly in tribes. The Lossoth never involved themselves with the world outside their frozen lands and played no known significant role in the wars until King [[Arvedui]], the last king of [[Arnor]], came out of hiding from an abandoned Dwarf-mine in the Northern [[Ered Luin]] and asked for aid from the Lossoth of Forochel. He was able to convince them to aid him, and as a reward gave them the [[Ring of Barahir]]. [[Círdan]] eventually sent ships for him. On his departure day, the Lossoth warned Arvedui that a storm was comming and urged him not to go, but he paid little heed to their words. He did indeed perish in the storm, and sank to the bottom of the [[Icebay of Forochel|bay]], along with the [[Palantír]] of [[Fornost]] and [[Amon Sûl]].  
Later, Christopher Tolkien realized that the two names are synonymous. The misunderstanding was corrected in the later map known as [[The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age]], where only the name "Forodwaith" appears, labeling all the blank portion north of the [[Mountains of Angmar]] and the [[Grey Mountains]].<ref name=intro>{{UT|IMap}}</ref>
[[Category:Realms]]
{{references}}
[[Category:Middle-earth]]
[[Category:Regions]]
[[Category:Regions]]
[[Category:Evil realms]]
[[Category:Mannish realms]]
[[de:Forodwaith]]
[[de:Forodwaith]]
[[fi:Pohjoinen Autio]]
[[fi:Pohjoinen Autio]]
[[fr:/encyclo/geographie/regions/forodwaith]]

Revision as of 14:51, 23 October 2017

This article is about the region of Middle-earth. For the MERP supplement, see The Northern Waste.
Northern Waste
vast desolated territory
Rob Alexander - Forod.jpg
General Information
Locationabove Angmar, Mount Gundabad and Ered Mithrin
Typevast desolated territory
DescriptionIcy isolated region with very few inhabitants
RegionsForochel
InhabitantsForodwaith, Orcs, Cold-drakes, Lossoth

The Northern Waste was a vast cold region of mostly ice and snow, in the far north end of Middle-earth,[1] beyond the Mountains of Angmar, Mount Gundabad and the Ered Mithrin. The main known area was Forochel.

The location was also named Forodwaith (S., "Nothern lands, people") after the hardy Forodwaith folk, who inhabited it.

History

The Waste had been made very cold earlier in Arda's history because of the presence of Utumno and Melkor's evil cold emanating from it. The region remained cold even after Utumno's destruction.

Angelo Montanini - Northern Waste

The region was once inhabited by a hardy Mannish folk, the Forodwaith who gave the region its name. However in later years (possibly suffering by the Witch-king of Angmar) their remnants retreated to the Cape of Forochel.[2]

Dragons also dwelt in there[3] and after many years they multiplied and became strong and made war against the Dwarves. Cold-drakes came from the Northern Waste and drove the Dwarves of the Grey Mountains out of their homes, and most of the Dwarves then moved to Erebor and the Iron Hills.[4]

According to Frodo Baggins's poem for Gandalf, Gandalf had traveled to the Northern Waste.[5]

Other versions of the Legendarium

The different definitions of "Forodwaith" between the earlier and the later map.

In the earliest General Map of Middle-earth by Christopher Tolkien, the northern portion of the Westlands is featureless, labeled as "Northern Waste", with the name "Forodwaith", in smaller letters, above the Mountains of Angmar; this seemed to suggest that Forodwaith is a part of the wider Northern Waste, if not a smaller separate region. This nomenclature was carried over to Pauline Baynes's A Map of Middle-earth.

Later, Christopher Tolkien realized that the two names are synonymous. The misunderstanding was corrected in the later map known as The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age, where only the name "Forodwaith" appears, labeling all the blank portion north of the Mountains of Angmar and the Grey Mountains.[6]

References

  1. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age" [map]
  2. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur"
  3. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "An Unexpected Party"
  4. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "Durin's Folk"
  5. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Mirror of Galadriel"
  6. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Introduction", "The Map of Middle-earth"
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