Mountains of Mirkwood

2023-01-18T15:12:19Z

162.158.74.54: fixed what i believe was a little mistake.

{{location infobox
| name=Mountains of Mirkwood
| image=
| caption=
| pronun=
| othernames=Dark Mountains<br />''Emyn Duir'', ''Emyn-nu-Fuin'' ([[Sindarin|S]])
| location=Running west to east through the northern parts of [[Mirkwood]]
| type=Mountain range
| description=
| regions=
| towns=
| inhabitants=Primarily [[Elves of Mirkwood|Elves]]
| created=
| destroyed=
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}}
The '''Mountains of Mirkwood''' were a range of high hills in the north-east of [[Mirkwood]].<ref name=GladdenNotes>{{UT|7a}}, note 14, pp. 280-281</ref>

==Geography==
The Mountains of Mirkwood ran from west to east for over 100 miles, north of the [[Old Forest Road]] and south of the [[Forest River]] in the north-east of Mirkwood. The mountains in the eastern part of the range were higher than the ones in the western part.<ref>{{FR|Map}}</ref>

The [[Enchanted Stream]] flowed from a source on the northern side of the Mountains of Mirkwood north in a great bend until its confluence with the Forest River. Another river, whose name is unknown, flowed from a source on the south-eastern end of the range south-east until it joined the [[River Running]].<ref name=Wilderland>{{H|Wilderland}}</ref>

==History==
At the end of the [[Second Age]], [[Oropher]], the king of the [[Silvan Elves]] of the forest and his numerous people lived in the western valleys of the mountains, which were then called ''Emyn Duir'' (Dark Mountains), because of the dense fir-woods that grew on their slopes.<ref name=GladdenNotes/>

Around {{TA|1000}} when the shadow of [[Sauron]] spread from [[Dol Guldur]]<ref>{{App|TA}}, entry for the year ''c.'' 1100, p. 1085</ref> north through the forest, which had been called ''Eryn Galen'' (Greenwood the Great), the Silvan Elves retreated further to the north-east of the forest and their King [[Thranduil]], who had succeeded his father Oropher after his death in the [[Battle of Dagorlad]], created an underground [[Elvenking's Halls|fortress and halls]]<ref>{{UT|6b}}</ref> on the north bank of the Forest River in the very east of the forest.<ref name=Wilderland/> As a consequence of the spreading of the shadow of Sauron, the name of the forest was changed to ''Taur-nu-Fuin'' (Mirkwood). The mountains became haunted by the most evil creatures of Sauron and their name was changed to ''Emyn-nu-Fuin'' (Mountains of Mirkwood).<ref name=GladdenNotes/>

After the passing of [[Sauron]] and the [[Fall of Dol Guldur|cleansing]] of Mirkwood, Thranduil and [[Celeborn]], the lord of the Silvan Elves of [[Lothlórien]], met on 6 April {{TA|3019|n}},<ref>{{App|Chief}}, entry for the year 3019, April 6, p. 1095</ref> in the middle of Mirkwood and gave it the new name ''Eryn Lasgalen'', The Wood of Greenleaves. They divided the forest between them so that the realm of Thranduil encompassed the northern part of the wood down to the Mountains of Mirkwood and that the realm of Celeborn encompassed the southern part of the wood south of the [[Narrows of the Forest]], which was named East Lórien by Celeborn. Thranduil and Celeborn gave all the wide forest between the Mountains of Mirkwood and the Narrows of the Forest to the [[Beornings]] and the [[Woodmen]].<ref name=great>{{App|Great}}, p. 1094</ref> It is not known, if the name of the Mountains of Mirkwood was changed after the cleansing of Mirkwood and if it was changed back to ''Emyn Duir'' or to a different new name.

==Etymology==
The earlier name ''Emyn Duir'' is [[Sindarin]].<ref name=EmynDuir>{{webcite|author=Paul Strack|articleurl=https://www.eldamo.org/content/words/word-2053269975.html|articlename=S. ''Emyn Duir'' loc.|website=Eldamo|accessed=13 January 2023}}</ref> It means "Dark Mountains. The name was given, because of the dense growth of fir trees on their slopes and did not have evil connotations of [[Darkness]].<ref name=GladdenNotes/> It is a compound of the plural form ''Emyn'' of ''[[amon]]'' ("hill") and the plural of the adjective ''[[dûr]]'' ("dark").<ref name=EmynDuir/>

The later name ''Emyn-nu-Fuin'' is also ''Sindarin''<ref name=EmynNuFuin>{{webcite|author=Paul Strack|articleurl=https://www.eldamo.org/content/words/word-3709612913.html|articlename=S. ''Emyn-nu-Fuin'' loc.|website=Eldamo|accessed=13 January 2023}}</ref> and literally means "Mountains under Night".<ref>{{UT|Index}}, entry "Emyn-nu-Fuin"</ref> It is a compound of the plural form ''Emyn'' of ''[[amon]]'' ("hill"), the preposition ''[[nu]]'' and the noun ''[[fuin]]'' ("night").<ref name=EmynNuFuin/>

{{references}}
[[Category:Mountain ranges|Mirkwood]]
[[Category:Rhovanion]]

[[de:Emyn-nu-Fuin]]
[[fi:Tummavuoret]]

Tolkien Gateway - User contributions [en]

Mountains of Mirkwood