Enedwaith

2011-11-26T14:57:22Z

212.183.128.33: /* History */ no evidence for annexation to Rohan in FA

{{cleanup}}
{{location
| image=[[Image:Enedwaith map.jpg|250px]]
| name=Enedwaith
| type=Region
| location=southeast of [[Minhiriath]], northwest of [[Rohan]]
| inhabitants=[[Men]]
| realms=[[Gondor]]<br/>[[Reunited Kingdom]]
| description=
| othernames=
| etymology=[[Sindarin|S.]] "middle-folk" or "middle-region"
| events=
| references=
|}}
[[Image:Matěj Čadil - Enedwaith.jpg|thumb|Enedwaith by [[Matěj Čadil]] ]]
'''Enedwaith''' ([[Sindarin|S]], pron. {{IPA|[eˈnedwa͡ɪθ]}}), also spelled '''Enedhwaith''' (pron. {{IPA|[eˈneðwa͡ɪθ]}}), originally referred to both a region of [[Middle-earth]] and the men that inhabited it, although the region Enedwaith retained that name even when the Enedwaith people were no more.

==Geography==
The boundaries of the Enedwaith were defined in the north by the rivers [[Gwathló]] and [[Glanduin]], to the east by the [[Misty Mountains|Hithaeglir]], and to the west by [[Belegaer]]. The southern border was less clear, but was probably formed by the river [[Isen]].

==History==
During the [[First Age|First]] and early [[Second Age]] Enedwaith was deeply forested, but the arrival of the timber-hungry [[Númenóreans]], from the seventh century of the Second Age onwards, devastated the landscape.

The Enedwaithrim themselves "were forest dwellers, scattered communities without central leadership." They were distantly related to the [[Haladin]] of old, but this wasn't recognized in time by Númenóreans, who were mainly descended from the First and Third Houses of the [[Edain]], and therefore spoke a language which was not related. The Enedwaithrim were not ranked as [[Middle Men]], friends and distant kin of the Edain, but were ranked among the "people of darkness", enemies and aliens.

The denuded forests of Enedwaith, and much of those to the north in Eriador, were finally destroyed by the [[War of the Elves and Sauron]] around {{SA|1700}}, during which much of what had survived the felling was burnt. Only remote corners like [[Eryn Vorn]] survived in Eriador, and the [[Old Forest]] still further north. Many surviving natives took refuge in the eastern highlands of Enedwaith, "the foothills of the Misty Mountains", which ultimately became [[Dunland]].

After {{SA|3320}}, Enedwaith formed the most northern part of the new Kingdom of [[Gondor]], at least officially. The south-east was still "in places well-wooded", but elsewhere Enedwaith was by this time "mostly grassland." Following the [[Great Plague]] in {{TA|1636}} however, Gondor's authority permanently lapsed throughout the region.

[[Tharbad]], originally one of two ancient cities on the Gwathló, and the only one to survive beyond the early [[Third Age]], was finally abandoned following devastating floods in {{TA|2912}}, and thereafter, only two groups survived in Enedwaith: the [[Dunlendings]] in the far east, and a "fairly numerous but barbarous fisher-folk" wandering the coast.

==Etymology==
Also spelled Enedhwaith. The name Enedwaith means "middle folk" or "middle region" in [[Sindarin]] from ''[[enedh]]'' meaning "middle" and ''[[gwaith]]'' which means "people" but is also used for regions.
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{{navigation
| title=Enedwaith
| north-west=[[Minhiriath]]
| north=[[Eriador]]
| north-east=[[Dunland]]
| west=The [[Belegaer|Great Sea]]
| east=[[Grey Mountains]]
| south-west=The [[Belegaer|Great Sea]]
| south=[[Gondor]]
| south-east=[[Rohan]]
}}
[[Category:Eriador]]
[[Category:Pre-Númenóreans]]
[[Category:Regions]]
[[Category:Rohan]]
[[Category:Sindarin Locations]]

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Enedwaith