 | |
| River | |
| Bruinen | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Other names | Loudwater |
| Location | Eriador |
| Type | River |
| Regions | Rhudaur, Eregion |
Bruinen or Loudwater was a loud river in eastern Eriador.
Course
The river began as two streams that flowed from the western slopes of the Misty Mountains. The northern stream had its source near the High Pass. The southern stream flowed through the deep valley of Rivendell. The two streams joined a few miles southwest of Rivendell and then flowed southwest until the Loudwater flowed into the river Mitheithel. The Bruinen had only one known ford, the Ford near Rivendell.[1]
It is certain that the southern stream was called Bruinen or Loudwater, because Frodo's room in Rivendell "looked south across the ravine of the Bruinen"[2] and Frodo "walked along the terraces above the loud-flowing Bruinen"[3]. It is probable that the northern stream was also called the Bruinen or Loudwater, because Rivendell lay in the lands east of Loudwater[4] and the southern stream in the valley of Rivendell flows almost straight from east to west while the northern stream makes a turn to the flow to the southwest north of Rivendell so that the valley of Rivendell lies east from this section of the northern stream before it joins the southern stream[1].
History
After the founding of the realm of Arnor in 3320,[5] the Loudwater formed its eastern border.[6] In T.A. 861,[7] when Arnor was divided into the splinter-kingdoms of Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur, the river was the eastern border of Rhudaur.[8]
In T.A. 1150[9] the Stoors, one of the three kinds of Hobbits, left their homes at the bank of the river Anduin and migrated to the west,[10] crossed the Misty Mountains over the Redhorn Pass[9] and followed the course of the Loudwater southwards and settled between Tharbad and the borders of Dunland[10].
When Thorin and company went to reclaim Erebor, they crossed the Bruinen after their adventure with the Trolls, before they long paused at Rivendell.[11]
At the beginning of the War of the Ring Frodo Baggins was carried on Glorfindel's horse towards the Ford of Bruinen, with the Ringwraiths in hot pursuit. At the Ford Frodo, poisoned by a Morgul-wound, made his stand, and defied the Lord of the Nazgûl.[12] This lured the Ringwraiths into the Bruinen,[12] and Elrond commanded the river to form a great flood and Gandalf turned the shape of some of the waves into the form of white riders on white horses[13]. This flood carried away the the horses and the Ringwraiths, buying the Fellowship of the Ring some time.[12] Gandalf was convinced that the horses of the Ringwraiths had been killed in the river, but that the Ringwraiths had survived.[13]
Etymology
Tolkien translated the name as Loudwater.[14] Patrick H. Wynne suggested that Bruinen is Sindarin and linked the first element brui ("noisy") to the second element of the word Ulumúri, and several other Qenya and Goldogrin words with some connection to "great sound". The second element is nen ("water").[15]
Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull note that Loudwater is an old name for the River Wye in Buckinhamshire.[16]
Other versions of the legendarium
J.R.R. Tolkien pencilled in the name "Bruinen or Loudater" near the river north of the house of Elrond and "Merrill" near the tributary that flowed just south of the house of Elrond on the Map of Wilderland in one of his copies of The Hobbit.[17]
Portrayal in adaptations
2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:
- The Bruinen river defines the landscape of the Trollshaws region, its course past Rivendell definining the "Bruinen Gorges" and "Tal Bruinen" before it flows into western Eregion.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, "The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age" [map]
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Many Meetings", p. 238
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Council of Elrond", p. 239
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur", p. 1039
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Second Age", entry for the year 3320, p. 1084
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur", p. 1039
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Third Age", entry for the year 861, p. 1085
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur", The North-kingdom and the Dúnedain, p. 1040
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Third Age", entry for the year 1150, p. 1085
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, "Prologue", "Concerning Hobbits", p. 3
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "A Short Rest"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Flight to the Ford", pp. 212-15
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Many Meetings", p. 224
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Flight to the Ford", p. 200
- ↑ Patrick H. Wynne, "Editorial to "Bruinen in VT48" (8.95)" 2006-02-28, Lambengolmor, accessed 23 September 2022
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 14
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Return of the Shadow, "The First Phase: XI. From Weathertop to the Ford, Note on the river of Rivendell", pp. 204-205