Lithlad
| Lithlad | |
|---|---|
| Plain | |
| General Information | |
| Location | South of the Ered Lithui, east of the Plateau of Gorgoroth[1][2] |
| Type | Plain |
| Description | Plain |
Lithlad was a plain in Mordor.[3]
The mountain range of the Ephel Duath and the mountain range of the Ered Lithui formed a great wall around the plains of Lithlad and of Gorgoroth, and the inland sea of Nurnen in the middle.[3]
Etymology
Lithlad is Sindarin for "Plain of Ashes".[4]
Other versions of the legendarium
The plain of Lithlad does not appear on any of the maps that were published with The Lord of the Rings and the text does not say anything about the plain of Lithlad or about its location
In draft 'A' of the chapter The Tower of Cirith Ungol it is mentioned that the eastern face of the tower stood up from a shelf in the mountain wall with four pointed bastions with sides facing north-east and north-west and that the windows of the tower stared over the plains of Gorgoroth and Lithlad.[5]
The plain of Lithlad appears on The First Map of The Lord of the Rings on the map square P18 just to the south of the Ered Lithui, which are located in the north of this map square, and east of map square P16 where Barad-dûr is located.[1] It appears on The Second Map of The Lord of the Rings on the map squares Q17 and Q18, south of map squares P17 and P18, where the Ered Lithui are located and east of map square Q16 where Barad-dûr is located.[2] The longer mountain spur that branches off from the Ered Lithui to the east of Barad-dûr and that is longer than the mountain spur on whose end Barad-dûr is located, does not exist on those maps. The plain of Lithlad does not appear on The Third Map of The Lord of the Rings. If Lithlad would be placed on The Third Map of the Lord of the Rings in the same position as on the second map, it would be to the east of the longer mountain spur that branches off from the Ered Lithui.
Based on its position in The First Map of The Lord of the Rings, Mark Fisher places Lithlad between the mountain spur on whose end Barad-dûr is located and the longer mountain spur that branches off from the Ered Lithui to the east of Barad-dûr.[6]
Although Karen Wynn Fonstad was aware of the location of Lithlad on The First Map of The Lord of the Rings, she places Lithlad" on the north-western shore of the Sea of Núrnen in Nurn.[7]
Robert Foster places Lithlad either in the southwest or the east of Mordor.[8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Treason of Isengard, "XV. The First Map of The Lord of the Rings", "Maps IIIA and III", p. 309
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Ring, "Part Three: Minas Tirith", "XIV. The Second Map", The Second Map (East), p. 435
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Black Gate is Closed", second paragraph
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 457
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Sauron Defeated, "Part One: The End of the Third Age: II. The Tower of Kirith Ungol", p. 20
- ↑ Mark Fisher, "Lithlad", The Encyclopedia of Arda (accessed 25 December 2021)
- ↑ Karen Wynn Fonstad The Atlas of Middle-earth, p. 91 with note 31 p. 93
- ↑ Robert Foster, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, entry "LITHLAD"
