Withered Heath
| Withered Heath | |
|---|---|
| Valley | |
 | |
| "Withered Lands" by Douglas Chaffee | |
| General Information | |
| Location | Between two arms of the eastern Grey Mountains |
| Type | Valley |
| Description | A long valley made barren by dragons |
| Inhabitants | Dragons |
| Gallery | Images of Withered Heath |
The Withered Heath was a dragon-infested valley in the eastern Grey Mountains in northern Rhovanion.
Description[edit | edit source]
The Withered Heath was a long narrow valley in the eastern part of the Grey Mountains, where they forked into two thin ranges.[1][2] On the floor of this long east-west valley between the mountains was a heath, burned and blackened by its inhabitants, being the breeding-ground of dragons.[3]
History[edit | edit source]
At one time the dragons of the Heath had infested the Grey Mountains and the lands beyond, and in the closing decades of the Third Age, the Dragon Smaug terrorised the inhabitants of the north.[4] Smaug was the last of the great dragons, but lesser members of his kind remained.
Other version of the legendarium[edit | edit source]
In one of the earliest versions of the legendarium, the Withered Heath was the name of the Heath of the Sky-roof, a location of Tol Eressëa near Tavrobel, after a great battle between Men who came to the island.[5]
In the manuscript of The Hobbit, Bladorthin (the pre-cursor to Gandalf) says that the Withered Heath is "where the Great Dragons used to live".[6]
Portrayal in adaptations[edit | edit source]
1982-97: Middle-earth Role Playing:
- The Withered Heath (Quenya Sarch nia Linquelíë) is a volcanic basin covering some 8,600 square miles, home to the Drakes of the Grey Mountains.[7][8]
2018: The Lord of the Rings Online:
- The Withered Heath is an area of Ered Mithrin where players can find many Drakes. It is a frigid but geologically active area with sulphur deposits and geysers, and a river running eastward through the middle. In the north-west is the Anvil of Winterstith, a glacier that houses the Frost-horde, an army of dragon-spawn led by Hrímil Frost-Heart, a great Cold-dragon of the ancient days. A servant of Morgoth during the First Age, Hrímil rejected Sauron and earned his enmity by consuming one of the Dwarven Rings of Power.
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "Map of Wilderland"
- ↑ 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 Hobbit, "An Unexpected Party"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "Durin's Folk"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, "VI. The History of Eriol or Ælfwine and the End of the Tales"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Mr. Baggins, pp. 9, 20
- ↑ Mark Rabuck (1992), Northwestern Middle-earth Gazetteer (#4002)
- ↑ Craig Paget, Karen McCullough & Joseph A. McCullough V (1992), The Grey Mountains (#3113)
