Folde

Folde was an ancient and historic region of Rohan, close to the King's courts in Edoras, which indeed originally held the King's seat at the town of Aldburg.^[1] It was the homeland of the royal family.^[2]

The Folde was the centre of the kingdom. Its boundary eastward was roughly a line South-west from the junction of the Snowbourn and Entwash to the mountains;^[3] the Eastfold was the land from that line east to the Fenmark between Entwash and the mountains;^[4] the Westfold was along the mountains as far as the River Isen.^[5]

The defensive center of the Folde and Eastfold was at Edoras.^[3]

[edit] Etymology

In Old English, folde means "earth, land, country".^[6]

References

1. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The Battles of the Fords of Isen", Appendix (i)
2. ↑ Robert Foster, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, p. 148, entry "Folde"
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), "Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings", published in A Tolkien Compass (edited by Jared Lobdell)
4. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "Map of Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor"
5. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age" [map]
6. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings" in Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, pp. 770-1