Southward Road
From Tolkien Gateway
The Southward Road was a road in Ithilien that ran from the Black Gate to the Cross-roads of the Fallen King, where it crossed the road that went from Osgiliath to Minas Morgul. Just north of the Cross-roads the Southward Road wound its way near the feet of the Ephel Dúath.[1]
It is not known if the name Southward Road was another name for the Harad Road, which means South Road[note 1] or the North Road[2] of Ithilien or if the name Southward Road was only used for a part of the road, which continued under the name Harad Road after the Cross-roads[3][note 2] or after a point lying further to the south, such as the Crossings of Poros.[4][5][6][7]
Notes
- ↑ The Sindarin word Harad means "south" (ref. Parma Eldalamberon, Issue 17, entry S harad, p. 88).
- ↑ The road that runs from the Morannon to the Cross-roads and then on to the river Poros is unnamed on the General Map of Middle-earth, the Map of Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor and on the map of The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age. On those maps only the part of the road south of the river Poros is named Harad Road. The part of the road that runs from the Cross-roads in Ithilien south towards the river Poros is named Harad Road on the unnamed map of the surroundings of Minas Tirith that was drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien during the writing of The Lord of the Rings, which is electronically labelled MINAS TIRITH on the Website of the Tolkien Estate.
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "Journey to the Cross-Roads", p. 702
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", "(i) The Northmen and the Wainriders"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Unnamed map of the surroundings of Minas Tirith electronically labelled MINAS TIRITH by the Tolkien Estate", (accessed 21 June 2021)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "Map of Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, "The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age" [map]
- ↑ Christopher Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (older editions), General Map of Middle-earth
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, Hammond and Scull assume that the Southward Road ran from the Black Gate to Harad, p. 484
