Swanfleet
| Swanfleet | |
|---|---|
| Marsh | |
| General Information | |
| Other names | Nîn-in-Eilph |
| Location | On the lower course of the Glanduin in Eriador |
| Type | Marsh |
| Description | Vast marsh |
| Inhabitants | Swans |
The Swanfleet or Nîn-in-Eilph was a marshy area in eastern Eriador through which the lower reaches of the Glanduin (or "Swanfleet river") flowed before it joined the Mitheithel (Hoarwell).[1] The Swanfleet was effectively an inland delta, with uncertain streams and a very uncertain difference between land and water.
It strongly resembled the Gladden Fields on the other side of Hithaeglir, and as such many Stoors felt right at home here after their migration into Eriador. These Stoors remained here until the Great Plague nearly wiped them out, and the remainder then went to the Southfarthing of the Shire.
At the east end of the Swanfleet was a waterfall, beyond which was a ford over the Glanduin,[2] from where led a road to the ruins of Ost-in-Edhil, the ruined city of Eregion.[3]
Etymology[edit]
The name Nîn-in-Eilph is Sindarin for "water-lands of the Swans".[4]
Other versions of the legendarium[edit]
In the first printings of A Map of Middle-earth, Pauline Baynes wrongly labels "R[iver] Swanfleet" as the lower part of the R. Glanduin; Swanfleet is not a river. The mistake was corrected in later prints.[5]
Portrayal in adaptations[edit]
2022: The Lord of the Rings Online:
- The name Swanfleet is applied not only to the delta, which is specifically called "Wadewater", but to the entire surrounding region east of the Gwathló. This includes "Western Eregion" and the lands about the Old South Road on the edge of Enedwaith. Several villages of Men and Stoor Hobbits can be found here, as can the ruins of "Caras Gelebren", capital of Eregion.
- Swanfleet is presented as an optional starting location available to new characters of all races, as opposed to the default starting regions of Bree-land, Ered Luin, and the Shire, to which new characters are sent depending on their race.
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age" [map]
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "Many Partings"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor" (edited by Carl F. Hostetter), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 42, July 2001, p. 7
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. lxvi
