The survivors of the Forodwaith, the ancient people from whom the northern lands of Middle-earth took their name. The Lossoth lived mainly along the northern shores of the Icebay of Forochel, but also explored the lands around its southern rim. Sometimes known as the Snowmen, they had a culture well adapted to their icy existence, constructing houses out of snow (apparently similar in principle to igloos), and travelling on sleds and bone skates.
The Lossoth entered history near the end of the second millennium of the Third Age, when they gave aid to Arvedui, last King of Arthedain, who had fled into the north to escape his kingdom's destruction. When an Elven-ship came to rescue him, he rewarded the Lossoth for their friendship with the Ring of Barahir. His hosts sensed approaching disaster, and warned Arvedui not to board the ship. Against their advice, he did so, but a great storm overwhelmed the ship and the last King of Arthedain was lost in the cold waters of the far north.
Notes
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Our evidence for the later history of the Lossoth is extremely thin, but a footnote discussing them in Appendix A to The Lord of the Rings speaks of them in the present tense. Since this appendix represents material compiled after the War of the Ring, this can probably be taken to imply that they were still extant into the Fourth Age.
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2 |
The same footnote referenced above (in Eriador, Arnor and the Heirs of Isildur, Appendix A I (iii) to The Lord of the Rings) describes the Lossoth as a 'remnant of the Forodwaith, Men of far-off days'. This suggests that the Forodwaith had once been more numerous or widespread, and the Lossoth represented a surviving descendant culture, though the history of this people is not given in any detail.
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- Updated 27 April 2022
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