The long river that rose in the icy north of Middle-earth, in the Misty Mountains about a hundred miles north of Rivendell. It flowed southwestwards through the lands that had once been held by the kingdom of Rhudaur, round the woodland region of the Trollshaws. Passing beneath the Last Bridge on the East-West Road, it flowed on into the south, until it met Glanduin1 to form the river Gwathló (or Greyflood).
The river's Mannish name was Hoarwell, a free translation of the Elvish Mitheithel. The Elvish name for the river contains the components mith 'grey' and eithel 'spring, well'.
Notes
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There is some confusion over the point where the Mitheithel ended and the Gwathló began, and specifically whether this happened at the confluence of Mitheithel with Bruinen, or with Glanduin farther to the south. There are various references in Unfinished Tales to support the inflow of Glanduin as the end of Mitheithel (and indeed, the index to that book defines Gwathló as '...formed by the junction of Mitheithel and Glanduin'). This seems conclusive, but on the other hand, Aragorn addresses the same question in The Lord of the Rings, and there he says that the Greyflood (Gwathló) began after Mitheithel was joined by the Loudwater (Bruinen) rather than Glanduin. Aragorn's precise wording is that, 'Some call it the Greyflood after that.' (The Fellowship of the Ring I 12, Flight to the Ford, our italics). From the phrasing 'some call it', we might infer that there was disagreement over the point even within Middle-earth.
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See also...
Bridge of Mitheithel, Cardolan, Great Fens, Last Bridge, Misty Mountains, Nîn-in-Eilph, Prince of Cardolan, River Bruinen, River Greyflood, River Hoarwell, Waterlands of the Swans
Indexes:
About this entry:
- Updated 6 July 2016
- This entry is complete
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