The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Uncertain; may date back to the middle of the Second Age1
Location
Running west to east through the northern parts of Eriador
Settlements
Other names

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 17 December 2017
  • Updates planned: 1

Old Road

The road running east through Eriador

Map of the Old Road
The route of Old Road (somewhat conjectural)2
The route of Old Road (somewhat conjectural)2

A name sometimes used for the East-West Road that led through Eriador to Rivendell, and especially for its eastern reaches beyond the town of Bree.


Notes

1

The fact that the Road led to the Ford of Bruinen strongly suggests that it was made after the founding of Rivendell in the mid-Second Age. Its most likely construction date would be after the foundation of Arnor at the end of the Second Age.

2

We have textual evidence that the Old Road reached as far as the Grey Havens at its western end, but its precise route westward of the Shire is not shown on any map. This is the reason that the western part of the road is shown as a dashed line on this map. The road may have diverged from the line shown here (though presumably not by a great deal, since this is the direct route to the Grey Havens). This stretch of the Old Road was likely connected somehow to the Tower Hills, which lay close to its route, and were an important site to both the Men of Arnor and Elves of Lindon.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 17 December 2017
  • Updates planned: 1

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