Underharrow

Underharrow beneath Dunharrow (somewhat conjectural)³

The river Snowbourn rose under the Starkhorn in the White Mountains, and flowed northwards past Edoras and onto the plains of Rohan. On its upper course, as it ran through the mountains, the river carved a deep, flat-bottomed valley hemmed by cliffs. Above the valley on its eastern side stood the place known as Dunharrow (harrow being an old word for a fane or temple) and from it the valley took its name: Harrowdale.

The river followed a course along the western side of the valley floor, and dotted along its course, on the road that ran beside the river, were small settlements of the Rohirrim. One of these villages lay at a point directly beneath Dunharrow, westward across the valley from the Stair that led up to that hold. From that location beneath the mysterious old temple, the village became known as Underharrow.

By the time of the Rohirrim, Dunharrow's original purpose had been forgotten, but its defensible location meant that the Men of Rohan maintained it as a refuge for their people in time of war. During the War of the Ring, Théoden sent his people there for protection, and also gathered his forces there. As well as occupying the open Firienfeld on the cliff-top, many of the Riders camped on the valley bottom, at the foot of the Stair of the Hold. This would have placed them in the lands opposite Underharrow for a time. Soon after his arrival, Théoden led his warriors away. The Riders passed through Underharrow and its neighbouring hamlet of Upbourn a mile downriver, on their way to aid in the defence of distant Minas Tirith.