A term used to refer to the populated and comparatively civilised regions of Middle-earth, as opposed to the wild and dangerous regions to the East and the South. The term is somewhat vague, but it certainly includes the region known as Eriador, the wide land that lay westward of the Misty Mountains. It presumably also included Lindon, the land of the Elves westward of Eriador beyond the Blue Mountains.
The term 'West of Middle-earth' is specifically used with reference to the history of the Second Age (it would not have been relevant in the First Age, as there was a significant landmass - Beleriand - still further to the west). If applied to the Third Age, it would presumably also include the civilised lands of Gondor and later Rohan southward of the Misty Mountains, though during the Second Age this was a sparsely settled region with little historical significance.
Notes
1 |
The West of Middle-earth had no defined eastward boundary, and the meaning of the term might shift depending on context. For the related term Westlands of Middle-earth, Christopher Tolkien suggests in his index to Unfinished Tales that its eastern border could be considered to be the course of the river Anduin. There would be unavoidable exceptions in different situations, but this gives a simple distinction between the settled West of Middle-earth and the wild and little-known lands of the East.
|
Indexes:
About this entry:
- Updated 28 November 2025
- Updates planned: 1
For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.
Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2015, 2025. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.
Website services kindly sponsored by myDISCprofile, the free online personality test.
How do your personal strengths fit in with career matching? How can you identify them? Try a free personality test from myDISCprofile.
SHARE
