Forodwaith
Encyclopedia
In J. R. R. Tolkien
's fiction
al universe of Middle-earth
, Forodwaith was the name both of a region and the people that lived there.
name Forodwaith translates loosely as Northern Waste and literally as Northern Realm, and was a name for the land north of the Iron Mountains of the First Age
. Little was known of it, except that despite lying scarcely 100 leagues north of the Shire
, it was an area of immense cold. This was due to its proximity to the Gap of Ilmen, and Morgoth
's evil cold, which emanated, in ancient times, from his place of dwelling, and lingered still into the Third Age.
After the War of Wrath
and the breaking of the World, the Iron Mountains were mostly destroyed, and the area of Forodwaith that lay north of Eriador
became known as Forochel, together with the great ice-bay and cape that carried the same name.
of Forodwaith were a strange folk apparently unrelated to the Edain
. During the Third Age
their descendants were known as the Snowmen of Forochel or Lossoth. In Unfinished Tales
it was stated that they could glide on ice
by tying bones to their feet. The Lossoth made their houses of snow, and possessed "carts without wheels," probably sleighs. They believed that inhospitable weather was caused by the Witch-king of Angmar
, and feared his supposed ability to cause storms so greatly that when at first King Arvedui arrived seeking help, they remained aloof. They dwelled mainly on the Cape of Forochel, whose location made them inaccessible to their foes, "but they often camped on the south shores of the bay at the feet of the Mountains."
, last King of Arthedain, fled to the Ice-bay of Forochel after his realm was destroyed by Angmar
. The King approached the Lossoth and attempted to barter with them for supplies with jewels, in which the Lossoth had no interest. Fearing the wrath of Angmar, the Lossoth were at first unwilling to help. Eventually, the decision to aid the King was made in part out of fear of violence, and partly out of pity for the ragged and emaciated condition of the King's fellowship. The Lossoth provided the men with some food, and constructed snow huts for them to wait out the winter.
When word reached Círdan
that Arvedui had fled from his kingdom, he dispatched a vessel to Forochel to seek him. In March the ship reached the Ice Bay of Forochel, yet could not reach the shore as the ice floes were still thick and only just beginning to break and thaw. Now friendly to Arvedui, the Lossoth transported him and his men to the waiting ship on their sledges. Awed and afraid of the vessel, the like of which none of them had seen before, the Lossoth warned the King not to try to sail south in such frigid conditions. Against their advice Arvedui boarded the ship, which became surrounded by ice. Eventually the ship's hull was crushed, and he was drowned in the ice-bay, together with the palantír
i of the North.
However, the ring of Barahir, which Arvedui had carried, survived. He left it with the chief of the Lossoth in thanks for their aid, and the Dúnedain
later paid to recover it.
The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
. Introduced in April of 2008, a new zone around The Ice-Bay of Forochel was added, while the Epic quest line follows the last days of Arvedui, Last King of Arthedain. The game developers depict the Lossoth skating and pushing sledges on ice in accordance with J.R.R. Tolkien's notations. However, new elements were introduced in the depiction of the Lossoth, namely, their ability to tame and ride to war on mammoths.
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al universe of Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
, Forodwaith was the name both of a region and the people that lived there.
Geography
The SindarinSindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
name Forodwaith translates loosely as Northern Waste and literally as Northern Realm, and was a name for the land north of the Iron Mountains of the First Age
First Age
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the First Age, or First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar is the heroic period in which most of Tolkien's early legends are set...
. Little was known of it, except that despite lying scarcely 100 leagues north of the Shire
Shire (Middle-earth)
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...
, it was an area of immense cold. This was due to its proximity to the Gap of Ilmen, and Morgoth
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...
's evil cold, which emanated, in ancient times, from his place of dwelling, and lingered still into the Third Age.
After the War of Wrath
War of Wrath
The War of Wrath, or the Great Battle, is a key plot development in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium, portraying the final war against Morgoth at the end of the First Age....
and the breaking of the World, the Iron Mountains were mostly destroyed, and the area of Forodwaith that lay north of Eriador
Eriador
Eriador is a large region in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. In the Second Age, and possibly much earlier, it was largely forested, but the Dúnedain felled most of the forests to build ships. Much of it was encompassed in the early Third Age by the kingdom of Arnor, which...
became known as Forochel, together with the great ice-bay and cape that carried the same name.
The Lossoth
The MenMan (Middle-earth)
The race of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth books, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, refers to humanity and does not denote gender...
of Forodwaith were a strange folk apparently unrelated to the Edain
Edain
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Edain were men who made their way into Beleriand in the First Age, and were friendly to the Elves....
. During the Third Age
Third Age
The Third Age is a time period from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. The history of Middle-earth is to be taken fictionally as a history of the real Earth....
their descendants were known as the Snowmen of Forochel or Lossoth. In Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales is a collection of stories and essays by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980.Unlike The Silmarillion, for which the narrative fragments were modified to connect into a consistent and...
it was stated that they could glide on ice
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
by tying bones to their feet. The Lossoth made their houses of snow, and possessed "carts without wheels," probably sleighs. They believed that inhospitable weather was caused by the Witch-king of Angmar
Witch-king of Angmar
The Witch-king of Angmar, also known as the Lord of the Nazgûl and the Black Captain among other names, is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. In Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, he is the chief of the Nazgûl , the chief servants...
, and feared his supposed ability to cause storms so greatly that when at first King Arvedui arrived seeking help, they remained aloof. They dwelled mainly on the Cape of Forochel, whose location made them inaccessible to their foes, "but they often camped on the south shores of the bay at the feet of the Mountains."
The Last King of Arthedain
ArveduiArvedui
Arvedui is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium.Arvedui was the son of King Araphant of Arthedain. He was born in T.A. 1864 and came to the throne in 1964 at the death of his father...
, last King of Arthedain, fled to the Ice-bay of Forochel after his realm was destroyed by Angmar
Angmar
Angmar is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's continent of Middle-earth.-Synopsis:Angmar was founded in in the far north of the Misty Mountains by the evil Lord of the Ringwraiths, who became known as the "Witch-king of Angmar"...
. The King approached the Lossoth and attempted to barter with them for supplies with jewels, in which the Lossoth had no interest. Fearing the wrath of Angmar, the Lossoth were at first unwilling to help. Eventually, the decision to aid the King was made in part out of fear of violence, and partly out of pity for the ragged and emaciated condition of the King's fellowship. The Lossoth provided the men with some food, and constructed snow huts for them to wait out the winter.
When word reached Círdan
Círdan
Círdan the Shipwright is a fictional character created by J. R. R. Tolkien. He was a Telerin Elf, a great mariner and shipwright, and lord of the Falas during much of the First Age. He was the bearer of the Great Ring Narya, which he in turn gave to Gandalf.He had a beard, which was rare for...
that Arvedui had fled from his kingdom, he dispatched a vessel to Forochel to seek him. In March the ship reached the Ice Bay of Forochel, yet could not reach the shore as the ice floes were still thick and only just beginning to break and thaw. Now friendly to Arvedui, the Lossoth transported him and his men to the waiting ship on their sledges. Awed and afraid of the vessel, the like of which none of them had seen before, the Lossoth warned the King not to try to sail south in such frigid conditions. Against their advice Arvedui boarded the ship, which became surrounded by ice. Eventually the ship's hull was crushed, and he was drowned in the ice-bay, together with the palantír
Palantír
A palantír is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír A palantír (pl. palantíri) is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír A palantír (pl. palantíri) is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír...
i of the North.
However, the ring of Barahir, which Arvedui had carried, survived. He left it with the chief of the Lossoth in thanks for their aid, and the Dúnedain
Dúnedain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Dúnedain were a race of Men descended from the Númenóreans who survived the sinking of their island kingdom and came to Eriador in Middle-earth, led by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion...
later paid to recover it.
Interpretations
A portion of Forochel is depicted in the MMORPGMMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game for Microsoft Windows set in a fantasy universe based upon J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings...
. Introduced in April of 2008, a new zone around The Ice-Bay of Forochel was added, while the Epic quest line follows the last days of Arvedui, Last King of Arthedain. The game developers depict the Lossoth skating and pushing sledges on ice in accordance with J.R.R. Tolkien's notations. However, new elements were introduced in the depiction of the Lossoth, namely, their ability to tame and ride to war on mammoths.