Maps of Middle-earth: The Second Age | Tolkien Explained

Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we continue our look at the Maps of Middle-

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covering the lands of the Second Age. As we mentioned last time, the kingdoms of Beleriand are decimated by the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age, causing the vast majority of the lands to sink into the sea. Today we will begin our journey with some of the remains of Beleriand. The first is Tol Morwen, an island off the coast of Forlindon. This place is where Morwen, the mother of Turin Turambar, is buried. During the early era, the place is known as Cabed Naeramarth, as is the location of the Stone of the Unfortunate, a type of sacred tombstone marking the deaths of Turin, Nienor, and Morwen.

It is said that this island, and the stone itself, are almost all that remains of Beleriand after the first era. The largest of the three islands seen here is Tol Fuin, named after the lands from which they originated: Taur-nu-Fuin, or if you remember from our First Age video, they were once the highlands of Dorthonion, where Beren once wandered with his father. Barahir. Finally, we have the island of Himling, which was once Himring Hill, fortress of Maedhros. This island is located approximately 40 kilometers north of Lindon. Speaking of Lindon, let's go to the mainland. Lindon is divided into two parts.

The northern section is known as Forlindon, while the southern section is known as Harlindon. These kingdoms were once part of Ossiriand. The kingdom is led by Gil-galad, now the high king of the Noldor. Other notable citizens of Lindon at the beginning of the Second Age are Elrond, Galadriel, Celeborn, and Cirdan. Cirdan and the elves of Lindon found the haven of Mithlond, or as you may know it, the Grey. As we mentioned when we covered Beleriand, we also have parts of the Blue Mountains that survived the War of Wrath. While the dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost would begin the

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age in their cities, around the year 20 SA they would travel to Khazad-dum to join the dwarves descended from Durin.

Lake Nenuial, also known as Lake Evendim, is located approximately 100 miles north of what would one day be The Shire. This body of water, approximately 50 miles long by 20 miles wide, would become the home of Galadriel and Celeborn after they left Lindon shortly after the Second Age. The Forodwaith area is named after the people who inhabited it. These lands were very cold since the early days of Middle-

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, when Melkor had his first fortress of Utumno in the far north, which led to the lands around them being affected by Melkor's evil cold emanating from the strength. The Forodwaith people were a hardy people who lived in the frozen lands of the north.

While we don't know much about this civilization, we do know that the last remnant of these people would still exist in the Third Age: the Lossoth, but we will talk about them when we get to the Third Age. Also in the north we have the summit of Mount Gundabad, the place where Durin woke up in ancient times. Durin heads south and eventually settles in Hithaeglir (also known as the Misty Mountains), where he founds the dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dum. Later in the Second Age, after Sauron invaded Eregion, Durin's people, also known as the Longbeards, sealed Durin's Gate.

The orcs, in turn, would take Mount Gundabad, a sacred place to the dwarves. The Ered Mithrin, or Gray Mountains, would be infested with orcs well into their old age. In the northeast, we have the lands of Rhovanion, whose most notable inhabitants are the elves of Lorinand (who would come to be known as Lorien), and the kingdom of Greenwood, led by Thranduil's father, Oropher. While ruled by Sindarin lords, the population of each kingdom is primarily made up of wood elves. The Lonely Mountain, at least since the early days of the Second Age, was under the control of Durin's people, but it would not come into play much during this era.

Likewise, the Longbeards of Khazad-dum colonized the Iron Hills during the Early Era, which became the dwarves' main source of iron ore. When the orcs take over Mount Gundabad and the Gray Mountains, after communication between Khazad-dum and the Iron Hills is cut off. Also in the lands of Rhovanion we have some of the northmen or

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men who were the ancestors of the Rohirrim. These were men who were not descendants of Númenóreans, but who were not openly hostile to the Númenóreans either. They are further apart and, in fact, the Entwives teach them agriculture. At the same time they give great honor to women.

For more information on these men, watch my video on the people of Eotheod. Returning west, to the aforementioned Eregion, we find the kingdom of the elves led by Celebrimbor, the elven blacksmith who directed the creation of the rings of power. The capital is Ost-in-Edhil and is located near the entrance to Khazad-dum. It was Celebrimbor and his friend Narvi the dwarf who created the Gates of Durin during the Second Age. After Sauron creates the One Ring, he leads an open war against the elves of Eregion and the larger lands of Eriador. Eregion is destroyed, Ost-in-Edhil sacked, and Celebrimbor slain.

These events would eventually lead to Elrond establishing the kingdom of Rivendell along with the refugees of Eregion. As I mentioned in my last video, early Eriador was part of a huge forest that encompassed most of the lands we know as Middle-earth. It was the war of the Elves and Sauron that caused the final deforestation of much of the kingdoms of Eriador, including Enedhwaith and Minhiriath. However, the deforestation of these kingdoms had begun centuries earlier, by the same people who would help save Eriador from Sauron's rule: the Númenóreans. In the 7th century of the Second Age, the Númenóreans arrived in Eriador, founded the port of Lond Daer and harvested large quantities of trees.

The open hostility between the men of Minhiriath and the Númenóreans would lead the former to welcome Sauron's attempted conquest in 1693. However, Sauron would burn most of what remained of the forest in his retreat from it. Enedhway was in a similar situation; However, while the surviving Minhiriath would become part of the future kingdom of Arnor, Enedhwaith would not ally himself with either. The men of the kingdom, known as Gwathuirim, would always hate the Númenóreans and their descendants. They would remain allied with Sauron and in their third age these men, also known as the Dunlendings, would ally themselves with Saruman, aiding him in the Battle of Helm's Deep and later in his takeover of the Shire.

Now that we know some of their actions and their enemies, we should take a look at the island kingdom of Numenor. This island was a gift from Vala Ulmo to the Edain for their participation in the war against Morgoth during the First Age. Now I will eventually make a full video on the history of Numenor and its actions, but for now we will just highlight the geography. The star-shaped island has different regions seen here on the map. The northern section is called Forostar, which is a land of rocks and cliffs. This land, which measures approximately 200 miles from the North Cape to its southern border, also features larch and spruce forests.

To the west we have Andustar, a mostly fertile region that features three bays at its western end. The northernmost bay is called Andunie Bay and has a port and town of the same name. In the southwest, we have Hyarnustar, known for its farmland and vineyards. Hyarrostar in the southeast, from whose forests much of the wood that the Númenóreans used to build their great ships was obtained. In the northwest we have Orrostar, another area of ​​farmland where the Númenóreans grew much of their grain. Towards the interior we have the Mattalmar region, with its pastures and meadows.

This is the most important region of Númenor, as it contains the capital Armenelos in its eastern half. Also of note is Meneltarma, a sacred mountain in the center of the island. Also known as the Holy Mountain, it was dedicated to Eru Ilúvatar. Anyone who climbed the mountain was required to maintain absolute silence and not even the animals of the land would approach the top. Only the Eagles of Manwe were surrounding the summit. They were considered sacred guardians of the mountain and the land of Númenor. There are some subregions worth mentioning here as well.

Emerie is the place where the Númenóreans raised and herded sheep. Nismaldar was home to the great haven of Eldalonde, said to be the most beautiful of all the havens in Númenor. And Arandor, also known as Kingsland, is home to the capital and port of Romenna. Armenelos, in addition to being the capital, is also where Sauron would advise the King to build a temple for the cult of Melkor. The eastern port of Romenna was an important location for the group of faithful Númenóreans who did not follow Sauron's influence. As Sauron leads Numenor's largest faction, known as the King's Men, to rebel against the Valar, Eru destroys the island.

It was from the port of Romenna that Elendil and his sons would lead nine ships of the Faithful to Middle-earth, having foreseen the coming destruction. There they gathered both the Numenoreans and the indigenous peoples of the lands and founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. Arnor encompasses much of the lands we discussed above, while Gondor is much larger than we would see it later in the Third Age. Of note is the lands of Calenardhon, which would later become the kingdom of Rohan. The destruction of Númenor would not only force the relocation of the faithful, but would also affect the elves of Lindon, who would suffer great losses when the sea reached the land, due to the displacement of Númenor.

As we return south, you will no doubt recognize Mordor as it lies in the southeastern lands of Middle-earth. But what about the lands around him from which Sauron gains many of his allies? We'll start with the lands of Rhun, also known simply as the East. As we learned in my previous videos, this was a favorite area of ​​Sauron's to retreat to when things got tough for him. This, combined with the fact that Morgoth previously also had a strong presence in this area, it is no surprise that Sauron would find followers in the East. While the Easterlings will no doubt be the most familiar inhabitants to fans, we know that there were also four dwarven clans located in the lands of Rhun: the Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks, and Stonefoots.

Additionally, according to Tolkien's later writings, the Blue Wizards would arrive in Middle-earth in the Second Age, meaning they could have been working in these lands during this time. Once again, we will cover more about the people and events of these regions with their own videos, but for now we will continue our journey through the geography of the Second Age. In the south of Middle-earth are the lands of Harad. This is the home of the Haradrim and the great Olifants of Middle-earth. Unlike the Easterners, we know a little more about the Haradrim. Initially, the relationship between the Númenórean navigators and the Haradrim was fruitful.

The Numenoreans establish the refuges of Umbar, while the Haradrim learn agriculture and crafts from the Numenoreans. However, as Numenor turned dark, so did his interactions with others. They became lords of their allies in Middle-earth, demanding tribute and oppressing the people of Harad. The land of Khand is one we hear about much less frequently than the previous two. As their known actions occur in the Third Age, we will simply note in this video that they are known as the Variags and would often ally themselves with Sauron or the Haradrim in attacking Gondor. As we will see in future videos, the corruption of Númenor and the influence of Sauron would make these southern and eastern kingdoms sworn enemies of the men of the west in later years.

The surviving Númenóreans would build some of Middle-earth's most iconic monuments during the Second Age, including the tower of Orthanc, the cities of Minas Ithil, Minas Tirith and Osgiliath, and the watchtower of Amon Sul, with even more to come. . the third Age. In the next Maps of Middle-earth video, we'll cover the map of the Third Age, including the fall of Arnor, the decline of Gondor, the founding of Rohan, and the decline of the kingdoms of the elves and dwarves.