The Blackroot Vale, known as Mornan in Sindarin, was a valley of rich grassland through which the River Blackroot flowed.[1] The river rose beneath the sheer mountainsides of the White Mountains' southern extent, and in the shadowed rocks above its spring was the hidden gateway leading out from the Paths of the Dead.[2]
The people of the vale were known in Gondor for their archery skills, and their lord Duinhir took a small company of his bowmen to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.[3] With them went Duinhir's sons, Derufin and Duilin, both of whom were lost in the defense of Minas Tirith.[4]
On 8 March TA 3019, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and the Grey Company exited the Paths of the Dead at the source of the Morthond. They rode to the Stone of Erech where Aragorn, as the heir of Isildur, called upon the Oathbreakers to follow him and fulfill their pledge.[5]
Etymology
Carl F. Hostetter has suggested that the name Mornan consists of mor- ("dark") + nan (valley). [6]
References
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter II: "The Passing of the Gray Company"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter II: "The Passing of the Gray Company"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter VI: "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), "The Third Age"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter II: "The Passing of the Gray Company"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor" (edited by Carl F. Hostetter), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 42, July 2001, p. 29 (note 31)
