Dead Marshes
From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.
| Place in Arda
| |
| Name | Dead Marshes |
|---|---|
| Other Names | |
| Description | Bogs to the northwest of Mordor |
| Constructed By | |
| Realm | Gondor later disputed |
| Lord | |
| Type | Geographical Feature |
| Lifespan | |
The Dead Marshes is the ancient battlefield of the Battle of Dagorlad between the Last Alliance and the forces of Mordor, where many of the fallen were laid to rest. Over time, the battlefield became marshes, which swallowed up the dead, though their bodies could still be seen floating in the water.
The Dead Marshes were located north-west of the Morannon, and southeast of the Emyn Muil. Aragorn once captured Gollum here, on 1 February (Third Age: 3017) and took him to Mirkwood. Also the Easterling tribe the Wainriders was driven into the marshes after the Battle of the Camp (Third Age: 1944).
[edit] Journey across the Dead Marshes
During the quest to destroy the One Ring (Third Age: 3019), Gollum led Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee through a passage through the marshes. They entered the Dead Marshes at Dawn on 1 March. The Passage was marked by lights that danced about and Candles which Gollum called "candles of corpses", and it is likely that those who become entranced by these lights and attempt to touch the bodies, drown in the water and join the dead. It seems that the bodies only appear in the water when the lights are lit. Frodo became entranced by these lights and tried to reach out and touch the faces of the dead, at the bottom of the marshes, though Sam broke him out of his trance. Gollum told them that the dead could not be touched, suggesting that he had once tried to eat them. While passing through the marshes a Black Rider on a fell beast passed overhead, terrifying Gollum enough that he started to slip back into his old speech-habits, which he had somewhat given up after swearing to "serve the master of the Precious." They exited the Marshes on the morning of March 2.
[edit] The Dead Marshes in the Films
In the Peter Jackson film version of The Two Towers, the Dead Marshes are shown with jets of fire rather than the misty candle-flames described in the book. Frodo actually falls into the muck where ghostly figures surround and reach for him, though Gollum pulls him out.
[edit] Behind the Scenes
- In the Journeys of Frodo atlas by Barbara Strachey, the Dead Marshes are depicted as an eastward extension of the swamps of Nindalf (Wetwang), although on the Lord of the Rings map they appear separate.
- In The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Tolkien speculated that the description of the Dead Marshes may have been based on his personal experience in World War I, specifically, the Battle of the Somme, in which he saw dead men who were laying in the mud where they were killed.
- Some fans believe that this scene in The Two Towers is the scariest scene in the whole Lord of the Rings series.
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Places of Middle-earth and Arda
Middle-earth Locations:
Provinces/Regions: Dunland | Ithilien | Rohan | Arnor | Ettenmoors | Gondor | Lindon | Minhiriath | Rhûn | The Shire | Mordor | Harad | Forochel Forests & Mountains: Erebor | Fangorn Forest | High Pass | Iron Hills | Lórien | Mirkwood | Mount Doom | Old Forest | Redhorn Pass | Tower Hills | Weather Hills City/Fortifications: Angband | Barad-dûr | Bree | Caras Galadhon | Dol Guldur | Fornost | Helm's Deep | Isengard | Minas Morgul | Minas Tirith | Osgiliath | Rivendell | Umbar | Utumno Miscellaneous: Cair Andros | Gap of Rohan | Grey Havens | Buckland | Enedwaith | Dagorlad | Dead Marshes | Fords of Isen | Weathertop | Argonath The rest of Arda:
Valinor | Númenor | Dark Land | Aman | Tol Eressëa |
