The Firien wood or Halifirien Wood also called Firienholt, Whispering Wood, and Wood of Anwar is an oak forest below the Halifirien, the last of the Warning beacons of Gondor.
It was located at the foot of the White Mountains bordering the Mering Stream and the Eastfold of Rohan in the land of Anórien.
It was about twenty or twenty-five miles for west to east.
The Great West Road passed through here in a long cutting within the forest done to avoid the wet lands that lie to its north.
Save for beast and bird, the only inhabitants of the forest were the Beacon-wardens who built lodges in the trees not far from the summit of the beacon-hill.
History
In some point in ancient times, the Great West Road was cut through the wood to facilitate travel from east to west but no one known was to have shown interest in the wood, until the days of the Dúnedain living in the Realms in Exile. It is known that after the departure of Isildur no tree was ever felled here again, which suggested that the forest was once exploited for its timber, perhaps by the Númenóreans colonists. Afterwards, the Kingdom of Gondor built the seven Beacons of Gondor for the calling of aid from the Rohirrim who were living in Calenardhon, now called Rohan. From then on the Beacon-wardens lived there maintaining the road.
References
- Unfinished Tales pgs. 300-02 & 314
- The Atlas of Middle-earth pg. 89
Template:Space