North of the Angle
Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 7:40 pm
What do people think about the lands to the north and west of the angle?
It seems we know that the remnants of the Dunedain reside in the angle, and presumably range out from it a fair distance (if I recall correctly, Arathorn died in the ettenmoors), and there are the "poor wood-men and shepherds" of the trollshaws (I saw it hypothesised in a MERS newletter that these may have been dunedain, which I also think highly possible, though I also think it possible they were relatives of Bree-men, though perhaps they fled to the dunedain of the angle when they were pushed out of the trollshaws?). To the far northwest there are the Lossoth - and I wouldn't not be surprised if there were more bands of wood-men and hunters and shephers and the like in the north downs and so on, but what about in the large area between these?
Was it totally deserted and in the hands of the enemy? I assume there are no large settlements since they would be worth of mention in maps, but is this space also trod by the rangers, or perhaps roamed by small clans, or simply the shepherds/hunters/wood-men willing to take the risk? I assume into the fourth age it would have been settled if nothing else, but could it have experienced settlement in the years prior to the war of the ring a la the anduin?
This question is especially relevant to me I feel, as this area seems to best fit the land I live in and have access to - the very northern reaches on deciduous woodland bleeding into the boreal (but not tundra, which makes forochel and forodwaith inappropriate imo,) then further north where I do most of my outdoors stuff mostly boreal forest (be it mostly pine/spruce or mostly cedar - well, juniper in tolkein's world i assume), and that land especially in winter requires specialized equipment (sleds, snowshoes/skis, wind gear, and well, i doubt i'll get a hot tent tolkein-approved but you get the idea) not needed and thus not used in winters in the parts of middle earth we see in the books (and, if I go a short way, a winter much more suited to trekking and travel than the muddy and wet winters seen in both those parts of middle earth and in more temperate regions). Since I think it makes sense (both on a practical and thematic level) to as much as possible root the equipment I am using both in the land I inhabit and in the land that correlates with in tolkein's universe, it seems a shame this region is so little mentioned in the lore and it seems worth teasing out what details are there and what is possible or likely. What are y'all's thoughts?
It seems we know that the remnants of the Dunedain reside in the angle, and presumably range out from it a fair distance (if I recall correctly, Arathorn died in the ettenmoors), and there are the "poor wood-men and shepherds" of the trollshaws (I saw it hypothesised in a MERS newletter that these may have been dunedain, which I also think highly possible, though I also think it possible they were relatives of Bree-men, though perhaps they fled to the dunedain of the angle when they were pushed out of the trollshaws?). To the far northwest there are the Lossoth - and I wouldn't not be surprised if there were more bands of wood-men and hunters and shephers and the like in the north downs and so on, but what about in the large area between these?
Was it totally deserted and in the hands of the enemy? I assume there are no large settlements since they would be worth of mention in maps, but is this space also trod by the rangers, or perhaps roamed by small clans, or simply the shepherds/hunters/wood-men willing to take the risk? I assume into the fourth age it would have been settled if nothing else, but could it have experienced settlement in the years prior to the war of the ring a la the anduin?
This question is especially relevant to me I feel, as this area seems to best fit the land I live in and have access to - the very northern reaches on deciduous woodland bleeding into the boreal (but not tundra, which makes forochel and forodwaith inappropriate imo,) then further north where I do most of my outdoors stuff mostly boreal forest (be it mostly pine/spruce or mostly cedar - well, juniper in tolkein's world i assume), and that land especially in winter requires specialized equipment (sleds, snowshoes/skis, wind gear, and well, i doubt i'll get a hot tent tolkein-approved but you get the idea) not needed and thus not used in winters in the parts of middle earth we see in the books (and, if I go a short way, a winter much more suited to trekking and travel than the muddy and wet winters seen in both those parts of middle earth and in more temperate regions). Since I think it makes sense (both on a practical and thematic level) to as much as possible root the equipment I am using both in the land I inhabit and in the land that correlates with in tolkein's universe, it seems a shame this region is so little mentioned in the lore and it seems worth teasing out what details are there and what is possible or likely. What are y'all's thoughts?