Fords of Aros

The River Aros had its sources in the hills of Dorthonion. Where it was met by an inflowing stream out of the same hills, an ancient east-west road crossed the river at a ford. This was the place known as the Fords of Aros, or the Arossiach in Elvish. The ford marked the boundary between two regions. To the east was Himlad, and the other lands held by the sons of Fëanor. To the west was the Silent Land of Dor Dínen, and beyond it the perilous valley of Nan Dungortheb.

The Fords of Aros seem to date back to the days before the beginning of the First Age, when the roads north of Doriath were safe to travel. After the coming of Ungoliant, and the raising of the Girdle of Melian, the lands west of the Arossiach became a haunted and dangerous place, and in later years the Fords were only used by the bravest or most desperate travellers.