- Cities and buildings
- Fields, plains and deserts
- Forests
- Hills and mountains
- Islands and promontories
- Lands, realms and regions
- Rivers and lakes
- Seas and oceans
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Dates
Constructed in the last years of the Second Age; began to fall into decay from the seventeenth century of the Third Age
Location
Origins
Built by Elendil and his sons
Race
Division
Settlements
Uncertain; the road may have originally started at Annúminas, but this is not recorded; it was known to have run between Fornost and Osgiliath;1 settlements on the road included Tharbad and Bree
Other names
The North Road, The North-South Road, The Royal Road; along its southern course it was known as the Great West Road or simply the West Road; in its later ruined state it was known (especially along its northern stretches) as the Greenway or Old South Road
Note
This is one of two long roads in Middle-earth known as the 'Great Road'; the other ran west to east through Eriador and crossed the north-south Great Road at Bree; for that road, see the alternative Great Road
Indexes: About this entry:
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Great RoadThe North-South Road that joined the Two KingdomsThe long road, constructed by the Dúnedain during the closing years of the Second Age, that joined the North-kingdom of Arnor to the South-kingdom of Gondor. It ran for some 1,100 miles, from Fornost2 in the far north, south through Bree, and on across Minhiriath. To carry it through the marshlands around the Greyflood, great causeways were built, and the famed Bridge of Tharbad carried the road across the river itself. From there, it passed on through Enedwaith, across the Fords of Isen, and along the northern feet of the White Mountains before entering Anórien and finally reaching the gates of Osgiliath. The road was maintained long into the Third Age, but with the loss of the North-kingdom and war and pestilence afflicting Gondor, it began to fall into disrepair. By the end of that Age, only the southern section of the road that ran between Gondor and Rohan was still in regular use. Elsewhere the road had decayed: in Enedwaith the fens had left it almost impassable, the Bridge of Tharbad had fallen, and in the north it had become so overgrown that it came to be known as the Greenway. This Great Road is often called the North-South Road, and is not to be confused with the other Great Road of Middle-earth, the East-West Road. That other Great Road ran east to west through the lands of the North-kingdom, and crossed the North-South Great Road near the town of Bree. Notes
See also...Athrad Angren, Gap of Calenardhon, Great Road, North Road, Wall of the Pelennor, Wild Lands Indexes: About this entry:
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