Location

In the northern White Mountains, running southwestwards from Edoras towards Dunharrow

Race

Division

Northmen

Culture

Rohirrim

Settlements

Dunharrow lay to the south of Írensaga

Passes

The valley of Harrowdale ran beneath the mountain's western slopes

Pronunciation

eye'rensaga ('eye' as in the English word 'eye')

Meaning

'Iron saw' in reference to the ridge-toothed shape of its crest

Note

In many earlier editions of The Lord of the Rings, Írensaga is spelt without an accent on the initial 'I'

Indexes:

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Updated 20 September 2017
This entry is complete

Írensaga

A series of peaks in the White Mountains

Prominent peaks of the White Mountains

A rocky mass on the northern edges of the White Mountains, with a crest of jagged peaks from which it took its name: Írensaga means 'iron saw' in the language of the Rohirrim. It separated Edoras to the north from Dunharrow to the south, and the road between these two places ran along the valley of the river Snowbourn that marked Írensaga's western flank.

Notes

The reason for the introduction of the accented 'I' in later editions of The Lord of the Rings is not entirely clear. It first appears, at least in English, in the carefully revised 2005 edition, but where the editors of that edition, Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, are typically scrupulous in explaining their revisions in their Reader's Companion, this particular change goes unremarked. Presumably it is intended to follow the conventional Old English īren (with a macron marking a long 'i') for 'iron' rather than unaccented iren, which would be pronounced with a short 'i' sound.

Írensaga

A series of peaks in the White Mountains

Notes

See also...

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