Eriador

Eriador
J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium location
Other name(s)	the Lone-lands
Type	Large region between the Blue Mountains and the Misty Mountains
Notable locations	Arnor, the Barrow-downs, Bree, Eregion (Hollin), the Great East Road, the North-South Road, the Old Forest, Rivendell, the Shire, Weathertop; the Grey Havens are possibly in Eriador
Location	north-western Middle-earth

Eriador is a large region in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. The Shire, a land which became famous in the Third Age and again in modern times, was located in the central west of this region. The region was also called the Lone-lands, a translation of Eriador.

Originally Eriador was largely forested, but in the Second Age Dúnedain felled most of the forests to build ships. In the late Second Age and early Third Age, much of Eriador was encompassed by the kingdom of Arnor, which later split into the rival kingdoms of Rhudaur, Arthedain and Cardolan. The Shire occupied part of the former kingdom of Arthedain, while Bree and its neighbouring villages lie on the border with the former Cardolan. The Barrow-wights dwelt within ancient burial mounds which had been constructed in the First Age by the Edain as they journeyed to Beleriand. Other important places in Eriador were Rivendell, the Grey Havens and the abandoned kingdoms of Eregion and Angmar.

For much of Middle-earth's history, Eriador was sparsely populated, and indeed this is the meaning of its name: the Lone-lands. By the time of the War of the Ring, the main settlements were the Shire, Bree-land, Rivendell and the Grey Havens. Communities of Dwarves still mined the Ered Lindon, and a small population of native Men maintained a hunter-gatherer culture in the remaining woods of Minhiriath. Eriador was protected by the Rangers of the North, who were the surviving Men of the lost kingdom of Arnor.

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Wikipedia