Henneth Annun Reseach Center

Timeline Event

Shadow falls on Greenwood; men rename it Mirkwood

Event Type: General

Age Begins: 3rd Age - The Kings

Age Ends: 3rd Age - Ring War

Dates: January 1, 1050 ~ April 6, 3019

Description:

The shadow of Sauron grows northward from Dol Guldur throughout the forest of Greenwood:
About this time a shadow falls on Greenwood, and men begin to call it Mirkwood.

The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, The Tale of Years: The Third Age

[The] shadow of Sauron spread through Greenwood the Great, and changed its name from Eryn Galen to Taur-nu-Fuin (translated Mirkwood)....

Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 1, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields

[At] last the Dark Lord arose in Mirkwood again.

Now of old the name of that forest was Greenwood the Great, and its wide halls and aisles were the haunt of many beasts and of birds of bright song; and there was the realm of King Thranduil under the oak and the beech. But after many years, when well nigh a third of that age of the world had passed, a darkness crept slowly through the wood from the southward, and fear walked there in shadowy glades; fell beasts came hunting, and cruel and evil creatures laid there their snares.

Then the name of the forest was changed and Mirkwood it was called, for the nightshade lay deep there, and few dared to pass through, save only in the north where Thranduil’s people still held the evil at bay. Whence it came few could tell, and it was long ere even the Wise could discover it. It was the Shadow of Sauron and the sign of his return. For coming out of the wastes of the East he took up his abode in the south of the forest, and slowly he grew and took shape there again; in a dark hill he made his dwelling and wrought there his sorcery, and all folk feared the Sorcerer of Dol Guldur, and yet they knew not at first how great was their peril.

The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

[It] is said that when a thousand years of the Third Age had passed and the Shadow fell upon Greenwood the Great, the Silvan Elves ruled by Thranduil retreated before it as it spread ever northward, until at last Thranduil established his realm in the north-east of the forest and delved there a fortress and great halls underground.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 4, Appendix B, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn: The Sindarin Princes of the Silvan Elves

Even as the first shadows were felt in Mirkwood there appeared in the west of Middle-earth the Istari, whom Men called the Wizards.

The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

Contributors:
Lyllyn 30Dec03
Elena Tiriel 3Mar10

Related Library Entries

Events Search

All fields are optional. Dates default to the start of an event if it is multi-day.
Leave year set to "0" to see all years.



Start:    

  End:  

Full Text Search


Character Bios

Things

No related things

Go to Things