Places in Middle-earth
Road from Minas Anor to Minas Ithil
Type: Roads, Lanes, Ways
Region: Gondor
Other Names
the road to Osgiliath
the road to the Causeway
the Causeway (where it passes through the Pelennor Wall near Osgiliath)
Location: The ancient road from Minas Tirith to Minas Morgul, built by the Númenóreans, probably in the late Second Age; passes through Osgiliath and over the Anduin, then crosses the North Road of Ithilien at the Cross-roads; the Morgul-road is its continuation over Cirith Ungol.
Description:
Table of Contents: Description
The Route
— East to West
— West to East
Description
... the long straight road that in the high days had been made to run from the fair Tower of the Sun to the tall Tower of the Moon, which now was Minas Morgul in its accursed vale.The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 10, The Black Gate Opens
The Route
The Route: East to West
At length they reached the trees, and found that they stood in a great roofless ring, open in the middle.... In the very centre [of the Cross-roads] four ways met. Behind them lay the road to the Morannon; before them it ran out again upon its long journey south; to their right the road from old Osgiliath came climbing up, and crossing, passed out eastward into darkness: the fourth way, the road they were to take [to Minas Morgul].
Standing there for a moment ... Frodo became aware that a light was shining.... Turning towards it, he saw, beyond an arch of boughs, the road to Osgiliath running almost as straight as a stretched ribbon down, down, into the West. There, far away..., the Sun was sinking....The Two Towers, LoTR Book 4, Ch 7, Journey to the Cross-roads
The chief city of this southern realm was Osgiliath, through the midst of which the Great River flowed; and the Númenóreans built there a great bridge, upon which there were towers and houses of stone wonderful to behold....The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
At its furthest point from the Great Gate of the City, north-eastward, the [Pelennor] wall was four leagues distant, and there ... it overlooked the long flats beside the river, and men had made it high and strong; for at that point, upon a walled causeway, the road came in from the fords and bridges of Osgiliath and passed through a guarded gate between embattled towers.The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 1, Minas Tirith
Théoden ... had reached the road from the Gate to the River, and he turned towards the City....The Route: West to EastThe Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 6, The Battle of the Pelennor Fields
Two days later the army of the West was all assembled on the Pelennor. ...
Troop by troop..., they ... went off eastward ... down the great road to the Causeway ...
Ere noon the army came to Osgiliath. ...
The vanguard passed on through the ruins of Old Gondor, and over the wide River, and on up the long straight road ... [from Minas Tirith to Minas Morgul].... Five miles beyond Osgiliath they halted, ending their first day's march.
But the horsemen pressed on and ere evening they came to the Cross-roads ...
Then Aragorn set trumpeters at each of the four roads that ran into the ring of trees, and they blew a great fanfare ...
Now in their debate some had counselled that Minas Morgul should first be assailed.... 'And, maybe,' said Imrahil, 'the road that leads thence to the pass above will prove an easier way of assault upon the Dark Lord than his northern gate.'
But against this Gandalf had spoken urgently.... So the next day ... Gandalf and Aragorn rode with the vanguard to the entrance of Morgul Vale and looked on the evil city. ...The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 10, The Black Gate Opens
So they came slowly to the white bridge. Here the road, gleaming faintly, passed over the stream in the midst of the valley, and went on, winding deviously up towards the city's gate....The Two Towers, LoTR Book 4, Ch 8, The Stairs of Cirith Ungol
[They] broke the evil bridge and set red flames in the noisome fields and departed.The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 10, The Black Gate Opens
Contributors: Elena Tiriel 3Aug06
