Places in Middle-earth
Ford of Carrock, The
Type: Fords, Bridges, Crossings
Region: Rhovanion/Misty Mtns
Location: A partial crossing from the Carrock to the eastern bank of the Anduin River.
Description:
Ford of Carrock: Ford over Anduin between the Carrock and the east bank of the river....
Unfinished Tales, Index
Then they [Thorin Oakenshield's company] took off their clothes and bathed in the river, which was shallow and clear and stony at the ford. ... Soon they crossed the ford (carrying the hobbit), and then began to march through the long green grass and down the lines of the wide-armed oaks and the tall elms.
The Hobbit, Ch 7, Queer Lodgings
"I have been picking out bear-tracks," he [Gandalf] said at last. "There must have been a regular bear's meeting outside here last night. I soon saw that Beorn could not have made them all ... They came from almost every direction, except from the west over the river, from the Mountains. In that direction only one set of footprints led -- none coming, only ones going away from here.
I followed these as far as the Carrock. There they disappeared into the river, but the water was too deep and strong beyond the rock for me to cross. It is easy enough, as you remember, to get from this [eastern] bank to the Carrock by the ford, but on the other side is a cliff standing up from a swirling channel. I had to walk miles before I found a place where the river was wide and shallow enough for me to wade and swim, and then miles back again to pick up the tracks again." [See Note.]
The Hobbit, Ch 7, Queer Lodgings
Note
[From the description, Gandalf may have walked south all the way to the Old Ford and back. It is worth noting that Beorn, while in the form of a huge bear, could cross the entire Anduin at the Ford of Carrock, while a wizard in the form of an ordinary mortal could not.]
Contributors: Elena Tiriel 24Jun04, 15Jul04