Mirkwood is any of several great darkforests in novels bySir Walter Scott andWilliam Morris in the 19th century, and byJ. R. R. Tolkien in the 20th century. The criticTom Shippey explains that the name evoked the excitement of the wildness of Europe's ancient North.[1]
At least two distinctMiddle-earth forests are named Mirkwood inTolkien's legendarium. One is in theFirst Age, when the highlands of Dorthonion north ofBeleriand became known as Mirkwood after falling underMorgoth's control. The more famous Mirkwood was in Wilderland, east of the river Anduin. It had acquired the name Mirkwood after it fell under the evil influence ofthe Necromancer in his fortress ofDol Guldur; before that it had been known as Greenwood the Great. This Mirkwood features significantly inThe Hobbit and in the filmThe Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
The termMirkwood derives from the forestMyrkviðr ofNorse mythology; that forest has been identified by scholars as representing a wooded region of Ukraine at the time of the wars between theGoths and theHuns in the fourth century. A Mirkwood was used by Scott in his 1814 novelWaverley, and then by Morris in his 1889 fantasy novelThe House of the Wolfings.Forests play a major role in the invented history of Tolkien's Middle-earth and are important in the heroic quests of his characters.[2] The forest device is used as a mysterious transition from one part of the story to another.[3]
A forest called Mirkwood was used byWalter Scott in his 1814 novelWaverley, which had
a rude and contracted path through the cliffy and woody pass called Mirkwood Dingle, and opened suddenly upon a deep, dark, and small lake, named, from the same cause, Mirkwood-Mere. There stood, in former times, a solitary tower upon a rock almost surrounded by the water ...[4][5]
William Morris used Mirkwood in his fantasy novels. His 1889The Roots of the Mountains is set in such a forest,[6] while the forest setting in hisThe House of the Wolfings, also first published in 1889, is actually namedMirkwood. The book begins by describing the wood:
The tale tells that in times long past there was a dwelling of men beside a great wood. Before it lay a plain, not very great, but which was, as it were, an isle in the sea of woodland, since even when you stood on the flat ground, you could see trees everywhere in the offing, though as for hills, you could scarce say that there were any; only swellings-up of the earth here and there, like the upheavings of the water that one sees at whiles going on amidst the eddies of a swift but deep stream.
On either side, to right and left the tree-girdle reached out toward the blue distance, thick close and unsundered ...
In such wise that Folk had made an island amidst of the Mirkwood, and established a home there, and upheld it with manifold toil too long to tell of. And from the beginning this clearing in the wood they called the Mid-mark ...[7]
A Mirkwood appears in several places inJ. R. R. Tolkien's writings, among several forests that play important roles in his storytelling.[2] Projected intoOld English, it appears asMyrcwudu in hisThe Lost Road, as a poem sung byÆlfwine.[T 1] He used the name Mirkwood in another unfinished work,The Fall of Arthur.[T 2] But the name is best known and most prominent in hisMiddle-earth legendarium, where it appears as two distinct forests, one in theFirst Age inBeleriand, as described inThe Silmarillion, the other in theThird Age in Rhovanion, as described in bothThe Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings.[6]
Tolkien stated in a 1966 letter that he had not invented the name Mirkwood, but that it was "a very ancient name, weighted with legendary associations", and summarized its "Primitive Germanic" origins, its appearance in "very early German" and in Old English,Old Swedish, andOld Norse, and the survival ofmirk (a variant of "murk") in modern English. He wrote that "It seemed to me too good a fortune that Mirkwood remained intelligible (with exactly the right tone) in modern English to pass over: whether mirk is a Norse loan or a freshment of the obsolescent O.E. word."[T 3] He was familiar with Morris'sThe House of the Wolfings, naming the book as an influence (for instance on theDead Marshes) in a 1960 letter.[T 4]
InThe Silmarillion, the forested highlands of Dorthonion in the north of Beleriand (in the northwest of Middle-earth) eventually fell underMorgoth's control and was subjugated by creatures ofSauron, then Lord of Werewolves. Accordingly, the forest was renamedTaur-nu-Fuin inSindarin, "Forest of Darkness", or "Forest of Nightshade";[T 5] Tolkien chose to use the English form "Mirkwood".Beren becomes the sole survivor of the men who once lived there as subjects of theNoldor KingFinrod ofNargothrond. Beren ultimately escapes the terrible forest that even theOrcs fear to spend time in.[T 6]Beleg pursues the captors ofTúrin through this forest in the several accounts of Túrin's tale. Along with the rest of Beleriand, this forest was lost in the cataclysm of theWar of Wrath at the end of the First Age.[T 7]
Mirkwood is a vasttemperate broadleaf and mixed forest in theMiddle-earth region of Rhovanion (Wilderland), east of the great riverAnduin. InThe Hobbit, the wizardGandalf calls it "the greatest forest of the Northern world."[T 8] Before it was darkened by evil, it had been called Greenwood the Great.[T 9]
After the publication ofthe maps inThe Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote a correction stating "Mirkwood is too small on map it must be 300 miles across" from east to west,[8] but the maps were never altered to reflect this. On the published maps Mirkwood was up to 200 miles (320 km) across; from north to south it stretched about 420 miles (680 km).[T 10] TheJ. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia states that it is 400–500 miles (640–800 km) long and 200 miles (320 km) wide.[6]
The trees were large and densely packed. In the north they were mainlyoaks, althoughbeeches predominated in the areas favoured byElves.[6] Higher elevations in southern Mirkwood were "clad in a forest of darkfir".[T 11][6] Pockets of the forest were dominated by dangerous giant spiders.[T 12] Animals within the forest were described as inedible.[T 13] The elves of the forest, too, are "black" and hostile, drawing a comparison withSvartalfheim ("Black elf home") inSnorri Sturluson's Old NorseEdda, quite unlike the friendly elves ofRivendell.[9]
Near the end of theThird Age – the period in whichThe Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings are set – the expansive forest of "Greenwood the Great" was renamed "Mirkwood",supposedly a translation of an unknownWestron name.[10] The forest plays little part inThe Lord of the Rings, but is important inThe Hobbit for both atmosphere and plot.[6] It was renamed when "the shadow ofDol Guldur", namely the power ofSauron, fell upon the forest, and people began to call itTaur-nu-Fuin (Sindarin: "forest under deadly nightshade" or "forest under night", i.e. "mirk wood") andTaur-e-Ndaedelos (Sindarin: "forest of great fear").[6][10]
InThe Hobbit,Bilbo Baggins, withThorin Oakenshield and hisband of Dwarves, attempt to cross Mirkwood during their quest to regain their mountainErebor and its treasure fromSmaug thedragon. One of the Dwarves, the fat Bombur, falls into the Enchanted River and has to be carried, unconscious, for the following days. Losing the Elf-path, the party becomes lost in the forest and is captured by giant spiders.[T 13] They escape, only to be taken prisoner by KingThranduil's Wood-Elves.[T 14] TheWhite Council flushes Sauron out of his forest tower at Dol Guldur, and as he flees toMordor his influence in Mirkwood diminishes.[T 15]
Years later,Gollum, after his release from Mordor, is captured byAragorn and brought as a prisoner to Thranduil's realm. Out of pity, they allow him to roam the forest under close guard, but he escapes during anOrc raid. After the downfall of Sauron, Mirkwood is cleansed by the elf-queenGaladriel and renamedEryn Lasgalen,Sindarin for "Wood of Greenleaves". Thranduil's son,Legolas, leaves Mirkwood forIthilien.[T 16] ThewizardRadagast lived at Rhosgobel on the western eaves of Mirkwood,[11] as depicted in the filmThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.[12]
Dol Guldur (Sindarin: "Hill of Sorcery")[T 17] was Sauron's stronghold in Mirkwood, before he returned toBarad-dûr inMordor. It is first mentioned (as "the dungeons of the Necromancer") inThe Hobbit.[T 18][13] The hill itself, rocky and barren, was the highest point in the southwestern part of the forest. Before Sauron's occupation, it was calledAmon Lanc ("Naked Hill"[T 19]).[T 20] It lay near the western edge of the forest, across theAnduin fromLothlórien.[T 21] Tolkien suggests that Sauron settled on Dol Guldur as the focus for his rise during the period before theWar of the Ring in part so that he could search for theOne Ring in theGladden Fields just up the river.[T 22]
19th-century writers interested in philology, including the folkloristJacob Grimm and the artist and fantasy writerWilliam Morris, speculated romantically about the wild, primitive Northern forest, theMyrkviðr inn ókunni ("the pathless Mirkwood") and the secret roads across it, in the hope of reconstructing supposed ancient cultures.[6][1] Grimm proposed that the nameMyrkviðr derived from Old Norsemark (boundary) andmǫrk (forest), both, he supposed, from an older word for wood, perhaps at the dangerous and disputed boundary of the kingdoms of theHuns and theGoths.[6][15]
Morris's Mirkwood is named in his 1899 fantasy novelHouse of the Wolfings,[7] and a similar large dark forest is the setting inThe Roots of the Mountains, again marking a dark and dangerous forest.[6] Tolkien had access to more modernphilology than Grimm, withproto-Indo-Europeanmer- (to flicker [dimly]) and*merg- (mark, boundary), and places the early origins of both the Men of Rohan and the hobbits in his Mirkwood.[6] TheTolkien Encyclopedia remarks also that theOld EnglishBeowulf mentions that the path between the worlds of men and monsters, fromHrothgar's hall toGrendel's lair, runsofer myrcan mor (across a gloomy moor) andwynleasne wudu (a joyless wood).[6]
A Mirkwood is mentioned in multiple Norse texts includingSögubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum,Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and II,Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa, andVölundarkviða; these mentions may have denoted different forests.[16] The Goths had lived in Ukraine until the attack by the Huns in the 370s, when they moved southwest and with the permission of the EmperorValens settled in the Roman Empire.[17] The scholarOmeljan Pritsak identifies the Mirkwood ofHlöðskviða inHervarar saga with what would later be called the "dark blue forest" (Goluboj lěsь) and the "black forest" (Černyj lěsь) north of the Ukrainian steppe.[18]
Tom Shippey noted that Norse legend yields two placenames which would place theMyrkviðr in the borderlands between the Goths and the Huns of the 4th century. TheAtlakviða ("The Lay of Atli", in theElder Edda) and theHlöðskviða ("The Battle of the Goths and Huns", inHervarar saga ok Heiðreks) both mention that the Mirkwood was beside theDanpar, theRiver Dnieper, which runs throughUkraine to theBlack Sea. TheHlöðskviða states explicitly in the same passage that the Mirkwood was in Gothland. TheHervarar saga also mentionsHarvaða fjöllum, "the Harvad fells", which byGrimm's Law would be*Karpat, theCarpathian Mountains,[14][19] an identification on which most scholars have long agreed.[20]
Tolkien's estate disputed the right of theTolkien fan fiction authorSteve Hillard "to use the name and personality of J. R. R. Tolkien in the novel"Mirkwood: A Novel About J. R. R. Tolkien.[21] The dispute was settled in May 2011, requiring the printing of a disclaimer.[22]A rock music group namedMirkwood was formed in 1971; their first album in 1973 had the same name. A different band in California used the name in 2005.[23][24]
Tolkien's forests were the subject of a programme onBBC Radio 3, withEleanor Rosamund Barraclough and the folk singer Mark Atherton.[25][26]Literary holidays in theForest of Dean have been sold on the basis that the area inspired Tolkien, who often went there, to create Mirkwood andother forests in his books.[27]
Dol Guldur has been featured in many game adaptations ofThe Lord of the Rings, including theIron Crown Enterprises portrayal, which contains scenarios and adventures for theMiddle-earth Role Playing game.[28] In the strategy battle gameThe Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, Dol Guldur appears as an iconic building.[29][30] The campaign-scenario called "Assault on Dol Guldur" appears as the final part of the good campaign.[31][32] Several portrayals of Dol Guldur are included in theGames Workshop gameThe Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, appearing prominently in the "Fall of the Necromancer". Several enemies are listed, including Spider Queens,[33] Castellans of Dol Guldur, Sauron the Necromancer, WildWarg Chieftain, and their respective armies. Giant Bats are also included in the game.[34] In 1996, the black metal bandSummoning released a music album namedDol Guldur.[35]
The Canadian artistJohn Howe has portrayed Dol Guldur in sketches and drawings forElectronic Arts.[36][37] InMyth and Magic: The Art of John Howe, Howe includes Dol Guldur among Middle-earth fortresses.[38] Howe created many drawings forPeter Jackson during the filming of theLord of the Rings trilogy, worked for Tolkien Enterprises, and drew for Iron Crown Enterprises' collectable Middle-earth card game, which mentions Dol Guldur on Gandalf's card.[39][40] Mirkwood was added to theMMORPGThe Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar in the 2009 expansion packSiege of Mirkwood. The storyline depicts a small Elven assault upon Dol Guldur.
InPeter Jackson's 2012–2014film trilogy adaptation ofThe Hobbit, Dol Guldur is depicted as a massive overgrown castle in ruins. According toAlan Lee and John Howe, theconcept artists, this was used to give the impression that the fortress had been built byNúmenóreans during the Second Age, only to fall into ruin when Númenór's power waned.[41] Adrián Maldonado of AlmostArchaeology speculates that the derelict castle could be interpreted by viewers as the ruins of Oropher's halls, erected during the Second Age when he ruled Greenwood the Great from Amon Lanc.[42]
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