Mirkwood

Mirkwood is a large forest located in between the kingdom of Gondor and the Grey Mountains. On the map, it falls in the eastern part of Rhovanion. This large woodland of Middle-Earth was home to the wood-elves for thousands and thousands of years. And it stretches an astounding 600 miles from north to south and 250 miles from east to west.​

Mirkwood was often referred to as the Great Greenwood. The wizards Gandalf and Radagast referred to Mirkwood as Greenwood in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In TA 1050, men, who lived in the forest, named it “Mirkwood” when the shadow of Sauron fell on the forest. In Eriol’s poems, Mirkwood is mentioned in Old English as “Myrcwudu.” According to the Elfwine, the forest is near the Easter region of the Alps. However, Mirkwood appeared in The Fall of Arthur in the eastern side of Rhine. Other designations include Eryn Galen and Taur-e-Ndaedelos or Taur-nu-Fuin (in Sindarin). Mirkwood was considered as two forests in Middle-earth. One, located in Beleriand, was named Taur-nu-Fuin, whereas, the other was in the west, towards the Rhovanion Lonely Mountain of Erebor. The vast forest was named Eryn Lasgalen by Thranduil, which roughly translates to the Wood of Greenleaves after Sauron and his forces were defeated at the end of the Third Age. The name is similar to that of its former title, Eryn Galen (Greenwood).​

For ages, Mirkwood upheld the eastern border of Rhovanion. It somewhat shaped the Wilderland (Rhovanion) on the eastern side. Rhovanion, on the other hand, encircles the northern face of Middle-earth. The northern region of the heavy woodland (Mirkwood) comprises mountains and two connecting rivers. The mountains are on the western side of the Elven king’s kingdom. The Forest River (as shown in Tolkien’s map) starts from the Grey Mountains and runs two hundred miles towards the direction of Long Lake. Whereas a comparatively smaller river flows through the Mirkwood Mountains to coincide with the Forest River at a point where the Elf king’s hall is located. The Mountains of Mirkwood were famously called Emyn Duir/the Dark Mountains when Mirkwood was recognized as Greenwood. They were home to the Silvan Elves at first. But after the Battle of the Five Armies, Ungoliant spiders came to the mountain slopes to nest. According to the novel, there is an enchantment on the smaller river that lead, whoever fell into the river to fall asleep and lose their memory.

Venturing through Mirkwood is difficult without the common pathways. There is the Old Forest Road (Dwarf Road) and Forest Path that can safely lead wanderers through the forest. The Dwarf Road is also known as Men-i-Maugrim and started from the east side of the forest and ending in the west. But since the road was close to Dol Guldur (taken over by Sauron at the time), it was unusable. The 300-mile-long Old Forest Road ran through Anduin before entering Mirkwood. It was constructed during the First Age with the aim to connect the eastern dwelling Dwarves with the ones residing in the Misty Mountains and the Blue Mountains. When the Sindarin Elves came across the road, they made a pact with the dwarves to turn it into a commercial road for trade.

The road came into use in the Second Age, when the forces of the Last Alliance passed through it. However, the bridge that connected the road in Mirkwood decayed and got self-destroyed. Travelers had to take a boat to reach the other side of the road thereafter. After Sauron took over Dol Guldur, Mirkwood became a dark place, crawling with savage creatures. It was not a safe route anymore, so most chose to avoid it. According to Beorn and Gandalf, the ones who did take the path, eventually got lost, and never found their way back again.

To create an alternative route, the elves constructed another road in the northern region of the forest. This safe passage leads to the marshes and the south of Long Lake (Lake-Town). The Forest Road, made by the Elves during the Third Age, was the safest route through Mirkwood. The road started from the end of the eastern High Pass, ran through the Vales of Anduin, entered Mirkwood through the Forest Gate, and ended at Cleduin’s riverside. Gandalf chose this road for Bilbo Baggins and the company of Thorin Oakenshield when they were on the quest to take over the Lonely Mountains.​

In the Hobbit, when the company of Thorin Oakenshield, along with Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins, were on their journey to re-possess the Lonely Mountains, they ventured into Mirkwood and got lost. At the time, the forest was infested with enormous spiders. After getting caught up in the spider webs, Mirkwood dwelling woodland elves came to their rescue, however, the company of dwarves was made captives and taken to the Elf-King Thranduil. Other inhabitants of the Mirkwood forest include the Woodmen. During the year TA 1050, the shadow of the Dark Lord engulfed the forest of Mirkwood. Dark creatures arose from the depths to inhabit the forest.​

A few years after the Stars were kindled, in the First Age, the Valar summoned the first Elves, who awoke at Cuívenen, to move to Valinor. There were three hosts that first set out to answer the call of the Valar, and their travel towards the West came to be called the Great Journey. Of these, the largest, and last, host was that of the Teleri. They advanced very slowly, and would often lose sight of the other two, smaller hosts. There was a time, when they reached the river Anduin, one leader of a smaller part of that host, Lenwë, wished to go no further, and he and his people began to live in the forests surrounding the Anduin Vale as the remaining Teleri continued their journey to Valinor, becoming known as the Nandor. Their descendants became part of the the Silvan elves of Lothlórien and Greenwood the Great.
Later, in 350 of the Years of the Trees, the son of Lenwë, who was called Denethor, heard of the power and greatness of the realm of their Sindar kinsmen(those of the Teleri who continued past the Misty Mountains and settled in Beleriand), and set out for Doriath with a small host. When they arrived, they were met with open arms by their long-sundered kin, and settled in Ossiriand, east of Beleriand. They came to be known as the Laiquendi(Green-Elves).
Later, at the End of the First Age, following the destruction of Beleriand, many of the Laiquendi and surviving Sindar, who did not wish to go into the West, traveled east, and eventually reached the Greenwood. There they settled, and took one of the noblest of the Sindar, Oropher, who would be the father of Thranduil, as their king.
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During the quest to retake the Lonely Mountains of Erebor from the lustful dragon Smaug, Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield, and his company of dwarves were trying to run away from Orc scouts. They used ponies, borrowed from a skin-changer, to go to the outskirts of Mirkwood. Upon entering the forest in an attempt to flee from the scouts, the company faced the challenges of the then dark forest of Mirkwood. Bombur, one of the dwarves, accidentally fell into a narrow, Enchanted River and fell asleep. He dreamt of feasting with the elves for hours. By the time he woke up, he had forgotten everything they did after leaving Bilbo’s home in the Shire. Soon afterward, they came across the offspring of Ungoliant, or Giant Spiders of Mirkwood. The spiders wrapped the dwarves in their web and hung them from the trees. Bilbo used the ring to disappear and snuck into the inter-combined spider webs to rescue the crew. Afterward, the dwarves engaged in a fight with the spiders and the Silven elves of Mirkwood intervened. The elves captivated the dwarves and took them to their king. Sauron’s powers faded from the woods of Mirkwood after he was attacked by the White Council in Dol Guldur. Aragorn imprisoned Smeagul, years later, and brought him to Thranduil. Smeagul escaped his prisoners and fled to the south of Moria, when an army of Orcs raided Thranduil's dominion.​