The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Destroyed at the end of the First Age
Location
At the eastern end of the Andram, some miles to the west of Amon Ereb
Pronunciation
ra'mdal
Meaning
Other names

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About this entry:

  • Updated 21 November 2021
  • This entry is complete

Ramdal

Wall’s End

Map of Ramdal

A part of the Long Wall of hills and cliffs that extended for hundreds of miles across Beleriand. Known as the Andram, this natural wall ran from Nargothrond in the west and crossed the course of Sirion before continuing far into East Beleriand. The heights of the wall became lower towards its eastern end, until it reached its farthest eastern extent at a place known as Ramdal or Wall's End. After some miles of plain to the east, another height rose up on the same line as the wall, the lonely hill of Amon Ereb, before the land descended into the valley of Gelion.

Ramdal played no direct part in the histories of the First Age, though certain events of significance did unfold in the lands nearby. One of these took place during the First Battle, fought before the first rising of the Sun, when armies of Orcs appeared across Beleriand. Part of this great battle was fought a little to the north of Ramdal, where Thingol and Denethor fought back part of the invading army of Orcs. More incoming enemies would later drive Denethor to the peak of Amon Ereb eastward of Ramdal, where he was slain before Thingol could bring him aid.

Ramdal's only other part in history, and a very indirect one, came nearly five centuries later at the time of the Dagor Bragollach. The assaults of Morgoth from Angband in the far North drove some of the Sons of Fëanor out of their northern holdings. Among these was Caranthir, who joined with his brothers Amrod and Amras to find a new stronghold in the south. They passed Ramdal and came eventually to Amon Ereb (where Denethor had met his end long beforehand). There they defended the heights eastward of Ramdal against the invading Orcs.


Notes

1

In the northeast of England a town named Wallsend lies near the point where Hadrian's Wall came to its eastern end. Tolkien's Ramdal (literally 'Wall's End') lay at the eastern end of the Long Wall (the Andram). These two ideas are so close in concept that some level of inspiration seems at least possible, though no direct evidence exists for such a connection.

See also...

Amrod, Long Wall, Wall’s End

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 21 November 2021
  • This entry is complete

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