Cirith Forn en Andrath

The High Pass through the Misty Mountains

One of the few passes through the northern Misty Mountains. A road led from Rivendell on the Mountains' western side across the pass, then down into the Vales of Anduin and on to the Old Ford to the east. This was famously the pass where Bilbo and his companions were taken prisoner by Goblins in the late Third Age, at which time it was called, simply, the High Pass. In earlier days when it was more commonly travelled, it had boasted a name of Elvish origin, Cirith Forn en Andrath.

Notes

The Elvish name Cirith Forn en Andrath is not formally translated, but when it appears (in Unfinished Tales Part Three I, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields) it is immediately followed by the description 'high-climbing pass of the North', which appears to be intended as its meaning. The name is composed of the elements cirith (a 'pass' or 'cleft'), forn ('north'), en ('of'), and (usually 'long', but here apparently 'high') and rath ('road' or 'way', especially a climbing one). So, a completely literal translation would be something like 'northern pass of the high climbing way'. This is so close to the description given in the text that we can probably take that as the intended translation.

Cirith Forn en Andrath

The High Pass through the Misty Mountains

Notes

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