Morthond Vale

A wide, green and fertile valley in the southern White Mountains, carved out by the River Morthond, or Blackroot, on its way southward to meet the Sea. Lying directly to the west of Lamedon, the Morthond Vale was a populous area owing allegiance to Gondor, whose lord at the end of the Third Age was Duinhir. As rich as the vale's grasslands were, its people avoided its upper slopes, where the Morthond sprang from the Mountains near the Hill of Erech. There, the Shadow-men were said to gather, the cursed Dead that haunted the dark paths beneath the Mountains. During the War of the Ring, Aragorn emerged from the Paths of the Dead at the head of the valley, and led the Dead Men off into the eastern War, at last leaving the Morthond Vale free of the fear of the Shadow Host.