The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Uncertain1
Location
On the upper river Ringló, in the southern vales of the White Mountains
Race
Division
Culture
Pronunciation
e'thring
Meaning
Uncertain2

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About this entry:

  • Updated 29 November 2010
  • This entry is complete

Ethring

The township below the wells of Ringló

Map of Ethring

A town in the upper Ringló Vale. Built about fifty miles beneath the springs of the River Ringló, Ethring was a major crossing point (and probably the only one) on that wide river. It stood on the road from the southern fiefs of Gondor to Pelargir, and so Aragorn must surely have passed through the town during the War of the Ring.


Notes

1

Ethring was presumably founded at some point after the creation of the realm of Gondor in II 3320, as shown in the timeline above, but we have almost no hard evidence to work with. The settlement here may even predate Gondor (though if so, the Gondorians seem to have renamed it). All we can say for sure is that Ethring existed at the end of the Third Age.

2

Tolkien never directly translates the name Ethring, but at least it seems clear that the -ring element of its name (literally meaning 'cold') is connected to the river Ringló that ran through it.

The initial Eth- element is harder to translate; it is perhaps connected to ethir 'outflow of a river'. If so, in the case of Ethring it would presumably describe the place where the Ringló flowed out from the mountain valleys into the plains east of Lamedon. Alternatively the entire name may be a worn-down form of Ethraid Ringló, 'crossings of Ringló', an entirely suitable name given Ethring's location.

See also...

Dervorin, Ringló Vale

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 29 November 2010
  • This entry is complete

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