Morthond

Morthond ('Blackroot') is a region in central Gondor.

Summary

The region would have been inhabited by Pre-Númenóreans known as the Men of the Mountains. Their numbers would have been increased by those fleeing from the Elves at Edhellond at the beginning of the Second Age. It was not colonised by Númenor, and it seems that they worshipped Sauron.

With the Downfall of Númenor, Isildur brought a spherical black stone, about six feet in diameter, as a symbol of his lineage. In the years leading up to the War of the Last Alliance, he set it upon Erech (a hill in the eastern part of the Blackroot Vale) and made the local hill tribes swear an oath of loyalty on the stone. It was there that the King of the Mountains swore allegiance to Isildur's cause. Because they failed to fulfil his oath, the Oathbreakers haunted the hills until they made good their promise

That Isildur went to such great lengths to ensure that the Men of the Mountains would fight for him indicates that the region did not take easily to Gondorian rule. Though they clearly did not continue to worship Sauron in later centuries, it seems likely they would have maintained a local identity distinct to that of the Númenóreans or the other ‘native’ peoples of Gondor.

We have a brief description of the region from when the Grey Company passed through it:

The Morthond Vale made a great bay that beat up against the sheer southern faces of the mountains. Its steep slopes were grass-grown; but all was grey in that hour, for the sun had gone, and far below lights twinkled in the homes of Men. The vale was rich and many folk dwelt there. …So without looking back they rode the mountain-fields, until they came to a bridge over the growing torrent and found a road that went down into the land. Lights went out in house and hamlet as they came…

We are also told of its soldiery who arrive to defend Minas Tirith:

“From the uplands of Morthond, the great Blackroot Vale, tall Duinhir with his sons, Duilin and Derufin, and five hundred bowmen.”

By this time, therefore, Morthond was well-populated and loyal to Gondor. It also seems that archery was a particular strength amongst them – perhaps yews grew in the region, and the forests were full of game.