Drúadan Forest

'''Drúadan Forest''', also known as the '''Tawar-in-Drúedain''',<ref name="Unfinished">''[[Unfinished Tales]],'' Part Three: The Third Age, II: "[[Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan]]", Notes</ref> was a pine [[forest]] of [[Gondor]], located in [[Anorien]], which was north of [[Minas Tirith]]. The forest was inhabited by a strange folk of men known as the [[Drúedain]], the Wild Men of the Woods. 

According to the ''[[The Atlas of Middle-earth]]'', the forest was over forty miles in total length.<ref>''[[The Atlas of Middle-earth]],'' Regional Maps, "The White Mountains"</ref> The highest point in the forest was [[Eilenach]], which was the sixth [[Warning beacons of Gondor|Warning beacon]] and could be seen from the west.<ref name=Unfinished>''[[Unfinished Tales]],'' Part Three: The Third Age, II: "[[Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan]]", Notes</ref>

== History ==

The forest had been occupied by the Drúadain since sometime between or sometime after the [[Second Age]] years: [[SA 883]] and [[SA  1075]].<ref>''[[Unfinished Tales]],'' Part Four: I: "[[The Drúedain]]"</ref> It was known for being avoided by outsiders.<ref name=Unfinished>''[[Unfinished Tales]],'' Part Three: The Third Age, II: "[[Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan]]", Notes</ref> The forest is remembered most for when the [[Riders of Rohan]] where guided through the forest on their way to the relief of [[Minas Tirith]], by their leader [[Ghân-buri-Ghân]]. There was a road there, created long ago by the "Stonehouse-folk" ([[Men of Gondor]]), that everyone except the Wild Men had forgotten. It would have taken the Drúedain from sunrise to noon to walk it, but it required around ten hours for all of [[Rohan]]'s army to get through. Each company of soldiers was guided by a Wild Man, who also sent out scouts to keep their movements secret. Movement through the forest keep the army from being spotted by the enemy.<ref>''[[The Lord of the Rings]], [[The Return of the King (novel)|The Return of the King]],'' Book Five, Ch. V: "[[The Ride of the Rohirrim]]"</ref>

In the [[Fourth Age]], [[King of the Reunited Kingdom|King]] [[Aragorn II Elessar]] declared that the men of the forest would have the land to themselves because of their help during the war.<ref>''[[The Lord of the Rings]], [[The Return of the King (novel)|The Return of the King]],'' Book Six, Ch. VI: "[[Many Partings]]"</ref>

== References ==
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[[de:Drúadan-Wald]]
[[it:Foresta di Drúadan]]
[[ru:Друадан]]
[[pl:Drúadan]]