The Great East Road (also known as the East-West Road or East Road) was a dwarven-made road stretching from the Tower Hills to the Misty Mountains, ending near the High Pass[1].
However, by the end of the Third Age[2][3], the only frequently used portion of the road was the sliver that passed through the Shire.
History
First Age
The Dwarves built the Great East Road sometime in the First Age. In The Silmarillion, it is mentioned that the Dwarves had created "a great road that passed under the shoulders of Mount Dolmed … crossing Gelion at Sarn Athrad."[4] This road was soon named the Dwarf-road and was constructed shortly after the meeting between the Dwarves and the Sindar Elves at Beleriand in the year YT 1250. The portion of this road to the east of the Blue Mountains was built in the First Age and connected the dwarf cities of Nogrod and Belegost with Khazad-dûm and the east.
After the First Age, the Dwarf-road was destroyed—along with the rest of Beleriand—during the War of Wrath. However most of the road through Eriador survived the devastation, although it's western end was obliterated by the formation of the Gulf of Lune. It is not known how heavily it was used after the ruin of Nogrod and Belegost.
Third Age
When Arnor was established, the north-kingdom took over the preservation of the Great East Road, instituting several fortifications on or near it—including Weathertop. In addition to the fortifications, Arnor expanded/constructed bridges over the rivers Brandywine and Mitheithel. After Arnor split in TA 861, the Great East Road formed the border separating two of Arnor's successor states, Cardolan and Rhudaur.
By the time of the War of the Ring in the late Third Age, the Great East Road passed through the territory of the Shire, but was little used, save by a local traffic of Hobbits and Dwarves travelling between the Blue Mountains and Lonely Mountain.
After the War of the Ring, the part of the road that ran through the Shire became prohibited to Men, following King Elessar's proclamation.
References
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, Regional Maps, "The Misty Mountains"
- ↑ Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull, The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, "The Maps of The Lord of the Rings"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. VII: "The Treason of Isengard", chapter XV, "The First Map of The Lord of the Rings"
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter X: "Of the Sindar"
Translations
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Groot Oos Pad |
| Albanian | Rruga e Madhe lindore |
| Arabic | الطريق الشرقي العظيم |
| Armenian | Մեծ Արեւելյան ճանապարհը |
| Azerbaijani | Böyük şərq yolu |
| Basque | Ekialdeko errepide bikaina |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Вялікі Усход дарога |
| Bengali | গ্রেট ইস্ট রোড |
| Bosnian | Veliki istok ceste |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Велик Източен път |
| Cambodian | ផ្លូវខាងកើតដ៏អស្ចារ្យ |
| Catalan | Gran Orient Carretera |
| Cebuano | Maayo sidlakan dalan |
| Chinese | 伟大的东路 |
| Croatian | Velika istočna cesta |
| Czech | Velká východní silnice |
| Danish | Østvejen |
| Dutch | Oude Oosterweg |
| Esperanto | Granda orienta Vojo |
| Estonian | Suur Ida Tee |
| Filipino | Dakilang Silangan Daan |
| Finnish | Suuri itäinen tie |
| French | Grande route de l'est |
| Galician | Gran estrada ao leste |
| Georgian | დიდი აღმოსავლეთი გზა |
| German | Große Oststraße |
| Greek | Μεγάλη Ανατολική Οδό |
| Gujarati | ગ્રેટ ઇસ્ટ રોડ |
| Hebrew | כביש מזרחי גדול |
| Hindi | महान पूर्वी सड़क |
| Hungarian | Nagy Keleti út |
| Icelandic | Frábær austurvegur |
| Indonesian | Jalan timur yang bagus |
| Italian | Grande Strada Orientale |
| Japanese | グレートイーストロード |
| Javanese | Agung Wetan dalan |
| Kannada | ಗ್ರೇಟ್ ಈಸ್ಟ್ ರೋಡ್ |
| Kazakh | Ұлы Шығыс жолы (Cyrillic) Ulı Şığıs jolı (Latin) |
| Korean | 위대한 동쪽 도로 |
| Kurdish | Mezin Rohilat Rê (Kurmanji) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Улуу Чыгыш жол |
| Latin | Magnam viam orientalem |
| Latvian | Lielais Austrumu Ceļš |
| Lithuanian | Puikus rytinio kelio |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Велики Источен Пат |
| Malaysian | Jalan besar Timur |
| Maltese | Triq il-lvant kbira |
| Marathi | महान पूर्वेकडील रस्ता |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Агуу их Зүүн Зам |
| Nepalese | ठूलो पूर्वी सडक |
| Norwegian | Flott Østvei |
| Pashto | لوی ختیځ سړک |
| Persian | جادهٔ بزرگ شرق |
| Polish | Wschodni Gościniec |
| Portuguese | Grande estrada do leste |
| Punjabi | ਮਹਾਨ ਪੂਰਵੀ ਸੜਕ |
| Romanian | Drumul Mare de Est |
| Russian | Великий Восточный Тракт |
| Serbian | Сјајно Исток Пут (Cyrillic) Sjajno Istok Put (Latin) |
| Sindhi | زبردست اوڀر روڊ |
| Sinhalese | මහා නැගෙනහිර පාර |
| Slovak | Veľká Východná cesta |
| Slovenian | Velika Vzhodna cesta |
| Spanish | Gran camino al este |
| Swahili | Barabara kuu Mashariki |
| Swedish | Stor Öst Väg |
| Tajik Cyrillic | роҳҳои бузурги шарқӣ |
| Tamil | பெரிய கிழக்கு சாலை |
| Telugu | గ్రేట్ ఈస్ట్ రోడ్ |
| Thai | ถนนสายตะวันออกที่ดี |
| Turkish | Büyük Doğu Yolu |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Велика Східна дорога |
| Urdu | عظیم مشرق روڈ |
| Uzbek | Буюк Чарқ йўли (Cyrillic) Buyuk Sharq yo'li (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Đường lớn phía đông |
| Welsh | Ffordd Dwyrain Mawr |
| Yiddish | גרויס מזרח וועג |
