Old Forest

Old Forest
General information
Type	Forest
Location	Eastern Shire
People
Inhabitants	Tom Bombadil Goldberry Old Man Willow
Spoken languages	Westron

The Old Forest was a large woodland on the eastern border of Buckland, located close to the Shire.

It was bordered in the east by the Barrowdowns and in the west by The High Hay, a large hedge which the Hobbits of Buckland grew to protect their eastern border.

Description

Map of the Old Forest in The Lord of the Rings Online

The Old Forest, like Fangorn, was described to be dark and tangled, though both were less so than the Taur-im-Duinath of Beleriand.

Aside from the trees, a valley lay at its center and the Withywindle river flowed through it. The Withywindle, as told in Hobbit folklore, was the center of queerness in the vast queerness of the forest. At the south-eastern edge of the forest, on the bank of the river Withywindle, stood the house of Tom Bombadil - the only constructed dwelling in the forest. The home of Bombadil rested in a glade near the Withywindle--a sunny spot with green grass and bright trees. The pathway through the Old Forest known by the Hobbits was near the bonfire grove, although when the company arrived there, it appeared to have shifted.

The southern edge of the forest consisted primarily of oak and ash, being much more dense than the pine and fir-filled north.

History

Before the Third Age

Old Forest Road, by Ben Zweifel. ©Fantasy Flight Games and ©Middle-earth Enterprises

The Old Forest, along with Fangorn Forest, was all that remained of a vast and ancient primordial forest that once spanned nearly all of Eriador before the Second Age, and is one of the few forests that the Elves decided to wake and teach to speak. Beginning in the middle of the Second Age, the forest came under threat by the felling of trees by the Men of Middle-earth and of Númenor. Later, when Sauron declared war on the Elves, the havoc and destruction he and his troops created resulted in the near destruction of Eriador and the burning of much of the forest.

Third Age

By the Third Age, the forest had become wild and dangerous and those that lived near it had to take precautions, particularly the Bucklanders, who built the High Hay to keep out wild creatures. Before the War of the Ring, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin passed through the Old Forest on their way to Bree and were rescued by Tom Bombadil, after being trapped by Old Man Willow.

Lore

The Hobbits believed the trees of the Old Forest were in some manner "awake". They sway when there is no wind, whisper at night, and mislead and waylay travelers. In a notable incident, trees from the Old Forest moved right next to the protective hedge; the Hobbits in turn cut down and burned them in an enormous bonfire. Ever since then, the trees were more hostile --the Huorns. In any event, despite being an ancient and "awake" forest, no Ents tend to this woodland, and it seems to be avoided by Elves as well.

Portrayal in adaptations

Video games

File:Old Forest.jpg

Old Forest at night (in The Lord of the Rings Online)

• The Old Forest is depicted in the video games The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game) and The Lord of the Rings Online.

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Ou Bos
Albanian	Vjetër Pyll
Amharic	የድሮ ደን
Arabic	الغابة القديمة
Armenian	հին անտառային
Azerbaijani	Qoca Meşə
Basque	Baso Zaharrak
Belarusian Cyrillic	Стары лес
Bengali	প্রাচীন বন
Bosnian	Stara Šuma
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Старата гора
Burmese	အဟောငျးသစ်တော
Cambodian	ព្រៃឈើចាស់
Catalan	Bosc Vell
Cebuano	Daang lasang
Chinese (Hong Kong)	老林
Corsican	Anticu Foresta
Croatian	Stare šume
Czech	Starý Les
Danish	Gammel Skov
Dutch	Oude Bos
Estonian	Vana mets
Faroese	Gamla Skógur
French	Vieille Forêt
Filipino	Lumang Gubat
Finnish	Vanha Metsä
Galician	Bosque Vella
Georgian	ძველი ტყე
German	Der alte Wald
Greek	Παλιό δάσος
Gujarati	જૂના જંગલોમાં
Haitian Creole	Vye Forè
Hausa	Tsohon Gandun daji
Hawaiian	Kahiko Nahele
Hindi	पुराने जंगल
Hungarian	Öregerdő
Icelandic	Gamall Skógur
Indonesian	Hutan Lama
Irish Gaelic	Sean-Foraoise
Italian	Vecchia Foresta
Japanese	オールドフォレスト
Javanese	Alas Lawas
Kannada	ಹಳೆಯ ಅರಣ್ಯ
Kazakh	Көне Орман (Cyrillic) Köne Orman (Latin)
Korean	오래된 숲
Kurdish	Daristanê Kevn (Kurmanji Kurdish)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	эски токой
Laotian	ປ່າໄມ້ເກົ່າ
Latin	Silva Vetus
Latvian	Vecs Mežs
Lithuanian	Senas miškas
Macedonian Cyrillic	Cтара шума
Malagasy	Ala Taloha
Malay	Tua Hutan
Malayalam	പഴയ ഫോറസ്റ്റ്
Maltese	Foresti ta ' l-Qadima
Maori	Ngahere Tawhito
Marathi	जुन्या वन
Mongolian Cyrillic	хуучин Ойн
Nahuatl	Huehcāuh Cuauhtlah
Navajo	Sání Tsintah ?
Nepalese	पुरानो वन
Northern Sami	Boares vuovdi
Norwegian	Gamleskogen Gammelskogen
Old English	Weald gereord
Pashto	زاړه د ځنګل
Persian	جنگل قدیمی
Polish	Stary Las
Portuguese (Brazil)	Floresta Velha
Portuguese (Portugal)	Velha Floresta or Floresta Velha
Punjabi	ਪੁਰਾਣਾ ਜੰਗਲਾਤ
Scottish Gaelic	Seann Coille
Sesotho	Meru ea khale
Shona	Yekare Dondo
Sindhi	قديم ٻيلو
Spanish (Spain and Latin America)	Bosque Viejo
Swedish	Gammal Skog
Romanian	Pădurea Bătrână
Romansh	Vegl Guaud
Russian	Старый лес
Samoan	Vaomatua Tuai
Serbian	Стара Шума (Cyrillic) Stari Šuma (Latin)
Sinhalese	පරණ වන
Slovak	Starý les
Somalian	Duq ah Duur
Swahili	Msitu cha Kale
Swedish	Gamla Skogen
Tagalog	Lumang Gubat
Tahitian	Uru raau Tahito
Tajik Cyrillic	сола ҷангал
Tamil	பழைய வன
Thai	ป่าดึกดำบรรพ์
Turkish	Yaşlı Orman
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Старий ліс
Urdu	پرانے جنگل
Uzbek	Ески Ўрмон (Cyrillic) Eski O'rmon (Latin)
Vietnamese	Rừng Cũ
Welsh	Hen Goedwig
Xhosa	Ihlathi Elidala
Yiddish	אַלט וואַלד
Yoruba	Atijọ Aginju

Places of Middle-earth and Arda Middle-earth Locations: Provinces/Regions: Arnor | Dunland | Ettenmoors | Forochel | Forodwaith | Gondor | Harad | Ithilien | Khand | Lindon | Minhiriath | Mordor | Rhovanion | Rhûn | Rivendell | Rohan | The Shire Forests & Mountains: Amon Dîn | Amon Hen | Amon Lhaw | Caradhras | Emyn Muil | Erebor | Fangorn Forest | High Pass | Iron Hills | Lórien | Mirkwood | Mount Doom | Mount Gundabad | Old Forest | Orod-na-Thôn | Tower Hills | Weathertop Hill City/Fortifications: Angband | Barad-dûr | Bree | Caras Galadhon | Dol Guldur | Fornost Erain | Hornburg | Isengard | Minas Morgul | Minas Tirith | Last Homely House | Tower of Amon Sûl | Tower of Orthanc | Osgiliath | Umbar | Utumno Miscellaneous: Argonath | Astulat | Buckland | Cair Andros | Dagorlad | Dead Marshes | Enedwaith | Fords of Isen | Gap of Rohan | Grey Havens The rest of Arda: Aman | Burnt Land of the Sun | Dark Land | Empty Lands | Neldoreth | New lands | Númenor | Tol Eressëa