Unfinished Tales - J. R. R. Tolkien [170]
3 Isildur’s youngest son was Valandil, third King of Arnor: see Of the Rings of Power in The Silmarillion, pp. 295 – 6. In Appendix A (I, ii) to The Lord of the Rings it is stated that he was born in Imladris.
4 This pass is named only here by an Elvish name. At Riven-dell long after, Glóin the Dwarf referred to it as the High Pass: ‘If it were not for the Beornings, the passage from Dale to Rivendell would long ago have become impossible. They are valiant men and keep open the High Pass and the Ford of Carrock.’ (The Fellowship of the Ring II 1.) It was in this pass that Thorin Oakenshield and his company were captured by Orcs (The Hobbit Chapter 4). Andrath no doubt means ‘long climb’: see p. 330, note 16.
5 Cf. Of the Rings of Power in The Silmarillion,p. 295: ‘[Isildur] marched north from Gondor by the way that Elendil had come.’
6 Three hundred leagues and more [i.e., by the route which Isildur intended to take], and for the most part without made roads; in those days the only Númenórean roads were the great road linking Gondor and Arnor, through Calenardhon, then north over the Gwathló at Tharbad, and so at last to Fornost; and the East-West Road from the Grey Havens to Imladris. These roads crossed at a point [Bree] west of Amon Sûl (Weathertop), by Númenórean road-measurements three hundred and ninety-two leagues from Osgiliath, and then east to Imladris one hundred and sixteen: five hundred and eight leagues in all. [Author’s note.] – See the Appendix on Númenórean Linear Measures, p. 369.
7 The Númenóreans in their own land possessed horses, which they esteemed [see the ‘Description of Númenor’, pp. 218 – 19]. But they did not use them in war; for all their wars were overseas. Also they were of great stature and strength, and their fully-equipped soldiers were accustomed to bear heavy armour and weapons. In their settlements on the shores of Middle-earth they acquired and bred horses, but used them little for riding, except in sport and pleasure. In war they were used only by couriers, and by bodies of light-armed archers (often not of Númenórean race). In the War of the Alliance such horses as they used had suffered great losses, and few were available in Osgiliath. [Author’s note.]
8 They needed some baggage and provisions in houseless country; for they did not expect to find any dwellings of Elves or Men, until they reached Thranduil’s realm, almost at their journey’s end. On the march each man carried with him two days’ provisions (other than the ‘need-wallet’ mentioned in the text [p. 358]); the rest, and other baggage, was carried by small sturdy horses, of a kind, it was said, that had first been found, wild and free, in the wide plains south and east of the Greenwood. They had been tamed; but though they would carry heavy burdens (at walking pace), they would not allow any man to ride them. Of these they had only ten. [Author’s note.]
9 Yavannië 5, according to the Númenórean ‘King’s Reckoning’, still kept with little change in the Shire Calendar. Yavannië (Ivanneth) thus corresponded to Halimath, our September; and Narbeleth to our October. Forty days (till Narbeleth 15) was sufficient, if all went well. The journey was probably at least three hundred and eight leagues as marched; but the soldiers of the Dúnedain, tall men of great strength and endurance, were accustomed to move fully-armed at eight leagues a day ‘with ease’: when they went in eight spells of a league, with short breaks at the end of each league (lár, Sindarin daur, originally meaning a stop or pause), and one hour near midday. This made a ‘march’ of about ten and a half hours, in which they were walking eight hours. This pace they could maintain for long periods with adequate provision. In haste they could move much faster, at twelve leagues a day (or in great need more), but for shorter periods. At the date of the disaster, in the latitude of Imladris (which they were approaching), there were at least eleven hours of daylight