Ioreld's Tale: Into the Northerlands

by HawthornThistleberry

The Corsairs of Umbar are scheming to capture and ransom the high-born of Gondor before they start their main assault upon the cities of the coast of the Bay of Belfalas. The Steward has ordered a young Captain and his men to escort one of these on a perilous overland journey, through Dunland and Minhiriath, to a haven in the small village of Bree, to wait out the coming war.

2. Author's Notes

This story is set in the version of Arda depicted in Tolkien's books, and particularly The Lord of the Rings, as opposed to versions depicted in other sources, such as Peter Jackson's movies, where they differ. However, some elements have been inspired by, or drawn from, the MMO by Turbine, Lord of the Rings Online, where I felt that Turbine's decisions were compatible with Tolkien's works, and Turbine's creators deserve credit for these elements.

For instance, the game's version of Dunland depicts specific tribes and clans, and uses Welsh for the Dunlending language, both of which I consider perfectly in line with Tolkien's depictions, and thus, both of which I used. Contrariwise, for game-play reasons, Turbine has placed a large city-like permanent settlement in Dunland, which I omit as I don't think it fits with Tolkien's vision of Dunland.

The depiction of a drowned horse near Tharbad alludes to the following quote from The Fellowship of the Ring, spoken by Boromir in Lothlorién: "I have myself been at whiles in Rohan, but I have never crossed it northwards. When I was sent out as a messenger, I passed through the Gap by the skirts of the White Mountains, and crossed the Isen and the Greyflood into Northerland. A long and wearisome journey. Four hundred leagues I reckoned it, and it took me many months; for I lost my horse at Tharbad, at the fording of the Greyflood. After that journey, and the road I have trodden with this Company, I do not much doubt that I shall find a way through Rohan, and Fangorn too, if need be."

The depiction of Ioreld's mother Ioreth refers to a minor character from The Return of the King, a healer in the Houses of Healing originally from Imloth Melui and notorious as a gossip and chatterbox. The rest of Ioreld's family has been fabricated.