Lond Daer

The haven lies where the Gwathló, the Greyflood, reaches the Sea, with Minhiriath to the north and Enedwaith to the south. It is the westernmost point of the long line that runs inland through Tharbad to the Gap of Rohan, and it was the natural landing place for anyone coming to these coasts by ship.

The Númenóreans built it. In the Second Age their fleets worked the shores of Middle-earth, founding harbours and forts, cutting timber and carrying it home, and this haven at the river-mouth served the whole basin of the Gwathló. It was also useful in war: the great fleet sent from Númenor to break Sauron's invasion of Eriador in SA 1700 came into these waters.

After the Second Age the coast lost its purpose. Arnor and Gondor maintained the crossing at Tharbad rather than the harbour, the people thinned out and the haven fell in. Third Age maps show it as a ruin with no road leading to it.

Events at this place

1. SA 1200 · The Silmarillion

   Númenórean havens on the west coast

   The Númenóreans built harbours and strongholds along the shores of Middle-earth, of which the Great Haven at the Gwathló was the chief one in the north.

2. SA 1700 · Appendices

   The fleet from Númenor

   Tar-Minastir's navy came east and, with the Elves of Lindon, drove Sauron out of Eriador.

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