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Mountain · Gondor

White Mountains

Ered Nimrais

Ered Nimrais, the east to west range that separates Rohan from Gondor and ends at Minas Tirith

View on map Gondor
Appears in
The Lord of the Rings
Region
Gondor
White Mountains on the map of Middle-earth

The White Mountains are the second great range of the map and the only major one running east to west. They begin at the promontory of Andrast on the western sea, rise through the peaks above Helm's Deep, run east past Edoras and Dunharrow, and end at Mount Mindolluin, against which Minas Tirith is built. Rohan lies along their northern side, and Gondor's fiefs of Lamedon, Lebennin and Anfalas along the southern valleys.

They are a wall with few doors. The valleys on the Gondor side, the Morthond, the Ringló and the Ciril, run south to the sea rather than through, and the only through-route in the story is the one under the mountain: the Paths of the Dead from Dunharrow to the Morthond vale. That is why Aragorn's shortcut was worth the terror. Snow closes the high ground for much of the year.

Men lived in and under these mountains long before Gondor. The Drúedain hold the Drúadan Forest at the eastern end and carved the Púkel-men at Dunharrow. The oathbreakers who cursed themselves at Erech were mountain men of the Ered Nimrais. Gondor's southern fiefs are mountain country too, and Lamedon, the Ringló Vale and Lossarnach sent companies of hillmen up the road to Minas Tirith when the beacons were lit, though far fewer than Denethor had asked for.

Gondor ran its warning system along the northern slopes. Seven beacon-hills from Amon Dîn to the Halifirien carried fire from Minas Tirith toward Rohan, and in March TA 3019 Pippin, riding to the city with Gandalf, saw them flare up one after another. Under the Thrihyrne at the western end, Helm's Deep gave Rohan the refuge it needed twice in its history.

Events at this place

  1. SA 3429 · The Lord of the Rings

    The oath of Erech broken

    The king of the mountain men, who had sworn allegiance to Isildur at the Stone of Erech, refused to fight when Sauron made war on Gondor, and Isildur cursed him and his people.

  2. TA 2510 · Appendices

    Rohan settles the northern slopes

    With the grant of Calenardhon, the Rohirrim took the grasslands below the northern flank of the range and built Edoras at Harrowdale.

  3. TA 3019, March 8 · The Lord of the Rings

    The beacons of Gondor are lit

    Denethor called for aid by firing the seven beacon-hills along the range, and Rohan answered with the muster at Dunharrow.

Frequently asked questions

Where are the White Mountains on the map?

Running east to west across the south of Middle-earth, from Cape Andrast on the coast to Mount Mindolluin at Minas Tirith, between Rohan and Gondor.

What is the elvish name for the White Mountains?

Ered Nimrais, meaning the mountains of white horns, from the snow that lies on their peaks.

Can you cross the White Mountains?

Not easily. The only route through in the story is the Paths of the Dead beneath the Dwimorberg, running from Dunharrow to the Morthond valley.