Plain · Dale and Erebor
Withered Heath
The bleak valley in the Grey Mountains where dragons bred
- Appears in
- The Hobbit
- Region
- Dale and Erebor
The Withered Heath sits between the two eastern arms of the Grey Mountains, north and slightly west of the Lonely Mountain, at the far top edge of the Wilderland map. Nothing settled lies near it. Thorin tells Bilbo that this is where the dragons came from.
The name suits the ground: dry, cold and bare. Dwarves who mined the Grey Mountains in the middle of the Third Age grew rich and then found that the dragons of the waste had noticed them. Cold-drakes came out of the heath, killed Dain I and his son Fror before their hall doors in TA 2589, and drove Durin's folk south to Erebor and east to the Iron Hills.
Whether Smaug himself came from the Withered Heath is never stated outright. The book says only that he came from the north, and the heath is what lies in that direction.
Events at this place
-
TA 2589 · Appendices
Cold-drakes drive out the Dwarves
Dain I and Fror were killed by a cold-drake at the door of their halls, ending Durin's folk in the Grey Mountains.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Withered Heath?
In a valley between the eastern spurs of the Grey Mountains, north of Erebor and beyond the northern edge of Mirkwood.
Did Smaug come from the Withered Heath?
The books say only that Smaug came out of the north. The Withered Heath is named as the dragons' breeding ground and lies in that direction.