Travel throughMirkwood

[Terisonen]

Anyway, travelling through Mirkwood should be seen as an adventure in itself and not as a travel

[jamesrbrown]

I've been doing some research on the Grey Mountains and a case could be made from The Hobbit that the Elf-path is only a little more dangerous than going north or south around Mirkwood after the Battle of Five Armies. Before the Battle of Five Armies and before entering Mirkwood, Bilbo groaned to Gandalf, “Is there no way round?”

“There is, if you care to go two hundred miles or so out of your way north, and twice that south. But you wouldn't get a safe path even then. There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go. Before you could get round Mirkwood in the North you would be right among the slopes of the Grey Mountains, and they are simply stiff with goblins, hobgoblins, and orcs of the worst description. Before you could get round it in the South, you would get into the land of the Necromancer; and even you, Bilbo, won't need me to tell you tales of that black sorcerer.”

Then, after the Battle of Five Armies, Bilbo is travelling with Gandalf, Beorn, and the Elvenking from the Lonely Mountain west to the borders of Mirkwood. From The Hobbit: “Then they halted, for the wizard and Bilbo would not enter the wood, even though the king bade them stay a while in his halls. They intended to go along the edge of the forest, and round its northern end in the waste that lay between it and the beginning of the Grey Mountains. It was a long and cheerless road, but now that the goblins were crushed, it seemed safer to them than the dreadful pathways under the trees. Moreover Beorn was going that way too.”

A little earlier we learned that, “Songs have said that three parts of the goblin warriors of the North perished on that day, and the mountains had peace for many a year.”

We also learn something of Bilbo's journey on the long road home, “He had many hardships and adventures before he got back. The Wild was still the Wild, and there were many other things in it in those days beside goblins; but he was well guided and well guarded — the wizard was with him, and Beorn for much of the way — and he was never in great danger again.”

Putting all this together, I would say that the Grey Mountains Narrows is now only seemingly less dangerous than the Elf-path because of less goblins. After the Battle of Five Armies, Bilbo had the protection of Gandalf and Beorn on his journey home, but he still had many hardships and adventures on the road due to the “many other things...besides goblins.”

Also, how many years did the mountains have peace after the Battle of Five Armies? Well, if the last goblins were hunted from the Misty Mountains during the time of the Beornings (according to The Hobbit), I would say this happened between 2946 and 2950 during the last good years and then there was peace; but by 2958, a great many are again moving under the mountains (The Darkening of Mirkwood, page 50). If this resurgence of Orcs is happening in the Misty Mountains, it makes even more sense that the Orcs of the Grey Mountains are re-populating, likely at a faster rate. In fact, in 2958, even Dáin thinks the armies of the North aren't strong enough to war against the Orcs to reclaim the Greydelve (page 43 of The Darkening of Mirkwood).

If it is the case that before the Battle of Five Armies that the North route around Mirkwood was less desirable to Gandalf than the Elf-path because of the dangers of Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Orcs, and after the Battle of Five Armies the Elf-path seemed less safe than the North route because of the crushing of the Goblins, then it would make sense that a re-population of Orcs by the year 2958 would return the Grey Mountains Narrows to a status of at least as dangerous as the Elf-path.

To add to this argument, in 2960 the Forest Dragon leaves her lair and starts hunting along the northern eaves of Mirkwood, making both part of the Grey Mountains Narrows and the Elf-path more hazardous (The Darkening of Mirkwood, page 61).

Of course, all of this only addresses a comparison between travelling the Elf-path itself and the Grey Mountains Narrows. If a company were to leave the path into the thick of Mirkwood, things would obviously get exponentially more hazardous, unless they were in close proximity to Thranduil's Halls. Even when travelling in the Grey Mountains Narrows, it is safer to stay under the eaves of the forest when near the Woodland Realm due to the protection of the Elves. But leaving the path is always strongly warned against! I believe that would be worse than anything a company could experience in the Wild.

[Majestic]

Before you could get round Mirkwood in the North you would be right among the slopes of the Grey Mountains, and they are simply stiff with goblins, hobgoblins, and orcs of the worst description.

You know, that quote makes me wonder about hobgoblins. Do any of the books so far have hobgoblins in them?

[bluejay]

Yes they are in the Laketown supplement.

[Majestic]

Thanks, bluejay. I don't have that one yet (nor is it in the pile I expect at Christmas). I'll get it eventually, though.

[Andrew]

Excellent summary James. It makes me wonder how much the Dwarves of Erebor are working to keep the mountains near them clear of Goblins, or whether they're too caught up rolling around in their piles of gold.

[Rich H]

Excellent summary James. It makes me wonder how much the Dwarves of Erebor are working to keep the mountains near them clear of Goblins, or whether they're too caught up rolling around in their piles of gold.

... Well, Thorin used to sit down and sing about it an awful lot; especially at strangely dangerous times.

[Balou1917]

I figured when the hunter successfully passes his travel check he harvested enough game for the company. Any thoughts?

[Falenthal]

I figured when the hunter successfully passes his travel check he harvested enough game for the company. Any thoughts?

Well, Travel checks are simply used for Fatigue. So, the Hunter's Travel check is, as everybody else's, just to know if he kept well with the resting times, if the slept okay during the nights, etc.

I wouldn't bother too much about what happens every day of the journey and what manages everyone to do: there's a Hunter, so he hunts (and gathers); there's a Guide, so he guides; etc. Only when a Hazard happens should you worry about something special happening to the affected role.