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Robin Smallburrow wrote:Agree with Otaku-sempai's comments, also one of the prime reasons for adventuring (and also why they have a bad reputation) is that adventurers (unlike most people) are prepared to deal with the hazards of travelling in different lands. The vast majority of trade at this time is like Dark Ages Medieval Europe - mostly only local from nearby farms to the nearest town and back - long distance trade is only sporadic and sticks to rivers and seas where possible (as these are much safer).

Considering how knowledgeable Tolkien was, I really wonder if there was the Middle-earth equivalent of the Silk Road? A long, well-traveled, though still hazardous trade road hundreds to thousands of miles in length. There are a couple that would have once qualified as that if they were still in use, but I do not remember any routes at the time of the novels that were used enough to be that.

I have always viewed the Rivers Running and Redwater as being the ME equivalent of the Dneipr and the Dnestr and that the route from Dorwinion to Esgaroth was a mix up of this, the Amber Road between the Baltic and the Mediterranean and the Silk Road.

I originally referred to it as the 'Wine Road'. Rich H changed it to 'Wineland Way' in the map for the Fan Supplement of Dale that he produced with a few others a couple of years back.

I don't know if Prof T had something like this in mind, but the idea of such a trade route does seem to fit quite well.

There might be a similar 'Spice Road' crossing to Pelargir or Umbar from the lands of Far Harad.

There seem to be some roads that fulfill this idea, but all (or most) have fallen into disuse in the late Third Age, as corresponds to the overall tone:
The dwarven road from the Blue Mountains to the Iron Hills, going through The Shire, Bree and Erebor.
The old númenórean road from Osgiliath to Fornost Erain, through Tharbad.
And the Old Forest Road, from Moria to Erebor.

Halbarad wrote:There might be a similar 'Spice Road' crossing to Pelargir or Umbar from the lands of Far Harad.

There is the Harad Road that runs from Ithilien into Harad, passing over fords on the Poros and Harnen rivers. However, by the end of the Third Age the southern part of the road had fallen into disuse and disappeared.

Indeed OS. I'd forgotten that. Though I reckon that it's a trade route that's still very much in use. It just doesn't enter Harondor now and turns west much further south to terminate in Umbar.

Otaku-sempai wrote:

Halbarad wrote:There might be a similar 'Spice Road' crossing to Pelargir or Umbar from the lands of Far Harad.

There is the Harad Road that runs from Ithilien into Harad, passing over fords on the Poros and Harnen rivers. However, by the end of the Third Age the southern part of the road had fallen into disuse and disappeared.

I bet you there were trade routes Eastwards as well. The high folk of Gondor would have been desperate for spices and I can imagine a few who would collect jewellery and other knick-knacks. The Old Rhun road north of Mordor could have been used for the last few miles of the road.

Finrod Felagund wrote:I bet you there were trade routes Eastwards as well. The high folk of Gondor would have been desperate for spices and I can imagine a few who would collect jewellery and other knick-knacks. The Old Rhun road north of Mordor could have been used for the last few miles of the road.

There might well be--especially from Dorwinion and the Sea of Rhûn. In fact, the maps of Mordor from Journeys & Maps show the Rhûn Road that begins north of the Morannon and parallel the Ash Mountains, heading into the East. Although once Sauron declares himself, I can't see much traffic using it that is not directly connected to the business of the Dark Lord. There are also roads running East and South (through Khand) from within Mordor from the Sea of Nurnen.

It's too bad that by the later part of the Third Age there is no major seaport in the North other than the Grey Havens (which does not seem to support commercial shipping). I would think that one of the priorities of the Reunited Kingdom in the Fourth Age would be rebuilding the port of Lond Daer.