In the time of the War of the Ring the lands were still in places well-wooded, especially in Minhiriath […] but most of the plains were grasslands. Since the Great Plague of the year 1636 of the Third Age Minhiriath had been almost entirely deserted, though a few secretive hunter-folk lived in the woods. […] But in the earlier days, […] the situation was quite different. Minhiriath and Enedwaith were occupied by vast and almost continuous forests.
– Unfinished Tales (Part Two), Chapter 4, Appendix D
Minhiriath is a relatively large region in the south of Eriador, situated between the rivers of the Gwathló and Baranduin and stretching from Eryn Vorn in the west and the South Downs in the east. During the Second Age it was a vast, densely forested area inhabited by various native tribes, known as Gwathurim, living in dispersed settlements all around the region. The increased deforestation of the region by the Númenóreans, who used the local forests as a source of timber for their ships, caused strife with the native population to the point where they fled from their lands and were forced to seek refuge in the dark woods of the cape of Eryn Vorn. When Sauron invaded Eriador against the elves of Eregion, the exiled natives allied with him against the Númenóreans. However, Sauron’s forces ravaged the forests and attacked Númenórean settlements, but were decisively defeated by a combined force of Elves and Númenóreans.
After the war, much of Minhiriath’s forests were ruined, with Minhiriath consisting mostly of grasslands and plains, with only isolated pockets of woodland remaining. After the fall of Sauron, Minhiriath became a part of the Kingdom of Arnor, until the realm was split. The region was then held by the successor state of Cardolan, until it too collapsed, though a small piece of civilisation existed in Tharbad for a while longer. Minhiriath is now largely cut off from the rest of Middle-earth, with small communities of fisher folk remaining in some areas.
