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Places in Middle-earth

Bruinen River

Type: Rivers & Lakes

Region: Arnor/Eriador/Lindon

Meaning: Loudwater

Other Names Loudwater

Location: West of the Misty Mountains

Description: The River Bruinen flows down from the Misty Mountains past Rivendell. Flowing through Eriador, it joins the river Mitheithel. As the Bruinen and Mitheithel flow together, they become known as the Gwathló, meaning Greyflood. That flows through the city of Tharbad and past Lond Daer before finally reaching the sea.

[Said Strider,] 'We have now come to the River Hoarwell, that the Elves call Mitheithel. It flows down out of the Ettenmoors, the troll-fells north of Rivendell, and joins the Loudwater away in the South. Some call it the Greyflood after that. It is a great water before it finds the Sea. There is no way over it below its sources in the Ettenmoors, except by the Last Bridge on which the Road crosses.'

'What is that other river we can see far away there?' asked Merry.

'That is Loudwater, the Bruinen of Rivendell,' answered Strider. 'The Road runs along the edge of the hills for many miles from the Bridge to the Ford of Bruinen.'

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 12, Flight to the Ford

One morning they forded a river at a wide shallow place full of the noise of stones and foam. The far bank was steep and slippery. When they got to the top of it, leading their ponies, they saw that the great mountains had marched down very near to them.”

A Short Rest, pg.55, The Hobbit


“. . . the Ford of Bruinen, where the Road crosses the Loudwater that runs out of Rivendell.”

A Knife in the Dark, pg.252, The Fellowship of the Ring

“There at the bottom of a sharp incline they saw before them a long flat mile, and beyond that the Ford of Rivendell. On the further side was a steep brown bank, threaded by a winding path; and behind that the tall mountains climbed, shoulder above shoulder, and peak beyond peak, into the fading sky.”

Flight to the Ford, pg. 283, The Fellowship of the Ring


“'Who made the flood?' asked Frodo.

'Elrond commanded it,' answered Gandalf. 'The river of this valley is under his power, and it will rise in anger when he has great need to bar the Ford.”

Many Meetings, pg. 294, The Fellowship of the Ring


“There is great vigour in the waters that come down from the snows of the Misty Mountains.”

Many Meetings, pg. 294, The Fellowship of the Ring

Contributors: Still Anonymous, 03/03/04; removed Gwathló & Greyflood as synonyms for Bruinen & added quote: Elena Tiriel 7.3.04

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