Places in Middle-earth
Bridge of Osgiliath
Type: Fords, Bridges, Crossings
Region: Gondor
Location: An ancient bridge of stone over the Anduin in the city of Osgiliath; originally built by the Númenóreans in the late Second Age, as part of the Road from Minas Anor to Minas Ithil.
Description:
The chief city of this southern realm was Osgiliath, through the midst of which the Great River flowed; and the Númenóreans built there a great bridge, upon which there were towers and houses of stone wonderful to behold....
The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
... the ancient and marvellous stone-bridge....
The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 1, Ch 8, The Tale of Years of the Third Age
In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks... first appeared out of Mordor, and in 2475 they swept across Ithilien and took Osgiliath. Osgiliath was finally ruined, and its great stone-bridge was broken.
The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers: Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion: The Stewards
'Yet we won it back in the days of the youth of Denethor [II]: not to dwell in, but to hold as an outpost, and to rebuild the bridge for the passage of our arms.'
The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 1, Minas Tirith
'But this very year [3018], in the days of June, sudden war came upon us out of Mordor, and we were swept away. We were outnumbered... Only a remnant of our eastern force came back, destroying the last bridge that still stood amid the ruins of Osgiliath.'
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 2, Ch 2, The Council of Elrond
Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 15Dec04, 20Dec04, 22May05