Tol Brandir

Tol Brandir is the great, unclimbed island peak that rises from the middle of the long oval lake Nen Hithoel at the southern end of the Anduin, flanked by the hills of Amon Lhaw and Amon Hen. It is the point where the Fellowship of the Ring must choose between the east-way and the west-way, marking the end of the tenth day of their journey and the beginning of the last stage of the Quest. Its name, meaning 'island of the tall peak' in the Elvish tongue, is also rendered as Tindrock in the Common Speech.

Geography and Setting

Tol Brandir stands as the midmost of three peaks at the far southern end of Nen Hithoel, a long oval lake fenced by steep grey hills whose sides are clad with trees but whose heads are bare and cold-gleaming in the sunlight. The peak is sundered from the others, an island in the waters, about which the flowing River Anduin flings pale shimmering arms. Distant but deep, the sound of Rauros, the great waterfall beyond the lake, comes up on the wind like the roll of thunder heard far away. The peak is so steep and sheer that it is said no foot of man or beast has ever been set upon it, making it a place of untouched, unapproachable majesty.

The Fellowship's Arrival

As the Fellowship drifts south on the current that flows through the middle of the lake, Aragorn points out the three peaks to his companions. He names Tol Brandir upon the right, with Amon Lhaw upon the left and Amon Hen upon the right, calling them the Hills of Hearing and of Sight. He recalls that in the days of the great kings there were high seats upon them, and watch was kept there, but that Tol Brandir itself has never been climbed. He hears the endless voice of Rauros calling, and the Company rests for a while, eating some food before taking to their paddles and hastening on their way. The sides of the westward hills fall into shadow, the Sun grows round and red, and misty stars peer out one by one. The three peaks loom before them, darkling in the twilight, and Rauros roars with a great voice. Night is laid on the flowing waters when the travellers come at last under the shadow of the hills.

The Choice of Ways

The tenth day of their journey is over, and Wilderland is behind them. They can go no further without choice between the east-way and the west-way. The last stage of the Quest is before them. Tol Brandir thus stands as the decisive landmark where the Fellowship must make its fateful choice, the point of no return that leads directly to the Breaking of the Fellowship. The unclimbed peak, with its high seats of the ancient kings now empty and its watch long abandoned, embodies the transition from the relatively safe journey through Wilderland to the perilous final approach to Mordor. It is a place where the past glory of the great kings is remembered even as the present danger of the Quest presses upon the travellers, and where the unity of the Company begins to strain against the necessity of choice.