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The Bruinen (S. "Loudwater") drained the western Misty Mountains and joined with the Mitheithel at Fennas Drúnin. A southern fork of the Bruinen carved the Vale of Imladris. It was said that Elrond Half-elven controlled both rivers in the vicinity of his home. The Ford of Bruinen was an important waypoint on the Great East Road.

River Spirit[]

The fells, the western foothills of the Misty Mountains, were the domain of Giants and Trolls in the Elder Days, until the Dwarves of Moria began working their way north along the range seeking mineral wealth. The trail they cut, the Men Ered (S. "Mountain Road"), eventually reached the Fords of the River Bruinen; here a track crossed the river at the last point along its course where carts could be brought easily down to the banks. The Dwarves planned to make a small fort, to protect the crossings; but they met, as they later told King Dwalin, an ancient Silvan Elf, who claimed to be the guardian of the fords. He said that the track, the Len Romen, which crossed over the Misty Mountains, was sacred to the Elves, and he swore that if the Dwarves left the fords and the neighboring valleys untouched, he would see that nothing evil ever troubled wayfarers traveling the vale. The Dwarves felt compelled to accept this offer.

A century or so later, the Dwarven King sat with Celebrimbor of the Noldor and made agreements that laid the bounderies of the Elvish kingdom of Eregion. The old tale surfaced during the negotiations. Both monarchs agreed that the story was peculiar, particularly since the description of an "ancient Silvan Elf" was a contradiction in terms, and no one had seen or heard of the guardian since that initial meeting. The fords, certainly, had been safe since then, and a reading of the omens suggested that the "Riven Valleys" between the fords and the Misty Passes should be Elvish territory. A few Noldo mystics dwelt in that area ever after, and it was suggested that the "Elf" of the story was a Maia, a servant of Ulmo and the spirit of the Bruinen itself.


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