Forodwaith - The Frozen North of Middle-earth

In this video, we look at Forodwaith, the frozen wastes in the north of Middle-earth. What was it like? How did it become that way? And what creatures lived there?
Thanks to my patrons - Javi Iñesta ,Brn, JIV, Fipse, W Sean Mason, boi sophies, Stonetruck, ThunderStryken, Hallimar Rathlorn, Habimana, Ben Jeffrey, Harry Evett, Mojtaba Ro, Moe L, Paul Leone, Barbossa, mncb1o, Carrot Ifson, Andrew Welch and Catherine Berry
Patreon - / darthgandalf

[@berkpeker2707]

I really don't like commenting on social media, but the soundtrack, visuals, and content of this video gave me such comfort, which is very much needed at this stage of my life, that I've forgotten about the Tolkien Universe and LOTRO. Thank you.

[@mattpalmer152]

I struggle with depression and i want to live one more day after reading this comment and watching the video.

[@orlandogloom5409]

Matt, do yourself a favor... There's a lot more good to enjoy and preserve and take in day by day till we leave this world, than 1 video and 1 comment. When I understood these I gradually managed to overcome depression and apathy. Took certain personal events and an extra 2 years _after_ I changed my own stance towards myself and most things, as well as my logical but still completely pessimistic angle from which I looked at things, but it wasn't all as hard as one would think. BTW, don't let immature people who just want to hate on everyone and everything ruin anything for you, we all can do better than that and actually teach such people a lesson.

[@mattpalmer152]

@@orlandogloom5409 thanks orlando gloom this comment just bought me a couple more days

[@woodearthdvd]

To this day I keep reading Forodwaith as FROdowaith.

[@JoeBLOWFHB]

YOU TOO😂

[@DrakeTheCaster]

Literally why I clicked on the video cause I was like "is this some kinda theory video?" Lmao

[@robertagren9360]

Frodowraith

[@lylemoore3827]

​@@robertagren9360 where frodo went to live after that morgue blade finally turned him into a wraith 😂

[@Ryan30z]

@@robertagren9360 my dyslexic ass thought it was Frodowraith until I clicked on this video

[@lastofrwby8395]

I was literally just wondering when you were going to upload another video.

[@beavernation57]

All I knew was that dragons were from there.

[@davidponseigo8811]

All I know about it is that it doesn't exist. It's from a book. I'm just messing with you.

[@DarthGandalfYT]

I'm glad that you know more now.

[@adrianatkins10]

Would be cool to get a Shadow of Mordor type non-canon action game in Forodwaith

[@istari0]

I really enjoy these looks at the little known areas of Middle-Earth; it's always a learning experience!

[@Kurgan0822]

Very nice job. Great explanations and I liked all the art work that you used. Subscribed 👍

[@juliangarcoa6090]

always lookin forward to ur vids man 👍

[@c.ladimore1237]

lotro did an amazing job interpreting and expanding forodwaith and the lossoth. tolkein himself would probably be impressed

[@DarthGandalfYT]

I did like the Sami influence.

[@rikk319]

One of my favorite zones in LotRO, which I still run through when I inevitably roll a a new character on a different server.

[@SamGlaze]

Lotro is flat out one of the best interpretations of middle earth in media

[@Hero_Of_Old]

Frozen wastelands always intrigue me, I'm not sure why!

[@indoorplant2392]

The Others

[@DarthGandalfYT]

@@indoorplant2392 I agree...now if only those books could be finished.

[@DeathorGlory91r]

Come to Canada in winter. You’ll get over it quick.

[@MachasDaughter]

Well done. Thank you 🙏🏻

[@DJHigher1]

Another day another banger

[@msmith1890]

Last time I was this early in a video Morgoth was still good.

[@titanscerw]

Fresh as winds up North!

[@Kekspere]

Interesting topic!

[@przemekreszka2825]

damm I love this channel, pondering most interesting questions

[@acrustykrab]

Great job including the artists with their art! Huge

[@ThexVaultxTech]

I am Aleut, the people there strongly resemble the Inuit peoples with their "carts that had no wheels" and "bone shoes for walking on snow" Pretty cool he gave such a minor people a call out,really shows how complete his secondary world was

[@roundninja]

Never really knew about this before. I wonder if it played a role in inspiring locations like Northrend from Warcraft, or the lands north of the wall in Game of Thrones. It even reminds me of Irithyll from Dark Souls 3, which seems supernaturally cold in an area which was previously warmer, and according to some people its name is derived from elvish. Interesting how even an obscure location like Forodwaith seems like it might have had quite a large influence on the fantasy genre.

[@cavetroll666]

very good video thanks lord of the rings online does a fantastic take on this region :)

[@kjaamor2057]

It's nice to see someone who clearly knows a lot about the lore of Middle Earth acknowledge 'The Lord of the Rings Online.' It is a game that creates mixed feelings within me. On one hand it is - avoiding acronyms for those unfamilar - a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game - and comes with all the pitfalls of that genre, in being essentially endless, highly repetitive, and yet time exploitative. On the other hand, what it does to put context of the world and bring the lore to light is really something. The depiction of Forochel is one of many excellent versions of the lands that, while obviously highly gamified, really bring things to life. Also the soundtrack is fantastic.

[@DarthGandalfYT]

I only play it casually nowadays because I feel like it's dated, and I don't necessarily agree with a lot of the design choices. But I always jump on when there's new zones or new story content. The world and writing is normally really good.

[@kjaamor2057]

@@DarthGandalfYT Unfortunately, around 10 years ago it absorbed my life to the extent that I will never "play" it again (although I did nip in to pilfer some ambient music and sound for a D&D campaign!). Some wonderful memories playing it, but also many, many hours in trash fights and at the point where I got to guild crafting (with real-time limits) it started to feel like I was being punished for *not* playing it. Still, of all the games I have played set in Middle Earth, it felt like the one that had the most love for Tolkein rather than just PJ's films. It also "gets" elves, which while I love PJ's movies in almost all other respects I find a little disappointing in the celluloid versions. As you can imagine, I'm terribly out of touch with it mechanically at this point. I believe they were attempting to find ways to solve the obvious multiplayer issue of having players become more isolated as the world grew in size. It felt like a tough problem, because the two most enjoyable aspects were the multiplayer battles and the world exploration. Making the former easier to access removed the necessity for the latter.

[@uberjens]

In regards to what you said at the end of the video, about the Rings of Power. That is one of the very few things I would give them credits for. In fact, I think most of the locations in the show e.g. Lindon, Numenor, Forodwaith and Moria were pretty great. It's just a shame the rest of the show isn't up to the same standard.

[@user-gh1xf2cw4g]

Could make a video about the edge of the world

[@colinleat8309]

Same here, I know the Dragons came from there, but that's about it. None of the channels really cover the area because there was so little written by Tolkien as you said. Would have been nice if he completed the map.

[@chesterbless9441]

It's chilly

[@celestialhylos7028]

Bro, wake up Darth Gandalf just uploaded

[@General12th]

Hi Darth!

[@DarthGandalfYT]

Hi!

[@MerryMohProductions]

Imagine if the Witch-King had mammoths in his army, tamed by tribes of lossoth or some other people related to the Forodwaith he was able to sway to his side.

[@davidh429]

Hmmm. I noticed that while Humans, orcs, trolls, and dwarves could go into the frozen wastes. The elves couldn't by the fail seige and other parts of the video. That implies that elves have a weakness to the cold compared to all other races at least. Thus winters are even deadlier to them then us.

[@EmpyreanFrost]

Yet Legolas easily walked upon snow as if it were nothing.

[@davidh429]

Indeed, a contradiction

[@istari0]

Fingolfin's host crossed the Helcaraxë, which took quite a few years. It was extraordinarily difficult but they did manage it.

[@DarthGandalfYT]

I'm not sure they had a weakness to cold. I'd say it's more likely that the Edain were willing to endure the cold because they were exceptionally brave owing to their shorter lives. Elves had more to lose, and therefore did not take the same risks willingly.

[@takix2007]

​@@istari0that is one of the problems I have with biblical-like events, when the crossing of the Helcaraxë is recounted as taking many years (like Moses' 40 years in the desert) : it makes no sense if the journey was a deliberate one with a clear objective (bypassing the Belegaer to Beleriand, travelling from Egypt to the Promised Land), but it makes sense if the migration was taking a more random / progressive route, not knowing when they would "arrive" or if the threat was progressively catching up to them (i.e, the migration of the Hobbits from the vale of Anduin all to the Shire, or the settling of the Americas through a dry-land Bering straits).

[@WeeG-bwc77]

I associated Morgoth with fire and brimstone etc. so it was cool to learn that the "northmost" parts of middle earth (especially before beleriand was sunk) were his original base. Some of the greatest evil in that universe's history were icey and cold. Before Angband there was Utumno.

[@bristleconepine4120]

Late to the party, but a couple of questions: One, according to Ambarkanta IV, the *southern* straits between Aman and Middle Earth are *also* frozen. How did that happen, if the reason why Forodwaith was cold was because Melkor had been there? Two, when are you going to append your War in Middle Earth series with a prequel of the War of the Powers? 😉

[@wedgeantillies66]

So if Mordor is the hell on Earth of middle Earth, than surely Forodwaith is the Antarctic of middle Earth without question.

[@adamloverin4125]

Enough about Morgof, I wanna hear more about Morgoth.

[@ulbingelias6894]

Because it was mentioned in the video, why did the dragons (and the balrogs too) reject to help sauron?

[@istari0]

Well, remember that Gandalf was very concerned about Sauron trying to make an alliance with Smaug, which is what led to the events of The Hobbit. Beyond that, it is not clear although there are lots of theories. I think it's worth pointing out that Balrogs and Dragons were loyal to Morgoth even after Morgoth's defeat in the War of Wrath and they likely viewed Sauron as more of an equal than someone to be subordinate to so Sauron could have felt they would be more trouble than they would be worth and he could win without them.

[@scoobysnacker1999]

@@istari0 Could also be self-preservation. Remember, both the balrog and the dragons are described as highly intelligent. They're also described as largely eradicated by the Valar, once the threat to Middle Earth was deemed too great not to intervene. There were obviously some survivors, but outside of Sauron, the higher orders of Morgoth's forces appeared to lay low and try not to attract too much Valinorean attention. You could hide in frozen wastelands or under a mountain, you could torment an occasional Dwarven or Mannish kingdom individually, but nobody big seemed to want to team up. Maybe it was an issue of sharing power (they were all UNDER Morgoth), but I suspect there was also some hesitance towards inviting further Valar wrath. If some such as the Balrog were aware of Sauron's plans, they might have been watching from a distance to see how far he would be allowed to go.

[@robertagren9360]

Sauron had power over the rings but there were people who were ringmakers able to make their own rings of power. Saruman as example mentioned twice being a ringmaker. The rings Sauron had were not given to any dragons. 9 were given to men 7 to dwarves and 3 to elves But none to dragons.

[@rikk319]

I would think that beings that powerful were unlikely to bend the knee to any other powerful being, and that the ego of such evil beings was the primary factor to take into account.

[@cjthebeesknees]

I’m not the only one who read frodo wraith in their head the first time, am I? Then double take.

[@harryallen1175]

I do understand meteorology. Yes if the jet stream were to stop. For example too much fresh water entering the ocean system from melting ice caps, then Europe would be really cold. Most of Europe is on the same or similar latitude as Northern Russia ❄ 🧊 ❄

[@mateuszslawinski1990]

Middle-earth alone is so vast that could support dozens of stories not connected to LOTR/Hobbit.

[@davidefivi.1361]

I really appreciate your videos but the background music somehow annoys me I don't know why

[@davidponseigo8811]

Nothing good ever happens where it's cold and frozen. Ice hides secrets and mysteries and none of them good !

[@ellanenish5999]

bro, you need a Discord for your community

[@CinematicCraft4310]

Sméagol vid??

[@Lucy-yc4bc]

algorithm

[@egoborder3203]

Rings of Power isn't controversial. It's absolute garbage

[@stegura83]

It's woke, progressive, revisionist, fan fiction garbage which resembles Tolkien in name only.

[@Ian-nl9yd]

A billion dollars for spandex shirts with pictures of chainmail printed on them. Rings of Power was a money-laundering scheme.

[@vintagesteel]

F rings of power

[@damagecase3370]

Fk both of you and fk rings of power. Kidding, just love and you are right.

[@CelebornGaming]

Cope

[@tefnenes3426]

First

[@nealjroberts4050]

Has anyone ever done a demythologising of Middle Earth? Ie the assumption that the tales are simply mythic/magical versions of what really happened and coming up with a plausible nonmagic nonbiased history.

[@astormofwrenches5555]

You must be fun at parties.

[@nealjroberts4050]

@@astormofwrenches5555 Yes, thanks.

[@Legio_Purpura_20_18]

Rings of Power is tfu americanization and wokeisation of Tolkien as they do with other lores or histories.

[@CelebornGaming]

Cry me a river

[@DashhunterLP]

How about you discuss the actual topic of the video instead of bitching crying and moaning at even the slightest mention of ROP like some kind of immature snowflake bitchbaby

[@user-rf4yl3mc1o]

Rings of Power: A disappointing fan-fiction, and the most expensive cosplay ever. A failure of adaptation and of plot, story, and character.

[@wallypagayanan4555]

For all we know these places can really be found in hollow Earth ,I think JR Tolkien went there and saw it all happened.the stories he wrote in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

[@DashhunterLP]

Actual brainworms

[@WeeG-bwc77]

I associated Morgoth with fire and brimstone etc. so it was cool to learn that the "northmost" parts of middle earth (especially before beleriand was sunk) were his original base. Some of the greatest evil in that universe's history were icey and cold. Before Angband there was Utumno.