The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad;

Author:Karen Wynn Fonstad;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

LAKE-TOWN

Lonely Mountain

THROR’S MAP indicated that the diameter of Lonely Mountain was equal to about half the distance to the Long Lake, which lay about twenty miles south.1 The summit was high enough to be snowcapped at least as late as spring, and so was possibly 3500 feet in elevation.2 The shape of the mountain’s spurs showed clearly on Thrór’s map: six ridges radiating from the central peak. Within the broad south-facing valley lay the ruins of Dale, once a thriving city of Men.3 The Running River, which originated from a spring just inside the Front Gate,4 descended over two falls,5 then swirled around Dale in a wide loop that passed first near the eastern spur, then west beyond Ravenhill, before turning east and south to Long Lake.6 Just north of Ravenhill, on the western side, the company made its first camp. Within a few days they moved to a narrower vale, about three miles long, between the two western spurs. There at the east end, just behind an overhanging cliff of 150 feet, was the hidden bay with its secret door.7 Bilbo discovered the foot of the path “down the valley . . . at its southern corner.”8 There were rough steps that ascended to the top of the southern ridge and along a narrow ledge across the head of the vale. Directly above the camp the path turned east behind a boulder into the steep-walled bay. Sitting with his back against the far wall, Bilbo could look west toward the Misty Mountains; yet the opening was so narrow it appeared only as a crack. Beyond the grassy terrace the trail continued along the mountain-face, but the Dwarves went no further, for they were certain this was the “doorstep.”9

On Durin’s Day Thorin opened the magical Side-door and gained entrance to the ancient tunnels of Erebor, the kingdom under the Mountain. Of the many “halls, and lanes, and tunnels, alleys, cellars, mansions and passages,”10 the only ones mentioned were the secret tunnel leading to the “bottommost cellar” and the stairs and halls ascending to the “great chamber of Thrór” near the Front Gate, which was the only remaining entrance.11 The secret tunnel was considered small, even though “five feet high the door and three may walk abreast.”12 It descended in a smooth straight line to Smaug’s chamber. As the dungeon-hall lay at the “Mountain’s root,”13 and the bay was at the eastern end of the valley, the tunnel has been estimated as being two miles long. In the dark, creeping along to prevent echoes, Bilbo spent about three hours traversing that distance.14

In the hall lay Smaug’s hoard, attesting the wealth of gold and jewels that had been mined there.15 An illustration by Tolkien allowed estimates of the size of the hall.16 Smaug appeared about sixty feet long, giving the impression that the room was at least 180 feet in length. Its vast size was further emphasized by the ever-shrinking light of Bilbo’s torch “far away in the distance.”17 Two great stairways exited through arched doors on the eastern wall.

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