By: Jonathan “Berephon” Rudder

 The Grey Company has begun their journey southwards to rendezvous with their chieftain, Aragorn son of Arathorn. They pass quickly through the forgotten lands of Eregion, soon crossing into the region of Enedwaith and the northern tip of Dunland. The first thing that veteran players of The Lord of the Rings Online^TM should notice is that Enedwaith has received all new biome textures and assets. In fact, each division within Enedwaith has its own unique biome and atmosphere. In this diary, however, I am going to focus on the themes and content found with the region of Eregion and touch upon the lore, both Tolkien and folklore, that inspired the content within it.

Eregion, the region due north of Enedwaith, had a heavily Elvish influence, being an ancient abandoned Elf-home. However, along the southern border Dunlending influences were beginning to be seen, especially in the way of small fortifications of an invading force in service to Saruman the White. For those conscious of the differences in naming convention, the names of these fortifications were based on Welsh (and modified to actually be readable to folks who do not count w or y as common vowels).

And this is where we enter Enedwaith and northern Dunland. The flavour and language conventions for the region and the Dunlendings were strongly influenced by Medieval Welsh and Briton (Old Welsh) language and folklore, in keeping with our practice of mimicking Tolkien’s use of real-world languages and cultures.

So let’s take a look at the divisions within Enedwaith…...