Final Notes and Later Lands

Final Notes and Possible Later Lands:

The first note and thought of my own that would likely happen is the passing of Rivendell to and the lands it holds of Hollin to the Reunited Kingdom. We do not know the ultimate fate of the sons of Elrond, be it man or Elf. but we do know at the death of Aragorn, he mentions that none now walk in the garden of Elrond. This would likely mean no elves now dwell in Rivendell. Along with this Eldarion son of Aragorn and Arwen would be the inharater after the fate of the sons of Elrond likely departed as well. These lands, unlike the other elven realms, border no other nation and would likely be added to Arnor at some point in the Fourth Age. As for the lands west of Arnor there were few elves left in the year 171 of the Fourth Age there and it is said men did not settle these lands. Lastly for the lands of the elves the realm of Lorien and Southern Mirkwood, they would likely not join the Reunited Kingdom as there is the much more likely expansion of the Woodsmen, Bearings and any remain wood elves there as they do not perish until much later in the Fourth Age.

My Second not of other lands being added but rather a transfer of land from Gondor to Arnor. The Region of Enedwaith once a part of Gondor and thus reclaimed at the time of the Reunited Kingdom would likely be transferred to Arnor once founded or have been added to it if not claimed until that time. I say this as Gondor does not own any lands bordering it anymore and so putting it under the rule of Arnor would make much more sense.

My third not is in regards to the dwarves of the Grey mountains and the fortress of Gundabad, it is likely that the Dwarves would go on to reclaim large parts of these mountains later in the Fourth Age while fighting against orcs and with the dwindling numbers of the orcs belgian to repopulate these lands. Tolkien does note that Gundabad is revered by the dwarves as it is where Durin the Deathless awoke and lays between the misty and Gery Mountains. Though there are no notes on the actual retaken so I left it off my initial map, however likely re-securing the whole of the Grey Mountains and Gundabad is.

My fourth would be adding Meneltarma under the rule of Gondor as it is noted that some in the realms of Exile believe the summit of the mountain is now an Island with Dúnedain possibly sailing to search.

My last part of note is on the region between the Kingdom of Dale and the lands of Gondor and once home to the Kingdom of Rhovanion. In my research on the Reunited Kingdom borders and more specifically the borders of Dale this area stumped me as in the late third age the Easterlings of some kind likely hold these lands but after they are driven further east it is not noted who holds those lands. Along with this Dales borders are little known, from the section talking about dale we know its original people fell between the Celduin and the Carnen and later that their lands before the war of the War of the Ring extended far south and east with based on the depiction of the invading Easterlings we know that the Carnen is their eastern border. But what is not stated is the southern bounds. It says far south of lake town but makes no mention of the river Celduin as being a border at any point but the original founding, so when the note of far south of Lake Town is made this could mean as far south as their border with Gondor. This would make Dale the most likely holder of the lands if any at the beginning of the fourth age though I could see an argument being made for Gondor later moving in there as well as further east during their later wars; however there is no text supporting Gondor's claim of owning it. I did not give it to either Kingdom on the initial map as I do not see strong enough evidence for it in the works of Tolkien and I wanted to make the most accurate map possible.

All of the borders and claims made on this portion of the book are here as there is some level of evidence that you could argue these three changes would be backed by some portion of the text but are not hard said nor is there a strong claim. The evidence is however strong enough and likely enough that I did want to add it here and make a second version of the map for you the reader to see, as shown on the final page of this section of the book on maps of the Reunited Kingdom. 

Speculation Map

Map Key:

Red: Kingdom of Arnor

Blue: Kingdom of Gondor

Green: Vassal Kingdom of Rohan

Yellow: Dependent Protectorates of the Shire, the Tregarth of Orthanc, and the Drúadan Forest

Orange: Independent Protectorates of the Kingdom of Dale, and the Realm of the King under the Mountain

Magenta: Colonies in the Reunited Kingdom the Glittering Caves and the Ithilien Elf Colony