Why Are There So Few Roads In Middle-earth?

Q: Why Are There So Few Roads In Middle-earth?

ANSWER: Looking at J.R.R. Tolkien’s map of Middle-earth, one easily gets the impression there are only a handful of roads. However, the map is misleading simply because it only features the most important roads, the “great highways” that connect the various kingdoms and regions together.

For example, if you compare the details of the Shire map with the same region depicted by the whole “Middle-earth map”, you’ll see the various roads of the Shire are omitted. The same is true if you compare the Gondor map with the larger map as well.

Even within the Pelennor Fields there are roads that do not appear on the maps. Theoden leads his soldiers through the White Mountains from Helm’s Deep to Edoras by mountain roads that are not shown on the maps. Within Lorien, the members of the Fellowship are led to Caras Galadhon by a road that is not depicted on any map.

Hence, one must pay attention to the details of the stories to see that there are indeed many roads that the characters use to travel from place to another. Sometimes they find themselves in the wilderness or out in wide open lands, but oftentimes they are also deliberately traveling by stealth.

When Frodo and Sam order Gollum to show them the way to Mordor, Gollum takes them through the Dead Marshes — but the narrative makes it clear they were not far from a network of roads that ran between Mordor, southern Mirkwood, and the eastern lands that paid homage to Sauron.

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See also:

• Why Did Sauron Need a Road from Barad-dur to Sammath Naur?
• Why Did the Fellowship Not Take any Maps with Them?
• Where Did the Old Forest Road in Mirkwood Lead To?
• Where Did Boromir Die in The Lord of the Rings?
• How Many Roads Led Into the Shire?
• Do the Rohirrim of Rohan Use Boats?

Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?