Figure 9. Adapted from Tolkien, J. R. R. (2012). The realm of Middle-earth [Map]. The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary One-Volume Edition. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.
The Dead Marshes are filled with the soldiers slain at the Battle of Dagorlad. This battle was fought millennia before the events of LotR, during which the last Army of the Alliance between Men, Elves and Dwarves defeated Sauron and his forces before the gates of Mordor (McNelis, 2006, p. 434). During their crossing of the Marshes towards Mordor, Frodo becomes mesmerized by the sight of these ancient corpses and falls into the watery muck, saved from death only by the hand of the cursed Gollum (Dead Marshes, Tolkien Gateway, 2018) . Students should reflect upon every aspect of this geographical location, and analyze how both Frodo and Gollum interact with it.
Recommended Readings
Danielson, S. (2018). Re-reading the map of Middle-earth: Fan cartography’s engagement with Tolkien’s Legendarium. Journal of Tolkien Research, 6(1), 1-18.
Sinex, M. (2005). “Tricksy Lights”: Literary and folkloric elements in Tolkien’s Passage of the Dead Marshes. Tolkien Studies, 2(1), 93-112.
The Geography of Middle-earth 