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The Old Forest was one of the few remnants of the vast forests which covered most of Eriador before the Second Age. What became known as the Old Forest had survived the deforestation by the Númenóreans and the wars against Sauron. It was bordered in the east by the Barrow-downs, and in the west by the Brandywine River.

In later years, Gorhendad Oldbuck colonised the stripe of land between the Brandywine and the Old Forest. The Hobbits of Buckland cut the forest to make room for their new homes, and also cultivated the High Hay, a large hedge separating their country from the Forest.

Bonfire Glade was a reminder of the strange 'war' that took place between the malevolent trees of the Old Forest and the Hobbits of Buckland, sometime between T.A. 2340 and T.A. 3018. As part of the effort to cut back the Forest, the Bucklanders had gathered all the fallen wood and burned it in a clearing. A long time afterwards, when Frodo and company made their way through the Forest, the glade was still there.

The hobbits believed the trees of the Old Forest were in some manner 'awake', and hostile due to the years of tree-felling and destruction that they had witnessed. They swayed when there was no wind, whispered at night, and led unfortunate travellers deeper into the forest.

The Withywindle, which lay roughly in the centre of the Old Forest, was the root of the queerness, malice, and the general animosity that the trees projected. Old Man Willow lived within the valley and seemed to have some measure of control over the forest, inspiring much of the anger that permeated the limbs of the trees.

At the north-eastern edge of the forest, on the edge of the Barrow-downs, stood the house of Tom Bombadil, who rescued Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin when they were trapped by Old Man Willow. Tom is a mystery to even the most dedicated of Tolkien fans - some say he is God himself, some say he is the spirit of Middle-earth manifest, and some even claim he's the Witch-king.

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The Old Forest forms part of a larger project which seeks to recreate Middle-earth in its entirety. Credit goes to the entire community of builders for helping out!

The Old Forest can be viewed from above on ArdaCraft's dynmap. There is no download available, but ArdaCraft is a non whitelisted server which anyone is welcome to come and explore, provided they have installed our modpack first.

All information can be found on our website at http://ardacraft.me/