Mirkwood (S: Taur e-Ndaedelos) was a great forest east of the river Anduin in Rhovanion. It was previously called Greenwood the Great (S: Eryn Galen), until the Shadow of the influence of Sauron(known as the Necromancer at the time) came into it. It was named the Wood of Greenleaves (S: Eryn Lasgalen) when the shadow was lifted after the defeat of Sauron.
Geography
Mirkwood seems to have had much the same boundaries as it did at the end of the Third Age for most of its history. It was roughly rectangular in shape, stretching from the foothills of the Grey Mountains in the north to the North Undeep in the south, and from the east edge of the vale of Anduin to the Lonely Mountain.
It was bisected by the ancient Old Forest Road. Later, when this road became unusable, a second path through the forest was made to the north. Between the two paths lay the Mountains of Mirkwood. The Forest River cut through the forest's northern end from its source in the western Grey Mountains, joined in the centre by the Enchanted River which flowed north from the Mountains of Mirkwood.
South of the Old Forest Road the East Bight created the Narrows of the Forest, only one hundred miles across. South and west of the narrows was the a hill called Amon Lanc.
First Age
Originally called Greenwood the Great, the forest may have once formed part of the vast primeval woodland which covered most of Middle-earth during the Years of the Trees in the First Age, likely linked to the wood that would become Lothlórien across the Anduin. The Eldar passed through the area on their journey to Valinor and it was first populated at this time by the Nandor. Unwilling to cross the Misty Mountains, these Elves settled also in the wooded valleys of the river Anduin. They multiplied and were joined by wandering Avari, and became known as the Silvan or Wood-elves.
The Old Forest Road was constructed very early in Greenwood's history by the Longbeard Dwarves to carry traffic between their territory in the Misty Mountains to Erebor, and the Iron Hills.This road would be later abandoned as the Orcs of the Misty Mountains and Grey Mountains took Gundabad and the surrounding region, cutting off communication between Khazad-dûm and the Iron Hills and Erebor.
Second Age
Around the year S.A. 750, Oropher, a Sinda prince and a refugee from fallen Doriath, removed from Lindon, with a handful of other Sindar, to the Greenwood, where he was taken by the Silvan Elves as their lord. This forested region to the east of the Anduin is where Silvan Elves, of Nandor descent and the Avari, lived. Oropher built his Halls at Amon Lanc and was accepted as the leader of the Wood-elves of Greenwood, later the Elves of Mirkwood, forming the Woodland Realm.
During the First and Second Age, the Northmen, such as the ancestors of the Woodmen, had been allies of the Longbeards and the Dwarves of the hills surrounding the Greenwood, and were enemies of the Orcs and Easterlings. The Woodmen maintained friendly relations with the Elves of the Greenwood.
Third Age
The first millennium of the Third Age probably saw the creation of the East Bight by men living in the eastern eaves of the forest. These men may have formed part of the Kingdom of Rhovanion led by Vidugavia. Men, such as the Éothéod, and Hobbits also lived in the vale of Anduin and were likely responsible for the retreat of the forest's western border.
At the beginning of the Third Age, after the Battle of Dagorlad, Thranduil replaced Oropher (who had fallen during the Battle) as king of the Woodland Realm. Probably as a result of massive losses at the Battle of Dagorlad, the Silvan population of Greenwood was diminished and became mainly concentrated in the hills then known as Emyn Duir. At the beginning of the second millennium of the Third Age, a mysterious being came to Amon Lanc in the south of Greenwood the Great, and there built the stronghold known as Dol Guldur; "hill of sorcery." This was the magician known as the Necromancer, who was later revealed to be none other than Sauron himself, and from his fortress tower a shadow of nightshade began to spread across the woodlands. The story of Sauron's darkening of Greenwood the Great mirrors events in the First Age, when he occupied the highland forests of Dorthonion, north of Beleriand. That region, too, fell under his shadow, and was also known as Taur-nu-Fuin. From that time on, the Elves came to refer to the Greenwood as Taur-nu-Fuin, the forest under nightshade, rendered into the Mannish tongue as 'Mirkwood'.
Around the same time as the Great Plague devastated Gondor and Eriador, the Shadow grew deep in Greenwood and evil things reappeared. Later the wise noted this coincidence and considered it a sign of Sauron's return.
Indeed, by the time of Cirion (c. T.A. 2500), Dol Guldur controlled the Balchoth, a tribe of Easterlings who dwelt east of Mirkwood; often they made raids through the forest up to the Vales of Anduin, until they were all but deserted, until defeated.
Sauron's arrival caused a darkening of Greenwood, and at this point it became known as Mirkwood. The children of Shelob, giant spiders, as well as bats and orcs in Dol Guldur's service occupied the forest and it became thicker, darker and covered in cobwebs.
This caused Thranduil to lead the Silvan population of Mirkwood to migrate north for the last time, north of the forest river. The Wood-elves specifically dwell apparently exclusively in the Elvenking's Halls at the eastern end of the Forest River. The ancient Old Forest Road was abandoned by men and Dwarves alike, with a new but seldom used path being made further from Dol Guldur and the Hobbits near the forest's eastern border migrated away.
Mirkwood remained a place of fear throughout the Third Age, though the kingdoms of Erebor and Dale flourished briefly in the time of the Kings under the Mountain. This prosperity was ended by the arrival of the Dragon Smaug who brought yet further desolation to the area north-eastern Mirkwood. Small homesteads of 'Woodmen' are also recorded as living in the western edge of the forest south of the old road in 2941.
In 2850, Gandalf visited Mirkwood and entered Dol Guldur, this time in secret. The Grey Pilgrim discovered that the Necromancer was none other than Sauron, who had regained his powers, millennia after the Battle of Dagorlad.
In T.A. 2941, as Thorin and Company were going on the Quest of Erebor, the shadow over Mirkwood was lifted, albeit temporarily. While Thorin and Company were journeying to Erebor, the White Council, prompted by the Wizard Gandalf's discovery of the true identity of Sauron drove him from Dol Guldur. Gandalf also planned the successful Quest of Erebor, which resulted in the slaying of Smaug in the same year. The combination of these two events allowed the re-established kingdoms of Erebor and Dale and the flourishing of the Woodland Realm and of a confederacy of Woodmen led by the Beornings. The Darkness of Mirkwood was lifted for a while.
Only ten years after these events in T.A. 2951 Sauron, now based in Mordor, sent Khamûl and two other Nazgûl to reoccupy Dol Guldur.
On 21 March 3018, Aragorn who had captured Gollum in the Dead Marshes arrived with Gollum in Mirkwood.
Two days later, on 23 March 3018, Gandalf arrived in Mirkwood and began to interrogate Gollum.
On 29 March 3018, Gandalf left Mirkwood.
On 20 June, Orcs attacked the Elves of Mirkwood and Gollum was able to escape from his captivity. Afterwards Legolas leaves Mirkwood to travel to Rivendell to attend the Council of Elrond and to report that Gollum has escaped.
On 11, 15 and 22 March 3019, forces from Dol Guldur assaulted the realm of Lórien, but they were repulsed each time because of the valor of the Elves of Lórien and by the power of Galadriel, but the woods on the borders of Lórien were seriously damaged.
On 15 March 3019, the day of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in front of Minas Tirith, forces from Dol Guldur invaded the realm of Thranduil in Mirkwood. Thranduil defeated the forces of Dol Guldur in a long battle under the trees during which there was great damage through by fire.
On 28 March 3019, the host of the Elves of Lórien led by Celeborn crossed the Anduin in boats and conquered Dol Guldur. Galadriel destroyed the walls of Dol Guldur and uncovered its pits and the forest was cleansed.
On 6 April 3019, Celeborn and Thranduil met in the middle of Mirkwood and gave it the new name Eryn Lasgalen, The Wood of Greenleaves. They divided the forest between them so that the realm of Thranduil encompassed the northern part of the wood down to the Mountains of Mirkwood and that the realm of Celeborn encompassed the southern part of the wood south of the Narrows of the Forest, which was named East Lórien by Celeborn. Thranduil and Celeborn gave all the wide forest between the Mountains of Mirkwood and the Narrows of the Forest to the Beornings and the Woodmen.
Fourth Age
Though initially they prospered as the darkness was lifted, the elves of the Wood of Greenleaves were destined either to depart for Valinor or fade into rustic forest spirits. The forest probably then ultimately fell under the dominion of Men, the descendants of the Beornings and the men of Dale.
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