Ford of Bruinen

Also known as the Ford

other
natural

The shallow crossing point on the River Bruinen east of Rivendell where Frodo, pursued by the Nazgûl, is nearly overtaken before the river rises in flood to wash the Riders away.

Type: other
Style: natural
First appears: Book 1 · Ch. 14
Books: 2

The Ford of Bruinen begins as a dramatic, perilous threshold in The Fellowship of the Ring, where the river itself rises in flood to repel the Nazgûl and save Frodo. By The Return of the King it has become a quiet landmark on the road to Rivendell, its waters no longer turbulent but its memory charged with the earlier triumph. Across the series the ford shifts from active battlefield to remembered waypoint, its significance deepening from immediate danger to reflective milestone on the heroes’ journeys.

History

BOOK 1The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings
The shallow crossing point on the River Bruinen east of Rivendell where Frodo, pursued by the Nazgûl, is nearly overtaken before the river rises in flood to wash the Riders away.
BOOK 3The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
The ford of the Loudwater on the road to Rivendell, a remembered crossing of the earlier quest. It is named, not recrossed as a new scene.