Amon Ereb

The Lonely Hill

Amon Ereb stood alone in the wide levels of East Beleriand, a little east of Ramdal, where the hills of the Andram came to an end, and some way west of the Gelion above the country of Ossiriand. It was not high as mountains go, but it rose broad and solitary out of a flat land and could be seen from far away, so that it commanded the whole of the south-eastern plain and the approaches from the north down the empty lands between Aros and Gelion.

Denethor's last stand

The hill's first appearance in the tales is a grief. When Morgoth's orcs first broke into Beleriand, Thingol called on the Green-elves for help, and Denethor their king marched out of Ossiriand to join him. The eastern host of the orcs was caught between Thingol and Denethor and beaten, but the lightly armed Green-elves suffered terribly; Denethor was cut off on Amon Ereb and killed with all his nearest kin before Thingol could reach him. After that day the Laiquendi chose no king and fought no more in open battle.

The Fëanorian watch

When the Dagor Bragollach swept the sons of Fëanor from their northern lands, Caranthir fled south with the remnant of his people and joined Amrod and Amras, whose hunting-grounds had always lain in the southern woods. Together they withdrew past Ramdal and fortified Amon Ereb, and from it, with help from the Green-elves, they kept a watch and a fighting strength on the south-eastern frontier through the years before the Nirnaeth. It was the last stronghold the Fëanorians held in the east. After the great defeat their people were scattered, and though the hill remained a landmark for the brothers as they wandered the eastern woods, it was no longer a fortress. Amon Ereb sank with Beleriand at the end of the Age.