Withywindle

Old Man Willow on the bank of The Withywindle

The Withywindle was the lesser tributary of the Brandywine River that flowed through the Barrow-downs and the Old Forest and passed into Buckland on the borders of the Shire. The Dingle, the valley of the Withywindle, was said to be the source of all the strange occurrences in the Old Forest. Tom Bombadil lived here in his house on top of a hill between the Barrow-downs and Old Forest.

History

According to hobbit folklore, Tom Bombadil met Goldberry, the River-daughter, in a pool down the Withywindle. He later brought her to his home north of the river and every summer would gather water-lilies for her along the river side. He was on his last trip of the year when he met Frodo Baggins and the rest of his company on September 26, 3018.

When Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin were passing through the valley of the Withywindle, they encountered Old Man Willow, an ancient tree who showed bitter hatred to all other living creatures in Middle-earth people and trees alike. The Hobbits were lulled to sleep under his spell all except Frodo and Sam who regained consciousness in time to save Merry and Pippin who had been trapped inside the old willow's trunk. Tom Bombadil happened to be strolling along the river at the time and rescued them all by demanding that he let them go.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

The river was about three miles in length and began at a waterfall that probably cut into the cliff at the edge of the Barrow-downs near the house of Tom Bombadil.

At the mouth of the Withywindle there was a haven in the north bank called Grindwall. The Grindwall was not under the protection of the High Hay therefore it was guarded by a fence that was built extending into the water's shallows. There was a small village called Breredon on the other side of the Grindwall between the Brandywine and the High Hay.

Etymology

The word withy means 'willow' (common element in English place-names) and windle meaning spindle or reel and is supposed to be translated from Hobbit-speech.^{[citation needed]}

Portrayal in adaptations

Withywindle in 'The Lord of the Rings Online

In The Lord of the Rings Online, as Withywindle flows through the Old Forest, signs of long-abandoned habitation can be found along its shores.

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Albanian	Gisht i shelgut
Arabic	الصفصاف المغزل
Armenian	Ւիտհյւինդլե
Azerbaijani	Söyüd şpindel
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Уилоу вретено
Cambodian	ដើមសូលផ្លែរហាត់
Chinese (Hong Kong)	柳蘇河
Croatian	Vrba vretena
Czech	Vrba vřeteno
Danish	Vidjeslyng (flod)
Dutch	Wilgspil
Esperanto	Saliko ŝpinilo
Estonian	Paju spindli
Finnish	Halavainen
French	Tournesaules
Georgian	ტირიფი ლილვი ?
German	Weidenwinde
Greek	Ιτέα ατρακτος
Gujarati	વિલો સ્પિન્ડલ
Hebrew	וויתיווינדל
Hindi	विलो स्पिंडल
Hungarian	Fűztekeres
Irish Gaelic	fearsaid Saileach
Italian	Salice mandrino
Japanese	古森の枝垂川
Kannada	ವಿಲೋ ಸ್ಪಿಂಡಲ್
Korean	윌로우 스핀들
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Саясында ийик
Latvian	Vītols vārpstas
Lithuanian	Gluosnis velenas
Macedonian Cyrillic	Врба вретено
Maltese	Żafżafa magħżel
Marathi	विलो आस
Mongolian Cyrillic	бургас спиндель
Nepalese	विलो स्पिन्डल
Norwegian	Seljespindel
Persian	بید اسپیندل
Polish	wrzeciono Wija
Portuguese	Fuso de salgueiro
Portuguese (Brazil)	Voltavime
Punjabi	ਵਿਲੋ ਸਪਿੰਡਲ
Romanian	Salcie axul
Russian	Ивлинка
Serbian	Врба вретено (Cyrillic) Vrelno vreteno (Latin)
Sinhalese	විථ්‍ය්විඳ්ලෙ
Slovak	Vŕbové vreteno
Slovenian	Vrba vretena
Spanish	Tornasauce
Swedish	Videvindeln
Tamil	வில்லோ சுழல்
Tatar	тал орчык
Telugu	విల్లో కుదురు
Thai	วิลโลว์แกน
Turkish	Söğüt mili
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Верболозка
Vietnamese	Cây liểu trục chính
Welsh	Helyg gwerthyd
Yiddish	ווילאָו שפּינדל