Brandywine River Battle of Five Armies & The Third Age of Middle-Earth The current year for our Middle-Earth campaign is set during the year of 2946 of the Third Age. Inspired By J.R.R. Tolkien

The Brandywine River, known in Elvish as the Baranduin (meaning "golden-brown river"), was one of the most significant rivers in Eriador, flowing through the heart of the region and forming the eastern border of the Shire. Its source was the large Lake Nenuial (Lake Evendim) in the north, site of the ancient Dúnedain capital of Annúminas. From there, it flowed first eastward and then primarily south, passing the North Downs and the Bree-land before turning southwest towards the Great Sea, into which it emptied north of Eryn Vorn. The river's waters were generally wide and relatively calm for much of its length, though its color was a distinguishing, light brown hue, which inspired the Hobbits' punning name for it.

To the Hobbits of the Shire, the Brandywine River was more than a geographical feature; it was the symbolic and physical boundary of their safe, known world. Most Hobbits were cautious of the river, especially those from the Westfarthing and the Shire proper, who viewed anyone living on the "wrong" side (in Buckland) as peculiar due to their unusual readiness to use boats. This sense of the river as a border was even reflected in the original Hobbitish name, Branda-nîn, which meant "border water". This isolationist view was so strong that the phrase "from the Downs to the River" became a common expression for the entire extent of their land.

The river's course featured only two primary crossing points relevant to the Shire-folk. The first was the ancient Brandywine Bridge (originally the Bridge of Stonebows), a grand structure built by the Dúnedain of Arnor during the Second Age that carried the Great East Road across the water. The early Hobbits were tasked by the King of Arnor with maintaining this bridge, a duty they fulfilled for centuries. Further south, where the river skirted the edge of the dark Old Forest, the only other controlled crossing was the Bucklebury Ferry, a simple ferry used by the Bucklanders to cross into the Eastfarthing.

The Brandywine River played a direct role in major historical and personal events. In the year T.A. 2980, Drogo Baggins and his wife Primula Brandybuck drowned in a boating accident on the river, leaving their son Frodo an orphan. More critically, during the War of the Ring, the river served as a strategic barrier. The Nazgûl successfully crossed the river at the unguarded Sarn Ford further south, entering the Shire in pursuit of Frodo. However, the hobbits managed to escape the Black Riders at the Bucklebury Ferry, leaving the wraiths stranded on the eastern bank, unable to cross the running water which some suggested had an "Elvish" quality that hindered their passage.

The river also experienced rare, extreme natural events, most notably during the Fell Winter of T.A. 2911, when the Brandywine River froze solid. This unprecedented event allowed white wolves from the North to cross the ice and invade the Shire, causing great hardship. In the post-war Fourth Age, the river's significance shifted once more; Gandalf implied that in the new peace established by King Aragorn II Elessar, Men would cross the Brandywine River again to resettle the empty lands of Minhiriath to the south, bringing new life to the once-desolate region it bordered.