Rhosgobel 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

Rhosgobel is the home of the wizard Radagast the Brown. It is said to be located between the Carrock and the Old Forest Road on Mirkwood's western borders near the confluence of the Woodman Trail and the Râd Angálaladh, though Gandalf once mentioned Radagast as living near the southern borders of the forest.

The term Rhosgobel originates from the Sindarin words rhosg ("brown") and gobel ("enclosed dwelling, walled house or village"). Nothing in the home had been created by the human hand, save the hundreds of bird houses that Radagast himself had made. Everything else in the house was just as nature made it, with perhaps a touch of human ingenuity, down to the massive furry oak tree th at twisted its way up through the middle of Radagast's home.

Rhosgobel is a ramshackle cottage, with various walls and roofs from other cabins being pieced together haphazardly around the base of an old tree. It has several holes in the roof, through which spiders could be seen. The entire location seems to be in complete disarray. Rhosgobel is a u-shaped wooden house nestled in the woods surrounding a small blue pool of water or pond.

Rhosgobel is a dwelling place of Radagast the Brown the Maia of Yavanna. The Lord of Rhosgobel was, of course, Radagast the Brown. He was the Wizard who helped Gandalf and the White Council to drive Sauron out of Mirkwood. Then, of course, as you know he went back to Rhosgobel to find it was ever more lonely.

Rhosgobel was not abandoned for Radagast did not return to Valinor where the Valar and Maiar live under the care of Illuvator. He stayed in Rhosgobel and plans to stay there until the world fades away.

Rhosgobel
The inner dimensions of Rhosgobel measure 30 feet by 20 feet, and the ceiling hangs rises 12 feet above the floor. The south and west facing windows are hung with gossamer curtains woven by well-meaning spiders, now all but extinct among the trees of Mirkwood. A step-ladder winds around the gnarled trunk of the furry oak tree at the center of Rhosgobel. By climbing the ladder one ascends up into the lookout, a room that looks uncannily like a wasp's nest (it was built for Radagast by paper wasps) and sits atop the highest bough of the massive furry oak tree, 50 feet above ground level. From that lookout one can glimpse the glimmer of the over the River Anduin to the west, and the long, dark expanse of dense forest to the north and east.

Ever-present and always merciless, the gleaming jet black spire of Dol Guldur lies within the hills to the south. There, amidst the wretched gloom, it carves a haunting scar in the sky above southern Wilderland. Radagast keeps watch on the Hill of Sorcery. The barren hillsides of the Necromancer's lair are usually shrouded in dark clouds, but the Istar's gaze is subtle and penetrating. He monitors any strange movements, and provides the forest with whatever aid he can offer. The Brown Wizard works to stay the Evil, despite the impression that other matters have taken his mind off the neighboring threat. After all, there are always things to tend to at Rhosgobel.

Great Hawks brought river-rocks with which to create a lovely fireplace hearth. Chipmunks brought scraps of bark and smooth stone and installed shelves on which Radagast could store his extensive collection of roots and herbs. Bears brought a large hollow log, thinking that Radagast needed a pot to brew in. The concern of the animals over the years of renovation has been for Radagast's convenience. But all the while Radagast had his mind on renovations other than those for the sake of his own ease. For Radagast's passion was building houses for his birds. He spent the first century of his life at Rhosgobel wandering the forest, learning every method of construction and suspension, every kind of material used naturally by birds to build nests.

Then he saw to it that he put into action every trick he had learned from the birds about how to build and hang a birdnest at his home of Rhosgobel. The outer walls of his sylvan home, over the years, had become an intricate collection of bird houses and bird feeders of every sort of description. And once Radagast had built every bird nest he had seen in the forest of Mirkwood, he began using his Wizardly powers to devise bird houses on his own. Needless to say, none of these bird houses wento uninhab- ited. For Rhosgobel was a haven for birds throughout all Middle-earth.