Middle-Earth Tours

Tour 2: The Places of Middle-Earth

Amon Hen
The pent waters spread out into a great long oval lake, pale Nen Hithoel, fenced by steep grey hills whose sides were clad with trees, but their heads were bare, cold-gleaming in the sunlight. At the far southern end rose three peaks. The midmost stood somewhat forward from the others and sundered from them, an island in the waters, about which the flowing River flung pale shimmering arms. Distant but deep there came up on the wind a roaring sound like the roll of thunder heard far away.
    'Behold Tol Brandir!' said Aragorn, pointing south to the tall peak. 'Upon the left stands Amon Lhaw, and upon the right is Amon Hen, the Hills of Hearing and of Sight. In the days of the great kings there were high seats upon them, and watch was kept there. --FotR, "The Great River"
Amon Hen, by Rob Alexander

Tol Brandir, by Alan Lee		 He [Frodo] came to a path, the dwindling ruins of a road of long ago. In steep places stairs of stone had been hewn, but now they were cracked and worn, and split by the roots of trees. For some while he climbed, not caring which way he went, until he came to a grassy place. Rowan-trees grew about it, and in the midst was a wide flat stone....Frodo halted and looked out over the River, far below him, to Tol Brandir and the birds wheeling in the great gulf of air between him and the untrodden isle. The voice of Rauros was a mighty roaring mingled with a deep throbbing boom. --FotR, "The Breaking of the Fellowship"

Frodo and Boromir,
by Anke-Katrin Eiszmann


Boromir and Frodo, by
Ted Nasmith
Suddenly he awoke from his thoughts: a strange feeling came to him that something was behind him, that unfriendly eyes were upon him. He sprang up and turned; but all that he saw to his surprise was Boromir, and his face was smiling and kind. --FotR, "The Breaking of the Fellowship"

image from Decipher
Boromir and Frodo, by
Catherine Karina Chmiel
Boromir and Frodo, by
Catherine Karina Chmiel

the Seat of Seeing, pic from Scoop

 Frodo did not even hear [Boromir's] cries. He was already far away, leaping blindly up the path to the hill-top. Terror and grief shook him, seeing in his thought the mad fierce face of Boromir, and his burning eyes.
    Soon he came out alone on the summit of Amon Hen, and halted, gasping for breath. He saw as through a mist a wide flat circle, paved with mighty flags, and surrounded with a crumbling battlement; and in the middle, set upon four carven pillars, was a high seat, reached by a stair of many steps. Up he went and sat upon the ancient chair, feeling like a lost child that had clambered upon the throne of mountain-kings. --FotR, "The Breaking of the Fellowship"
Eastward he looked into wide uncharted lands, nameless plains, and forests unexplored. Northward he looked, and the Great River lay like a ribbon beneath him, and the Misty Mountains stood small and hard as broken teeth. Westward he looked and saw the broad patures of Rohan; and Orthanc, the pinnacle of Isengard, like a black spike. Southward he looked, and below his very feet the Great River curled like a toppling wave and plunged over the falls of Rauros into a foaming pit; a glimmering rainbow played upon the flume. --FotR, "The Breaking of the Fellowship"
image from a Decipher trading card

Frodo after Boromir's betrayal,
pic from Numenoreen		 The scenes at left and right are not in FotR, but IMO they're in the general spirit of Tolkien. At left, Frodo mourns the betrayal of Boromir and wonders what to do next. At right, he meets Aragorn beneath the Seat of Seeing and receives some reassurance before Aragorn is called away to the fight.
Frodo and Aragorn at Amon Hen,
a widely reproduced picture
Full-size versions of these pictures are on display at Rolozo Tolkien and the official LotR movie site.