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These creatures live to me as I am creating them. Twere I to finish, they would become wooden, lacking in life. Thus, the tale must go on. It is, after all, one belonging to all who would but participate and find its first steps, beside a secret gate.
— J.R.R. Tolkien, Letters
If ever a name signified a realm of dangerous enchantment, it is “Mirkwood,” The Great Forest of Doubt, whose pedigree of reference extends back 800 years in the known literature.
— Franz J. Heibowitz, The Mythical Forest
Through Mirkwood to fulfill their fates, the young fairy maidens flew.
— Eddic Lays (Icelandic, 13th Century)