Can anything good come from Men?

[mark12_30]

Because Beowulf was northern...

Or, maybe it's because, in general, faerie lies to the north, or at least lingers longer there. Dol Amroth no longer hosts elves. Edhellond is deserted. But to the north, are Rivendell, Thranduil's halls, Lorien, The Shire, Evendim (who denies it is enchanted? Just look at the map!) and Mithlond. Elves wander in the woods near the Shire, and roam between Rivendell and The Tower Hills.

And let's not forget Tom Bombadil and Goldberry. It just feels different near the Shire.

[Mnemosyne]

This whole north/south thing is really odd, because the Elves have traditionally associated the North with evil (when you go through the cardinal directions it's supposed to go West, South, East, North because North was the seat of Angband).

About the best correlation I can make is because evil was such an obvious and strong presence, some of the Men (the first ones to move west) reacted to it, and continued to live in the North in opposition. In the south it had a more subtle presence and thus was able to ensnare more Men. Or, those Men who did not react against Morgoth had to move in south, because all the good lands up North were taken by those good-for-naught Elves and Elf-friends.

Maybe that was enough to set up a pattern that generally speaking perpetuated itself over the generations.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Truly, to me it seems so that in the North, there is the "throne of all evil", ever since Angband was there. The outposts come and go, even Mordor is established somewhere simply because it's far away enough from the Elves. Had Mordor not been possible to reoccupy and had the White Council not driven out of Mirkwood, Dol Guldur might have become next in the line of "evil realms". But it was the North, where Varda

Originally Posted by Sil, Chapter 3: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor

high in the north as a challenge to Melkor she set the crown of seven mighty stars to swing, Valacirca, the Sickle of the Valar and sign of doom.

The North was important, and despite the fact that Melkor was driven away, one can never get rid of the feeling that there is the place where the axis of the world lies (now I am intentionally phrasing it like that, so that you can read it metaphorically).