Gilrain

The Gilrain flowed from its source on the southern slope in the east of the White Mountains swiftly southward until at the end of the southward outlier of the mountains that separated the valley of the river Gilrain from the valley of the river Celos, it entered a wide shallow depression. There the Gilrain wandered for awhile and formed a small lake at the southern end of the depression where it cut through a ridge and flowed over waterfalls again swiftly southward until its confluence with its tributary, the river Serni. A short distance downstream at Linhir were the fords where travellers on the road from Erech to Pelargir crossed over the river. The Gilrain then continued to flow southwest for another 20 miles until it emtpied into the Bay of Belfalas west of the Ethir Anduin.

Legend said that Nimrodel tarried there upon the banks of the lake formed by the Gilrain as she came south out of the White Mountains, falling into a long sleep and thus missing Amroth's ship.

The first element in the Sindarin name Gilrain is gil ("spark"), and the second element derives from the root RAN ("wander, stray").

It is mentioned that the Serni continued to be called the Serni after its confluence with the Gilraen until it flowed into the sea and that its mouth was blocked with shingles in the entry Serni in the index of Unfinished Tales that was written by Christopher Tolkien in 1980 and in the etymological essay The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor that was written by J.R.R. Tolkien sometime after June 1969. In addition, the label "Serni" is placed downstream from the confluence of the two rivers not far upstream where the river flows into the Bay of Belfalas on the map of The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age, which was drawn by Christopher Tolkien and published with Unfinished Tales in 1980.

On the General Map of Middle-earth, which was drawn by Christopher Tolkien in late 1953 and published with older editions of The Lord of the Rings the "R" of the label "River GILRAIN" is placed downstream from the confluence of the two rivers not far upstream from where the river flows into the Bay of Belfalas. This is consistent with the location of the "R" in the label "R Gilrain" on The Third Map of The Lord of the Rings, which was drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien during the writing of The Lord of the Rings based on which Christopher Tolkien drew the General Map of Middle-earth. The text of a revised version of the draft manuscript for the chapter The Last Debate explicitly states that Linhir and the fords were on the shore of the Gilrain, that the men of Lamedon defended the passage over the Gilrain at Linhir and that the enemy had sailed up the mouth of the Gilrain.

For the joint course of the Gilrain and the Serni from their confluence to the sea the name Linhir was also used.

2014: The Lord of the Rings Online:

The river Gilrain formed the border between the areas of Dor-en-Ernil and Lower Lebennin in the region of Central Gondor. The river was the domain of the gentle River-maid Roamingstar, one of the Five Sisters, who dwelt in the mere. Roamingstar lulled the elf-maid Nimrodel to sleep with her song and so accidentally caused the Elf to lose her beloved, Amroth, a tragedy the River-maid still felt guilt for during the War of the Ring. She and her sisters were widely considered myths by then, but when her aid was sought for Gondor she gave it by preventing the Ruthless Dead from crossing her river into Lebennin.

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