Harkmoor

The Harkmoor is the centremost of the three principal wetland valleys within the Harking Hills, beside the Elmoor and the Folkmoor.

Etymology

The element hark- likely derives from Old Olgish húring, Middle Olgish húrik ‘wild, untamed’, reinterpreted by folk etymology (see also Name of the Harking Hills). The designation as a moor follows the in the Harkings common practice of applying this label to inaccessible areas of uncultivated land irrespective of whether it includes actual moorland.

Geography and Ecology

Located between Mt. Nimmberg and the Paling Downs, it forms a relatively hard to traverse bog at the heart of the Harking Hills. While drier and less perilous than the Elmoor, it offers only sparse game and few other resources, and even local rangers rarely descend into the Harkmoor. Its most striking feature is Hark’s Tomb, a dolmen of forgotten provenance sitting upon a knoll on its eastern fringe.