All the Wight Reasons?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by CSteefel

Although there are suggestions that the northern regions of Arthedain, especially that region close to Fornost, were also haunted. The Rangers went there evidently some times, but they were about the only ones. The question comes up as to why so much of Eriador is deserted, and haunting seems to be the only possible explanation given how pleasant a country the Shire is.

My impression is that the reputation of Fornost (Deadman's Dike) was a holdover from the war in which the North-kingdom met its end. Fornost had become the dwelling place of the Witch-king after the death of Arvedui, and it seems natural that it would maintain a place in legend among the Bree-landers as a token of fear. That the Rangers would go there to me indicates that there was no truth to the rumours.
The comparitive emptiness of Eriador could be explained by the fact that there didn't appear to be any folk near it that needed more space for long years. All inhabitants seem to have been content where they were: Hobbits in the Shire, Hobbits and Men at Bree, Elves in Lindon and Rivendell, Dwarves in the Blue Mountains. The nearest settlements of Men outside those areas were in Dunland, and indeed some of them had apparently began to seek to colonize the North by the time of the War of the Ring, out of fear of Saruman and the coming war.