Axbridge was a small village marking the crossing of the River Fayne by the Redway, the old Dwarven road from Tharbad into Siragale . The road lost its red stone paving as it descended from Sarn Gap in the White Downs into the marshy river bottoms, but the old causeway , anchored by stone pillars and built of enchanted oaken planks , still kept the traveler dry in all but the highest floods . The ax symbol burned into important segments of the bridge dated back hundreds of years. The timbers of the causeway did not rot , and its stone anchors neither sank nor swayed .