Beleriand

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional legendarium, Beleriand was a region in northwestern Middle-earth during the First Age. Events in Beleriand are described chiefly in his works The Silmarillion, which tells the story of the early ages of Middle-earth in a style similar to the epic hero tales of Nordic literature. Beleriand also appears in the works The Book of Lost Tales , The Children of Húrin, and in the epic poems of The Lays of Beleriand

Geography

Originally, the name belonged only to the area around the Bay of Balar, but in time, the name was applied to the entire land. Beleriand was originally inhabited by Elves, and later also by Men. To the west and south it had a long shore with the Great Sea Belegaer, to the north were the highland regions of Hithlum, Dorthonion and the hills of Himring, to the east the Ered Luin reached nearly to the sea. The land of Nevrast in the northwest was sometimes considered part of Beleriand.

The River Sirion, the chief river of Beleriand, running north to south, divided it into West Beleriand and East Beleriand. Crossing it east to west was a series of hills and a sudden drop in elevation known as Andram, the Long Wall. The river sank into the ground at the Fens of Sirion, and reemerged below the Andram at the Gates of Sirion. To the east of the Long Wall, was the River Gelion and its six tributaries draining the Ered Luin, in an area known as Ossiriand, or the Land of Seven Rivers. The River Brethin and the River Nenning were the two lesser rivers of the western land of Falas. In volume IV of the History of Middle-earth are the early maps of Beleriand, then still called Broseliand, showing the elevation of the land by use of contour lines.

Realms of Beleriand

• Amon Ereb (founded )
• Arvernien (founded )
• Doriath (f.k.a. Eglador; )
• East Beleriand (founded )
• Himlad (founded )
• Thargelion (founded )
• Maglor's Gap (founded )
• Gondolin (founded )
• Hithlum (founded )
• Dor-lómin (founded )
• Nevrast (founded )
• March of Maedhros (founded )
• Estolad (founded )
• Nargothrond (founded )
• Ossiriand (l.k.a. Lindon; founded )
• Pass of Aglon (founded )

History

At the end of the First Age of Middle-earth , Beleriand was broken in the War of Wrath by the angelic beings, the Valar against the demonic Morgoth (himself a Vala fallen into evil). As the inhabitants of Beleriand, including masterless Orcs, beasts of Angband, Elves, Men and Dwarves, fled, much of Beleriand sank in the sea. Only a small section of East Beleriand remained, and was known after as Lindon, in the Northwest of Middle-earth of the Second and Third Age. Other parts of East Beleriand survived into the Second Age, but were completely destroyed along with the island kingdom of Númenor. One reference to a part that was not destroyed was made in The Silmarillion to the places of death of Túrin Turambar, Morwen and Nienor. Fulfilling a prophecy, the graves of Túrin Turambar and Morwen survived as the island Tol Morwen. Likewise, a part of Dorthonion became Tol Fuin, and Himring became an island.

Concept and creation

Beleriand had many different names in Tolkien's early writings:

• Broceliand, Broseliand (borrowed from medieval romance)
• Golodhinand, Noldórinan ("valley of the Noldor")
• Geleriand
• Bladorinand
• Belaurien
• Arsiriand
• Lassiriand
• Ossiriand (later used as a name for the easternmost part of Beleriand).

See also

• Minor places in Beleriand
• List of rivers of Beleriand

References

Bibliography

• Carpenter, Humphrey, editor, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, George Allen and Unwin, 1981, ISBN 0-395-31555-7
• Fonstad, Karen Wynn, The Atlas of Middle-earth, Boston, Houghton MIfflin Co., 1981, ISBN 0-395-28665-4
• Tolkien, J.R.R., edited by Christopher Tolkien, The Monsters and the Critics, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1984 ISBN 0-0480-9019-0

External links

• Parma Endorion: Essays on Middle-earth (3rd edition) by Michael Martinez