Of Beleriand and Its Realms

[ArcusCalion]

This is the first draft of the chapter Of Beleriand and Its Realms

Our basis text is that of the Quenta Silmarillion given in HoME 5. The changes from QS to LQ are tracked. Wherever the text is different from that this is marked by an editing mark.

The markings are:
BR-xx for any questions about the accuracy or canon aspect of the phrase or section.
BR-EX-xx for the changes from QS to LQ as well as expansions from the Grey Annals or other materials.

Some conventions of my writing:
Normal Text is from the basic text that is mentioned above (when I change the basic-Text it will be mentioned)
Bold Text = source information, comments and remarks
{example} = text that should be deleted
[example] = normalised text, normally only used for general changes
<source example> = additions with source information
...... = This section of the paragraph is unchanged from the source.

In LQ2 there were several names that were changed to the final form on the manuscript. I do not track those changes here, simply adding them in as the emended final form in LQ2:

Bladorion > Ard-galen; Nivrost > Nevrast; Helcarakse > Helcaraxë; Inglor > Finrod; Eglorest > Eglarest; Ingwil > Ringwil; Nan Dungorthin > Nan Dungortheb; Umboth Muilin > Aelin-uial; Taur-na-Faroth > Tair-en-Faroth; Finrod > Finarfin

OF BELERIAND AND ITS REALMS

§105. This is the fashion of the lands into which the {Gnomes}[Noldor] came, in the North of the western regions of Middle-earth, in the ancient days. BR-EX-01 <LQ2 [Footnote: These matters, which are not in the BR-01{Pennas}[Quenta] of {Pengolod}[Pengolodh], {I have added}[have been added] and taken from the Dorgannas Iaur (the account of the shapes of the lands of old that Torhir Ifant made and is kept in Eressëa), that those who will may understand more clearly, maybe, what is later said of their princes and their wars{: quoth AElfwine}.]> In the North of the world ...... These {Melko}[Morgoth] BR-EX-02 <LQ2 {built in the elder days}[had built in ages past]> as a fence to his citadel, Utumno, and this lay at the BR-EX-03 <LQ2 {western end}[midmost]> of his northern realm. .... the frozen straits at Helcaraxë. BR-EX-04 {Behind their walls Melko coming back into Middle-earth made the endless dungeons of Angband, the hells of iron, where of old Utumno had been. But}[ Behind their walls Melkor had made also a fortress (after called Angband) as a defense against the West, if any assault should come from Valinor. This was in the command of Sauron. It was captured by the Valar, and Sauron fled into hiding; but being in haste to overthrow Melkor in his great citadel of Utumno, the Valar did not wholly destroy Angband nor search out all its deep places; and thither Sauron returned and many other creatures of Melkor, and there they waited in hope for the return of their Master. Therefore when he came back into Middle-earth Melkor took up his abode in the endless dungeons of Angband, the hells of iron; and]> he made a .... rocks before the doors of hell.
§106. To the West of Thangorodrim lay Hithlum BR-EX-05 <LQ2 (Hísilómë)>, the land of mist, for .... West again lay Nevrast [Footnote: BR-EX-06 <LQ2 {Which is West Vale in the tongue of Doriath}[ Which is 'Hither Shore' in the Sindarin tongue, and was given at first to all the coast-lands south of Drengist, but was later limited to the land whose shores lay between Drengist and Mount Taras]>.] beyond .... upon a promontory. BR-EX-07 <LQ2 {And Nivrost was a pleasant land watered by the wet winds from the sea, and sheltered from the North, whereas the rest of Hithlum was open to the cold winds.}[ And Nevrast was by some held to belong rather to Beleriand than to Hithlum, for it was a milder land, watered by the wet winds from the Sea and sheltered from the North and East, whereas Hithlum was open to cold north-winds. But it was a hollow land, surrounded by mountains and great coast-cliffs higher than the plains behind, and no river flowed thence. Wherefore there was a great mere amidmost, and it had no certain shores, being encircled by wide marshes. Linaewen was the name of that mere, because of the multitude of birds that dwelt there, of such as love tall reeds and shallow pools. Now at the coming of the Noldor many of the Grey-elves (akin to those of the Falas) lived still in Nevrast, nigh to the coasts, and especially about Mount Taras in the south-west; for to that place Ulmo and Ossë had been wont to come in days of old. All that folk took Turgon for their lord, and so it came to pass that in Nevrast the mingling of Noldor and Sindar began sooner than elsewhere; and Turgon dwelt long in those halls that he named Vinyamar, under Mount Taras beside the Sea. There it was that Ulmo afterwards appeared to him.]> To the East of Hithlum lay Ard-galen, as has been said; and below that the great highland that the BR-EX-08 <LQ2 {Gnomes}[Dark-elves]> first named Dorthonion. BR-EX-09 <LQ2 {[Footnote: Ilkorin name.]}> This stretched for BR-EX-10 <LQ2 {a hundred}[sixty]> leagues from West to East .... hastening towards Beleriand.
§107. Now the great and fair ...... one hundred and BR-EX-11 <LQ2 {twenty}[thirty]>-one leagues, .... upon the confines of Doriath.
§108. Thus Beleriand was bounded ...... East by the towers of {Eredlindon}[Ered Lindon], BR-EX-12 <LQ2 [Footnote: Which signifieth the Mountains of Ossiriand; for the Noldor called that land Lindon, region of music, and they first saw these mountains from Ossiriand. But their right name was {Eredluin}[Ered Luin] the Blue Mountains{, quoth Ælfwine}.]> the Blue Mountains, .... and {Gelion}[Duin Daer] was little visited by the {Gnomes}[Noldor], BR-EX-13 <LQ2 Taur-im-Duinath, [Footnote: Forest Between the Rivers.]> a tangled forest ...... ever east of {Eredlindon}[Ered Lindon] while BR-EX-14 <LQ2 {that land}[their realm]> lasted.
§109. Following Sirion from North to South there lay upon the right hand West Beleriand, at its widest BR-EX-15 <LQ2 {seventy}[ninety-nine]> leagues from river to sea: first the Forest of Brethil between Sirion and {Taiglin}[Taeglin], and then the realm of Nargothrond, between BR-EX-16 <LQ2 {Sirion}{[Taiglin]}[Taeglin]> and Narog. ..... things save birds of the sea.
§110. But upon the left hand of Sirion lay East Beleriand, at its widest a hundred leagues from Sirion to {Gelion}[Duin Daer] and the borders of Ossiriand: BR-EX-17 <LQ2 {first the empty lands under the faces of the southern precipices of Dorthonion, Dimbar between Sirion and Mindeb, and Nan-dungorthin between Mindeb and the upper waters of Esgalduin; and these regions were filled with fear by the enchantments of Melian, as a defense of Doriath against the North, and after the fall of the Gnomes they became places of terror and evil. Beyond them to the East lay the north-marches of Beleriand, where the sons of Fëanor dwelt. Next}[ first between Sirion and Mindeb the empty land of Dimbar under the peaks of the Crissaegrim, abode of eagles, south of Gondolin (though that was for long unknown); then between Mindeb and the upper waters of Esgalduin the no-land of Nan Dungortheb. And that region was filled with fear, for upon its one side the power of Melian fenced the north-march of Doriath, but upon the other side the sheer precipices of Ered {Orgoroth [> Orgorath]}[Gorgoroth], mountains of terror, fell down from high Dorthonion. Thither {Ungoliantë}[Ungoliant] had fled from the whips of the Balrogs, and had dwelt there a while, filling the hideous ravines with her deadly gloom, and there still, when she had passed away, her foul broods lurked and wove their evil nets; and the thin waters that spilled from Ered {Orgoroth [> Orgorath]}[Gorgoroth] were all defiled, and perilous to drink, for the hearts of those that tasted them were filled with shadows of madness and despair. All living things shunned that land, and the Noldor would pass through Nan Dungortheb only at great need, by paths nigh to the borders of Doriath, and furthest from the haunted hills.
But if one fared that way he came eastward across Esgalduin and Aros BR-EX-17.5 Moved from later Maeglin Map Note insertion <({Beyond}beyond the {Ford}river was an entirely uninhabited region between the mountains {north [? Read} in the north,{]} and Esgalduin and Aros and Doriath: not even birds came there. It was thus called Dor {Dhinen}[Dínen] the 'Silent Land'.)> {(and Dor Dinen the silent land between)} to the North Marches of Beleriand, where the sons of Fëanor dwelt. But]> southward lay the kingdom of Doriath; .... bank of Esgalduin, where BR-EX-18 <LQ2 {he}[it]> turned westward; ....... wholly under the power of Thingol.
§111. Beyond Doriath to ....... wide land of {Thargelion}[Talath Rhúnen], BR-EX-19 <LQ2 {[Footnote: {or} Radhrost [in the tongue of Doriath].]}> where Caranthir dwelt of old. ....... in many channels. BR-EX-20 <LQ2 This region the {Elves of Doriath}[Noldor] named {Umboth Muilin,[Footnote: But the Gnomish names were Hithliniath the pools of mist or Aelin-uial Lakes of Twilight.]} [Aelin-uial]> the Twilight Meres, for there were many mists, and the enchantment of Doriath lay over them.
§112. BR-EX-21 <LQ2 {For}[Now]> all the northern half ...... as in the North. BR-EX-22 <LQ2 {Yet all the lower plain of Sirion was divided from the upper plain by this sudden fall, which looking North appeared as an endless chain of hills running from Eglorest beyond Narog in the West to Amon Ereb in the East, within far sight of Gelion.}[Yet all the lower fields of Sirion were divided from the upper fields by this sudden fall, which to one looking from the south northward appeared as an endless chain of hills.]> Narog came BR-EX-23 <LQ2 {south through}[through these hills in]> a deep gorge, ....., Finrod established Nargothrond.
§113. But some seventy miles ....... dwelt there after the great defeat. BR-EX-24 <LQ2 {But until that time all the wide forests of East Beleriand south of Andram and between Sirion and Gelion were little inhabited, and the Gnomes came there seldom.}[ But until that time all the wide woods south of the Andram and between Sirion and {Gelion}[Duin Daer] were little known. Taur-im-Duinath, the forest between the two rivers, the Noldor called that region, but few ever ventured in that wild land; and east of it lay the far green country of Ossiriand,{
§114. And east of this wild land lay the country of Ossiriand,} between {Gelion}[Duin Daer] and {Eredlindon}[Ered Lindon]. {Gelion}[Duin Daer] was a great river, and it arose in two sources, and had at first two branches: BR-02 Little {Gelion}[Duin Daer] that came from the hill of Himring, and Greater {Gelion}[Duin Daer] that came from Mount Rerir, an outlier of {Eredlindon}[Ered Lindon]; ....... Between Ascar in the North and Adurant BR-EX-25 <QS [Footnote: And at a point nearly midway in its course the stream of Adurant divided and joined again, enclosing a fair island; and this was called {Tolgalen}[Tol-galen], the Green Isle. There Beren and Lúthien dwelt after their return.]> in the South, and between {Gelion}[Duin Daer] and the mountains, lay Ossiriand, the Land of Seven Rivers, filled with green woods wide and fair.
§115 BR-EX-26 <LQ2 {There dwelt the Danian Elves, who in the beginning were of Gnomish race, but forsook the march from Kuivienen,}[ There dwelt the Nandor, the Elves of the Host of {Dân}[Lenwë], who in the beginning were of Telerian race, but forsook their lord {Thingol}[Olwë] upon the march from Cuiviénen]> and came ..... Ossiriand was Denethor BR-EX-27 <LQ2 son of {Dân}[Lenwë]>, friend of Thingol; ...... when the Orcs were first BR-03 {made}[unleashed] and broke the ...... had taken thought and meaning. BR-EX-28 <LQ2 For which reason the Noldor named that land Lindon. [Footnote: the Land of Song.] (Here endeth the matter taken from the Dorgannas.)>
§116. In this way the chieftains ...... second son of Fingolfin, held Nevrast BR-EX-29 <LQ2 {until the Second Battle, and returned thither afterward, and his folk were numerous. But the unquiet of Ulmo increased upon him, and after a few years he arose and took with him a great host of Gnomes, even to a third of the people of Fingolfin, and their goods and wives and children, and departed eastward. His going was by night and his march swift and silent, and he vanished out of knowledge of his kindred. But he came to Gondolin, and built there a city like unto Tun of Valinor, and fortified the surrounding hills; and Gondolin lay hidden for many years.}[, and there he ruled a numerous folk, both Noldor and Sindar, for one hundred years and sixteen, until he departed in secret to a hidden kingdom, as afterwards is told.]>
§117. The sons of Finarfin held ....... to the keeping of his BR-04 brother[‘s son] Orodreth. BR-EX-30 <LQ2 {But Angrod and Egnor watched Bladorion}[His younger brethren Angrod and {Egnor}[Aegnor] watched the fields of Ard-galen]> from the northern slopes of Dorthonion; and their folk was not great for the land was barren, and the great highlands behind were deemed to be a bulwark that Morgoth would not lightly seek to cross.
§118. But east of Dorthonion ....... But {Celegorn}[Celegorm] and Curufin fortified Aglon, and manned it with great strength, and BR-EX-31 <Maeglin Map Note {they held all the land southward between the river Aros that arose in Dorthonion and his tributary {Celon}[Limhir] that came from Himring.} [ The Himlad (cool-plain) behind {Aglond}[Aglon] and Himring, between the northern courses of the Rivers Aros and {Celon}[Limhir], {he}they claimed as {his}their land. {He and his}They and their people naturally kept watch on the Ford of Aros[, the Arossiach]; but they did not prevent the few hardy travellers (Elves or Dwarves) that used the road West - East past the north fences of Doriath. Moved to earlier {(Beyond the Ford was an entirely uninhabited region between the mountains {north [? Read} in the north,{]} Esgalduin and Aros and Doriath: not even birds came there. It was thus called Dor Dhinen the 'Silent Land'.)} Beyond the Aros (some 25 miles) lay the more formidable obstacle of the Esgalduin in which no fordable point was to be found. In the 'peaceful days' before the return of Morgoth and Ungoliant, when Doriath's north borders were the mountains of Fuin (not yet evil), the West - East road passed over the Esgalduin by a bridge outside the later fence of Melian. This stone-bridge, the Esgaliant or Iant Iaur (old bridge) was still in existence, and watched by the wardens of Doriath, but its use by Eldar was not hindered. It was necessary therefore to fugitives crossing Aros to turn {S.W.}[southwest] to the bridge. From there they would keep as close as they could to the Fences of Doriath (if Thingol and Melian were not hostile to them). {At the time of this story, though}Though many evils lurked in the Mountains the chief peril lay in passing Nan Dungortheb from which clouds and darkness would creep down almost to the Fences.> And between ...... into East Beleriand before the BR-05 {Second}[Third] Battle. Therefore, ..... ] was before called by the Dark-elves BR-EX-32 <LQ2 {Radhrost}[Talath Rhúnen]>, the East Vale.]
§119. Thus the sons of Fëanor ...... won friendship of the Green-elves. BR-EX-33 <LQ2 {But Inglor was King of Nargothrond and overlord of the Dark-elves of the western havens; and with his aid}[ But Finrod was king of Nargothrond and over-lord of all the Dark-elves of Beleriand between Sirion and the Sea, save only in the Falas. There dwelt still those of the Sindar who still loved ships and the Sea, and they had great havens at Brithombar and Eglarest. Their lord was Círdan the Shipbuilder. There was friendship and alliance between Finrod and Círdan, and with the aid of the Noldor]> BR-EX-34 <GA 65 §90. {Here with}With the aid of the Noldor (whose skill far surpassed that of the Sindar) Brithombar and Eglarest were walled about with great walls, and fair towns were raised within, and harbors with quays and piers of stone>{. Brithombar and Eglarest were rebuilt and became fair towns}, recalling somewhat the havens of the Elves upon the shores of Valinor.
§120. And Finrod let build the tower ....... havens built new ships, BR-EX-35 <GA 65 though needlessly, as it proved. For at no time ever did Morgoth essay to build ships or to make war by sea. Water all his servants shunned, and to the Sea none would willing go nigh, save in dire need.> {and}And {they}[the folk of Nargothrond] went forth ....... and most hated by Morgoth.
§121. And in Doriath ...... in awe among them.

BR-EX-01: Footnote inserted in LQ2.
BR-01: This is the Quenta, not the Pennas, correct? Thus I changed it. If this is wrong, then i retract this change.
BR-EX-02: Change from LQ2
BR-EX-03: change from LQ2
BR-EX-04: change from LQ2
BR-EX-05: addition from LQ2
BR-EX-06: change from LQ2
BR-EX-07: change from LQ2
BR-EX-08: change from LQ2
BR-EX-09: deletion from LQ1
BR-EX-10: change from LQ2
BR-EX-11: change from LQ2
BR-EX-12: change from LQ2
BR-EX-13: addition from LQ2
BR-EX-14: change from LQ2
BR-EX-15: change from LQ2
BR-EX-16: change from LQ2
BR-EX-17: change from LQ2
BR-EX-17.5: This is an addition to notes on the expanded map of beleriand accompanying the Maeglin story. They seemed to fit best here.
BR-EX-18: change from LQ2
BR-EX-19: change from LQ2
BR-EX-20: change from LQ2
BR-EX-21: change from LQ2
BR-EX-22: change from LQ2
BR-EX-23: change from LQ2
BR-EX-24: change from LQ2
BR-02: The names "Little Duin Daer" and "Greater Duin Daer" seem awkward in the extreme and would definitely have been changed. I am not sure what to do.
BR-EX-25: addition from QS
BR-EX-26: change from LQ2
BR-EX-27: change from LQ2
BR-03: This I changed because Melkor did not make the Orcs at this time in the later myth.
BR-EX-28: change from LQ2
BR-EX-29: change from LQ2
BR-04: Orodreth is the son of Angrod in this version, yes?
BR-EX-30: change from LQ2
BR-EX-31: This is another pertinent addition from the note on the map of Beleriand from the Maeglin story.
BR-05: I am not sure which battle this refers to, but since the earlier emendation from second to third was made as a notation, and this was left unchanged, I think that it was merely an oversight, and as both were written as "Second" originally, then they should both be changed to third.
BR-EX-32: change from LQ2
BR-EX-33: change from LQ2
BR-EX-34: This information from the Grey Annals was not written anywhere else, so I added it in.
BR-EX-35: The same as 34 above.