Dor Daedeloth

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This article is about the land of Morgoth in the First Age. For the song by Summoning, see Dor Daedeloth (song).
Dor Daedeloth
Jonathan Guzi - Thangorodrim.jpg
"Thangorodrim" by Jonathan Guzi
General information
Other namesDor-na-Daerachas (S)
LocationFar north of Middle-earth
CapitalAngband
People
PopulationBalrogs, Orcs, Werewolves, and other creatures
Enslaved Noldor
GovernanceMorgoth as the Dark Lord
Sauron as his Lieutenant
Gothmog as the High Captain
History
Preceded byUtumno
EstablishedBefore Y.T. 1090
DestroyedF.A. 587, War of Wrath

Dor Daedeloth was the land of Morgoth in the First Age.

Geography[edit | edit source]

Dor Daedeloth was one of the three large regions of western Middle-earth, along with Beleriand and Hithlum. It lay all around the fortress of Angband and on both sides of the Ered Engrin. Its borders were the Ered Wethrin to the west, the Ered Luin to the east, and the Dorthonion, the Pass of Sirion and the March of Maedhros to the south.

The Ered Engrin, an absolutely unclimbable chain, split the region in two separate parts. The southern part was Ard-galen, the great grassy plain north of Beleriand, later to become the desert of Anfauglith after the Dagor Bragollach had utterly burned it. The northern part was an unnamed region, cold and vast.

History[edit | edit source]

It was here, north of the mountains, that the Orcs and other creatures of Morgoth lived and bred.[1]

The march of the Noldor in the late First Age was halted there, when Fëanor was mortally wounded by the Balrogs. The Noldor then encircled the land (at least in the south), starting the Siege of Angband.[1]

Etymology[edit | edit source]

In the published Silmarillion, the name Dor Daedeloth is translated as "Land of the Shadow of Horror".[2] In other sources it is spelled as Dor-Daedeloth, and translated as "Land of Great Dread".[3]

Robert Foster notes that the name appears only in the chapter Of the Return of the Noldor and is not mentioned again after the Siege of Angband.[4]

Other versions of the legendarium[edit | edit source]

Dor-Daideloth was the name used for the region in early versions of the legendarium.[5]

In Tolkien's final writings, the name was changed on the primary map to Dor-na-Daerachas.[6]

References