Dor Daedeloth
 | |
|---|---|
| Dor Daedeloth | |
| General information | |
| Other names | Dor-na-Daerachas (S) |
| Location | Far north of Middle-earth |
| Capital | Angband |
| People | |
| Population | Balrogs, Orcs, Werewolves, and other creatures Enslaved Noldor |
| Governance | Morgoth as the Dark Lord Sauron as his Lieutenant Gothmog as the High Captain |
| History | |
| Preceded by | Utumno |
| Established | Before Y.T. 1090 |
| Destroyed | F.A. 587, War of Wrath |
Dor Daedeloth was the land of Morgoth in the First Age.
Geography[edit]
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]
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 early First Age was halted there, when Fëanor was mortally wounded by Balrogs. The Noldor then encircled the land (at least in the south), starting the Siege of Angband.[1]
Etymology[edit]
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]
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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Return of the Noldor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Index of Names", entry "Dor Daedeloth"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Index", p. 435
- ↑ Robert Foster, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "Index", entry "Dor-Daideloth"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, pp. 187, 338
