[sindohte]

Discussion on the chapter - Of Beleriand and Its Realms will officially begin on Monday 8/23.

Anna will begin the discussion of this chapter.

Anyone wandering by this thread should feel free to raise questions or make comments.

Please try to keep the comments on this thread strictly related to discussion of the Silm.

[Anna]

The chapter 'Of Beleriand and it´s Realms' begins with a nifty little summary by Tolkien himself, actually. So, why don´t we start with that?

'This is the fashion of the lands into which the Noldor came, in the north of the western regions of Middle-earth, in the ancient days; and here also is told of the manner in which the chieftains of the Eldar held their lands and the leaguer upon Morgoth after the Dagor Aglareb, the third battle in the Wars of Beleriand.'

There! My work here is done!
What? You want my ramblings too? Of course you do -- can´t get enough, right?! Somebody, stop me! I´m so dorky...

Hookay....

We get to find out that Melkor took up residence in Angband, the Hells of Iron, instead of Utumno. The Valar hadn´t been thourough enough when they destroyed Angband, which was a bit sloppy, I guess... Anyway, he makes himself a nice and cosy little place there, digging a tunnel beneath Ered Engrin, building the thunderous towers of Thangorodrim (sounds impressive, right?) and so on.

After that we get a description of Hísilómë (the Land of Mist), more commonly known as Hithlum. Beautiful, but cold. Fingolfin and his son Fingon and their people resided there.

What next? Ah yes, Nevrast (the Hither Shore), the realm of Turgon the wise, son of Fingolfin. A land with mild weather, sheltered from the cold winds by the surrounding mountains. No rivers, but a great mere in the middle of Nevrast.

Next is Dorthonion with great pine forests. Finarfin´s sons, Angrod and Amras, lived there with their people.

The Pass of Sirion. Finrod held it, and built a great watch-tower, Minas Tirith, on the isle of Tol Sirion.
The realm of Nargothrond was ruled by Finrod Felagund, Finarfin´s oldest son and brother of Galadriel. He was the overlord of all the Elves of Beleriand between Sirion and the sea, except the Sindar who lived in the Falas. Círdan the shipbuilder was their lord.

Now we come to the no-land of Nan Dungortheb. A land inhabited by Ungoliant and her nasty offspring, and filled with despair and terror. Everyone shunned that particular region. Surprise, surprise...

In the south we find Doriath, the realm of Thingol the Hidden King and Melian the Maia. No further introduction is needed here, I think.

The Green-elves lived in Ossiriand. The Noldor named it Lindon, the land of music, since the Green-elves loved to sing.

The sons of Fëanor dwelt upon the March of Maedhros with many people.

Thargelion (the Land beyond Gelion) or Dor Caranthir (the Land of Caranthir), the land between Gelion and the mountains and between Rerir and the River Ascar, was where the Noldor met the Dwarves.

Hmm....have I forgotten anything? Most likely, but...oh well, read it yourselves!

[sindohte]

Nice job Anna For the life of me, I found this chapter to be confusing and at times boring. I think that the slew of geographical references thrown in my direction was too much for my poor brain to comprehend. Although the little map that is part of the chapter is helpful, I really think that I need to look at a bigger and better map in order to make the pieces begin to come together in me head. Did you happen to find a way to keep the names and everything else straight in your head?

[Anna]

Yup, but I´m a sucker for things like this!

I like to imagine the landscape in detail. In my head I sail that particular river, climb that mountain, travel along the road in question. It makes it so much easier to separate the names and places from each other and to actually 'see' the regions. Of course, it helps to look at a detailed map every now and then!

[Andreth]

Good summary, Anna, and good tips on thought association to remember the names and places.

I liked this chapter, too, because we get the playing field detailed and explained to us. Helps me keep track of where everyone is and what they're doing.

I also liked the interesting facts Tolkien interspersed between the geography lesson - like how Ard-galen was covered with nastiness and nothingness until the Sun rose, then grass grew everywhere and covered up all the funk. Fingolfin had a nice herd of horses that roamed this plain, the offspring of horses from Valinor (like the Mearas) that Maedhros gave to him as a kind of recompensation. Okay, definitely doesn't make up for the whole burning-the-ships/crossing-the-ice thing, but it was a nice gesture anyway.

We find out that Hithlum was never warm - the weather was always either cool or cold; that the first mingling of Noldor and Sindar was in Nevrast under the rule of Turgon. That Aegnor and Angrod got the short end of the stick because they voluntarily took up position closest to Morgoth.

Nan-tathren, the Land of the Willows, in the southern part of Beleriand is the land of Tasarinan, where Galadriel tells Treebeard they may meet again one day when the lands that lie beneath the waters are lifted.

Then we have my main man, Cirdan, who obviously was pretty wise in choosing his home lands, since Morgoth and his followers hated the water and wouldn't go near it.

Ungoliant left her nasty crotch-droppings, as Mora calls them, in Ered Gorgoroth and they poisoned the lands and the waters. Anyone who drank from those waters was filled with madness and despair. I wonder if there was a sign up or something to warn people. I can see a Monty Python-esque character being left there, yelling with an English accent - "The waters are filled with madness and despair! Ungoliant and her kids peed in the water! The waters are filled with madness and despair!"

The Meres of Twilight - I don't know what it is about that name, but I like it a lot. It sounds like a very peaceful place.

The River Gelion had lower water levels than Sirion, because more rain fell in Hithlum where Sirion originated than in the East where Gelion originated.

It's all the little extra details like these that make me really appreciate Tolkien's work. It makes it feel like it was a place that truly existed at one time.

[Anna]