The Complete Tolkien Companion

by J. E. A. Tyler

  Déor – From 2699–2718 Third Age, the seventh King of Rohan.

  Déorwine – The chief of the housecarles of Théoden, King of Rohan, during the time of the War of the Ring. He fell in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields (March, 3019 Third Age).

  Derndingle – A natural bowl-shaped dell deep in the heart of Fangorn Forest; the traditional meeting-place of the Ents of that land.

  Dernhelm – The name assumed by Éowyn, niece of King Théoden of Rohan, when she rode disguised in the host of Rohan.

  Derrilyn – A poetic invention in the Hobbit style, supposedly a river-name. It can be found in Bilbo’s poem ‘Errantry’, No. 3 in the selection of such Hobbit-verse found under the collective title of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

  Derufin – See DUILIN AND DERUFIN.

  Dervorin – This noble of Gondor was the son of the Lord of Ringló Vale (which lay between Lamedon and Lebennin, south of the White Mountains). During the War of the Ring he personally led three hundred footmen of his father’s household to help defend the city of Minas Tirith; the remainder of his folk stayed behind to protect the southern fiefs against an invasion by the Corsairs of Umbar.

  Desolation of Smaug – See following entry.

  Desolation of the Dragon – The region surrounding the Lonely Mountain and ruined township of Dale, during the years of Smaug’s dominion in Erebor (2770–2941 Third Age). The land was so described because every village, house and blade of grass had been scorched and destroyed by the roving Dragon on his frequent forays from Erebor.

  Desolation of the Morannon – The desert that lay before the Black Gate.

  Diamond Took – A Hobbit-maid descended from Bandobras Took, and a member of the North-Took clan. She married Peregrin Took early in the Fourth Age and bore him one son, Faramir (who later married Goldilocks, daughter of Samwise, thus uniting the Gamgee/Gardners and the Tooks).

  Dimbar ‘Sad-dwelling’ (Sind.) – The vale of Dimbar was a narrow, enclosed land in the north of Beleriand. It was perhaps ten leagues across at its widest point (in the north) and twenty long, being shaped like a spearhead between the arms of the Sirion and one of its tributaries, the Mindeb. On the far banks of both rivers lay the forests of Doriath and Brethil, silent and impenetrable. Across Dimbar, from west to east, ran an old road, from the Brithiach to the valley of Nan Dungortheb (keeping close to the skirts of Doriath) and so, given good fortune, to Himlad. Overshadowing Dimbar from the north reared the Crissaegrim, the southern faces of the Encircling Mountains.

  Dimholt – A gloomy copse of dank trees upon the Hold of Dunharrow in Rohan. It stood between the inner glen of the Dark Door and the Firienfeld (the open field of the Hold).

  Dimrill Dale – The name given in the Common Speech to the deep valley known to the Dwarves as Azanulbizar and to the Elves as Nanduhirion.

  Dimrill Gate – The ancient Gate of Moria, high in the mountain-wall which overlooked the vale of Azanulbizar and the lake of Kheled-zâram. It was so named to distinguish it from the western gate: the Doors of Durin.

  Dimrill Stair – The eastern descent of the high pass known as the Redhorn Gate, which ran from Hollin in Eriador to the Dimrill Dale on the eastern side of the Misty Mountains.

  Dimrost – The Rainy Stair. See CELEBROS.

  Dior Eluchíl – The son of Beren of the Edain and Lúthien Tinúviel daughter of Thingol Greycloak of Doriath; called Aranel ‘Star-king’ (during his childhood), and afterwards Eluchíl (‘Thingol’s Heir’). He was born in Ossiriand, on the isle of Tol Galen, in the days after the Quest of the Silmaril, and dwelled at Lanthir Lamath. He took to wife a distant kinswoman of Thingol named Nimloth. Their children were Eluréd, Elurin and Elwing the White.

  Possession of the Silmaril brought disaster upon Thingol, who was slain in his own halls of Menegroth by jealous and greedy Dwarves; the Silmaril itself was captured by these Dwarves (of Nogrod) and borne away eastwards. Then the Dwarf-army was caught and destroyed by the Elves of Ossiriand, led by Beren. At that time Dior left Ossiriand and went to Menegroth, to become the Heir of Thingol. But there was still a store of tragedy hoarded up within the fate of the Silmaril. Not long afterwards, Beren and Lúthien died for the second – and final – time, and the Jewel then passed to Dior’s keeping. And again shortly afterwards, the Sons of Fëanor heard of the Silmaril, and came against King Dior of Doriath with war, to wrest it from his keeping. The assailants were slain, but Dior likewise fell in battle, his wife Nimloth was killed, and his two young sons, Eluréd and Elurin, were abducted and left to starve. Only Elwing escaped; and the Silmaril.

  Note: also the name of the ninth Ruling Steward of Gondor, who ruled from 2412–35 Third Age.

  Dirhael – One of the royal Dúnedain of the North-kingdom in the late Third Age. He was indirectly descended from Aranarth, first Chieftain, and his daughter Gilraen was the mother of Aragorn II, last Chieftain.

  Dírnaeth ‘Man-spearhead’ (Sind., from Q. nernehta) – An aggressive military evolution developed by the Númenoreans; it involved a shock attack by a group of spearmen in a tight wedge formation, designed (over short distances) to break up an enemy cluster before it cohered.

  Dís – The only Dwarf-woman mentioned in surviving records, possibly because the Dwarves were exceedingly jealous of their women and went to great pains to conceal their whereabouts (if not their actual existence). She was the sister of Thorin Oakenshield and the mother of Fíli and Kíli, and was thus of Durin’s Line.

  Dispossessed – The NOLDOR; specifically, the HOUSE OF FËANOR.

  Dol Amroth ‘Amroth’s Hill’ (Sind.) – This towering coastal hill-fortress was the chief bastion of Gondor’s power in the Bay of Belfalas throughout the Third Age. Though the castle itself (Tirith Aear, ‘Seaward Tower’) had been raised to protect the provinces of Anfalas and Belfalas from seaborne raiding, it also had other, older associations. Below its rocky promontory lay long-deserted Elfharbours (Edhellond), where Elves of Lórien, sailing down Morthond to the Sea, had rested and refitted their ships before undertaking the great voyage West. For this reason it was widely believed (in Gondor) that folk of Dol Amroth had elven-blood in their veins. Indeed, the name of the hill itself recalls the Silvan Elflord AMROTH, who was tragically drowned off these coasts in the middle years of the Age.

  Of all the Dúnedain of Gondor, the Princes of Dol Amroth were accounted second in rank only to the Heir of the Steward himself. At the time of the War of the Ring, Dol Amroth was ruled by Prince Imrahil son of Adrahil.

  Dol Baran ‘Brown-head’ (Sind.) – The southernmost of all the foothills of the Misty Mountains.

  Dol Guldur ‘The Hill of Sorcery’ (Sind.) – For nearly two thousand years this evil fortress was the most feared place in Middle-earth, save only Mordor itself. Built in the early years of the Third Age on Amon Lanc, a stony hilltop in the southern-western highland fastness of Greenwood the Great, Dol Guldur soon acquired a fearsome reputation. Dark clouds hung over it and evil beasts began to terrorise the forest, which was then renamed Mirkwood. The Council of the Wise (the Wizards and the Chief Eldar) assumed that one of the Ringwraiths had occupied it; even then they did not realise that Sauron was gradually taking shape once again. For it was the Lord of the Rings himself who had settled in Dol Guldur. To prevent his enemies striking before his own power was fully reborn, he carefully concealed his identity, so the people of the Forest knew the Power of Dol Guldur only as ‘the Necromancer’.

  In 2063, increasingly perturbed at the growth of evil in southern Mirkwood, Gandalf the Grey secretly entered the Tower; but Sauron managed to retreat into the East without revealing himself. Nearly eight hundred years later the Wizard again entered Dol Guldur: this time he found the dying Dwarf Thráin in the dungeons, and discovered that the Necromancer was indeed Sauron. Gandalf subsequently summoned the White Council and strongly urged an attack on the fortress. But, swayed by the arguments of Saruman the White (who wished only to further his own purposes), they did nothing.

  By this time the
Necromancer’s plans were nearly complete. So, in 2941, when the White Council finally agreed to attack, Sauron simply withdrew and soon afterwards openly declared himself in Mordor. The Nazgûl then occupied the Tower, and it remained a place of great fear until the Elves of Lórien finally overthrew the fortress at the very end of the Age.

  Dolmed ‘Wet-head’ (Sind.) – The tallest of the Blue Mountains, a great spur projecting westwards from the middle of the range. During the First Age this was Dwarf-country: to the north lay their city of Belegost, and to the south Nogrod.

  Dome of Stars – The palace in the City of Osgiliath where the sages of Gondor kept one of the three palantíri (seeing-stones) of the Realm. (The other two were at Minas Ithil and Minas Anor.) During Gondor’s civil war, the Kin-strife, the City was burned and the Dome of Stars destroyed: the palantír was lost in the waters of Anduin.

  Doom of Mandos – See CURSE OF MANDOS.

  Doom of Men – Archaic tradition contains many parables and legends which serve to illustrate and emphasise the basic differences between Elves and Men. Of these distinctions, by far the most significant was the Elves’ possession of immortality, which was ultimately to create an all but unbridgeable gulf between them and the Atani.

  The Valar soon perceived that the Gift of Immortality bestowed on the Elder Children was no gift at all in a Middle-earth that was itself mortal. Elves might be bound to the Circles of the World, but they could die by mischance, or be killed. As a refuge from the Mortal Lands, the Valar therefore provided the shorelands of their own land of Valinor: the Undying Lands, wherein Eldar and Valar might dwell for ever.

  But when it came to His younger children, Men, Eru was careful to create them of the same stuff as Middle-earth itself, as Mortals – dying and leaving the World for ever. The mortality He gave them was then called the Gift of Men. But over the years, Men grew more powerful, and kingly, and noble. And some, notably the Númenoreans, thought themselves like to the Eldar in all ways, except one. Not perceiving the mercy implied in the Gift, they cursed their inheritance, calling it the Doom of Men. They feared death; and from that fear came the seeds of their long decline from Númenor to Middle-earth.

  Doom of the Noldor – See CURSE OF MANDOS.

  Doomsman (of the Valar) – Mandos.

  Doors of Felagund – The threefold gateway of Nargothrond.

  Dora Baggins – Eldest daughter of Fosco Baggins, Hobbit of the Shire. She was reportedly a prolix letter-writer. Bilbo, somewhat unkindly, left her a waste-paper basket in his will.

  Dor Caranthir ‘Caranthir’s Land’ (Sind.) – See THARGELION.

  Dor Cúarthol ‘Land of Bow and Helm’ (Sind.) – For a brief period the name given to all the lands between the rivers Teiglin and Mindeb, including Dimbar. The region had become infested with guerrillas of the Edain under the dual leadership of Túrin Húrin’s son and Beleg Cúthalion, the Strongbow, Marchwarden of Doriath. In those days Túrin wore, and was known as, the DRAGON-HELM (OF DOR-LÓMIN); and Beleg, of course, was famous for the skill with which he wielded his great bow, Belthronding.

  Dor Daedeloth ‘Land of the Shadow of Horror’ (Sind.) – A name among the Eldar and the Edain for ANGBAND.

  Dor Dínen ‘Silent Land’ (Sind.) – Like Himlad, a narrow fenced-in land between Doriath and Dorthonion. No creatures lived there. It lay between the upper waters of Esgalduin and Aros, spear-shaped, with the Forest of Doriath to the south. The road from Dimbar, having passed through Nan Dungortheb, crossed the Bridge of Esgalduin (also called the Old Bridge or Iant Iaur) a league north of Doriath and turned north-east through Dor Dínen, reaching the Arossiach after perhaps two days’ journey (on foot). After the Dagor Bragollach this region of Beleriand fell under the dominion of Morgoth.

  Dor-en-Ernil ‘Land-of-the-Princes’ (Sind.) – One of the southern fiefs of Gondor. It lay between the rivers Ringló and Gilrain.

  Dor Firn-i-Guinar ‘Land of the Dead That Live’ (Sind.) – The name given in the lore of the Sindar and the Green-elves to that region of southern Ossiriand which lay about the waters of Adurant, including the island of Tol Galen – after Beren Erchamion and Lúthien Tinúviel came to dwell there, towards the end of the First Age. Both, of course, had been granted a second (mortal) lifespan by the Grace of the Valar.

  Dori – With his companions Ori and Nori, one of the twelve Dwarves who accompanied Thorin Oakenshield on the Quest of the Lonely Mountain (in 2941 Third Age). All three were of Durin’s Line, but only remotely related to Thorin. Dori and Nori remained in Erebor after its conquest; Ori accompanied the ill-fated expedition of Balin, and made the last entries in the Book of Mazarbul before being slain by Orcs.

  Doriath ‘Land of the Fence’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Sindar to the former Forest of Eglador, after this region of Beleriand had become enclosed and defended by the ‘Girdle of Melian’: a web of enchantment woven by the Maia Melian, wife of Thingol, and set around the borders of the forest to protect their realm from attack or intrusion.

  The Realm of Doriath, as it was in the days of Thingol’s lordship, consisted of the two forests of Neldoreth and Region, with the Esgalduin flowing between. In the centre of the land Thingol built Menegroth, the ‘Thousand-caves’, and there afterwards for many long years he dwelt, impregnable in his silvan citadel. Doriath endured throughout the greater part of the First Age, protected by the enchantments of the Lady Melian. Only twice were these defences breached: by Beren of the Edain, and by the Wolf of Angband, Carcharoth. But in later years the Silmaril brought thither by Beren (at Thingol’s bidding) enmeshed Thingol, Melian and the land of Doriath within the web of its destiny; and Thingol was slain, by Dwarves, in his own treasury. With his passing Melian withdrew her power; the Girdle was relaxed, and a further army of Dwarves broke through the forest to reach Menegroth and there avenge their kinsmen. It was not long afterwards that Doriath fell for ever; for Melian had by this time departed into the West, and the land became undefended save by elven-swords, and the Sons of Fëanor made sudden war upon Dior Thingol’s Heir, in order to obtain the Silmaril. In that onslaught many Elves died, on both sides; the realm of Doriath was cast down, and never arose again.

  Dorlas – One of the Edain of the Second House, the Haladin of the Forest of Brethil. He was the leader of a small band of Woodmen who were attacked by Orcs not far from the ravines of the Teiglin, and subsequently rescued by Túrin son of Húrin, at that time seeking for Finduilas, daughter of Orodreth king of Nargothrond; for she had been taken prisoner by Orcs in the sack of that Elven-city, and he still hoped to deliver her. Dorlas it was who told Túrin of Finduilas’ fate; after which Túrin allied himself to the Woodmen of Brethil and made war upon the Orcs and their allies. It was three years later that the Men of Brethil were again attacked by Orcs – this time from captured Nargothrond, sent against the Edain by the Dragon Glaurung. This time Túrin did not go to the war; and it was Dorlas who spoke scornfully to him, causing Túrin to change his mind and take the field. A year later Glaurung himself came against the Woodmen, and this time Túrin needed no prodding. He determined to fight the Dragon, and asked for volunteers to help him. Dorlas was the only one bold enough to stand forward – yet this man’s courage, when put to the test, failed him at the last; and he withdrew from the expedition even before they had espied the Dragon. Afterwards he was slain by Brandir, his former chieftain, whom he himself had publicly derided for lack of courage.

  Dor-lómin ‘Echoing Land’ (Sind.) – The southern part of Hithlum, a plain some thirty leagues wide at its broadest point and fifteen leagues long, enclosed on three sides by mountains: in the west, the Echoing Mountains; in the south-east, the Ered Wethrin, the ‘Shadowy Mountains’, and in the east, the Mountains of Mithrim. Dor-lómin was first occupied after the Second Battle of Beleriand, by Fingon son of Fingolfin, who for many years held the land subject to his father.

  But in the years between the Dagor Aglareb and the Dagor Bragollach, the race of Men came for the first time into Beleriand, and
the most numerous of their three Houses – the Third House, now led by Hador Lórindol – went into the service of the Noldor of Fingolfin’s house, and were as a result given the land of Dor-lómin in fief; though their main military strength was maintained further north and east, on the marches of Hithlum.

  For three generations the Edain of Hador’s House held Dor-lómin, and wrought great deeds in the service of the Eldar; but at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad all were at last slain, save Húrin the son of Galdor son of Hador, who was taken alive. Hithlum, Mithrim and Dor-lómin fell at last under the dominion of Morgoth, and were never regained by the Eldar and the Edain.

  Dor-nu-Fauglith – See ANFAUGLITH.

  Dorthonion ‘Pine-tree-land’ (Sind.) – The forest-clad uplands of northern Beleriand. This great highland was seventy leagues by twenty leagues, extremely mountainous, and thickly wooded with coniferous trees, particularly pines, as the ancient name of this country reveals. (Another form is Orod-na-Thôn, ‘Pine-Mountain’.) The land – more particularly Ladros, the eastern region of Dorthonion, on the edge of the plains of Ard-galen – was occupied by the First House of the Edain; but as the years progressed Morgoth’s power waxed, and after the great Battle of Sudden Flame Dorthonion was abandoned, by all save BARAHIR and his band – and fell into evil. The very trees became malevolent. At about this time Dorthonion began to be known as Taur-na-Fuin (‘Forest-under-Night’) and Deldúwath (‘Deadly-Nightshade’).