Blue Mountains

From Tolkien Gateway
Revision as of 08:52, 7 October 2019 by Mith (talk | contribs) (Added gallery link (which is I presume why the category was deleted))
"Who told you, and who sent you?" — Gandalf
This article or section needs more/new/more-detailed sources to conform to a higher standard and to provide proof for claims made.
Blue Mountains
Mountain range
Rob Alexander - Blue Mountain Dwarf Hold.jpg
"Blue Mountain Dwarf Hold" by Rob Alexander
General Information
Other namesEred Luin, Ered Lindon, Western Mountains, Mountains of Lune
LocationBetween Ossiriand/Lindon and Eriador
TypeMountain range
DescriptionBoundary between Eriador and Lindon with Dwarf realms
InhabitantsBroadbeams
Firebeards
Later Longbeards
GalleryImages of the Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains (S. Ered Luin), also known as the Ered Lindon, was the mountain range at the far west of Eriador.

History

Early history

In the early days of Arda after the fall of the Two Lamps, the Blue Mountains were formed as the Valar widened the Great Sea and thrust Middle-earth eastward to protect Valinor.[1] The Blue Mountains lined up with the Grey Mountains of the southlands, forming the western wall of Arda. These two ranges lay parallel to the Red Mountains in the northeast and Yellow Mountains in the southeast that formed the eastern wall. At their northern end, a narrow gap separated the Blue Mountains from the Iron Mountains, which stretched across the entire north of Middle-earth.[2]

Sometime during the Years of the Trees two Dwarven Fathers awoke under Mount Dolmed and founded the two westernmost houses of the Dwarves (the Firebeards and Broadbeams). They subsequently built two great city-states, Nogrod and Belegost.

In the First Age, the Blue Mountains were an unbroken line separating Eriador from Beleriand. Seven rivers flowed from its western side, and the land these rivers flowed through was known as Ossiriand. Later, when the Green-elves settled there, the land was called Lindon, and the mountains sometimes referred to as the Ered Lindon.

The Blue Mountains were ruined during the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age, and in the south central end of the range the sea broke through. The River Lhûn now flowed through the mountains to the Gulf of Lune. On the western side a small section of Lindon remained, and here the retreating Elves built the kingdom of Lindon, ruled by Ereinion Gil-galad, last High King of the Noldor.[3]

The Dwarven cities of Nogrod and Belegost were also ruined when the mountains were broken, causing most of the Dwarves to migrate east to Khazad-dûm, leaving a remnant behind. However, there remained some Dwarves on the eastern side of the Blue Mountains in days afterwards.[4]

Third Age

By the Third Age, Dwarves dwelt in the east side of the Blue Mountains, especially in the parts south of the Gulf of Lhun where they have mines that are still in use.[5]

In T.A. 1974, fleeing the fall of Fornost Erain, Arvedui briefly hid in old dwarven mines in the far north of the Blue Mountains.[5]

It also became the new home for many of Durin's Folk who were exiled from their halls in Erebor by Smaug the Dragon who had driven them out. After the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, King Thráin II established his throne in the Southern range beyond the Shire and later his son Thorin ruled after he went missing. During Thorin's reign, many of the wandering Longbeards joined him in his halls and they became prosperous in a fashion. However, Erebor was retaken from Smaug by Thorin and company in T.A. 2941, and it can be assumed most if not all of Durin's folk relocated there.

Etymology and names

Ered Luin is a Sindarin name, consisting of ered ("mountains") and luin ("blue").[6] Other names were Ered Lindon "Mountains of Lindon" and the Westron name Mountains of Lune.

The Etymologies show Noldorin alternative names, Lhúnorodrim and Lhúndirien ("Blue Towers"), and also the Middle Quenya Lúnoronti,[7] which is first used in a passage of the further development of The Fall of Númenor.[8]

In Ælfwine's Old English translations, the Blue Mountains are named Hǽwengebeorg.[9]

Portrayal in adaptations

2006: The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II:

The Blue Mountains form the location of a fight between Dwarves and Drogoth.

2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:

The Blue Mountains appear as the game's westernmost region, Ered Luin. Ered Luin is the beginner's region for the game's races, Elves and Dwarves. The region's storyline is based around a conflict with a rogue clan of Dwarves called the Dourhands and a tribe of Goblins living in the winding valleys of a region called Rath Teraig. Ered Luin is home to the cities of Thorin's Hall and Duillond, but also contain smaller outposts such as Gondamon and Celondim. Ered Luin is also home to the hostile Dourhand cities of Kheledul and the excavation of a long-lost city named Sarnur.

2011: The Lord of the Rings: War in the North:

Although the Blue Mountains do not appear in the game, they are mentioned by the Dwarf Grof. He tells the player that the Blue Mountains are prosperous, but that they lately find more iron than gold.[10]

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta: Of the Fashion of the World", pp. 238-239
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "IV. The First 'Silmarillion' Map: [Introduction]"
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn"
  5. 5.0 5.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur"
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), p. 66
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", p. 370
  8. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part One: II. The Fall of Númenor, (iv) The further development of The Fall of Númenor", p. 30
  9. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "VII. The Earliest Annals of Beleriand: Appendix: Old English version of the Annals of Beleriand made by Ælfwine or Eriol. Notes", p. 341
  10. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Prologue