Pools of Ivrin

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The Pools of Ivrin
Springs
General Information
Other namesEithel Ivrin
LocationNorthern West Beleriand
TypeSprings
DescriptionBeautiful springs of water
History
DestroyedDefiled by Glaurung
EventsMereth Aderthad
Curing of Túrin's madness

Eithel Ivrin, or Ivrin's Well, also referred to as the Pools of Ivrin or the Falls of Ivrin, was a fair pool in a stone basin carved by falling waters in the southern face of Dor-Lómin and beneath Ered Wethrin. The pools were surrounded by a tree-clad hollow[1] and were the source of the River Narog, which flowed from Ivrin some eighty leagues before it joined the River Sirion. [2]

Suggested by Gwindor to be a place blessed by Ulmo and created by him in ancient days, Ivrin was also known as a place of healing, and for the endless laughter of its falling waters. [3]

History

Twenty years after the rising of the Sun and the return of the Noldor to Middle-earth, King Fingolfin held the Mereth Aderthad, the Feast of Reuniting, in the spring near to the pools of Ivrin.[4] And Finduilas, daughter of King Orodreth, was called by Gwindor who loved her Faelivrin, which is the gleam of the sun on the pools of Ivrin. [3]

When Finrod Felagund and Beren set out from Nargothrond, they journeyed north beside Narog to its source in the Falls of Ivrin before continuing on to Tol Sirion. [5]

After the death of his friend Beleg, Túrin walked without purpose, but after drinking the waters of Ivrin, his tears were unloosed at last and he was healed of his madness and grief. It was beside the pools of Ivrin that he made the song Laer Cú Beleg, Song of the Great Bow. [3]

Years later, when Morgoth released the dragon Glaurung into Beleriand, Glaurung defiled Eithel Ivrin, [3] uprooting the trees and breaking the stone basin so that the waters strayed and the land became a barren marsh and a welter of frozen mire. [6]

After the overthrow of Nargothrond, Turin was bewitched by Glaurung and he traveled north to Dor-lómin seeking his mother and sister. He came with the first ice of winter to the pools of Ivrin but it was frozen and he was unable to drink and be healed by the waters a second time. [3]

It was at this time that Tuor and Túrin cross paths for the first and only time, for Tuor and Voronwë passed by the defiled pools of Ivrin on their way to Gondolin. But neither cousin spoke and Turin did not see Tuor, and Tuor did not recognize his kinsman. [6] [1].

References