Beleriand Printable version

Beleriand was a vast region in northwestern Middle Earth in J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’. The name originally belonged to a part located near the Bay of Balar but later it applied to the entire area. The War of Wrath that took place towards the end of the First Age led to the destruction of this land and its submergence under the sea.​

Beleriand was one of the westernmost regions in Middle Earth in the First Age. It had a long shoreline with the Great Sea Belegaer. To its east were the Blue Mountains and to the north were the areas of Lothlann, Dorthonion, and Hithlum [1]. The main river Sirion divided this land into East Beleriand and West Beleriand. From east to west of this land was a range of hills and a dropped elevation called the Long Wall of Andram. The River Gelion and its tributaries lay towards the east of the Long Wall. These rivers flowed draining the Blue Mountains in the land of Ossiriand, also known as the ‘Land of Seven Rivers’.​

The kingdom of the Sindar of King Thingol, Doriath was a center stage in Tolkien’s legendarium in the First Age. It was known as the ‘Fenced Land’ as the queen had put an enchantment that nobody could enter without the permission of the King.​

Located at the north of Beleriand, Hithlum was separated by a range of mountains and was divided into Mithrim and Dor-lomin. This land was cold, rainy, and fertile. In the First Age, this region was attacked by Morgoth and eventually lost.​

Known as The Land of Seven Rivers, Ossiriand was the easternmost region of Beleriand. It was a forest area and the Sindar did not dwell here. At the beginning of the First Age, Thingol permitted Elven people named Nandor to settle in this land, after whom this region was often called Lindon. Ossiriand was the only portion of Beleriand to remain after the War of Wrath but the Great Sea broke and created the Gulf of Lhun. The parts of this land were known as Lindon in the Second and Third Age where Cirdan and Gil-galad ruled.​

A disguised city of Elves located towards the North of Beleriand, Gondolin was built by Turgon and his people secretly. When it was done, he brought his people in Nevrast to live in the city.​

A coastal region towards the north of Beleriand, Nevrast covered all the shores of the region. It remained the center of the Elven kingdom for almost a century. Nevrast was the first area where Noldor settled though it was inhabited by Sindar in the past. Soon, its population got greatly varied, more than any other part of Beleriand.​

Beleriand was destroyed in the War of the Wrath at the end of the First Age between the Maiar and Morgoth. When the residents of Beleriand, including the Elves, Orcs, and Dwarves fled, most of the land sank into the ocean [2]. A tiny part of the East region was left and was later known as Lindon. Some other parts also prevailed into the Second Age but were destroyed with Numenor. A reference was made in ‘The Silmarillion’ to a region that did not get destroyed. According to it, the places where Nienor, Morwen, and Turin Turambar were buried survived as an island.​

The meaning of the name ‘Beleriand’ is ‘Land of Balar’ and it refers to the land of the Great Bay. Balar also refers to Osse who lived at the shores of the land. The name also comes from Balar that the Teleri expanded and colonized the region of Beleriand. It was referred to by many other names in Tolkien’s earlier writings.​