Vinyalondë

From Tolkien Gateway
Vinyalondë
Harbour
General Information
Other namesNew Haven, Lond Daer
LocationBorder of Minhiriath and Enedwaith
TypeHarbour
DescriptionOne of the first settlements built by the Númenóreans in Middle-earth
People and History
InhabitantsNúmenóreans and Pre-Númenóreans
CreatedBetween S.A. 750 and S.A. 800

Vinyalondë was a harbour founded by Aldarion and the Venturers at the mouth of the Gwathló.[1] It was one of the first settlements built by the Númenóreans in Middle-earth, and survived (at least in part) into the Third Age as the port of Lond Daer.[2]

History[edit | edit source]

Vinyalondë, or "New Haven", was founded by Númenor's crown prince Aldarion on the estuary of the river Gwathló, between S.A. 750 and 800.[3] It was the first permanent settlement of the Númenóreans in Middle-earth.[4] From here Aldarion's Guild of Venturers began harvesting the local timber for the ship-building industry of Númenor. It was one of their primary shipyards, fed with their reckless cutting of trees.[5]

Within a few centuries, the deforestation of the outlying regions Enedwaith and Minhiriath became cataclysmic, angering the local native population, and they began to fight back with increasing ferocity, destroying the haven several times, and frequently burning the great wood-stores in "hit-and-run" attacks.[6]

By the time of the War of the Elves and Sauron in the middle of the Second Age, this 'New Haven' had become very well established, and its name had shifted over the intervening one thousand years to Lond Daer, the "Great Haven". As such, it was one of the two beachheads of the Númenórean forces in Eriador that were used to support the Elves around S.A. 1700.[7]

Its shipyards were starved of timber following the war, as the forces of Sauron had burnt almost all of what remained in Enedwaith and Minhiriath. Once its shipbuilding yards were no longer practicable, it declined in importance, and the Númenórean hunger for ever more wealth shifted focus to the establishment of newer havens to the south, Pelargir and Umbar. Following this, the haven was now one of several major ports in Middle-earth, and was known as Lond Daer Enedh, or "Great Middle Haven". Despite this, Númenor still maintained traffic on the Gwathló as far as the city of Tharbad.[6][note 1]

Etymology[edit | edit source]

Vinyalondë is Quenya for "New Haven",[1] clearly a compound of vinya ("new") + londë ("haven").

Notes

  1. Christopher Tolkien identifies Vinyalonde with Lond Daer, the different names appearing in different texts. He considers that the new name refers to a much later time, after the building of Pelargir.

References