Dorwinion

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Dorwinion
Region
InDeepBlue - The Great Gardens of Dorwinion.jpg
"The Great Gardens of Dorwinion" by InDeepBlue
General Information
Pronunciationdor-win-i-on
LocationNorth-western shores of the Sea of Rhûn
TypeRegion
DescriptionLand of vineyards
People and History
InhabitantsPossibly Elves (Nandor and/or Avari) or Men
CreatedLong before T.A. 2941
GalleryImages of Dorwinion

Dorwinion was a land which lay on the north-western shores of the Sea of Rhûn south of the River Running.[1][2] In Dorwinion a heady wine was made, which was strong enough to let even Elves get drunk and fall asleep.

History

In the Third Age King Turambar of Gondor defeated the Easterlings and conquered a large territory in the East, so the lands that were or would be Dorwinion probably became part of Gondor.[3] By the time of Hyarmendacil I Gondor had reached its greatest extent in all its history and extended east to the Sea of Rhûn.[4] In T.A. 1248 King Minalcar and Vidugavia of the Northmen also campaigned in the lands between Rhovanion and the Sea of Rhûn.[5] In the following centuries the Great Plague had hit those lands,[6] although it is not known how much Dorwinion was affected.

During the war with the Wainriders (1856), Gondor abandoned its territories east of the river Anduin,[7][6] thus possibly excluding Dorwinion from its withdrawing borders. It is possible that Gondor continued to no longer extend east of the Anduin to the Sea of Rhûn, because Steward Cirion of Gondor sent scouts and spies to the area between Mirkwood and Dagorlad and put a few men in the old forts along the Anduin, because he was always concerned about the threat of invasion from the North via the wide lands from the Brown Lands to the Sea of Rhûn.[8][9]

By T.A. 2941 the heady wine for the feasts of Thranduil came from the great gardens of Dorwinion.[10]

Inhabitants

Despite its location in the outskirts of Rhûn, the Sindarin name Dorwinion for the country indicated that it had been given this name by Elves or Gondorians whose influence reached as far north as the lands between the River Running and the river Carnen.[11]

Men of Dorwinion by Lori Deitrick

It is not known, who inhabited Dorwinion. It is possible that it was inhabited by Men. Since the late First Age, many Men wandered or settled the empty lands between the Iron Hills, the Greenwood and the Sea of Rhûn.[11] The wine of the great gardens of Dorwinion for the Elves of the Woodland Realm, especially for their king and other goods were brought from far away from their kinsfolk in the South or from the vineyards of Men in distant lands.[10] Dorwinion was located a long distance away from the Woodland Realm south of the River Running where the River Running flowed into the Sea of Rhûn.[1] Trade goods came up the River Running and were carted past the falls at the southern end of the Long Lake and Men came from the South to the shoreward end of the bridge that connected Lake-town with the shore of the Long Lake to take some empty barrels that had been returned by the Elves with them or to fill some with goods to be transported back up the Forest River to the Elvenking's Halls.[12] Dorwinion was located south of Lake-town so Men that came from the South may have come from Dorwinion.

It is also possible that it was inhabited by Nandor or Avari Elves who had later learned the cultivation of vines from people who spoke Sindarin, because its name was a testimony to the spread of Sindarin and the cultivation of vines was originally not known to the Nandor or Avari[13] and because the Nandor were a group of the Teleri who stayed long on the shores of the Sea of Rhûn[14]. However, in the beginning of the Second Age before the building of Barad-dûr many of the Sindar left Lindon and went eastwards and some founded realms in the forests far away where their people were mostly Silvan Elves,[15] but there is no forest in Dorwinion[1].

Etymology

Dorwinion is a Sindarin name, which means "Young-land country" or "Land of Gwinion".[13] Paul Strack suggests that it is a combination of dôr ("country") and Gwinion ("Young-land")[16] and that the latter is a combination of gwain ("young") and the suffix -ion ("land").[17]

J.R.R. Tolkien commented that its "Sindarin name" was "a testimony to the spread of Sindarin: in this case expectable since the cultivation of vines was not known originally to the Nandor or Avari".[13]

Other versions of the legendarium

Dorvinion or Dor-Winion is mentioned in the The Lay of the Children of Húrin; its wine was famous among the Dwarves of Nogrod and Menegroth. It is said there to lie in the "Burning south" (of Beleriand)[18], which might suggest it was a different "Dorwinion", or may just have referred to the fact it came from the more southern lands of Rhovanion by way of the Dwarf-road of Beleriand.

While writing the Quenta Silmarillion, Tolkien once mentioned Dorwinion as a location of Tol Eressëa.[19] Tolkien reused the name and the wines in The Hobbit, establishing thus that it is somewhere in or near Wilderland.

In annotations to Pauline Baynes, Tolkien suggested the name Mildor meaning "Land of wines", and it was struck out.[20]

Inspiration

Based on the meaning of its name, John Rateliff suggests that the name is a reference to the Irish legend of Tír na nÓg "Land of the Young". However this similarity rather applies to the earlier phase where Dorwinion was mentioned as a part of Tol Eressea.[21]

Portrayal in adaptations

2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:

While Dorwinion itself does not appear in the game, Easterlings from that land are encountered as refugees in the Dale-lands. The Men of Dorwinion are said to have fled from a disaster in the East that occurred following the downfall of Sauron. They are notably more friendly towards the Westlands than other Easterling tribes and have had trade relations in the past with Dale and the Woodland Realm. No explanation is given for Dorwinion's Sindarin name or whether Elves also live in the region.

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Tolkien’s annotated map of Middle-earth transcribed" dated 10 November 2015, The Tolkien Society (accessed 11 November 2015)
  2. Pauline Baynes, J.R.R. Tolkien, A Map of Middle-earth
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", entry for King Turambar, p. 1044
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", entry for King Ciryaher, p. 1045
  5. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", entry for King Minalcar, p. 1046
  6. 6.0 6.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", "(i) The Northmen and the Wainriders"
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", entry for King Narmacil II, pp. 1048-9
  8. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", "(ii) The Ride of Eorl"
  9. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", "The Stewards", entry for Steward Cirion, p. 1053
  10. 10.0 10.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "Barrels Out of Bond"
  11. 11.0 11.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "X. Of Dwarves and Men", "The Atani and their Languages"
  12. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "A Warm Welcome"
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 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), entry S yrch, p. 54
  14. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XIII. Last Writings", Notes, note 29
  15. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Second Age", p. 1082
  16. Paul Strack, "S. Dorwinion loc.", Eldamo - An Elvish Lexicon (accessed 30 March 2023)
  17. Paul Strack, "S. Gwinion loc.", Eldamo - An Elvish Lexicon (accessed 30 March 2023)
  18. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lays of Beleriand, "I. The Lay of the Children of Húrin: I. Túrin's Fostering" lines 223, 425
  19. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, VI. Quenta Silmarillion", p. 338
  20. Daniel Helen, "Tolkien’s annotated map of Middle-earth transcribed" dated 10 November 2015, The Tolkien Society (accessed 24 March 2018)
  21. J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Mr. Baggins, The Second Phase, "In the Halls of the Elvenking", (v) The Wine of Dorwinion