The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
The realm was guarded by the Girdle of Melian from shortly before the first rising of the Sun and Moon;1 Doriath was sacked in I 509
Location
The central regions of Beleriand
Other names
Doriath, The Hidden Kingdom, Land of the Girdle; before the raising of the Girdle, the realm had been known as Eglador
Note
This Guarded Realm shares its name with a far older Guarded Realm beyond the Great Sea of the West: Valinor, the realm of the Valar

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About this entry:

  • Updated 4 January 2023
  • This entry is complete

Guarded Realm

The fenced land of King Thingol

Map of the Guarded Realm of Doriath

After the departure of the last of the Teleri to set out across the Great Sea, many of their kin were left in Beleriand on the Sea's eastern shores. Elu Thingol became their overlord, and dwelt with his Queen, Melian the Maia, within the central forests of Beleriand. This realm lasted long in peace under the starlight in the years before the making of the Sun and Moon.

After Melkor escaped Valinor and returned to Middle-earth, he launched a great force of Orcs from his northern stronghold of Angband that swept through Beleriand. The Elves defeated part of this force in the First Battle, but many of the Orcs still remained at large, and at this time Melian created her famous Girdle: a shield of enchantment that surrounded Thingol's forest realm. With the Girdle of Melian in place, the land was guarded against the Orcs or any other enemy. Thus it gained the Elvish name Doriath, 'land of the fence', and it was also commonly known as the Guarded Realm.

Quite apart from its magical protection, the realm was also guarded by the soldiers of the King. This was especially true along its northern borders, where the Girdle came close to the dark powers of Ered Gorgoroth. These borders were watched by the marchwardens, of whom the best known were Beleg Strongbow and Mablung of the Heavy Hand.


Notes

1

According to The Grey Annals (in volume XI of The History of Middle-earth) the Girdle was raised in Valian Year 1497. Converting that to solar years suggests a date about twenty-nine years before the rising of the Sun and Moon and the Return of the Noldor.

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About this entry:

  • Updated 4 January 2023
  • This entry is complete

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