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Dates
Founded early in the Second Age; destroyed in the Downfall of Númenor, II 3319
Location
On the southern coast of Númenor, at the mouths of the River Siril
Race
Division
Culture
Outflow
Nindamos was built on the delta of the river Siril
Pronunciation
ni'ndamos
Meaning
Uncertain1

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About this entry:

  • Updated 5 February 2026
  • This entry is complete

Nindamos

A shoreland settlement of southern Númenor

Map of Nindamos

Siril, the major river of Númenor, ran southwards to meet the Great Sea on the borders between the Hyarnustar and Hyarrostar, the Southwestlands and Southeastlands of the Isle. As its course carried it to the warm southern coasts, the river slowed and divided into a wide delta, among which the fisherfolk of Númenor raised villages where they could find land to settle on. The largest of these fishing towns was Nindamos, raised near the sandy coast on the eastern banks of Siril.

In the later years of Númenor, the wetlands of Siril's delta were reclaimed,2 creating a fertile land surrounding pools filled with fish. As the largest township in this region, we might expect that the importance of Nindamos grew during this time as its lands became firmer and greener, though we have no detailed account of the part it played in Númenor's later history.


Notes

1

The meaning of the name Nindamos is not explained. Given its placing at a river's mouths, we can probably interpret nin(d)- as relating to water (perhaps via nenda, 'wet', or simply nin, 'water'), combined with an ending -os for a settlement, especially one with a wall. By this reading Nindamos would something like 'settlement on the water', which fits its situation well.

The Etymologies in volume V of The History of Middle-earth give a possible alternative, from Quenya nindë, meaning 'slender' or 'narrow'. This does not seem as directly relevant as an interpretation based on 'water', though if we imagine Nindamos as a narrow settlement running along the lower banks of Siril, this possible alternative source for the name does not seem entirely outlandish.

2

The later history of Nindamos and the region around it is touched on in a discussion titled The Land and Beasts of Númenor, reproduced in The Nature of Middle-earth.

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About this entry:

  • Updated 5 February 2026
  • This entry is complete

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