Ivrin
Also calledEithel Ivrin, The Pools of Ivrin, The Falls of Ivrin
Ivrin was the spring and lake beneath the southern Ered Wethrin where the river Narog rose. Its waters were held sacred to Ulmo; the Feast of Reuniting was held there, and Túrin was healed of his madness by drinking from it.
Description
The pools
Eithel Ivrin, the well of Ivrin, lay at the southern foot of the Ered Wethrin, where clear water sprang from the mountain and fell over rocky steps into a wide, still lake. From the lake the river Narog flowed south toward Nargothrond. The place was reckoned one of the most beautiful in Beleriand, and the Elves believed that Ulmo himself preserved its purity; whoever looked into it or drank from it found some relief from grief and weariness.
In the twentieth year of the Sun Fingolfin held the Mereth Aderthad, the Feast of Reuniting, beside the pools. Elves came from every realm: the Noldor of Hithlum and the east, Círdan's people from the Falas, the Green-elves of Ossiriand, and envoys of Thingol under Mablung and Daeron. Oaths of friendship were sworn, and it was from that time that the Grey-elven tongue became the common speech of Beleriand.
Túrin and the dragon
After Beleg's death Túrin was led by Gwindor across the desert and down through the vale of Sirion to Ivrin, and when he drank from the lake his grief broke at last into tears and his mind cleared. There too he made the lament for Beleg that he called Laer Cú Beleg. A few years later Glaurung, marching south from Angband on Nargothrond, passed over the pools and defiled them with his heat and filth, so that when Túrin fled north after the sack he found Ivrin foul and frozen, and the beauty of the place was gone. In Unfinished Tales Tuor also passes Ivrin on his journey and sees the desolation there.
Associated figures
Visited
High King of the Noldor
Fingolfin
NoldorFingolfin, eldest son of Finwë and Indis, was the first High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth, who led his people across the grinding ice of the Helcaraxë after Fëanor abandoned them. He held Hithlum through the long Siege of Angband and died in single combat with Morgoth at the gates of Angband, the most famous duel of the Elder Days.
HithlumLord of the House of Hador
Tuor
House of HadorTuor son of Huor, born after his father's death at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, was raised by Grey-elves in Mithrim, enslaved by Easterlings, and chosen by Ulmo to carry his warning to the hidden city of Gondolin. There he married Turgon's daughter Idril, fathered Eärendil, and led the survivors out of the city's fall. At the end of his life he sailed into the West, and alone of Men he is said to have been numbered among the Elves.
Hithlum; Gondolin; the Havens of SirionLord of Dor-lómin
Túrin
House of HadorTúrin, son of Húrin and Morwen, was the greatest and most ill-fated warrior of the Edain. Cursed by Morgoth through his father, he wandered from Doriath to outlawry, to Nargothrond and to Brethil, killed his friend Beleg by mischance and unknowingly married his own sister, and slew the dragon Glaurung before taking his own life.
Dor-lómin; Doriath; Nargothrond; BrethilPrince of Nargothrond
Gwindor
NoldorGwindor, son of Guilin and a prince of Nargothrond, charged out of the line at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad in grief for his brother Gelmir and so broke the plan of the battle. Taken alive and enslaved in Angband for fourteen years, he escaped, guided Beleg to Túrin, brought Túrin to Nargothrond, lost Finduilas to him, and died at Tumhalad warning him that her life stood between him and his doom.
NargothrondMariner of Gondolin
Voronwë
NoldorVoronwë, son of Aranwë of Gondolin, was the only survivor of the ships Turgon sent to seek Valinor. Spared by Ulmo and cast ashore at Nevrast, he met Tuor at Vinyamar and guided him through the Fell Winter to the hidden city, so that Ulmo's warning reached Turgon.
Gondolin
Timeline
- F.A. 20
Mereth Aderthad
Fingolfin holds the Feast of Reuniting at the pools of Ivrin.
- F.A. 489
Túrin healed
Gwindor brings Túrin to the lake, where he weeps for Beleg and recovers his wits.
- F.A. 495
Ivrin defiled
Glaurung fouls the pools on his way to Nargothrond.
Sources
- The SilmarillionQuenta Silmarillion, chapters 13, 21
- The Children of Húrinchapters 9, 10, 12
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earthOf Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin