Mithrim
Mithrim was the eastern region of Hithlum, lying about the great lake of the same name. It was named for the Grey-elves who lived there, and it was here that the returning Noldor first made camp and fought the Battle-under-Stars.
Description
The region about the lake
Mithrim was the heart of Hithlum, the land about Lake Mithrim in the east of that country, shut in by the Ered Wethrin on the east and south and separated from Dor-lómin by a line of hills. The name belonged first to the Sindar who lived there, the Grey-elves of Mithrim, and passed from them to the lake and the region. It was said that the word for grey in their name was the same that gave the Sindar their own name among the Noldor.
When Fëanor landed in Middle-earth he marched his people to the northern shore of the lake and made his camp there, since the land was sheltered and the lake gave water and fish. Morgoth attacked at once, but the Noldor won the Dagor-nuin-Giliath and drove the orcs across the mountains. After Fëanor's death his sons returned to Mithrim, and when Fingolfin's host came over the ice and found their kinsmen there, they camped on the far shore of the lake, so that the water lay between the two hosts. The mists Morgoth sent from Angband hung over the region in those days, and it was from these that Hithlum took its name.
After the reconciliation of the two houses the sons of Fëanor withdrew east and Fingolfin kept Mithrim as his own. It remained the centre of the realm until the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, when the Easterlings were given all Hithlum and the Elves of Mithrim were killed, enslaved or driven into the hills. Some survived in hiding in the caves of the Ered Lómin, and it was Grey-elves of Mithrim under Annael who fostered Tuor after the death of his father Huor.
Places within1
- Lake
Lake Mithrim was the great lake in the east of Hithlum, beside which the returning Noldor first encamped. Fëanor's followers held its northern shore and Fingolfin's its southern until the two houses were reconciled.
Associated figures
Fought at
High King of the Noldor (claimed)
Fëanor
NoldorFëanor, eldest son of Finwë, was the greatest craftsman and the most fiery spirit ever born among the Elves, maker of the Silmarils and of the Tengwar. His Oath to recover the jewels from Morgoth drove the Noldor into rebellion and exile, brought about the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, and shaped the whole tragedy of the First Age.
Tirion, then Formenos
Dwelt in
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.
Hithlum
Born in
Lord 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 Sirion
Visited
King of the Eagles of the Crissaegrim
Thorondor
Great EaglesKing of the Great Eagles of the First Age and the mightiest bird that ever flew, with wings that spanned thirty fathoms. Sent by Manwë to watch over the exiled Noldor, he rescued Maedhros from Thangorodrim, bore away the body of Fingolfin, guarded Gondolin, carried Beren and Lúthien from the gate of Angband, and led the eagles against the dragons in the War of Wrath.
Crissaegrim, in the Encircling Mountains- House of Bëor
Rían, daughter of Belegund of the House of Bëor, married Huor two months before the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and bore his son Tuor after his death. Leaving the child with the Elves of Mithrim, she went to the Hill of the Slain and died there.
Dor-lómin
Peoples
Timeline
- F.A. 1
Fëanor's camp
The Noldor settle on the northern shore of Lake Mithrim and win the Dagor-nuin-Giliath.
- F.A. 1
The two hosts divided
Fingolfin's people camp on the southern shore, sundered from the followers of Fëanor by the lake.
- F.A. 472
Occupation by the Easterlings
The Elves of Mithrim are scattered after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad; a remnant hides in the mountains and later fosters Tuor.
Sources
- The SilmarillionQuenta Silmarillion, chapter 13
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earthOf Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin