Lindon
Also calledForlindon and Harlindon, The Land of Song
Lindon is the coastal land west of the Blue Mountains, the only part of Beleriand that survived the drowning at the end of the First Age. It was the realm of Gil-galad, the last High King of the Noldor, and after his death the country of Círdan, from whose Grey Havens the Elves departed over the Sea.
Description
The last of Beleriand
When the War of Wrath broke Beleriand and the sea rolled in over its ruins, one strip of the old land remained above the waves: the eastern part of Ossiriand, the Land of Seven Rivers, lying between the Blue Mountains and the new coast. The Elves named it Lindon, the land of music, after the singing of the Green-elves who had lived there. The Gulf of Lune, formed when the sea broke through the mountains, cut the land in two: Forlindon in the north and Harlindon in the south, each with its own harbour, Forlond and Harlond, and the great harbour of the Grey Havens at the head of the gulf between them.
Lindon is green, well-watered and beautiful, a piece of the elder world lingering on the western edge of Eriador, and the Hobbits of the Shire, its nearest neighbours, knew it only as the place the Elves went when they left.
Gil-galad's kingdom
At the start of the Second Age Gil-galad, son of Fingon and last High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth, made Lindon his realm, and the Elves who did not sail into the West gathered under him: Noldor, Sindar, Círdan's Falathrim and the Laiquendi of Ossiriand. Elrond was his herald and lieutenant. Gil-galad's power was the greatest of the Elves in the Second Age, his realm stretched at times across all of Eriador to the Misty Mountains, and it was from Lindon that the Elves went to the wars with Sauron and to the Last Alliance. After his death the kingship of the Noldor ended, and Lindon under Círdan became a haven rather than a realm, its people slowly departing over the Sea.
History
The Second Age
Gil-galad ruled from the Havens and welcomed the first ships of Númenor when they returned to Middle-earth. When Sauron came as Annatar he was refused entry to Lindon, and Gil-galad's suspicion was the reason the Three Rings were never touched by him. In the war of 1695 to 1701 Sauron overran Eriador up to the Lune, and Lindon was saved only by the Númenórean fleet that landed at the Havens. Gil-galad gave Vilya to Elrond and Narya to Círdan. In 3320 the exiled Elendil landed on Lindon's coast and became Gil-galad's ally, and in 3430 the two kings formed the Last Alliance. Gil-galad led the Elves of Lindon across the mountains and fell before the gates of Barad-dûr in 3441.
The Third Age
Círdan held Lindon through the Third Age. Its Elves aided Arthedain in the wars against Angmar, fought at the Battle of Fornost in 1975, and offered shelter to the Dúnedain who fled over the Lune. But Lindon's chief business was departure, and by the time of the War of the Ring its people had dwindled to a remnant. After the Ring-bearers sailed in 3021, Círdan remained with those who still lingered, and the Elves of Lindon passed slowly into the Fourth Age and beyond the memory of Men.
Geography
The coast west of the Blue Mountains, divided by the Gulf of Lune into Forlindon (north) and Harlindon (south), with the Grey Havens at the head of the gulf; Eriador and the Shire lie east over the mountains and the Tower Hills.
Places within1
- City
The Grey Havens, Mithlond, are the Elven harbours of Círdan on the Gulf of Lune, from which the Elves of Middle-earth sailed into the West throughout the Second and Third Ages. Elendil landed there after the Downfall, Gondor's fleet came there to save the North, and Frodo and Bilbo departed from its quays in T.A. 3021.
Associated figures
Visited
High King of Arnor and Gondor
Elendil
NúmenóreansElendil the Tall, son of Amandil of Andúnië, led the Faithful out of the Downfall of Númenor in nine ships and founded the realms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-earth. With Gil-galad he formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and in S.A. 3441 the two of them overthrew Sauron on the slopes of Mount Doom and died in doing it. His sword Narsil, broken beneath him, became the heirloom of his heirs down to Aragorn.
Arnor; High King over GondorSixth King of Númenor
Tar-Aldarion
NúmenóreansTar-Aldarion, born Anardil, was the sixth King of Númenor and the first of its great mariners. He founded the Guild of Venturers, built the haven of Vinyalondë in Middle-earth, and befriended Gil-galad, but his voyages destroyed his marriage to Erendis. He changed the law of succession so that his daughter Ancalimë could reign after him.
NúmenorKing of the Silvan Elves of Greenwood the Great
Oropher
SindarOropher, a Sindarin lord of Doriath, led his people east after the drowning of Beleriand and was taken as king by the Silvan Elves of Greenwood the Great. He founded the Woodland Realm, withdrew it northward from Dwarves and Noldor alike, and died in a rash charge at the Battle of Dagorlad, leaving the crown to his son Thranduil.
Greenwood the Great
Dwelt in
Lord of Rivendell
Elrond
Half-elvenElrond Half-elven, son of Eärendil and Elwing, chose the fate of the Elves and lived through three Ages of the world: fostered by Maglor, herald to Gil-galad at the Last Alliance, founder and master of Rivendell, keeper of the Ring Vilya, foster-father of Aragorn and father of Arwen. His house was the great refuge and library of the North, and at its Council the fate of the One Ring was decided.
Rivendell (Imladris)Lady of Lothlórien
Galadriel
NoldorGaladriel, only daughter of Finarfin and the greatest of the Noldor after Fëanor, left Valinor in the rebellion, learned wisdom from Melian in Doriath, and outlived every other leader of the Exiles by three Ages. Bearer of Nenya, founder with Celeborn of the realm of Lórien, and a member of the White Council, she refused the One Ring when Frodo offered it, threw down Dol Guldur, and at last sailed West with the Ring-bearers.
LothlórienLord of Lothlórien
Celeborn
SindarCeleborn, a Sindarin prince of Doriath and the husband of Galadriel, outlasted three Ages of Middle-earth as lord of the Galadhrim. He shared the rule of Lothlórien with his wife, led the host that stormed Dol Guldur at the end of the War of the Ring, held East Lórien for a season of the Fourth Age, and at last, when the Golden Wood had emptied, went to Rivendell and thence over the Sea.
LothlórienLord of the Falas
Círdan
SindarCírdan the Shipwright, a Telerin kinsman of Thingol who stayed on the shores of Middle-earth when the ships sailed West, was lord of the Falas in the First Age and of the Grey Havens through the Second and Third. He built the ships of the Elves for three Ages, bore the Ring of Fire until he gave it to Gandalf, and remained at the Havens until the last ship should sail.
The Falas; afterwards Lindon and the Grey Havens
Ruled
High King of the Noldor
Gil-galad
NoldorEreinion Gil-galad was the last High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth. Sent to the Havens as a child, he took up the kingship after the fall of Gondolin, ruled Lindon through the whole of the Second Age, refused Sauron the gates of his realm, received two of the Three Rings, and led the Last Alliance of Elves and Men with Elendil. He died with Elendil on the slopes of Mount Doom overthrowing Sauron.
Lindon
Peoples
Timeline
- F.A. 590
Beleriand drowned
The War of Wrath sinks Beleriand; the eastern part of Ossiriand survives and becomes Lindon.
- S.A. 1
Gil-galad's realm
The last High King of the Noldor establishes his kingdom in Lindon with its harbours on the Gulf of Lune.
- S.A. 1200
Annatar refused
Gil-galad and Elrond refuse to admit Sauron in his fair guise into Lindon.
- S.A. 1700
Lindon saved
Sauron's army reaches the Lune but is destroyed by the Númenórean fleet and Gil-galad's forces.
- S.A. 3441
Death of Gil-galad
The High King falls in the overthrow of Sauron; Círdan becomes lord of Lindon.
- T.A. 1975
Lindon at Fornost
Círdan's Elves join Eärnur's army and help destroy Angmar.
- T.A. 3021
The Three Rings depart
Elrond, Galadriel and Gandalf sail from the Havens; Lindon remains a quiet remnant.
Sources
- The Silmarillion'Of the Voyage of Eärendil'; 'Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age'
- The Lord of the Rings: AppendicesAppendix A, I (iii) and (iv); Appendix B
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth'The History of Galadriel and Celeborn'
- The Fellowship of the RingBook II, chapter 2
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