The Divisions of Beleriand

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The Divisions of Beleriand (Atlas of Beleriand - Map 6)

The Doriath, ruled by Elwë Thingol, chief of Sindar, and his wife Melian the Maia, is a powerful and central kingdom in Beleriand. The tongue of Doriath was Doriathrin [1], which provided several toponyms in Beleriand.  Etymologies, an elfic dictionary published in The Lost Road (HoMe IV), provide some details on the composition of names [2].

The river Sirion, passing through Doriath, naturally divided Beleriand in two parts : East and West Beleriand. On an external point of view, the structuration east/west roots on the former maps drawn by Tolkien, with one central part (including Menegroth) and two extensions east/west [3]. The central map includes Menegroth, Nargothrond and Gondolin which means this is the geographical core of the Tolkien's Great Tales and Legendarium [4].


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About the Atlas of Beleriand

This Atlas is a serie of ten maps (and more !) concerning geography, history and geopolitics of Beleriand, which is a territory of  the famous Legendarium of J.R.R. Tolkien, including the Silmarillion.

This map was firstly created to illustrate an essay (in french) dedicated to explore the geopolitics in Beleriand published on the website JRRVF (many thanks to Cedric for his support).This map was firstly released on Deviantart.

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Technical details

In these maps, two free fonts are used : Franklin Gothic Medium and Cardo by David J. Perry.

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Bibliography and references

[1] See Ardalambion website, section "Doriathrin - the Mothertongue of Lúthien" :
[2] HoMe IV pp347-400
[3] HoMe III p219
[4] The three Great Tales concerns Beren & Lúthien, the children of Húrin, and the fall of Gondolin (see HoMe X p373).