The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Destroyed at the end of the First Age
Location
Running southward out of Ered Wethrin
Source
In the low foothills on the southern side of Ered Wethrin
Tributaries
None
Outflow
Into Narog above Nargothrond
Pronunciation
gi'nglith (all 'g' sounds in this name are pronounced hard as in English 'gate', not soft as in 'ginger')
Meaning
Uncertain1

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About this entry:

  • Updated 22 August 2021
  • This entry is complete

River Ginglith

A northern tributary of the Narog

Map of the river Ginglith

A river that rose in northern Beleriand not far to the west of Ivrin, where the Narog had its source. The two rivers ran southward, parallel to one another, for about a hundred miles, until the Ginglith's course veered eastward and its waters flowed into the Narog.

South from the point where the Ginglith met the Narog, that larger river became uncrossable, so the Elves of Nargothrond were forced to journey northward to the Ginglith's inflow before they could travel eastward from their realm. This was in the days before the short-lived bridge they built across the Narog, and the Sack of Nargothrond. The final battle of the Elves of Nargothrond was on the plain of Tumhalad, the land that rose between the courses of the Ginglith and the Narog.


Notes

1

The etymology of the name Ginglith is obscure, though it perhaps contains the element lith meaning 'ash' or (more likely in this case) 'sand'. The initial Ging- is almost entirely mysterious. There might potentially be a connection to the root ñgan-, 'play a musical instrument' (hence Doriathrin genglin, 'harpist') though this connection seems tenuous at best.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 22 August 2021
  • This entry is complete

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