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Dates
Maedhros founded his fortresss here soon after I 7;1 presumed abandoned at the end of the First Age2
Location
The northern borders of Himlad, on the western edge of the March of Maedhros
Race
Division
Family
Passes
The Pass of Aglon ran to the northwest of Himring
Pronunciation
hi'mring
Meaning
Perhaps 'Ever-cold'3
Other names
Hill of Himring, Himling (after the end of the First Age)

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 22 March 2017
  • Updates planned: 1

Himring

The hill where Maedhros’ fortress stood

Map of Himring

A hill in the northeast of Beleriand, on which was the fortress of Maedhros, eldest of the Sons of Fëanor. After the drowning of Beleriand at the end of the First Age, the peak of Himring remained above the waves.


Notes

1

We don't have the exact date that Maedhros settled on Himring, but we do know that he built his fortress shortly after the council in Mithrim that made Fingolfin the High King of the Noldor. The date of that council was I 7, so Himring seems to have been fortified within only a few years of the Return of the Noldor.

2

After the War of Wrath, most of Beleriand was lost under the Sea. Himring was one of very few exceptions, surviving as the small island of Himling off the coasts of Forlindon. It seems implausible that Maedhros' fortifications would have survived the inrush of the Great Sea.

3

In chapter 14 of The Silmarillion, Tolkien calls this hill 'Himring, the Ever-cold', which looks like at least a partial translation. This presumably comes from the word him, meaning 'steadfast' or 'abiding', alongside ring, 'cold'.

In his linguistic appendix to The Silmarillion, however, Christopher Tolkien tentatively interprets the him element as meaning 'cool'. While 'cool-cold' seems a rather redundant placename, it could in principle derive from Himlad ('cool plain'), the land to the immediate southwest (making the name Himring a shortening of 'cold hill on the cool plain').

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 22 March 2017
  • Updates planned: 1

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