The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Extant during the fifth century of the Years of the Sun1
Location
Dwelt in the land of Dor-lómin
Race
Division
Culture
Family
Kin to the House of Húrin2
Pronunciation
i'ndorr ('rr' emphasises that the final r sound should be pronounced)
Meaning
Uncertain3

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About this entry:

  • Updated 3 May 2024
  • This entry is complete

Indor

The father of Aerin

Indor
Aerin

The father of Aerin of Dor-lómin, and therefore a kinsman of Húrin Thalion. We know almost nothing of Indor's history, but his relationship to Aerin and Húrin suggests that he dwelt in Dor-lómin in the years before the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

In the earliest versions of the Silmarillion legends, Indor plays an important part: he is the grandfather of the character who will become known as Tuor. If he had survived as the stories developed, that would have made Indor the Lord of Dor-lómin and father to Húrin. Instead, his place was taken by Galdor son of Hador, and Indor's role dwindled to a single incidental mention in the Narn i Chîn Húrin.


Notes

1

We have almost no dating information for Indor, except that his daughter Aerin was old enough to wed in the year I 472. This suggests that she must have been born about twenty years beforehand, or perhaps a little more, which in turns gives a birthdate of Indor of (very roughly) I 425. This would put him in approximately the same generation as Húrin's father Galdor.

2

In the published Silmarillion, all we're told about Indor's family is that his daughter Aerin was kinswoman to Húrin. In the Narn i Chîn Húrin, we learn a little more from a passage in which Túrin reminds Aerin of a time when he called her 'aunt'. This cannot be meant literally (it would make her the sister of either Húrin or Morwen, neither of which is a realistic possibility). Rather, Túrin must have meant the word 'aunt' as a more general familiar term, but it does imply that she - and by extension presumably her father Indor - spent time in the household of Húrin in happier times before the Nirnaeth.

3

Indor's name appears in the very early Lost Tales, and there it is directly explained as meaning 'master (of house), lord' (The History of Middle-earth volume II). This is such an early source that it is difficult to be sure how reliable this interpretation might be. If we assume that this is correct, however, we might take it to indicate that Indor was an important nobleman of Dor-lómin. This does indeed seem to borne out by what little external evidence we have, which points to Indor being a lord related in some degree to the House of Húrin and the Lords of Dor-lómin.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 3 May 2024
  • This entry is complete

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