Dorwinion
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In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Dorwinion or Dor-Winion is a land which lay on the northwestern shores of the Sea of Rhûn.
Dorwinion was drawn at Tolkien's advice on Pauline Baynes' map of Middle-earth as lying at the end of the Carnen and Celduin, at the northwest shore of the Sea of Rhûn, and in that position it has since appeared on other maps.
Dorwinion is mentioned in The Hobbit as the place where the special wine of the Elven King (Thranduil) comes from, and the barrels are returned by way of the Forest River to the Long Lake of Esgaroth, clearly implying a trade route to and from the Lake Town.
| “ | In Dorwinion was made a heady wine, which was strong enough to let even Elves get drunk and fall asleep. | ” |
Dorwinion is also mentioned in the Narn i Chîn Húrin, where the wine produced from it was drunk in Thingol's halls of Menegroth. It is said there to lie in the Burning south, which might suggest it was a different 'Dorwinion', or may just have referred to the fact it came from the more southern lands of Rhovanion by way of the dwarf-road.
Although the name Dorwinion was interpreted as "Land of Wine", in fact the true meaning of the name is given as "Land of Gwinion" or "Young-land-country".[1]
Exactly who lived in Dorwinion is equally unclear: support for the Elven origin of Dorwinion is that its population must have been Elvish, since it was already well established while the Atanatári were still young, and no realms of Men are known before the establishment of Estolad.
On the other hand, it might simply be inhabited by Men, on account of its location, and references to "vineyards of Men in distant lands" from The Hobbit. A change in population is also possible as The Hobbit takes place over 6000 years after the Narn, and whatever Elves lived there may have left, owing to its proximity to Mordor.
Dorwinion was probably part of the Kingdom of Gondor from the sixth century of the Third Age until T.A. 1856 when Gondor withdrew its borders to the Anduin, although its history in this time period is unclear.
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Tolkien, J.R.R. (2007). "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings". Parma Eldalamberon 17: 54.. The element (G)winion is cognate to Q. winya/vinya, "new, young".
