The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Defiled by Glaurung I 495; destroyed with Beleriand at the end of the First Age
Location
The southern slopes of Ered Wethrin, directly south from Dor-lómin
Source
The Pools formed the source of the river Narog
Pronunciation
Ivrin is pronounced 'i'vrin'
Meaning
The meaning of Ivrin is uncertain1
Other names
The Beautiful Mere; the Pools and Falls of this region were collectively known simply as Ivrin; as the Sources of Narog, the Pools were known as Eithel Ivrin

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About this entry:

  • Updated 28 October 2021
  • This entry is complete

Pools of Ivrin

The waters at the Sources of Narog

Map of the Pools of Ivrin
"On Ivrin's lake   is endless laughter.
Lo! cool and clear   by crystal fountains
she is fed unfailing,   from defilement warded..."
The History of Middle-earth, volume III
The Lays of Beleriand
The Lay of the Children of Húrin, lines 1526-8

The shimmering pools that lay beneath the mountains of Ered Wethrin, on the northern borders of Beleriand, from which the torrent of the River Narog flowed. They were famous for their beauty, and for the power of Ulmo that protected them. Some twenty years after the Return of the Noldor to Middle-earth, their Feast of Reuniting - the Mereth Aderthad - was held on the banks of Ivrin's pools, and centuries later their healing waters brought Túrin back from madness. Glaurung the Dragon came to Ivrin as he travelled to attack Nargothrond, defiling the waters as he passed to leave a region of frozen swampland.


Notes

1

The meaning of the name Ivrin is nowhere explained, and nor does it have a clear etymology. It may be related to the very old word ivrin meaning 'fertile' from the earliest phases of Tolkien's works. The lands around the Pools were described as being 'green and fair' (Quenta Silmarillion 13, Of the Return of the Noldor) so this connection is a plausible possibility, though hardly established beyond doubt.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 28 October 2021
  • This entry is complete

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