Dírhaval was a man of Dor-lómin[2] who dwelt among the exiles and refugees at the Havens of Sirion led by Eärendil, in the closing century of the First Age.[3]
Biography[]
Dírhaval was known as a Mannish poet[4] with great skill in Sindarin,[3] and he was said to be of the House of Hador. He had probably fled from Dor-lómin when he came to the Havens of Sirion. While dwelling there, he sought after for "all the tidings and lore" of the House of Hador from the remnants of the peoples of Hithlum, Dor-lómin, Nargothrond, Doriath, Gondolin, East Beleriand, and the many other lands of Beleriand because he found that "the glory and sorrow of that House was nearest to his heart".[3] In particular, he learned of "the matter of Mîm and his later dealings with Húrin", though a lot of the lore that he had learned was from Mablung.[4] However, despite "the little that was remembered among the people of Nargothrond" of what Gwindor or Túrin himself ever revealed to them, Dírhaval was unable to find out more about the whereabouts of Túrin between his flight from the Kingdom of Doriath and his arrival at Nargothrond.[4] Yet, through much fortune, Dírhaval encountered a very old man named Andvír, who was once a part of the very same outlaw-band that Túrin had once led; it was from Andvír that Dírhaval learned many of the gaps in Túrin's life, and more fully understood the encounter between Mîm and Húrin in Nargothrond.[3][4]
He compiled all of the lore that he had gathered and wrote a very long narn in the alliterative Minlamad thent/estent,[4] telling of the tragedy of Morgoth's curse on Húrin's children: Túrin and Niënor. This lay, the Narn i Chîn Húrin, was highly praised by the Eldar since it was in the Grey-elven tongue. It is the only full account on Túrin's life, and all later writings on the subject fall back on this one.[3]
Dírhaval did not write any other poems or lays, as the Silmaril captured by Beren and Lúthien was in the keeping of Elwing: soon the Sons of Fëanor launched an attack on the exiles in the Havens of Sirion to claim it. Dírhaval was said to be one of those who fell during the Third Kinslaying.[3][5]
Legacy[]
During his time in Tol Eressëa, Ælfwine heard many tales and songs from the Elves of the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, including one Tale of Men made by Dírhaval at the Havens of Sirion,[1] which "was prized by the Eldar". Ælfwine notes that despite it being "the longest of all the lays that" remain remembered by the Elves, Dírhaval was a man. Ælfwine then commented that the verse Dírhaval used was typical of a narn. While Ælfwine noted that Dírhaval's verse was "not unlike the verse of the English", he chose to translate the lay to prose since he did not think he was skilled enough to be both a scop (Old English: poet) and a walhstod (Old English: interpreter/translator). After this, Ælfwine admitted that he did not add anything of his own invention to Dírhaval's work nor did he omit anything from it. However, he mentioned that he wrote his own notes on matters that interested him within the tale and in the margins based on other pieces of lore that he learned in Tol Eressëa.[3]
Sometime during the twentieth century of the Seventh Age, Ælfwine's prose translation of Dírhaval's Narn i Chîn Húrin ended up in the possession of J.R.R. Tolkien,[1] who also had the Red Book of Westmarch in his possession.[citation needed] While Tolkien translated Ælfwine's prose from Old English into Modern English, he admitted that his version does not imitate styles used by Ælfwine's version and Dírhaval's version. However, despite this, Tolkien retained the usage of archaic language as he speculated that such language was used in Dírhaval's time.[1]
Etymology[]
The meaning of the name Dírhaval is unknown. It is difficult to decipher any possible origin of the name, but it may have come from the Sindarin words dîr ("man" or "hard"), hav ("sit") or haust ("rest"), and al, which has an unknown meaning.[6]
In other versions[]
In the earliest form of the legendarium published in The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, the predecessor of Dírhaval was a man named Eltas, whose people lived in a vale of Hisilómë. He had heard the Tale of Turambar from the older men of his people who hated Melko and his "evil worms". Later on, "in the days before the fall of Gondolin" he came to Tol Eressëa by Olórë Mallë during the First Age. At the Cottage of Lost Play, on the second day of the feast of Turuhalmë, Eltas told the tale of Turambar and the Foalókë to Eriol in the absence of Ailios. Following that, he was asked to tell the story of the Nauglafring, but he said that the tales of Tuor and Beren should be told first.[7] Eltas then traveled to Tavrobel, during which time the Fall of Gondolin was retold by Littleheart.[8]
In the first draft of the introductory note to The Children of Húrin, Tolkien's original spelling of the name Dírhaval was Dírhavel.[3]
Christopher Tolkien used the earlier spelling within the Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, but he notes in The War of the Jewels that the name Dírhavel should have been spelled as Dírhaval since the latter spelling was its latest variation.[9]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Arabic | ديرهافيل |
| Armenian | Դիրհավել |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Дірhавел |
| Bengali | দিরহাভেল |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Дирхавел |
| Georgian | დირჰველი |
| Greek | Δίρχαυελ |
| Gujarati | દિરહવેલ |
| Hebrew | דירהאוול |
| Hindi | डिर्हवेल |
| Kannada | ದಿರ್ಹವೆಲ್ |
| Kazakh | Дірһавел (Cyrillic) Dirhavel (Latin) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Дирhавэл |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Дирхавел |
| Marathi | दिरहवेल |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Дирhавел |
| Nepalese | दिर्हवेल |
| Persian | درهوهل ? |
| Punjabi | ਦਿਹਾਵਲ |
| Sanskrit | डिर्हवेल् |
| Serbian | Дирхавел (Cyrillic) Dirhavel (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | ඩිරහවෙල් |
| Russian | Дирхавел |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Дирҳавел |
| Tamil | திர்ஹவேல் |
| Tatar | Дирхавел |
| Telugu | దిర్హావెల్ |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Діргавел |
| Urdu | دارہاوال ? |
| Uzbek | Дирҳавел (Cyrillic) Dirhavel (Latin) |
| Yiddish | דירהאַוועל |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part Three: "The Wanderings of Húrin and Other Writings not forming part of the Quenta Silmarillion", II: Ælfwine and Dírhaval, pg. 312
- ↑ Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Index (entry "Dírhavel")
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part Three: "The Wanderings of Húrin and Other Writings not forming part of the Quenta Silmarillion", II: Ælfwine and Dírhaval, pg. 313
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part Three: "The Wanderings of Húrin and Other Writings not forming part of the Quenta Silmarillion", II: Ælfwine and Dírhaval, pg. 311
- ↑ Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part One: The First Age, II: "Narn i Chîn Húrin" (The Tale of the Children of Húrin), introductory note
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Index of Names
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, II: "Turambar and the Foalókë", pgs. 69-70, 118, 144
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, III: "The Fall of Gondolin"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part Three: "The Wanderings of Húrin and Other Writings not forming part of the Quenta Silmarillion", II: Ælfwine and Dírhaval", pg. 315 (note 5)
External links[]
- The Inklings blogspot