Dorwinion, also known as Dor-Winion, was a land in the vales of the Celduin which lay on the north-western shores of the Sea of Rhûn.[1][2] It was famous for its great gardens and as the home of the finest wines in all of Middle-earth.
Description & inhabitants[]
Its fertile climate, temperate latitude, and close proximity to the Sea of Rhûn[3] made Dorwinion an ideal location for an agrarian society. Its people were Middle Men, descendants of the Edain, and they had close ties to the Northmen of Dale in genealogy. Dorwinion has been speculated to be a kingdom, most notably ruled by the enigmatic king Bladorthin.
History[]
Dorwinion was known quite well for its high-quality and widely enjoyed wines, even able to turn the alcohol-resistant Elves drunk. The realm existed at least as far back as the First Age.[4]
They were imported to the Elves of the Halls of Thranduil in Mirkwood,[5] the Dale-men and Lake-men, and the Dwarves of Erebor and of the Iron Hills. If Bladorthin (who demanded thrice-forged spears from Erebor smiths) was indeed a Dorwinion king, then the wine of his realm could have been traded with the Dwarves of Erebor in exchange for their superior weaponry.
It is possible that from TA 550 to TA 1856 Dorwinion was part of the eastern territories of Gondor, the bounds of which extended to the Sea of Rhûn. However the province's northern boundaries are unclear and therefore it is not known whether Dorwinion was a part of the Reunited Kingdom.
Etymology[]
Dorwinion is a Sindarin name meaning "Young-land country" or "Land of Gwinion".[6] The name may possibly be derived from dôr ("land")[7] and gwinion ("young-land"),[6] which contains the word gwein ("young")[8] and the suffix -ion ("country")[9].[10]
In relation to Dorwinion's Sindarin name, J.R.R. Tolkien stated in a note that this was "a testimony to the spread of Sindarin: in this case expectable since the cultivation of vines was not known originally to the Nandor or Avari".[6]
In other versions[]
J.R.R. Tolkien once identified Dorwinion as being a place on Tol Eressëa in the Quenta Silmarillion of the 1930s.[11] This idea was scrapped in favor of placing Dorwinion in Wilderland.
In an annotation on Pauline Baynes's A Map of Middle-earth, Tolkien briefly changed Dorwinion's name to Mildor ("wine-land") before striking it out.[1]
Inspiration[]
In The History of The Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End, John D. Rateliff suggested that the name, particularly the meaning, references the Irish legend of Tír na nÓg ("Land of the Young"). However this similarity rather applies to the earlier phase where Dorwinion was mentioned as a part of Tol Eressea.[12]
In adaptations[]
The Lord of the Rings Minecraft Mod[]
In The Lord of the Rings Minecraft mod, Dorwinion is a realm of Men and Elves.
The Lord of the Rings Online[]
In The Lord of the Rings Online, Dorwinion is inhabited by Easterlings who had a trade relationship with Dale. After the Downfall of Barad-dûr, some untold disaster happened in the East that caused many Easterlings to flee Dorwinion, winding up as refugees in the Dale-lands. They are notably more friendly towards the West-lands than other Easterling tribes and have had trade relations in the past with Dale and the Woodland Realm. No explanation is given for Dorwinion's Sindarin name or whether Elves also live in the region.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Amharic | ዶርዊኒየን |
| Arabic | ضوروينيون |
| Armenian | Դորւինիոն |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Дорўініон |
| Bengali | দরউইনিওন |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Дорвинион |
| Burmese | ဍောရ္ဝိနိဩန္ |
| Chinese | 多溫尼安 |
| Danish | Dorwinion ("Vinlandet") |
| Dari | دوروینیون |
| Georgian | დორვინიონი |
| Greek | Ντοργουίνιον |
| Gujarati | દોરવાણીઓન |
| Hebrew | דורוויניין |
| Hindi | डोर्विनिओन |
| Irish Gaelic | Talamh Fíon |
| Kannada | ದೊರವಿನಿಯೋನ್ |
| Kazakh | Доруініон (Cyrillic) Dorwinion (Latin) |
| Korean | 도원 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Дорвинион |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Дорвинион |
| Marathi | डोर्विनिओन |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Дорүинион |
| Nepalese | डोर्विनिओन |
| Pashto | ضوروینیون ? |
| Persian | دوروینیون |
| Punjabi | ਡੋਰ੍ਵਿਨਿਓਨ |
| Russian | Дорвинион |
| Sanskrit | डोर्विनिओन् |
| Scots Gaelic | Fearann Fìon |
| Serbian | Дорвинион (Cyrillic) Dorvinion (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | ඩොර්විනිඔන් |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Дорвинион |
| Tamil | டொரவினின் |
| Telugu | దుర్వినియోన్ |
| Thai | ดอร์วินิออน |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Дорвініон |
| Urdu | دورونااون |
| Uzbek | Дорвинион (Cyrillic) Dorvinion (Latin) |
| Yiddish | דאָרוויניאָן |
External links[]
- Was Dorwinion an Elf-kingdom? by Michael Martinez
- Archive on 5-Apr-2016 of JRRVF - Tolkien en Version Française / Hisweloke - Dorwinion, pays de cépages by Didier Willis and Bertrand Bellet
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Tolkien’s annotated map of Middle-earth transcribed", dated November 10, 2015
- ↑ The Hobbit, Map of Wilderland
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, Regional Maps, "Wilderland"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, vol. III: The Lays of Beleriand, I: The Lay of the Children of Húrin, I: "Túrin's Fostering" lines 223, 425
- ↑ The Hobbit, ch. IX: "Barrels Out of Bond"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Parma Eldalamberon, issue XVII: Words, Phrases and Passages in various tongues in The Lord of the Rings, pg. 54 (entry S yrch)
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, pgs. 370, 413
- ↑ Parma Eldalamberon, issue XVII: Words, Phrases and Passages in various tongues in The Lord of the Rings, pg. 191
- ↑ Parma Eldalamberon, issue XVII: Words, Phrases and Passages in various tongues in The Lord of the Rings, pg. 42
- ↑ "Dorwinion" on Eldamo.org
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Two: "Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings", VI: "Quenta Silmarillion", pg. 338
- ↑ The History of The Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End, The Second Phase, IX: "In the Halls of the Elvenking", (v) The Wine of Dorwinion