Kôrtirion (called also Kôr[1] and Koromas) was the principal city of Tol Eressëa, near Aman.
The city was located on a great hill at the very center of the island in the region of Alalvinórë, the 'Land of Many Elms'. There Ingil son of Inwë built the Tirin na Gilweth ("Tower of Gilweth") when he returned from the March of Liberation.[2][3] At the foot of this tower, described as being "tall and grey", was the house of Meril-i-Turinqi in a circular enclosure of elms.[4] The Cottage of Lost Play was located somewhere outside the city.[5]
Etymology[]
Kôrtirion meant approximately 'Great Watch-tower hill', 'Watch-tower hill', or 'mighty tower / city on a hill'.[6][7][8]
Canon[]
Kôrtirion was not described or mentioned in The Silmarillion. It is only documented in The Book of Lost Tales Part One, and mapped out by Karen Wynn Fonstad in The Atlas of Middle-earth. It was also mentioned in the poem and song, first written before 1937, "Kortirion among the Trees" and "Kôr".[3]
In Henry Rider Haggard's 1886 book She, "Kôr" is the name of an ancient, deserted city just like the Kôr of Tolkien's early poem.[9]
Places in the Undying Lands (Aman and Tol Eressëa) | ||
Places and regions of the Valar | Valinor • Ezellohar • Gardens of Lòrien • Halls of Mandos • Halls of Nienna • House of Tulkas • Ilmarin • Máhanaxar • Pastures of Yavanna • Wells of Varda • Woods of Oromë • Plain of Valinor • Two Trees of Valinor | |
Other regions | Eldamar • Alalvinórëυ • Araman • Avathar • Enchanted Isles • Haerast • Oiomúrë • Sindanórië • Galathilion • Tol Withernonυ | |
Mountains and passes | Pelóri • Taniquetil • Hyarmentir • Túna • Calacirya • Caves of the Forgotten | |
Bodies of water | Afros • Bay of Eldamar • Gruirυ • Híri • Lórellin • Shadowy Seas • Sirnúmen | |
Cities and strongholds | Váli-màr • Alqualondë • Avallónë • Formenos • Kôrtirion • Tavrobelρ • Tirion • Lumbiυ | |
Houses and towers | Cottage of Lost Playρ • House of the Hundred Chimneysρ Pre-canon • Mindon Eldaliéva • Tower of Avallónë • Tower of Tavrobelρ • Tram Nybolρ | |
ρ Pre-canon, υ Canonicity unclear. |
Translations[]
Foreign Language | Translated name |
Danish | Kortirion ("Højen med Det Store Vagttårn") |
References[]
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter V: "The Coming of Elves and the Making of Kôr"
- ↑ "The Alphabet of Rúmil & Early Noldorin Fragments" in Parma Eldalamberon, n. XIII
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter I: "The Cottage of Lost Play"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter IV: "The Chaining of Melko"
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Second Age, "Introduction"
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Index of Names
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin names
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part I
- ↑ John Garth, Tolkien and the Great War, Part One, ch. 4, pg. 78