One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.

OSSIRIAND. The Land of Seven Rivers

Ossiriand

The name Ossiriand means "Land of Seven Rivers" in Sindarin from the stem of odog meaning "seven" (odo in the Doriathrin dialect) and sîr meaning "river" and the ending -and meaning "country, region." The name refers to the Gelion and its six tributaries. Also called Ossir.

The Noldor called it Lindon meaning "Land of Music" because of the singing of the Green-elves. The name Lindon was later used for the remnant of Ossiriand after the destruction of Beleriand.

A woodland realm to the east of Beleriand, lying between the Blue Mountains and the River Gelion. The Gelion and its six tributaries that ran through the land gave it its name, the Land of Seven Rivers.

Ossiriand was at the foot of the Blue Mountains which formed its eastern border. The River Gelion was its western border. Six tributaries of the Gelion flowed from the mountains through Ossiriand: The Ascar on the northern border, the Thalos, the Legolin, the Brilthor, the Duilwen, and the Adurant on the southern border.

North of Ossiriand was the region of Thargelion. The Dwarf-road came down from the cities of Belegost and Nogrod in the Blue Mountains and ran along the northern bank of the Ascar, crossing the Gelion at Sarn Athrad. West of Ossiriand were the open lands of East Beleriand and the great woodland of Taur-im-Duinath.

Ossiriand was a peaceful region with forests of tall green elm trees. Treebeard sometimes walked there in the summertime. The land was protected by the power of Ulmo, Lord of Waters, which ran through the Gelion and its tributaries.

Ossiriand was settled by the Nandor. These Eldar had tarried on the Great Journey westward, but a group of them finally came over the Blue Mountains in 1350 of the Years of the Trees led by Denethor. They were a woodland people who loved to live near running water, and they were the most knowledgable of all the Elves about plants and animals.

At the request of King Thingol of Doriath, Denethor led an army to the First Battle against Morgoth's forces in 1497, but they were poorly armed and many were slain. Denethor was surrounded on Amon Ereb and was killed. Thingol drove Morgoth's forces from East Beleriand.

After the battle, many of Denethor's people relocated to Doriath, but some returned to Ossiriand. The Elves of Ossiriand did not have another king after Denethor. They became a secretive and seculded people who avoided the conflicts between the Elves and Morgoth.

The Elves of Ossiriand became known as the Laiquendi, or Green-elves, because they wore green clothing that blended with the leaves of the trees. They were stealthy and could avoid being seen by strangers who entered their land. They did not light fires or cut down trees or hunt the animals that lived in the woods.

The Green-elves were highly skilled singers. They sang during the daytime and their music could be heard across the Gelion. Ossiriand also came to be called Lindon, the Land of Music.

In the year 20 of the First Age, Fingolfin, the High King of the Noldor, held the Feast of Reuniting and invited representatives from the different groups of Elves in Beleriand. A contingent of Green-elves attended the feast and took part in the counsels.

In 310, the Men of the House of Beor crossed the Blue Mountains and camped in a mountain valley in northern Ossiriand. They were discovered there by Finrod Felagund of Nargothrond who was visiting the region. The Green-elves were dismayed by the arrival of the newcomers and they sent messengers to Finrod requesting that he ask the Men to move on. The Men of the House of Beor crossed the Gelion and settled in Estolad.

Two more groups of Men followed. The Green-elves were unfriendly to the Haladin so they settled in Thargelion north of Ossiriand. The Green-elves hid from the People of Marach, who were strong and warlike, but these Men continued on into Estolad to join the People of Beor.

In the Battle of Sudden Flame in 455, Morgoth's forces invaded East Beleriand. Thargelion was overrun but the enemy forces did not enter Ossiriand. The Elves of Thargelion led by Caranthir fled south to Amon Ereb which stood across the Gelion from Ossiriand. Caranthir maintained a watchpost on Amon Ereb and the Green-elves of Ossiriand gave him aid. Some Sindarin Elves took refuge in Ossiriand at this time.

In 469, Beren and Luthien were returned to life from the Halls of Mandos and they came to dwell on Tol Galen, an island in the Adurant on the southern border of Ossiriand. The surrounding area came to be callled the Land of the Dead that Live. Their son Dior was born there in 470.

The Elves of Beleriand suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears in 472. Afterwards, Orcs and wolves roamed freely into Beleriand as far as Ossiriand though they did not cross its borders. The sons of Feanor were scattered and homeless and during their wanderings they stayed with the Green-elves of Ossiriand.

In 503, an army of Dwarves from Nogrod came down the Dwarf-road to attack Doriath following an altercation between Thingol and a company of Dwarf craftsmen that had resulted in the death of Thingol and many Dwarves. The Dwarf army plundered Doriath and stole many treasures including the Nauglamir set with one of the Silmarils.

As the army approached Sarn Athrad on the way back to Nogrod, Beren rallied the Green-elves to stop them. The Green-elves used their skills at camouflage to ambush the Dwarves. Most of the Dwarves were slain and the rest were dealt with by the Ents on the slopes of the Blue Mountains. The treasure was sunk to the bottom of the Ascar which became known as Rathloriel, the Goldenbed.

Beren kept the Nauglamir and gave it to Luthien. While she wore it, her beauty combined with the light of the Silmaril made the Land of the Dead that Live as fruitful and radiant as the Undying Lands. But shortly afterwards, Beren and Luthien died.

Dior had gone to Doriath to assume the kingship of his late grandfather Thingol. A lord of the Green-elves brought the Nauglamir to Dior after the death of his parents. The sons of Feanor attacked Doriath in 506 to try to claim the Silmaril made by their father. Dior was killed but his daughter Elwing was rescued along with the Silmaril. Dior's sons Elured and Elurin were abandoned to starve in the woods, but according to one story (HoME XI, p. 351) they were led by birds back to Ossiriand.

Most of Beleriand was destroyed in the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age. A part of Ossiriand remained west of the Blue Mountains. The Gelion and its tributaries were gone, and the Gulf of Lune divided the land. The land was called Lindon which had been an alternate name for Ossiriand.

Many of the Elves who remained in Middle-earth settled in Lindon under the leadership of Gil-galad, while Cirdan established the Grey Havens on the Gulf of Lune. Among them were Green-elves of Ossiriand. Some Green-elves were said to have accompanied Galadriel and Celeborn, who migrated eastward into Eriador early in the Second Age and settled on the shores of Lake Evendim before moving on to found Eregion.

-ASSARIAD.

-COUNTRY OF SEVEN RIVERS.

-LAND OF SEVEN STREAMS.

-LAND OF THE DEAD THAT LIVE. See LAND OF THE DEAD THAT LIVE.

-LAND OF SEVEN RIVERS. Land of Seven Rivers The homeland of the Laiquendi.

-LINDON.

-OSSIRIATH.

-SEVEN RIVERS (BELERIAND). SEVEN RIVERS OF OSSIR. Seven Rivers of Ossir

ADURANT. (S). "Double-stream". The name Adurant means "double stream" in reference to the way it branched around Tol Galen. The word adu means "double" in Ilkorin, an early form of Elvish, and rant means "course, riverbed" in Sindarin.

One of the Seven Rivers of Ossiriand. The Adurant was the southernmost tributary of the Gelion. It formed the southern boundary of Ossiriand, a region in East Beleriand at the foot of the Blue Mountains. The Adurant flowed westward from the mountains into the Gelion. Lanthir Lamath - the Waterfall of Echoing Voices - was part of the Adurant. The river formed two branches as it flowed around the island of Tol Galen.

Beren and Luthien came to live on Tol Galen after they were returned to life from the Halls of Mandos around 469 of the First Age. The area became known as the Land of the Dead that Live. Their son Dior was born there in 470. Dior had a house near Lanthir Lamath and he named his daughter Elwing meaning "Star-spray" after the starlight shining in the waterfall on the night of her birth. Dior went to Doriath around 503 and Beren and Luthien died soon afterwards.

Adurant

Sixth and southernmost tributary of the river Gelion. Adurant was the southern boundary of Ossiriand. The name of the river referred to its midway divided course about the island of Tol Galen.

SEVEN RIVERS OF OSSIRIAND.

GELION, ADURANT, ASCAR, BRILTHOR, DUILWEN, LEGOLIN,THALOS.

ASCAR. (S). "Rushing", Impetuous". The name Ascar means "rushing, impetuous" in Sindarin. It was later named Rathlóriel meaning "golden riverbed" from rath meaning "course, riverbed" and gloriel meaning "golden."

The most northerly of the tributaries of Gelion in Ossiriand. Afterwards called Rathloriel.

One of the Seven Rivers of Ossiriand. The Ascar formed the northern border of Ossiriand, a region in East Beleriand. The region of Thargelion was north of the Ascar.

The Ascar began in the Blue Mountains and flowed westward into the Gelion. The Ascar was the northernmost of the Gelion's six tributaries. The Dwarf-road from Belegost and Nogrod ran along the northern bank of the Ascar and crossed the Gelion at Sarn Athrad.

In 375 of the First Age, the Men called the Haladin who lived in Thargelion were attacked by Orcs. Haldad led the Haladin into the angle of land formed by the Ascar and the Gelion and he built a stockade between the two rivers. The Haladin were besieged by Orcs and Haldad and his son Haldar were killed.

The Haladin ran out of food and some of them drowned themselves in the rivers. Just as the Orcs broke through the stockade, Elves led by Caranthir came to the rescue and drove the Orcs into the rivers. Afterwards, Haldad's daughter Haleth led her people away from Thargelion.

In 503, Dwarves from Nogrod sacked the halls of Menegroth in Doriath. On the way home with the treasure they were ambushed at Sarn Athrad by Green-elves of Ossiriand led by Beren and Dior. After the Dwarves were slain or driven away, the treasure was sunk to the bottom of the Ascar and the river became known as Rathloriel, the Goldenbed.

Beleriand was destroyed in the War of Wrath and the Ascar no longer existed after the end of the First Age.

River Ascar

-ASGAR.

-BAENING (OE).

-GOLDENBED. Goldenbed

-RATHLORIEL. (S). " Golden bed". Rathlóriel. Rathlóriel

The later name for the River Ascar, the northernmost of the six rivers that flowed through Ossiriand. Its name was changed after Beren led a force of Laiquendi to defeat a band of the Dwarves of Nogrod on its banks. The Dwarves had sacked the kingdom of Doriath, and with their defeat, the treasuries of Menegroth were emptied into the river. After that time it was known as Goldenbed, or Rathlóriel in Elvish.

-RATHLORION.

SEVEN RIVERS OF OSSIRIAND.

GELION, ADURANT, ASCAR, BRILTHOR, DUILWEN, LEGOLIN,THALOS.

BRILTHOR. (S). "Glittering Torrent". The name Brilthor means "glittering torrent" from the root ril meaning "glitter" and thor meaning "come swooping down" and thorod meaning "torrent." The name may be in the dialect of the Green-elves of Ossiriand.

One of the Seven Rivers of Ossiriand. The Brilthor was the fourth of the six tributaries of the Gelion. The Legolin was north of the Brilthor and the Duilwen was to the south. The Brilthor was a swift, turbulent stream that came down from the Blue Mountains. It flowed westward through Ossiriand to the Gelion.

Brilthor

SEVEN RIVERS OF OSSIRIAND.

GELION, ADURANT, ASCAR, BRILTHOR, DUILWEN, LEGOLIN,THALOS.

DUILWEN. (S). Flowing from the Blue Mountains into Gelion.

Duilwen

SEVEN RIVERS OF OSSIRIAND.

GELION, ADURANT, ASCAR, BRILTHOR, DUILWEN, LEGOLIN,THALOS.

GELION. (S). In one source (HoME IV, p. 210), Tolkien equated the name Gelion with the Old English word glæden meaning "iris," but this is not a translation from Elvish. Tolkien was later unhappy with the etymology of the name Gelion and considered changing it to Gelduin or to Gevilon / Gevelon derived from the Dwarvish Gabilan meaning "great river" with an alternate form Duin Daer meaning "great river" in Sindarin from duin meaning "river" and daer meaning "great." (HoME XI, p. 336)

River on the western border of Ossiriand. The Gelion was the longest river in Beleriand. It was twice the length of the Sirion, which would make the Gelion approximately 780 miles long. The Gelion was not as wide or full as the Sirion, but it was swifter and had no falls or rapids in its course.