Minor Places in Middle-earth - D

D

Dagorlad

The great, treeless, open plain between the Emyn Muil and Cirith Gorgor. The name means the Battle Plain in Sindarin, and refers to the Battle of Dagorlad fought there between Sauron's forces and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men at the end of the Second Age. The bodies of the dead decayed as normal, but over time part of the field became a wetland, the Dead Marshes, where the images of the fallen could be seen.

Later, in the Third Age, the Dagorlad was the site of many battles between Gondor and various Easterling armies, including the Battle of the Morannon. The countless battles of two ages left Dagorlad as a devastated wasteland, contaminated and unhealthy, with ponds of poisonous slick and mounds of scorched earth.

Dale

A city of Men on the Celduin (the River Running) between the Lonely Mountain and the Long Lake. It was ruled by Girion until its destruction in T.A. 2770 by the dragon Smaug. After the Dwarves restored their kingdom under the Lonely Mountain, Men began to settle once more in Dale.

Dale was sacked for a second time during the War of the Ring by invaders from Mordor and the Easterlings. The people of Dale took refuge in Erebor with the Dwarves, and it was during the Battle of Dale that King Dáin II Ironfoot of Erebor and King Brand of Dale were slain. However, after the fall of Sauron, the siege was broken and Dale rebuilt once more.

Deeping Coomb

The deep, well-defended valley in the northern White Mountains that held Helm's Deep and the castle of the Hornburg. It was the site of an important battle, the Battle of the Hornburg, during the War of the Ring. The word coomb is a rare Brythonic survival word, meaning a small deep dry valley, easily defended. It gives its name to many places in the British Isles.

Dimholt

A forest of pine wood and fir situated at the base of the Dwimorberg mountain, past Dunharrow. The name means literally 'dark wood'. An ancient road was visibly forged there, which led to a glen where a standing stone lay in front of the Dark Door, the entrance to the Paths of the Dead. The pathways led under the Dwimorberg mountain and had been haunted by the spirits of the Dead Men of Dunharrow in the Third Age until they fulfilled their oath to Aragorn and departed.

Dimrill Dale

A name in the tongue of Men of the North for a valley lying east of Khazad-dûm. The valley is also called Nanduhirion in Sindarin and Azanulbizar in Khuzdul. A bloody battle was fought there in T.A. 2799 between Dwarves and the Orcs of Moria, in which the latter were defeated and their leader Azog killed. In T.A. 2989 Balin and his followers fought the orcs here on the way to the Mines of Moria. Thirty years later the Fellowship of the Ring encamped there having escaped from Moria, after the loss of Gandalf. A feature of the vale was the Mirrormere, a crystal clear lake in which Durin first saw the stars. The river Silverlode ran through the vale to Lórien.

Dorwinion

A land which lay on the northwestern shores of the Sea of Rhûn. Known for its wine, Dorwinion was drawn at Tolkien's advice on Pauline Baynes' map of Middle-earth as lying at the end of the Carnen and Celduin, at the northwest shore of the Sea of Rhûn, and in that position it has since appeared on other maps. It was possibly part of Gondor for several centuries in the early Third Age.

Drúwaith Iaur

A region to the west of Gondor. It was not a part of the realm of Gondor, and therefore also not of the Reunited Kingdom. It was the home to the remnants of the Drúedain, the original inhabitants of the Ered Nimrais, who were dispersed by the Númenóreans as they were hostile to them. The northern part of Drúwaith Iaur was also home to the Dunlendings, who feared the Drûgin because they used poisoned arrows.

Dunland

A place in north-west Middle-earth, the land of the Men called Dunlendings. These Men were tall, somewhat swarthy and dark-haired, and were descended from the same ancient stock as the House of Haleth, making them distantly related to the Dúnedain. They are the traditional enemies of the Rohirrim and are jealous of the wealth of Rohan, themselves living on marginal land. During the War of the Ring they were persuaded by Saruman to invade Rohan in conjunction with the forces of Isengard.

Durin's Tower

The tower that stood on the peak of Celebdil above Khazad-dûm, where Gandalf defeated Durin's Bane. It could be reached only by a long stairwell, the Endless Stair, which began in the deep far below the mines.

Durthang

(S. 'dark oppression') An old castle in northern Mordor. It stood in the northern Ephel Dúath, on the slopes above the Isenmouthe. Possibly in origin it was built by Gondorians after Sauron's downfall at the end of the Second Age, but later was captured by his forces.

Dwimorberg

A peak in the White Mountains, which is situated at the head of the valley of Harrowdale. Dunharrow stands above a cliff on the valley's eastern side, parallel to the Dwimorberg mountain itself. Beyond Dunharrow is a forest of pine wood and fir, known as the Dimholt.

The Dimholt itself contains a small glen, which holds a standing stone that lies in front of a doorway that leads to the Paths of the Dead. The paths lead under the Dwimorberg and were in the Third Age haunted by the spirits of the Men of the Mountains. After the events at the end of the Third Age when Aragorn released them from their oath, the Dwimorberg was haunted no longer.