Havens of Sirion
the refuge at the river-mouth; the last haven of the age
The Havens of Sirion
Name and Position
The Havens of Sirion — the refuges at the mouths of the great river Sirion by the sea in the far southwest of Beleriand — were the last harbour of the age’s remnant: after the fall of Gondolin, the survivors of the hidden city (with the refugees of Doriath) — they built the havens “in the last years”, and gathered the kin and treasure of all the ruined realms, among them the two children of the age’s hope, Eärendil and Elwing.
The Last Haven
- The light there: With Elwing’s Silmaril (brought from Doriath) the Havens blazed with the light of the Trees — drawing both the hope and the Oath’s hatred toward them.
- The Third Kinslaying: In the year of the great attack (c. 538), the surviving Sons of Fëanor — Maedhros and Maglor — fell upon the Havens, slew the folk, took the little twins; Elwing leapt into the sea with the jewel, and the Havens were destroyed (Maglor’s mercy fostering the children).
- The seed of the voyage: From the Havens’ ruin came the greatest quest: Eärendil (with Elwing and the Silmaril) built the Vingilot, sailed the sea, found the West, and won the War of Wrath.
Significance
The Havens of Sirion are the “last gathering-place of the good” — the lit refuge that the Oath’s shadow destroyed (the Third Kinslaying), and from whose ashes the star-ship and the salvation of the age were born; they stand as the hinge where the First Age’s hope is handed from the ruined Elves to the sea.