Hithlum
the land of mist; the realm of the Noldor kings
Name and Position
Hithlum — “the Land of Mist” (for the great falls of mist from the Ered Wethrin that bound it) — is the north-west realm of the Noldor’s High Kings in Beleriand: the land between the Ered Wethrin (the Mountains of Shadow) and the sea — with its marching watch and its borders the marches of Dor-lómin and the plain of Ard-galen (Anfauglith). It was the royal march and the greatest of the North’s bulwarks: Fingolfin’s realm, afterwards his son Fingon’s.
The Fields and the March
- The seat of the High Kings: With its chief dwelling — the great halls of — Hithlum’s lords (Fingolfin, Fingon) held the widest sway of the Noldor; the House of Hador held Dor-lómin within its fold (as its feudatories), and its hills looked down on the black passes of the Enemy.
- The battles: In Hithlum’s bounds and approaches the great defensive wars were fought — the Nirnaeth Arnoediad was decided at its edge, in the Fen of Serech and the Anfauglith.
- The end: When the Oath and the treasons doomed the age, Hithlum (like Dor-lómin) was occupied by the Enemy’s Easterlings as the north fell — its people enslaved or scattered; with Beleriand, it was drowned at the War of Wrath.
Significance
Hithlum is the “bulwark” of the First Age — the windy mist-bound march from which the Noldor faced the North, the home of Fingolfin’s helm and Fingon’s banners, and the tragic emblem of the valour that held the pass while the heart of the kingdom bled.