#dimbar

Continuing my spring flower game from last year! More in the spring flower game tag! This is a request from last year that only got a short response so I thought I’d do a better one for the requester! Requests are open!

This is the first 2026 entry!

I included a few thoughts on other flowers in the pulsatilla family, I hope that’s ok!

The pasque flower is a small purple flower in the buttercup family. It is found in pine forests, slopes and fields and prefers grounds rich in calcium. It’s sometimes also called prairie crocus.

In Beleriand it likely grows in parts of Dorthonion especially in the heathlands and near Ladros. It could also grow in the middle regions in more open and hilly areas such as near Dimbar, Dor Dínien and further south in Amon Ereb and parts of Estolad.

White pasqueflower is found near Nargothrond and appears in one of Finrod’s tapestries depicting the Taleth Dirnen.

The alpine pasqueflower is cultivated in Gondolin as part of ornamental gardens.

In real folklore, pasqueflower was rumored to grow upon barrows when blood was spilled there. This reminds me of a headcanon I’ve wanted to talk about for awhile; Many of the Edain who died on the journey to Dorthonion, Brethil and Hithlum are buried in Dimbar. While many of the hills in this desolate land are natural, some were created The burial customs of the Edain of this time were mostly lost and so the graves are forgotten. I like to imagine these flowers growing upon the hills there long after the lands are empty.

Most of these species are poisonous to humans and to a lesser extent, elves to whom it can have a mild sedative effect and cause humming of the throat. It’s used medicinally by the Marchwardens of Doriath though other species are favored before it

The spring pasqueflower especially is associated with death, especially death by the cold, by both humans and elves of Hithlum, including appearing on some Helcaraxë art. In post Nírnaeth Hithlum, it was thought to be an omen of a particularly cruel winter.

"...THERE THORONDOR ESPIED THEM, AND HE SENT TWO OF HIS EAGLES TO THEIR AID..."

PIC INFO: Resolution at 940x1600 -- Spotlight on a watercolor painting titled "Húrin and Huor are Carried to Gondolin," undated. King [Turgon] allowed them to stay in Gondolin for a year upon which time Turgon bent his law about visitors and granted them permission to leave. Artwork by Alan Lee.

"A mist arose from the river and hid them from their enemies, and they escaped over the Brithiach into Dimbar, and wandered among the hills beneath the sheer walls of the Crissaegrim, until they were bewildered in the deceits of that land and knew not the way to go ,on or to return. There Thorondor espied them, and he sent two of his eagles to their aid; and the eagles bore them up and brought them beyond the Encircling Mountains to the secret vale of Tumladen and the hidden city of Gondolin, which no Man yet had seen."

-- "THE SILMARILLION," Chapter 18 "Of the Ruin of Beleriand," written by J.R.R. Tolkien, posthumously edited & published by Christopher Tolkien in 1977

Take this quote about Húrin and Huor when they become lost before being rescued by Turgon’s eagles.

They escaped over the Brithiach into Dimbar. There they wandered in great hardship among the hills beneath the sheer walls of the Crissaegrim until they were bewildered in the deceits of that land and knew not the way to go on or to return."

In such few lines there's such a vivid picture of how lost and confused the brothers are, the hills forming a maze of sorts and even the walls of the encircling mountains serve more to entrap than they do to orient.

And I find Dimbar a fascinating place. It's described as empty and bleak, even its name means sad or gloomy dwelling. Both primary descriptions of it come in Húrin's story, on both his times he goes towards Gondolin.

In the later description especially, the emptiness is emphasised. Instead of the almost claustrophobic feeling of the above scene, there’s an almost purgatorial feeling to it. I always felt the emptiness of the land was a reflection of Húrin’s own grief, almost in the way Morgoth distorts how he sees things but more subtle and eerie.

Dimbar, the strange uninhabited lands between Gondolin and Brethil. It was here that Húrin and Huor became lost as children and where Húrin traveled alone after his release from Angband

I have another Dimbar related board here! It’s probably one of my favorites

x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x

"And it is said that a mist arose from the river and hid them from their enemies and they escaped over the Brithiach into Dimbar. THere they wandered in great hardship among the hills beneath the sheer walls of the Crissaegrim until they were bewildered in the deceits of that land and knew not the way to go on or to return."

-"The Childhood of Túrin", The Children of Húrin