#dorthonion

Aerin and Hadorian fashion

For @tolkienfashionweek

Warning for cultural loss and trauma

Bëorians use primarily wool from sheep and alpaca, and fur, as well as flax and occasionally nettles.

Previous berry posts: one, two

For @mrsmiroir

I’m working on a masterlist specifically for food related world building! And I’m planning on doing posts on rubus species in Valinor and elsewhere in Middle Earth too!

Rubus, also called brambles, are a large genus of flowering plants, many of which yield edible berries including raspberries. They have tremendous ecological and economic significance. In Beleriand and Middle Earth, rubus species are found in a wide range of environments and regions.

Nectarberry, also called Arctic raspberry, is a small, bright red species found in the March of Maedhros and northern Dorthonion. It is primarily eaten by Avarin elves but the Bëorians occasionally used it to flavor liquors.

Snow raspberry with its deep red berries grows in Thargelion and is a favorite treat among the Noldorin host, especially children who pick them in the late summers.

Wild blackberry is one of the most common rubus species in Beleriand and elsewhere in Middle Earth. As a result it’s also one of the most commonly eaten, represented in dozens of elven and human cultures. Also obligatory mention, one of my first ever ficlets about Morwen and Aerin was them picking wild blackberries in southeast Hithlum! The Hadorians likely picked and sometimes cultivated them for food, likely mostly preserves and drying them but fresh berries were eaten as well!

Creeping bramble is found in the forested mountains of Hithlum including the mountains of Mithrim. It is notable for providing the source for a blue or purple dye to the elves and humans there. Sources for dyes of these colors were often incredibly coveted. The Sindar of Mithrim also used preserved leaves of these plants in theatrical ceremonies, as crowns and costume decorations.

The ivy like, red and green leaves of Rubus calycinus are also used for similar purposes in Doriath.

Stone bramble is widespread but has a high concentration in coastal Beleriand. The Falathrim use the berries in salves as an astringent. The golden or red colored berries are sometimes also used in jams.

Mayberry is a species with golden raspberry like fruit. It grows mostly east of the Ered Luin but with some populations in Ossiriand. Rubus xanthocarpus is another golden orange raspberry like fruit that is found in Ossiriand including Tol Galen, the river isle Beren and Lúthien lived upon.

Thimbleberry grows throughout central Beleriand. The scouts and Marchwardens of both Doriath and Nargothrond occasionally eat them but more importantly, also use their leaves to clean themselves in place of cloth in the wilderness.

Emeldir with little Morwen and Rían and whoever else she could get out, seeing their small number dwindle each day, to injury or illness or simply gone in the night. Children’s cries choked in the smog of the aftermath of the fires.

Beren and Barahir and the other outlaws finding themselves in increasingly unfamiliar lands, even when they’re less than an hour away from Ladros where they grew up

The forests of Dorthonion they explored, played in, relied upon for food and shelter are twisted and changed in the aftermath of the Bragollach. Large areas are burned down and what grows back (too quickly, encroaching on the heathlands and hills) is not the same

Even when no orcs or enemies are seen for weeks there is a sense of unease, of paranoia that might be exhaustion and isolation and might be something worse.

The voices of those who died in the Bragollach or were forced to flee sometimes sound from the darker groves. Creeks and pools are defiled and safe water sources become more and more scarce. The vultures that mock Beren from the alders as he finds the bodies of his father and the others become an ever more frequent sight

Continuing my flower based world building from last year! More in the spring flower game tag though this is meant to be a late summer/ autumn entry!

Suggested by @peasant-player thank you!!

The heath family encompasses over a thousand species of flowering plants. Species named as heath or heather are in the erica, cassiope, and calluna genuses. There are hundreds of species found throughout Middle Earth

Heathlands are unique temperate habitats defined by free draining soul and low growing vegetation, including and especially heath species. In Beleriand these are found in Dorthonion, Hithlum, Thargelion, the March, and Estolad.

Common heather, wandering heather, cross leaved heath, white heather and green heather are the most common species in Beleriand.

Green heather is found in coastal Beleriand and the isle of Balar. It is also one of the most common species of heather around Alqualondë in Valinor

White heather is vital in the March of Maedhros especially for scouts and soldiers. This flower has high amounts of resin and thus can be used to start fires even in extremely damp conditions.

Common heather is noted in connection to Dorthonion. It is very important to the Bëorians of Ladros who use it to weave baskets and thatching.

Another important tradition involves the fastening of knife handles from heather root. Morwen has a small blade given to her by Emeldir with a handle of heather that holds nearly two decades.

Part One

Note: this is based on culinary berries; not all species here are considered berries in the botanical sense which refers to fruit of all sizes that are produced by plants through a specific process. I also didn't include cherries because they have pits and there are so many species, I thought I'd do a separate post

Second Note: this is based on a canon climate of Beleriand but I’m always happy to publish ideas based on other climates or ecosystems! my personal headcanons for climate and ecology change constantly🪶

Cranberries grow in the northern reaches of Beleriand, in northern Hithlum and Dorthonion and parts of the March of Maedhros. The berries themselves are rarely eaten by the elves but they are occasionally used in sauces, primarily savory ones. Some maps created by the Avari of the March use images of cranberry flowers to mark certain kinds of swamplands.

Gooseberry is one of the most common berries of Hithlum, growing primarily in the mountains there. It was primarily eaten by the Sindar of Mithrim to celebrate the end of colder weather. Garlands of these berries were worn during their summer festivals. The leaves were used in teas by both the elves and the Hadorians of Hithlum to soothe illnesses.

Roseberry (also called strawberry raspberry or balloon berry!) grows sparsely in Ossiriand as well as east of the Ered Luin. They're occasionally eaten by the green elves of Ossiriand and are especially loved by elflings who compete over who can find these rare berries in the spring and summer.

Seaberry is found in coastal Beleriand and is cultivated by the Falathrim who use it for a variety of medicinal and culinary purposes. It is also used to dye fabrics of sails, blankets and other non clothing materials. Some of the houses at the Havens of the Falathrim, especially on the outskirts that are made with woven roofs have seaberry branches in their roofs.

Partridge berries are found in central Beleriand where they are noted by the Haladin and the elves of Nargothrond for their wintermint flavor. Both populations also use teas made from the dried berries and leaves for a mild analgesic and treatment for insomnia.

Also of note in this region is the eastern teaberry which also has a sweet wintermint flavor despite not being closely related.

Part two which focuses on medicinal plants in Eregion Part one There are also lots of mentions of medicinal plants in my spring flower game and other Beleriand environment posts!

See the first post for disclaimers regarding ethnobotanical research and some of my general thoughts on elves and medicine! Let me know if you want a specific plant or the flora or a location written about for the next entry!

Lingonberries which are found in northern Dorthonion and the March of Maedhros are used in teas and juices to treat minor respiratory symptoms, especially those caused by the cold.

Wood sanicle is found throughout Beleriand with its highest numbers in central Beleriand especially Doriath and Brethil. It has a long history of use as treatment to clean wounds. Both the elves of Doriath especially the marchwardens and the Haladin use a sanicle tincture to wash injuries

Buckthorn is found in open spaces, especially on disturbed land. It's most common in Western Beleriand and can be found around Nargothrond. The residents of Nargothrond use mixtures of fresh leaves to treat insect bites on themselves and on animals.

Masterwort is found in the mountains of Dorthonion and some of the Ered Wethrin. It is used in tinctures and teas in traditional medicine by the Sindar and Noldor there, primarily to treat internal ailments.

Buterbur is found near streams in southern Beleriand, especially Ossiriand. It is used to treat pressure and weather related headaches by the green elves there. It was occasionally used by the Edain during their journey through Ossiriand though in humans the risk of toxicity is greater.

Note: while I use some descriptions from The Children of Húrin here, I want to make a separate post about the horror of Túrin's captivity there because there is so much understated horror from the detail that he might have been drugged to the implied psychological torture with the knives...

content warning for some mild body horror

Taur nu Fuin is the name given to the forests that covered the land once called Dorthonion. During the Dagor Bragollach, many of the people who lived there were killed and the survivors forced into exile.

From the Narn, "a region of dread and enchantment, of wandering and despair". The trees glow "black and grim" and it was said that those who wandered about them were lost to madness and terrifying phantoms.

The environmental damage to Dorthonion was profound. The descriptions of the realm prior to the Bragollach mention a diversity of ecosystems including conifer forests, moors and highlands including the area around Tarn Aeulin where Barahir's outlaws are killed, and cliffs and peaks.

Afterwards, the forests seem to spread. Not all at once; the description of the life of the outlaws says "their bed was the heather and the roof the cloudy sky."

But the forests spread, slowly. Roots become tangled with the bones of wanderers who circled among them until they fell. Regarding who was lost among them, some were likely Bëorians or members of the Arafinwëan hosts in Dorthonion who fled during the Bragollach and became lost.

The trees are strangely still. Even when rare violent winds blow in from Hithlum and the March, the conifers that have crept up throughout the region, spreading far beyond their forest boundaries, rarely seem affected by them.

Gwindor isn't the only former captive of Angband who makes their way to the Forest of Night. Indeed, he is notable for escaping it. Many who escape the mines or who are released by Morgoth end up lost in the conifers and some bodies are found entwined with the growing trees

The ground is blanketed by sickly conifer needles and the effected ecosystem means the processes of decay are delayed or destroyed. Many of the trees become poisonous and in some areas of the region, the air itself erodes the rare lungs that breathe it in

Rivil's well is poisoned in the Bragollach and though the toxin is largely gone by the time Rivil meets Sirion at Serech, many connected streams in Dorthonion are damaged

Aegnor, Andreth and the wilds of Dorthonion; the vision of Aegnor is one from dreams in my intention