In the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Caragdûr refers to the steep stone escarpment upon the northern face of Amon Gwareth, the vast hill upon which the Elvish city of Gondolin was founded by Turgon the Wise. The word Caragdûr is Sindarin (Grey-Elvish) for "dark tooth" or "dark spike," a compound of dûr "dark" (found in the more recognisable place name Barad-dûr) and carag "tooth, spike."

Like many place names in the works of Tolkien, Caragdûr appears to largely have been coined to be the site of a single event in the plot, with little or no further mention of it. The most notable mention of Caragdûr is featured in The Silmarillion, as the place of execution of Eöl, a Dark Elf who accidentally slew his wife Aredhel during his attempted murder of his son Maeglin. Eöl was bodily thrown off the precipice to die upon the sharp rocks beneath it, for this unforgivable act of Kinslaying, and thereafter his spirit flew to the Halls of Mandos to receive spiritual judgment.


Iron Noder 2022, 22/30

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