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Bar-en-Dinnen
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Bar-en-Dinnen town map (MERP)
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Bar-en-Dinnen area map (MERP)
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Type
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Town/Village
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Region
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Bar-en-Dinnen (S. "Dwelling on the Dinnen", Dinnen from Tinnen = "star-stream") was a fishing village and market town in South Ithilien, located at the junction of the Tinnen and Anduin rivers, on the eastern bank of the Anduin at the confluence of Tinnen, about sixty miles downriver from Harlond (Minas Tirith) and ninety miles upriver from Pelargir.
The nearest landward settlement to Bar-en-Dinnen lay thirty miles upstream at Iant Tinnen. As the town was the only riverside settlement of consequence in Harithilien north of Hyarpendë, Bar-en-Dinnen was an important center for local riverine trade between Ithilien and the more populous villages of Lebennin.
Bar-en-Dinnen was one of the original Númenórean communities that emerged under the sphere of Pelargir during the Second Age. It became part of Isildur Elendilion's patrimony in S.A. 2320 after the Council of Pelargir swore allegiance to Elendil the Tall and his sons. The economic importance of the settlement won it a formal grant of township status in T.A. 1512, after the pattern of feudal holdings in Harithilien had been significantly disturbed as a result of King Eldacar of Gondor's victory over the traditionalist confederacy sixty-four years earlier.
The population of Bar-en-Dinnen reached its zenith of around a thousand inhabitants under the reign of Siriondil I (T.A. 748-830), and maintained its numbers until it became a garrison town in T.A. 2002. Although its numbers were severely reduced by the Great Plague, the local nature of the town's economy buffered it from the detrimental effects on settlement size resulting from the gradual decline in large-scale commerce after the seventeenth century, and so the population of Bar-en-Dinnen eventually recovered its former numbers. Its transformation into a garrison town actually increased the population by a hundred or so, but the number of civilian inhabitants began to shrink over the years as the threat of Mordor grew and Ithilien became more and more like a border march. By T.A. 2951 the only remaining residents were retired garrison officers and military support personnel.
The town remained its juridical autonomy until the fall of Minas Ithil to the forces of Mordor in T.A. 2002, after which time it became a fortified military outpost. Renamed Tinnenost, the civilian population nevertheless held out until the last outposts of Gondorian military presence in Ithilien were finally withdrawn to the east bank of the Anduin in T.A. 2951. Tinnenost itself was later forcibly abandoned in T.A. 3018, when its remaining garrison was overwhelmed by a host of Haradrim and Mordor-Orcs. The broken stronghold's landing was used as a launch for Sauron's forces during the Siege of Gondor in the following year. Following the War of the Ring Tinnenost was rebuilt and settled by one of Faramir of Ithilien's vassals. It remained a feudal estate well into the Fourth Age.
Places of Note[]
- "The Grey feather" - a small fletcher shop run by Raenar
Outside town:
- Raenar's Home
Characters[]
TA ca. 1649[]
Ca. Third Age 1640-1650: Aderil Amadar Arondil Boranas Daramir Darana Deniel Ebarthon Erdae Farahail Gariac Hiriam the Quiet Iderion Idrazor Jeirn Lamarad Laren Lyana Mirenil Nadhaim Orinas Parigan Perelion Raenar Sahail Sargan Sorandil Taraim Terendil Tharadoc Warris
Notes[]
- Original form in MERP: Bar-en-Tinnen → Bar-en-Dinnen
References[]
- MERP: Southern Gondor - the Land
- MERP Fan-modules: MORDOR GAZETTEER Second Draft (2021_02_10 07_20_46 UTC).doc (.DOC)