Dates

The tower of Minas Tirith was built on this island soon after the Return of the Noldor; the tower was destroyed in I 465, and the island itself at the end of the First Age

Location

Race

Originally held by Elves, but captured by Sauron in I 457

Division

Culture

Family

Settlements

Source

Sirion flowed around the island from its sources at Eithel Sirion to the north

Outflow

Sirion flowed on southwards through Beleriand and emptied into the Bay of Balar

Passes

Pronunciation

to'l si'rion

Meaning

'Isle of Sirion' (Sirion means 'great river')

Other names

After its capture by Sauron, the island was known as Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the Isle of Werewolves, or simply as Sauron's Isle

Note

The Minas Tirith built on this island fell thousands of years before the War of the Ring, and was quite distinct from the much later City of Gondor of the Third Age

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Tol Sirion

The island where the first Minas Tirith stood

The island on the upper reaches of the River Sirion where Finrod Felagund built the tower of Minas Tirith, renamed Tol-in-Gaurhoth after its capture by Sauron.

Tol Sirion was far to the north of the realm of Nargothrond, but it was fortified and guarded by the people of Nargothrond's Lord, Finrod Felagund. For much of its history, the tower of Minas Tirith was in the keeping of Finrod's younger brother Orodreth, and the island was connected to the city of Nargothrond by a Highway running southward through West Beleriand.