Contents of this entry
An heir to several historiesThe Second KinslayingPrimary referencesRelated encyclopedia entries
An heir to several histories
Dior’s ancestry joins the mortal house of Bëor with the Sindar and, through Melian, the Ainur. That exceptional genealogy should not be translated into a simple ranking of powers. The narrative chiefly follows its political and familial consequences, especially his relationship with Doriath and the inheritance of the jewel.
He comes to Menegroth after Thingol’s death and Melian’s departure. With Nimloth and their children, he attempts a renewal of the kingdom. The return of the Silmaril after Beren and Lúthien‘s deaths appears to restore some of its former splendour but also attracts the sons of Fëanor.
The Second Kinslaying
The demand for the Silmaril ends in the assault on Doriath. Dior and Nimloth are killed, as are several of their attackers. Their sons Eluréd and Elurín are abandoned in the forest, while Elwing escapes with the jewel. The losses connect the personal household with the destruction of a political refuge.
Dior’s fate also marks an important limit in reference writing. The explicit choice granted later to Eärendil’s family should not automatically be imposed backwards on every earlier person of mixed ancestry. Where Tolkien’s text does not settle a question in the same terms, an encyclopedia should preserve that distinction.
The name Dior is also borne by a much later Steward of Gondor. This entry concerns Dior Eluchíl of the First Age; identifying the epithet prevents two unrelated narrative settings from being merged in search results or genealogies.
Primary references
The Silmarillion, “Of Beren and Lúthien”, “Of the Ruin of Doriath” and “Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath”; The War of the Jewels, commentary on the Doriath narrative.
