Throndoril, the First Land, Womb of Life, or the Elvenland, is the mysterious land that is directly to the north of Ethrand. They are connected by a thin piece of land called the Winter Bridge, but the way back to Throndoril was blocked by the a glacier called the Icerock.
History[]
A picture of the realm of Ethrand. To the extreme north, highlighted in red, is the beginnings of the Winter Bridge that leads to Throndoril. The Icerock has prevented cartographers from detailing any more of the Bridge.
The Divine Age[]
During the Divine Age, Lorthien created the planet from Yulfgorn's body. His blood became the oceans, his bones the mountains, his scales became many of the creatures, and so on. Legend has it that his wings became Throndoril while his legs became Ethrand, with his stomach connecting the two realms together, also called the Winter Bridge. Lorthien gave the Moon Elves the northern Throndoril and the Dwarves the southern Ethrand in the hopes that the two realms would be independent from eachother as the Elves and Dwarves were wont to fight and bicker. The Moon Elves prospered throughout the Divine Age and into the Ascension Age as they relied heavily on Throndoril's magical landscape and arcane secrets left behind in the body of Yulfgorn. The song, "An Odyssey of Stones and Trees" speaks of Throndoril's biggest city, Besbelin, and how it was made entirely out of marble and silver with enough stables to hold an entire army of horses and enough war hawks to blot out the sky. Other songs and lost poetry refer to how the land may have been shaped like a "vessel to hold souls, a curved looking-glass against the flames" which may hint that Throndoril was bowl shaped, or curved at the very least. Besbelin was thought to be located at the center of the realm atop a lone mountain called Bohoro (or Sun Worshipper) that commanded a view of almost the entire land around them. The other major cities during the Divine Age include Lis, Liinán Ar, Gardalin, Chasold, and Eidabror, but knowledge of them was mostly lost after the war between the Dwarves and the Moon Elves during the Ascension Age. Liinán Ar was a fortress in the southern reaches of Throndoril that is famous in myth for the Siege of Liinán Ar. The myth tells of unknown beings who besieged the fortress in the mountains that wrung the southern shores of Throndoril (these beings are theorized to be the earliest sightings of Sudor Rin based on their knowledge of siegecraft and warcraft) and it also to be noted that this was the Elves first taste of war on the new planet. The battle was lost and Liinán Ar fell, but a number of Elves escaped and fled south onto the Winter Bridge pursued by the mysterious beings. The Elves went into hiding in the mountains of the Winter Bridge and eventually, after the Sudor Rin left Throndoril, became the ancient race called the Glacier Elves. The Glacier Elves' land now encompassed most of the bridge between Ethrand and Throndoril.
The Ascension Age[]
The legend of the migration of the Moon Elves comes from a great stone slab found in the northen seas of Ethrand called the Moonstone. While it was greatly intact, many elements and points in the story had to be "filled in" with conjecture and theories and it is also unknown who created the stone or why it was written in modern Elvish. It is unsure whether this story is a fairytale or an actual histroical record. The fact that it was written in modern Elvish and was written on a stone tablet is evidence that it was written many years after the Battle of Five Tears.
The magicks, marble, silver, and creatures of Throndoril were not enough for many of the Elves of Throndoril and it is hypothesized that near the end of the Divine Age was a time of exploration and great gathering of knowledge for the Moon Elves who was already a very intelligent and wise race as it was. When the Elves began to cross the Winter Bridge, they came into contact with the Glacier Elves that were living their and their leader, the Winter King. The Winter King would only allow passage into the southern lands if the Moon Elves promised that they would only bring peace and goodness, never war or darkness. Excited that there was an entire new realm just to the south, they quickly agreed and then made their way back to Besbelin with the news only to find that it was under attack along with the rest of Throndoril. Some malevolent being only referred to as the "Hero of Eimor " had brought a dragon down from the far northern mountains of Throndoril who led an army of undead wraiths. The dragon was named Uldavarin and he is thought to be a direct descendant of Yulfgorn who had a great grasp of soulcraft and necromancy allowing the denizen to raise up thousands of wraiths and bend their already twisted minds to form an army. The Hero of Eimor lead the dragon, who led the army out of the mountains to attack the cities of Throndoril for an unknown reason. What population that was still alive followed the scouts south across the Winter Bridge and into Ethrand where they attempted to live in harmony with Dwarves that already lived there. Inevitable war broke out and when the Elves attempted to flee back into Throndoril they found an angry Winter King who had rolled a glacier onto the Winter Bridge. He shouted and cursed the Elves for bringing war to Ethrand and so as punishment for breaking their promise, he rolled the glacier, Icerock, into their path and would not allow them to return to their homeland. The Elves now had their back against the wall and made a valiant last stand against the Dwarves during the Battle of the Five Tears but the end was unavoidable; the Moon Elves were killed off from the earth forever. The Dwellers took pity on the Elves and ascended their souls not to the Skywiln (heaven) but to the Plane of Creation as angels who would serve mortalkind as guardians and ferriers of souls. It was also at this time when the remaining Moon Elves were split off into the modern Elvish races of today (Karádris guided Daeman to form the Dark Elves, Daelea guided Harhun the Seeker to form the High Elves, and Rol guided Bilidil to form the Wood Elves).
A common modern legend revolves around the myth that there are wraiths frozen inside the Icerock paving the way for the theory that the glacier wasn't put there to punish the Moon Elves but to stop the onslaught of the Hero of Eimor and his undead army. The legend also states that the end of the world will come about when the Icerock is destroyed and the way back to Throndoril is reopened for the Elves to return home once and for all. Not many still know the legend that includes the Hero of Eimor and the dragon Uldavarin and this is evident in this modern legend as it states that the undead army of wraiths will consume the world if Throndoril is opened and settled again.