Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains, or Ered Luin, also known as Ered Lindon, was a mountain range situated in the far west of Eriador.
== History ==
=== Early Arda ===
The Blue Mountains arose sometime after the tumultuous chaos caused by Melkor's destruction of the Two Lamps that destroyed the perfect symmetry of Arda. In these early days, the Blue Mountains were located between the newly formed great sea of Belegaer and the newly formed Sea of Helcar. The Blue Mountains were connected to the Iron Mountains to the north and the Red Mountains in the east which formed one great mountain range chain known by different names. The Grey Mountains were to its south separated by a great gap.The Atlas of Middle-earth, The First Age, The Elder Days, "Introduction"
=== Elder Days ===
During the Years of the Trees and the Long Night, the Blue Mountains was an unbroken line separating Eriador from Beleriand. Seven rivers arose in it on the western side, and the land these rivers flowed through was known as Ossiriand, the land of seven rivers. Dwarves migrated here from their awakening point and delved the cities of Belegost and Nogrod and made contact and alliance with the Sindar of Thingol.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter X: "Of the Sindar"
=== Second Age ===
The mountain range was broken during the War of Wrath of the Valar against Morgoth, and at the middle of the range the sea broke through, creating a great gap where was set the Gulf of Lune where the river Lune flowed into the sea. In the middle of the gap, where the Lune met the sea, the Grey Havens of Mithlond were built. The remnant of Ossiriand that had survived the war became known as Lindon, where the kingdom of Gil-galad was located. After this date the mountains were also known as Ered Lindon. 
thumb|Location of the Blue Mountains in Middle-earth
=== Third Age and beyond ===
During the Third Age, its forests, besides that of Mirkwood, were the largest in Middle-earth. After the fall of the north-kingdom the last King of Arthedain, Arvedui fled to the Blue Mountains and hid from the servants of the Witch-king of Angmar in abandoned Dwarf mines until eventually compelled to leave by hunger.
In the latter part of the Third Age, the Dwarves settled the Blue Mountains again when Thráin II, his son Thorin and the Dwarven survivors of the Sack of Erebor moved from Dunland and delved a prosperous settlement there.Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, III: "The Quest of Erebor" After the War of the Ring and the defeat of Sauron, Elves continued to travel west to Lindon through the gap in the mountains by way of the Gulf of Lune, from where they eventually set sail on the Straight Road to the Undying Lands of Aman.The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings, "The Road Home" Dwarves continued to mine the Blue Mountains into the Fourth Age.
== Inhabitants ==
=== Dwarves ===
While Morgoth was imprisoned in Mandos, and Middle-earth still lay under starlight, the first Dwarves came west over the Blue Mountains that bordered Beleriand. The origins of these Dwarves are unclear, but they seem to have arisen from two of the Fathers of their race, placed beneath the Mountains by their maker Aulë. These two Fathers gave rise to two clans, each of which had made a great city in the eastern side of the Blue Mountains. In the Dwarf-tongue these cities were known as Gabilgathol and Tumunzahar, but history remembers them by their Elvish names: Belegost and Nogrod.
From their mountain-cities, the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains came down into Beleriand to trade with the Elves. They played a great part in the making of Thingol's halls at Menegroth, and later aided in the delving of Nargothrond beside Narog. In Nogrod during this period, the master craftsman Telchar forged weapons and armour that would be famed through Middle-earth's history, including Narsil, the sword that would be broken and reforged for Aragorn far in the future.
After Morgoth's return to Middle-earth, the Dwarves were loosely allied with the Elves in the Wars of Beleriand that followed. They fought in the Nírnaeth Arnoediad, where Azaghâl of Belegost drove Glaurung from the field, but was himself slain. After the Nírnaeth, relations between the Elves and Dwarves cooled: Dwarves of Nogrod slew Thingol and stole the Nauglamír, and after this time enmity and mistrust grew between the two peoples.
At the end of the First Age, the War of Wrath caused the destruction of much of Beleriand and its neighbouring lands. The Dwarves of the Blue Mountains did not escape: Nogrod and Belegost were destroyed by the inrushing Sea, and their people fled eastwards. Many came to Khazad-dûm and joined with the Longbeards there, but the time of the first Dwarves of the Blue Mountains had come to the end.
As the millennia passed, the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm that had welcomed the refugees from Nogrod and Belegost were themselves driven from their home, and wandered widely in Middle-earth. More than six thousand years after the old citadels of the Dwarves had been lost, these wandering Dwarves of Durins' Folk, under King Thráin II, returned to the Ered Luin. The seat of their Kings only remained there for a generation - Thráin's son Thorin II set out to recover the Lonely Mountain in the distant east - but for many years after the hammers of the Dwarves rang again among the Blue Mountains, as they had in ancient days.
=== Elves ===
It is shown in several maps made of Middle-earth that vast ancient forests flanked both sides of the Blue Mountains, even after the gargantuan felling of Eriador's great forests by the men of Númenor with their incessant appetite for lumber. These forests, alongside the fertile coastal plain, would prove to be draws for Elven migration and habitation.
It is stated at the very beginning of The Hobbit that the High Elves lived within the vales and forests of the Blue Mountains, presumably sharing the land with the Dwarves. To this number would be added Sindar, Wood-elves, and maybe even a few Avari.
The influx of new Elven settlers soared during the Second Age with the arrival of the Ñoldorin High King Gil-galad and the founding of the realm of Lindon.The Atlas of Middle-earth, Thematic Maps, "Population"The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Second Age, "Refugee Relocation" After the fall of Gil-galad the Elven population of the region dwindled rapidly during the Third Age.The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter III: "Three is Company"The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter IX: "The Grey Havens"
== Etymology ==
Ered Luin is Sindarin, formed of the words ered ('mountains') and luin ('blue').
== In adaptations ==
=== Video games ===
Central Ered Luin is amongst the regions fleshed out in The Lord of the Rings Online. Significant areas surrounding Dwarven and Elven settlements are available for exploration and adventuring. The Blue Mountains are only in the campaign in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II but may not in a skirmish.
=== Films ===
In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, It also became the new home for many of Durin's Folk who were exiled from their halls in Erebor by Smaug the Dragon who had driven them out. After the Battle of Moria, Thorin established his throne in the Southern range beyond the Shire and many of the wandering Longbeards joined him in his halls and they became prosperous in a fashion. Some local Dwarves joined their ranks, and Bombur, Bofur and Bifur hailed from these. Erebor was retaken from Smaug by Thorin and company in T.A. 2941, and it can be assumed most if not all of Durin's folk relocated there.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Blou Berge
Amharic 	ሰማያዊ ተራሮች
Albanian 	Blu Malet
Arabic 	الجبال الزرقاء
Armenian 	Կապույտ լեռներ
Assamese 	নীলা পৰ্বতমালা
Asturian 	Montañes Azules
Azerbaijani 	Mavi Dağlar
Basque 	Mendi Urdinak
Belarusian Cyrillic 	Блакітныя горы
Bengali 	ব্লু পর্বতমালা
Breton 	Menezioù Glas
Bosnian 	Plava Planine
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Сините планини
Cambodian 	ភ្នំខៀវ
Catalan 	Muntanyes Blaves
Cebuano 	Asul nga mga Bukid
Chinese (Hong Kong) 	藍色山脈
Cornish 	Blou Menydhyow
Corsican 	Muntagne Blu
Croatian 	Modro gorje
Czech 	Modré hory
Danish 	De Blå Bjerge
Dari 	کوه های آبی
Dogri 	नीले पहाड़
Dutch 	Blauwe Bergen
Esperanto 	Bluaj Montoj
Estonian 	Sinimäed
Faroese 	Bláurfjøll
Filipino 	Asul na bundok
Finnish 	Sinivuoret
French 	Montagnes Bleues
Frisian 	Blauwe Bergen (Western)
Galician 	Montañas Azuis
Georgian 	ცისფერი მთები
German 	Blaue Berge
Greek 	Μπλε Βουνά
Gujarati 	બ્લુ પર્વતો
Haitian Creole 	Mòn Ble
Hebrew 	(Blue Mountains) ההרים הכחולים
(Ered Lindon) ארד לינדון
Hindi 	ब्लू पर्वत
Hmong 	Xiav Toj siab
Hungarian 	Kék-hegység
Icelandic 	Bláfjöll
Indonesian 	Pegunungan Biru
Irish Gaelic 	Sléibhte Gorm
Italian 	Monti Azzurri
Japanese 	ブルー・マウンテンズ
Javanese 	Biru Gunung
Kannada 	ನೀಲಿ ಪರ್ವತಗಳು
Kazakh 	Көгілдір таулар (Cyrillic) Kögildir tawlar (Latin)
Konkani 	निळे पर्वत
Korean 	청색산맥
Kurdish 	شاخی شین (Sorani) Çiyayên Şîn (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Көк тоолор
Laotian 	ພູເຂົາສີຟ້າ
Latin 	Caeruleus Montes
Latvian 	Zilie Kalni
Lithuanian 	Mėlynieji Kalnai
Luxembourgish 	Blo Bierger
Macedonian Cyrillic 	Сината Планина
Malagasy 	Manga Tendrombohitra
Malayalam 	നീല മലനിരകൾ
Malaysian 	Gunung Biru
Maltese 	Muntanji Blu
Marathi 	निळा पर्वत
Mongolian Cyrillic 	хөх уулсын
Nāhuatl 	Texohtic Tepetl
Navajo 	Dootłʼizh Dził
Norwegian 	Blåfjellene
Occitan 	Monts Blaus
Old English 	Bleoh Beorgas
Pashto 	زنگالي غرونو
Persian 	کوه های آبی
Polish 	Góry Błękitne
Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal) 	Montanhas Azuis
Punjabi 	ਬਲੂ ਪਹਾੜ
Romanian 	Munții Albaștri
Romansh 	Muntognas Blau
Russian 	Синие горы
Samoan 	Mauga lanu moana
Sanskrit 	नीलपर्वताः
Sardinian 	Montagnas Azules
Scottish Gaelic 	Gorm Beanntan
Serbian 	Плаве планине (Cyrillic) Plave planine (Latin)
Sicilian 	Muntagni Blu
Sindhi 	نيرو جبلن
Sinhalese 	නිල් කඳු
Slovak 	Modré Vrchy
Slovenian 	Modra Gore
Somali 	Baluug Buuraha
Spanish (Spain and Latin America)	Montañas Azules
Sundanese 	Paul Pagunungan
Swahili 	Buluu Milima
Swedish 	Blå Bergen
Tajik Cyrillic 	Кабуд кӯҳҳои
Tamil 	நீல மலைகள்
Tatar 	Зәңгәр таулар
Telugu 	బ్లూ మౌంటైన్స్
Thai 	เทือกเขาบลู (Blue Mountains) เอเร็ดลูอิน (Ered Luin)
Turkish 	Mavi Dağlar
Turkmen 	Gök Daglar
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Блу Маунтінс
Urdu 	دی بلیو ماؤنٹینز
Uyghur 	كۆك تاغلار
Uzbek 	Кўк Тоғлар (Cyrillic) Ko'k Tog'lar (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Dãy núi Blue
Welsh 	Mynyddoedd Glas
Yiddish 	בלו בערג
Yoruba 	Bulu Òkè
== References ==
Category:Mountain ranges
Category:Beleriand
Category:Eriador
Category:Lindon
de:Ered Luin
es:Montañas Azules
fr:Montagnes Bleues
it:Monti Azzurri
nl:Blauwe Bergen
pl:Góry Błękitne
ru:Синие горы