Dor-na-Daerachas or Dor Daedeloth was the land of Morgoth in the north of Beleriand, lying on either side of the Iron Mountains.
Geography
Dor-na-Daerachas was one of the three large regions of western Middle-earth, along with Beleriand and Hithlum. It lay all around the fortress of Angband and on both sides of the Ered Engrin. Its borders were the Ered Wethrin to the west, the Ered Luin to the east, and Dorthonion, the Pass of Sirion, and March of Maedhros to the south.[citation needed]
The Ered Engrin, an unscalable mountain chain, split the region in two. The southern part was Ard-galen, the great grassy plain north of Beleriand, later to become the desert of Anfauglith in Dagor Bragollach. The northern part was an unnamed region, icy and vast, labeled on some maps as the "Region of Everlasting Cold".[citation needed]
History
Dor-na-Daerachas lay around Angband, Thangorodrim, and the north side of the Ered Engrin. It was here that the Orcs and other creatures of Morgoth lived and bred. The regions of Dorthonion (as Taur-nu-Fuin), and Tol Sirion (as Tol-in-Gaurhoth), would become controlled by the dark realm during the First Age.
After defeating Morgoth's armies in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath, the Ñoldor in the early First Age were halted at Dor-na-Daerachas in their march after Fëanor, who had pressed on to Angband to face the Dark Lord himself, was mortally wounded by Balrogs.
The Ñoldor then encircled the land (at least in the south), starting the Siege of Angband. They likely built a number of fortresses and outposts there, but these would have been destroyed or claimed in Dagor Bragollach by the enemy.
The area perished with the rest of Beleriand from the tumults of the War of Wrath, at the end of the First Age.
Etymology
Dor-na-Daerachas is a Sindarin name meaning "Land of Great Dread". The word is comprised of dôr ("land"), na(n) ("of; with, along with, accompanied by, provided with or by, associated with, marked with"), daer ("great, large"), and achas ("perhaps lented from *gachas").
In other versions
In an earlier version of the legendarium, Tolkien used Dor-Daideloth as the name of the region.
In the published version of The Silmarillion, Dor-na-Daerachas is referred to as Dor Daedeloth, meaning Land of the Shadow of Horror. However, Tolkien revised the name to Dor-Daedeloth, meaning Land of Great Dread before changing it a final time to Dor-na-Daerachas in his late writings.