Belkondíl

Belkondíl (olg. 'land by the rivers') is both a region in the southwestern corner of the Elondorian mainland on both banks of the rivers Cëlac and Brethan and the name of an ancient Olgish kingdom of vaguely the same dimensions. It is the homeland to the Olgish and Western Soskish cultures and was the core province of the Lécaronian Empire and initially its economic, cultural, and spiritual centre before its decline in favour of the Seligonian provinces. It borders both the Timesthe to the east and south and Runion to the west, leading to a split between the lusher and warmer meadows and woodland on the Timesthian side and the barren heath and moorland on the harsher Runion coast, one of the most sparsely populated regions in all of Elondor.

Etymology and Names

The name Belkondíl in this form seems to have originated as an adjective denoting relation to Belkontár, which itself derives from Proto-Ortûlékian *bêl-kond-tar 'land by the rivers', appealing to the region's location around the rivers Cëlac and Brethan. Later, the adjectival form became more prominent in use and eventually replaced the original label, a development commonly seen in Olgish place names. The old form Belkontár is still preserved in HArb. 'Elkontar', in Aribelian Myth the name of the First White City and capital of Almen, the legendary country of Aribelian origin south of the Ilathw. According to the (much younger) Lonsorigi, the Ortûlékian form of the name has been in use since the very beginning of its settlement; it is however not attested in writing until the 10^th century B.E.B. and presumably has its origins in the tumultous conflicts of the preceding three centuries, initially vaguely denoting the area of Olgish dominion, sometimes including but usually explicitly separate from the Soskish sphere of influence. The first use of the term in its later context is found in the Claims of Enethin.

The most common epithet for Belkondíl might be the Country of Dark-Green Meadows (MOlg. Iranatimuritar), in reference to its mossy fields and moors and often in contrast with the Country of Light-Green Meadows (MOlg. Iranolikuritar), which is usually applied to Seligon, especially the fertile plains around the River Eargliss. In Iilish, the country is called Bealamas 'Land of the Burning Hills'. The Old Besokian term, as evidence in the Nishunâc World Map, was Tûnûshetor 'Great Marsh', hence Proto-Soskish Tûnustu and Môrethic Dûnutu.

Geography

Map of Belkondíl

For the first centuries of its use, the term's definitions was vague and variable. It most commonly referred to the strip of land between the rivers