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Dendra-Dwâr

Dwâr Dendra


Location(s)
Language(s)
Birth
S.A. 1949
Death
T.A. 3019
Gender
Male


The Third of the Nazgûl (Q. "Ulaire Nelya") or Third of the Nine, also known as the Dog-Lord, the Dark Marshal or Morgomir was the third in Command among the Nine.His true origin is unknown, but the Parma Úlairion, a collection of fragmented written records, had preserved an old Legend about a mighty Lord from the Southeastern Lands, however it was unknown if this legend - or how much of it - was reliable.

Names and Identities[]

  • the Black Hunter - name as Sauron´s Assassin at the Morannon
  • the Dark Marshal - name as Sauron´s Warlord from Udûn
  • Dendra-Dwâr - his birth-name according to Legend ("Dwâr of the Dendra-Clan")
  • the Dog-King - his name as Ruler of the Isle of Dogs
  • Dwâr of Waw - his common name in the Second Age
  • Morgomir - an identity as noble of Angmar
  • Third of the Nine
  • The Lieutenant of Carn-Dûm - his title as vice-regent of Angmar
  • Ulaire Nelya - his name among the High-Elves
  • The Black Blade of Lebennin

The Legend of the Dog-Lord[]

DwarofWaw

Dwâr the Dog-Lord

A Man called Dendra-Dwar[]

Dendra-Dwâr was born in Hôrm on Waw, the Isle of the Dogs, in S.A. 1949. His early life proved difficult, for he was the son of a simple Wôlim fisherman and he was forced to work at the age of seven. The labor hardened him for the trials to come, and kept his mind off his mother Ômbril, who died during his birth.

In the year S.A. 1965, the K’prur of Hent landed on Waw and burned Hôrm. K’prur ships savagely stalked the Wôlim fishing vessels and sank all but the few that reached safe hiding in the sea caves in the cliffs of Waw’s western coast. Young Dwâr, his brother Dwem, and his father Dendra Wim escaped, but a wound cost Wim his life several weeks later. Dwâr pledged to avenge the attack on his people and the murder of his beloved father.

Realizing that his own people possessed neither the skill nor the arms to defeat Hent, Dwâr sailed northward to Wôl, the warlike realm of the mainland Wôlim tribes. There, he learned the ways of the forest and the fields, and became an able warrior. The young man served in the Wolim campaigns against the Brôdan and Ts’dan peoples to the east. He rose to become a scout, working with the trained warhounds that cast fear into the lightly armed enemies of his mentors.

Dwâr’s fascination with warcraft did not prevent him from seeking a more powerful means of exacting his revenge, and in S.A 1969 he entered an arcane school devoted to the ancient magical arts. Studying under the priest Embra Slîl, Dwâr became a Mage.

Dwâr emerged as the Lord of Dogs in S.A. 1980. Surrounded by a small but capable contingent, he wrested the citadel of Âlk Waw from the K’prur overseer, establishing a foothold on the remote peninsula in southeastern Waw. K’prur warriors besieged the hold, but packs of huge dogs roamed the surrounding woods and kept them at bay for over a year. Attempts to burn the forest failed, and a series of disquieting supernatural events sowed discord among the attackers. In S.A. 1982, Dwar ordered his fighters to break the siege and sent his warriors forth into battle. Operating in conjunction with nearly 2,000 warhounds, they smashed the K’prur line and scattered the army that had occupied Waw for seventeen years. The island was reconquered within a month.

Unfortunately for the Wôlim, Dwâr established himself as the High-lord of their isle and refused to reconvene the Elder Councils. Waw became the Isle of Dogs, the domain of the Dog-King, and no one dared defy his harch edicts. Dwâr tightened his control in the ensuing years, making Hôrm a monumental port and turning the southwestern forest into a preserve for his hounds.

DwartheRingwraith

Dwar the Fallen

In order to satiate his desire for power and vengeance, however, the Dog-King proclaimed that he was heir to all the surrounding islands and coastal realms, notably the peninsular kingdom of Hent to the north. His wrights constructed a fleet during the next year. Between S.A. 1985 and S.A. 1998, the Dog-warriors pillaged port towns and terrorized the coasts for hundreds of miles. All of the islands between Waw and the mainland – as well as the great Avar Elven isle of Cimoniemor to the south – were incorporated into Dwâr’s Kingdom. The Lord of Dogs reached the height of his power and poised his minions for the assault on Hent.

Then, Dendra Dwâr vanished. His soul consumed by greed and hatred, Dwâr of Waw accepted the offer of immortality and took a Ring of Power from Sauron of Mordor. Although his armies conquered Hent and laid waste to it's structures and populace alike, the Dog-King was nowhere to be seen. Dwâr’s nephew, Dendra Swîp, assumed the mantle of Lord of Dogs during the celebration of the victory his uncle had savored most.

Dwâr the Ringwraith[]

Dwar2

The Third Nazgûl in the Twilight-World

Dwar remained in Waw, despite his apparent demise, for another 252 years. During this era, he manipulated the line of his heirs and ruled from the shadows while residing in the solitude of Alk Waw. The years brought unceasing wars, as the folk of the Isle of Dogs pursued continual campaigns of plunder and conquest. Peace came only after Dwâr’s departure for Mordor in S.A. 2250.

From S.A. 2250 through S.A. 3262, Dwar lived at Barad-dûr in the Black Land, where he bred the War-wolves of Mordor. The offspring of his labors haunted Middle-earth for centuries to come, but the culmination of his work awaited a later day. When the Númenóreans of Ar-Pharazon captured Sauron, Dwâr fled back to Waw.

The Dog-King returned to Mordor in S.A. 3320, a year after Sauron escaped the Downfall of Númenor and returned to Barad-dûr. Dwâr resumed his work, preparing for the coming struggle against the Dunadan successor states of Arnor and Gondor. The War of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men claimed the lives of the finest of Dwar’s foul hounds. Most perished at Dagorlad; others died in the defense of Mordor or were hunted by the Elves and Dunedain in the nearby hills. Dwâr himself followed the fate of Sauron, so when Barad-dûr fell and his master lost the Ruling Ring, the Lord of Dogs passed with Sauron into the Shadows.

The Third Age[]

Dwâr reformed and reawakened in T.A. 1051. While briefly at the side of the Dark Lord in Dol Guldur, he flew east to Waw later the same year. There, he resided for the next 589 years. Once again assuming his place as the ultimate power on Waw, the Dog-King incited his kinsmen to rebel against the extremely strong (but relatively benevolent) yoke of Lochas Drus. Settlers from the Isle of Dogs seized Cimoniemor in T.A. 1507 and Waw declared itself independent a 110 years later. Ironically, Dendra Dwar II refounded the kingdom.

Sauron recalled Dwâr to the West in T.A. 1640. His work done in the East, the Dog-King went into Mordor with the other Ulairi and began to prepare the realm for the Sauron’s eventual re-emergence. Dwar remained in Mordor, breeding horrible lines of War-dogs until T.A. 2000, when he participated in the Nazgûl's capture of Minas Morgul. He lodged in the captured capital of Ithilien until T.A. 2063.

The Dog-King followed Sauron eastward durin the Watchful Peace (T.A. 2063-2460). His expoits carried him across southeast Middle-earth, where he continued his age old effort to subjugate the peoples of those rich lands. Contested by the Blue Wizards Alatar and Pallando, his success was somewhat mixed. When he departed for the West again in T.A. 2941, much remained undone.

Dwâr returned to Mordor when Sauron abandoned Dol Guldur and re-entered the Black Land. The Nazgûl took a hold at Minas Morgul and joined the rebuilding of Barad-dûr that began in T.A. 2951. When his work there ended, he returned to breeding wolves and hounds.

Dwâr’s next task, like those of the other Ringwraiths, focused on recovering the Ruling Ring. He accompanied his fellow Black Riders into the Anduin Valley, through Rohan, and on into Eriador. When the group split along the roads through the lost kingdom of Cardolan, he went north with the Witch-King and four others through Andrath to Bree. Soon thereafter, Uvatha departed to join Khamul and the other Riders, but Dwar, the Witch-King, Akhorahil, Indur and Ren attacked the Company on Weathertop and succeeded in wounding Frodo. The Nazgûl pursued the fleeing Ringbearer and his compatriots to the Bruinen Ford, but the enchanted floodwaters crushed their hopes. Dwar, the third to reach the river, felt the full force of the torrent and lost his black steed.

The Dog-King returned to Mordor and resumed the search for the One Ring during the coming months. Flying a Fell Beast, he engaged in the fruitless hunt until the eve of the attack on Gondor. Dwar then flew home to Mordor. Assigned to the main army that gathered at Udun, he missed the Battle of the Pelennor Fields that claimed the Lord of the Nazgûl; however, he took part in the aerial fight above the Battle of Morannon, and the subsequent flight to intercept the Ringbearer on Mount Doom. The Lord of Dogs finally came to an end while en route to the Orodruin, for the breaking of the Ruling Ring unmade his own Ring of Power and robbed him of his only link to Ea.

Artifacts[]

  • Black Mantle
  • Grey Robe
  • High Helm of Silver
  • Long Sword
  • Morgûl-Knife
  • Neldëa, Sâkhla, The Cruel One or the Ring of Terror
  • Silver Crown

References[]

  • MERP:Lords of Middle-Earth II
  • MERP:Teeth of Mordor
  • Games Workshop - The Lord of the Rings: Strategy Battle Game
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