Q: Did the March of Maedhros Include the Lands of his Brothers?
Early map depicting the March of Maedhros in Beleriand.ANSWER: Yes. Maedhros was one of the “Kings of the three houses of the Noldor” (Cf. The Silmarillion, Chapter 17, “Of the Coming of Men into the West”). In Chapter 14 of The Silmarillion, “Of Beleriand and its Realms”, Tolkien describes where Maedhros and his brothers settled. In the final paragraph of the chapter we are told:
Thus the sons of Fëanor under Maedhros were the lords of East Beleriand, but their people were in that time mostly in the north of the land, and southward they rode only to hunt in the greenwoods. But there Amrod and Amras had their abode, and they came seldom northward while the Siege lasted; and there also other of the Elf-lords would ride at times, even from afar, for the land was wild but very fair….
You can see from the “Second Silmarillion Map” that the March of Maedhros extended southward to about the line of hills known as the Andram (I have shaded in the appropriate squares). The name “Diriel” represents “Amras”, the youngest of Fëanor’s sons (for whom Tolkien devised various names across the years).
