Icewind Dale


 * For the Icewind Dale computer game, see Icewind Dale (game)

Icewind Dale is a sub-arctic region, along the northernmost part of the Sword Coast. It is famous because many events involving the drow renegade, Drizzt Do'Urden, occurred here, chronicled in The Icewind Dale Trilogy, a series of fantasy novels by R.A. Salvatore. The region was first populated when Northlander longships reached the region during the last centuries of the Illefarn empire. Initially settling on the islands, the northlanders eventually would found Icewind Dale.

Icewind Dale is an icy tundra and the northernmost explored area of Faerûn. Its only permanent settlements are known as the Ten Towns, a confederation of a number of minor settlements cooperating with each other. The region is mainly populated by fishermen, craftsmen, rangers, dwarves mining the deeps for minerals and precious stones, barbarians, and merchants who tolerate the hostile climate in the hope of trading in ivory and gems. The "capital" of the region is the town of Bryn Shander.

The region is home to a number of white dragons. Another notable feature of Icewind Dale is Kelvin's Cairn, a mountain north of Ten Towns. It was a cavern on the northern face of this mountain that Drizzt Do'Urden resided for some time as a sort of 'scout' for Ten Towns.