Summary
- Drizzt Do'Urden left Menzoberranzan at just 31 years old, considered young for a drow adult.
- Drizzt spent 12 years in the Underdark before leaving for the surface world at age 43.
- Drizzt, now 190 years old, could live for hundreds more years due to the long lifespan of drow.
Drizzt Do'Urden ages quite a bit throughout The Legend of Drizzt books, but as one of the drow race, he can live a considerable bit longer. The legendary ranger Drizzt is well-established in Dungeons & Dragons lore, first appearing in the Forgotten Realms campaign as a ing character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy before becoming a major figure in his own right. Over time, his legend has grown to span dozens of books, video games, and multiple other media in the D&D universe.
Drizzt is notable not only for his longevity, but also because he's so unique among drowkind, eschewing the culture in which he was raised and striking out on his own. After emancipating himself from his family, Drizzt has gone on to have many adventures with his friends and soulmate, Cattie-brie. Still, with so many books and his canonical story sprawling across so many different mediums (including, if rumors are true, a Legend of Drizzt TV show), it can be hard to keep track of Drizzt's timeline, particularly how old he is when the major events in his life happen.
How To Read All 39 Drizzt Do'Urden Books In Order (It's Complicated)
Written by R.A. Salvatore, The Legend of Drizzt is composed of 39 books. Here's a guide to the complicated reading order of Drizzt Do'Urden's stories.
Drizzt Was Around 31 Years Old When He Left Menzoberranzan
He Left Menzoberranzan In 1328 DR
Drizzt Do'Urden was born in the year 1297 DR ("DR" standing for "Dalereckoning" in Dungeons & Dragons). As he leaves his home city, the drow stronghold of Menzoberranzan in 1328 DR, he's around 30 or 31 years old when he leaves–though in Drizzt's case, it's more of a desperate escape. While humans would consider a person in their 30s to be more than grown up, it's still quite young for a drow (or elf of any kind), much less for one to strike out on his own.
Like most elves, though drow finish growing around age 25-30, they're not considered fully-fledged adults until around age 80. This is even faster than most elven races, as drow, thanks to the cutthroat nature of drow culture and living in the Underdark, are forced to grow up fast. Considering this framework, Drizzt, emotionally, could be considered a rebellious teenager, or even a child, when he defies his family legacy and leaves Mezzoberranzan.
It's that rebellious nature that underscores just how different Drizzt is from most drow. Rather than play the cruel games of his kind and endure the horrific rituals of worshipping the Lolth, the Queen of Spiders, Drizzt rejects his upbringing and culture and strikes out on his own. Even though he firmly shuns the ways of Menzoberranzan, however, he doesn't actually leave the Underdark for years after that.
Drizzt Was 43 Years Old When He Left The Underdark
He Left For The Surface In 1340 DR
Despite being keen to leave Menzoberranzan and his bloodthirsty family, Drizzt spends a number of years wandering around the Underdark. Roughly the next twelve years are consumed by surviving the Underdark and simply trying to scrape by and avoid being killed or betrayed by the various unscrupulous denizens of the realm below.
He roams for years until finding refuge in the Svirfneblin (D&D's deep gnomes) city of Blingdenstone, where the citizens take him in. The next year, 1339 DR, Drizzt's family title and Menzoberranzan home and family, the House Do'Urden, are destroyed. It's a whole year after that before Drizzt leaves for the surface in 1340 DR, making him about 43 years of age when he sets foot in the world above for the first time.
Again, this is still quite young for a drow in the context of their lifespans, and Drizzt, even with his formidable combat skills, is ill-equipped to survive in the surface world. Luckily, he meets and makes his first friend shortly after arriving at the surface: the blind ranger Montolio "Mooshie" Debrouchee. Though Mooshie, Drizzt learns the way of the ranger, finding focus and purpose in life.
Montolio was dedicated to the goddess of the forest, Mielikki, having vowed to spend his days defending the creatures of the forest and innocents of all kinds. He es all his knowledge onto Drizzt, turning his young friend and apprentice into an elite and highly skilled ranger, teaching the drow to use all his senses to hunt and track, not just his sight. Eventually, Drizzt's legend as a ranger and hunter sures even his former mentor.
Where Did Drizzt Get His Scimitars? Origins & Powers Of Iconic D&D Swords Explained
Drizzt has carried his two scimitars - Icingdeath and Twinkle - through decades of Dungeons & Dragons adventures. Here's an overview of their history.
Drizzt Was 59 Years Old When He Traveled With The Companions Of The Hall
The Companions Were Unofficially Formed In 1356 DR
In the years after Montolio's death, Drizzt travels the surface, helping those in need and making connections. Along his adventures, he makes quite a few friends who recognize that Drizzt is very unlike other drow. He's noble where they are prone to betrayal, honest where they are duplicitous, and comionate where they are cruel.
As such, and thanks to his exploits, Drizzt's reputation as a legendary ranger grows. At the urging of his dwarf friend Bruenor Battlehammer, Drizzt travels with a group of friends that includes Bruenor, the halfling Regis, the human Wulfgar, and, later, Cattie-brie, Wulfgar's sister, to reclaim Mithral Hall. This adventure happens in 1356 DR, making Drizzt 59 years old when he and the later-named Companions of the Hall first travel together.
That wasn't the last time Drizzt traveled with the Companions, however. The friends would reunite a few more times for other adventures before sickness and old age took the lives of Cattie-brie, Drizzt's lover, Regis, and Wulfgar. Even Bruenor eventually succumbed to time and died, ing the others in the Iruladoon, an extraplanar dimension created by Mielikki for her chosen ones. Some time later, in 1483 DR, Mielikki offers them the opportunity to be reborn and all but Wulfgar agree to be reincarnated to re Drizzt, still in the living world. In 1484 DR, when Drizzt is 187 years old, he finally reunites with the love of his life and his beloved friends.
Drizzt Could Live For 600-800 More Years
Drow Have Incredibly Long Lifespans
Through the events of The Legend of Drizzt books, which are still being published, Drizzt Do'Urden has lived for almost two centuries, making him 190 years old when he almost dies and is brought back to life by Lolth herself in 1487 DR. It's not clear if there will ever be another Drizzt Do'Urden book published, or if Drizzt's story will continue in an official Dungeons & Dragons campaign. But for now in the story, Drizzt is almost two centuries old.
Just because his story is finished for now, however, it doesn't mean that Drizzt himself is. At the end of the last book, Drizzt is still alive; interestingly, in the wildly popular 2023 Dungeons & Dragons universe game Baldur's Gate 3, multiple references are made to Drizzt still working and adventuring in Faerun. Seeing as how that's set in 1492 DR, that makes Drizzt 195 years old.
Drizzt's line of work as an adventurer risks shortening his long life, but even so, provided he avoids any fatal wounds or curses, Drizzt will live for a long time–centuries more. Most drow die by the time they're 400 years old, but that's due to the violent nature of drow society. Naturally, drow can live up to 750 years, with some especially powerful individuals living upwards of 1,000 years. Considering that Drizzt is quite powerful in his own right and also the champion of Mielikki and plaything of Lolth, it's not a stretch to think he could live at least 600 more years in The Legend of Drizzt books. It seems Drizzt Do'Urden still has quite a few adventures left, after all.