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Description: A little ;) glossary from/for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth books, compiled by MueRTe. Also available as a Babylon glossary (http://www.babylon.com).

Sources: “The Silmarillion” (Index of Names), “Unfinished Tales” & the

“Encyclopedia of Arda” (http://www.glyphweb.com/arda) ASCII Art used without the kind permission of “The Troubles of Middle Earth” (http://www.t-o-m-e.net)

e-mail your corrections, commentaries & suggestions <muerte@camelot-comics.com.ar>

* Adanedhel

‘Elf-man’, name given to Túrin in Nargothrond.

–—

Túrin the son of Húrin, though a Man, was raised from childhood in the halls of King Thingol of Doriath. When, later in his life, he went to dwell among the Elves of Nargothrond, they recognised the nobility he had learned in Thingol’s kingdom, and gave him the name Adanedhel, meaning

‘Elf-man’.

* Adorn

A river that rose in the western heights of the White Mountains, and flowed roughly northwestward to meet the Isen on the borders of Enedwaith. It was important as defining the western border of the country of Rohan.

* Adrahil #1|Adrahil

A commander of the forces of Gondor against the Wainriders in Third Age 1944; called ‘of Dol Amroth’, and presumably an ancestor of the second Adrahil.

* Adrahil #2|Adrahil

Prince of Dol Amroth, father of Imrahil.

–—

The twenty-first Prince of Dol Amroth, descended in direct line from Galador the first Prince. Adrahil was the son of Angelimar, and father of Imrahil who fought in the War of the Ring.

* Aduial

The Elvish name for the twilight of dusk (the dim light of evening). The twilight of dawn they named minuial.

* Adûnaic|Adunaic

‘(Language of the) West’. The native tongue of the Númenóreans, the ancestral language of Westron. Evolved from the old tongue used by the Men of the House of Hador.

Though the name Adûnaic cannot have been used before the Edain travelled to Númenor at the beginning of the Second Age, the language itself, or something very close to it, seems to have been spoken in Beleriand during the First Age, at least by the people of the House of Hador. While there is no mention of its use after the Downfall, it cannot have become completely extinct at this date; it seems likely that the scholars of Gondor and of Arnor would have been familiar with the ancient tongue of their ancestors, but in general use Adûnaic was replaced by the Westron (which had developed from it) and Elvish languages.

* Adunakhôr|Adunakhor

‘Lord of the West’, name taken by the nineteenth King of Númenor, the first to do so in the Adûnaic (Númenórean) tongue; his name in Quenya was Herunúmen.

* Adurant

The sixth and most southerly of the tributaries of Gelion in Ossiriand.

The name means ‘double stream’, referring to its divided course about the island of Tol Galen.

–—

The southernmost of the seven rivers of Ossiriand, in which was the island of Tol Galen.

* Aeglos (plant)|Aeglos

‘Snowthorn’, a plant that grew on Amon Rûdh.

* Aeglos (spear)|Aeglos

‘Snow-point’, the spear of Gil-galad, carried by him to the War of the Last Alliance.

* Aegnor

The fourth son of Finarfin (and elder brother of Galadriel), who with his brother Angrod held the northern slopes of Dorthonion; slain in the Dagor Bragollach. The name means ‘Fell Fire’.

* Aelin-uial

The ‘Meres of Twilight’, or ‘Lakes of Twilight’; the region of marshes and pools where the river Aros flowed into Sirion.

–—

The maze of lakes and fens formed where the River Aros met the Sirion, before it fell beneath the Andram. These were lands heavy with enchantment, both from the Girdle of Melian guarding Doriath to the north, but also from the power of Ulmo that was strong in Sirion’s waters. It was here that Turgon and Finrod were given the idea of building their hidden strongholds at Gondolin and Nargothrond; an idea placed in their dreams by Ulmo.

The Aelin-uial was under the control of the Sindarin Kingdom of Doriath.

Thingol’s marchwardens maintained secret ferries among the reeds, so that they could cross between Sirion’s easten and western banks unregarded, if need be.

At the southern end of the Aelin-uial, Sirion’s waters collected together once more from the many paths they took through the marshland and, at the place called the Falls of Sirion, fell in a thundering torrent down into the earth.

Other Names: Meres of Twilight, Twilight Meres, Twilit Meres.

* Aerandir

‘Sea-wanderer’, one of the three mariners who accompanied Eärendil on his voyages. 307

* Aerin

A kinswoman of Húrin Thalion in Dor-lómin; taken as wife by Brodda the Easterling after he claimed Hithlum. She secretly aided Húrin’s wife Morwen after the disaster of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

* Afterborn

One of the Elves’ many names for Men. Translation of Apanónar.

* Aftercomers

The Younger Children of Ilúvatar, Men; translation of Hildor.

–—

One of the many names for the race of Men, who awoke long after the Elves, the Firstborn. ‘Aftercomers’ is a translation of the Elvish name Hildor, a word also seen in the name Hildórien, the Land of the Hildor, the eastern region where the first Men awoke into the World.

* Afterlithe

The seventh month of the Shire Calendar, following, as its name suggests, the midsummer feastdays of Lithe, and approximately equivalent to modern July. In fact, it ran from modern 24 June to 23 July in a normal year.

* Afteryule

The first month of the Shire Calendar, thirty days immediately following the holiday of Yule (hence its name). It ran from modern 23 December to 21 January.

* Agarwaen

‘Blood-stained’, name given to himself by Túrin when he came to Nargothrond.

* Agathurush

Adûnaic translation of the name Gwathló.

* Aghan

The Drûg (Drúadan) in the story of ‘The Faithful Stone’.

* Aglarond

The ‘Glittering Cavern’ of Helm’s Deep in Ered Nimrais; used also in reference to the fortress more strictly called the Hornburg, at the entrance to Helm’s Deep.

–—

The Glittering Caves.

–—

“… gems and crystals and veins of precious ore glint in the polished walls; and the light glows through folded marbles, shell-like, translucent as the living hands of Queen Galadriel.”

(From Gimli’s description of Aglarond; The Two Towers III 8, The Road to Isengard)

–—

The deep caverns that lay behind Helm’s Deep in the White Mountains. When Gimli saw them during the War of the Ring, he was astonished by their beauty. After the War he led a party of Dwarves from Erebor to Aglarond, and became Lord of the Glittering Caves.

* Aglon

‘The Narrow Pass’, between Dorthonion and the heights to the west of Himring.

–—

The narrow pass west of the March of Maedhros.

The pass between Himlad and Lothlann, to the northeast of Beleriand.

* Ailinel

The elder of Tar-Aldarion’s sisters.

* Ainulindalë (Music)|Ainulindalë|Ainulindale The ‘Music of the Ainur’, also called The (Great) Music, The (Great) Song, of which its name is the Quenya version. The great song of the Ainur before Ilúvatar at the beginning of time, in which the world was created.

* Ainulindalë (Tale)|Ainulindalë|Ainulindale The name of the account of Creation said to have been composed by Rúmil of Tirion in the Elder Days.

* Ainur|Ainu

The ‘Holy Ones’ (singular Ainu), the first beings created by Ilúvatar, the ‘order’ of the Valar and Maiar, made before Eä.

–—

The Holy Ones.

–—

“There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought…”

(First words of the Ainulindalë)

–—

The primordial spirits, who existed with Ilúvatar, and with Him created the world through the Music of the Ainur. After the creation of Arda, many of the Ainur descended into it to guide and order its growth; of these there were fifteen more powerful than the rest. Fourteen of these great Ainur became the Valar, or Powers of Arda. The fifteenth, Melkor, turned aside from that path and became the first Dark Lord. The many lesser Ainur that accompanied the Valar into Arda are known as Maiar.

–—

Origins of the Ainur: The Ainur were the first, and mightiest, beings created by Ilúvatar in the depths of time before the beginning of the World. The Ainur were the ‘offspring of [Ilúvatar’s] thought’, and each was given understanding only of that part of the mind of Ilúvatar from which he or she came. The exception to this was Melkor, the greatest of the Ainur, who had a part of the gifts of all the others.

The Ainur were ‘kindled with the Flame Imperishable’, which can be taken to mean that they were granted free will by their creator. Ilúvatar instructed them in the arts of music, until he brought them together to make the Music of the Ainur; the great song that created the Vision of Ilúvatar and ultimately the real World.

–—

The Ainur and the World: Through the Music of the Ainur, Ilúvatar created a Vision of the World; he showed it to the Ainur, and explained much of its nature and destiny to them - so the Ainur have much knowledge of the World, but are not omniscient. Then, Ilúvatar granted the World true being. Melkor and many of the other mighty Ainur desired to descend into it and form it in readiness for the coming of the Children of Ilúvatar (that is, Elves and Men). These became the beings known as the Valar and the Maiar.

Those Ainur who entered the World at its beginning remain bound to it until its end. Though Melkor was eventually thrown into the Void by the others, he is prophesied to return before the end. Little is known of the ultimate future of the Ainur, even by themselves, but it is said that, after the great battle at the end of the World, they will make a Second, even greater, Music with the Children of Ilúvatar.

–—

The Line of Melian: Among the many Ainur that entered the World long ago, there was one of the order of the Maiar named Melian. Alone of all the Ainur, she wedded one of the Children of Ilúvatar, King Elu Thingol of Doriath. From her, a strain of the Ainur entered the bloodlines of the Elves and Men, passed down through generation after generation, and was still present at the time of the War of the Ring. Elrond was Melian’s great-great-grandson, and Aragorn, too, was her descendant, though through many more generations than Elrond.

* Aiwendil

‘Bird-lover’, the name in Valinor of the Wizard who became known as Radagast in Middle-earth.

* Akallabêth|Akallabeth

‘The Downfallen’, Adûnaic word equivalent in meaning to Quenya Atalantë.

A name of Númenor after its destruction.

* Akallabêth (tale)|Akallabêth|Akallabeth

The account of the Downfall of Númenor.

* Alatar

One of the five Wizards who came to the northwest of Middle-earth in the Third Age; he journeyed into the east with Pallando, and never returned to the western lands.

–—

One of the lost Blue Wizards.

One of the five Wizards who came to the northwest of Middle-earth in the Third Age; he journeyed into the east with Pallando, and never returned to the western lands.

Alatar was one of the original three Wizards selected by the Valar for the journey from Valinor to Middle-earth (the other two being Curumo and Olórin - Saruman and Gandalf).

Alatar and Pallando arrived in Middle-earth dressed in sea-blue. For this reason, they were together given the name Ithryn Luin, the Blue Wizards. With Saruman, they journeyed into the far east of Middle-earth, but while Saruman returned to the west, Alatar and Pallando did not. Of their fate, we know almost nothing.

* Alatáriel|Alatariel|Altáriel|Altariel

‘Maiden crowned with a radiant garland’; also Altáriel. An ancient form (Quenya and Telerin) of the name of Galadriel.

* Alcarin

‘The Glorious’; the title of Atanatar II, who ruled Gondor during the early second millennium of the Third Age, in a time when its wealth and power were legendary. This title means ‘Glorious’, but in fact Atanatar did little to build on the advances of his forebears, and history came to see his reign as the beginning of Gondor’s decline.

* Alcarinquë|Alcarinque

‘The Glorious’, name of a star.

* Alcarondas

The great ship of Ar-Pharazôn in which he sailed to Aman.

–—

Called the Castle of the Sea, Alcarondas was the golden-and-black flagship of Ar-Pharazôn, the last King of Númenor. In it, he sailed to the shores of Aman to challenge the Valar, leading to the Downfall of his kingdom.

* Aldamir

The successor to Eldacar of Gondor.

In the time of the Kin-strife, the civil war of Gondor, King Eldacar was deposed by Castamir and his eldest son Ornendil was slain. Eldacar later recovered his rightful Kingship, but because of Ornendil’s early death he was succeeded by his younger son Aldamir. Aldamir’s reign was marked by war with the southern lands, including the Haven of Umbar that had been seized by Castamir’s supporters. Aldamir was slain in that war and succeeded by his son Vinyarion, who avenged his father’s death by conquering the Haradrim, after which he ruled as Hyarmendacil II.

* Aldarion and Erendis

One of the few Númenórean tales to survive the Downfall; the history of Tar-Aldarion, the sixth King of Númenor, and his estranged wife Erendis.

* Aldaron

‘Lord of Trees’, a Quenya name occasionally used of the Vala more commonly called Oromë. See Tauron.

* Aldburg

The dwelling of Éomer in the Folde (Rohan), where Eorl the Young had his house.

–—

Historic home of Eorl the Young.

One of the oldest settlements in Rohan, Aldburg stood in the region known as the Folde, some miles to the southeast of Edoras. It is recorded as the home of Eorl himself, and though the royal house moved to Edoras early in Rohan’s history, Aldburg remained a seat of noblemen. At the time of the War of the Ring, it was the home of Éomer, who was to inherit the Kingship of Rohan himself.

* Aldëa|Aldea

The day of the White Tree.

The fourth day of the Númenórean week.

* Aldor

Third King of Rohan, son of Brego son of Eorl the Young.

–—

Rohan’s longest-reigning King.

The second son of King Brego of Rohan. His elder brother Baldor had been lost while attempting to pass the Paths of the Dead, and so Aldor succeeded his father to become the third King of Rohan. He was just twenty-six years old when he came to the throne, and his reign of seventy-five years was the longest in the annals of the Mark. On account of his great age - he reached his one hundred and second year before he died - he is often referred to as Aldor the Old.

Aldor was the founder of a golden age in Rohan’s history. In his time, the Rohirrim increased greatly in numbers, and he succeeded in driving all the Dunlendings from his realm. Aldor had many children, of which the three eldest were daughters. It was his fourth child, Fréa, who succeeded him as King, but due to Aldor’s long life, Fréa had to wait until he was himself seventy-five years old before he became Lord of the Mark.

* Aldudénië|Aldudenie

‘Lament for the Two Trees’, made by a Vanyarin Elf named Elemmírë.

* Alfirin|Uilos|Simbelmynë

A small white flower, also called uilos and simbelmynë (translated Evermind).

* Algund

Man of Dor-lómin, one of the outlaw-band (Gaurwaith) that Túrin joined.

* Almaren

‘Blessed (place)’; the first abode of the Valar in Arda, before the second onslaught of Melkor: an isle in a great lake in the midst of Middle-earth. After its destruction by Melkor they founded Valinor.

–—

The ancient home of the Valar.

Before the time of the Two Trees of Valinor, and even before the Valar came to Valinor, they dwelt on the green island of Almaren in the Great Lake. In the mists of time, long before the awakening of Elves or Men, the Valar dwelt east of the Sea in Middle-earth. This was a time called the Spring of Arda, when the Earth was lit by the two Lamps of the Valar, and Almaren lay in the central regions of the World, where the light of the two Lamps mingled.

Of the details of Almaren we know little - there was green grass on the island, and the Valar had a ‘dwelling’ there, which presumably constituted a city, or at least a town. In the history of the Valar, Almaren was known as the place where Tulkas wed Nessa.

Of much greater importance, though, is the fact that Almaren was the site of the Valar’s first major defeat at the hands of Melkor: he loosed his forces secretly from his northern fortress of Utumno (then newly delved). Both the Lamps of the Valar were thrown down and destroyed, and Almaren lay in ruins. Tulkas gave chase, but Melkor escaped into the dungeons of Utumno.

After this, the Valar left Middle-earth and seldom returned. They founded a new land far away to the west, in Aman, that they called Valinor; a land lit by the fabled light of the Two Trees.

* Almarian

Daughter of the Númenórean mariner Vëantur, Queen to Tar-Meneldur, the fifth King of Númenor, and mother to Tar-Aldarion, the sixth King.

* Almiel

The younger of Tar-Aldarion’s sisters.

* Alqualondë|Alqualonde

‘Haven of the Swans’, the chief city and haven of the Teleri on the eastern shores of Aman.

–—

The Swanhaven of the Teleri, on the eastern shores of Aman. This was the site of the Kinslaying in the time immediately before the beginning of the First Age.

* Aman

‘Blessed, free from evil’, the name of the land in the West, beyond the Great Sea, in which the Valar dwelt after they had left the Isle of Almaren. Often referred to as the Blessed Realm.

–—

The Undying Lands.

The continent (originally lying in the far West of Arda, now removed from the World) on which the Valar made their home after the destruction of Almaren. There they founded Valinor, and there dwelt the Calaquendi; the Vanyar, the Noldor and those of the Teleri who journeyed from Middle-earth long before the First Age. There were dwellers in Aman before the Valar, though; Ungoliant had long existed in the southern land of Avathar.

To protect their realm from Melkor, the Valar raised a great range of mountains along the borders of Aman; the Pelóri or Mountains of Defence.

They also filled the seas eastwards with shadows and Enchanted Isles.

In II 3319, King Ar-Pharazôn of Númenor, having been seduced and corrupted by Sauron, sailed on Aman with a great fleet. The King and his armies were destroyed, as was the land of Númenor, and Aman was taken out of the World. After that catastrophe, only the Elves could reach the Blessed Realm.

The word means ‘Blessed Realm’.

* Amandil

‘Lover of Aman’; the last lord of Andúnië in Númenor, descendant of Elros and father of Elendil. Though an Elf-friend, he was for many years a friend and counsellor to King Ar-Pharazôn. Dismissed by Sauron, he sailed into the West to seek the pardon of the Valar for the misdeeds of the Númenóreans; his fate is unknown.

* Amarië|Amarie

Vanyarin Elf, beloved of Finrod Felagund, who remained in Valinor when Finrod returned to Middle-earth.

* Amdír|Amdir

According to some sources, the father of Amroth and King of Lórien during the Second Age. He was killed in the Battle of Dagorlad at the end of that Age.

* Amlach

Son of Imlach son of Marach; a leader of dissension among the Men of Estolad who, repenting, took service with Maedhros.

* Amlaith of Fornost|Amlaith

Eldest son of Eärendur and direct descendant of Isildur; he was the first King of Arthedain.

Amlaith’s younger brothers (whose names were frustratingly never recorded) were the founders of the kingdoms of Cardolan and Rhudaur.

* Amon Amarth

‘Mount Doom’, the name given to Orodruin when its fires awoke again after Sauron’s return from Númenor.

–—

A rarely used name for Orodruin, the flaming mountain in northern Mordor where Sauron forged the One Ring.

* Amon Anwar|Anwar|Hill of Awe

‘Hill of Awe’; Sindarin name of Halifirien, seventh of the beacons of Gondor in Ered Nimrais; also simply Anwar. See Eilenaer, Halifirien, Wood of Anwar.

–—

The original Sindarin name for the hill known to the Rohirrim as the Halifirien. The last of the beacon-hills of Gondor, it stood on the borders of the land of Rohan, and the secret Tomb of Elendil lay there for many centuries.

* Amon Darthir

A peak in the range of Ered Wethrin south of Dor-lómin.

* Amon Dîn|Amon Din

‘Silent Hill’; the easternmost of the beacon hills of Gondor in Ered Nimrais and nearest to Minas Tirith, lying to the east of the Drúadan Forest.

* Amon Ereb|Ereb

‘Lonely Hill’ (also simply Ereb), between Ramdal and the river Gelion in East Beleriand.

–—

The broad, shallow-sided hill that dominated the southern plains of East Beleriand. As the highest point in that region, it had tremendous strategic importance, because it guarded the eastern passage around the Long Wall of the Andram into the southern parts of Beleriand. It was here that Denethor of the Nandor met his end in the First Battle, and much later, Caranthir fortified it to guard his escape into the south after the Dagor Bragollach.

* Amon Ethir|Spyhill|Spy Hill

‘Hill of Spies’, the great earthwork raised by Finrod Felagund to the east of the Doors of Nargothrond. Called also Spyhill.

* Amon Gwareth

The hill upon which Gondolin was built, in the midst of the plain of Tumladen.

–—

The hill that stood in the valley of Tumladen, within the Encircling Mountains, on which Turgon built the city of Gondolin.

* Amon Hen

The ‘Hill of Sight’ that stood on the western banks of the Anduin, above the Falls of Rauros, originally close to the northern borders of Gondor.

It was on the slopes of Amon Hen that the Company of the Ring was broken, and from there Frodo began his lonely journey into Mordor with Sam.

* Amon Lanc

‘Naked Hill’; a hill in the southern parts of Greenwood the Great. After a millennium of the Third Age had passed, Sauron came to Amon Lanc and built a stronghold there. The hill and fortress were then together called Dol Guldur, and the wood it which it stood became known as Mirkwood.

* Amon Lhaw

The Hill of Hearing in the eastern Emyn Muil.

The Hill of Hearing that was the twin of Amon Hen, the Hill of Sight. It lay among the Emyn Muil on the eastern banks of the Anduin, above the Falls of Rauros. Though at one time it had been part of the northern borderlands of Gondor, that lay centuries in the past at the time of the War of the Ring; by then, it had long since fallen under the influence of Mordor.

* Amon Obel

A hill in the midst of the Forest of Brethil, on which was built Ephel Brandir.

–—

The fortified hill at the heart of Brethil.

The hill around which the Forest of Brethil spread. Most of the Woodmen of Brethil dwelt there in the later First Age, within the stockade known as Ephel Brandir.

* Amon Rûdh|Amon Rudh

‘Bald Hill’, a lonely height in the lands south of Brethil; abode of Mîm, and lair of Túrin’s outlaw band.

–—

The Bald Hill that lay south of Brethil in West Beleriand. The house of Mîm the Petty-dwarf lay within this hill, and it was for a time the base of Túrin Turambar and his outlaws.

* Amon Sûl|Amon Sul

‘Hill of the Wind’, a round bare hill in the Kingdom of Arnor (at the southern end of the Weather Hills in Eriador).

–—

The Elvish name for the hill better known by its Mannish name, Weathertop. It lay at the southern end of the Weather Hills, and at one time had a tower built on its summit that held one of the palantíri.

* Amras|Amrod

Twin-brother of Amrod, youngest of the seven sons of Fëanor; slain with Amrod in the attack on Eärendil’s people at the Mouths of Sirion.

–—

With his twin brother Amrod, youngest of the seven Sons of Fëanor. He dwelt in the wide plains of East Beleriand.

* Amroth

Sindarin Elf, King of Lórien, lover of Nimrodel; drowned in the bay of Belfalas.

–—

A former Lord of Lórien; he went into the south in search of Nimrodel, and was lost at sea. After his departure, Celeborn and Galadriel became Lord and Lady of Lórien.

* Anach

Pass leading down from Taur-nu-Fuin (Dorthonion) at the western end of Ered Gorgoroth..

–—

The western pass of the Ered Gorgoroth.

A pass through the western Ered Gorgoroth, and the only southward route out of the land of Dorthonion. It was discovered by the spies of Morgoth after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and used by his forces as a means of entering Beleriand.

* Anadûnë|Anadûnê|Anadune

A name for Númenor, apparently an Adûnaic word with approximately the same meaning as ‘Westernesse’.

* Anar

Quenya name of the Sun.

–—

The Sun.

During the Years of the Trees, Valinor was lit for many thousands of years by the light of the Two Trees, Telperion the Silver and Laurelin the Gold. When these were destroyed by Melkor and Ungoliant, the World was plunged into darkness. Through the power of Nienna and Yavanna, though, Laurelin produced a single fiery fruit before it died. This golden fire was set in a vessel, and steered into the sky by the Maia Arien. The Vanyar gave it the name Anar the fire-golden: this was the origin of the Sun.

Valinor was in the West of the World, and the so the first sunrise was in the west, not the east. Originally, Arien was to have steered Anar ceaselessly from west to east and back again, always remaining in the sky, but the Valar changed this counsel, so that each evening Anar would descend into the distant western seas, and re-emerge each morning in the east.

* Anardil (King of Númenor)|Anardil

The given name of Tar-Aldarion.

–—

At the dawning of Númenor’s pride and power, Tar-Meneldur the fifth King of that island Kingdom had a son whom he named Anardil. That Anardil grew up to rule as the famous sixth King of Númenor, who allied himself with Gil-galad and founded Númenor’s first footholds in Middle-earth, though he ruled under the better known name of Tar-Aldarion.

* Anardil (King of Gondor)|Anardil

The sixth King of Gondor.

–—

Anardil son of Eärendil succeeded his father to become the ruler of Gondor.

Anardil’s reign over Gondor was uneventful. He is perhaps most notable as the last of Gondor’s Kings to dwell exclusively in Osgiliath, since his son Ostoher was to set the precedent of the Kings spending summer in Minas Anor, the citadel later known as Minas Tirith.

Anardil ruled Gondor for eighty-seven years, and was succeeded by his son, Ostoher.

* Anárion|Anarion

Younger son of Elendil, who with his father and his brother Isildur escaped from the Drowning of Númenor and founded in Middle-earth the Númenórean realms in exile; lord of Minas Anor; slain in the siege of Barad-dûr.

* Anarríma|Anarrima

Name of a constellation.

* Anborn

A tracker of Ithilien.

A Man of Gondor and Ranger of Ithilien, who tracked Gollum in the last days of the War of the Ring. His captain Faramir overruled his desire to kill the creature; if Gollum had died, Sauron would almost certainly have been victorious.

* Ancalagon

Ancalagon the Black. Greatest of the winged dragons of Morgoth, destroyed by Eärendil.

–—

‘Rushing Jaws’, the mightiest of Morgoth’s winged dragons, loosed from Angband against the host of the Valar at the end of the War of Wrath.

Even that mighty army was driven back by the onset of Ancalagon and his vassals, but Eärendil came through the sky in Vingilot to do battle with the dragon armada, and he was aided by Thorondor and the Eagles. They fought for twenty-four hours, until Eärendil at last slew Ancalagon, who fell on the mountains of Thangorodrim and destroyed them in his ruin.

* Ancalimë (tree)|Ancalimë|Ancalime

Name given by Aldarion to the tree from Eressëa that he planted in Armenelos.

* Andor

A name of Númenor, meaning ‘the Land of Gift’.

* Andram

‘Long Wall’, name of the dividing hills that ran across Beleriand from west to east.

* Andrast

‘Long Cape’, the mountainous promontory between the rivers Isen and Lefnui. See Ras Morthil, Drúwaith Iaur.

–—

The long peninsula, also called Ras Morthil, that jutted out into the Great Sea to the west of Gondor. Its name means ‘long horn’.

* Andrath

‘Long Climb’, defile between the Barrow-downs and the South Downs through which the North-South Road (Greenway) passed.

* Andróg|Androg

A Man of Dor-lómin, a leader of the outlaw-band (Gaurwaith) joined by Túrin Turambar after he fled from Doriath.

* Androth

Caves in the hills of Mithrim where Tuor dwelled with the Grey-elves and afterwards as a solitary outlaw.

* Anduin

The ‘Long River’, east of the Misty Mountains; referred to also as the Great River and the River. See Ethir Anduin, Langflood.

–—

The Great River that ran for hundreds of miles southwards through Middle-earth, until it reached the sea in the Bay of Belfalas.

* Andúnië|Andunie

‘Sunset’; city and haven on the west coast of Númenor.

–—

The shoreland city ruled by the ancestors of Elendil.

An important city and port in the Andustar region of western Númenor.

The Lords of Andúnië were the ancestors of the Kings of the Dúnedain in Middle-earth.

* Andúril|Anduril

‘Flame of the West’, the sword of Aragorn Elessar, reforged by the Elves of Rivendell from the shards of Elendil’s ancient sword Narsil.

* Andustar

The western promontory of Númenor. Translated ‘Westlands’.

–—

The western promontory of Númenor, separated from the Hyarnustar to the south by the wide Bay of Eldanna. The Andustar formed a very roughly rectangular region, about 150 miles west to east, and 100 miles north to south. To the east, it bordered the Forostar and Mittalmar regions, but in all other directions it was surrounded by the ocean.

The Andustar was a generally fertile region, except along its northern coasts, where the landscape became higher and rockier, and forested by firs. Its western shores were broken by three bays, with the northernmost of these being the Bay of Andúnië. On the high land around this bay, the Númenóreans built the port and city of Andúnië, whose Lords were to be the ancestors of the Kings of Arnor and Gondor.

* Andwise ‘Andy’ Roper|Andwise|Andy

Sam’s rope-making uncle.

–—

The son of Hobson, the Hobbit known as Roper Gamgee, and the eldest brother of Hamfast Gamgee, the Gaffer. Andwise carried on his family’s Tighfield rope-making tradition, a tradition that went back at least three generations to his grandfather Hob Gammidge.

It was Andwise’s younger brother Hamfast who broke the roping tradition, and travelled instead to Hobbiton, where his distant cousin Holman Greenhand was a gardener. Thus, Andwise’s brother Hamfast laid the foundations for the famous Gardner family. Of Andwise’s own descendants, though, we know almost nothing, except that he had one son, named Anson.

* Anfalas

Fief of Gondor; coastal region between the mouths of the rivers Lefnui and Morthond. In Westron translated ‘Langstrand’.

–—

A shoreland fief of Gondor.

The long strip of shoreland territory that lay between the Rivers Lefnui and Morthond, bounded to the north by the Green Hills of Pinnath Gelin.

Anfalas is this land’s Elvish name. Its name in the Common Speech, Langstrand had the same meaning: ‘long shore’.

* Anfauglir

A name of the wolf Carcharoth, translated as ‘Jaws of Thirst’.

* Anfauglith

Name of the plain of Ard-galen after its desolation by Morgoth in the Battle of Sudden Flame; translated as ‘the Gasping Dust’. See Dor-nu-Fauglith.

–—

The Gasping Dust north of Beleriand.

The charred desert to the north of Beleriand, created by the flames of Morgoth in the Dagor Bragollach.

* Angainor

The chain wrought by Aulë with which Melkor was twice bound.

–—

The mighty chain with which the Valar held Melkor captive for three ages in the Halls of Mandos.

* Angband

‘Iron Prison’, ‘Hells of Iron’, the great dungeon-fortress of Morgoth in the North-west of Middle-earth.

–—

The Hells of Iron.

Angband was a mighty fortified citadel originally constructed by Melkor in the earliest days of the world as an outlying fortress to his northern stronghold of Utumno. Utumno was destroyed by the Valar, and Melkor imprisoned in Valinor for three ages, but on his return to Middle-earth, he took Angband as the seat of his power, and raised the towers of Thangorodrim above its gates.

Angband was beseiged by the Noldor during the early part of the First Age, but the Siege of Angband was broken at the Dagor Bragollach. It was finally destroyed by the forces of the Valar at the end of the First Age, in the War of the Wrath.

–—

Origins and History: Melkor built Angband during the Years of the Trees, originally as an outlying fortress and armoury to his great northern citadel at Utumno. It was commanded from its first construction by Sauron, the chief of Melkor’s servants. Angband was built near the northwestern shores of the Great Sea in the range of the Iron Mountains, as a first defence against any attack on Melkor’s realm from the Valar in Aman.

When the Valar captured Melkor and took him in chains back to Valinor, Angband was largely destroyed and lay in ruins for many thousands of years, although beneath the ruins lay many hidden chambers in which some of Melkor’s servants escaped the Valar’s assault. Sauron was one of these, and the Balrogs lay hid with him in Angband’s deepest vaults.

Angband re-entered history when Melkor escaped Valinor with the stolen Silmarils: he chose the ruined fortress as his new capital, and rebuilt the Hells of Iron as a base for the dark reign he intended for the lands of Middle-earth.

Soon after the Return of the Noldor to Beleriand, Morgoth took Maedhros Fëanor’s son by deceit and trickery, and hung him by the wrist from the towers of Thangorodrim above Angband. He was rescued by Fingon and Thorondor, but lost his right hand.

The third of the great battles in the Wars of Beleriand, the Dagor Aglareb, had profound consequences for Angband. Until that time (about the year 75 of the First Age), Morgoth sent out hosts of Orcs in the hope of taking the Noldor by surprise. The Noldor, though, chased these Orcs back to the very gates of Angband, and slew them to the last creature.

From then until the Dagor Bragollach in I 455, a period of almost 400

years, Angband was surrounded by the Noldor; this is the time known as the Siege of Angband.

–—

Appearance and Construction: Angband was primarily an underground fortress, at least after its initial destruction by the Valar in the Years of the Trees. Like its prototype, Utumno, it had many hidden underground chambers and vaults far beneath the earth. Its main features above ground were the three peaks of the Thangorodrim, mighty towers of ash and slag raised above Angband’s gates.

The peaks of Thangorodrim were hollow, and from them channels and chimneys ran down to the deepest pits of Angband. So, Morgoth could produce poisonous clouds and vapours, as indeed he sent against the Noldor in Mithrim during the first days after their Return.

* Angbor

Sturdy Lord of Lamedon.

The Lord of Lamedon at the time of the War of the Ring. Famed for his fearlessness in the face of the Grey Host of the Dead, he aided Aragorn in his march to Minas Tirith. He marshalled a force from the southern lands, and rode to garrison the City of Gondor after the departure of Aragorn and the Captains of the West.

* Angelimar

Twentieth Prince of Dol Amroth, grandfather of Imrahil.

* Angerthas

The Runes.

An Elvish term for Runic writing, said to have the literal meaning of

‘long Rune-rows’. There were numerous variants, but the two principle forms were the Angerthas Daeron, used by the Elves to represent Sindarin, and the Angerthas Moria, the classical form used by the Dwarves.

* Anghabar

‘Iron-delvings’, a mine in the Encircling Mountains about the plain of Gondolin.

* Anglachel

The sword made from meteoric iron that Thingol received from Eöl and which he gave to Beleg; after its reforging for Túrin named Gurthang.

–—

The mate of Anguirel.

‘Iron of the Flaming Star’, the sword forged by Eöl the Dark Elf and borne by Beleg of Doriath. It was later reforged as Túrin’s black sword, Gurthang.

* Angmar

The Witch-realm ruled by the Lord of the Nazgûl at the northern end of the Misty Mountains.

–—

The northern reaches of the Misty Mountains, around Carn Dûm, realm of the Witch-king (the Lord of the Nazgûl) in the far north of the Misty Mountains. Angmar made war unceasingly with Arthedain and its allies, and eventually destroyed them, but was itself destroyed by an army of Gondor.

* Angrenost

‘Iron Fortress’, the Sindarin name for Isengard, the fortress of Saruman at the head of the River Isen.

* Angrim

Father of Gorlim the Unhappy.

* Angrist

‘Iron-cleaver’, the knife made by Telchar of Nogrod, taken from Curufin by Beren and used by him to cut the Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown.

–—

‘Iron-cutter’, the knife made by Telchar of Nogrod and borne in the First Age by Curufin the son of Fëanor. It was taken from him by Beren, who used it to cut free a Silmaril from the Iron Crown of Morgoth.

* Angrod

Noldorin prince, the third son of Finarfin, who with his brother Aegnor held the northern slopes of Dorthonion; slain in the Dagor Bragollach.

–—

The son of Finarfin and elder brother of Galadriel; he held Dorthonion with his brother Aegnor, and was lost in the Dagor Bragollach.

* Anguirel

Eöl’s sword, made of the same metal as Anglachel.

–—

One of a pair of iron-cutting swords forged by Eöl, the Dark Elf, from an iron meteorite. Anguirel’s mate was Anglachel, which Eöl gave to Thingol in payment for leave to dwell in Nan Elmoth, and that sword went on to perform many mighty deeds - reforged as Gurthang, it was the sword that Túrin used to kill Glaurung.

Anguirel’s history is far more mysterious. The only specific detail we have is that Eöl kept it for himself, but it was stolen by his son Maeglin. This must have happened when Maeglin and his mother Aredhel fled Nan Elmoth for Gondolin, so presumably the sword was taken to Turgon’s Hidden City. What became of it after that is unknown.

* Annael

Grey-elf of Mithrim, fosterfather of Tuor.

–—

A Sindarin Elf, the foster-father of Tuor during his early years in Mithrim.

* Annatar

‘Lord of Gifts’, name given to himself by Sauron in the Second Age, in that time when he appeared in a fair form among the Eldar who remained in Middle-earth. See Artano, Aulendil.

–—

A name meaning ‘Lord of Gifts’; the identity used by Sauron to seduce the Elves of Eregion.

* Annon-in-Gelydh

‘Gate of the Noldor’, entrance to a subterranean watercourse in the western hills of Dor-lómin, leading to Cirith Ninniach.

–—

The hidden Gate of the Noldor.

The Sindarin name for the lost Gate of the Noldor, found after years of searching by Tuor, and used by him to escape Hithlum and find his way into Nevrast.

* Annúminas|Annuminas

‘Tower of the West’ (i.e. of Westernesse, Númenor); city of the Kings of Arnor beside Lake Nenuial; afterwards restored by King Elessar.

–—

Ancient seat of the Kings of Arnor.

The city of the Kings of Arnor, on the shores of Nenuial. The city was founded by Elendil himself, on the shores of the northern lake Nenuial, near the sources of the Baranduin. It was the chief city of the Kings of Arnor for several centuries, and home to one of the three palantíri of the North-Kingdom.

The available evidence suggests that the city survived for nearly a thousand years. In the early days of Arnor, it must have been one of the glories of Middle-earth. Soon after its founding, though, the numbers of the Dúnedain of the North began to dwindle. The population of Annúminas seems to have fallen throughout its history, until eventually it was deserted, and the Kings removed to Fornost to the east.

It seems likely that the people of Annúminas were dependent on the River Baranduin for their contact with the outside world. While the Hills of Evendim surrounded the city to the west and south, the city’s people could reach the other cities of the Dúnedain that lay along the river by boat.

After the city’s desertion, it fell into decay, but two relics of its greatness survived: its palantír and the Sceptre of Annúminas. The palantír remained in Middle-earth for more than a millennium after the loss of its city, but was ultimately drowned with Arvedui in the cold northern seas.

The silver Sceptre of Annúminas was the symbol of Kingship in the North-kingdom. A very ancient thing, it was originally the rod of office of the Númenórean Lords of Andúnië. Though it would have been removed to Fornost by the Kings, and eventually came to be kept by Elrond in Rivendell, it retained the name of its ancient home of Annúminas.

At the time of the coronation of Aragorn at the end of the Third Age, Annúminas had lain in ruins for more than two thousand years. There are hints in The History of Middle-earth though, that Aragorn refounded the city and may even have made it his capital. No definite statement on this matter appears in the canonical works, though, so this must be considered speculation.

* Anor

An Elvish name for the Sun.

The name for the Sun in the Sindarin language. It appears in many names, including Minas Anor, the original name for Minas Tirith, meaning ‘Tower of the Setting Sun’. It is also seen in the flower-name elanor,

‘sunstar’, and perhaps in the title Gandalf claimed for himself on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, ‘wielder of the flame of Anor’.

* Anor-stone|Stone of Anor

The palantír of Minas Anor.

The Gondorian palantír kept at Minas Tirith, taking its name from the older title of that city, Minas Anor. This was the seeing-stone used by Denethor during the War of the Ring.

* Anórien|Anorien

Region of Gondor north of Ered Nimrais.

–—

That region of Gondor that lay at the eastern feet of the White Mountains, land under the direct control of the city of Minas Anor (later Minas Tirith).

* Apanónar|Apanonar

‘The Afterborn’, an Elvish name for Men.

* Apes|Ape

Forest creatures from the southern lands.

Creatures from the dark forests in the south of Middle-earth. Though they seem to have been unknown in the northern lands, the Orcs used their name as a favourite form of insult.

* Appledore Family|Appledore

A family name of the Big Folk of Bree. Only one member of the family appears in Tolkien’s works - Rowlie Appledore, who was killed in fighting at Bree during the War of the Ring.

* Ar-Abattârik|Ar-Abattarik

Adûnaic name of Tar-Ardamin.

* Ar-Adûnakhôr|Ar-Adunakhor

Twentieth King of Númenor, named in Quenya Tar-Herunúmen.

–—

The twentieth ruler of Númenor. He turned away from the Valar and the Elves, and was the first King to take a name in Adûnaic.

* Ar-Belzagar

Adûnaic name of Tar-Calmacil.

Tar-Calmacil was a great warrior who succeeded his father Tar-Alcarin to become the eighteenth King of Númenor. In his time, the falling away of the Númenóreans that had begun centuries earlier in the reign of Tar-Atanamir became stronger, and he was the first King whose name was translated into the native Adûnaic speech of Númenor: Ar-Belzagar. Both names apparently mean ‘King Light-sword’, a reference to his warlike youth.

* Ar-Gimilzôr|Ar-Gimilzor|Gimilzôr|Gimilzor Twenty-third King of Númenor, persecutor of the Elendili. Named in Quenya Tar-Telemnar.

–—

The twenty-third King of Númenor, the father of Tar-Palantir and grandfather of Ar-Pharazôn, the last King. He was an enemy of the Faithful and the Elf-friends, and persecuted them during his reign.

* Ar-Inziladûn|Ar-Inziladun

Adûnaic name of Tar-Palantir.

* Ar-Pharazôn|Ar-Pharazon

‘The Golden’, twenty-fifth and last King of Númenor, who perished in the Downfall; named in Quenya Tar-Calion; captor of Sauron, by whom he was seduced; commander of the great fleet that went against Aman.

–—

Twenty-fifth and last King of Númenor. He assailed Mordor and brought Sauron back to Númenor as a hostage, but Sauron seduced him, and persuaded him to sail on Valinor itself. As punishment for this act, the island of Númenor sank beneath the waves of the Great Sea.

* Ar-Sakalthôr|Ar-Sakalthor

Twenty-second Ruler of Númenor; named in Quenya Tar-Falassion. Father of Ar-Gimilzôr.

* Ar-Zimrathon

Twenty-first ruler of Númenor; named in Quenya Tar-Hostamir.

* Aradan

Sindarin name of Malach, son of Marach.

* Arador

The grandfather of Aragorn.

The fourteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain, descended in right line from Aranarth the son of Arvedui. While still a young man by the account of the Dúnedain, he was captured by Hill-trolls in the fells north of Rivendell, and slain. He was succeeded by his son, who led the Dúnedain as Arathorn II, and was in turn succeeded by his own son, Aragorn.

* Araglas

Sixth Chieftain of the Dúnedain, son of Aragorn I and direct ancestor of Aragorn II Elessar.

* Aragorn I|Aragorn

A remote ancestor of Aragorn of the Fellowship of the Ring.

The heir of Aravir, who ruled as fifth Chieftain of the Dúnedain for just eight short years. He met an untimely end as the prey of wild wolves, and was succeeded by his son Araglas.

* Aragorn II Elessar|Aragorn

Son of Arathorn, the thirty-ninth Heir of Isildur in the direct line; King of the reunited realms of Arnor and Gondor after the War of the Ring; wedded Arwen, daughter of Elrond. See: Elessar, Elf-stone, Estel, Strider, Thorongil.

–—

Heir of Isildur through thirty-nine generations, Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North and, after the War of the Ring, King of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor. Called by Gandalf ‘the greatest traveller and huntsman in this age of the world’, Aragorn experienced many great adventures, and travelled to many distant lands, before claiming his kingship.

* Aragost

Eighth Chieftain of the Dúnedain, son of Arahad I and direct ancestor of Aragorn II Elessar.

* Arahad I|Arahad

Seventh of the Chieftains to rule the Dúnedain after the loss of Arthedain, Arahad was the son of Araglas of the line of Isildur. Early in his reign, the Watchful Peace came to an end as Sauron returned to Dol Guldur, and soon afterwards the White Council was formed. Some years later, Orcs that had been secretly establishing themselves in the Misty Mountains suddenly revealed themselves, and the roads eastward into Eriador became all but impassable. Arahad’s reign lasted sixty-eight years; he was succeeded by his son, Aragost.

* Arahad II|Arahad

Tenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain, son of Aravorn and direct ancestor of Aragorn II Elessar.

* Arahael

The second Chieftain of the Dúnedain.

Arahael was the first of Isildur’s Heirs to be born after the destruction of the North-kingdom. His father Aranarth therefore gave him over to Elrond, to be fostered in Rivendell, and this became the custom of the Chieftains of the North.

Some decades before Arahael assumed the leadership of his people, Gandalf had gone to Dol Guldur and driven its master into the east. The Witch-king, who had ravaged the realm of Arahael’s grandfather Arvedui two generations before, was far to the south in Minas Morgul. So, Arahael led the Dúnedain during the time known as the Watchful Peace, and was untroubled by war.

Arahael served as Chieftain of the Dúnedain for seventy-one years. He was succeeded by his son Aranuir.

* Araman

Barren wasteland on the coast of Aman, between the Pelóri and the Sea, extending northward to the Helcaraxë.

–—

The narrow coastlands of Aman, north of Valinor, that lay east beyond the mountain-fence of the Pelóri.

* Aranarth

First of the Chieftains of the Dúnedain.

The elder son of King Arvedui of Arthedain, who would have become King himself in turn, if not for the destruction of his father’s Kingdom by the Witch-king of Angmar. When Aranarth was still a young man by the reckoning of his people, the Witch-king’s armies swept into Arthedain and overran it. Fornost was taken, but the King and his son escaped. Arvedui fled into the north, but Aranarth, like most of his people, escaped westwards across the River Lhûn into Lindon.

At Aranarth’s urging, Círdan sent a ship into the north to recover his father, but it never returned. It was later learned that the ship had rescued Arvedui, but had been lost with him aboard in the icy northern seas. So Aranarth inherited the leadership of the scattered and diminished northern Dúnedain, but he took the title Chieftain, rather than King, since his father’s realm was lost.

The Dúnedain were to have their revenge soon after, though, with the arrival of the Gondorian prince and general Eärnur, the son and heir of Eärnil II. He sailed into Lindon, and then marched eastwards to rout the armies of Angmar. Of Aranarth’s activities during this campaign we know nothing, but all available evidence suggests that he was in Lindon when Eärnur arrived there, and so it seems very likely that he marched with Eärnur’s forces and saw the defeat of his ancient enemy with his own eyes.

Aranarth served as Chieftain of the Dúnedain for 131 years. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Arahael.

* Arandor

The ‘Kingsland’ of Númenor.

The important central region of Númenor, around the island’s capital at Armenelos. It was almost landlocked, but it met the Sea in the far east, where the great port of Rómenna lay. From there, a road ran westward to Armenelos and then on to the Meneltarma on the western borders of Arandor.

* Arandur

A title literally meaning ‘King’s Servant’, ‘Minister’. This was the actual title of the Stewards of Gondor - ‘Steward’ is an English approximation of the Quenya Arandur.

* Aranel

‘Noble Elf’, a title of Dior Eluchíl, Thingol’s Heir.

* Aranrúth|Aranruth

‘King’s Ire’, the name of Thingol’s sword. Aranrúth survived the ruin of Doriath and was possessed by the Kings of Númenor.

* Arantar

The fifth King of Arnor.

The fifth King to rule over the North-kingdom, son of Eldacar, grandson of Valandil and great-grandson of Isildur himself. Though his reign spanned nearly a century, we have no records of events that took place in that time. He was succeeded as King by his son Tarcil.

* Aranuir

The third of the Chieftains of the Dúnedain, the son of Arahael and great-grandson of Arvedui Last-King. He was the direct ancestor of Aragorn Elessar through thirteen generations.

* Aranwë|Aranwe

Elf of Gondolin, father of Voronwë.

–—

The father of Voronwë the mariner.

An Elf of the House of Fingolfin. Though not much is known about him for sure, he seems to have been a nobleman of Gondolin (at least, his name means ‘noble one’, and his son Voronwë came from Turgon’s Hidden City).

* Aranwion

The surname of Voronwë.

The surname of Voronwë in Gondolin. Aranwion is a patronymic, meaning simply ‘son of Aranwë’ (his father’s name Aranwë means ‘noble one’).

* Araphant

Arthedain’s penultimate King.

At the time Araphant inherited his kingdom from his father Araval, Arthedain was already in desperate straits. The Witch-king of Angmar had been beleaguering the northern lands for nearly five hundred years, and Arthedain’s resistance was beginning to fail.

The one hope that Araphant had left was to renew the ancient bond with the South-kingdom of Gondor, which was at that time suffering losses itself at the hands of the Wainriders. He forged an alliance with King Ondoher of Gondor, and sealed it with the wedding of his son Arvedui to Ondoher’s daughter Fíriel. Araphant’s foresight failed to bring help to his kingdom, though, since Gondor itself was under sustained attack and could send no troops to his aid.

Four years after the alliance was made, Ondoher fell in battle with the Wainriders, and the South-kingdom was left Kingless. Araphant’s heir Arvedui made a claim to the Kingship of Gondor, which would have reunited the two Kingdoms, but Steward Pelendur moved the Gondorians to reject it.

Araphant ruled Arthedain for seventy-three years. He was succeeded by his son Arvedui, who would be the last of the northern Kings.

* Araphor

The ninth King of Arthedain.

The son of Arveleg I came early to the throne of Arthedain. While he was still in his youth (probably no more than eighteen years old), the Witch-king of Angmar launched a mighty invasion of his kingdom, that came close to destroying it. Araphor’s father Arveleg fought in the defence of the Tower of Amon Sûl, and his early death in that battle brought Araphor to the throne.

Records of the events of this time are incomplete, but it seems that the Witch-king laid siege to the royal city of Fornost. The young Araphor went to war with aid from Círdan and the Elves of Lindon, and succeeded in relieving the siege and driving back the forces of Angmar.

After Araphor’s defeat of Angmar, there is no record of further warfare during his long reign. Nonetheless, he ruled a diminished and dwindling people; the wars of his youth had seen the Northern Dúnedain come close to destruction. Rhudaur was now a tributary state to Angmar, and the Dúnedain of Cardolan were all but extinct.

Araphor ruled Arthedain for one hundred and eighty years, and was succeeded by his son, named for Araphor’s heroic grandfather Argeleb, who ruled as Argeleb II.

* Arassuil

The eleventh Chieftain to lead the Northern Dúnedain, the son and heir of Arahad II. His time as Chieftain saw great troubles grow in the Northlands. Orcs from the Misty Mountains boldly invaded the western lands, and were fought back by Arassuil’s Rangers and the household of Elrond. Arassuil was succeeded as Chieftain by his son Arathorn I.

* Aratan

The second son of Isildur, slain with his father and his brothers Elendur and Ciryon in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields.

* Aratar

‘The Exalted’, or High Ones of Arda: the eight Valar of greatest power.

–—

The highest of the Powers.

–—

“Among [the Valar] Nine were of chief power and reverence; but one is removed from their number, and Eight remain, the Aratar, the High Ones of Arda…”

(Valaquenta)

–—

The eight greatest of the Valar: Manwë, Varda, Ulmo, Yavanna, Aulë, Mandos, Nienna and Oromë. Though Manwë was held to be the High King of Arda, all these eight were held in equal reverence, and were said to possess a majesty that surpassed even the other Valar.

It seems clear from the quotation above that the Aratar were originally nine, and included Melkor (probably as the greatest of them), but he was removed from this ‘order’ after his rebellion.

* Arathorn I|Arathorn

Twelfth of the Chieftains of the Dúnedain.

The son of Chieftain Arassuil, who led the Northern Dúnedain in his turn. The great-great-grandfather of Aragorn Elessar, he ruled in the North for sixty-four years, and died an untimely death. He was succeeded by his son Argonui.

* Arathorn II|Arathorn

The son of Chieftain Arador of the Dúnedain, and a descendant through many generations of Isildur himself. Of Arathorn’s early life, little is known. He first appears in annals at the age of fifty-six, seeking the hand of Gilraen as his wife. Gilraen at that time was just twenty-two years old, and though the wedding was opposed by her father Dírhael, she became Arathorn’s wife.

The following year, Arathorn’s father Arador was slain by Trolls, and Arathorn took on the title of Chieftain of the Dúnedain. Gilraen bore him a son, who was given the name Aragorn. Aragorn would not know his father for long - when he was just two years old, Arathorn went hunting Orcs, and was shot through the eye by an arrow. After Arathorn’s loss, Gilraen took their son to Rivendell to be fostered by Elrond.

Arathorn II served as Chieftain of the Dúnedain for just three years. He was succeeded by his only son, who would become Chieftain Aragorn II, and in time King Elessar of the Reunited Kingdom of the Dúnedain.

* Araval

The thirteenth King of Arthedain.

The son of Arveleg II was born into a time of war and strife. At the time of his birth, his father’s realm of Arthedain had been under threat from the eastern land of Angmar for more than four hundred years.

Araval, too, played his part in the war with Angmar. The Lord of the Rings tells us nothing of his career, but The History of Middle-earth hints (in volume 12) that he was a diplomat and a warrior. In alliance with the Elves of Lindon and Imladris, he won at least one important victory over the Witch-king of Angmar. We are also told that he attempted the recolonisation of Cardolan, though this was prevented by the evil beings, the wights, sent there by the Witch-king some two centuries before.

In the end, though, Araval’s bravery counted for little. His grandson Arvedui, who was born in Araval’s lifetime and just thirteen years after his great victory, was to see the final destruction of the kingdom of Arthedain.

Araval ruled Arthedain for seventy-eight years, and was succeeded by his son Araphant.

* Aravir

The fourth Chieftain of the Dúnedain.

The son of Aranuir, who led the Dúnedain of the North during the closing years of the Watchful Peace. It was Aravir, it seems, who devised the name ‘Aragorn’; he gave it to his son, who succeeded him as Chieftain Aragorn I. The Aragorn of the The Lord of the Rings was his distant descendant, Aragorn II of the line of Isildur.

* Aravorn

The ninth Chieftain to rule the Dúnedain since the loss of Arthedain. He led the Rangers for sixty-six years, and was succeeded by his son, who became Chieftain Arahad II. Aravorn was a direct ancestor of Aragorn II Elessar, through seven generations.

* Araw

The Sindarin form of the name of the Vala Oromë.

* Archet

Forest village of Bree-land.

The most remote of the settlements of the Bree-land, set among the trees on the edge of the Chetwood, somewhat to the east of Bree itself.

* Ard-galen

The great grassy plain north of Dorthonion, called after its desolation Anfauglith and Dor-nu-Fauglith. The name means ‘the Green Region’. See Calenardhon (Rohan).

–—

The wide green plain that lay between the northern fences of Beleriand and Morgoth’s fortress of Angband; it was destroyed by flame in the Dagor Bragollach and renamed Anfauglith.

* Arda

‘The Realm’, name of the Earth as the Kingdom of Manwë.

–—

The World.

In the language of the Elder Days, ‘Arda’ signified the World and all that is in it. Arda was created through the Music of the Ainur to be a dwelling place for the Children of Ilúvatar (that is, Elves and Men).

Originally a flat world, the continents were surrounded by a mighty ocean, Ekkaia or the Encircling Sea, and separated by Belegaer, called the Great Sea. In the First Age, the regions to the north and west of Middle-earth (the bay of Forochel) were occupied by the country of Beleriand, but this was destroyed during the tumults of the War of Wrath.

In the Second Age, the isle of Númenor was raised in the Great Sea for the Edain to dwell on. This island existed through most of the Second Age, but was destroyed in the Downfall of Númenor as a result of the pride of the Númenorean people in defying the Ban of the Valar and sailing to Aman in the west.

After the Downfall, the shape of Arda was changed, and it was made

‘bent’ (or ‘round’ as we should say in modern terms). Aman was taken out of the world, and could only be reached by the Elves, following the straight road that was granted to them. As Aman was taken away from Arda, new lands and continents were created. From the late Second Age onwards, the World began to take the shape that we know today.

* Aredhel Ar-Feiniel|Ar-Feiniel

‘Noble Elf’, the sister of Turgon of Gondolin, who was ensnared by Eöl in Nan Elmoth and bore to him Maeglin; called also Ar-Feiniel, the White Lady of the Noldor, the White Lady of Gondolin.

–—

The White Lady of the Noldor.

Sister of Fingon and Turgon, Aredhel was accounted one of the noblest of the Noldor. She dwelt with Turgon in Gondolin, but straying from the city she was ensnared by Eöl the Dark Elf and taken as his wife. She bore him a son, Maeglin, and when Maeglin was full-grown they escaped together to Turgon’s city. Eöl followed them, however, and attempted to slay his son with a poisoned dart. Aredhel sprang to take the dart, however, and died of its poison.

* Argeleb I|Argeleb

The seventh King of Arthedain.

The son of Malvegil, who sought to reunify the lost kingdom of Arnor under his Kingship. Since the Dúnedain in Cardolan and Rhudaur had dwindled in numbers, Argeleb tried to refound Arnor around his own kingdom of Arthedain. He failed, largely through the machinations of the Witch-king of Angmar, and instead an open war broke out in which Argeleb himself was slain.

* Argeleb II|Argeleb

Tenth King of Arthedain, son of Araphor, and direct ancestor of Aragorn II Elessar.

* Argonath

‘King-stones’, the Pillars of the Kings. Two mighty statues, carved in the likenesses of Isildur and Anárion, that guarded the passage of the Great River Anduin. They marked the ancient northern border of Gondor.

* Argonui

The thirteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain, who inherited the title when his father Arathorn I was slain by wolves. The end of his rule saw the coming of the Fell Winter to the north. He was succeeded by his son Arador, who was the grandfather of Aragorn Elessar.

* Arien

A Maia, chosen by the Valar to guide the vessel of the Sun.

–—

Called the Sun-maiden, Arien was a spirit of fire who seems originally to have belonged to the Maiar of Vána. When the Valar set the Sun in the sky, Arien was given the task of guiding its course.

* Arkenstone

The Heart of the Mountain of Erebor.

–—

“It was like a globe with a thousand faces; it shone like silver in the firelight, like water in the sun, like snow under the stars, like rain upon the Moon!”

(The Hobbit 12, Inside Information)

–—

The great jewel discovered beneath the roots of Erebor by Thráin I soon after the establishment of the Dwarf-kingdom there, and prized by his descendants as the Heart of the Mountain. The Dwarves used all their skill to work the gem into a shimmering multi-faceted jewel that not only shone by its own pale light, but when light fell upon it, the stone ‘…

changed it into ten thousand sparks of white radiance shot with glints of the rainbow.’ (The Hobbit 13, Not at Home). It was a heavy gem, small enough for Bilbo to hold in one hand, yet not so small that he could close his own small hand around it.

In the centuries after its discovery, the Arkenstone became an heirloom of the Kings of Durin’s Folk. It was carried away into the Grey Mountains by Thráin’s son, and in time brought back to the Great Hall of Thráin under the Mountain by his descendant Thrór. When Smaug sacked Erebor, the Arkenstone was lost to the Dwarves of Durin’s Folk - it lay among Smaug’s booty in the halls of Erebor.

Many years later, when Thorin led a band of Dwarves to recover their ancient city, their companion Bilbo Baggins discovered the Arkenstone, and kept it for himself. Later, when the Lake-men and Wood-elves came to demand their own shares of Smaug’s treasure from Thorin, Bilbo delivered the Arkenstone to them to bargain with. In the ensuing Battle of Five Armies, though, all enmities were forgotten, and Bard of Dale placed the Heart of the Mountain on the breast of Thorin in his tomb beneath Erebor.

So, nearly a thousand years after its discovery by Thráin I, the Arkenstone was buried once more in the depths beneath the Lonely Mountain.

* Armenelos

The royal city of Númenor.

The mighty city in the central regions of Númenor, where the island’s Kings dwelt.

* Arminas

Noldorin Elf, who with Gelmir came upon Tuor at Annon-in-Gelydh, and afterwards went to Nargothrond to warn Orodreth of its peril.

–—

With Gelmir, one of two messengers sent by Círdan to Nargothrond in the First Age. Their message, that the bridge before the doors of Nargothrond should be demolished, was ignored, leading to the destruction of that citadel by Glaurung.

* Arnach

Pre-Númenórean name of Lossarnach.

* Arnor

‘Land of the King’, the northern realm of the Númenóreans in Middle-earth, established by Elendil after his escape from the Drowning of Númenor.

–—

The North-kingdom of the Dúnedain.

Founded by Elendil in the last years of the Second Age, Arnor was the great kingdom of Men in the north of Middle-earth. It lay between the Misty Mountains in the east, and the Blue Mountains on the borders of Lindon in the west, and encompassed the area where the Shire would be founded many years later. Its capital, and the seat of its Kings, was at Annúminas on Lake Nenuial.

Elendil fell in the Siege of Barad-dûr in II 3441, and his eldest son Isildur, who would have taken the rulership, was lost two years later as he journeyed back from the southlands with his three eldest sons. These were also slain by Orcs at the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. Isildur’s youngest son Valandil, however, had not gone to the war, and was kept safe in Rivendell; he was accounted the third King of Arnor, though Isildur had never taken the throne.

The tenth and last King of Arnor was Eärendur. After his death in III 861, his three sons each made claims of succession. This led to the break-up of Arnor into three separate but related kingdoms; Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur. Eärendur’s eldest son, Amlaith of Fornost, became King of Arthedain, and is considered the true heir to the line of Isildur.

* Arod

The steed of Legolas and Gimli.

A light horse of Rohan, whose name means simply ‘swift’. After the loss of his original rider, Arod was given to Legolas by Éomer, and he served his new rider faithfully throughout the War of the Ring. For much of this time, Arod carried two riders, since Legolas was often accompanied by his friend Gimli.

* Aros

The southern river of Doriath.

–—

A river of eastern Beleriand that rose in the northern lands around Himring, and flowed into the Sirion at Aelin-uial.

* Arossiach|Fords of Aros

The Fords of Aros, near the north-eastern edge of Doriath.

–—

The crossing of the Aros.

The ford on the upper reaches of the River Aros, where the long and perilous road through Nan Dungortheb crossed eastward into the lands of West Beleriand.

* Arroch

The horse of Húrin of Dor-lómin.

* Artamir

Elder son of Ondoher King of Gondor; slain in the battle with the Wainriders.

–—

The lost heir of Ondoher.

The elder son and heir of King Ondoher of Gondor, who marched with his father to war with the Wainriders. Ondoher’s force met with a surprise assault beneath the Black Gate of the Morannon, where the King and his son Artamir were slain. It was later discovered that Artamir’s younger brother Faramir had also ridden to war, against the laws and customs of Gondor, and had himself been lost in the battle, leaving Gondor without a King.

A political crisis ensued, in which Arvedui the northern King of Arthedain pressed a strong claim to the Crown of Gondor. Arvedui’s claim was rejected by Steward Pelendur and the Council of Gondor, who instead gave the Kingship to Eärnil, the victorious Captain who also belonged to the Royal House. Eärnil’s line was short-lived, however, and ended with the presumed loss of his son Eärnur in Minas Morgul.

The loss of Artamir was a turning point in the history of Middle-earth.

Had he not perished, the line of Kings would almost certainly have survived the coming crisis and lasted into the third millennium of the Third Age. A thousand years later, Aragorn would have found Minas Tirith ruled not by a Steward but by a legitimate King, so preventing him from claiming the Crown himself. The unknown Wainrider who cut down Artamir, then, unknowingly paved the way for the reunification of Arnor and Gondor more than a thousand years later.

* Artanis

Name given to Galadriel by her father.

–—

The ‘father-name’ of Galadriel.

It was the custom of the Elves that a child’s father should give a name to his newborn son or daughter, and so when Finarfin’s youngest child was born, his only daughter, he chose the name Artanis, meaning ‘noble woman’. As an adult, Artanis took a different name, a name in the Sindarin tongue meaning ‘radiant garland’ - Galadriel.

* Artano

‘High-smith’, name given to himself by Sauron in the Second Age. See Annatar, Aulendil.

* Arthad

One of the twelve companions of Barahir on Dorthonion.

* Arthedain

One of the three kingdoms into which Arnor was divided in the ninth century of the Third Age; bounded by the rivers Baranduin and Lhûn, extending eastwards to the Weather Hills, and with its chief place at Fornost.

–—

Last Realm of the Northern Kings. One of three kingdoms formed from the breakup of Arnor.

The westernmost region of the lost realm of Arnor; when that land was divided between the sons of Eärendur, Arthedain became a kingdom in its own right, and was ruled by Eärendur’s eldest son Amlaith and his decendants.

* Arthórien|Arthorien

Region between the rivers Aros and Celon in the east of Doriath.

* Arvedui|Last-king

‘Last-king’ of Arthedain, drowned in the Bay of Forochel.

–—

Son of Araphant, the fifteenth and last king of Arthedain. When the forces of Angmar overran the last remnant of the North-kingdom, Arvedui fled into the far north, but perished in the Bay of Forochel. His eldest son, Aranarth, became the first Chieftain of the Dúnedain.

* Arvegil

The eleventh King of Arthedain.

The heir of Argeleb II of Arthedain. During his father’s reign, Arvegil saw events that would shape the history of Middle-earth, including the foundation of the Shire. He was eighty-three years old (no great age for one of the Dúnedain) when the Great Plague came out of the south and ravaged Eriador, but the seat of the Kings at Fornost in the north was little affected.

Arvegil lived for one hundred and ninety years, precisely the same age as his great descendant Aragorn, as is noted in the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings. By the standards of his own ancestors, though, this was an early death. Of all the northern Kings before Arvegil - excepting those slain in battle - only two had lived less than two hundred years: his father Argeleb II and his grandfather Araphor.

Arvegil ruled Arthedain for seventy-three years, and was succeeded by his son, who ruled as Arveleg II.

* Arveleg I|Arveleg

The eighth King of Arthedain.

The beginning and the end of the Arveleg’s reign were forged in battle and in war. He became King when his father Argeleb I went to war with the newly allied lands of Rhudaur and Angmar, and was slain. Arveleg made an alliance of his own, with the Men of Cardolan and the Elves of Lindon, and struck back at the eastern lands.

These two allied forces seem to have cancelled one another out. For more than fifty years, Arveleg was able to hold a defensive line stretching east from Weathertop, through which Angmar could not break. Rivendell did not fall behind this frontier, it seems, and suffered a siege at this time.

At last the balance broke: Angmar gathered its forces and breached the frontier. Crossing the River Hoarwell, its armies marched westward and surrounded Weathertop, destroying its Tower and sending the troops of Arthedain in retreat back to Fornost. Arveleg died in that assault, and his young son Araphor came to the throne.

Arveleg I ruled Arthedain for fifty-three years, and was succeeded by his son, Araphor.

* Arveleg II|Arveleg

The twelfth King of Arthedain.

The son and heir of Arvegil, who ruled Arthedain in a time of war with the northern land of Angmar. He was succeeded by his son Araval.

* Arvernien

The coastlands of Middle-earth west of Sirion’s mouths.

–—

The coastlands of Beleriand to the north of the Bay of Balar.

* Arwen Evenstar|Arwen

Daughter of Elrond and Celebrían; wedded to Aragorn; Queen of Gondor.

–—

Noble Queen to Aragorn II Elessar.

Daughter of Elrond, Arwen forsook her Elven immortality to wed Aragorn II Elessar and become Queen of the Reunited Kingdom. Arwen means ‘Noble maiden’.

* Ascar

The most northerly of the tributaries of Gelion in Ossiriand (afterwards called Rathlóriel). The name means ‘rushing, impetuous’.

–—

Last resting-place of the treasures of Doriath.

The northernmost of the rivers that flowed through Ossiriand, along the northern bank of which lay the Dwarf-road from the Blue Mountains. It was renamed Rathlóriel (‘Goldenbed’) after the sinking of the treasure of Doriath there.

* Asfaloth

The horse of Glorfindel, who bore Frodo Baggins to safety at the Ford of Rivendell.

* Asgon

Man of Dor-lómin, who aided Túrin’s escape after the slaying of Brodda.

* Ash Mountains|Ashen Mountains

A name of the Ered Lithui, the northern mountain-fence of Mordor.

* Ashes|Ash

Spear-wood of the Rohirrim.

Tall, straight, grey trees common in northern lands, and found throughout Middle-earth. The spears of the Rohirrim were made from their wood, as was Gandalf’s staff.

* Asphodel

Pale flowers of the woodland.

Yellow and white flowers found by Frodo and Sam in Ithilien.

* Astaldo

‘The Valiant’, name of the Vala Tulkas.

* Astron

The fourth month of the year according to the Shire Calendar, approximately equivalent to modern April.

* Atalantë|Atalante

A name in Quenya for Númenor after its Downfall, meaning simply ‘The Downfallen’ (see Akallabêth).

* Atanalcar

The youngest of the four children of Elros Tar-Minyatur. His elder brother Vardamir Nólimon became the second King of Númenor.

* Atanatar I|Atanatar

Tenth King of Gondor, son of Turambar and direct descendant of Elendil’s second son Anárion.

* Atanatar II Alcarin|Atanatar

Sixteenth and greatest of the Kings of Gondor, son of Hyarmendacil I and direct descendant of Elendil’s second son Anárion. During his rule, Gondor reached its height, and his surname Alcarin (‘Glorious’) marks this.

* Atanatári|Atanatari

‘Fathers of Men’; see Atani.

* Atani|Atan

‘The Second People’, Men (singular Atan). Since in Beleriand for a long time the only Men known to the Noldor and Sindar were those of the Three Houses of the Elf-friends, this name (in the Sindarin form Adan, plural Edain) became specially associated with them, so that it was seldom applied to other Men who came later to Beleriand, or who were reported to be dwelling beyond the Mountains. But in the speech of Ilúvatar the meaning is ‘Men (in general)’.

–—

An Elvish name for Men, and especially the Men of the Three Houses of the Edain.

* Athelas|Asëa Aranion|asea aranion

An Elvish name for Kingsfoil.

The plant also known as Kingsfoil or Asëa Aranion. Its leaves had healing properties, but by the end of the Third Age knowledge of its use was all but lost in Middle-earth.

* Athrad Angren|Ethraid Engrin

Sindarin name (also in plural form Ethraid Engrin) of the Fords of Isen.

* Aulë|Aule

A Vala, one of the Aratar, the smith and master of crafts, spouse of Yavanna; maker of the Dwarves.

–—

The maker of Middle-earth.

One of the Aratar, the greatest of the Valar, Aulë was the Vala concerned with the substance of Arda; rock and metal. As his name suggests, he was also the builder and inventor of the Valar. He constructed Angainor, the chain of Melkor, and the vessels of the Sun and Moon.

In anticipation of the coming of the Children of Ilúvatar, Elves and Men, Aulë went so far as to create a race of his own, the Dwarves.

Ilúvatar blessed them with life, but would not suffer them to be born before the Elves, so Aulë set them to sleep in Middle-earth until the Elves had awoken.

When the Elves came to Valinor, the Noldor became fascinated by the lore of Aulë, and became his students. Fëanor was his greatest pupil, and from him learned the craft to make the Silmarils.

* Aulëan|Aulean

Of or pertaining to Aulë.

* Aulendil

‘Servant of Aulë’, name given to himself by Sauron in the Second Age. See Annatar, Artano.

* Avallónë|Avallone

Haven and city of the Eldar on Tol Eressëa, so named, according to the Akallabêth, ‘for it is of all cities the nearest to Valinor’.

–—

The haven of the Elves who lived on the isle of Tol Eressëa, off the eastern shores of Aman.

* Avari|Avar

‘The Unwilling’, ‘Those who Refused the Summons’, the name given to all those Elves who refused to join the westward march from Cuiviénen. See Eldar and Dark Elves.

–—

‘The Unwilling’; those of the Elves who refused the summons of the Valar to dwell in Valinor, and remained in the dark wilds of Middle-earth. Some of the Avari, it is said, were corrupted by Melkor in ancient days to become the progenitors of the race of Orcs.

* Avathar

‘The Shadows’, the forsaken land on the coast of Aman south of the Bay of Eldamar, between the Pelóri and the Sea, where Melkor met Ungoliant.

–—

A narrow land in the south of Aman, between the Pelóri mountains and the sea. In ancient times it was the dwelling place of Ungoliant.

* Awakening of Men

The stirring of the first Men, in the far eastern land of Hildórien at the beginning of the First Age.

* Azaghâl|Azaghal

Lord of the Dwarves of Belegost; wounded Glaurung in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and was killed by him.

–—

Lord of Belegost in the Blue Mountains; slain by Glaurung in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

* Azanulbizar

The valley below the East-gate of Moria where in Third Age 2799 was fought the great battle that ended the War of the Dwarves and Orcs.

–—

The deep-shadowed valley of the Dimrill Dale.

The Dwarves’ name for a valley between two arms of the Misty Mountains, called Nanduhirion by the Elves and the Dimrill Dale by Men. Azanulbizar was of vital importance in Dwarvish history: it was here that Durin first looked on the waters of Kheled-zâram and was inspired to found Khazad-dûm. It was here, too, millennia later, that Dwarves destroyed the armies of the Orcs to bring an end to the War of the Dwarves and Orcs.

* Azog

Orc of Moria; slayer of Thrór, and slain himself by Dáin Ironfoot in the Battle of Azanulbizar.

–—

Chieftain of the northern Orcs.

An orc-chieftain of Moria, who started the War of the Dwarves and Orcs when he slew Thrór. He was himself slain by Dáin Ironfoot in the Battle of Azanulbizar, and was succeeded by his son Bolg.

Of Azog’s origins we know little; he was the chief of the Orcs of Moria, and apparently the most important Orc of the northern lands. The average lifespan of an Orc is unknown, but it is conceivable that he was one of those sent to Moria by Sauron in about III 2480. He had one son that we know of, Bolg, who succeeded him after his death.

Azog entered history in the year III 2790 due to King Thrór’s desire to revisit and perhaps refound the lost realm of Khazad-dûm, in whose mighty ruins Azog dwelt. Azog captured and slew Thrór, and branded his hewn head with his own name, AZOG.

When news of this reached Thrór’s heir Thráin, he was greatly angered, and mustered a force of Dwarves to seek revenge on Azog. So began the War of the Dwarves and Orcs: the Dwarves hunted Azog, and many battles were fought beneath the earth. After nine years of war, the climactic Battle of Azanulbizar was fought before the gates of Moria itself.

King Thráin and his son Thorin were in that battle (it was here that Thorin gained the surname Oakenshield). Near the end of the battle, Azog himself emerged and fought with Thráin’s cousin Náin and, after breaking Náin’s neck, his young son Dáin. Though only 32 years old, Dáin swept the head from Azog’s shoulders, and helped to win the day.

The Dwarves made no attempt to press their advantage, though, because Dáin had glimpsed Durin’s Bane during his battle, and warned the Dwarves not to attempt to enter Moria. Azog’s underground dominions in the north, though greatly reduced in the War, fell to his son Bolg, who held them for more than 150 years until he too met his end at the Battle of Five Armies.

* Bag End|Bag-End

Dwelling at Hobbiton in the Shire of Bilbo Baggins, and later of Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee.

–—

The great smial beneath Hobbiton Hill.

A large and comfortable hobbit-hole, well-known as the home of Bilbo Baggins and his heir, Frodo. Its round green door opened into a large, well-appointed hobbit-hole that took up much of the Hill above Hobbiton.

In the tradition of hobbit-holes, all the rooms at Bag End were on the same level, and there were many of these; ‘… bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes ([Bilbo] had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms…’

* Baggins Family|Baggins

A family of Hobbits of the Shire.

–—

An old and important family of Hobbiton.

An old family of the Shire found mostly in the Hobbiton region of the Westfarthing. They had always been an important family in the Shire, and gave rise to the two most important Hobbits of the Third Age, Bilbo the Ring-finder and Frodo the Ring-bearer.

* Bagshot Row

The row of hobbit-holes that were delved into Hobbiton Hill beneath Bag End. They were destroyed in the War of the Ring, and replaced by a new row called, simply, New Row.

* Balan

The name of Bëor the Old before he took service with Finrod.

* Balbo Baggins|Balbo

The earliest recorded member of the Baggins family; great-grandfather of Bilbo the Ring-finder.

* Balchoth

An Easterling people akin to the Wainriders whose invasion of Calenardhon in Third Age 2510 was crushed at the Battle of the Field of Celebrant.

–—

Fierce Easterling enemies of Gondor.

A race of Easterlings under the sway of Dol Guldur, who lived in the lands east of the forest of Mirkwood. In the later Third Age, they attempted an invasion of Gondor, but were repulsed by Cirion and Eorl.

* Bald Hill

The hill of Amon Rûdh, that rose up out of the plainlands south of the Forest of Brethil. It was so named because its peak rose up in bare rock, except for the growth of red seregon there. The hill was originally a settlement of the Petty-dwarves (who called it Sharbhund), and latterly home to Túrin and his outlaw band.

* Baldor

The prideful son of Brego and grandson of Eorl the Young. He tried the Paths of the Dead, though he had been told that the way was shut to him.

His bones were found long years afterward by Aragorn and his company.

* Balin

A Dwarf of Durin’s Folk; he accompanied Gandalf, Thorin and Bilbo on the Quest of Erebor, and later led an ill-fated attempt to reclaim Moria.

* Balrog|Balrogs

‘Demon of Might’, Sindarin form (Quenya Valarauko) of the name of the demons of fire that served Morgoth.

–—

Dread Servants of Melkor.

The Balrogs were spirits of fire seduced by Melkor in the beginning of Arda, and who dwelt in his northern fortress of Utumno. During the First Age, the Balrogs were the most feared of Morgoth’s forces after the dragons.

In appearance, the Balrogs were man-like, but fire streamed from them, and they were swathed in dark shadows. They carried whips of flame and induced great terror in friends and foes alike.

In the War of Wrath, Morgoth was assailed by the forces of the Valar.

Most of the Balrogs were destroyed in that War, but some few escaped over the Blue Mountains and lay hid in Middle-earth. Durin’s Bane, the creature that drove the Dwarves from Moria, was one of these.

–—

The Balrogs Before the First Age: The Balrogs were in origin Maiar, of the same order as Sauron or Gandalf. Melkor corrupted them to his service in the distant past of the World, in the days of his splendour. They were originally gathered by him in his ancient fastness of Utumno during the time of the Lamps of the Valar. When this fortress was destroyed by the Valar, at least some fled and lurked in the pits of Angband (whether any of the original Balrogs were slain in the Valar’s attack on Utumno is not known).

–—

Balrogs in the First Age: When Melkor and Ungoliant escaped from Valinor three ages later with the Silmarils, the Balrogs were still to be found in the ruins of Angband. Ungoliant entrapped Melkor in her webs, demanding the Silmarils for herself, but the Balrogs issued from their hiding-place and rescued their lord.

The Balrogs were apparently first encountered by the Elves during the Dagor-nuin-Giliath in the first year of the First Age. After the great victory of the Noldor over Morgoth’s Orcs, Fëanor pressed on towards Angband, but the Balrogs came against him. He was mortally wounded by Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs. Though his Sons beat off the demons of fire, Fëanor died of his wounds soon after, and his spirit departed for the Halls of Mandos.

–—

The Appearance and Nature of Balrogs: Balrogs were spirits of fire -

their hearts were of fire, we are told, and they carried whips of flame.

They could, however, shroud themselves in darkness and shadow. The Balrog that Gandalf fought in Moria, for example, at first gave no hint of his fiery nature apart from the flames that issued from his nostrils.

* Ban of the Valar

The ban placed by the Valar on the Númenóreans, that they should not sail so far west from their island that they could not see its coasts. It was the breaking of the Ban by Ar-Pharazôn that led to the Downfall of Númenor.

* Banakil

A Westron name for the Hobbits, meaning literally ‘halfling’.

* Bandobras ‘Bullroarer’ Took|Bandobras

Victor of the Battle of Greenfields.

The son of either Thain Isengrim II or Isumbras III (sources differ) of the Took line, Bandobras was famous for averting a goblin invasion of the Shire at the Battle of Greenfields, and personally slaying the goblins’

leader, Golfimbul.

* Bane of Glaurung|Glaurung’s Bane

A title given to Túrin, and carved on his tomb in the Elvish form dagnir glaurunga, after he slew the dragon Glaurung.

* Banks

A common Hobbit family name, found not only in the Shire, but also in Bree.

* Bar-en-Danwedh

‘House of Ransom’, the name that Mîm the Dwarf gave to his dwelling on Amon Rûdh when he yielded it to Túrin.

–—

The House of Ransom: the hidden house of Mîm the Petty-dwarf within Amon Rudh, given over to Túrin and his band of outlaws in ransom for Mîm’s life.

* Bar-en-Nibin-noeg

‘House of the Petty-dwarves’, Mîm’s dwelling on Amon Rûdh.

* Bar-erib

A stronghold in Dor-Cúarthol, not far south of Amon Rûdh.

* Barach

A forester of the People of Haleth in the story of ‘The Faithful Stone’.

* Barad-dûr|Barad-dur

‘The Dark Tower’ of Sauron in Mordor.

–—

“… wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black, immeasurably strong, mountain of iron, gate of steel, tower of adamant… Barad-dûr, fortress of Sauron.”

(The Fellowship of the Ring II 10, The Breaking of the Fellowship)

–—

The mighty shadow-shrouded stronghold of Sauron in the Second and Third Ages.

Other Names: The Dark Tower, Lugbúrz.

–—

The First Building of Barad-dûr: The first building of Barad-dûr, when Sauron was first came to Mordor, took six hundred years to complete. Soon after, Tar-Minastir of Númenor sent a fleet to Middle-earth, and Sauron’s forces were driven out of the western lands that they had roamed at will to that time. Barad-dûr could not be approached by the Númenóreans, however, and Sauron was able to consolidate his power and extend it into the east.

In II 3262, Sauron left his Dark Tower to travel to Númenor with the vast forces of Ar-Pharazôn; he returned after the Downfall of Númenor in II 3319. The Last Alliance besieged Barad-dûr in II 3434, and the Tower was taken and destroyed by the forces of Elendil and Gil-galad, who both perished in the siege, in II 3441. Though Barad-dûr was destroyed, its foundations were left in place.

–—

The Second Building of Barad-dûr: For much of the Third Age, Sauron’s stronghold was not in Mordor, which was ruled in his stead by the Nazgûl.

Rather, the Dark Lord dwelt in the south of Mirkwood at Dol Guldur. In III 2941, the White Council sent their forces to drive him from Mirkwood, and he withdrew to Mordor once again. There, he began the rebuilding of the Dark Tower. Given the time taken in its first building, this cannot have been fully complete at the time of the War of the Ring in III 3019.

Barad-dûr was constructed as much through the personal power of Sauron as through stone and mortar; when the One Ring was destroyed in Orodruin, this power was lost and the Tower destroyed forever.

–—

The Appearance of Barad-dûr: The most complete description we have of Barad-dûr is that given in the quote above. We know, then, that it was black, and constructed mainly of metal. ‘Adamant’ usually refers to diamond, but it is hard to imagine Sauron adding diamond towers to his dark fortress - in this context, it probably has the more general meaning of ‘hard, unbreakable substance’.

From the steel gate of the Tower, a causeway ran out into the plain of Gorgoroth, across a mighty bridge. We also know that lava from Mount Doom was channeled back across that plain to Barad-dûr.

Tolkien probably leaves details of the Tower’s construction vague intentionally, as it was hidden by a cloud of shadow and darkness at all times. The only characters in The Lord of the Rings to actually see Barad-dûr were Frodo and Sam as they journeyed to Mount Doom: ‘… rising black, blacker and darker than the vast shades amid which it stood, the cruel pinnacles and iron crown of the topmost tower of Barad-dûr…’.

The ‘topmost tower of Barad-dûr’ seems to have been the place where Sauron dwelt. At least, the Window of the Eye, from which the Lidless Eye stared out across Middle-earth, was located there.

* Barad Eithel

‘Tower of the Well’, the fortress of the Noldor in Eithel Sirion.

–—

The fortress at the well of Sirion.

The mountain fortress of Fingolfin and his son Fingon, set in the eastern foothills of the Ered Wethrin, at the source of the River Sirion.

* Barad Nimras

‘White Horn Tower’, raised by Finrod Felagund on the cape west of Eglarest.

* Baragund

Father of Morwen the wife of Húrin; nephew of Barahir and one of his twelve companions in Dorthonion.

–—

A descendant of Bëor the Old, who was the father of Morwen Eledhwen and thus the grandfather of Túrin Turambar. Nephew of Barahir and one of his twelve companions on Dorthonion. Little is known of his life, but he seems to have been slain by the forces of Morgoth (at least, he is

‘avenged’ in the War of Wrath).

* Barahir

Father of Beren; rescued Finrod Felagund in the Dagor Bragollach, and received from him his ring; slain on Dorthonion.

–—

The rescuer of Finrod Felagund.

A descendant of Bëor the Old and father of Beren Erchamion. He fought at the Dagor Bragollach, saving the life of Finrod Felagund, but was later hounded as an outlaw by the forces of Morgoth, and slain in the highlands of Dorthonion.

* Barahir (Steward of Gondor)|Barahir

The eighth Ruling Steward of Gondor.

Barahir’s father was Hador, a famously long-lived Man who ruled Gondor as its Steward for no less than one hundred and seventeen years.

According to the best sources we have, Barahir was born in the twelfth year of his father’s rule, meaning that he succeeded Hador at the age of one hundred and five. Given Barahir’s great age, it is not surprising that his rule, and that of his son Dior, were brief ones.

Barahir held the office of Steward during the waning years of the Watchful Peace. Both he and his son Dior, then, enjoyed rules free of troubles. Barahir’s grandson was Denethor, the son of his daughter Rían, who was a young noble of just twenty at the time Barahir became Steward.

It was Denethor who was destined to rule Gondor at the time that war erupted on its borders, more than sixty years after Barahir’s death.

Barahir ruled as Steward for seventeen years, and was succeeded by his son Dior.

* Baran

The elder son of Bëor the Old, who took up the leadership of the House of Bëor after his father’s departure to service in Nargothrond.

* Baranduin

‘The long gold-brown river’ in Eriador, flowing into the Sea south of the Blue Mountains; in the Shire called the Brandywine.

–—

The river called ‘Brandywine’ by the Shire-hobbits.

The Elvish name for the river that rose at Lake Nenuial in the far north, and flowed south and west to reach the Great Sea above Eryn Vorn.

For part of its length, it formed the eastern boundary of the Shire, and there the Hobbits turned its name to the more familiar ‘Brandywine’.

* Baraz

A Dwarvish name for one of the three Mountains of Moria, also called Caradhras or Redhorn. ‘Baraz’ seems to be an abbreviation of a fuller name, Barazinbar.

* Barazinbar

The Dwarvish name for the cruel red-sided mountain known to the Elves as Caradhras and to Men as the Redhorn.

* Bard I|Bard

The Bowman of Lake-town.

A descendant of Girion the Lord of Dale, Bard slew the dragon Smaug and refounded Dale under the Lonely Mountain.

* Bard II|Bard

The great-grandson of Bard the Bowman.

The son of Brand and heir to the Lordship of Dale. His father was slain in the Battle of Dale, and Bard was forced back to Erebor, where he was besieged with his ally Thorin III for seven days. When news came from the south of the destruction of Sauron, Bard and Thorin emerged from the Lonely Mountain and broke the siege.

* Barliman Butterbur|Barliman

A Man of Bree, the keeper of the Prancing Pony inn where Frodo Baggins met Aragorn for the first time.

* Barrow-downs|Barrow-down

Downs east of the Old Forest, on which were great burial-mounds said to have been built in the First Age by the forefathers of the Edain before they entered Beleriand. See Tyrn Gorthad.

–—

The haunted hills of Tyrn Gorthad.

The downs to the east of the Shire that held the ancient burial grounds of Men. During the time of the realm of Angmar, evil things came to dwell among the barrows, and some were still to be found there at the time of the War of the Ring.

* Barrow-wights|Barrow-wight

Evil spirits dwelling in the burial-mounds on the Barrow-downs.

–—

Evil spirits out of Angmar.

Evil spirits sent to dwell in the Barrow-downs by the Witch-king of Angmar during his wars with the remnant of Arnor, and who remained there long after the realm of Angmar itself had vanished from the world.

* Barrows|Barrow

The mounds of Tyrn Gorthad.

Earthworks and burial chambers made by Men in ancient days. In the Third Age, they lay within the bounds of Arnor, and later of Cardolan, and the Dúnedain used them to bury their dead. The Witch-king of Angmar, though, sent evil spirits to inhabit the Barrow-downs, and they became a place of horror.

* Bats|Bat

Flying creatures of the night, traditionally associated with the forces of Morgoth and of Sauron. They were most famous in Middle-earth for taking the part of the Goblins during the Battle of Five Armies.

* Battle of Azanulbizar

The revenge of the Dwarves against Azog.

The battle that ended the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, in which Náin and Azog were both lost along with many on either side, but the Dwarves won the day.

* Battle of Bywater

The last battle of the War of the Ring.

The confrontation that took place between the Shire-hobbits and Sharkey’s invading ruffians. Under the leadership of Peregrin Took, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Tolman Cotton, the Hobbits succeeded in trapping Sharkey’s Men between the high banks of the Bywater Road, and managed to defeat them.

* Battle of Dagorlad

The climactic battle of the Second Age.

The decisive battle of the War of the Last Alliance, in which the last great alliance of Elves and Men, led by Gil-galad and Elendil, faced the forces of Sauron. The Battle took place on a wide and dusty plain before the entrance to Mordor, and many who took part were lost in the marshes that bordered the battlefield on the west. There was great loss on either side, but Sauron was defeated and fled back to Barad-dûr. After the Battle was won came another seven long and bitter years of siege, but Sauron was finally defeated and the Second Age came to an end.

The Battle of Dagorlad was one of the greatest Middle-earth had ever seen. The original name of the field where it took place - if it had one

- is now forgotten: that region was known afterwards simply as Dagorlad,

‘Battle Plain’.

* Battle of Dale

Battle of the War of the Ring in which Sauron’s northern army defeated the Men of Dale and the Dwarves of Erebor.

–—

Sauron’s assault on Dale and Erebor.

A battle that took place during the War of the Ring, in Dale and Erebor.

Brand of Dale and Dáin Ironfoot were both lost in the battle, and their respective forces besieged in the Lonely Mountain. The sons of these two lords, Bard II and Thorin III, were eventually able to break the siege and defeat the forces of Sauron.

* Battle of Five Armies

The great battle before the gates of Erebor.

Since the ending of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, and the Dwarves’

ultimate victory at the Battle of Nanduhirion, the Orcs had nursed a hatred of that race. In the year III 2941, the year of Bilbo Baggin’s journey to the Lonely Mountain, those events lay more than one hundred and forty years in the past. Travelling through the Misty Mountains, Bilbo, Thorin and their companions were captured by a colony of the Orcs that infested those regions. With Gandalf’s help they escaped, but not before killing several of their captors, including their leader the Great Goblin.

The loss of the Great Goblin at the hands of a band of Dwarves inflamed the bitter memories of the Orcs’ War with the Dwarves. Under the command of Bolg, whose own father Azog had been killed at Nanduhirion, all the armies of the Orcs of the Misty Mountains, and their allies the wolves and bats, began to gather and plan their revenge.

Oblivious to these events, Bilbo and the Dwarves continued their journey eastward. They achieved their quest to recover Erebor, but in doing so they earned the anger of Thranduil, and indirectly caused the destruction of Lake-town. Thranduil’s Wood-elves joined with the Lake-men, and they marched north to claim a share of Smaug’s treasure in recompense. In response, Thorin called on his cousin Dáin, who set out with his own army from the Iron Hills.

So the scene was set for a confrontation between the Wood-elves and Lake-men on the one side, and the Dwarves of Thorin and Dáin on the other. Already the first arrows had been shot when a dark cloud was seen coming out of the north - the bats that heralded the orc-armies of Bolg.

The Elves, Men and Dwarves quickly forgot their differences in the face of this new threat, and battle was joined on the slopes of Erebor and the valley beneath. The battle was ferocious, and as it raged, it was joined by others - Eagles out of the Misty Mountains, and even Beorn himself in the shape of a monstrous bear.

By nightfall the Orcs were defeated, but not without great loss. Thorin himself was slain, making a bold attack against the bodyguard of Bolg, and with him fell his young nephews Fíli and Kíli. Bolg was dead, too, crushed by Beorn, and the goblins of the northern mountains were scattered or destroyed.

* Battle of Fornost

The climactic battle amid the ruins of the North-kingdom.

In the year III 1974, the kingdom of Arthedain was destroyed, and with it the last realm of the Northern Dúnedain. The armies of Angmar and its allies overran the northern lands, capturing the capital of the Dúnedain at Fornost, and King Arvedui fled into the icy north. It seemed at that time that the Witch-king’s victory was complete.

In the following year, though, the tide turned, though too late to save the remnant of the North-kingdom. The ships of a great fleet sailed into the harbours at Mithlond, carrying a force of Gondorian warriors sent north under the command of the great general Eärnur. To that army joined the Elves of Lindon and the remnant of the Dúnedain, and they marched east to avenge the loss of Arthedain.

They met the Witch-king’s armies not at Fornost itself, but on the plains westward towards Lake Evendim. Aided by Eärnur’s military skill, and a force sent out of Rivendell led by Glorfindel, the armies of the Dúnedain and Elves had utter victory, and Angmar’s armies were swept away. The Witch-king himself fled into the dark of the falling night, and Glorfindel famously prophesied that he would not fall by the hand of man, as later proved true in the War of the Ring.

The Battle of Fornost shaped the future history of Middle-earth in many important ways. Its most significant effect could hardly have been guessed at the time: it robbed Gondor of its Kings. When the Witch-king fled south, and came at last to Mordor, he did not forget his defeat at the hands of Eärnur. Many years later, Eärnur became the King of Gondor, and the Witch-king challenged him to single combat. He refused, but seven years later the challenge was made again, and this time Eärnur accepted.

Riding to Minas Morgul, he was taken by the Nazgûl and never heard of again. He was the last King to rule the South-kingdom until after the War of the Ring nearly a thousand years later.

* Battle of Greenfields

Bandobras Took’s defeat of invading Orcs.

A battle fought in the Shire’s Northfarthing in the year III 2747, the only battle to be fought within the borders of the Shire before the War of the Ring. An invading band of Orcs from Mount Gram were led into the Shire by their chief Golfimbul; they were defeated, and Golfimbul was slain, by Bandobras Took, otherwise known as ‘Bullroarer’.

* Battle of Nanduhirion

The end of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs.

The climactic battle in the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, also called the Battle of Azanulbizar and the Battle of the Mines of Moria, that took place below of the East-gate of Moria in the winter of III 2799.

Nine years before the battle, the Dwarf-king Thrór had been murdered by Azog the goblin in Moria. That event triggered a furious backlash from the Dwarves, who assembled their armies and, in their quest for revenge against Azog, began the systematic destruction of the Orcs of the Misty Mountains. Eventually, the armies of the Dwarves came up against the last stronghold of the Orcs, and hiding place of Azog, old Moria itself.

The battle was fought in the valley of Nanduhirion beneath Moria’s gates. The Orcs were more numerous, and held the higher ground at the head of the valley. The Dwarves under Thráin II, though, were better equipped, and were rallied late in the battle by the arrival of reinforcements, commanded by Thráin’s cousin Náin. There was great loss on both sides, but eventually the Dwarves had the victory; Dáin Ironfoot

- just thirty-two years old at the time - slew Azog on the steps of Moria.

* Battle of Sudden Flame

A name for the Dagor Bragollach, and its literal translation.

* Battle of the Camp

The victory of Eärnil II of Gondor over the Wainriders in Ithilien in Third Age 1944.

–—

The final desctruction of the Wainriders.

At the end of the second millennium of the Third Age, the realm of Gondor came close to its destruction. The Wainrider people from the east made an alliance with the Haradrim, and a dual attack on Ithilien was launched. While the Wainriders assaulted Ithilien from the north, the armies of the Haradrim crossed the Poros and invaded South Ithilien.

The northern assault of the Wainriders was met by the King of Gondor himself, Ondoher, with his two sons Artamir and Faramir. The Easterlings swept through Gondor’s defence, cutting down the King and his heirs and routing his army. Their victory complete, and Gondor defenceless before them, the Wainriders paused in North Ithilien to celebrate their conquest.

Unknown to the victorious Wainriders, their allies in the south had met with much less success. Beyond hope, the Gondorian Captain Eärnil had led Gondor’s Southern Army to victory over the Haradrim, destroying their army in South Ithilien, to the north of the Poros. Then Eärnil turned north.

The feasting Wainriders suddenly found their success reversed, as Eärnil appeared with his Southern Army, reinforced by fleeing members of Ondoher’s defeated northern troops. Eärnil’s army descended on the unprepared Wainriders, driving many of them into the swamplands of the Dead Marshes. That eastern people, for so long a dreaded enemy of Gondor, never challenged her again, and the battle where Eärnil won his success was named after the Wainrider camp where it had taken place: the Battle of the Camp.

* Battle of the Gwathló

The rout of Sauron by the Númenóreans in Second Age 1700.

* Battle of the Field of Celebrant

The victory of Cirion and Eorl over the Balchoth in Third Age 2510.

* Battle of the Hornburg

The battle between Rohan and Isengard beneath Helm’s Deep.

Saruman’s mighty assault on the forces of Rohan in Helm’s Deep. The Rohirrim had the victory, in large part due to the intervention of the Huorns of Fangorn.

* Battle of the Peak

Gandalf’s battle on the peak of the Silvertine.

Gandalf’s name for his climactic battle with the Balrog known as Durin’s Bane, on the peak of the mountain called Celebdil.

* Battle of the Pelennor Fields|Battle of the Pelennor The Siege and Defence of Minas Tirith.

The assault by Sauron on Minas Tirith late in the War of the Ring, led by the Lord of the Nazgûl. With the aid of the Rohirrim and the Dúnedain of the North, guided by Gandalf, the armies of Gondor held the citadel and defeated Sauron’s forces.

* Battle of the Plains

The defeat of Narmacil II of Gondor by the Wainriders in the lands south of Mirkwood in Third Age 1856.

–—

Gondor’s disastrous first battle with the Wainriders.

A battle fought in III 1856, in which the armies of Gondor and their allies the Northmen faced the invading Wainriders. The battle was a disaster for Gondor; King Narmacil II was lost, as was Marhari the lord of the Northmen. After the battle, all of Gondor’s eastern possessions fell under control of the Wainriders, who remained a constant threat for nearly another century.

* Battle of the Powers

The ruin of Utumno and capture of Melkor.

The great battle between the Valar and Melkor that took place soon after the awakening of the Elves. Melkor’s ancient stronghold of Utumno was laid in ruins, and he himself was taken as prisoner to Valinor.

* Battle of Tumhalad

The last battle of the warriors of Nargothrond.

The final desperate defence of Nargothrond against the forces of Morgoth led by Glaurung. The Elves were defeated and their lord Orodreth slain, but Túrin Turambar survived the battle, only to witness the Sack of Nargothrond.

* Battle of Unnumbered Tears

A name given to the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the last of the great battles between the Eldar and Morgoth. More commonly known simply as Unnumbered Tears, the translation of Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

* Battle Plain

The plain before the Gates of Mordor.

The dusty plain that lay to the northwest of Mordor, immediately below the Black Gate of the Morannon. This was the site of several important battles in Gondor’s history, most notably the defeat of Sauron’s forces in the famous Battle of Dagorlad in II 3434.

* Battles of Beleriand

See First Battle, Second Battle, Third Battle, Fourth Battle, Fifth Battle.

* Battles of the Fords of Isen

The defence of western Rohan.

Two battles fought days apart during the War of the Ring, between the Rohirrim and the forces of Saruman out of Isengard.

* Bauglir

‘The Constrainer’; a title given to Melkor after his return to Angband at the beginning of the First Age.

* Bay of Andúnië|Bay of Andunie|Andúnië|Andunie Northernmost of the three bays of the Andustar.

The northernmost of the three bays that ran along the western coasts of the Andustar in Númenor. The greatest of the three, its shores were no more than a narrow shelf of land from which steep cliffs rose up. Beneath these cliffs at its eastern end was the famous haven of Andúnië. There are suggestions that there may have been a second haven on this bay, too, named Almaida.

* Bay of Balar|Balar

The great bay in the southern shores of Beleriand into which the river Sirion flowed. Destroyed in the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age.

–—

The bay at the Mouths of Sirion.

The great ocean inlet to the south of Beleriand, in which lay the Isle of Balar, and into which the River Sirion flowed.

The Bay was formed in the cataclysms that accompanied the Battle of the Powers, long before the First Age, and was said to have been the greatest bay of the sea on the shores of Middle-earth. On its northern coasts lay Arvernien and the Mouths of Sirion, where the Exiles of Gondolin dwelt in the last years of the First Age, and from where Eärendil set out on his voyage to the Undying Lands. Its eastern coastlands were dominated by the great unpeopled forests of Taur-im-Duinath.

Far out in the Bay lay the Isle of Balar, where Círdan the Shipwright dwelt with his people after the loss of the Havens of the Falas. There was great friendship between Círdan and the Exiles at the Mouths of Sirion, and in the late First Age, the Bay must have seen much traffic between the Isle and the Mouths.

Just as it had been created out the tumults of a war of the Powers, the Bay was destroyed, with the rest of Beleriand, in the War of Wrath between the Valar and Morgoth at the end of the First Age.

* Bay of Belfalas|Belfalas

A bay of the Great Sea lying to the south of Gondor, within whose waters stood the island of Tolfalas; the River Anduin flowed into the Bay.

* Bay of Eldamar|Eldamar

The great Bay in the eastern shores of Aman, where was ‘rooted’ the isle of Tol Eressëa.

* Bay of Eldanna|Eldanna

Great bay in the west of Númenor, so called ‘because it faced towards Eressëa’.

–—

The great western bight of Númenor.

The wide bay in the western part of Númenor, between the promontories of Andustar to the north and Hyarnustar to the south. It was fed by the River Nunduinë, and its mouth was more than a hundred miles across, making it by far the largest bay in the shores of Númenor.

From Númenor’s earliest days, the bay was associated with the Eldar of Tol Eressëa, who dwelt west of Númenor in the Undying Lands. The port of Eldalondë - ‘Elf Haven’ - stood at the mouth of Nunduinë where it emptied into the bay, and the name Eldanna itself means ‘towards the Eldar’.

* Beacons of Gondor

The warning-fires of Minas Tirith.

The chain of seven beacon-hills running between Minas Tirith and Rohan.

From east to west, they were Amon Dîn, Eilenach, Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon, Calenhad and finally, on the borders of the Eastfold, the Halifirien.

* Bears|Bear

Large and ferocious animals; the most famous were those under the command of Beorn the skin-changer in the Vales of Anduin.

* Beater

The name used by the Orcs for Glamdring, the sword of Turgon that was later carried by Gandalf.

* Beechbone

An Ent lost in the Circle of Isengard.

The name, at least according to Peregrin Took, of a notably tall and handsome Ent. He was caught in a burning spray sent up by Saruman from beneath the Circle of Isengard, but his fiery end brought his fellow Ents to the peak of their destructive anger.

* Beeches|Beech

Broad and tall trees that grew throughout Middle-earth, and especially in its northern regions. The most famous beech-forest of all was Neldoreth in Doriath. Hírilorn, the three-trunked tree in which Lúthien was imprisoned, was perhaps the greatest beech that had ever grown.

* Bees|Bee

Buzzing domestic insects kept for their ability to make honey.

Particularly famous were those of Beorn, which reached an enormous size.

* Belba Baggins|Belba

One of Bilbo’s two aunts (the other being Linda Baggins); she married Rudigar Bolger.

* Belecthor I|Belecthor

The fifteenth Ruling Steward of Gondor.

The son of Húrin II, who succeeded his father to become Gondor’s fifteenth Ruling Steward. His twenty-seven year rule was free of incident, or at least no annals of his time have come down to us. He was succeeded in turn by his son Orodreth.

* Belecthor II|Belecthor

The twenty-first Ruling Steward of Gondor.

The son of Steward Beregond, who succeeded his father to rule Gondor during the twenty-ninth century of the Third Age. He is noted as the last of the line of Stewards to live past his one hundredth year. Nonetheless, he is most remembered in history because of his death, which also saw the death of the White Tree in the courts of Minas Tirith. Belecthor was succeeded by his son Thorondir, who left the Dead Tree standing in place.

* Beleg (King of Arthedain)|Beleg

The second King of Arthedain, who inherited the throne from his father Amlaith of Fornost, the founder of that Kingdom. His name means ‘great’

or ‘large’, which may be a reference to his stature (although he may simply be named for the famous Elf of the First Age who shared this name, Beleg Strongbow).

Beleg’s reign saw two events that would have a huge impact on Middle-earth’s history, but whose importance wasn’t fully recognized at the time. The first of these was the arrival across the Misty Mountains of a strange race of beings: similar to Men, but far shorter and with hairy, bootless feet. The Dúnedain called them periannath, ‘halflings’, and they were the first Hobbits to enter the western lands.

The second historic event was the descent of a strange shadow on Greenwood the Great. This was wholly mysterious at first, but before the end of Beleg’s reign, the Wise had discovered that its source was at Dol Guldur in the southern part of the Forest, whose name came to be changed to Mirkwood in these times. It was not discovered until long after Beleg’s time that his reign had seen the return of Sauron himself, the first move in a game that would end in the War of the Ring nearly two thousand years in the future.

Beleg ruled Arthedain for eighty-one years, and was succeeded by his son Mallor.

* Beleg Strongbow|Beleg

A great archer and chief of the marchwardens of Doriath; called Cúthalion

‘Strongbow’; friend and companion of Túrin, by whom he was slain.

–—

Marchwarden of Doriath.

An Elf of Doriath, friend to Túrin Turambar, who was slain by him in error while escaping from Orcs in Taur-nu-Fuin.

* Belegaer|Great Water

‘The Great Sea’ of the West, between Middle-earth and Aman. Named Belegaer; but very frequently called the (Great) Sea, also the Western Sea and the Great Water.

–—

‘The Great Sea’; the mighty ocean that lay between Middle-earth in the east and Aman in the west, in the midst of which the island kingdom of Númenor lay during the Second Age.

* Belegorn

The fourth Steward to rule Gondor, Belegorn was the heir of Steward Herion, and was in turn succeeded by his son Húrin I. He ruled for fifty-six years in the early third millennium of the Third Age, during the time known as the Watchful Peace.

* Belegost

‘Great Fortress’, one of the two cities of the Dwarves in the Blue Mountains; translation into Sindarin of Dwarvish Gabilgathol. See Mickleburg.

–—

A citadel of the Dwarves in the Blue Mountains.

An Elvish name (meaning simply ‘Great Fortress’) for the Dwarf-citadel that lay near Mount Dolmed in the Blue Mountains, called Gabilgathol by the Dwarves themselves.

* Belegund

Father of Rían the wife of Huor; nephew of Barahir and one of his twelve companions on Dorthonion.

–—

Outlaw ancestor of Eärendil the Mariner.

Father to Rían and so great-grandfather of Eärendil the Mariner; he lived with the outlaw band of Barahir in Dorthonion, and was slain there by the creatures of Morgoth.

* Beleriand

The name was said to have signified ‘the country of Balar’, and to have been given at first to the lands about the mouths of Sirion that faced the Isle of Balar. Later the name spread to include all the ancient coast of the Northwest of Middle-earth south of the Firth of Drengist, and all the inner lands south of Hithlum and eastwards to the feet of the Blue Mountains, divided by the river Sirion into East and West Beleriand.

Beleriand was broken in the turmoils at the end of the First Age, and invaded by the sea, so that only Ossiriand (Lindon) remained.

–—

The Country of Balar.

Subcontinent in the northwest of Middle-earth, bounded to the north and east by mountain chains, and to the south and west by the Great Sea, Beleriand and the lands to the north were the setting for much of the Silmarillion. Originally, the name ‘Beleriand’ applied only to the country around the Bay of Balar, but as time passed the name came to be given to the entire land. In the final battle that saw the ultimate defeat of Morgoth, Beleriand was broken and destroyed - only parts of Ossiriand in the east remained, to be renamed Lindon in later ages.

* Belfalas

Region on the southern coast of Gondor looking on to the great bay of the same name.

–—

A shoreland fief of Gondor.

A promontory and fief of southern Gondor, lying between the mouths of the Rivers Morthond and Gilrain. Its chief city lay at Dol Amroth on its western coasts.

* Bell Goodchild

The wife of Hamfast Gamgee and mother of Samwise of the Company of the Ring.

* Belladonna Took

The mother of Bilbo Baggins, one of the twelve children of Thain Gerontius, better known as the Old Took.

* Belthil

‘Divine radiance’, the image of Telperion made by Turgon in Gondolin.

–—

The silver tree of Turgon’s courts.

The silver-flowered tree made by Turgon of Gondolin in memory of Telperion, one of the Two Trees of Valinor. Its mate was Glingal.

* Belthronding

The bow of Beleg Strongbow, which was buried with him.

* Béma|Bema

The name for Oromë among the Northmen.

The name used by the Northmen for the Vala the Elves called Oromë. As the great huntsman and horseman of the Valar, he and his steed Nahar were known to the horse-loving people of Rohan, who claimed that their great horses the mearas had ancestors brought out of the West by Béma himself.

* Bent World

The World after the making of the Straight Road.

A name describing the condition of the world after the destruction of Númenor and the removal of Valinor in the late Second Age; after this, the world was made ‘bent’ (or ‘round’) and only the Elves could still follow the Straight Road to the Undying Lands.

* Bëor the Old|Bëor|Beor

Leader of the first Men to cross the Blue Mountains into Beleriand in the First Age; vassal of Finrod Felagund; and through his son Baran founded one of the Three Houses of the Edain: the House of Bëor (called also the Eldest House of Men and the First House of the Edain); see Balan.

* Beorn

The skin-changer who dwelt in the Vales of Anduin near the western eaves of Mirkwood, who could take the form of a Man or a huge black bear. He played a great part in the victory over the Goblins at the Battle of Five Armies.

* Beornings

The descendants of Beorn, who dwelt in the Vales of Anduin between Mirkwood and the Great River, and who for many generations retained their ancestor’s ability to take the shape of a bear.

* Bereg

Grandson of Baran son of Bëor the Old; a leader of dissension among the Men of Estolad; went back over the mountains into Eriador.

–—

Leader of the rebels of the House of Bëor.

A great-grandson of Bëor the Old, who led the unrest of Men at their camps at Estolad. He led a thousand Men of the House of Bëor away southwards out of Beleriand.

* Beregar

Man from the Westlands of Númenor, descended from the House of Bëor; father of Erendis.

–—

The father of Erendis.

A nobleman of Númenor, descended from the House of Bëor, whose house was in the region of Númenor known as the Westlands. His daughter was Erendis, who became Queen to Tar-Aldarion. They had a daughter of their own, and so Beregar became the grandfather of the first Ruling Queen of Númenor, Tar-Ancalimë.

* Beregond (Soldier of Gondor)|Beregond

A soldier of Minas Tirith in Gondor, who befriended Peregrin Took during his time there, and was later appointed to the Guard of Faramir in Emyn Arnen.

* Beregond (Steward of Gondor)|Beregond

The twentieth Ruling Steward of Gondor, the son of Steward Beren who installed Saruman in Orthanc.

* Beren Erchamion|Beren

Son of Barahir; cut a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown to be the bride-price of Lúthien Thingol’s daughter, and was slain by Carcharoth the wolf of Angband; but returning from the dead, alone of mortal Men, lived afterwards with Lúthien on Tol Galen in Ossiriand, and fought with the Dwarves at Sarn Athrad. Great-grandfather of Elrond and Elros and ancestor of the Númenórean Kings. Called also Camlost, Erchamion, and One-hand.

–—

The one-handed hero of the Quest of the Silmaril.

The great hero of the First Age who, with the aid of Lúthien Tinúviel and Finrod Felagund, succeeded in gaining a Silmaril from the Iron Crown of Morgoth.

* Beren (Steward of Gondor)|Beren

The nineteenth Ruling Steward of Gondor, the son of Egalmoth, named for Beren Erchamion. Beren was the Steward who granted Saruman the keys of Orthanc.

* Bereth

Sister of Baragund and Belegund and ancestress of Erendis.

* Bergil

The son of Beregond of Gondor. A boy at the time of the War of the Ring, he accompanied Pippin Took when he first arrived in the city of Minas Tirith.

* Bert

With Tom and Bill, one of the three Trolls that captured Bilbo and the Dwarves during their eastward journey.

* Berúthiel

Queen of Tarannon Falastur, twelfth King of Gondor.

–—

The Queen with the magical cats.

The dark and mournful Queen to Tarannon Falastur, the twelfth King of Gondor. She owned ten marvellous and magical cats, that she set to spy on the doings of the people of Gondor. Her scheming was her undoing, though, since her husband set her adrift on the Great Sea, with only her cats for company. She sailed into the far south and was never heard of again, but she and her mysterious cats lived on in legend for millennia.

* Berylla Boffin

The wife of Balbo Baggins, the patriarch of the Baggins family of Hobbiton.

* Bifur

A descendant of the Dwarves of Moria, one of the companions of Bilbo Baggins and Thorin II Oakenshield on the Quest of Erebor.

* Big Folk

A name for the race of Men, given them by the Hobbits, who they in turn called the Little Folk. The term was especially used in Bree, where the two races lived side by side.

* Big People

A name used by Hobbits to refer to Men. The term was used occasionally in the Shire, but was in most common use in Bree, were the two races mixed freely with each other.

* Bilbo Baggins|Bilbo

The Ring-finder.

Head of the Baggins family, he dwelt alone at Bag End, Hobbiton, until Gandalf involved him in the Quest of Erebor in III 2941, and so drew the Hobbits into the great affairs of the end of the Third Age. During his journey to the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo came upon the One Ring in an orc-hold of the Misty Mountains.

Bilbo’s records of his travels, and those of his heir Frodo, were compiled into the Red Book of Westmarch, and became the basis of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

–—

Life in the Shire, III 2890 - III 2941: The only son of the wealthy and respectable Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took, Bilbo grew up at Bag End, which his father had excavated in Hobbiton Hill. He seems to have visited his mother’s family at Great Smials, for he remembered Gandalf’s firework displays there.

Bilbo’s father Bungo died in 2926, and his mother Belladonna in 2934, after which Bilbo lived alone at Bag End for seven years until a fateful morning in the spring of 2941, when his pleasant, uneventful life was disturbed by the arrival of Gandalf.

–—

Bilbo and the Quest of Erebor, III 2941: More than a hundred and fifty years before Gandalf disturbed Bilbo in his garden that spring morning, the dragon Smaug had descended in flame on Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, an ancient kingdom of the Dwarves far to the east of the Shire. Those Dwarves that survived scattered throughout the northern lands, and many, led by Thorin, the rightful heir to the kingdom, travelled into the west and settled in the Blue Mountains near the borders of the Shire. Now, with Gandalf’s aid, Thorin had begun to plot his revenge on Smaug.

Gandalf convinced Thorin that a Hobbit should accompany his party, both because of the Hobbits’ natural stealth, and because he wanted to involve them in the wider world, as a preparation against the coming darkness. He chose Bilbo largely because of his Took inheritance, but he later suggested that Bilbo might in some sense have been ‘fated’ to go on the Quest.

So it was that on an evening at the end of April 2941, Gandalf returned to Bilbo’s house with Thorin and his twelve companions, and the Quest of Erebor was begun.

* Bilbo Gardner

A son of Samwise Gamgee and Rose Cotton; named for Bilbo Baggins.

* Bill

Sam Gamgee’s pony, named for its original owner Bill Ferny, that travelled with the Company of the Ring through the leagues of Eriador to the West-gate of Moria.

* Bill Ferny

A Man of Bree, a minor agent of Saruman in the north during the War of the Ring.

* Bingo Baggins|Bingo

An uncle of Bilbo Baggins, he married Chica Chubb and so founded the Chubb-Baggins family.

* Birches|Birch

Silver-barked trees.

Smooth-barked forest trees; the Elvish name for this tree, brethil, gave its name to the Forest of Brethil.

* Bird-tamer

A mocking title given to Radagast by Saruman, and in fact close to the meaning of his original name, Aiwendil.

* Birthday Party

Bilbo’s farewell to the Shire.

The great celebration held at Hobbiton on 22 September III 3001, in honour of Frodo’s 33rd birthday and, especially, Bilbo’s 111th. It was after this party that Bilbo departed the Shire, and passed the Ring to Frodo his heir.

* Biter

A name for Thorin’s sword Orcrist.

A name among the Orcs for the great sword Orcrist, borne by Thorin during the Quest of Erebor.

The name ‘biter’ though was much older than Thorin’s time, and dated back to the days of the First Age, when it was used by the Gondolindrim in the Wars of Beleriand.

* Black Captain

A title taken by the Lord of the Nazgûl, used especially of his position as general of the armies of Sauron during the War of the Ring.

* Black Chasm

A name for Khazad-dûm after the coming of Durin’s Bane and the exile of the Dwarves; a literal translation of the name ‘Moria’.

* Black Gate

The Morannon, the mighty fortified gateway built by Sauron across the Isenmouthe, the entrance to his Black Land of Mordor.

* Black Hand

A term used by Gollum to describe Sauron’s literal hand, but also used figuratively of his immense power.

* Black Land

A name for Mordor, of which it is a literal translation.

* Black Númenóreans|Black Numenoreans|Black Númenórean|Black Numenorean A people of Númenórean origin, who returned to Middle-earth in the Second Age to follow Sauron. They survived to the end of the Third Age, during which they were often at war with Gondor.

* Black Pit

A rare name for Moria, an alternative translation for the more usual

‘Black Chasm’.

* Black Riders

One of the forms taken by the Nazgûl when they went abroad in Middle-earth; black cowled figures riding coal-black horses.

* Black Serpent

A symbol of the Haradrim.

A standard of the Haradrim, and especially the token of a mighty warrior and leader of Men who fought at the Battle of the Pelennor, and was slain by King Théoden of Rohan.

* Black Shadow

An evil blight inflicted by the Nazgûl, causing their victims to slip into a dark sleep and never recover.

* Black Speech

The tongue of the servants of Sauron.

–—

“Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul”

(The Ring inscription, in its original ancient Black Speech; from The Fellowship of the Ring II 2, The Council of Elrond)

–—

The artificial language devised by Sauron for the use of his minions in place of the Common Speech.

* Black Sword|Blacksword

A title given to Túrin Turambar during his time as captain of Nargothrond, and sometimes later used when he dwelt in the Forest of Brethil. See Mormegil.

* Blanco

One of the founders of the Shire.

With his brother Marcho, one of the two Bree-hobbits who founded the Shire in the mid-Third Age.

* Blessed Realm

A name given to the Undying Lands of Aman, where the Valar, Maiar and Eldar dwell.

* Bloodstained

Túrin’s alias Agarwaen.

The meaning of the name Agarwaen, the name taken by Túrin when he went with Gwindor to live among the Elves of Nargothrond.

* Blotmath

The eleventh month of the Shire Calendar, approximately equivalent to modern November (in fact running from 22 October to 20 November on a modern calendar).

* Blue Mountains

The northwestern mountain-chain of Middle-earth.

The Ered Luin, the mountain chain that formed the eastern border of the lands of Beleriand during the First Age, and in which were the Dwarf-cities of Nogrod and Belegost. After the loss of Beleriand at the end of the First Age, the mountains remained, but they were now in the far west of Middle-earth.

See Ered Luin and Ered Lindon.

* Blue Wizards

The two Wizards, Alatar and Pallando, who did not remain in the west of Middle-earth, but journeyed into its far eastern regions. See Ithryn Luin.

* Boar of Everholt

The bane of King Folca of Rohan.

A monstrous beast that inhabited Everholt in the Firien Wood, around the feet of the Halifirien in the White Mountains. The great hunter Folca of Rohan, having rid his country of the Orcs, set out to hunt down the boar.

He succeeded, but received mortal tusk-wounds that brought his Kingship to an end.

* Boars|Boar

Aggressive tusked beasts common to woodland regions. The most famous of all the boars of Middle-earth was the great Boar of Everholt, that lived beneath the trees of the Firien Wood. This boar was hunted by King Folca of Rohan, and though he eventually killed his quarry, the King was mortally wounded in the encounter.

* Bob

A hand at the Prancing Pony.

One of the servants of Barliman Butterbur at the inn of the Prancing Pony in Bree. He was apparently its stablehand; at least, every time he is mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, his duties seem to involve stabling of horses and ponies.

* Boffin Family|Boffin

An important family of the Shire.

A prominent family of the Shire, associated with the region of the Yale in the Eastfarthing. Important members include Berylla Boffin, who was an ancestor of both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, and Folco Boffin, who helped Frodo in his move from Bag End.

* Bofur

A descendant of the Dwarves of Moria, one of the companions of Bilbo Baggins and Thorin II Oakenshield on the Quest of Erebor.

* Bolg

The son of Azog, who succeeded his father as leader of the northern Orcs.

He led one of the five armies that fought in the famous Battle of that name, and was slain there by Beorn.

* Bolger Family|Bolger

An important family of the Shire.

A Hobbit family of Fallohidish origin, associated with the village of Budgeford, on the Water in the Eastfarthing of the Shire. In common with the Brandybucks and the Tooks, the Bolgers had a penchant for heroic names, and so as well as Fredegar (the most important Bolger in Tolkien’s work), we find such noble names as Fastolph, Gundabald and Odovacar.

* Bombur

A descendant of the Dwarves of Moria, famed for his girth, who accompanied Thorin II Oakenshield and Bilbo Baggins on the Quest of Erebor.

* Bonfire Glade

A burnt glade in the Old Forest.

A reminder of the stange ‘war’ that took place between the malevolent trees of the Old Forest and the Hobbits of Buckland, long years before the War of the Ring. The trees attacked the Hedge that protected the Bucklanders, and in retaliation, the Hobbits invaded the forest and burnt hundreds of trees in a huge bonfire. The Bonfire Glade was the place of that great burning, and even after many years, the trees left it an open and empty place.

* Book of the Kings

One of the chronicles of Gondor.

* Bór|Bor

A chieftain of the Easterlings, follower with his three sons of Maedhros and Maglor.

–—

The faithful Easterling.

A chieftain of Men from the east of Middle-earth, who entered Beleriand late in the First Age. He secretly allied himself with Morgoth, and then entered the service of Maedhros and Maglor holding the northeastern passes. He renounced his alliance with the Dark Lord, though, and served the Sons of Fëanor faithfully.

* Borgil

A bright red star in the constellation of Menelvagor (Orion), that corresponds to the star we call Betelgeuse.

* Borin

The younger brother of King Dáin I.

A Dwarf of Durin’s Line, the second son of King Náin II. He was the ancestor of both Balin and Gimli Elf-friend of the Company of the Ring.

* Borlach

One of the three sons of Bor; slain with his brothers in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

–—

One of the sons of Bór, who entered the service of Maedhros and Maglor, the eldest Sons of Fëanor. He fought in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and was faithful to the Noldor, taking a part in the slaying of Ulfang’s sons before he was himself slain.

* Borlad

One of the three sons of Bor; see Borlach.

–—

One of the sons of Bór, and apparently the eldest, who entered Beleriand late in the First Age. He fought in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and was faithful to the Noldor, taking a part in the slaying of Ulfang’s sons before he was himself slain.

* Boromir (Steward of Gondor)|Boromir

The eleventh Ruling Steward of Gondor, son of Denethor I.

Like the Boromir of The Lord of the Rings, the ancient Boromir was also a powerful warrior. It was while his father ruled Gondor that the race of the Uruk-hai first appeared, and Osgiliath was attacked and invaded.

Boromir went to war and drove the enemy back from Ithilien for a while, but he sustained poisoned wounds in that war.

Boromir’s Morgul-wounds wracked him with pain and shortened his life. He lived only seventy-nine years, a fraction of the usual lifespan for one of his line. When he succeeded his father, his Stewardship was to last no more than twelve years, but it paved the way for the historic rule of his famous and illustrious son Cirion.

* Boromir of Gondor|Boromir

Eldest son of Steward Denethor II of Gondor and brother to Faramir, who set out from Rivendell with Company of the Ring. He was slain by Orcs in the woods at the foot of Amon Hen.

* Boromir of Ladros|Boromir

Great-grandson of Bëor the Old, grandfather of Barahir father of Beren; first lord of Ladros.

–—

The descendant of Bëor the Old and leader of the House of Bëor, who became the lord of Ladros in Dorthonion.

* Boron

Father of Boromir of Ladros.

* Borondir|Udalraph

Called Udalraph ‘the Stirrupless’; rider of Minas Tirith who brought the message of Cirion to Eorl asking for his aid.