* Gilthoniel

A Sindarin title of Varda the Lady of the Stars, known as Elbereth to the Sindar.

* Gimilkhâd|Gimilkhad

Younger son of Ar-Gimilzôr and Inzilbêth and father of Ar-Pharazôn, the last King of Númenor.

–—

The younger son of King Ar-Gimilzôr of Númenor who, like his father, opposed the reforming policies of his elder brother Tar-Palantir. His son was Ar-Pharazôn, who usurped the throne of Númenor and brought the island to its destruction.

* Gimilzagar

Second son of Tar-Calmacil.

* Gimli Elf-friend|Gimli

Dwarf of the House of Durin, son of Glóin; one of the Fellowship of the Ring.

–—

Descendant of the Kings of Durin’s Folk.

Son of Glóin, he travelled from Rivendell with the Company of the Ring.

After the breaking of the Fellowship at Parth Galen, he hunted Orcs across Rohan with Aragorn and Legolas. He fought at the Battle of the Hornburg, and at the Pelennor Fields. He is famed for his fast friendship with Legolas the Elf; some stories say that they sailed into the West together - if this is true, then Gimli was the first and only of Dwarven-kind to come to the Undying Lands.

* Ginglith

River in West Beleriand flowing into the Narog above Nargothrond.

* Girdle of Melian

The sorcerous web that protected Doriath.

The fence of enchantment set around Thingol’s kingdom of Doriath by Melian his Queen, preventing entry into his land without his will and consent.

* Girion

Noble ancestor of Bard the Bowman.

The Lord of Dale when Smaug descended on Erebor and ravaged the lands about. Girion died in Smaug’s assault, but his wife and son escaped. He was revenged nearly two hundred years later when his descendant Bard slew Smaug with an arrow.

* Girithron

The Sindarin name for the twelfth month of the year, according to the calendars of Men, following Hithui or Hísimë. On a modern calendar, Girithron ran between 21 November and 20 December.

* Giver of Fruits

A title of the Vala Yavanna, and the literal meaning of her name.

* Gladden

River flowing down from the Misty Mountains and joining Anduin at the Gladden Fields; translation of Sindarin Sîr Ninglor.

–—

River of the Golden Flowers.

A minor tributary of the River Anduin, called Sîr Ninglor by the Elves, that rose in the eastern Misty Mountains and flowed westward to meet the Great River at the Gladden Fields.

Though it was hardly more than a hundred miles long, the Gladden played a great part in the histories of the Third Age of the World. In the middle years of that Age war raged in Eriador to the west of the Misty Mountains. In about the year III 1409 a clan of refugee Hobbits, of the strong and resilient Stoor variety, fled eastward across the Mountains and settled by the banks of the Gladden.

We know little of these people, but their society was apparently matriarchal, and they shared many of the same ancient habits and superstitions as their more familiar cousins who remained west of the Mountains. We know that they made a living by fishing among the golden flowers of the Gladden River, and so founded a successful settlement that would last for at least another thousand years.

Some centuries later, another great war occurred, but this time far to the south and east, beyond the forest of Mirkwood. The Stoors knew nothing of this, until refugees from the battles of the south came to settle on the plains to the north of the Gladden. These were noble, fair-haired Men, descendants of the Kings of Rhovanion and ancestors of the Kings of Rohan. They called themselves simply ‘horse-people’, or Éothéod in their own tongue. These people did not remain by the Gladden for long.

Within two centuries, they rode further north to seek new, more open, lands.

Though the Éothéod rode into the distant north, many Men remained and so did the Stoors. More than a millennium after their arrival, in about the twenty-fifth century of the Third Age, two young friends of that people journeyed east on the river together to the mouths of the Gladden, where it emptied into the marshlands of the Fields. Through a strange accident, one of them, Déagol by name, fell into the water, and discovered a golden Ring sparkling in the mud on the bottom. His friend, Sméagol, wanted the Ring for himself: he throttled Déagol, and stole back to his people with the golden and magical Ring. Eventually, his grandmother, who ruled his family, cast him out and he left the banks of the Gladden River to wander into the Misty Mountains and into history, and his name became Gollum.

While Gollum skulked away the centuries under the Mountains of Mist, he outlived all his family and his people. Soon after Gollum’s exile, Orcs began to mass in the Mountains nearby, and War of the Dwarves and Orcs brought the armies of the Dwarves to these regions too. Perhaps the Stoors were destroyed by the Orcs, or overrun in the War. Perhaps they were lost in the Fell Winter of III 2911. Whatever happened, we know that no Stoors were left there at the time of the War of the Ring: the Nazgûl went there in search of the Ring, and found only ruins.

But Gollum’s wretched life was stretched out by his magic Ring beyond that of all his kind, until at last that Ring was taken from him. He hunted for it all down the Vales of Anduin, and was himself hunted by Aragorn, at Gandalf’s request. Aragorn captured him near the borders of Mordor at the beginning of the year III 3018, and toiled northward with his prisoner. We have an account of his travels in the Unfinished Tales.

–—

‘… by tracks as westerly as he could find, through the skirts of Fangorn, and so over Limlight, then over Nimrodel and Silverlode through the eaves of Lórien, and then on, avoiding Moria and the Dimrill Dale, over Gladden…’

(The Hunt for the Ring (ii), in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth)

–—

So the last survivor of the Gladden Stoors saw the long-deserted lands of his home once more before the end.

* Gladden Fields

Partial translation of Loeg Ningloron; the great stretches of reeds and iris (gladden) in and about the Anduin, where Isildur was slain and the One Ring lost.

–—

The fields at the mouth of the Gladden River.

The marshlands that formed where the Gladden River flowed down out of the Misty Mountains and into the Great River Anduin. This was the site of Isildur’s loss of the One Ring in the first years of the Third Age.

* Glæmscrafu|Glâêmscrafu|Glaemscrafu

‘Caves of Radiance’, name in Rohan of Aglarond.

* Glamdring

The sword of Turgon and Gandalf.

Of Glamdring’s early history, we know almost nothing. From Elrond’s words in ‘The Hobbit’ (‘This, Gandalf, was Glamdring, Foe-hammer that the king of Gondolin once wore’), we can say that it was forged some time in the second to fifth centuries of the First Age (the centuries when Gondolin existed), and that it was borne by Turgon (the only Elf to hold the title ‘King of Gondolin’). After Gondolin was built, Turgon was in battle twice: at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and at the Fall of Gondolin.

Glamdring was greatly feared by the Orcs even thousands of years later, so Turgon must have wielded it ferociously on both these occasions.

After Gondolin’s Fall, Glamdring passed out of history or rumour for more than 6,000 years. The fact that it survived the War of Wrath, though, tells us that it must have left Beleriand before the end of the First Age, perhaps carried eastward by a band of Orcs. More than that cannot be said, except that somehow, by the late Third Age, it had fallen into the hands of the three Trolls called in The Hobbit Tom, Bert and Bill Huggins.

It was discovered in their troll-hoard by Gandalf, Bilbo and the Dwarves as they travelled eastward on the Quest of Erebor, and claimed by Gandalf. After it was identified by Elrond, Gandalf wore if for eighty years. He had it with him when the White Council drove Sauron from Dol Guldur, and he bore it through the War of the Ring itself.

Famously, he used it to battle the Balrog at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, and it fell with him there into the abyss. Glamdring survived that fall: Gandalf had it with him when he returned, and he bore it throughout the last days of the War of the Ring and beyond. We know that he still had the sword when he rode through Bree with the Travellers in October III 3019, but Tolkien doesn’t mention it after that point. It seems safe to assume, though, that Gandalf was still wearing Glamdring, as he had for eighty years, when he boarded the White Ship at the end of the Third Age.

* Glamhoth

Sindarin word for Orcs.

–—

A name for the Orcs.

Although the Sindarin word for ‘Orcs’ is ‘Yrch’, this rare but more descriptive term is also sometimes seen (although not in The Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion).

‘Glamhoth’ does appear, however, in Tuor’s curse in the unfinished ‘Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin’; ‘Gurth an Glamhoth’ - ‘death to the Orcs’. It is also probably seen in a shortened form in the name of Gandalf’s sword, Glamdring.

* Glanduin

‘Border-river’, flowing westwards from the Misty Mountains; forming in the Second Age the southern boundary of Eregion and in the Third a part of the southern boundary of Arnor.

–—

The river that flowed down into Swanfleet.

The river that rose in the Misty Mountains, south of Khazad-dûm. It flowed westward to meet the Hoarwell above Tharbad, where it formed the marshland known as Nîn-in-Eilph or Swanfleet.

* Glanhir

‘Boundary-stream’, Sindarin name of the Mering Stream.

* Glaurung

The first of the Dragons of Morgoth, called the Father of Dragons; in the Dagor Bragollach, the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and the Sack of Nargothrond; cast his spell upon Túrin and upon Nienor; slain by Túrin at Cabed-en-Aras. Called also the Great Worm and the Worm of Morgoth.

–—

Golden Father of Dragons.

Glaurung was the first of the Dragons, and one of the greatest. He first issued from Angband in I 265, but not being fully grown at that time, the Noldor under Fingon were able to drive him back.

In the Dagor Bragollach and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Glaurung was in the vanguard of Morgoth’s forces, and having grown to his full power, he wreaked great destruction on those battlefields. In the Nirnaeth, he was driven back to Angband by the heavily armoured Dwarves, though their lord Azaghâl was slain in that battle.

Glaurung led the assault by Morgoth on Nargothrond, and there came across Túrin for the first time. He dwelt in the ruined halls of Finrod Felagund for a while, but came forth at last to seek Túrin. He was slain by Túrin’s black sword Gurthang in the Forest of Brethil.

* Glingal

‘Hanging Flame’, the image of Laurelin made by Turgon in Gondolin.

–—

The mate of Belthil in the courts of Turgon.

The golden tree made by Turgon of Gondolin in memory of Laurelin, one of the Two Trees of Valinor. Its mate was Belthil.

* Glirhuin

A minstrel of Brethil.

* Glithui

River flowing down from Ered Wethrin, a tributary of Teiglin.

* Glittering Caves

The caverns behind Helm’s Deep.

Also called Aglarond, the spectacular jewelled caverns that lay in the White Mountains behind Helm’s Deep. They were discovered by Gimli Elf-friend during the War of the Ring, and were later colonised by the Dwarves of Erebor, with Gimli becoming Lord of the Glittering Caves.

The Glittering Caves is one of very few locations in Tolkien’s work that we can associate with a real place. They were inspired by the caves of Cheddar Gorge, in the southern English county of Somerset.

* Glóin (King of Durin’s Folk)|Glóin|Gloin The son of Thorin I, and father of Óin, King of Durin’s Folk during the later Third Age.

* Glóin (Son of Gróin)|Glóin|Gloin

Son of Gróin, and father of Gimli Elf-friend, Glóin accompanied Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins on the Quest of Erebor, and years later was present with his son at the Council of Elrond.

* Glóredhel|Gloredhel

Daughter of Hador Lórindol of Dor-lómin and sister of Galdor; wedded Haldir of Brethil.

–—

Daughter of Hador Lórindol; she wedded Haldir of the Haladin.

* Glorfindel of Gondolin|Glorfindel

Elf of Gondolin who fell to his death in Cirith Thoronath in combat with a Balrog after the escape from the sack of the city. The name means

‘Golden-haired’.

–—

Chief of Gondolin’s House of the Golden Flower.

A noble Elf of Gondolin, who fled the Fall of that city with Tuor and Idril and whose battle with a Balrog in the Encircling Mountains secured their escape with their son Eärendil.

* Glorfindel of Rivendell|Glorfindel

An heroic Elf-lord of Rivendell.

A noble Elf of Rivendell, who fought at the Battle of Fornost and, a thousand years later, helped Frodo Baggins and his companions to reach the House of Elrond and evade the pursuit of the Black Riders. The name means ‘Golden-haired Elf’.

* Gnats|Gnat

Bothersome flying insects.

Small flying insects, related to flies. They are known to have existed in Middle-earth, as Sam refers to them on the borders of Mordor.

* Goatleaf Family|Goatleaf

A family of the Men of Bree. As was typical among the Men of that region, the name comes from a plant. Its precise origins are uncertain, but it is perhaps linked to honeysuckle, whose French name, chèvrefeuille, not only means ‘goat leaf’, but gives its name to a medieval lay, and would therefore presumably have been familiar to Tolkien.

Only one member of the Goatleaf family appears in Tolkien’s works -

Harry Goatleaf, who at one time watched the West-gate of Bree, but threw in his lot with Bill Ferny and Saruman’s thugs during the War of the Ring.

* Goblin-cleaver

A name for the sword Orcrist, and the literal translation of its Elvish name. It was forged in the city of Gondolin during the First Age, when the Elves warred with the Orcs of Morgoth, and Orcrist was said to have killed hundreds of Goblins in those Wars.

* Goblin-men|Goblin-man

Creatures bred by Saruman as his servants.

Creatures created by Saruman, apparently by blending the races of Orcs and Men. Precisely what they were is mysterious - they are only ever mentioned once by name, during the Battle of the Hornburg - but they seem to be distinct from Half-orcs, and rather more Man-like.

* Goblins|Goblin

The race of Orcs.

A name for Orcs, and especially the smaller kinds that infested the Misty and the Grey Mountains in the later Third Age, and had their capital at Mount Gundabad.

* Gods|God

A name wrongly given by Men to the Valar. While Tolkien states that Men have ‘often’ called the Valar gods, in fact the term is very rare in his books; it is most prominently used at the debate of Estolad, where the Men newly arrived in Beleriand dispute whether or not to remain. This is natural, of course; they had not at this point been tutored by the Elves in such high matters.

It is tempting to suppose that ‘Men have often called them gods’ refers to the years after the end of the Third Age, and might even suggest equivalences between the Valar and mythological gods of later times, such as those of the Greeks or Vikings. This cannot be correct, however; the Valaquenta represents a very ancient text within the context of The Silmarillion, probably dating from the mid to late First Age, and therefore can only refer to the Men of those times.

* Golasgil

The lord of the Anfalas or Langstrand, a pastoral fief on the far western shores of Gondor. He rode to the defence of Minas Tirith in the War of the Ring with some few of his household and Men of the Anfalas.

* Goldberry

The companion of Tom Bombadil.

–—

“O slender as a willow-wand! O clearer than clear water!

O reed by the living pool! Fair River-daughter!”

(From Frodo’s greeting to Goldberry; The Fellowship of the Ring I 7, In the House of Tom Bombadil)

–—

A mysterious being described as the ‘River-daughter’, the companion of Tom Bombadil.

* Golden Hall

The gold-thatched hall of the Kings of Rohan.

A common name for Meduseld, the hall of the Kings of Rohan in Edoras.

* Golden Wood

The forest of the golden mallorn trees.

A name used of Lórien, and with a similar meaning, referring to the golden mallorn trees that grew in that land.

* Goldenbed|Golden-bed|Golden Bed

The later name of the River Ascar.

To the north of Ossiriand, the Dwarf-road into the Blue Mountains ran alongside the River Ascar. This road was used in the later years of the First Age by a band of Dwarves returning to Nogrod with the looted treasures of Doriath. Waylayed by Beren and a force of Green-elves, they were defeated, and the treasure was scattered along the bed of the Ascar.

After that time, the river was renamed Rathlóriel, which translates as

‘Goldenbed’.

* Goldfather

A surname of the Master of Buckland Rorimac Brandybuck, who was also known as ‘Old Rory’.

* Goldilocks Gardner

A daughter of Samwise Gamgee and Rose Cotton, so named because her fair hair was rare among the Shire-hobbits. She married Thain Faramir I, son of Peregrin Took.

* Goldwine

Sixth of the Kings of Rohan.

Goldwine, the sixth Lord of the Mark, inherited the throne from his father Fréawine. Of his life and reign almost nothing is known, apart from a general note that Rohan had peace and prosperity during his nineteen years as King. Goldwine was the last of Rohan’s Kings to enjoy a peaceful reign for many years. He was succeeded by his son Déor, in whose time the Dunlendings driven out by Goldwine’s great-grandfather Aldor began to reappear in the northern marches. They would trouble the Rohirrim for many generations.

* Golfimbul

The orc-chieftain who invaded the Shire.

An orc-chieftain of Mount Gram, who led a band of his Orcs in an invasion of the Shire. He was met, and defeated, at the Battle of Greenfields by Bandobras ‘Bullroarer’ Took. According to (no doubt apocryphal) legend, the events of that battle, coupled with Golfimbul’s name, gave rise to the game of golf.

* Gollum

Wretched slave to the One Ring.

Originally a creature of hobbit-kind, who came by the One Ring in the River Anduin, where Isildur had lost it more than two millennia before.

Coming under its power, he hid away in the Misty Mountains, and was drawn into the events at the end of the Third Age when he encountered Bilbo Baggins, who took the Ring from him.

* Golodhrim

The Noldor. Golodh was the Sindarin form of Quenya Noldo, and -rim a collective plural ending. See Annon-in-Gelydh, the Gate of the Noldor.

–—

A Sindarin name for the Deep Elves.

The name of the Noldor among the Sindar; rarely used in Tolkien’s work, but probably the dominant form in Beleriand.

* Golug

Orc name for the Noldor.

–—

An Orkish name for the Noldor.

A word from a language of the Orcs, whose only recorded use was during the later First Age, used to describe the Deep Elves or Noldor. Its origins are unknown, but it may be related to the Sindarin name for this same people, Golodhrim.

* Gondolin|Hidden Realm

‘The Hidden Rock’ (see Ondolindë), secret city of King Turgon surrounded by the Encircling Mountains (Echoriath); destroyed by Morgoth.

–—

Turgon’s Hidden Refuge.

The great Hidden City of Turgon was concealed from friend and foe alike during the First Age by the Encircling Mountains, and guarded from trespassers by the Eagles of Thorondor.

In the fiftieth year of the First Age, Turgon journeyed from his halls in Nevrast with his cousin Finrod. Ulmo guided him to the hidden valley of Tumladen, and there he founded Gondolin. The city was completed in c.

I 126, and Turgon’s people who had dwelt in Nevrast travelled there secretly.

The city was inviolate for almost four hundred years; Turgon did not break his secret leaguer until the time of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad in I 471, and even after that disastrous battle he was able to return in secret to the city with the aid of Húrin Thalion.

Morgoth’s servants finally discovered Gondolin through the treachery of Maeglin, and it was sacked in I 510. Turgon was lost in the Fall of the city, but some few (including Tuor and Idril, with their child Eärendil) escaped the destruction and dwelt as Exiles at the Mouths of Sirion.

–—

The Building of Gondolin: The round valley of Tumladen, within the Encircling Mountains, had originally been a lake, and in its centre stood a hill that had once been an island: Amon Gwareth. It was here that Turgon decided to found his Hidden City, as a memorial to ancient Tirion that lay beyond the Great Sea.

The first building of the city took fifty-two years to complete. After this time, the people of Turgon, a great number of Noldor and Sindar, travelled from Nevrast, where they had dwelt, and secretly entered the valley of Tumladen. Turgon gave his city the name Ondolindë (Quenya for

‘The Rock of the Music of Water’, because of the fountains of Amon Gwareth), but in Sindarin this was rendered Gondolin, the Hidden Rock.

After their arrival in the new city, the Gondolindrim continued to labour in its building, until it was said to rival even Tirion itself.

Its walls stood high and white above the plain, and its most prominent feature was the great Tower of the King, where, among the fountains, Turgon himself made Glingal and Belthil, trees of gold and silver made in memory of the Two Trees of Valinor.

–—

The Coming of Maeglin: There followed two centuries of happy peace: Morgoth was besieged in the far north of the world, and the people of Gondolin lived undisturbed by the events outside their fair city. At last, though, a seed of discontent appeared: King Turgon’s sister Aredhel determined to leave the city, much against Turgon’s wishes, and journey into Middle-earth.

Soon after her departure, her guards returned, and reported that they had lost her in the dark and sorcerous region to the south east of the city, known as Nan Dungortheb.

More than twenty years then passed, and then suddenly Aredhel returned.

With her was one who she claimed to be Maeglin, her son by Eöl the Dark Elf of Nan Elmoth. This Maeglin accepted Turgon as lord, but his father Eöl had followed his wife and son to Gondolin and been captured at the entranceway. He was brought before Turgon. Eöl refused to submit to Turgon’s authority, and instead chose death for himself and his unwilling son. He threw a poisoned dart to slay Maeglin, but instead struck Aredhel, who fell ill with the poison and died. The body of Eöl was broken on the Caragdûr for this.

Maeglin, though, had had no part in these evils, and Turgon accepted him, and he grew to be among the great in Gondolin, wise in council, cunning in smithcraft and mighty in battle.

–—

Two Great Battles: For more than a hundred years after the deaths of Aredhel and Eöl, Gondolin again had peace. The time was coming, though, when Morgoth would break the Siege of Angband, and the unstoppable doom of the Elves would fall upon them. One winter’s night, the fires of Angband destroyed the leaguer of the Noldor: the Dagor Bragollach. In this disaster, the people of Gondolin played no immediate part.

They were drawn into the events of those years, though, when two young brothers of the race of Men, Húrin and Huor, were cut off from their army and became lost amid the feet of the Crissaegrim. Thorondor brought them to Turgon. At the bidding of Ulmo, Turgon accepted them, and they remained in Gondolin for almost a year, when they returned to their homes. In this kindly act were the first seeds of Gondolin’s destruction, more than fifty years later.

Turgon now devised a new policy for the salvation of the Elves: he began secretly to send his people out westward across the great sea, to seek the land of the Valar and ask their pardon and aid. None of his mariners succeeded, but this was a wise course, though Turgon never knew it: he was lost long before his grandson Eárendil, aided by a Silmaril, finally succeeded in this task.

As time passed since the destruction of the Dagor Bragollach, the Elves of Beleriand began to arm for a counterstroke, and Turgon secretly began his own preparations. Fourteen years after the breaking of the Siege of Angband, and some three hundred and fifty since the completion of Gondolin, Turgon rode for the first time to war. Unknown and unbidden by his kin, he rode to their aid with an army of ten thousand. This was to be the great battle that was to become known as the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

* Gondolindrim|Hidden People

The people of Gondolin, who went with Turgon to dwell there in the early First Age, and remained hidden from Morgoth until the Fall of the city in I 510.

* Gondor

‘Land of Stone’, name of the southern Númenórean kingdom in Middle-earth, established by Isildur and Anárion.

–—

The South-kingdom of the Dúnedain.

The second of the two great nations of Men founded in Middle-earth by Elendil after the Downfall of Númenor, the other being Arnor in the north. Gondor was at first ruled jointly by Elendil’s sons Isildur and Anárion. Both Elendil and Anárion were lost in the Siege of Barad-dûr, and his brother Isildur soon afterwards in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, and so the Kingship of Gondor fell on Anárion’s son Meneldil.

Thus, the Kings of Gondor were descendants of Anárion through many generations until the time of Eärnur.

When Eärnur was lost in Minas Morgul in III 2050, the rule of Gondor was taken up by the King’s Steward, Mardil Voronwë; the death of Eärnur was not certain, and so Mardil and the Stewards who followed him pledged to rule ‘until the King comes back’. Unlikely though this seemed, it happened almost a thousand years later in III 3019 when Aragorn II Elessar, descendant by right line of Isildur, elder brother of Anárion, reclaimed the throne of Gondor.

* Gondorians|Gondorian

The Men of Gondor.

The people of Gondor, the South-kingdom of the Dúnedain, whose rulers were descended from the Númenórean exiles who fled to Middle-earth with Elendil in the late Second Age.

* Gonnhirrim

‘Masters of Stone’, a Sindarin name for the Dwarves.

* Gorbadoc ‘Broadbelt’ Brandybuck|Gorbadoc Brandybuck The generous host of Brandy Hall.

The son of Marmadoc Brandybuck, who inherited the title Master of Buckland from his father. He was renowned for his love of good food (hence, no doubt, his nickname ‘Broadbelt’), and his generous hospitality. It was during one of his famous feasts that Frodo’s parents Drogo and Primula were lost in a boating accident.

* Gorbag

An Uruk of Minas Morgul, slain by Shagrat in the Tower of Cirith Ungol in a dispute during the last stages of the War of the Ring.

* Gorhendad Oldbuck|Gorhendad Brandybuck

The founder of Buckland and of the Brandybuck family (when he crossed the River Brandywine from the Shire, he changed his name from Oldbuck).

* Gorlim the Unhappy|Gorlim

Called the Unhappy; one of the twelve companions of Barahir on Dorthonion, who was ensnared by a phantom of his wife Eilinel and revealed to Sauron the hiding-place of Barahir.

–—

The betrayer of Barahir.

A follower of Barahir, who went into hiding with his lord after the Dagor Bragollach. Captured by Sauron, he was tricked into betraying Barahir, who was slain with all of his followers except Beren.

* Gorthaur

An old name of Sauron.

A name used of Sauron by the Sindar during the First Age, meaning

‘terrible dread’.

* Gorthol

‘Dread Helm’, the name that Túrin took as one of the Two Captains in the land of Dor-Cúarthol.

–—

‘The Dread Helm’, one of Túrin’s many aliases, taken by him as a captain of Dor-Cúarthol in reference to the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin.

* Gothmog (Lord of Balrogs)|Gothmog

High-captain of Angband, slayer of Fëanor, Fingon, and Ecthelion.

–—

The most powerful of all the Balrogs, one of the chief servants of Melkor, who held an authority hardly less than Sauron himself. A wily commander and fearsome fighter, Gothmog was often accompanied by others of his fiery kind, and at least in the Nirnaeth he had a personal guard of dozens of Trolls. His weapon was a great black axe.

The Elves first encountered him in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath, the battle fought under the stars before the first rising of the Moon. In that battle, Fëanor’s fury had caused him to draw forward of the main force of the Noldor, and so he came upon Gothmog with only a small guard. Even so, he fought valiantly, and though the armies of the Noldor eventually drove the Balrogs off, Fëanor’s wounds could not be healed.

After that first battle, Gothmog does not appear for several centuries.

He emerged from Angband to fight in the battle known as the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the fifth and last battle of the Wars of Beleriand. He brought up a huge army, and drove aside the forces around High King Fingon, and slew the King with his axe. His Trolls assailed Fingon’s ally Húrin, who he eventually captured and brought back to Angband.

But Gothmog was not indestructible. He took part in (and indeed presumably led) Morgoth’s deadly surprise assault on the Hidden City of Gondolin. In the square of the King in the heart of the city, he came upon the Elf-lord Ecthelion of the Fountain. They fought a great duel, and in the end Gothmog and Ecthelion slew one another. So ended one of the most feared denizens of the pits of Angband.

* Gothmog (Lieutenant of Morgul)|Gothmog

Lieutenant of Morgul at the Battle of the Pelennor.

Lieutenant of the Lord of the Nazgûl at the Battle of the Pelennor - he took command of the forces of Minas Morgul after the loss of his lord.

* Gram

The eighth King of Rohan.

The son of Déor and father of Helm Hammerhand, who ruled Rohan as the eighth Lord of the Mark. His reign was a time of warfare with the Dunlendings, who had occupied Isengard during his father’s time, and continued to raid and harrass the Rohirrim.

* Great Battle

The ultimate destruction of Angband.

A name for the War of Wrath, the assault of the Valar on Morgoth’s stronghold of Angband at the end of the First Age.

* Great Gate of Gondolin

Maeglin’s Gate of Steel.

The Seventh Gate said to have been added to the existing six gates of Gondolin by Maeglin, after Morgoth’s victory in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

According to legend, the gate was made of steel and seven storeys high, but inconsistencies between accounts mean that its existence cannot be considered certain.

* Great Gate of Minas Tirith

Entrance to the City of Gondor.

The mighty gate of Minas Tirith, citadel of Gondor, leading from the lowest of its seven tiers out onto the Pelennor Fields.

* Great Gates

The eastern entrance to Khazad-dûm.

Another name for the East-gate of Moria, the greater of the two entrances to that realm, and the Gates through which the Company of the Ring escaped during their journey southward.

* Great Goblin

The ruler of Goblin-town.

The chief of the goblins who dwelt in Goblin-town by the High Pass in the Misty Mountains; he was never named by Tolkien, and was killed by Gandalf during the Quest of Erebor.

* Great Gulf

A wide gulf of Belegaer.

A wide gulf in the western coasts of Middle-earth. It lay far to the south of the known lands in Middle-earth’s northwestern parts, forming an important feature in the geography of Arda. It was also one of the world’s most ancient features - the Gulf was already in existence when Melkor overthrew the Lamps of the Valar, in the time when the Valar still dwelt in the Hither Lands.

* Great Hall of Feasts

The feasting-hall of Minas Tirith.

The King’s feasting-hall in Minas Tirith, where Aragorn greeted Éomer after the War of the Ring. It was more properly known by its Elvish name, Merethrond.

* Great House

The hall of the Master of Lake-town, in which Thorin and Company were welcomed by the people of Lake-town, but which was later destroyed by Smaug when he descended on that township.

* Great Jewel

One of the three Silmarils.

A name for the Silmaril recovered by Beren from Morgoth’s Iron Crown, and afterwards borne by Lúthien in Dor Firn-i-Guinar.

* Great Jewels

Greatest of the works of Fëanor.

A name for the Silmarils, the three Jewels of Fëanor.

* Great Journey

The journey of the Eldar into the West.

The journey of the Eldar from Cuiviénen across Middle-earth and the Great Sea to Aman, there to dwell with the Valar in Valinor. Many of the Teleri turned aside during the journey, but the Three Kindreds of the Vanyar, the Noldor and the remaining Teleri came at last to the Undying Lands.

* Great Lake

The lake that held the island of Almaren.

The lake in the central regions of Middle-earth, known for holding the island of Almaren, the first dwelling place of the Valar.

* Great Music

Another name for the Music of the Ainur, the song through which the world of Arda was created.

* Great Ones|Great One

A title for the Valar.

* Great Orcs|Great Orc

The fighting Uruk-hai.

–—

“Great Orcs… that kind is stronger and more fell than all others.”

(Éomer, from The Two Towers III 2, The Riders of Rohan)

–—

Common name for the large soldier-orcs of Mordor and later also Isengard that troubled Gondor and Rohan in the late Third Age.

In fact, this name is only ever used by Éomer, and may only have been current in Rohan, but the fearsome creatures it described had been known for five hundred years when he spoke these words: creatures whose name in their own Black Speech was Uruk-hai.

* Great Plague

The plague that spread out of Rhovanion into Gondor and Eriador in Third Age 1636.

–—

The sickness of the middle years of the Third Age.

Another name for the Dark Plague, the sickness that blighted Middle-earth in the middle of the Third Age. Gondor, in particular, was devastated: the then King, Telemnar, was lost with all his children.

* Great Ring

Greatest of the Rings of Power.

A title occasionally used to refer to Sauron’s One Ring.

* Great Rings

The Rings of Power.

The nineteen powerful Rings forged in Eregion in the Second Age, mostly with the aid of Sauron, of which nine were given by him to Men, and seven to the Dwarves; three the Elves retained. The One Ring is also counted among the Great, but that was forged by Sauron alone in Orodruin.

Although the Elven-smiths of Eregion forged many rings in the mid-Second Age, only these nineteen are concerned Great. The nature and abilities of each of the Great Rings differed, but each shared two powers.

The first of these was the prolongation or ‘stretching’ of life - the bearer of a Great Ring did not age. This effect only applied to mortal bearers of the Rings; the Elves and Wizards were already ‘immortal’ by nature, and this power did not seem to affect them. This explains the peculiar longevity of Bilbo Baggins and especially Gollum (a creature of hobbit-kind, Gollum should have lived no more than 100 years or so, and yet under the influence of the One Ring, he survived for more than 500

years beneath the Misty Mountains).

The second power conferred by the Great Rings was that of invisibility.

At first, this was a temporary effect, and only occurred when the bearer actually wore the ring. After a time, though, this invisibility would become permanent (hence the nine Ring-wraiths, though their Rings were held by Sauron, were always invisible). This invisibility seems to have been due to the wearer being transported to the ‘wraith-world’, a strange

‘dimension’ that co-exists with the real world.

Tolkien’s various references to the Great Rings seem to make it clear that they all had the power of invisibility. However, the Three Rings of the Elves seemed to be exempt from this - although the Rings were normally invisible themselves, their bearers did not vanish (this is perhaps due to Sauron’s having no part in their making).

The Seven Rings of the Dwarves, which were among the Great Rings, raise a question. We know that one of these Rings was held by the Kings of Durin’s Folk, and yet through all the hundreds of years they bore it, there is no record of this Ring displaying any of its powers. Though the Dwarf-kings no doubt kept it secret and used it little, there are strong hints here that the Dwarves somehow had a greater immunity to the effects of the Great Rings than other mortal kinds.

* Great River

The River Anduin.

Very common title given to the River Anduin, the greatest river in Middle-earth, which flowed for many hundred miles from the far north down into the Bay of Belfalas.

* Great Sea of the West|Great Sea

The immense ocean to the west of Middle-earth.

Belegaer, the mighty ocean that lay off the western coasts of Middle-earth. Far across the sea to the west lay Aman, the Undying Lands, and in the midst of this ocean was set Númenor during the Second Age.

* Great Siege

One of two long sieges in the history of Middle-earth.

A term of uncertain meaning, referring to either the Siege of Angband or the Siege of Barad-dûr.

* Great Smials

The seat of the Took family.

The ancestral home of the Took family, located at Tuckborough in the Westfarthing of the Shire.

* Great Worm

Glaurung, Father of Dragons.

A title of Glaurung, the first and one of the greatest of the Worms (‘worm’ is a name for those creatures more commonly called dragons).

* Greater Gelion

One of the two tributary branches of the river Gelion in the north, rising in Mount Rerir.

–—

The greater of Gelion’s two source-rivers.

One of the two rivers that flowed together to form the source of long Gelion, that flowed along the eastern borders of Beleriand. The Greater Gelion rose beneath Mount Rerir in the northern Blue Mountains, and flowed southwestwards to meet the Little Gelion. It formed the eastern boundary of the lands controlled by Maglor during most of the First Age.

* Green-elves|Green-elf

Translation of Laiquendi; the Nandorin Elves of Ossiriand.

–—

The Laiquendi of Ossiriand.

Lenwë was an Elf of the Telerin clan, who set out with the Great Journey of the Elves into the West. When his people found their path blocked by the Misty Mountains, he resolved to leave the Journey and instead led his followers south down the Vales of Anduin, and they became known as the Nandor. After many years, Lenwë’s son Denethor set out westward once again, and led some part of the Nandor across the Misty Mountains and the Blue, settling at last in the Land of Seven Rivers beneath the Ered Luin; the land called Ossiriand.

Denethor and his followers did not have peace for long. Soon after his return to Middle-earth, before the Noldor had followed him, Morgoth loosed armies of Orcs on King Thingol and his allies, Círdan in the west and Denethor in the east. Denethor’s Nandor were ill-equipped for warfare, and suffered great hardship in that battle. Denethor himself was slain on Amon Ereb, though the Elves beat back the Orcs at last. After that time many of Denethor’s people left Ossiriand for the guarded forests of Doriath. Those few that remained took up a secretive existence, camouflaging themselves in green. From that time, they were known as the Green-elves, or Laiquendi in the Elvish tongue.

The hidden people of the Green-elves played little part in history after the First Battle of the Wars of Beleriand. Most significantly, they lent their aid to Beren and Dior (who dwelt on Tol Galen in the far south of their land). After the loss of their ancient ally Thingol at the hands of the Dwarves, they went with Beren to avenge him. Much later, after the deaths of Beren and Lúthien, one of their lords took up the Silmaril that Lúthien had borne, and brought it to Menegroth where Dior now dwelt.

After the end of the First Age, their fate is not clearly known. Much of their land survived the destruction of Beleriand, and as Lindon came under the rule of Gil-galad. Some at least seem to have removed to Eriador, as a note in the Unfinished Tales mentions Green-elves living on the shores of Lake Nenuial during the Second Age. After this, nothing is known of their fate.

* Greenhand Family|Greenhand

The gardeners of Hobbiton.

A short-lived family descended from Holman the greenhanded, a Hobbiton gardener. The last of the Greenhands was apparently Holman’s grandson and namesake, Holman Greenhand, but the family’s gardening tradition was carried on by his apprentice, Hamfast Gamgee.

* Green Hill Country

The country between the Tookland and Woody End.

A patch of country in the Shire, marked out by the Green Hills that ran west to east through three of the Shire’s four farthings.

The western feet of the Green Hills were in the Westfarthing, in the lands of the Tooks. From Tuckborough, a road ran eastwards through the Green Hill Country, and it was this that Frodo, Sam and Pippin briefly used in their journey from Bag End.

From their beginnings in the Westfarthing, the Hills cut through the northern corner of the Southfarthing, where the village of Pincup lay on their southern slopes. Finally, they passed through the border into the Eastfarthing, where they became densely wooded, and reached their eastern end at the appropriately named Woody End.

* Green Hills

The range of hills that ran through the Shire.

The range of hills that ran west-to-east through the Shire, through three of the Shire’s four farthings, that gave its name to the region known as the Green Hill Country. To the west, in the Tookland, the hills were fairly open and treeless. In contrast, their eastern slopes towards Woody End were densely wooded with trees of all kinds.

At least three rivers and streams had their sources among the Green Hills; the River Shirebourn, Thistle Brook and the Stock-brook. One of the chief towns of the Shire-hobbits, Tuckborough, lay among the western hills, and other villages were to be found among their slopes, or about their feet, including Tookbank, Woodhall and Pincup.

* Green Mound

The mound of the Two Trees.

A mound that stood before the western gates of Valmar, the city of the Valar. Also known as Corollairë and Ezellohar, it was the place where the Two Trees of Valinor grew.

* Greenleaf

The translated name of Legolas.

A surname given to Legolas of Mirkwood, and the literal meaning of his name.

* Greenway

Name in Bree in the later Third Age for the little-used North-South Road, especially the stretch near Bree.

–—

The remnant of the old North-South Road.

Especially in the northern parts of Middle-earth, the name given to the overgrown remains of the ancient North-South Road that ran from Gondor in the south to the Arnor in the north.

* Greenwood the Great|Greenwood

Translation of Eryn Galen; the great forest east of the Misty Mountains, afterwards named Mirkwood.

–—

The former name of Mirkwood.

The ancient name for the mighty forest known as Mirkwood throughout most of the Third Age.

* Grey Company

A company of the Dúnedain of the North.

A company of Northern Dúnedain commanded by Aragorn’s kinsman Halbarad.

In the company of Elladan and Elrohir, they rode south to fight beside their Chieftain Aragorn in the War of the Ring. They found Aragorn near the Fords of Isen, accompanied him through the Paths of the Dead, and on to the Battle of the Pelennor, where Halbarad fell.

* Grey Havens|The Havens

The havens at the mouth of the Lhûn.

Mithlond, the harbours of Círdan at the eastern end of the Gulf of Lhûn, from which the Elves of the north of Middle-earth passed into the West during the later Ages.

* Grey Mountains

A mountain-range of northern Middle-earth.

A northern range of Middle-earth, running west to east and forming the likely northern border of the region of Rhovanion. They were long mined by the Dwarves, who were driven from them in the late Third Age by Cold-drakes from the north, and were later colonised by Orcs.

* Grey Pilgrim

A common translation of the Mithrandir, the name among the Elves of Middle-earth for Gandalf.

* Grey Wanderer

A title given to the Wizard Gandalf the Grey, and the literal meaning of his name among the Elves, Mithrandir.

* Grey-elven

The Elven-tongue better known as Sindarin.

The language of the Telerin Elves who remained in Beleriand under the kingship of Thingol; more commonly called Sindarin.

* Grey-elves|Grey-elf

The Sindar; those of the Teleri who remained in Beleriand when their kin travelled across the Great Sea.

* Greycloak|Greymantle

A title of Elu Thingol of Doriath, and the literal meaning of the name Thingol.

* Greyflood

The southern border-river of Eriador.

The name given to the lower reaches of the River Hoarwell, known to the Elves as the Gwathló. The Greyflood flowed southwest from the confluence of the Hoarwell (Mitheithel) with the Glanduin, until it reached the Great Sea at Lond Daer. It formed the border between the regions of Enedwaith in the south and Minhiriath in the north, and took its name from the tree-shadows of the great forest that filled those regions during the Second Age.

* Greyhame

‘Greymantle’, Gandalf’s name in Rohan.

* Greylin|Greyflood Greylin

Name given by the Éothéod to a river flowing from Ered Mithrin to join Anduin near its source.

–—

One of the Anduin’s two source-rivers.

A river of the far north of Middle-earth. The Greylin rose in the western Grey Mountains and flowed southwestward to meet the Langwell and form the source of the Great River, Anduin.

* Gríma Wormtongue|Gríma|Grima

Cousellor of King Théoden and agent of Saruman. Called (the) Wormtongue.

–—

Saruman’s spy at the court of Théoden.

The counsellor of Théoden King of Rohan, who acted as a spy of Saruman to keep the country of Rohan weak. After the destruction of Isengard by the Ents, he accompanied Saruman northward to the Shire.

* Grimbeorn the Old|Grimbeorn

Lord of the Beornings.

The son of Beorn, who became a great lord in his own right. Like his father, he could take on the shape of a bear, and he dwelt in the same regions of the Vales of Anduin.

* Grimbold of Westfold|Grimbold

Rider of Rohan, from Westfold; with Elfhelm leader of the Rohirrim at the Second Battle of the Fords of Isen; died on the Pelennor Fields.

–—

A valiant captain of the Rohirrim.

A Rider of the Rohirrim who fought at both of the Battles of the Fords of Isen. He rode to Minas Tirith, and was slain in the Battle of the Pelennor.

* Grishnákh|Grishnakh

One of the captors of Merry and Pippin.

An Orc of Mordor, and probably one of the Uruk-hai. He was part of the raiding party that captured Merry and Pippin at Parth Galen, and was slain by the Riders of Éomer near the eaves of Fangorn Forest.

* Grithnir

Man of Húrin’s household who with Gethron accompanied Túrin to Doriath, where he died.

* Gróin|Groin

A descendant of the royal line of Durin’s Folk.

An important figure in the royal genealogies of the Dwarves, Gróin was the grandson of Borin, the younger son of King Náin II, and so could claim direct descent from Durin the Deathless himself. In his turn, Gróin was father to Óin and Glóin, and uncle to Balin and Dwalin, all four of whom travelled on the Quest of Erebor.

Through his son Glóin, he was also grandfather to Gimli Elf-friend of the Company of the Ring. For all his genealogical importance, though, we know almost nothing of his life. His dates of birth and death, though, show us that he was alive at the time of Smaug’s Sack of Erebor, and the Battle of Nanduhirion twenty-nine years later. It is more than likely that he was present at both these events.

* Grond (battering ram)|Grond

The battering-ram used against the Gate of Minas Tirith.

–—

The battering-ram that breached Minas Tirith’s Great Gate.

The battering ram used to destroy Minas Tirith’s Great Gate during the Battle of the Pelennor. It took its name from the ancient weapon of Morgoth: Grond, the Hammer of the Underworld.

* Grond (mace)|Grond

The great mace of Morgoth, with which he fought Fingolfin; called the Hammer of the Underworld.

–—

Called the Hammer of the Underworld, Morgoth’s mighty mace that he bore when he slew Fingolfin before the doors of Angband.

* Grór|Gror

Founder of the Dwarf-realm in the Iron Hills.

Grór was born into the House of Durin during its last troubled years in the Grey Mountains. He was the youngest of the three sons of King Dáin I, who ruled Durin’s Folk during their wars with the dragons of the north.

When Grór was just twenty-six years old, a cold-drake attacked Dáin’s halls, and slew the King along with his second son, Frór.

The two remaining brothers resolved to flee the Grey Mountains with their people and settle elsewhere. As the elder brother, Thrór inherited the Kingship, and led his people back to Erebor in the east. Young Grór travelled still farther east, to the Iron Hills, where he founded a realm of his own.

Grór saw many mishaps and tragedies during his reign. The kingdom of his brother Thrór was destroyed by the dragon Smaug, and Grór’s son and heir, Náin, was killed at the Battle of Nanduhirion before he could inherit.

Grór’s rule passed instead to his grandson Dáin Ironfoot. Many years later, at the Battle of Five Armies, Thrór’s last descendant, Thorin Oakenshield, was lost. Dáin inherited the high Kingship of Durin’s Folk, a title that remained with the descendants of Grór.

Grór ruled the Dwarves of the Iron Hills for two hundred and fifteen years, and was succeeded by his grandson Dáin.

* Guard of the Tower of Gondor

The élite guard of Minas Tirith.

The Guard of Minas Tirith consisted of at least three companies of the fighting Men of Gondor. The soldiers of the Guard, whose uniforms were black emblazoned with silver, were among the most respected of the Men of Gondor.

* Guarded Plain

The plain of Talath Dirnen.

The Talath Dirnen in West Beleriand, watched by the followers of Finrod Felagund against the intrusion of the creatures of Morgoth.

* Guarded Realm

See Doriath, Valinor.

* Guild of Weaponsmiths

The weaponsmiths of Númenor.

A guild of Númenor, originally formed simply to preserve the art, whose importance grew as Númenor extended its influence into Middle-earth.

* Guilin

Father of Gelmir and Gwindor, Elves of Nargothrond.

* Gulf of Lhûn|Gulf of Lhun

An immense northern inlet of the Great Sea.

The gulf of the Great Sea where the River Lhûn had its outflow, separating the lands of Forlindon to the north and Harlindon to the south. The Grey Havens lay at the eastern end of this gulf.

* Gulls|Gull|Seagulls|Seagull|Sea-gulls|Sea-gull A general name for various types of related sea-birds, found around the shores of Middle-earth and Númenor in the same abundance as today. The sound of a gull mewing was said to awaken the Sea-longing in the heart of an Elf.

* Gundabad

A mountain in the north of Middle-earth, lying at the meeting point of the Misty and the Grey Mountains. It was here that the Orcs of the northern world had their capital.

* Gundor

Younger son of Hador Lórindol, lord of Dor-lómin; slain with his father at Eithel Sirion in the Dagor Bragollach.

–—

The second son of Hador Lórindol, slain with his father during the Dagor Bragollach.

* Gurthang

‘Iron of Death’, name of Beleg’s sword Anglachel after it was reforged for Túrin in Nargothrond, and from which he was named Mormegil. Called the ‘Black Thorn of Brethil’.

–—

The Black Sword of Túrin Turambar.

‘Iron of Death’, the name given by Túrin Turambar to Beleg’s black sword Anglachel after its reforging in Nargothrond.

* Guthláf|Guthlaf

The banner-bearer of King Théoden of Rohan. He rode to the relief of Minas Tirith with his Lord in the War of the Ring, and there fought in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, where he was slain.

* Gúthwinë|Guthwine

The sword of Éomer, borne by him at Aragorn’s side in the Battle of the Hornburg, and presumably also at the later Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Its name means ‘battle-friend’.

* Gwaeron

Sindarin name of the third month ‘in the reckoning of the Edain’.

* Gwaihir

The Great Eagle known as the Windlord.

‘Wind-lord’; the lord of the Eagles of Middle-earth at the time of the War of the Ring. He rescued Gandalf from the pinnacle of Orthanc, and from the peak of Zirakzigil, and he and his kind brought Frodo and Sam out of Mordor after the destruction of the One Ring.

* Gwaith-i-Mírdain|Gwaith-i-Mirdain

‘People of the Jewel-smiths’, name of the fellowship of craftsmen in Eregion, greatest of whom was Celebrimbor son of Curufin. Also simply Mírdain.

–—

The People of the Jewel-smiths.

A brotherhood formed by Celebrimbor and the other master-craftsmen of Eregion. They were said to be the most skilled artisans to have worked since the time of Fëanor himself (who was indeed Celebrimbor’s grandfather). Their skill was subverted by Sauron, in the guise of Annatar the Lord of Gifts, who turned their abilities to the making of the Rings of Power.

* Gwathir

‘River of Shadows’, earlier name of the Gwathló.

* Gwathló|Gwathlo

River formed by the junction of Mitheithel and Glanduin, the boundary between Minhiriath and Enedwaith.

–—

The Elves’ name for the Greyflood.

The river of western Middle-earth, also called the Greyflood, that divided the regions of Enedwaith and Minhiriath. It flowed southwestwards to meet the Great Sea at Lond Daer.

* Gwindor

Elf of Nargothrond, brother of Gelmir; enslaved in Angband, but escaped and aided Beleg in the rescue of Túrin; brought Túrin to Nargothrond; loved Finduilas Orodreth’s daughter; slain in the Battle or Tumhalad.

–—

A noble Elf of Nargothrond.

A Prince of Nargothrond, son of Guilin, whose rage at the mistreatment of his brother Gelmir started the first assault of the Noldor and Edain at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. He was captured in that battle, but later escaped and led Túrin Turambar to Nargothrond.

* Hadhodrond

The Elvish rendering of ‘Khazad-dûm’.

‘Dwarf-cavern’, the Elves’ name for Khazad-dûm. The element ‘hadhod’ is curious and perhaps unique - an attempt by the Elves to render Khazâd, the Dwarves’ name for their own kind, into Elvish sounds.

* Hador Lórindol|Hador|Lórindol|Lorindol

Called Lórindol ‘Goldenhead’, also Hador the Golden-haired; lord of Dorlómin, vassal of Fingolfin; father of Galdor father of Húrin; slain at Eithel Sirion in the Dagor Bragollach. The House of Hador was called the Third House of the Edain.

–—

Bearer of the Dragon-helm.

Son of Hathol and descendant of Malach Aradan; he was granted the land of Dor-lómin by High King Fingolfin, and ruled it as its Lord until the Dagor Bragollach, when he was slain at Eithel Sirion.

* Hador (Steward of Gondor)|Hador

The seventh Ruling Steward of Gondor, who inherited the Stewardship from his father Túrin I, and in due course was succeeded by his son Barahir.

It was the fashion at this period of history for Gondor’s Stewards to take their names from historical figures of the First Age, a fashion that would survive for four generations after Hador to his great-great-grandson Steward Boromir. Hador himself was named for the great hero Hador Lórindol, ancient Lord of Dor-lómin.

Little of note occurred during Hador’s rule. On the three hundredth anniversary of the Stewards’ Reckoning, the calendar introduced by his ancestor Mardil, he added an extra day to the year to ‘fine-tune’ the calendar’s accuracy. Hador ruled during the time of the Watchful Peace, and so had no need to concern himself with matters of war, though his descendants would not be so fortunate.

Hador ruled Gondor for one hundred and seventeen years, and was succeeded by his son Barahir.

* Haladin

The second people of Men to enter Beleriand; afterwards called the People of Haleth, dwelling in the Forest of Brethil, also the Men of Brethil.

–—

The people who became known as the Folk of Haleth.

The second of the three peoples of the Edain to cross the Blue Mountains and enter Beleriand; they dwelt for a while in the southern part of Thargelion, but were led by Haleth in the west, and founded homes in the Forest of Brethil.

* Halbarad

Kinsman of Aragorn.

A Ranger of the Northlands. He rode to the aid of his kinsman Aragorn during the War of the Ring, and met his death in the Battle of the Pelennor.

* Haldad

Leader of the Haladin in their defence against the attack on them by Orcs in Thargelion, and slain there; father of the Lady Haleth.

–—

A leader among the Haladin in Thargelion.

During the early years after they crossed the Blue Mountains, the Haladin dwelt happily in Caranthir’s lands in Thargelion. They lived a scattered, pastoral existence until one day a swarm of Orcs descended on them, without warning, out of the Blue Mountains to the east.

Until that time, the Haladin had no single leader, but with the assault of the Orcs Haldad took on the role. He gathered what remnant he could of his people, and built a defensive stockade between the rivers Gelion and Ascar, south of Sarn Athrad. There the Orcs besieged them until their food was exhausted. Haldad led a sortie against the attacking Orcs, and was slain; his son Haldar rushed to recover his father’s body, and was slain in turn.

Haldad’s death was not in vain; Haldad’s daughter Haleth led the Haladin through another week of starvation and seige until Caranthir’s army appeared out of the north, and drove the attacking Orcs to their deaths.

* Haldan

Son of Haldar; leader of the Haladin after the death of the Lady Haleth.

–—

First lord of the People of Haleth.

The son of Haldar son of Haldad, and nephew to Haleth herself, who followed his aunt to Brethil, where she settled her People. Haleth left no heir of her own, and so as grandson of Haldad her father, Haldan took up the lordship of the Men of Brethil.

* Haldar

Son of Haldad of the Haladin, and brother of the Lady Haleth; slain with his father in the orc-raid on Thargelion.

–—

Ancestor of the leaders of the People of Haleth.

The son of Haldad, who would have followed his father as Lord of the Haladin had not both been lost in an orc-raid. Haldar’s sister Haleth took up the rule of her people, but she died childless, and Haldar’s descendants became the lords of the people now known as the People of Haleth.

* Haldir (Elf of Lórien)|Haldir

The guide of the Fellowship.

A marchwarden of the Galadhrim of Lórien, who guarded its northern borders with his brothers Rúmil and Orophin. When the Fellowship arrived there after fleeing Moria, he became their guide and led them to Caras Galadhon.

* Haldir (Lord of the Haladin of Brethil)|Haldir Son of Halmir of Brethil; wedded Glóredhel, daughter of Hador of Dorlómin; slain in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

–—

Lord of the Haladin of Brethil; he fostered his nephews Húrin and Huor during their childhood years; slain in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

* Haleth

Called the Lady Haleth; leader of the Haladin (who were named from her the People of Haleth) from Thargelion to the lands west of Sirion.

–—

The founder of the Folk of Haleth.

The daughter of Haldad of the Haladin; after the loss of her father and her twin brother Haldar, she became the leader of her people, and she led many of them to dwell in the Forest of Brethil. In her time, the Haladin became known as the People of Haleth.

* Halethrim

The People of Haleth.

–—

The Men of Brethil.

The rarely seen Elvish rendering of ‘Folk of Haleth’, a name referring to those Men of the Haladin who followed the Lady Haleth westward across Beleriand. Their main dwelling-place was on Amon Obel in the midst of the Forest of Brethil.

* Half-elven (race)|Half-elven|Half-elf

Translation of Sindarin Peredhel, plural Peredhil, applied to Elrond and Elros; and to Eärendil.

–—

The descendants of Elves and Men.

Name given to those who shared descent from Elves and Men, as for example when the Mortal Tuor wedded Idril, daughter of Turgon. Their children and descendants were given the choice to be counted among Elvenkind or Men. In almost all cases, they chose the Elder Kindred, with most famous exception being Tuor’s grandson Elros, the first King of Númenor.

* Half-elven (title of Elrond and Elros)|Half-elven|Half-elf The children of Eärendil.

A title of Elrond and Elros, the English translation of the Elvish peredhil. Their father Eärendil and mother Elwing had Men and Elves in their ancestry.

* Half-orcs

Foul creatures bred by Saruman.

Creatures bred from Orcs and Men by the Wizard Saruman in his stronghold at Isengard. Like Sauron’s Uruk-hai, they could withstand sunlight. The more Man-like of them, of perhaps a slightly different breed, were known as Goblin-men.

* Halfast ‘Hal’ Gamgee|Halfast Gamgee|Hal

A cousin of Samwise Gamgee, the son of Sam’s uncle Halfred of Overhill.

While hunting in the Northfarthing one day, Halfast reportedly encountered a huge and peculiar being that he called a ‘Tree-man’.

* Halflings|Halfling

Translation of Sindarin Periannath (Hobbits).

–—

A name for Hobbits used by Men; it was originally given to them by the tall Dúnedain, who were literally twice the height of a typical Hobbit.

* Halflings’ Leaf

Another name for pipe-weed.

Tobacco; smoking was invented by the Hobbits, and great quantities of Leaf, as it was called, were grown in the Shire, especially the warmer regions of the Southfarthing.

* Halfred Gamgee

An elder brother of Samwise Gamgee, who removed to the Northfarthing of the Shire.

* Halifirien

‘Holy Mount’, name in Rohan of Amon Anwar. See Eilenaer.

–—

The mountain of the Firien Wood.

A mountain or tall hill that stood on the borders of Gondor and Rohan at the time of the War of the Ring. It was the ancient site of the Tomb of Elendil.

* Halimath

The ninth month of the Shire Calendar, following Wedmath and approximately equivalent to modern September. In fact, it ran from modern 23 August to 21 September in a normal year.

* Hall of Fire

The tale-hall of Rivendell.

A hall in Elrond’s house at Rivendell. A fire was always kept lit there, and while it stood empty during the day, at night it was given over to the telling of tales and singing of songs.

* Hallacar

Son of Hallatan of Hyarastorni; wedded Tar-Ancalimë, first Ruling Queen of Númenor, with whom he was at strife. See Mámandil.

–—

The husband of Queen Tar-Ancalimë.

The son of Hallatan of Hyarastorni, a nobleman of Númenor descended through five generations from King Vardamir Nólimon. He wooed and won the hand of the proudly wilful Queen Tar-Ancalimë. Though the circumstances of their marriage are unclear (there are several contradictory accounts) it seems clear that Ancalimë married for political reasons. In particular, she seems to have been motivated to produce an heir to prevent her cousin Soronto from claiming the throne.

Tar-Ancalimë and Hallacar did indeed produce an heir, who would one day rule as Tar-Anárion, the eighth King of Númenor. After the birth of their son, Hallacar became estranged from the Queen, and they lived apart from one another.

* Hallas

Son of Cirion; thirteenth Ruling Steward of Gondor; deviser of the names Rohan and Rohirrim.

* Hallatan

Lord of Hyarastorni in the Mittalmar (Inlands) of Númenor; cousin of Tar-Aldarion.

–—

A nobleman of ancient Númenor.

A Númenórean, the lord of the inland region known as Hyarastorni. A descendant of King Vardamir Nólimon, his son Hallacar wed the first Ruling Queen of Númenor, Tar-Ancalimë.

* Halls of Awaiting|Halls of Waiting

The Halls of the Vala Mandos in Valinor, were the Elves were sent after they were slain.

* Halls of Mandos|Mandos

The place of the dwelling in Aman of the Vala properly called Námo, the Judge, though this name was seldom used, and he himself was usually referred to as Mandos.

* Halmir

Lord of the Haladin, son of Haldan, father of Haldir; with Beleg of Doriath defeated the Orcs that came south from the Pass of Sirion after the Dagor Bragollach.

–—

Heroic lord of the Haladin.

The lord of the People of Haleth at the time of the Dagor Bragollach.

After that battle, and the capture of Minas Tirith, Orcs began to roam unhindered across the lands of Beleriand. Halmir called on the aid of Thingol, who sent many stout Sindarin warriors under the command of Beleg to his aid. Together, Halmir and Beleg destroyed a legion of invading Orcs, and gave the southern lands a respite from the defeats in the north. Halmir was succeeded as lord of the Haladin by his son, Haldir.

* Háma|Hama

Captain of the household of King Théoden.

–—

The doorward of Théoden and captain of the King’s guard of Rohan. He fell in the Battle of the Hornburg during the War of the Ring.

* Hamfast Gamgee|Hamfast

Sam Gamgee’s father. Called Gaffer Gamgee and the Gaffer.

–—

Son of Hobson ‘Roper’ Gamgee, Hamfast removed to Hobbiton to take up gardening, and was for many years the Baggins’ gardener at Bag End. He married Bell Goodchild, and had six children, among them Samwise Gamgee of the Company of the Ring.

* Hamfast Gardner

A son of Samwise Gamgee and Rose Cotton; named for his grandfather, Hamfast Gamgee.

* Hammer of the Underworld

Grond, the great weapon of Morgoth that he used in single combat with Fingolfin.

* Hamson Gamgee

Eldest brother of Samwise Gamgee, who removed to Tighfield to work with his uncle Andwise as a roper.

* Handir

Son of Haldir and Glóredhel, father of Brandir the Lame; lord of the Haladin after Haldir’s death; slain in Brethil in battle with Orcs.

–—

Lord of the Haladin of Brethil, son of Haldir. He was slain by Orcs, and succeed by his son Brandir.

* Harad

‘The South’, used vaguely of countries far south of Gondor and Mordor.

–—

The southern lands of Middle-earth.

Name given to the wide, sun-baked lands to the south of Gondor and Mordor; the Men of Harad, called the Haradrim, were ancient enemies of the Gondorians and allies of Sauron during the War of the Ring.

* Harad Road

The long road that ran southward through Ithilien, crossing the Poros at its Fords, and then out across South Gondor and the far lands of Harad.

* Haradrim

Men of the southern lands.

The proud and warlike people of the Harad, in the south of Middle-earth.

The ancient enemies of Gondor, they allied with Sauron during the War of the Ring.

* Haradwaith

‘South-folk’, the Harad.

* Hareth

The daughter of Halmir of the Haladin; she wedded Galdor of the House of Hador, and was the mother of Húrin and Huor.

* Harfoots|Harfoot

One of the three peoples into which the Hobbits were divided.

–—

The smallest and most common of the three original hobbit-strains, who entered Eriador a century before the Fallohides or Stoors.

* Harlindon

Lindon south of the Gulf of Lhûn.

–—

The southern part of Lindon.

The lesser, southern part of the Elf-land of Lindon, on the western shores of Middle-earth. Harlindon was the part of that land that lay south of the Gulf of Lhûn, and the haven of Harlond lay on its northern coast.

* Harlond (haven)|Harlond

A haven on the Gulf of Lhûn.

An Elf-haven on the southern shores of the Gulf of Lhûn, whose name in fact means ‘south-haven’. It precise positioning is open to debate; in Appendix A to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien writes of it as the southern part of the Grey Havens, but the map that accompanies the book shows it as a small inlet about 150 miles west of Mithlond.

* Harlond (port)|Harlond

The port of Minas Tirith.

The port and docks of the city of Minas Tirith, used by river traffic from the southern regions of Gondor. It lay to the south of the city, where its fortifications ran alongside the great outlying wall of the Rammas Echor.

* Harnen

Gondor’s boundary with Near Harad.

A river in the south of Middle-earth, with a name meaning ‘south-water’.

It rose in the southern mountains of Mordor, and flowed westward to the Great Sea, forming the ancient boundary between the lands of Gondor and Harad.

* Harrowdale

Valley at the head of the Snowbourn, under the walls of Dunharrow.

–—

The mountain valley of the Snowbourn River.

The name given to the deep north-south valley cut out of the White Mountains by the Snowbourn River. At its southern end, beneath the mountain known as the Starkhorn, stood Dunharrow, a great refuge of the Rohirrim. At its northern end, where the Snowbourn issued onto the plains of Rohan, stood that nation’s capital, Edoras.

* Hasufel

The horse of Rohan that bore Aragorn.

The grey-coated steed of Gárulf of Rohan. After the loss of his master in battle, Hasufel was lent by Éomer to Aragorn when they met in the northern fields of Rohan. The hardy creature saw many adventures, including the Battle of the Hornburg, before Aragorn was brought his own horse, Roheryn, by the Rangers of the North.

* Hathaldir

Called the Young; one of the twelve companions of Barahir on Dorthonion.

* Hathol

Father of Hador Lórindol.

–—

The father of Hador Lórindol.

The son of Magor and grandson of Malach Aradan, one of the first Men to cross the Blue Mountains from the eastern lands. Little is known of Hathol’s life, except that he was the father of the great hero Hador Lórindol, who served Fingolfin and was granted the land of Dor-lómin to dwell in.

* Hatholdir

Man of Númenor, friend of Tar-Meneldur; father of Orchaldor.

* Haudh in Gwanur

The grave-mound of Folcred and Fastred.

The mound raised on the banks of the Poros by the Men of Rohan to entomb their lords Folcred and Fastred, twin sons of Folcwine slain in battle with Harad.

* Haudh-en-Arwen

‘The Ladybarrow’, the burial-mound of Haleth in the Forest of Brethil.

* Haudh-en-Elleth|Mound of the Elf-maid

The Mound in which Finduilas of Nargothrond was buried near the Crossings of Teiglin. Translated ‘Mound of the Elf-maid’.

–—

The grave-mound of Finduilas.

The Mound of the Elf-maid; the grave of Finduilas of Nargothrond that stood near the Crossings of Teiglin on the western borders of the Forest of Brethil.

* Haudh-en-Ndengin

‘The Mound of Slain’ in the desert of Anfauglith, where were piled the bodies of the Elves and Men that died in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

* Haudh-en-Nirnaeth

‘The Mound of Tears’, another name of Haudh-en-Ndengin.

* Haven-finder

Aldarion’s flagship Hirilondë.

The mighty ship built by the shipwrights of Rómenna for Aldarion the King’s Heir of Númenor. ‘Haven-finder’ is the literal meaning of the ship’s Elvish name, Hirilondë.

* Haven of the Swans

The haven of the Teleri on the shores of Aman.

The haven of Alqualondë, built by the Teleri on the shores of Aman. It took its name from the ships of the Sea-elves, fashioned in the shape of great jewelled swans.

* Haven of Umbar

The seaport of the Corsairs.

A natural harbourage far to the south of the Bay of Belfalas. It was used by the Númenóreans during the Second Age, and it was here that Sauron surrendered himself to Ar-Pharazôn. Its history during the Third Age was turbulent; it eventually fell under the power of the Corsairs, enemies of Gondor, who continued to rule at the time of the War of the Ring.

* Havens of the Falas

The sea-cities of Círdan.

Brithombar and Eglarest, the harbour-cities of Círdan the Shipwright in the coastlands of the Falas in West Beleriand.

* Havens of Sirion

Last refuge of the Elves of Beleriand.

The havens at the Mouths of Sirion where the Exiles of Gondolin and the remnant of Doriath dwelt at the end of the First Age, under the lordship of Eärendil the Mariner.

* Hay Gate

The northern gate of the High Hay.

The North Gate of Buckland, that guarded the Eastmarch of the Shire from travellers on the East Road. It stood at the northern end of the Hedge known as the High Hay.

* Haysend

The village at the end of the High Hay.

The village at the southern tip of Buckland, at the place where the River Withywindle flowed out of the Old Forest into the Brandywine. It was named for the fact that it stood at the end of the High Hay, the Hedge raised to protect the Bucklanders from the strange things that lived in the Forest and beyond it. According to the poem Bombadil Goes Boating, its inhabitants had a more fierce and protective attitude than most Hobbits, which is hardly surprising given the perilous location of their village.

* Heart of Fire

The Noldor’s description of the Sun.

A description given to the vessel of Arien, the Sun, by the Noldor;

‘Heart of Fire’ is a broad translation of the name Vása.

* Heavy-handed

One of the many Elvish names for the race of Men.

* Heir of Isildur

Birthright of the leaders of the Northern Dúnedain.

The title of thirty-nine lords of the Dúnedain descended in right line from Isildur the son of Elendil, from his son Valandil to Aragorn II Elessar, who reunited the Kingdoms of the Dúnedain in Middle-earth.

* Helcar

The Inland Sea in the northeast of Middle-earth, where once stood the mountain of the lamp of Illuin; the mere of Cuiviénen where the first Elves awoke is described as a bay in this sea.

–—

The inland sea in the east of ancient Middle-earth, on the eastern shores of which lay Cuiviénen. Oromë led the Elves of the Great Journey around the northern end of this sea as they set out for Valinor.

* Helcaraxë|Helcaraxe|Grinding Ice

The strait between Araman and Middle-earth; also referred to as the Grinding Ice.

–—

The Grinding Ice.

The perilous icy wastes that formerly lay between Aman and Middle-earth in the north of the world. Fingolfin and his people made their way into Middle-earth across the treacherous wastes of the Helcaraxë at the beginning of the First Age.

* Helevorn

‘Black Glass’, a lake in the north of Thargelion, below Mount Rerir, where Caranthir dwelt.

–—

The cold lake beneath Mount Rerir.

The deep, mountain-shaded lake in the cold lands northeast of Beleriand.

Caranthir had his capital on its shores, but its waters were defiled during the Dagor Bragollach.

* Hells of Iron

Angband; the northern stronghold of Morgoth beneath Thangorodrim in the Iron Mountains.

* Helluin

The brightest of Varda’s stars.

The name in Middle-earth for the star today known as the Dog Star, Sirius. Its name appears to mean ‘ice-blue’.

* Helm Hammerhand|Helm|Hammerhand

The last King of Rohan’s first line.

The son of Gram, the ninth King of Rohan and last of the first line, renowned in the histories of Rohan. During his reign, the Rohirrim were at war with the Dunlendings - Helm and both his sons perished in that war. He was succeeded by his nephew Fréaláf, who founded the second line of Kings.

* Helm of Hador

The Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin.

A huge and mighty helm made originally by Telchar the smith for the Dwarf-lord Azaghâl. Passing through many noble hands, it was eventually gifted by Fingon to his vassal Hador Lórindol, who was the only one found who could bear the helm with ease. It was passed from Hador to his son Galdor, and became an heirloom the House of Hador.

* Helm’s Deep

A deep gorge near the north-western end of Ered Nimrais, at the entrance to which was built the Hornburg; named after King Helm, who took refuge from his enemies there in the Long Winter of Third Age 2758-9.

–—

A refuge of the Rohirrim.

The great coomb, and the caverns behind it, that lay in the northern valleys of the White Mountains. Helm, King of Rohan, took refuge here with his people in the time of the invasion of Rohan by the Dunlendings.

* Helm’s Dike

The defensive dike of the Deeping-coomb.

The great defensive earthwork that ran across the Deeping-coomb, as part of the defences of the Hornburg and Helm’s Deep.

* Helm’s Gate

The guarded entrance to Helm’s Deep.

A passage between two forbidding cliff-faces, the northern guarded by the castle of the Hornburg, that led to the fastness of Helm’s Deep in the White Mountains. The Gate was walled from north to south, and was the site of the ferocious siege known as the Battle of the Hornburg.

* Henderch

Man from the Westlands of Númenor, a mariner of Tar-Aldarion.

* Henneth Annûn|Henneth Annun

‘Window on the Sunset’, name of a cave behind a waterfall in Ithilien.

–—

The Window of the Sunset.

One of the last refuges of the Men of Gondor in Ithilien during the late Third Age. Its name means ‘Window on the West’, taken from the waterfall that flowed over it and hid it from the servants of Sauron.

* Her Ladyship

A mocking title of Shelob, given to her by the Orcs.

* Heren Istarion

‘Order of the Wizards’.

* Herion

The third of Gondor’s Ruling Stewards.

The third Steward to rule in Gondor, Herion was the grandson of Mardil Voronwë himself, and inherited the title from his father Eradan. He ruled for thirty-two years during the time known as the Watchful Peace, and was succeeded by his son Belegorn.

* Herucalmo

Husband of Tar-Vanimeldë, the third Ruling Queen of Númenor; after her death usurped the throne, taking the name of Tar-Andulcar.

–—

Consort to Queen Tar-Vanimeldë.

The consort to Tar-Vanimeldë, the third Ruling Queen of Númenor. The Queen had little interest in the duties of her office, and during her reign Herucalmo effectively acted as her regent. On Tar-Vanimeldë’s death, the Sceptre should have passed to her son Alcarin, but instead Herucalmo withheld it and claimed the Kingship for himself, taking the name Tar-Anducal. The island of Númenor fell under his doubtful rule for twenty years, until Herucalmo himself died, and Alcarin took his rightful place.

* Herugrim

The sword of Théoden, hidden from him for many years by Gríma. After being cured by Gandalf, Théoden recovered the sword, and rode with it to battle at the Hornburg and the Pelennor Fields.

* Herumor

A renegade Númenórean who became mighty among the Haradrim at the end of the Second Age.

–—

A Númenórean follower of Sauron.

One of the many Númenóreans who fell under the shadow of Sauron after Ar-Pharazôn brought the Dark Lord to Númenor. No small number of these people sailed eastward to Middle-earth, and Herumor was among them. With another named Fuinur, he settled among the Haradrim, and became a lord in the lands of the Harad. From this, and his worship of Sauron’s darkness, he must have taken taken his name: Herumor means ‘lord of the dark’.

* Herunúmen|Herunumen

‘Lord of the West’, Quenya name of Ar-Adunakhôr.

* Hewer of Caves

A title of Finrod of Nargothrond, more commonly seen in its Dwarvish translation, Felagund.

* Hidden City

A name for the city of Gondolin, hidden from the spies of Morgoth within the mountains of the Crissaegrim.

* Hidden King

Title given to King Elu Thingol, whose realm of Doriath lay hidden behind the Girdle of Melian.

* Hidden Kingdom

A name given to both Doriath (hidden within the Girdle of Melian), and Gondolin (concealed behind the Encircling Mountains).

* Hidden Rock

Gondolin, and Amon Gwareth on which it stood.

The great rock that lay in the hidden valley of Tumladen, on which Gondolin was built, and the literal meaning of that city’s name.

* High Elves|High Elf

The Elves of Aman, and all Elves who ever dwelt in Aman. Called the High Folk of the West. See Eldar.

–—

The Elves of Valinor.

The three kindreds of the Elves who journeyed to Valinor; the Vanyar, the Noldor and those of the Teleri who did not remain in Beleriand. Of these, the Vanyar and Teleri remained there, but many of the Noldor returned to Middle-earth at the beginning of the First Age, and some of these remained at the time of the War of the Ring.

* High Hay

The great fence that ran between Buckland and the Old Forest.

The great fence that ran north to south along the eastern border of Buckland, built by the Bucklanders to protect themselves from the dangers of the Old Forest.

* High King

King of all the Dúnedain.

A title used by the Dúnedain for their ultimate ruler. Normally, ‘High King’ would refer to a king who ruled over other lesser kings and lords, but this is not necessarily the case with the High King of the Dúnedain.

The term seems to date back to the early days of Númenor, where Tar-Meneldur the fifth King was addressed as ‘High King’, though he had no other rulers in his service.

The more common use of the title, though, came at the end of the Second Age, with the establishment of the Realms in Exile in Middle-earth. In their earliest years, the Two Kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor fell under the ultimate rule of one man, Elendil, who dwelt in Arnor as the High King.

The South-kingdom of Gondor was ruled jointly by his sons, but only under his suzerainty.

With Elendil’s loss in the Siege of Barad-dûr, his elder son Isildur inherited the High Kingship. Isildur ruled for only two years, though, before he too was lost in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. After his death, historical events conspired to separate the Two Kingdoms, each of which took Kings of their own. The High Kingship should in principle have fallen on Isildur’s heir Valandil, but in practice Valandil became King of Arnor only, and had no power over the South-kingdom.

More than three thousand years were to pass before Aragorn reunited Elendil’s realms. In doing so, as the direct descendant of Isildur through many generations, he also resurrected the High Kingship.

* High King of Arda

A title given to Manwë Súlimo, greatest of the Valar, and accounted lord of the realm of Arda.

* High King of the Elves

Noblest of all the Elder Kindred.

The title of Ingwë of the Vanyar, who dwelt on Taniquentil beneath Manwë’s halls, and was considered the most noble of the Elves.

* High King of the Noldor

A title of six lords of the Deep Elves.

The title of six Elf-lords of the Noldor. They held titular rulership over all the Noldor of Middle-earth, though in practice circumstances prevented the effective use of this power until the time of the Last Alliance. The Sons of Fëanor, in particular, while they acknowledged the Kingship, paid its bearer little heed; they preferred to follow their own policies under the general leadership of Maedhros.

–—

1- Finwë (ruled c.9,000 years before the beginning of the First Age): The first lord of the Noldor awoke at Cuiviénen and led his people into the West to dwell in Valinor. He was slain by Morgoth at Formenos, and succeeded by his eldest son.

2- Fëanor (ruled briefly during the First Age): He led the host of the Noldor back to Middle-earth to avenge his father’s death and recover the Silmarils from Morgoth. He was slain in his assault on Angband. After his death, the Kingship by right belonged to his eldest son Maedhros, but he refused it and the succession passed instead to Fëanor’s half-brother.

3- Fingolfin (ruled 454 years to I 455): He dwelt to the northwest of Beleriand with his sons, and ruled the Noldor during the Siege of Angband. When Morgoth broke the leaguer in the Dagor Bragollach, he rode in anger to the gates of Angband and died in single combat with Morgoth.

He was succeeded by his eldest son.

4- Fingon (ruled 16 years to I 471): His short reign was one of endless war with the forces of Morgoth. With Maedhros, he prepared a final assault on Morgoth, the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, which ended in disaster for the Noldor and Fingon’s own death. He was succeeded by his brother.

5- Turgon (ruled 39 years to I 510): Turgon’s kingship was titular indeed, for even his own kin did not know the location of his Hidden City of Gondolin. Gondolin’s location was discovered by Morgoth through the treachery of Maeglin, and Turgon died in its Fall. After his death, the Kingship passed back to Fingon’s line, to his only son.

6- Ereinion Gil-galad (ruled 3,514 years to II 3441): The last High King, Gil-galad held the Kingship longer than any of his forebears since Finwë.

He formed the Last Alliance with Elendil, and died during the Siege of Barad-dûr at the end of the Second Age.

–—

Gil-galad was the last High King; after his time the title is never used.

In order of succession, the Kingship would presumably have fallen on Turgon’s descendants; Eärendil (who was in the West and could not exercise it) or his eldest son Elrond (who never made claim to the Kingship).

* High Ones of Arda

A title of the eight greatest of the Valar, the Aratar.

* High Pass|Pass of Imladris

The northern pass through the Misty Mountains.

The pass of the Misty Mountains that lay above Rivendell; it was here that Bilbo Baggins and the Dwarves were captured by goblins as they journeyed eastwards on the Quest of Erebor.

* High-captain of Angband

A title of Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs.

* High-elven

Most noble of the tongues of the Elves.

A name for Quenya, the tongue of the High Elves of Valinor.

* Hildeson

The surname of Fréaláf the tenth King of Rohan. The ninth King, Helm Hammerhand perished with both his sons during the Long Winter, and the First Line of the Lords of the Mark came to an end. As Helm’s nephew, Fréaláf became the first King of the Second Line. His surname marks his descent from Helm’s royal sister, Hild.

* Hildifons Took

One of Bilbo Baggins’ uncles.

–—

The lost son of the Old Took.

One of the many children of Gerontius, the Old Took; said to have gone off on a journey and never returned.

* Hildigrim Took

Ancestor of both Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck.

The fourth child of Gerontius, the Old Took, who married Rosa Baggins and was thus very distantly related to both Bilbo and Frodo. Among his great-grandchildren were both Peregrin Took (the son of Hildigrim’s grandson Paladin) and Meriadoc Brandybuck (the son of his granddaughter Esmeralda). Hildigrim never became Thain himself, but the Thainship did eventually pass to his descendants, so that Paladin II and his line held that distinction.

* Hildor

‘The Followers’, ‘The Aftercomers’, Elvish name for Men, as the Younger Children of Ilúvatar.

* Hildórien|Hildorien

Birthplace of the race of Men.

‘Land of the Followers’; the land in the far east of Middle-earth in which the first Men awoke at the beginning of the First Age.

* Hill of Sight

A name for Amon Hen.

One of the tall hills at the southern end of Nen Hithoel, above the Falls of Rauros, on the lake’s western shore. In the early days of Gondor, it lay near that kingdom’s northern boundary. The Dúnedain of the South built a high seat on its summit, and a stone stairway leading up the hill to its peak. From that high place they could survey the South-kingdom and the lands that bordered it.

* Hill of Spies

The guard-hill of Nargothrond.

Amon Ethir, the artificial hill raised by Finrod Felagund eastward of his stronghold of Nargothrond, as a watch on the wide Guarded Plain of Talath Dirnen. Its most important part in history came after Nargothrond’s loss, since it was here that Túrin’s sister Nienor encountered the gaze of Glaurung, and lost all memory of her former life.

* Hill of the Eye

Amon Hen, the Hill of Sight.

A name for Amon Hen, the steep-sided hill that towered above the southern banks of Nen Hithoel, and on whose summit was the Seat of Seeing.

* Hill-men|Hill-man

Descendants of the Men of the White Mountains.

A race of Men historically descended from the mountain tribes of the White Mountains, who spread northward across Middle-earth during the Second Age. The Dead who marched with Aragorn were of this stock, as were the Dunlendings and the Men of Bree.

* Hill-trolls|Hill-troll|Hill Trolls|Hill Troll Trolls of highland and mountain.

A variety of Troll adapted for life among hills and moorland. Aragorn’s grandfather Arador was slain by them in the hills north of Rivendell, and a company of these creatures were among the armies that Sauron loosed from the Morannon in the last battle of the War of the Ring.

In appearance they were man-like, but larger, and seem to have been covered with hard scales. They were fearsome and vicious, bellowing like beasts as they stormed into battle, and beating their enemies down with great hammers.

* Hills of Evendim

The twilight hills above Annúminas.

The hills above Lake Nenuial in the north of Middle-earth, called by the Elves Emyn Uial. They overlooked the ancient Arnorian capital of Annúminas.

* Himlad

‘Cool Plain’, the region where Celegorm and Curufin dwelt south of the Pass of Aglon.

–—

The land between the Aros and the Celon.

A cold land lying between the Rivers Aros and Celon in the northwest of Beleriand; held by Celegorm and Curufin until the Dagor Bragollach.

* Himling

An island off the northern coasts of Middle-earth.

A small island that lay off the northwestern coasts of Middle-earth, about twenty-five miles out from the shores of northern Lindon. During the First Age, this had not been an island but a hill - Himring, where Maedhros’ fortress had stood. When the western lands were flooded at the end of the First Age, the plains about the hill were drowned, and it was left standing as an island.

* Himring

The great hill west of Maglor’s Gap on which was the stronghold of Maedhros; translated as ‘Ever-cold’.

–—

The hill where Maedhros’ fortress stood.

A hill in the northeast of Beleriand, on which was the fortress of Maedhros, eldest of the Sons of Fëanor. After the drowning of Beleriand at the end of the First Age, the peak of Himring remained above the waves.

* Hirgon

The bearer of the Red Arrow.

An emissary of Gondor, who brought the Red Arrow to Théoden at Harrowdale, in token of Gondor’s desperate need for help from its old allies. Riding back eastward to his Lord, Denethor, Hirgon and his companion encountered Sauron’s forces on the Rammas Echor, and were cut down as they tried to escape.

* Hirilondë|Hirilonde

‘Haven-finder’, the great ship in which Aldarion sailed from Númenor to Middle-earth. Hirilondë was so huge that she became commonly known as

‘The Wooden Whale’. See Turuphanto.

* Hírilorn|Hirilorn

The great beech-tree in Doriath with three trunks, in which Lúthien was imprisoned. The name means ‘Tree of the Lady’.

* Hísilómë|Hisilome

‘Land of Mist’, Quenya name of Hithlum.

* Hísimë|Hisime

The eleventh month of the year, according to the Stewards’ Reckoning of Gondor, following Narquelië, and preceding the last month, Ringarë. On a modern calendar, Hísimë would run between 22 October and 20 November.

* Hithaeglir|Hithaeglin

‘Line of Misty Peaks’: the Misty Mountains, or Mountains of Mist. (The form Hithaeglin on the map to The Lord of the Rings is an error).

–—

The Sindarin name for the range more commonly known as the Misty Mountains.

* Hither Lands

Middle-earth (also called the Outer Lands).

–—

The lands east of the Great Sea.

A name for Middle-earth; the lands of mortals as opposed to Aman, the Undying Lands.

* Hither Shore

A poetic name for Middle-earth.

In general use, ‘Hither Shore’ was a term used especially by the Elves for the mortal lands of Middle-earth, a reminder of the far distant shores of Aman. In First Age Sindarin, it also had a more specific meaning, since it translates into that language as the name Nevrast, a cold seaward region in the northwest of Beleriand.

* Hithlum

‘Land of Mist’, the region bounded on the east and south by Ered Wethrin and on the west by Ered Lómin; see Hísilómë.

–—

The misty lands north of Beleriand.

The misty, grey land held by Fingolfin and his people to the north of Beleriand, fenced by the mountain range of the Ered Wethrin.

* Hithui

Sindarin name of the eleventh month. See Hísimë.

* Hoarwell

The northern river also called Mitheithel.

The name among Men for the river that rose in the northern Misty Mountains and flowed southwestwards through the lands of the ancient kingdom of Rhudaur. It formed the main tributary for the River Greyflood.

* Hob Gammidge

The Roper of Tighfield.

The son of Wiseman Gamwich, who must have travelled with his father when the family relocated from their original home, the village of Gamwich itself, to take up a life in Tighfield. Hob made his living in Tighfield as a roper, and so was the founder of long family tradition. He had a son, Hobson, through whom he became the grandfather of Hamfast Gamgee, and the great-grandfather of Sam Gamgee of the Fellowship of the Ring.

In his older years, Hob acquired the nickname ‘Old Gammidgy’, a play on his own name ‘Gammidge’ which was itself a corruption of the village name Gamwich. This playful name itself became transformed into the better known ‘Gamgee’, and was the origin of Hamfast’s and Samwise’s family name.

* Hobbit-holes|Hobbit-hole

The underground dwellings of the Little Folk.

Originally the Hobbits’ preferred style of dwelling, holes buried into hillsides, downs and banks. By the late Third Age, these had largely been replaced by buildings of wood or brick, but hobbit-holes were still in use by the more established Hobbit families of the Shire (for example, at Bag End and Great Smials).

* Hobbiton

Village in the Westfarthing of the Shire, home of Bilbo Baggins.

–—

The township beneath the Hill.

Large town in the central regions of the Shire, within the borders of the Westfarthing. The town was overlooked by Hobbiton Hill (usually called simply ‘The Hill’), in which was Bag End, the ancestral smial of the Baggins family.

* Hobbiton Hill

The hill above Bag End.

Usually called simply ‘The Hill’, it stood to the north of the town of Hobbiton. Bag End was tunnelled into this hill by Bungo Baggins.

* Hobbits|Hobbit

The Little People.

A mortal race almost certainly related to Men, though their origins are unknown. Their most distinguishing feature was their short stature; even the tallest Hobbits rarely exceeded four feet in height.

Originally a widespread people, Hobbits were found in much of the north of Middle-earth and down the Vales of Anduin. As the Third Age passed, the Hobbits moved north and west, eventually founding the land of the Shire in III 1601.

See also Halflings, Perian, Shire-folk.

* Hobbits of Bree

The Little Folk who lived around the Bree-hill.

The Hobbits who settled in Bree in the middle of the Third Age, and their descendants. Also known as Bree-hobbits.

* Hobbits of the Shire

The inhabitants of the Land of the Halflings.

The Hobbits who lived in the Shire, the land between the White Downs and the River Brandywine. They are more often referred to as the Shire-hobbits or, especially, the Shire-folk.

* Hobgoblins

Greater Goblins.

A name for the larger kinds of Orc found in Middle-earth in the Third Age. The term perhaps, but doubtfully, refers to the large soldier-orcs known as Uruks.

The term appears so rarely that there is little clear basis for a definition. Its only other occurrence is later in The Hobbit (7, Queer Lodgings) where Gandalf warns Bilbo that the Grey Mountains are ‘simply stiff with goblins, hobgoblins, and Orcs of the worst description’.

* Hobson

Sam Gamgee’s rope-making grandfather.

The son of Hob Gammidge, who was in turn the father of Hamfast ‘Gaffer’

Gamgee, and the grandfather of Samwise Gamgee, who found fame on the Quest of Mount Doom. Hobson, who was the first member of the family to adopt the name ‘Gamgee’, was the unnamed ‘grand-dad’ of Sam’s who held a rope-walk in Tighfield in the Shire.

* Holbytlan

The ancient origin of the word ‘Hobbit’.

An old word from the language of the Northmen (the ancestral speech of the Rohirrim), said to mean ‘hole-builders’. ‘Holbytlan’ is the ultimate source of the name ‘Hobbit’.

* Holdwine

The name of Merry Brandybuck in Rohan.

The name given to Meriadoc Brandybuck among the Rohirrim, and used by them to record his deeds in their annals. Its meaning is never given explicitly, but it seems to be something close to ‘lover of burrows’

(that is, a term with a similar meaning to ‘hobbit’).

* Hollin

The lost land of Eregion.

The name among Men for the land of Elves known as Eregion, that thrived in the lands west of Khazad-dûm during the early part of the Second Age.

The name comes from the great holly trees that grew there.

* Hollowbold

Translation of Nogrod: ‘hollow dwelling’ (early English bold, noun related to the verb build).

* Holly

A thorny evergreen species of ilex. In Middle-earth, it was especially abundant in the land of Eregion or Hollin, which took its name from this tree.

* Holman ‘Long Horn’ Cotton|Holman Cotton

The first Hobbit to use the surname ‘Cotton’.

An early member of the Cotton family, and in fact the first to use

‘Cotton’ as a surname. He came from Bywater near Hobbiton, and presumably farmed the same land, down South Lane, as his son Tolman years later.

Holman’s cousin was his namesake, Holman Greenhand the gardener, whose gardening tradition would eventually passed on to Hamfast Gamgee and his son, Sam.

* Holman Greenhand

Hobbit of the Shire, Bilbo Baggins’ gardener.

–—

One of a long line of Hobbiton gardeners.

The Greenhands were descended from Holman the greenhanded, and Holman’s namesake and grandson, Holman Greenhand, was at least the third of the line to tend the gardens of Hobbiton. Holman was the gardener at Bag End for Bilbo Baggins, and perhaps also for his father Bungo. In about the year III 2941, he took on his young relation Hamfast Gamgee as an apprentice. Hamfast eventually became the gardener at Bag End himself, and was followed by his son Samwise.

In a curious and unlikely way, Holman was instrumental in the winning of the War of the Ring. One morning in the spring of III 2941, Bag End was visited by the Wizard Gandalf. Bilbo was away from home for the Elves’

New Year, so Gandalf struck up a conversation with Holman. It was Holman’s description of his employer that encouraged Gandalf to include Bilbo in the journey to the Lonely Mountain, which in turn led to the finding of the One Ring, the means through which Sauron was ultimately defeated. If not for the part of Holman Greenhand, then, the western lands might well have fallen under the yoke of the Dark Lord.

* Holman the Greenhanded

A distant ancestor of Sam Gamgee.

Sam Gamgee’s ancestor, who seems to have founded the tradition of gardening in Hobbiton that was carried on by his great-grandson Hamfast Gamgee and Hamfast’s own son, Sam himself. Holman founded a family of gardeners who took their surname from his nickname: the Greenhands. It was through Holman’s grandson and namesake Holman Greenhand that Hamfast came to Hobbiton from Tighfield, and turned his hand to the family tradition of gardening.

* Holy Mountain (in Númenor)|Holy Mountain The Pillar of Heaven.

A name for the Meneltarma, the tall mountain that stood in the centre of the isle of Númenor that was called the Pillar of Heaven by the Númenóreans. From its summit, they gave thanks to Eru three times each year.

* Holy Mountain (in Varda)|Holy Mountain

The abode of Manwë and Varda.

A title for the mountain named Taniquetil or Oiolossë on the borders of the realm of Valinor. The halls of Manwë and Varda were on its summit, and it was known as the tallest of the World’s mountains.

* Holy Ones

The offspring of Eru’s thought.

A term for the Ainur, the primordial spirits, and the literal meaning of their name.

* Hope

The meaning of Aragorn’s name Estel.

–—

“I gave Hope to the Dúnedain, I have kept no hope for myself.”

(Translated words of Aragorn’s mother Gilraen; The Lord of the Rings Appendix A I (iv), A Part of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen)

–—

The translation of Aragorn’s name Estel, given to him by his mother Gilraen. To keep the Heir of Isildur secret from the spies of Sauron, this was the name he used for the first twenty years of his life. Indeed, he did not know his own ancestry in these early years, until it was revealed to him by Elrond.

* Horn-call of Buckland

The alarm-call of the Shire’s Eastmarch.

The alarm signal of the Hobbits of Buckland, calling them to action against invaders and incursions from the Old Forest.

* Hornblower Family|Hornblower

Producers of the Shire’s most famous Pipe-weed.

An old and important family of the Shire’s Southfarthing. Its most famous member was Tobold Hornblower of Longbottom, who introduced pipe-weed into the Shire, and his family remained associated with industry.

Their Longbottom Leaf variety was famous, and indeed barrels of Leaf bearing the Hornblower mark were found as far afield the ruins of Isengard.

From Tobold’s time, and perhaps earlier, the Hornblowers were one of the Shire’s more important families. Frodo Baggins himself had Hornblower blood - his great-grandfather Largo married one Tanta Hornblower. The meaning of this old family name is unclear; perhaps one of Tobold’s ancestors actually did blow a horn of some kind, or perhaps the name is a punning reference to pipe-smoking.

* Hornburg

Fortress in Rohan at the entrance to Helm’s Deep.

–—

The castle that guarded Helm’s Deep.

The castle that stood in the Deeping-coomb in northern Rohan, and guarded the entrance to Helm’s Deep.

* Hornrock

The foundation of the Hornburg.

A spur of rock that stood out southward from the northern rock-wall of Helm’s Deep. It was on the crest of the Hornrock that the castle of the Hornburg was built, and from it the Deeping Wall ran across the Deep’s mouth to the southern wall.

* Horsebreeders

Uglúk’s name for the Rohirrim.

A name for the Rohirrim among Orcs, or at least those in the service of Saruman. Uglúk used the term in scorn as he travelled across Rohan, but it was nonetheless quite true.

* Horses|Horse

Beasts of burden and transport used by Elves and Men through the ages.

Famous among horses were Rochallor, the warhorse of Fingolfin, and Felaróf, the steed of Eorl the Young. The breeding and riding of horses were arts developed to their greatest height by the Rohirrim in the Third Age.

* Hounds|Hound

Dogs bred for hunting. The greatest of all hounds in the histories of Middle-earth was Huan the Hound of Valinor, who defeated Sauron in single combat.

* Hound of Valinor

Huan, the bane of Carcharoth.

A title of Huan, the wondrous hound that aided Beren and Lúthien in the Quest of the Silmaril.

* House of Bëor|House of Beor

First of the Three Houses of the Edain.

The oldest of the Three Houses of the Edain, the descendants of Bëor the Old, who entered the household of Finrod Felagund. Barahir and his son Beren Erchamion were members of this House.

* House of Durin

Most noble of all Dwarvish lines.

The line of the descendants of Durin the Deathless, hereditary Dwarven-kings of Durin’s Folk. Thrór, Thráin II and Thorin II Oakenshield were all descended from this House.

* House of Elendil

The line of the Kings of Gondor and Arnor.

Elendil the son of Amandil was one of the greatest heroes of Tolkien’s tales. With his two sons Isildur and Anárion, he escaped the Downfall of Númenor and founded two kingdoms in Middle-earth; Arnor in the north, and Gondor in the south. He ruled both of these as High King, and from his descendants came the line of Kings in both the North- and the South-kingdoms.

Elendil himself was lost in the Siege of Barad-dûr, and his elder son Isildur inherited the High Kingship. Two years later, Isildur himself, together with his three elder heirs, was lost in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. His only remaining heir, Valandil, was only a boy, and so Arnor was effectively left without a King. Thus, the House of Elendil split into two lines. In the south, Isildur’s nephew Meneldil had been left to rule Gondor in his uncle’s name. Meneldil now took up the full Kingship of Gondor, and it was ruled by his descendants for more than two thousand years.

When Valandil came of age, he inherited the northern lands of his father, Arnor. Valandil and his descendants ruled the North-kingdom for many generations, until dissent arose among the sons of the tenth King, Eärendur. This conflict ultimately saw Arnor divided into three kingdoms; Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur. Eärendur’s eldest son and true heir, Amlaith, took control of Arthedain, while his brothers took up rule in the other new lands. Arthedain endured for more than a thousand years, but eventually all three kingdoms of the Northern Dúnedain fell to the armies of Angmar.

The line of Elendil was not broken in that defeat. The heir of Arvedui, the last King of Arthedain, was Aranarth. He took the title Chieftain of the Dúnedain, and his descendants led a proud but scattered people through the last millennium of the Third Age. The last Chieftain was Aranarth’s heir through many generations: Aragorn, who united the Two Kingdoms after the War of the Ring and became the first King of the Reunited Kingdom.

* House of Elrond

The refuge of Rivendell.

A name for the hidden refuge of Elrond Peredhil, more commonly called Imladris or Rivendell.

* House of Eorl

The house of the Lords of Rohan.

The house of the descendants of Eorl the Young, including all eighteen of the recorded Kings of Rohan (excluding Eorl himself).

* House of Fëanor|House of Feanor

The house of Finwë’s eldest son.

–—

“On the House of Fëanor the wrath of the Valar lieth from the West unto the uttermost East, and upon all that will follow them it shall be laid also.”

(From the Doom of Mandos; The Silmarillion 9, Of the Flight of the Noldor From the Doom of Mandos)

–—

The cursed descendants and followers of Fëanor, the eldest son of Finwë, and his spouse Nerdanel. Fëanor was one of the greatest, and certainly the most skilled, of the Noldor, but his burning anger at the loss of his Silmarils led him to commit acts that would greatly diminish the influence of his house among his people. As the heir of Finwë, Fëanor and his descendants should have inherited the High Kingship of the Noldor, but because of Fëanor’s rash acts, the lordship of the Noldor passed to his brothers: Finarfin in Aman, and Fingolfin in Middle-earth. For this reason, the members of the House of Fëanor are referred to as the Dispossessed.

The history of the House was a woeful one, and most of its members met an early end. Fëanor and six of his seven sons perished before the end of the First Age. His second son Maglor survived beyond the War of Wrath, wandering the shores of Middle-earth, but his fate is unknown. The last of the House was Fëanor’s grandson Celebrimbor, the son of Curufin, who had a great part in the making of the Rings of Power, and was tortured to death by Sauron during the Second Age.

* House of Finarfin

The house of Finwë’s third son.

The descendants and followers of Finarfin, third son of Finwë. Finarfin himself remained in the West when the Noldor returned to Middle-earth, but his five children came to Beleriand. Both Finrod Felagund and Galadriel belonged to this house.

* House of Fingolfin

Royal house of the Noldor in Middle-earth.

The House of the descendants and followers of Fingolfin, second son of Finwë, who was accounted High King of the Noldor after the death of his elder brother Fëanor in the first year of the First Age.

During the early years of the First Age, the House of Fingolfin held the lands to the northwest of Beleriand; Hithlum, Nevrast and Gondolin. Of these, the city of Gondolin held until I 510, but Hithlum was overrun by Morgoth in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, where Fingon was slain (Fingolfin had already met his end in the Dagor Bragollach). The remnant of the House, including Fingon’s son Ereinion Gil-galad, were succoured by Círdan the Shipwright in the Havens.

After the Nirnaeth, Tuor son of Huor was sent as a messenger to Turgon in Gondolin, and there wedded Turgon’s daughter Idril. Thus was the blood of Men introduced into the House, and the descendants of their line were named Half-elven, given the choice of whether they were to considered Men or Elves. All these descendants chose to be considered among the Firstborn, except Elrond’s brother Elros (who became the first King of Númenor and was a direct ancestor of Aragorn II Elessar), and Elrond’s daughter Arwen (Queen to Aragorn at the end of the Third Age).

After the Fall of Gondolin, the survivors of the House lived as exiles at the Mouths of Sirion or in the Falas, until Eärendil the Mariner, descendant of Fingolfin’s second son Turgon, sailed into the West to seek the aid of the Valar, who overthrew Morgoth in the War of Wrath in c.583.

The last High King of the Noldor, Ereinion Gil-galad, remained in Middle-earth. He dwelt in Lindon with his great-nephew Elrond and Círdan the Shipwright, and marched with the Last Alliance to Mordor at the end of the Second Age. There he fell in the Siege of Barad-dûr, and the House of Fingolfin came to an end in Middle-earth.

* House of Hador

Third of the Three Houses of the Edain.

The most renowned of the Three Houses of the Edain; the House of the descendants and followers of Hador Lórindol. Húrin Thalion, Túrin Turambar, Huor and Tuor were all descended from this House.

* House of Haleth

The descendants of Haldad.

Second of the Three Houses of the Edain; the descendants of Haldad; the House was named for Haldad’s daughter Haleth, who led the Haladin (as these people were known) from East Beleriand into the Forest of Brethil.

* House of Húrin|House of Hurin

The House of the Stewards of Gondor.

The descendants of Húrin of Emyn Arnen, the Steward to King Minardil of Gondor. After Húrin’s time it became traditional for the Steward to be chosen from among his descendants, and ultimately the post became hereditary. After the loss of Gondor’s last King, Eärnur, the Stewards of the House of Húrin took up the rule of the South-kingdom. Denethor, Boromir and Faramir were all descended from this House.

* House of Isildur

The descendants of Isildur, elder son of Elendil. The House came close to destruction at the beginning of the Third Age, when Isildur and his three eldest sons were lost at the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. His youngest son Valandil was kept safe in Rivendell, however, and from him came the line of the Kings of Arnor that led over three thousand years to Aragorn II Elessar.

* House of the Golden Flower

A noble house of Gondolin; Glorfindel was its head.

* House of the Mírdain|House of the Mirdain The guildhouse of the jewelsmiths of Eregion.

The guildhouse and chief dwelling of Celebrimbor and the jewelsmiths of Eregion, destroyed by the forces of Sauron when he invaded Eriador.

* House of the Stewards

Last resting-place of the Stewards of Gondor.

While the Kings of Gondor were laid to rest in individual tombs on Minas Tirith’s Silent Street, the Stewards were buried in a collective tomb, the House of the Stewards. It was here that the Pyre of Denethor took place on 15 March III 3019.

* Houses of Healing

The hospital of Minas Tirith.

The houses that lay in the sixth circle of Minas Tirith, surrounded by lawns and trees, where the healers of Gondor did their work.

* Houses of the Dead

The tombs of Rath Dínen.

The tombs of the Kings and Stewards of Gondor, that lay upon Rath Dínen, the Silent Street, in Minas Tirith.

* Hrívë|Hrive

The Quenya name for winter; 72 days between modern 1 December and 10

February. Called Rhîw in Sindarin.

* Huan

The great wolfhound of Valinor that Oromë gave to Celegorm; friend and helper of Beren and Lúthien; slew and slain by Carcharoth. The name means

‘great dog, hound’.

–—

The Hound of Valinor; faithful companion to Celegorm son of Fëanor until his mistreatment of Lúthien in Nargothrond, after which he helped Lúthien and Beren in the Quest of the Silmaril. He defeated Sauron at the gates of Tol-in-Gaurhoth, and slew Carcharoth in the Hunting of the Wolf.

* Hunthor

A Man of the Haladin in Brethil who accompanied Túrin in his attack on Glaurung at Cabed-en-Aras and was killed there by a falling stone.

–—

Companion of Túrin and Dorlas.

A Man of the House of Haleth, the kinsman of Brandir. He went with Túrin to the slaying of Glaurung, but was lost in the river as he climbed the Ravines of Teiglin.

* Hunting of the Wolf

The royal hunt for Carcharoth.

At the gates of Angband, the mighty wolf Carcharoth had bitten Beren’s hand from his wrist, and with it the Silmaril it held. The Silmaril was a hallowed jewel, and burned the innards of the evil monster. In searing pain, the wolf blindly chased through Beleriand and, breaking the Girdle of Melian, roamed madly through the lands of Doriath.

King Thingol set out to hunt the wolf with the greatest of his warriors.

With him went Mablung and Beleg, and Beren Erchamion, and Huan the Hound of Valinor. They found Carcharoth under the eaves of Neldoreth, drinking beneath a waterfall of the River Esgalduin. Eventually, after a mighty battle, Huan slew Carcharoth, but both he and Beren were mortally wounded.

From the wolf’s belly, Thingol recovered the Silmaril and carried it back to Menegroth. This was the same jewel that Eärendil would bear as he sailed to Aman and that, according to legend, now shines as the Evening and the Morning Star.

* Huntsman of the Valar

A title of Oromë, who pursued the creatures of Melkor in the dawn of the World.

* Huor

Son of Galdor of Dor-lómin, husband of Rían and father of Tuor; went to Gondolin with Húrin his brother; slain in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

–—

Heroic grandfather of Eärendil.

Younger son of Galdor, Lord of Dor-lómin, and grandson of Hador Lórindol, Tuor was in his turn the father of Tuor and grandfather of Eärendil the Mariner. Huor had the fair hair and blue eyes of his grandfather’s house, and was accounted one of the tallest of the Edain, second only to his own son Tuor.

Following the custom of Men in those days, Huor and his elder brother Húrin were fostered by the uncle Haldir, the lord of the Haladin of Brethil, and so they were dwelling in that forest at the time of the Dagor Bragollach in I 455. Though they were too young to go to open war (Huor was only thirteen years old at this time, and his brother sixteen), they went with the Haladin to destroy an orc-legion that had come to the forest.

The Orcs were routed, and the forest had peace for many years after, but Huor and his brother were cut off from the main force. Ulmo sent a mist to aid their escape, and they retreated across the Brithiach into northern Dimbar, in the shadows of the Crissaegrim, the Encircling Mountains of Gondolin. Seeing that they were lost and weary, Thorondor sent two of his eagles to rescue them, and they were carried over the mountains into Turgon’s Hidden Kingdom.

Ulmo had warned Turgon to look favourably on the Men of the House of Hador, and so he welcomed the brothers, and they stayed in Gondolin for nearly a year. Although the law of Gondolin forbade any to leave who had entered the city, Turgon made an exception because the eagles had carried Huor and Húrin, and so they had no clear idea where it lay. The eagles carried them away, and they returned to the house of Galdor in Dor-lómin.

Turgon had bound them under an oath of silence, and it was never told where they had been for that year.

When Huor had grown to manhood, he wedded Rían the daughter of Belegund, and they conceived a son, who Huor named before his birth, Tuor. Two months after the wedding, the elvenlords assembled a great army to assail Morgoth, and Húrin and Huor went to join that army with the muster of Dor-lómin. This was the great battle that was to be called Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Unnumbered Tears.

Huor stood with the forces of his brother under the walls of the tower of High King Fingon at Barad Eithel, and their armies were arrayed in the woods on the eastern slopes of the Ered Wethrin, so that Morgoth could not descry their numbers. Turgon also came out of Gondolin with his armies for the first time since the city was built to join that battle.

After six days of fighting, the battle turned to Morgoth and the Elves were routed. Turgon retreated south to return to his halls in Gondolin, and Huor and Húrin, with the remnant of the forces of Dor-lómin, stood at his back to guard his withdrawal. Before they parted, Huor prophesied to Turgon that new hope would spring from the two of them, saying ‘… from you and from me a new star will arise’. This later proved to be true, for his son Tuor wedded Turgon’s daughter Idril, and their son was Eärendil the Blessed.

Then came the last stand of the Men of Dor-lómin, who held the Pass of Sirion against the hosts of Orcs and creatures of the Enemy. They gave slowly back until they came to the Fen of Serech and the stream of Rivil, and there they and their host stood firm. As the day grew dark on that last desperate battle, Huor was slain, by a poisoned arrow in his eye.

* Huorns|Huorn

The ‘trees’ that came to the Battle of the Hornburg and entrapped the Orcs.

–—

Trees under the command of the Ents.

Trees animated and given purpose by the Ents, with whom they could also communicate. The name means something like ‘speaking trees’.

* Húrin I (Steward of Gondor)|Húrin|Hurin

The fifth Ruling Steward of Gondor.

Húrin I was the son of Belegorn, and descended in right line from Húrin of Emyn Arnen, the founder of the House of Húrin to which all the Ruling Stewards belonged. Húrin’s name was even more ancient than that of his illustrious ancestor - it is taken from Húrin Thalion, a hero of the Edain in the First Age.

Húrin I ruled during the time of the Watchful Peace, during which Sauron had retreated into the East, and the Nazgûl remained, threatening but silent, in Minas Morgul. The Peace would last long after Húrin’s time; it broke with the return of Sauron to Dol Guldur during the rule of Húrin’s descendant Denethor I, more than two hundred years after Húrin’s death.

Húrin ruled as Steward for forty years, and was succeeded by his son, who became Túrin I.

* Húrin II (Steward of Gondor)|Húrin|Hurin The fourteenth Ruling Steward of Gondor.

The son of Steward Hallas, and grandson of the famous Cirion who granted the green northern lands of Calenardhon to the Rohirrim. Húrin II shared his name with an illustrious line of predecessors, including Húrin I who ruled during the Watchful Peace, Húrin of Emyn Arnen who founded the house of the Stewards, and ultimately Húrin Thalion himself, Lord of Dorlómin in the First Age. Húrin ruled Gondor as its Steward for twenty-three years, and was succeeded by his son, Belecthor I.

* Húrin of Emyn Arnen|Húrin|Hurin

Steward of King Minardil, from whom derived the House of the Stewards of Gondor.

–—

Ancestor of the Ruling Stewards of Gondor.

Húrin of Emyn Arnen is the earliest of Gondor’s Stewards to have his name recorded in history. He served under King Minardil, and though we know little of his life, it is certain that his actions had a tremendous effect on the future history of Middle-earth. He was a Man of noble Númenórean descent, the founder of the House of Húrin from which Minardil’s heirs came by tradition to select their own Stewards. By the time of the loss of Gondor’s last King, Eärnur, some four centuries later, the Stewardship had become a powerful hereditary institution, ready to take over in place of the Kings.

To lay the groundwork for such an achievement, Húrin must have provided some great service to the state of Gondor, but what that service might have been is not hinted at in The Lord of the Rings. However, the untimely death of his King, Minardil, followed almost immediately by the ravages of the Dark Plague, leave room for speculation that it was the efforts of Húrin that directed Gondor through this dark time in its history. A short passage in The History of Middle-earth seems to confirm this: ‘…[Húrin] had laboured greatly for the ordering of the realm in the disastrous days of the plague, when King Telemnar died within two years of the slaying of King Minardil by the Corsairs.’ (Vol. XII The Peoples of Middle-earth I 7 The Heirs of Elendil).

* Húrin Thalion|Húrin|Hurin

Called Thalion ‘the Steadfast’, ‘the Strong’; son of Galdor of Dor-lómin, husband of Morwen and father of Túrin and Nienor; lord of Dor-lómin, vassal of Fingon. Went with Huor his brother to Gondolin; captured by Morgoth in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, but defied him, and was set by him on Thangorodrim for many years; after his release slew Mîm in Nargothrond and brought the Nauglamír to King Thingol.

–—

The last Lord of Dor-lómin.

Eldest son of Galdor, and Lord of Dor-lómin after him. He was captured by Morgoth at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and he and his kin were cursed by the Dark Lord. After the death of his son Túrin, Morgoth released him from bondage.

* Hyarastorni

Lands of the lordship of Hallattan in the Mittalmar (Inlands) of Númenor.

–—

The Sheep-lands of Númenor.

A region in the central parts of Númenor, used especially as grazing land for sheep.

* Hyarmendacil I|Hyarmendacil

‘South-victor’, fifteenth King of Gondor.

–—

The conqueror of the Harad.

A man originally named Ciryaher, the heir to Gondor’s throne who saw his father Ciryandil slain at the hands of the Men of Harad. To avenge his father’s death, the new King took a great army and conquered the southern lands of the Harad, ruling thereafter under the name Hyarmendacil,

‘South-victor’. He ruled in Gondor for no less than for one hundred and thirty-four years, and was succeeded by his son Atanatar.

* Hyarmendacil II|Hyarmendacil

Victor over the Haradrim.

An heir of the Royal House of Gondor, originally named Vinyarion. He became King when his father Aldamir was slain by the Haradrim, an act that he avenged in the eleventh year of his reign, when he achieved a great victory over the Men of Harad. After that time, he took the name Hyarmendacil (‘South-victor’) and ruled under the name of Hyarmendacil II. He was succeeded as King by his son Minardil.

* Hyarmentir

The highest mountain in the regions south of Valinor.

* Hyarnustar

‘Southwestlands’, the south-western promontory of Númenor.

–—

The southwestern promontory of Númenor.

The southwestern of the five regions of Númenor, noted for its vineyards and fertile farmlands, although it became more mountainous in the far southwest.

* Hyarrostar

‘Southeastlands’, the south-eastern promontory of Númenor.

–—

The southeastern region of Númenor.

The wide promontory that spread out to the south and east of Númenor, and in fact contained its easternmost point. Along its southern shores were wide beaches of white sands, and on its western borders, where the shorelands were interrupted by the mouths of the River Siril, stood the township of Nindamos. The Hyarrostar was most famous for its trees, and it held great plantations that provided much of the wood used by Númenor’s shipwrights.

* Iant Iaur|Bridge of Esgalduin

‘The Old Bridge’ over the Esgalduin on the northern borders of Doriath; also called the Bridge of Esgalduin.

* Iarwain Ben-adar|Iarwain|Ben-adar

The name used among the Elves for the being known to the Hobbits as Tom Bombadil. It has the literal meaning ‘oldest and fatherless’.

* Iavas

The Sindarin name for their season that corresponded to late summer and early autumn; 54 days between modern 12 August and 4 October. Called Yávië in Quenya.

* Íbal|Ibal

A boy of Emerië in Númenor, son of Ulbar, a mariner of Tar-Aldarion.

* Ibun

One of the sons of Mîm the Petty-dwarf.

* Idril Celebrindal|Idril

Called Celebrindal ‘Silverfoot’; the daughter (and only child) of Turgon and Elenwë; wife of Tuor, mother of Eärendil, with whom she escaped from Gondolin to the Mouths of Sirion; departed thence with Tuor into the West.

–—

The daughter of Turgon, King of Gondolin; she wedded Ulmo’s messenger Tuor, and their son was Eärendil the Mariner.

* Illuin

One of the Lamps of the Valar made by Aulë. Illuin stood in the northern part of Middle-earth, and after the overthrow of the mountain by Melkor the Inland Sea of Helcar was formed there.

–—

The northern of the two Lamps of the Valar.

One of the two Lamps of the Valar, set up by Aulë in ancient days to bring light to the world. It was destroyed by Melkor, and where it fell it created the inland Sea of Helcar.

* Ilmarë|Ilmare

A Maia, the handmaid of Varda.

–—

An almost unknown Maia of the people of Varda. She has the distinction of being the first of the Maiar named in the Valaquenta, where she is described in passing as the handmaid of Varda. Other sources describe her as being one of the most powerful of the Maiar, together with Manwë’s herald Eönwë.

* Ilmen

The region above the air where the stars are.

–—

The upper airs of Arda.

In Elvish cosmology, the region of pure higher airs, above the clouds, where the Moon and the Sun steer their courses and, above them, the ancient stars look down.

* Ilúvatar|Iluvatar

‘Father of All’, Eru.

–—

The name among Elves of Eru, the One, from whom the Ainur had their being. Through the Music of the Ainur, Ilúvatar created the World and the beings who inhabit it, and only he fully knows its fate.

* Imlach

Father of Amlach.

* Imlad Morgul

The valley of the Morgulduin.

The valley among the western slopes of the Ephel Dúath where Minas Morgul (originally Minas Ithil) stood. This name was used in the later Third Age after the capture of the tower by the Nazgûl.

* Imladris

‘Rivendell’ (literally, ‘Deep Dale of the Cleft’), Elrond’s dwelling in a valley of the Misty Mountains.

–—

The haven in the deep valley known as Rivendell.

The Sindarin name for Elrond’s refuge in the western glens of the Misty Mountains, known to Men as Rivendell.

* Imrahil

The Prince of Dol Amroth at the time of the War of the Ring, who fought at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and marched on Mordor with the host of Aragorn II Elessar.

* Imrazôr the Númenórean|Imrazôr|Imrazor

Called ‘the Númenórean’; took to wife the Elf Mithrellas; father of Galador first Lord of Dol Amroth.

–—

Ancestor of the Princes of Dol Amroth.

A nobleman who lived in the region of Belfalas in southeastern Gondor at the end of the second millennium of the Third Age. He was said to have wedded an Elf-maid named Mithrellas, a wandering companion of Nimrodel.

Though it isn’t known for sure whether this tradition is true, it is certain that his son Galador went on to found the Princedom of Dol Amroth.

* Incánus|Incanus

Gandalf’s name ‘in the south’ (probably meaning no further south than Gondor or the Near Harad), gained during his long travels in Middle-earth in the mid-Third Age.

* Indis

Vanyarin Elf, close kin of Ingwë; second wife of Finwë, mother of Fingolfin and Finarfin.

–—

A Vanyarin Elf who became the second wife of Finwë after the departure of Míriel Serindë. She was the mother of both Fingolfin and Finarfin.

* Indor

Man of Dor-lómin, father of Aerin.

* Inglor

Rejected name of Finrod.

* Ingwë|Ingwe

Leader of the Vanyar, the first of the three hosts of the Eldar on the westward journey from Cuiviénen. In Aman he dwelt upon Taniquetil, and was held High King of all the Elves.

–—

The High King of the Elves.

The lord of the Vanyar, accounted the High King of all the Elves; he dwells on Taniquetil beneath the halls of Manwë.

* Inscrutable

One of the many Elvish names for the race of Men.

* Inziladûn|Inziladun

Elder son of Ar-Gimilzôr and Inzilbêth; afterwards named Tar-Palantir.

See Ar-Inziladûn.

* Inzilbêth|Inzilbeth

Queen of Ar-Gimilzôr; of the house of the lords of Andúnië; mother of Inziladûn.

–—

The mother of Tar-Palantir.

Though she was taken to wife by Ar-Gimilzôr, Inzilbêth was secretly a member of the Faithful party, whom he strongly opposed. Her son, Tar-Palantir, followed her teachings when he became King of Númenor.

* Ioreth

Wise-woman of Gondor.

The eldest of the women who served in Minas Tirith’s Houses of Healing, whose remembrance of old lore helped restore the health of Faramir. She came originally from Imloth Melui in Lossarnach.

* Írimon|Irimon

The given name of Tar-Meneldur.

* Iris|iris-swords|iris-sword

A colourful and distinctive flower. Frodo and Sam found it growing in Ithilien, and the Gladden River and Fields took their name from a variety of this flower. The ‘iris-swords’ mentioned in The Lord of the Rings are a reference to its thin, pointed leaves.

* Irmo

Vala, ‘master of visions and dreams’, commonly called Lórien from the name of his dwelling in Valinor. See Fëanturi, Olofantur.

–—

The true name of the Vala more commonly called Lórien, from the gardens of Lórien in Valinor where he dwelt.

* Iron Crown

The crown of Morgoth in Angband.

The crown forged by Morgoth after his return to Middle-earth to hold the three Silmarils; he bore it throughout the First Age, but after his defeat by the Valar the crown was beaten into a collar for his neck.

* Iron Hills

Range east of the Lonely Mountain and north of the Sea of Rhûn.

–—

The northern range settled by Grór.

A range of hills in the northeast of the known parts of Middle-earth, where a Dwarf-realm was founded by Grór son of Dáin I after the Dwarves were driven from the Grey Mountains by the Cold-drakes.

* Iron Mountains

The mountain-fence of Utumno.

The Ered Engrin, the range of mountains in the far north of the World that were raised by Melkor as a defence against any attack on Utumno. His lesser fortress of Angband lay in this range.

* Iron of Death

Túrin’s black sword Gurthang.

In Elvish, Gurthang: the name given by Túrin to his black sword after it was reforged by the smiths of Nargothrond.

* Ironfoot

Title and surname of Dáin II of Durin’s Folk, the successor to Thorin Oakenshield.

* Isen

River flowing from the Misty Mountains through Nan Curunír (the Wizard’s Vale) and across the Gap of Rohan; translation (to represent the language of Rohan) of Sindarin Angren.

–—

The ‘iron river’ that flowed past the gates of Isengard.

The river that rose in the southern foothills of the Misty Mountains, and ran westward for some three hundred miles to reach the Great Sea in the southern regions of the Enedwaith.

* Isengar Took

One of Bilbo Baggins’ uncles.

–—

One of the many children of Gerontius, the Old Took; famous for having gone to sea in his youth (a remarkable feat for a Hobbit).

* Isengard

Númenórean stronghold in the valley called, after its occupation by the wizard Curunír (Saruman), Nan Curunír, at the southern end of the Misty Mountains; translation (to represent the language of Rohan) of the Sindarin Angrenost. See also Circle of Isengard.

–—

The fortress of Saruman.

A Gondorian fortification at the southern end of the Misty Mountains, at the source of the River Isen. It was granted to the Wizard Saruman by Steward Beren of Gondor, and destroyed by the Ents during the War of the Ring, though its central tower of Orthanc remained standing.

* Isengarders|Isengarder

The soldiers of Isengard.

A general term for the inhabitants and soldiers of Isengard, but used especially by Tolkien with reference to the servants of Saruman in the War of the Ring.

* Isengrim Took II|Isengrim Took

The founder of Great Smials.

The twenty-second Shire-thain, the ninth descendant of Isumbras Took I to hold that title. He lived at the time when pipe-weed was introduced to the Shire; it was first grown just a few years before Isengrim became Thain. He is perhaps best known as the founder of Great Smials, which was to become the ancestral home of the Took family in the Tookland of the Shire.

* Isengrim Took III|Isengrim Took

The eldest of the twelve children of Gerontius, the Old Took. Because of his father’s famous longevity, Isengrim was already an old Hobbit himself when he inherited the title of Thain, being no less than eighty-eight years old. He did not survive long in his new office, and died just ten years after his father. He was succeeded by his younger brother, who became Thain Isumbras Took IV.

* Isenmouthe|Carach Angren|Iron Jaws

The iron jaws to the south of Udûn.

Called Carach Angren, the Iron Jaws, the Isenmouthe was the pass at the southern end of the valley of Udûn in northern Mordor, where it marched with the Plateau of Gorgoroth.

* Isil

Quenya name of the Moon.

–—

A name given to the Moon in Valinor by the Vanyar or Light Elves. It is said to mean ‘the Sheen’.

* Isildur

Elder son of Elendil, who with his father and his brother Anárion escaped from the Drowning of Númenor and founded in Middle-earth the Númenórean realms in exile; lord of Minas Ithil; cut the Ruling Ring from Sauron’s hand; slain by Orcs in the Anduin when the Ring slipped from his finger.

–—

Eldest son and heir of Elendil, who cut the One Ring from the hand of Sauron after the Siege of Barad-dûr. He was lost with his company and three eldest sons at the Disaster of the Gladden Fields early in the Third Age.

The name means ‘Devoted to the Moon’.

* Isildur’s Bane|Bane of Isildur

Betrayer of the second Ring-bearer.

A name for the One Ring. After Sauron’s defeat in the War of the Last Alliance, Isildur Elendil’s son took the Ring, and later journeyed northward with it to his kingdom of Arnor. Ambushed by Orcs, Isildur’s small force was cut down, and he fled the battle wearing the Ring. It slipped from his finger, though, and so both Isildur and the Ring were lost.

* Isildur’s Heir