The Complete Tolkien Companion

Labadal ‘Hopafoot’ (Sind.) – Túrin’s pet-name for the crippled family retainer SADOR. It was not given in malice and not resented by Sador.

Ladros ‘Fortified-plain’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Eldar and the Edain to the extreme north-eastern region of Dorthonion; a broad, shallow valley which opened on to the northern grassland and provided a natural route of access from the North into the highlands. Ladros was therefore of immense strategic importance to the Eldar, forming as it did a weakness in the wall of the Siege. Accordingly, Angrod and Aegnor, the two youngest sons of Finarfin, who dwelt in Dorthonion, were more than happy to grant this ‘front-line’ region to a House of Men, newly-come to Beleriand: the First House, descendants of Bëor the Old. The first Lord of Ladros was Boromir, grandson of Bëor.

For over a century the Edain held Ladros in alliance with the Eldar, but in the Year of the Sun 455 war again broke out in the North and for the first time the Edain felt the power of Angband. The Lord of Ladros, Bregolas the grandson of Boromir, was slain (together with Angrod and Aegnor of the High-elves) and the Orcs poured into Dorthonion.

Ladybarrow – An approximate translation of the Sindarin phrase Haudh-en-Arwen (‘Mound-of-the-Maiden-Queen’), the Grey-elven name for the burial-barrow or tumulus wherein lay Haleth, first chieftain of the Haladin. It stood in the Forest of Brethil. The name in the tongue of the Haladin was Tûr Haretha (‘Haleth’s Mound’).

Laer – See LAIRË below.

Laer Cú Beleg ‘The Song of the Great Bow’ (Sind.) – The title given by Túrin Turambar to the Lament made by him in memory of his slain friend, the Elf-warrior Beleg Cúthalion of Doriath.

Lairë ‘Summer’ (Q.) – The name of the second of the six Elvish ‘seasons’, and the second of the four observed in Kings’ Reckoning and later systems used by Westron-speaking peoples. The Sindarin form of this word was laer.

Lairelossë ‘Summer-snow-white’ (Q.) – One of the FRAGRANT TREES of Númenor.

Lake Helevorn – See HELEVORN.

Lake Nurnen – See NURN, NURNEN.

Lake-town – The town of ESGAROTH on the Long Lake in the north of Wilderland.

Lalaith ‘Laughter’ (Sind.) – The pet-name given by Húrin and Morwen of Dor-lómin to their first-born daughter, Urwen, the younger sister of Túrin their son; she died in infancy from an evil plague that came out of Angband. Morwen afterwards bore another daughter, Nienor.

Lambë – The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘tongue’; also the title of Tengwa number 27, which represented the value of the sound l.

Lamedon – A province of Gondor which nestled in the protective embrace of the White Mountains, between the river Ringló and the pass of Tarlang’s Neck. Its chief settlement was the small town of Calembel, on a hill overlooking the Fords of Ciril (or Kiril), the principal river of the province.

Lammoth ‘The Great Echo’ (Sind.) – A cold waste which lay to the west of the Ered Lómin, between mountains and sea-coast. As its name implies, it was a region where a single shout or cry awoke tumultuous echoes from the rocky countryside. According to Elvish tradition, these were the echoes of the voice of Morgoth, for it was in Lammoth that he was said to have been attacked by Ungoliant, and to have cried for help so loudly that the terrible sound of his voice became imprinted for ever in the stone.

Lamps of the Valar – See ILLUIN.

Lampwrights’ Street – A Westron translation of the Sindarin name Rath Celerdain. It was a busy thoroughfare in the city of Minas Tirith, encircling completely the first level and leading eventually to the Great Gate in the East Wall. The chief inns of Minas Tirith were to be found there.

Land of Mist – A translation of the Quenya name Hisilómë (Sindarin HITHLUM).

Land of Seven Rivers – A translation of the Grey-elves’ name for the country between Gelion and the Blue Mountains: OSSIRIAND. The Noldor knew this land as Lindon.

Land of Shadow – A Third Age epithet for Mordor.

Land of the Dead That Live – A translation of DOR FIRN-I-GUINAR (Sind.).

Land of the Girdle – Doriath. See GIRDLE OF MELIAN.

Land of the Star – Númenor. Although the Kings of that Realm had no crown, they sometimes wore a diadem made of a plain silver band with a single glittering star on the brow. This represented both the Star of Eärendil – which had guided the Edain to their far western island at its founding – and the original name of Númenor itself, Elenna ‘Star-wards’ (Q.).

Land of Willows – NAN-TASARION (Nan-tathren).

Landroval – A Great Eagle of the Misty Mountains; the brother of Gwaihir the Windlord, who, at the time of the War of the Ring, was himself the mightiest and swiftest of all the Eagle-lords.

Langflood – See LANGWELL below.

Langstrand ‘Long-shore’ – A Mannish rendering of the Grey-elven word Anfalas.

Langwell – The name given by the Men of Éothéod to a river that flowed east from the Misty Mountains and in due course became one of the sources of the Anduin. After its junction with the Greylin (another source) it was called the Langflood.

Lanthir Lamath ‘Echoing Cataract’ (Sind.) – The house in Ossiriand of DIOR ELUCHÍL, near a waterfall of the same name.

Lár – The Númenorean league (slightly under three miles).

Largo Baggins – The third son of Balbo Baggins and the greatgrandfather of Frodo.

Lasse-lanta ‘Leaf-fall’ (Q.) – An alternative name for quellë (‘fading’), the fourth season in the Calendar of Imladris; this term was also used in KINGS’ RECKONING. In Elvish usage, this season had 54 days and was especially evocative to the Eldar. The Grey-elven name was narbeleth (‘sun-waning’).

Lassemista ‘Leaf-of-[shadowy]-Silver’ (Q.) – A tree-name in the ancient Elven High-speech, used by the ‘young’ Ent Bregalad when mourning the untimely slaughter of many of his friends: the rowan-trees of Fangorn Forest.

Last Alliance – The name given among Elves and Men to the Confederacy of the two Peoples which waged war against Sauron the Great from 3430–41 Second Age, overthrowing him and laying his first Realm in ruins. But though losses were heavy, and Gil-galad of the Elves and Elendil of the Dúnedain were both killed, the victory thus dearly purchased was, in the end, made fruitless by the survival of Sauron’s Ruling Ring; and so the Dark Lord was able to grow and take shape once more. In a sense, therefore, the War of the Ring was the final act of the Last Alliance – formed a full Age earlier – and its purpose was the completion of the same task.

The Alliance itself, between Elves of Lindon and Dúnedain of Gondor and Arnor, was formed in the year 3430, as a result of war which had broken out a year earlier, when Sauron of Mordor – whom all believed had perished in the ruin of drowned Númenor – unleashed a fierce and sudden attack upon the South-kingdom of the Dúnedain. Fortunately, his own strength had been diminished during the years of his captivity (in Númenor); while the Dúnedain Realms in Exile had been granted over a century in which to take root. Nonetheless the first success was Sauron’s: in 3429 he came over the Pass of Cirith Ungol and took Isildur’s city of Minas Ithil; he burned the White Tree and then pressed forward to Osgiliath. But Isildur escaped the sack of his city and fled down the Anduin to the Sea, spreading the alarm as he went; for all guessed that this was Sauron’s last stroke against Númenor. Most of the folk of the coastal provinces flooded to the aid of Isildur’s brother Anárion, who was defending the bridges of Osgiliath and his own city of Minas Anor, while Isildur himself journeyed by ship to the North, to his father Elendil.

It soon became apparent that the Dúnedain alone were too few to make an end of the Dark Lord. The might of Númenor had nearly achieved it in the past, but that power now lay under the Sea (at Sauron’s contrivance) and allies must needs be sought elsewhere. Accordingly, Elendil turned to Gil-galad, High-elven King of Lindon and an ancient enemy of Sauron’s. One can be sure that Elendil had no need to remind the Elven-king of the aid afforded the Elves of Lindon by the Dúnedain long before (see MINASTIR); indeed, there was an ancient and honourable tradition of friendship and alliance between the Eldar and the Edain which reached back more than an Age of the world and had not altogether been eroded by the later heresies of the Númenorean Kings. So Gil-galad agreed to join with Elendil, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men was forged, and the following year (3431), the combined hosts of Lindon and Arnor began to be mustered in Eriador. Three years later this Army crossed the Misty Mountains into Wilderland and marched south.

Strategically this was a sound move. The Gap between the Misty Mountains and the White could have long been held against them – whereas by taking the eastern route, only the Morannon, the ‘Black Gate’ itself, stood between the Hosts and Sauron’s own land of Mordor. That same year the armies met in a gigantic conflict upon Dagorlad, and Sauron was swept away, and the Last Alliance ‘had the mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aiglos and Narsil, none could withstand.’

Yet the victory was not complete, though many Elves and Men perished in the Battle of Dagorlad. Sauron retreated to his Dark Tower and there withstood a siege of seven years; for the Barad-dûr was too strong to be cast down from without, and Sauron could wait. But in the end (3441) he emerged, and the final combat of the Last Alliance was fought upon the slopes of Orodruin between the Dark Lord and his chief foes: Elendil and Gil-galad. The Elven-king was destroyed, but by his death enabled Elendil to strike down Sauron before he, too, was slain.

With the overthrow of the Dark Lord, the Last Alliance should have achieved its purpose of freeing the inhabitants of Middle-earth from his domination. Yet in the very hour of triumph this was cast away by a single (if excusable) act of wilfulness. Isildur, Elendil’s son (whose brother Anárion had been slain the previous year at the siege of Barad-dûr) stood beside his father during those last moments, and his grief overbore him. He cut the Ruling Ring from Sauron’s hand with his father’s sword Narsil, but although urged to destroy it (in the Cracks of Doom which were nigh at hand), he kept it as a weregild for his father and brother. In this way the ancient essence of Sauron’s power survived his defeat, and the sacrifices of the Last Alliance were rendered in vain; though few saw Isildur’s action or believed the victory anything but complete. Yet within two years the Ring’s evil power had already claimed Isildur’s own life: neither the first nor the last to be lost before the final destruction of the Ring, an Age later, completed the overthrow of its Master.

Last Battle – The Battle which many ancient legends prophesy will be fought at the Ending of the World. See DAGOR DAGORATH.

Last Bridge – The Bridge across the river Mitheithel in Eriador, so-called because it was both the southernmost bridge across the river and the easternmost on the Great East Road.

Last Homely House – The House of Elrond in Rivendell. It was known to Elves as ‘The Last Homely House East of the Sea’.

Last Mountain – A translation of Methedras, ‘Last-peak’ (Sind.); southernmost of the Misty Mountains.

‘The Last Ship’ – The title of a Fourth Age Hobbit-poem found in the Red Book of Westmarch and published as No. 16 in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. The significance of this verse is discussed elsewhere (see FÍRIEL).

Last Shore – An Elvish symbolic or poetic reference to the shores of Eldamar in the Uttermost West, beyond the furthest Seas.

Laura Baggins – Bilbo’s grandmother (born Laura Chubb). Her husband was Mungo Baggins of Hobbiton; their son was Bungo who married the famous Belladonna Took.

Laurelin the Golden – The name given by the Eldar of the Undying Lands to the Younger of the TWO TREES of Valinor; its other names were Malinalda and Culúrien. The Elder Tree was named Telperion.

Laurelin, which means ‘Golden-song’ in the Quenya tongue, bore shining golden leaves, the Light from which mingled with the Silver Flowers of the Elder Tree to illuminate the land of the Valar and those parts of Eldamar nearest the Calacirya. The Two Trees were beloved above all else by the dwellers in Valimar and Eldamar. But both were poisoned by Melkor (Morgoth) during the First Age. And although a seedling of Telperion survived (see GALATHILION) there were no known descendants of Laurelin – except the Sun (Anar), which was made, so the Elves say, from the last Leaf of Gold, coaxed from the dying Laurelin by Yavanna Kementári, Maker of the Two Trees.

Laurelindórenan ‘Land-of-the-Valley-of-Singing-Gold’ (Q.) – The full High-elven name for the Golden Wood of Wilderland; in the Third Age this forest was called LOTHLÓRIEN. The origin of this exceedingly ancient name is not altogether clear. One might have had no hesitation in assuming that it was given to the Golden Wood by the Eldar, as they passed westwards during the Great Journey – except that it contains the element Laurelin, which was of course also (and originally) the name of the Golden Tree of Valinor: a word the migrating Eldar would not then have known. The only other possibility is that the name was given to the Golden Wood by Galadriel, when she came there with Celeborn in the early part of the Second Age. Likewise Lothlórien, which contains the name of the Vala Irmo (Lórien), argues a knowledge of Valinorean affairs, and therefore a High-elven origin (although the loth element, meaning ‘blossom’ or ‘flower’, is inconveniently Sindarin in form).

Laurinquë – A golden-flowered tree of southern Númenor, believed (erroneously) to be descended from Laurelin, the Golden Tree of Valinor.

Lay of Eärendil – A poem made in the early Second Age (probably in Lindon) by an unknown minstrel, concerning the Voyage of Eärendil the Mariner, and what came of it. (It is quite unconnected, so far as is known, with ‘Eärendil Was A Mariner’, a poem composed by the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins in the late Third Age.)

Lay of Leithian – The story of Lúthien Tinúviel and Beren of the Edain, the original poetic account from which all subsequent extracts or translations have been drawn. It is the second longest poem surviving from the Elder Days, and was originally composed in the Grey-elven or Sindarin language. For long it was preserved only in the memories of living Elves, but thanks largely to the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, it was eventually copied down in written form, and so has come to survive into our own day, as part of the collection of legends, poems and traditions assembled by Bilbo in Rivendell (under the ‘working’ title Translations from the Elvish).1

Leithian is a composite word which translates as ‘Release-from-Bondage’. This is indeed the recurrent theme of the Tale of Beren and Lúthien: release from the bondage of the Quest, and of Beren’s vow; release from the bondage of life in a darkened Middle-earth; release from the constraints of a Death that would have separated them for ever; and finally, release from the Circles of the World.

Lay of Lúthien – See preceding entry.

Lay of Nimrodel – An Elven-chant telling the story of the maiden NIMRODEL, who dwelt during the Third Age on the borders of Lothlórien, near the fair stream which later bore her name. The verse was said to be of Silvan (Wood-elven) origin. See also AMROTH.

Leaflock – A translation of the name FINGLAS (Sind.).

Lebennin – A province of Gondor; a wide green land which lay between the rivers Gilrain and Anduin and the lower reaches of the Erui. In the far south it was bounded by the Anduin delta and in the north by the eastern range of the Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains. Its chief city was the ancient port of Pelargir, on the Anduin.

Lebethron – A variety of tree found in Gondor, much prized by the woodwrights and carpenters of that land for the beauty and durability of its black wood.

Lefnui – The chief river of the province of Anfalas in Gondor. It rose in a great western coomb of the White Mountains and wandered gently to the Sea, its mouth forming the ‘heel’ of Cape Andrast.

Legolas ‘Green-leaf’ (Sind.) – It may seem curious that with all the mighty Elven-lords who dwelled in Rivendell at the time of the Council of Elrond, it should have been an Elf of Mirkwood who was actually chosen to represent the Elf-kindreds in the Fellowship of the Ring. Legolas was the son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood, and thus an Elven-prince of Sindarin blood; but Elves far older and mightier than he could have been chosen for the Quest and would not have refused. Yet all Elrond’s choices were apt. He selected the Company of the Ring for reasons of fellowship rather than for strength or latent power. This Fellowship was to represent each of the Free Peoples – Hobbits, Men, Dwarves and Elves – and Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf, whose road home lay in the same direction, were both chosen to journey ‘at least to the passes of the Mountains, and maybe beyond’.2 In the event both remained with the leader of the Fellowship throughout the War of the Ring.

During these travels far from his home three profound experiences deeply affected the Elf. Like all his race, Legolas was a lover of trees, and the venerable growths of Fangorn – most ancient of all forests still surviving in Middle-earth in those days – filled him with great wonder. More unusually still, his travels in the company of a Dwarf did not lead to mistrust and contention – as unhappily was all too often the case – but to its opposites: comradeship, respect and love. Finally, his journeys with Aragorn and the Grey Company brought Legolas to the seaward lands of Lebennin, where he heard for the first time the crying of gulls, stirring within his breast the ancient and mystic ‘sea-longing’ of his people.

After the conclusion of the War of the Ring and the dawning of the Fourth Age, Legolas brought Elves of the Silvan race south from Mirkwood to the uplands of Ithilien, where they dwelled for a while in the fairest province of Gondor, with the permission and blessing of the King. After the Passing of King Elessar (Year 120 Fourth Age), Legolas at last followed the desire in his heart and sailed over Sea, taking with him his great comrade, Gimli Elf-friend, Dwarf of Durin’s Line. ‘And when that ship passed an end was come in Middle-earth of the Fellowship of the Ring’.3

Legolin – A river of Ossiriand, a tributary of Gelion. Its source lay in the Blue Mountains.

Lembas (from Q. lenn-mbass ‘Journey-bread’) – The Sindarin name for a kind of travellers’ food or ‘way-bread’, baked by the Elves of Lothlórien. It resembled cram (the biscuit of the Men of Dale) in purpose but not in effect, being quite delicious and greatly sustaining, the more so if it was not mingled with other foods. It consisted of light-golden meal-cakes which kept fresh for many days if left in their mallorn-leaf wrappings. Another Quenya name was coimas, ‘bread of life’.

Note: a recently available source gives a Valinorean provenance for this waybread.4 Grown from a seed made by the Vala Yavanna, each ear was picked by hand and stored in baskets made of the dried haulms. When ready it was baked according to a secret recipe. The Eldar were discouraged from making it too freely available to other ‘speaking-peoples’, since its use stimulated a longing for Valinor which could never be requited.

Lenwë – One of the Eldar of the Great Journey, the leader of those of the Teleri – the last-comers, afterwards called Nandor – who baulked at the crossing of the Misty Mountains and thus became separated from all the other Eldar. This was the second sundering of the Elves (the first had been the division between Eldar and Avari). Lenwë remained in Wilderland, but his son Denethor, together with a more adventurous remnant of the Nandor, wandered eventually into Eriador, and later still into Beleriand, where they became known as ‘Green-elves’. Lenwë’s fate is not known.

Léod – A Lord of the Men of Éothéod and the father of Eorl the Young, first King of Rohan. Like many Men of his northern land, Léod was a great horse-tamer, but one day he chanced to capture an animal which could not be tamed and eventually threw him, thus causing his death.

Léod’s son Eorl hunted the stallion and caught him, claiming the animal’s freedom as weregild for his father’s death; this horse, Felaróf, was the first of the fabled Mearas.

Léofa ‘Beloved’ – The vernacular name given in Rohan to King BRYTTA.

Lhûn (pl. Luin) ‘Blue’ (Sind.) – See LUNE.

Light-elves – The CALAQUENDI.

Lightfoot – A horse of Rohan, the dam of Snowmane, steed of King Théoden.

Lilly Cotton – The wife of Farmer Tolman (‘Tom’) Cotton and mother of Rose Cotton, who wedded the illustrious Sam Gamgee.

Limlight – A river flowing eastwards from the northern marches of Fangorn Forest into the Anduin. It was accounted the northern border of Rohan.

Linaewen ‘Lake-of-[small]-birds’ (Sind.) – The marsh-encircled lake in the middle of Nevrast.

Lindar ‘The Singers’ (Q.) – The oldest name of the Third Kindred of the Eldar, the TELERI.

Lindir ‘One-who-sings’ (Sind.) – An Elf of Rivendell, possibly a minstrel.

Lindon ‘Land-of-Song’ (Sind.) – In origin, a name given by the exiled Noldor of Beleriand to the green, unknown (to them) country between the river Gelion and the Blue Mountains. This region was known to its inhabitants, the Green-elves, and to the Sindar, as OSSIRIAND. But the High-elves seldom crossed the lower Gelion, and the name Lindon reflects their (entirely occidental) impressions of this green, secret land, the sweet singing of whose inhabitants could be heard far across the river. (The Green-elves were a subdivision of the Nandor, a division of the Teleri, most musical of all Elves; see also FALMARI.) Consequently the Blue Mountains (Ered Luin), which the Noldor never crossed during their exile, became known to them as the Ered Lindon.

But at the end of the First Age most of Beleriand was drowned or broken in the upheavals of the earth brought about by the destruction of Angband in the North; and the Sea flooded in, even between Thargelion and Ossiriand, inundating the valley of the river Ascar and the middlemost peaks of the Mountains of Lindon. Lindon then became the name given by all Elves to all the lands remaining west of the Blue Mountains. What had formerly been Thargelion became Forlindon, ‘North Lindon’, while that fragment of Ossiriand which had also escaped inundation was henceforth called Harlindon, ‘South Lindon’.

In the Second and Third Ages the Elven peoples of Lindon were a composite race made up of Noldor, Sindar, Green-elves and Falathrim, though most of the Noldor at first settled in Forlindon, under the rule of their last High King Gil-galad; while Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol of Doriath and mightiest of the surviving Sindar, ruled the Grey-elves and the other Teleri in South Lindon. But in after years, many of the Sindar migrated eastwards; and still later (c. 750 Second Age) a great number of the Noldor of Forlindon, led by Celebrimbor, also passed across the Blue Mountains to settle in Eregion near the Dwarves’ city of Moria. Gil-galad, however, remained in Lindon as High King and ruled all elves of whatever kindred who likewise did not desire to relinquish the seacoasts.

For the first thousand years of the Second Age Lindon had peace and the Eldar prospered under the rule of Gil-galad. But by the middle years of the Age, Sauron, servant of Morgoth during the Elder Days, had arisen and was plotting the overthrow of the Elves of Middle-earth. To this end he seduced the High-elves of Eregion and, by means of the Rings of Power, betrayed them. So began the War of the Elves and Sauron, in which only Lindon held out against the reborn Dark Power. In the year 1695, the hosts of Sauron rolled into Eriador; within four years they had crushed Eregion and driven Gil-galad back to the Lune – and only aid from Númenor prevented the assault which would have swept the Elves of Lindon into the Sea. Although there followed a long period of peace for the West-lands of Middle-earth, Sauron had not been destroyed; and when, at the end of the Age, he made war against the survivors of fallen Númenor, they entreated the help of Lindon. Thus Gil-galad led the Elven-folk of his land to join the Dúnedain of Arnor and Gondor in the Last Alliance against Sauron.

Ruled by Círdan the Shipwright, Lindon continued to endure throughout the Third Age which followed, though for many years her eastern border was threatened by Angmar. The arising of this evil ‘Witch-realm’ was the greatest peril faced by the peoples of Eriador during the Age, and the now-diminished Elven-hosts of Lindon gave frequent aid to the Dúnedain of Arnor in their long-fought war against the Witch-king. In the end, he was overthrown by a great feat of arms (the BATTLE OF FORNOST, 1975 Third Age), in which Elves of Lindon played a notable part. After this last great endeavour, the people of Lindon withdrew altogether from the affairs of Men and lived quietly in their green land between the Mountains and the Sea. They took little part in the War of the Ring, and maintained their realm into the Fourth Age. Lindon was thus the longest to endure of all Eldarin realms in Middle-earth.

Lindórië ‘Singer’ (Q.) – A Númenorean princess of the Line of Andúnië, sister of Eärendur and mother of Inzilbêth (wife of Ar-Gimilzôr, twenty-second King of Númenor).

Lindórinand ‘Land of the Singers’ (Q.) – An early name for the Golden Wood.

Line of Anárion – See HEIRS OF ANARION; LINES OF DESCENT.

Line of Isildur – See HEIRS OF ISILDUR; LINES OF DESCENT.

Lines of Descent – The Genealogical Tables originally provided with this entry have here been revised for the second time. The first (1978) revision was made in order to incorporate the very extensive material made available with the publication of The Silmarillion; the second (2002) to include those additions – some of them tenuous or at least unconfirmed – which have been brought to light in later sources (listed in the Foreword). In order to avoid mere duplication of the tables already available in those works, I have compressed the Lines of Descent into two charts, representing, in the first case, the ancestry of Aragorn and Arwen as it was derived from the Eldar; and in the second chart, the same Line of Descent traced from the Three Houses of the Edain.5 In addition I have shown those Lines of Descent from the Eldar and the Edain which, by Aragorn’s day, had long been extinct.

These complicated family trees contain several notable features. Firstly, the ancestry of the Peredhil (Half-elven) brothers Elros and Elrond united the bloodlines of the (Noldorin) House of Fingolfin, the (Sindarin) House of Thingol, and all Three Houses of the Edain of Beleriand. Elros Tar-Minyatur passed on this lineage, through the Dúnedain of Númenor, Arnor and Gondor, to Aragorn. But Elrond his brother wedded Celebrían daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn; their children – Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen Undómiel – were thus descended also from Finarfin of the Noldor. And the union of Aragorn and Arwen drew together all these ancient Lines of Descent.

Individuals and connections marked in grey on the first table indicate a likely ancestry for Celeborn (who afterwards wedded Galadriel of the House of Finarfin) derived from a late source.6 Of particular note is the hitherto unknown existence of a third brother to Elwë and Olwë of the Teleri, a certain Elmo, whose son, named as Galadhon, had two sons, one of whom was Celeborn; the other, named as Galathil, fathered Nimloth who wedded Dior Eluchíl son of Lúthien. Celeborn was therefore related to Elrond – and also to Aragorn – both through his great-niece Elwing the White and his daughter Celebrían; at the time of the War of the Ring he must have been venerable indeed.

The only Eldarin House which does not play a part in the composition of this royal lineage (which also, for good measure, includes a Maiarin strain) is, of course, that of Fëanor. For reasons too well known to require restatement here, this Line of Descent became accursed of the Valar, and dispossessed of the High-kingship. Six of Fëanor’s seven sons perished without issue. Only Curufin passed on his clouded ancestry, to his son Celebrimbor. But though Celebrimbor lived until the middle of the Second Age, and laboured throughout that time to repair his ancestor’s fault, he could escape neither the last fruits of Fëanor’s Oath, nor the Curse of the Valar laid upon his House long before. And all he had himself wrought in Middle-earth was brought, in the end, to nothing – and worse.

On the second Table – that of the Edain of Middle-earth and Númenor – I have marked in grey those general lines of descent of western Men about whom little is known but much may be conjectured. The tribes of Men who dwelt in Minhiriath and Enedhwaith in the Second Age – and who were driven out by the vast logging operations of the returning ‘Kings-of-Men’, later to make their homes in the White Mountains and in Dunland – were thought by many loremasters to be descendants of the Haladin of the First Age. There is clearer evidence that the Rohirrim, known to be descended from the Men of Éothéod in the far north, were therefore also derived from the people of Rhovanion, who formed a friendly bulwark for Gondor in the East throughout much of the earlier part of the Third Age, but in the end were driven out by Easterlings and the power of Dol Guldur. These in turn were believed descended from the House of Hador (Third House) in the First Age, being of those few clans and tribes of this kindred who had not departed to Númenor.

Also of note: in each of the four ‘mixed’ unions which occur in the Tables (three of the Eldar with the Edain, and one of the Maiar with the Eldar), it is the female partner who has wedded beneath her station, so to speak. Whether or not males of species were thought to be genetically incapable of crossing the bounds of kindred in this (descending) fashion is a question that must remain unanswered.

Linhir – The second most important town and port of Lebennin, a province of Gondor. It lay on the river Gilrain just below its confluence with the Serni.

Linnod ‘Rhyme’ (Sind.) – A form of Elvish word-play, which conformed to acknowledged metrical patterns.7

Lisgardh – A land of reeds at the mouths of Sirion.

Lithe – See FORELITHE and following entry.

Lithedays – The Three Days of Lithe in the Shire referred to the three-day high-summer festival between the months of Forelithe and Afterlithe. The three days were known as – 1 Lithe, Mid-year’s Day and 2 Lithe. There were four Lithedays in a Leap Year, the extra one being called Overlithe, which followed Mid-year’s Day. Along with the Yuledays, the Lithedays provided the chief festivities of the year.

Lithlad ‘Plain-of-Ash’ (Sind.) – The arid region east of the Dark Tower, between the Barad-dûr and the northern rampart of Mordor, the Ered Lithui (‘Ashy Mountains’). Lithlad and Gorgoroth comprised the whole north-west of Mordor; the drab fields of Nurn lay to the south-east.

Little Delving – A village of the Shire, located in the Northfarthing.

Little Gelion – The more westerly of the two tributaries of the river Gelion. It rose in the Hills of Himring.

Little Kingdom – Arda.

Little People – The Periannath (Hobbits).

Loa ‘Growth’ (Q.) – The term used by the Elves when referring to their (seasonal) ‘year’ of 365 days. In contrast, their ritual ‘year’, the yén (pl. yéni) was equal to no less than 144 loa.

The loa observed six primary divisions, based upon the cycles of growth perceived in natural vegetation – above all, in trees. In Quenya, these six ‘seasons’ were: tuilë, lairë, yávië, quellë (also called lasse-lanta), hríuë and coirë. Their equivalents in the Sindarin or Grey-elven tongue were: ethuil, laer, iavas, firith (or narbeleth), rhîw and echuir. These may be translated: spring, summer, autumn, ‘fading’, winter and ‘stirring’. These ‘seasons’ were of a fixed length, with lairë and hríuë containing 72 days each, while the other four each contained 54. An additional 5 days (which did not belong to any season) brought the total to 365. The primary deficiency resulting from this system of computation was corrected by adding three extra days every twelfth year.

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins – If the available records of the period can be relied upon in this particular instance, then the long-standing feud between the Bagginses and the Sackville-Bagginses of the Shire was a truly regrettable affair in which most Hobbits sided with Bilbo and his heir, Frodo – presumably less for the justice of their cause than as a reaction against the unpleasant and shrewish nature of Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.

Lobelia had been born a Bracegirdle of Hardbottle, but had later married Otho, son of Longo Baggins and Camellia Sackville. Otho was an undistinguished Hobbit and Lobelia concentrated her affections upon their only son, Lotho (whose pimply countenance was reportedly a source of much unkind mirth among younger Hobbits). As Bilbo’s nearest relatives (Otho was actually his cousin), the Sackville-Bagginses longed inexpressibly to dwell in his magnificent residence at Bag End. And when, in 2942 Third Age (1342 Shire Reckoning), the then heirless Bilbo disappeared while on an adventure in the East, Lobelia and her husband initiated proceedings to have him declared legally dead so that they might inherit his luxurious hole. Bilbo himself relates (in There and Back Again) how he most inconveniently returned just as his belongings were being auctioned off – riding up the Hill of Hobbiton with a pony laden with gold, and looking remarkably fit and unquestionably alive. The Sackville-Bagginses contested his identity for a while and the feud continued until Bilbo’s disappearance in the year 3001 (1401 Shire Reckoning), when the disposal of his entire estate (which included the Desirable Residence) significantly omitted the Sackville-Bagginses – save for a ‘gift’ of spoons. The prestigious smial was left to Frodo, whose relations with Lobelia remained strained until his eventual decision to leave the Shire, and sell the place to her. Lobelia was thus obliged to wait for almost eighty years from the time she had first believed Bag End to be hers.

Vindictive and grasping as she undoubtedly was, Lobelia was also indomitable, and she thus earned great respect from other Hobbits during the occupation of the Shire by agents of Saruman. On one occasion, after being insulted by one of these rogues, she attempted to savage him with her umbrella, although she was then very old and less than half his size. As a result, she was imprisoned in the Lockholes; and during her confinement there, her weakling son was murdered by Wormtongue, at Saruman’s order.

Lobelia was released from her prison after the Battle of Bywater, emerging to great applause and cheering. She was touched by this but also stricken by the news of her only son’s death, and she relinquished Bag End to Frodo in order to return to Hardbottle, where she died the following spring. In her will, she left her money to help Hobbits made homeless during the occupation.

Lockholes – Storage-smials or tunnels in the township of Michel Delving, converted into prisons by agents of Saruman during the occupation of the Shire in 3019 Third Age (1419 Shire Reckoning).

Loeg Ningloron ‘Pools-of-golden-water-flowers’ (Sind.) – The GLADDEN FIELDS.

Loendë – Midsummer’s Day, the Mid-year’s Day of Kings’ and Stewards’ Reckoning. There were three such ‘extra’ days (belonging to no particular month) in the old Númenorean Calendar of Kings’ Reckoning, and five in the later revised system of the Stewards. In the Fourth Age the system was again revised so that the year began in spring instead of mid-winter; therefore, in this New Reckoning, loendë fell between the months which were equivalent to our September and October.

Lómelindi ‘Dusk-singers’ (Q.) – The High-elven name for nightingales (the birds of Melian). See also TINÚVIEL.

Lómion ‘Child-of-Twilight’ (Q.) – The secret name given by Ar-Feiniel, the White Lady of the Noldor, in her own (proscribed) tongue, to the son she bore Eöl, in Nan Elmoth. Eöl himself afterwards named the boy MAEGLIN.

Lond Daer ‘Great Havens’ (Sind.) – In the Third Age, the name given to the ancient ruins at the mouth of the river Gwathló (Greyflood) during the Third Age (They are not shown on all maps.) They were in fact the partly inundated ruins of the haven of VINYALONDË, built in the first Millennium of the Second Age by Aldarion the ‘Great Captain’ of Númenor. In time the site proved vulnerable, to enemies and, most of all, to the sea itself.

Lonely Isle – A translation of the composite (Sindarin/Quenya) name Tol Eressëa.

Lonely Mountain – A translation of the Grey-elven name EREBOR.

Longbeards – The Dwarves of Durin’s House. A noble growth was considered a sign of wisdom, age and maturity in all Dwarves, but the beards of Durin’s Line exceeded all others; they were often forked and worn tucked into the belt.

Longbottom – A village in the Southfarthing of the Shire where was grown most of the PIPE-WEED SO much in demand elsewhere. The Southfarthing was more sheltered and sunny than other parts of the Shire, and ‘leaf’ (especially those favourite varieties known as ‘Old Toby’, ‘Longbottom Leaf’ and ‘Southern Star’) grew richly and abundantly there. The first recorded appearance of this curious herb was about the year 2670 Third Age (1070 Shire Reckoning) in the gardens of Tobold Hornblower, ‘Old Toby’ himself.

Long Cleeve – A village in the Northfarthing, home of the North-Tooks, who were descendants of Bandobras ‘Bullroarer’ Took, hero of the Shire and one of the great Hobbits of history.

Longholes – A family of Bree Hobbits.

Long Lake – A lake in northern Wilderland some miles south of Erebor and Dale; it was watered by the Forest River of Mirkwood and the river Celduin or River Running which passed out of the southern end of the lake and wandered for many miles before emptying into the Inland Sea. The Long Lake was particularly notable for its Lake-town of Esgaroth, which was built upon stilts.

Longo Baggins – The second son of Mungo Baggins of Hobbiton, and the uncle of Bilbo. He married Camellia Sackville, and their only child Otho was the first of the Sackville-Bagginses.

Long Peace – The name given by the Eldar of Beleriand to the period of two centuries which followed the first appearance of the Dragon Glaurung, during which Morgoth lay quiescent in Angband and attempted nothing openly against his enemies. The Long Peace ended – shockingly – with the Battle of Sudden Flame; and henceforth war never ceased in Beleriand.

Long Wall – A translation of the Sindarin name ANDRAM.

Long Winter – The winter of 2758–59 Third Age, when snow fell thickly over the westlands of Middle-earth, and hardships were accentuated by the famine which followed. Both Gondor and (particularly) Rohan suffered additionally from attacks made against their realms at this time (see HELM HAMMERHAND).

Lóni – A Dwarf of Erebor and a member of Balin’s expedition to Moria (2989 Third Age). In the year 2994, Orcs attacked the colony and Lóni, together with his comrades Frár and Náli, fell defending the Bridge and the Second Hall.

Lord of All – A title awarded to Melkor (at the instigation of Sauron) by the (heretical) later Númenoreans.

Lord of Caves – See FINROD FELAGUND.

Lord of the Earth – A title assumed by Sauron the Great during the period of his ascendancy in Middle-earth during the Second Age – the Accursed Years, as they were called by his subjects.

Lord of the Nazgûl – See MORGUL; RINGWRAITHS; WITCH-KING.

Lord of the Rings – Sauron the Great of Mordor, Enemy of the Free Peoples and self-styled Master of Middle-earth – in his aspect as Ruler of the One Ring, which in turn ruled all the Rings of Power.

Lord of the West – A translation of the Adûnaic title Ar-Adûnakhôr, adopted by the twentieth King of Númenor in preference to the traditional High-elven royal name (the Quenya equivalent was Herunúmen). This signalled both a return to the ancient Mannish tongue of the Edain and a deliberate renunciation of Eldarin mores and modes of speech. The title had previously been applied only to the ‘Elder King’ of the Valar, Manwë.

Lord of Waters – The Vala ULMO.

Lords of Andúnië – The Princes of the Faithful of NUMENOR, descendants of King Elros Tar-Minyatur through Valandil, son of the Lady Silmariën, daughter and elder child of Tar-Elendil, fourth King. They lived in Andúnië, westernmost province of Númenor, and held true to the traditions of friendship with the Eldar – when the later Kings (and most of the people) of Númenor departed from these ways, growing envious of the High-elves.

The Faithful were increasingly persecuted for their loyalties, but many endured – and in the end were the only Númenoreans to survive the Downfall of their land (in 3319 Second Age). These survivors reached the shores of Middle-earth in nine of their ships, bearing the Silver Rod, the seven palantíri and other heirlooms of their House. They were led by Elendil, son of Amandil, last Lord of Andúnië.

Note on the Númenorean Succession: the law allowing women to inherit the throne of Númenor was made after the sixth King, Tar-Aldarion, left only one child to succeed him; she became Tar-Ancalimë, the first ruling Queen. Before her time, the King had always been succeeded by his eldest son – and so the Lady Silmariën, although the elder child of Tar-Elendil (fourth King), became, not Queen of Númenor, but sister of the new King, Tar-Meneldur.

Lórellin – The name given in Eldarin tradition to the lake of the gardens of Lórien, in Valinor. Here the Vala Estë, spouse of Lórien (Irmo), slept by day.

Lorgan – An Easterling chieftain, a subject and ally of Morgoth. He and his folk were awarded the land of Dor-lómin, after Morgoth’s victory of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad had dispossessed the Edain who had previously dwelt there. Tuor, son of Rían and Huor, was enslaved by him, but escaped after three years’ servitude.

Lórien – The name given in Eldarin tradition to the Gardens, in Valinor, of the Vala Irmo, one of the two Fëantúri (his brother was Mandos). Irmo was usually called after the name of the Garden, Lórien. In memory of this fair place in the Blessed Realm, the High-elves (probably Galadriel) altered the original (now unknown) Nandorin name of the Golden Wood of Wilderland to this form. The more formal Quenya name for the Golden Wood was LAURE-LINDÓRENAN. See also LOTHLÓRIEN.

Lórinand – The Nandorin name for the Golden Wood of Wilder-land; LOTHLÓRIEN.

Losgar – A place near the mouth of the Firth of Drengist, probably its southern shore. Here, in the Sunless Year, Fëanor of the Noldor burned the fleet of ships which had carried himself and his host back from Aman to Middle-earth.

Lossarnach – A province of Gondor. It nestled under the south-facing vales of Mount Mindolluin, to the south-west of the city of Minas Tirith. The name Arnach (Lossarnach means ‘Snowy-Arnach’) is of pre-Númenorean form and in the language of the race of Men who made their homes in the high reaches of the White Mountains during the Dark Years of the Second Age.

Lossoth ‘Snow-people’ (Sind.) – The Snowmen of Forochel, who dwelt on the shores of the great Ice Bay on the edge of the Northern Waste. According to a note in the Red Book they were ‘a strange, unfriendly people, remnant of the Forodwaith. [They] house in the snow, and it is said that they can run on the ice with bones on their feet, and have carts without wheels’.8

Lost Isle – Another name for the ‘Lonely Isle’ of Tol Eressëa.

Lótessë ‘Flower-month’ (Q.) – The name of the fifth month of the year in Kings’ Reckoning, as used in Númenor during the Second Age and by most Westron-speakers of Middle-earth in the latter part of the Third. Lótessë was unaffected by the changes made when Stewards’ Reckoning replaced Kings’ Reckoning in the last third of the Age; however, with the advent of New Reckoning, in the Fourth Age, it became the second rather than the fifth month of the new Calendar (adapted to begin the year in spring instead of winter). In all these systems, Lótessë had thirty days and was roughly equivalent to our May. The Sindarin form of the name, Lothron, was used by the Dúnedain; the Hobbits’ name for this month was Thrimidge (used in both the Shire and Bree).

Lothíriel – The daughter of Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, and wife of Éomer, eighteenth King of Rohan. They wedded in the last year of the Third Age; their son, Elfwine the Fair, eventually succeeded Éomer.

Lothlann ‘Wide-and-empty’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Eldar of Beleriand to the great steppe which lay east of Ard-galen and north of Maglor’s Gap. It was conquered by Morgoth during the Battle of Sudden Flame.

Lothlórien ‘Dream-flower’ (Sind.+Q.) – The composite word which was the most widely used name in the Third Age for the Golden Wood of Wilderland, called also Lórien and Laurelindórenan, and, by the Nandor who originally peopled it, Lórinand. This ancient forest stood upon both sides of the river Celebrant, to the west of Anduin.

While Lothlórien was not the most ancient forest in Middle-earth, it was unquestionably the most singular: for only there were to be found the great mellyrn, the mallorn-trees which gave the Golden Wood its name.9 Golden-leaved with silver-grey boughs, they grew to a height beyond the measure of all other living things. The people of Lothlórien were as singular as their trees, for they did not dwell on the ground, but in the woven branches of the mighty mellyrn, on high platforms (or telain). For this reason the Elves of the Golden Wood were called Galadhrim, ‘Tree-people’.

The Second Age brought many changes for the Elves who remained in Middle-earth, particularly for the Grey-elves, whose ancient homelands had been for the most part inundated at the Breaking of Thangorodrim. Some of the Sindar emigrated eastwards, and were received by the wood-elves of those lands with reverence. (It is also said, in a late source, that at the time of the War of the Elves and Sauron Lórien accepted an influx of Noldorin Elves from Eregion, fleeing by way of Moria.)10

One of the Sindar, Amdir, became King of Lórien, and ruled until the end of the age when he led a small contingent of silvan archers to the Battle of Dagorlad, and was slain there. His son AMROTH then became King of Lórien.

Compared to his father, Amroth, though a noble and beautiful Elf, was somewhat fainéant. Early in his reign he conceived a great love for the silvan maiden NIMRODEL, who dwelt in those days beside the falls that afterwards bore her name. She discouraged his suit for many years and in the meantime the lovelorn prince seems to have neglected his duties. Lórien was not fortified or put in a proper state of defence against the menace of Sauron until the middle years of the age, and only after Amroth’s departure. The Balrog had awakened in Moria and the Dwarves had been driven out; the Necromancer was in occupation of Dol Guldur; but Amroth chose this time to escape from Middle-earth with Nimrodel (who had vowed not to wed him until he brought her to a land of peace). But they were both lost.

At this time Celeborn of the Sindar together with his wife Galadriel of the Noldor came to dwell in Lórien. Celeborn was a kinsman of Thingol Greycloak of Beleriand; and Galadriel was of even nobler race. Her High-elven name was Altariel, and she was the sister of Finrod Felagund, fallen king of Nargothrond. Galadriel was thus the most royal of all the surviving High-elven Exiles, and therefore of all Elves then living in Middle-earth. Moreover, she brought with her to Lórien one of the Three Elven-rings: Nenya, the Ring of Adamant.

By now the forest of Lórien had become a source of strange rumour; its borders were shunned by folk of other race, and even the Wood-elves of Greenwood were sundered from their southern kinfolk. For although Galadriel and Celeborn took part in the high Councils held by the Wizards and the Chief Eldar, the Wise kept secret the true nature of the place which came to be known as Lothlórien (‘[land of the] Blossoms-of-Dreaming’). The Lord and Lady and their court dwelt deep in the heart of the forest, in a great arboreal city: Calas Galadhon, ‘the City of the Trees’, where grew the tallest and most beautiful mellyrn of the land. And the power of Galadriel, focused through the Ring of Adamant, laid a change on the Golden Wood, so that it was set apart from the stream of time, ageing far more slowly than other lands.

Lórien endured throughout the Third Age, even though the peril from Dol Guldur grew greater as the years passed, and there was often deadly strife with Orcs and other fell creatures under the fair boughs of the mellyrn. It is recounted in the Red Book how members of the Fellowship of the Ring, fleeing from Moria, were sheltered in Caras Galadhon, and were greatly assisted by the Lord and Lady of Lórien. Shortly after their departure, the Golden Wood suffered the heaviest assaults it had yet experienced from Dol Guldur: in March 3019 Orc-hosts crossed the Great River and assailed the Galadhrim in three separate waves – but all were beaten back and in the end, the Elves of Lórien themselves took the offensive, crossing the Anduin eastwards and destroying Dol Guldur.

Nonetheless, with the victory of the War of the Ring, the great days of Lórien came at last to an end. For Galadriel’s long exile in Middle-earth was rescinded by the Valar as a reward for her labours against Sauron (and for her rejection of the Ruling Ring). At the end of the Third Age she took ship into the West, together with the Bearers of the other Rings of Power; and some time after her passing, Celeborn also deserted the Golden Wood. In the Fourth Age only a few of the Galadhrim still lingered sadly … and there was no longer light or song’ in Lothlórien.11

Lotho Sackville-Baggins – The weedy and ineffectual only son of Otho and Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. Due to an unfortunate facial complaint, his nickname (among younger Hobbits) was ‘Pimple’. Nonetheless, after the death of his father in 3012 Third Age (1412 Shire Reckoning), Lotho became the nominal head of the clan, and was afterwards singled out for manipulation from afar by Saruman – who was already beginning to take an interest in the Shire.

The family had always been well-to-do, and had owned much property in the Southfarthing, including farms and leaf-plantations. The foolish Lotho was easily inveigled into purchasing more of the same, far more than he could possibly afford, and as much of the money for these purchases came from Isengard, he was quickly caught on one of the oldest of all hooks. By the time of the War of the Ring the Hobbit was so indebted to Saruman that he was helpless to prevent the Wizard’s agents from entering the Shire and following their master’s will, while ostensibly working for ‘Pimple’.

In this way Lotho was the key to Saruman’s control of the Shire – though once this had been accomplished, of course, Saruman had little need of him. Lotho was eventually murdered by Gríma Wormtongue, on the orders of ‘Sharkey’, in 1419 Shire Reckoning.

Lothron – See LOTESSË.

Loudwater – A translation of the Grey-elven word Bruinen, which was the name of the river whose two source-streams marked the ancient boundaries of Rivendell, in Eriador.

Lugbúrz ‘Dark-tower’ (Black Speech) – The name given by Orcs and other fell creatures to the ancient Fortress of Sauron. The Dark Tower was known to the Elves and the Dúnedain as Barad-dûr, which carried the same meaning.

Lugdush – An Orc of Isengard, one of the Uruk-hai. During the War of the Ring he was part of a raiding company led by Uglúk across northern Rohan as far as the Great River. The raid was partly successful, and the returning Uruk-hai had reached the very borders of Fangorn before being caught by the Riders of Rohan. All the Orcs perished in the subsequent battle.

Luinil ‘Blue-star’ (Sind., from luin-êl). – One of the stars wrought by Elbereth (Varda) for the lighting of Middle-earth at the time of the Awakening in Cuiviénen.

Lumbar (meaning not known) – As preceding entry.

Lune – A rendering in the Common Speech of the ancient Grey-elven word Lhûn (pl. Luin), ‘Blue’. The word appears in these three different forms in the names of several features of western Eriador, including the great river (Lhûn), which arose in the far north, and the Gulf of Lune, where the river finally reached the Sea. To the north and south of the Gulf rose the Ered Luin, ‘Blue Mountains’.

Lúthien Tinúviel – The Elven-daughter of Thingol Greycloak of Doriath and the Lady Melian of the Maiar. She is remembered as the most beautiful maiden ever to walk the earth; and she was the most beloved of all her Kindred. Yet she chose to relinquish her Elven immortality, and to share the destiny (the Gift) of Men, for the sake of a Man: Beren son of Barahir of the Edain, whose life and death were woven with hers. Thus Lúthien was lost to Elvenkind, and dwells now beyond the West, apart from all her kindred, save one. The days of Lúthien lie now in the deep past, and not all of her story is known or recorded. She was born in Menegroth, in Doriath, in the middle of that epoch of the First Age known as the Years of the Trees; and her father Elwë (Thingol), was the highest and noblest of all the Elves remaining in Middle-earth, and the mightiest ruler. Moreover, Lúthien’s mother was Melian of the Maiar, a Handmaiden of the Valier (Queens of the Valar) Vána and Estë, and akin to the great Yavanna Kementári, who of all the Valier was accounted second only to Elbereth (Varda). Lúthien’s ancestry therefore included strains of the Valar, Maiar and Eldar; it was the most illustrious Line of Descent that has ever been in Middle-earth.

For years uncounted Lúthien grew slowly to womanhood (‘As the stars above the mists of the world was her loveliness, and in her face was a shining light’12); while across the Sea in the Undying Lands her kindred, the Falmari (Telerin Elves whose king was Lúthien’s father’s brother Olwë) came at last ashore in Aman, and made for themselves a maritime realm in northern Eldamar. During this forgotten time Middle-earth slept under starlight and Melkor lay imprisoned in the Halls of Mandos. But all things pass, and all epochs wane. The age-old peace was doomed to wither away, in rebellion and war. High-elves came back to Middle-earth to wage war on Melkor (Morgoth), who himself had already returned, to Angband which he had rebuilt. And even before Melkor’s flight from Aman his will had crossed the Sea and stirred his servants into life. Middle-earth became evil; and Beleriand was invaded. Thingol withdrew into Doriath, which Melian had already surrounded with a Girdle of enchantment, through which none could penetrate. And all this time their child had never set foot beyond the beech- and holly-forests of her homeland. Nor did Thingol intend her to, while evil roamed the lands outside.

If events had moved differently, Thingol might have had his way; and he and Melian would not have been sundered at the last from their only daughter. But Fate did not so decree; and the coming of Melkor, which had been followed by the coming of the Noldor, was now followed by the appearance in Beleriand of altogether a new race: the Mortal Men whose awakening had long been prophesied. But though Morgoth was never able to pierce the Girdle of Melian (neither were the Noldor or indeed any other Elves), this new race possessed qualities which were not fully understood by the Quendi, or even by the Valar; and no enchantments were fully proof against them. The Edain entered the affairs of the time in dramatic fashion; and they aided the Eldar in their war; and many of them died in this cause; and at last one of them, Beren the son of Barahir of the First House, fleeing from the wartorn North, passed the Girdle, and entered Neldoreth, and there encountered the daughter of Thingol of the Grey-elves. And from that instant their fates were joined.

The full tale of Beren and Lúthien, and their love for each other, and Thingol’s bitter opposition to the match, and the vow made by Beren in response to the (ill-omened) challenge of Thingol, and the Quest of the Silmaril, and the fulfilment of the vow, and the death, in Neldoreth, of Beren, followed by that of Lúthien – and of their return to this life, by the grace of the Valar – is, of course, the subject of the Lay of Leithian, an exceedingly long poem composed during the First Age and subsequently recorded by the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins; in which form it has descended to us. This story appears in The Silmarillion (rendered into prose form), and thus requires no further re-statement. The Quest was successful, and the Silmaril was recovered (though it would have been better for all, especially Thingol, if it had not been); but Beren was slain by the Wolf of Angband; and Lúthien herself soon afterwards died of grief.

In the Halls of Mandos they might have been separated for ever, for the fate of Men is apart from that of the Elves; and theirs was the first union between the Kindreds – a union for which no precedents then existed. But for their goodness and valour and utter faithfulness this grace was granted to them: that Lúthien might be permitted, if she so wished, to exchange her Elven-life for the mortality of Men; and, moreover, if she so chose, that she and Beren would be granted a second lifespan in mortal lands. Lúthien did so choose, and she and Beren walked again in Middle-earth, in the green and secret country of Ossiriand; and there she bore Beren a son: Dior the Beautiful. And though in due course she and Beren died for the second time, it was also granted to Lúthien that her Line should never fail. Dior was the father of Elwing, who wedded Eärendil, who bore the Silmaril out of Middle-earth and brought succour to Elves and Mortals alike. And Eärendil’s sons were Elros and Elrond. From Elros was descended Aragorn of the Dúnedain, and from Elrond Arwen Undómiel, who was said to walk in the likeness of Lúthien; and who, offered the choice of her Fore-mother, likewise relinquished her Eldarin immortality – for the love of a Mortal Man.