Mablung ‘Heavy Hand’ (Sind.) – One of the Sindar of the First Age; the chief captain of the hosts of Doriath. He attended the Feast of Reuniting (Year of the Sun 21) as one of the two emissaries of Thingol Greycloak, and was at the Hunting of the Wolf Carcharoth, in Neldoreth. A few years later he and his companion-at-arms, Beleg Cúthalion, were granted permission to join the Union of Maedhros (though not to serve the Sons of Fëanor), and so came to be at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, which both somehow survived, although fighting with the host of Fingon. Afterwards both these mighty Grey-elves became enmeshed in the Doom of the Children of Húrin; but though Beleg was slain, Mablung survived. (He was the last living being to speak with Túrin Turambar.) Mablung then returned to Doriath, and was afterwards slain guarding Thingol’s treasury from pillaging Dwarves. The king himself had already perished.

Maedhros – The eldest of the seven sons of Fëanor. He was born in Eldamar but joined his father’s rebellion against the Valar. He took the Oath, and participated in the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, and came back to Middle-earth in exile. Maedhros is said to have opposed the burning of the ships at Losgar – for he was a great friend of Fingon, son of Fingolfin – but shortly after this event, the host of Fëanor and his sons was attacked by Orcs from Angband (see BATTLE-UNDER-STARS), and Fëanor was mortally wounded. Maedhros thus became his heir. Yet he never became High-king of the Noldor in exile; for shortly after the Battle-under-Stars, he was captured by Morgoth, and tormented. From this dreadful predicament he was rescued by Fingon his friend. In his gratitude, and to show repentance for the abandoning of the host of Fingolfin, Maedhros himself generously and wisely proposed that the High-kingship be given to Fingon’s father Fingolfin (though not all the brothers agreed with this).

The Noldor were now reunited, and in the years which followed the great among them chose realms for themselves, along the line of mountainous country which separated Beleriand from the North. Maedhros and the other sons of Fëanor were allocated the eastern sector of this ‘front’ (afterwards called the March of Maedhros); and Maedhros himself centred his realm on the Hills of Himring. On the tallest of these hills he built a great fortress. For many centuries he and his brothers did their part in the War; there came the day of the Dagor Bragollach, and Dorthonion was captured, and the Pass of Aglon was forced; but Himring held. Yet after a decade or so, when the impetus of the Bragollach had spent itself, and the Eldar and their allies had begun to regain lost territory, Maedhros – the mightiest in war of all the sons of Fëanor – determined to do yet more. He then formed the so-called ‘Union of Maedhros’, in reality an attempt again to unite the scattered Eldar, and defeat Morgoth in open battle. And although not all he summoned to the cause came to aid him (for the Sons of Fëanor had by now alienated many of their former allies, by bad faith and by the general malign effects of the Oath), a great army was assembled; and once more the Elves took the military initiative.

Too soon. Dorthonion was recaptured, and the passes to east and west of this highland; but in so doing Maedhros prematurely revealed the growing strength of the Eldar, and so Morgoth was prepared. The day came of the great battle which Maedhros had so carefully planned. His own army was to manoeuvre provocatively on the desert of Anfauglith (formerly the grassland of Ard-galen) thus inviting attack from Angband – and this attack was itself intended to be countered by another Eldarin army, the host of Hithlum led by Fingon the High King. But treachery was at work in Maedhros’ camp (see ULDOR THE ACCURSED), and from the beginning things went badly wrong. Maedhros himself was hindered from opening the campaign in the planned manner, and meanwhile Morgoth successfully decoyed the host of Fingon out on to the desert, where they became gravely embroiled in a losing battle. Then Maedhros arrived – and for perhaps an hour the Eldar were closer than ever before to winning the decisive victory which would have brought them within sight of regaining the Silmarils, and fulfilment of the Oath. But again treachery played its part, as it was doomed always to do, and the host of Maedhros was taken in the rear, and destroyed, though the Sons of Fëanor escaped; and an end was come of the might of the Eldar in Middle-earth. Himring was captured, and all Beleriand lay open to the Enemy.

For the remainder of his life in Middle-earth Maedhros had no fixed dwelling. He and his brothers wandered the Western Lands, bereft of all power to fulfil their dreadful Oath, but driven still by the need to attempt it. During this time the sons of Fëanor committed many grievous wrongs – among them the assault upon Doriath and the slaying of Dior Eluchíl, of Nimloth his wife, and of his two young sons. Maedhros had no part in this evil deed, and is said to have repented of the murders (the murderers themselves were slain); but soon afterwards, having learned of the presence of the Silmaril of Doriath at the Havens of Sirion, he himself now made war upon other Elves in an attempt to regain the Jewels. But once more the Sons of Fëanor succeeded only in causing many deaths, and much anguish; and they did not gain a single Silmaril. But at this time Eärendil sailed into the West, and the Host of the Valar came across the Sea, and Morgoth was cast down, and the lands were broken and changed. Even now the last two sons of Fëanor, Maedhros and Maglor, attempted to seize the two surviving Silmarils, by force, from the keeping of the Valar. And at last they were successful, though only at the cost of more murders. Caught and trapped, they were, nonetheless, spared, and fled, each with a single Jewel. But the Silmaril that Maedhros had taken seared his hand, and he came to the end of his endurance, for he knew himself to be defiled. And he slew himself in a deep chasm, bearing the Silmaril to his unknown grave under the earth.

Maeglin ‘Sharp-glance’ (Sind.) – The only son of Eöl the Smith and Aredhel Ar-Feiniel the daughter of Fingolfin. In his youth he left the woods of Nan Elmoth, in East Beleriand where he had been born, and came to Gondolin, the Hidden City ruled by his mother’s brother Turgon. And in Gondolin he was given lordship and powers of command, and wealth, and the love of Turgon besides; but in the end the evil that had been planted in him at his birth worked to its fulfilment, and Maeglin betrayed the city, and so came to be accursed in the memory of the Elves.

The evil that was in Maeglin was planted at his begetting, for his father, the smith Eöl, was an Elf of dark mood and secretive habits, jealous and misanthropic. But his mother was wilful and feckless. The combination did not immediately show itself, for Maeglin, as a young Elf, was silent and shrewd; and he withheld his mind from all, even his parents. It was at this time that he first heard of Gondolin, and of Turgon, and of the power of the Noldor; and he determined to come there and be adopted by Turgon as his heir.

And so it nearly came to pass. Ar-Feiniel secretly quitted Nan Elmoth, and took her son with her, and they were welcomed by Turgon; and Maeglin, even as he desired, was given great honour in the Hidden City, as a prince of the highest rank. But Eöl had followed the errant pair, and also came to Gondolin; and in the ensuing interview with Turgon Eöl slew his wife – in an attempt to slay his son, who had renounced him – and was himself slain, by being cast from the hill of Gondolin. Then Maeglin, as the only descendant of the dead Ar-Feiniel, was looked upon by Turgon with even more favour, and as he had wished he became the mightiest prince of Gondolin, after the King. But he was never named as Heir. And after a long while, when it had at last become plain to him that this was being withheld from him, his ambition turned to jealousy, and his loyalty to malice.

Yet for all this Maeglin indeed served Turgon well and faithfully throughout most of his life; indeed, he was more assiduous in enforcing the ordinances of the King than Turgon himself. And he fought bravely at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, for he was no coward – in battle. It was otherwise, however, when he was taken prisoner and threatened with torment (as indeed it might be with worthier folk); Maeglin told all he knew about the hidden entrances to Gondolin, and promised to betray the city from within, in exchange for his freedom. And so he did. Gondolin was taken, and Turgon was slain – and Maeglin himself was killed.

Why did he act thus, and throw away all his years of waiting and patient service? Because he had discovered that he would never become the heir of Turgon. On the field of the Nirnaeth, in the last moments of the battle, Huor son of Galdor of Dor-lómin spoke with Turgon and prophesied the mingling and continuing of their Lines of Descent. Maeglin overheard these words; and it must have been bitter indeed to learn that his service would thus go unrewarded (as he himself must have put it; for by now he had forgotten the love and honour that had always been his in Turgon’s house). And it was this final quenching of his long hopes which made him susceptible to threats of the kind employed against him by his captors. In the last battle, he was slain by Tuor (the eventual Heir of Turgon), and died in a like manner to his father before, by being cast from the precipice of Amon Gwareth.

Maglor – The second of the sons of Fëanor; and the most renowned of all Elven-minstrels, save only Daeron of the Grey-elves. He was the composer of the Noldolantë (‘Fall of the Noldor’), the epic poem from which much of the material in The Silmarillion has been derived. Like his elder brother Maedhros, Maglor was less apt to evil than the other Sons of Fëanor – and yet he also swore the Oath, and took part in the massacre of the Teleri at Alqualondë, and thus came under the Curse of Mandos. He went back to Middle-earth in exile, as part of his father’s host. And though he fought valiantly against Morgoth, in the end he too fell into evil, being constrained by the Oath; and came to a bitter end. Yet he regained a Silmaril before he did so, and so came at least in part to fulfil his Oath before he died.

In Beleriand, Maglor ruled the weakest part of the Elves’ northern front, strategically speaking: the area of open ground which lay between Himring and Mount Rerir and its foothills. Here were stationed many Eldarin cavalry, and Maglor commanded them. The region he thus defended became known as Maglor’s Gap. But its weakness as a place of defence was always readily apparent and many times the armies of Angband attempted to force it – sometimes with success. The Dagor Bragollach brought with it the eclipse of Maglor’s realm, and the beginning of his wandering days in Middle-earth.

For the rest of his life in Middle-earth Maglor shared the destiny of Maedhros. They dwelled together on Himring, fought together – and lost – at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad; and afterwards found refuge where they might. Neither had any part in the slaying of Dior and the rape of Doriath, but in later years both led an equally reprehensible attack on other Elves, at the Havens of Sirion. (The reason, of course, was the presence of a Silmaril there – which their Oath demanded they seize from all who withheld it.) In this battle many Elves on both sides were slain, and Elros and Elrond, the sons of Eärendil, were taken prisoner (though well-treated, especially by Maglor); but the Silmaril escaped, and passed over Sea. Only two of the Jewels now remained in Middle-earth, and when these were taken from Morgoth, by the avenging host of the Valar, the two eldest sons of Fëanor again attempted to recapture the Jewels – and succeeded. But it was too late, as Maglor had suspected. Finding that he could not endure the touch of the single Jewel which was his portion, he cast it into the Sea, and neither he nor the Silmaril was ever seen again in Middle-earth.

Maglor’s Gap – The name given by the Eldar of Beleriand to the region of open country which lay between Himring and Mount Rerir: the abode and realm of Maglor, the second son of Fëanor. It was the weakest point in the line of the Siege. See also preceding entry.

Maggot – See FARMER MAGGOT.

Magor – One of the Edain of the Third House; he was the grandson of Marach, and the son of Malach Aradan, who led the Third House from Estolad into the north. Magor, together with a large following, quitted the march west of Brethil and dwelt instead near the sources of the Teiglin. In later days his grandson, Hador Lórindol, led this House of Men back into the north, and became the first lord of Dor-lómin.

Mahal (Khuz.) – The Dwarves’ name for their Maker: the Vala Aulë.

Mahanaxar (Q.) – The (untranslated) name given in the traditions of the Eldar to the Ring of Doom in Valinor: the place of assembly and lawgiving of the Valar, outside the gates of Valimar their city, and adjacent to the Mound of the Two Trees.

Mahtan – One of the Noldor of Eldamar; the father of Nerdanel the wife of Fëanor. He was a mighty smith and craftsman, and the teacher of Fëanor in his youth.

Maiar – The people of the Valar, likewise of the race of the AINUR but of lesser rank, and in greater number. They dwelt for the most part in Valinor, though some came to Middle-earth, for reasons both good and evil, and thus have shared in the deeds of mortal lands. Those names of the Maiar recorded in the traditions of the Elves are as follows: Ëonwe, the Herald of Manwë; Ilmarë, the Handmaid of Varda; Ossë, Uinen, and Salmar, who served the Lord of the Sea, Ulmo; Sauron, who served originally Aulë, but who fell under the influence of Melkor and so became evil; Melian, who was of the following of Vana and Estë, and who came to Middle-earth in the Elder Days and wedded a King of Elves, so passing on a strain of the Ainur among the Erusen, and the mother of Lúthien Tinúviel; Arien, who also originally served Vana, but who was chosen to steer the Sun (Anar) through the Heavens; Olórin, a Maia of Nienna, the wisest and greatest of the Istari (Wizards) who came to Middle-earth in the Third Age (where he was known as Gandalf the Grey); and Tilion, of the service and following of Oromë, who afterwards became the Steersman of the Moon. In addition there are those unnamed Maiar known in after Ages as Valaraukar (or Balrogs), spirits of fire who served only Melkor; the Istari who were known in Middle-earth as Curunír and Radagast, and the remaining two of the five Wizards (see ITHRYN LUIN), all of whom were Maiar of Valinor in their origins.

Malach Aradan – The son of Marach, chieftain of the Third House of the Edain. While he was still a young man his people crossed the Blue Mountains into Beleriand, last of the Three Houses of the Edain to do so, and came to dwell in Estolad. Some years later, while his father was still hale and active, despite his age, Malach, for love both of adventure and of the Eldar, left Estolad and went to Hithlum to serve Fingolfin the High King, thus laying the foundations of a friendship and alliance between the kindreds which would reach its greatest glory under his descendant Hador Lórindol – and its greatest renown in the days of Húrin and Huor. Malach dwelt there for fourteen years, and was named Aradan (‘Royal-man’), but on his father’s death returned to Estolad, and in after years led a great part of the Third House away into the North, to Hithlum. But his own son Magor instead passed south-west to dwell in East Beleriand, near the sources of the Teiglin. Not until the days of Hador did this last remnant of the Third House finally rejoin their kin in the North.

Malbeth the Seer – Although the Elvish gift of foresight was in some measure bestowed upon all of the Dúnedain, ever and anon one would emerge whose talents in this direction far exceeded those of others among his race. Such a man was Malbeth the Seer, a King’s Counsellor during the reigns of Araphant and Arvedui of Arthedain; consequently his foretellings were recorded in the annals of the North-kingdom and were long remembered by the Dúnedain.

Two of Malbeth’s prophecies concerning the destiny of the Dúnedain are recounted in the Red Book. The first dealt with the fate of King Arvedui. Malbeth foresaw two possibilities: either Arvedui would be the last King of Arthedain and the first of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor; or he would perish, and the Kingship in the North would end with him. Arvedui duly laid claim to the Throne of Gondor when it fell vacant upon the death of King Ondoher in 1944 Third Age, but the Council of Gondor refused his claim, choosing instead a victorious General, Eärnil. This choice of the Dúnedain eventually led, as the Seer had prophesied, to the failing of the Kingdom in the North, and the end of Arvedui.

Malbeth’s second prophecy concerning the fate of the Númen-orean race in Middle-earth remained dark and unexplained for a thousand years after his death. It concerned the awakening of dead Oathbreakers, a horn ringing in the haunted hills and an appointed hour at the mysterious Stone of Erech.

Malduin ‘Golden-river’ (Sind.) – A tributary stream of the Teiglin; it rose in the most north-easterly part of East Beleriand, in the Ered Wethrin.

Malinalda ‘Golden-tree’ (Q.) – One of the many names in the lore of the High-elves for the Golden Tree of Valinor, the Younger of the Two Trees: Laurelin as it was commonly known.

Malinornë – See MALLORN below.

Mallor – From 1029–1110 Third Age, the third King of Arthedain.

Mallorn ‘Tree-of-Gold’ (Sind. from Q. Malinornë) – A species of tree found nowhere else in Middle-earth save the forest of Lothlórien, called the Golden Wood for its trees; tall and beautiful, with trunks of silver bark, and leaves and flowers of deep gold, recalling to the High-elves (who had named the forest Laurelindórenan) the ‘Singing-Gold’ of Laurelin the Golden, one of the Two Trees of Valinor. Unlike other trees of Middle-earth the mellyrn did not shed their leaves until spring, when the new leaves were already thrusting through. Then the Wood was carpeted and roofed with gold, and shaded with silver.

The mallorn did not originate in Middle-earth. A late source informs us that seedlings of this great tree were given by Elves of Tol Eressëa (where it grew to great heights) to Men of Númenor. It arrived in Middle-earth in the days of the sixth King, Tar-Aldarion, who gave some seedlings to Gil-Galad of the Noldor in Lindon. The mellyrn would not grow in that windy land, so Gil-galad in turn passed the seeds to his kinswoman Galadriel, who planted them in Lothlorien. All the trees of the Golden Wood emanated from that original planting, far back in the Second Age.

Note: in the Fourth Age a new mallorn appeared, the only one ever to grow outside Lothlórien. This was the tree grown in the Shire from a single mallorn-seed given to Samwise Gamgee by the Lady Galadriel. It was planted in the place where the Party Tree had once flourished, and soon became the wonder of the neighbourhood.

Mallos ‘Snow-gold’ (Sind.) – A small, belled, golden flower which, together with the flower Alfirin, blossomed in the green fields of Lebennin during the early springtime.

Malta – The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘gold’; also the title of Tengwa number 18, used to represent the sound m in most cases.

Malvegil – From 1272–1349 Third Age, the sixth King of Arthedain. After his reign, the Kings of Arthedain again claimed the rule over all ancient ARNOR (the Line of Isildur being extinct by this time in both Cardolan and Rhudaur); and in token of this claim, they all took the royal prefix Ar-. The first such King was Argeleb I, son of Malvegil.

Mandos – In Eldarin tradition, the name given to the Vala Námo, the elder of the two Fëanturi or ‘Masters of Spirits’; more properly, the name of his domain, the ‘castle of custody’ in the Uttermost West of Valinor, where the spirits of the dead linger according to due before passing on, with the consent of Mandos, to their long homes.

‘The Man in the Moon’ – Two Hobbit-poems concerning the Man-in-the-Moon are recorded in the Red Book and have been published together as Nos. 5 and 6 in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. While the more serious of the two (No. 6) is thought to have had its origins in Gondor, both poems are good examples of the Hobbit taste for comic doggerel with a hint of moral to it.

Mannish Tongues – The various languages developed by Men of western Middle-earth and Númenor during the First, Second and Third Ages. Though differing greatly from each other in any number of ways, many of these tongues shared the same basic origin, being descended from the Adûnaic speech of the Edain of the First Age.

Hardly anything is known of the pure Adûnaic spoken by the Edain before they came into contact with the Elves; and almost nothing is known of the way this language spread in Middle-earth as the early descendants of the Edain were gradually dispersed over the years. However, at the opening of the Second Age, most of the tribes of the Edain left Middle-earth to found the distant island-realm of Númenor; and the broad development of Adûnaic in Númenor is better recorded.

Although the Edain – or Dúnedain – of Númenor long preferred to use Elven tongues for all high matters, Adûnaic endured as a vernacular speech (greatly enriched by Sindarin and Quenya), and eventually it replaced these Elvish tongues, when it was elevated for nationalistic and racial reasons late in the Second Age. Thus, in a renewed and nobler form, Adûnaic was ultimately carried back to the shores of Middle-earth with the Númenorean ship-captains and traders. There, mingled with the languages of lesser Men, it formed the base for a lingua franca of all the Westlands. This was the earliest form of the Westron or Common Speech. Yet not long after this modified language began spreading throughout Middle-earth, the late (Númenorean) form of Adûnaic disappeared altogether. For the people of that island committed a great evil and their land was drowned under the Sea; and those few who escaped the Downfall were not users of the Mannish tongue. Therefore, by the very end of the Second Age, traces of Adûnaic survived only in the Westron, and in the various tongues of Men descended from the few Edain (and their close kin) who had remained in Middle-earth.

During the early years of the Third Age these remote descendants of the Edain were mostly settled in the northern parts of Eriador and Wilderland, and thus can be conveniently referred to as Northern Men. They ultimately included: Men from the Carrock and the vales of Anduin, Men of Dale and Esgaroth, the Woodmen of Western Mirkwood and the Riders of Rohan. Other peoples who adopted the Mannish tongues used by these Northern Men were Dwarves, and Hobbits (who eventually abandoned their older Northern tongue for the Common Speech).

There were a number of other Mannish tongues known in the Third Age which were not even remotely akin to the Adûnaic-based Westron and the Northern language group, and these included one particularly mysterious tongue. This was the language of the Dunlendings, a secret race of Men who dwelt on the borders of Rohan. Although their speech was apparently never recorded, it was thought to be a degenerate descendant of the language spoken by their ancestors of the Second Age, the Men of the White Mountains. Some trace of this earlier tongue spread to northern Eriador with a tribe of their remote descendants, who eventually settled in Bree; and much later a tongue related to Dunlendish was carried to the Shire by the Stoors (Hobbits) who had once dwelt in Dunland. This accounts for some of the odd words and names found in Bree and Buckland in the late Third Age.

Other unrelated Mannish tongues included the strange speech of the Woses or ‘Púkel-men’ of Druadan Forest, as well as the tongues of the Haradrim and Easterling peoples.

See also SPOKEN TONGUES.

Manwë Súlimo – The noblest of the Ainur, and the brother of Melkor; afterwards Lord of the Valar (those Ainur who came to dwell in Arda after the Creation): the ‘Elder King’ of the World, who rules, together with his spouse Varda (Elbereth), from his high palace on the summit of the mountain Taniquetil, tallest of the Pelóri, in Valinor; Lord of Winds (which is a meaning of the Quenya title Súlimo), and friend of birds, especially Eagles.

Marach – An early chieftain of the Edain of the First Age; forefather of Hador, Húrin and Huor, and leader of the Third House on the great journey from the eastlands into Beleriand. He and his people settled at first in Estolad, near the encampment of the People of Bëor (the First House), to whom they were akin; and Marach never left that region, ruling until his death. He was succeeded as Chieftain of the Third House by his son Malach Aradan, who quitted Estolad and led the House of Marach into the north and west of Beleriand.

Marcho and Blanco – The two (Fallohide) Hobbit brothers who founded the Shire in 1601 Third Age. Year One Shire Reckoning was calculated from the day they led their followers across the Bridge of Stonebows from eastern Eriador.

March of Maedhros – See MAEDHROS.

Mardil Voronwë ‘The Steadfast’ – From 2029–80 Third Age, the first Ruling Steward of Gondor. He eased the South-kingdom through a perilous transitional period after the presumed death of the last King, Eärnur, while simultaneously bringing great honour and renown to his own House, from which all Ruling Stewards were descended.

Mardil was the eldest son of Steward Vorondil (the Hunter); and on the death of his father in the year 2029, he took over the (hereditary) office of the Stewardship and served King Eärnil II for a number of years. After Eärnil’s death the Steward likewise served his son Eärnur, until Gondor’s last King rode away to Minas Morgul in 2050 and never came back. When no heir to the Throne could be found, Mardil took the rule of the South-kingdom upon himself with the approval of all, and governed the Realm in the name of the King until his own death. For almost a thousand years afterwards this Ruling Stewardship then passed to Mardil’s heirs, although no Steward ever called himself King.

Note: Mardil is also remembered for introducing (in 2060, the tenth year of his rule) a series of minor innovations to the King’s Reckoning calendar system then in use among the Dúnedain and other peoples of the Westlands – whereby a longstanding deficit of years was restored. This revised calendar became known as Stewards’ Reckoning and, like its forerunner, was eventually adopted by most of the Westron-speaking folk of Middle-earth.

Marhari – A prince of Rhovanion, descended from Vidugavia. See also following entry.

Marhwini ‘Friend of horses’ – A prince of Rhovanion at the time of the invasion of the Wainriders (19th century Third Age). After the defeat of the Northmen by the Easterlings on the Battle of the Plains, and the death of his father Marhari commanding the rearguard, Marhwini led a remnant of his people away up the Anduin to the forest vales – the origin of the Men of Éothéod and later of Rohan. In 1899 he took a full part in the uprising of the enslaved northfolk – assisted by an attack by forces of Gondor – and led the cavalry charge that finally overthrew the Easterlings. But the former lands of Rhovanion remained in bitter dispute and Marhwini was forced to abandon them forever, and to remain by the Anduin.

Marigold Cotton – The younger sister of the famed Samwise Gamgee. She wedded Tolman (Tom) Cotton, eldest son of Farmer Cotton and brother of Rose (to whom Samwise himself was wedded), thus further strengthening the links between the Cottons of Bywater and the Gamgee-Gardners of Hobbiton.

Marish – The Marish of the Shire included all those marshy lands which lay on the western banks of the Baranduin (Brandywine) between the villages of Stock and Deephollow. Most of the Hobbits of this region were Stoorish in ancestry and, unlike all other Halflings, were accustomed to wear heavy boots in wet weather. The Marish was traditionally good farming country.

Mark of the Riders – A translation of the word Riddena-mearc (also Riddermark); the name given to the country of Rohan by the Riders who dwelt there. They called themselves the Eorlings (orig. Eorlingas), ‘Sons-of-Eorl’.

Mar-nu-Falmar ‘Land-under-waves’ (Q.) – A name given in the High-elven tongue to (Downfallen) Númenor.

Marshals of the Mark – The highest military rank in Rohan; lieutenants of the King in different regions of the country and subordinate only to his lordship. Originally three in number, the Marshalates were only partly territorial; for the Second and Third particularly their areas of responsibility were far from fixed and might change as circumstances dictated. In any case each Marshal would be expected to raise, and lead in battle, an éored of at least several hundred men, and often more.1

Master of Buckland – The traditional hereditary title borne by the head of the Brandybuck Family. This worthy was also sometimes called the ‘Master of the Hall’ (in reference to Brandy Hall, chief dwelling of the Brandybuck clan). His authority was fully acknowledged in the Buckland, and also across the river Baranduin in the Marish district of the Shire proper. See also BRANDYBUCK.

Master of Esgaroth – The title borne by the civic leader of the Lake-town on the Long Lake in northern Wilderland. By the end of the Third Age, Esgaroth was, above all, a trading settlement, for much profitable water-freight was routed through it. Therefore, when the Dragon Smaug destroyed the neighbouring city-state of Dale, whose Kings the Lake-men had previously acknowledged, the latter found it necessary to elect from among themselves a Chief Merchant or Principal Burgess to conduct the bustling affairs of the settlement. This official was known as the Master of Esgaroth.

Master of the Hall – The MASTER OF BUCKLAND.

Master-stone – The eighth and mightiest of the palantíri or Seeing-stones made by Fëanor of the Noldor during the Elder Days. Alone of the palantíri it never left the Undying Lands, and was kept in the city of Avallónë in Eressëa. The seven remaining Stones were given by the Eldar of Eressëa to Amandil, Lord of the Faithful of Númenor, and by him to his son Elendil the Tall. But the Master-stone abides still in the Far West.

Mat Heathertoes – One of the ‘Big People’ of the village of Bree. During the War of the Ring he was killed in a skirmish between the Bree-people and outlaws.

Mathom – A Hobbit-term for an object of any value for which a use could not be found, but which the owner was not prepared to discard completely.

Mathom-house – The chief museum of the Shire, where old unwanted treasures or mathoms were kept. It was located in the township of Michel Delving.

Matta – In original (as opposed to translated) Hobbit-nomenclature, the name Matta (often shortened, Hobbit-fashion, to ‘Mat’) was normally given to male Hobbits.

Mauhúr – One of the Orcs of Isengard; the leader of a patrol which, in February, 3019 Third Age, came to the aid of the Orc-band of Uglúk, encircled by the Rohirrim near Fangorn Forest when returning to Isengard with two prisoners. Unfortunately for the trapped Orcs, this attack was insufficient to allow Uglúk’s band to escape; and Mauhúr’s Orcs were all driven off or slain like the others.

May Gamgee – The fourth child of Hamfast Gamgee and the elder sister of Samwise. She was named after Hamfast’s only sister.

Mayor of Michel Delving – Although his power and importance did not compare with that of the Thain or the Master of Buckland – hereditary titles borne by the heads of the influential Took and Brandybuck families – the Mayor of Michel Delving was at least the only official of the Shire ever regularly and properly elected, and the office did carry a certain amount of prestige. The Mayor was democratically chosen at the Free Fair, held every seven years upon the White Downs. His chief duty was to preside at feasts, though his office was also nominally responsible for the Shirrifs and the Messenger Service. At the time of the War of the Ring, the office had been held by Will Whitfoot for some years; but he was unjustly imprisoned during the ‘troubles’ of 1419 Shire Reckoning (3019 Third Age), and his long stay in the unsavoury and cramped Lock-holes weakened the poor old Hobbit greatly. Therefore, after his release, Frodo Baggins undertook his duties for the eight months it took to restore ‘old Flourdumpling’ to his former corpulent splendour.

However, the most famous Mayor in the history of the Shire was the illustrious Samwise Gamgee, elected to the office no less than seven times (between 1427 and 1476 Shire Reckoning). In 1434 Shire Reckoning (Year 13 Fourth Age), King Elessar chose the Mayor, the Master of Buckland (Meriadoc ‘the Magnificent’) and the Thain (Peregrin I) to be Counsellors of the North-kingdom.

Mazarbul ‘Records’ (Khuz.) – See BOOK OF MAZARBUL.

Mearas – The name given by the Riders of Éothéod (and, later, Rohan) to their remarkable Line of Horse-princes, which they believed to be descended from an animal brought to Middle-earth by one of the Valar during the Elder Days. The Mearas would suffer none but the rightful King of the Mark or his sons to ride them, and did not take to bridle and bit. The first of the Mearas whose name is known, Felaróf, threw his captor, thus causing the man’s death – although the animal later attoned for this by surrendering his freedom to his captor’s son: Eorl the Young, first King of Rohan. Felaróf understood the speech of Men and was as long-lived as his Master. His descendants, who included SHADOWFAX, were equally long-lived and immeasurably fleet of foot.

Mede – See AFTERLITHE.

Meduseld – This large and splendid Hall of the Kings was the greatest work of craft ever created in Rohan. It was known as the ‘Golden Hall’ of Edoras, for the roof and pillars were leafed with pure gold, and its hangings and tapestries were rich.

The Golden Hall was built by Brego, son of Eorl the Young, and at the feast held to celebrate its completion (in 2569 Third Age), his eldest son Baldor rashly vowed to take the ‘Paths of the Dead’. Baldor never returned and his sorrowing father died the next year. In later years all Kings of Rohan had their high seats in Meduseld.

Only once was it ever captured by foes: in 2758 Third Age the rebel Wulf (son of Freca) took Edoras and slew King Helm’s son Haleth at the very door of the Golden Hall. However, Meduseld was recaptured – and Wulf slain – within a year.

Melian ‘Dear-gift’ (Sind., from Q. Melyanna) – A lady of the Maiar, who alone of all the Ainur wedded one of the Erusen: Elwë (Thingol) of the Telerin Elves. She came to Middle-earth far back in the Elder Days, at the time when the Eldar were setting out on their Great Journey from Cuiviénen into the West; and in Beleriand, in the secret woods of Nan Elmoth, the sound of her voice sweetly singing was heard by a Lord of Elves, Elwë; and from that moment onwards his fate was linked with hers. It is not known whether or not Melian defied any prohibition in wedding with one of lesser race, but wed they were, and Elwë, who had visited Aman by the Grace of the Valar – and who hitherto had sought only to return there – now lingered in Beleriand and, with the aid of Melian, made himself the greatest King of Elves in mortal lands.

After the departure of the remaining Eldar they dwelled together in the land of Doriath, and Melian fenced the land with a Girdle of enchantment; and after a time she bore Elwë a daughter: Lúthien the Fair, who inherited her Mother’s voice and beauty as well as her divine lineage. Melian dwelled with Thingol for the remainder of the Age; but the deeds of that time enmeshed her husband at the last, though against her design; and he was murdered. Then Melian withdrew from Middle-earth, and passed into the West, and never again left the Gardens of Lórien in Valinor.

Melkor ‘He Who Arises In Might’ (Q.; older form Melkórë) – The name given in the traditions of the Eldar to the firstborn of all the Ainur, the brother of Manwë and the mightiest of all their divine race. Melkor, alone of the Ainur, envied his Maker, desiring also to be worshipped and adored. He disrupted the Great Music with themes of his own imagining, but was rebuked by Ilúvatar; and afterwards, in jealous rage, set himself for ever in opposition to the Creator and to the other Ainur, thus bringing into existence the qualities of Evil and Disharmony – with which his name will be for ever associated.

In this way began his long rebellion, which has lasted for uncounted Ages of Eä and is not yet ended, though Melkor himself dwells now in the Void beyond Eä, shapeless and powerless. Of all the tragedies which have since afflicted the offspring of Ilúvatar, this was the first and immeasurably the greatest, since it was the wellspring of all other sorrows.

See MORGOTH.

Mellyrn – See MALLORN, MELLYRN.

Men – The younger Children of Ilúvatar; after the Elves, the noblest of all ‘speaking-peoples’; for whom the Gift of Mortality was expressly conceived as an alternative for life everlasting (the fate of the Elves); the race of Heroes, Mariners and ‘Masters of Horses’, who came comparatively late into the Middle-world, yet soon allied themselves with the other Free Peoples and became especial friends of the Firstborn, whom they were destined from their beginning to displace.

For long ages before their first appearance in the Middle-world the coming of the Atani, the ‘Second People’ had been prophesied among the Valar and the Eldar. But not even the Valar knew for certain what form of body they would take. Yet at last the Second People awoke, in the land of Hildórien in the wide East. For centuries they wandered gradually away from their birth-place, in all directions save north; and at last the westerly vanguard came first into Wilderland, and then into Eriador, and finally into Beleriand. These were the Edain (the Sindarin form of the more ancient Quenya name Atani). Originally the term had been applied to the race of Men as a whole, but everafter the Elves of Beleriand used it specifically for the Three Houses of the Elf-friends who fought alongside them in their wars against Morgoth, and who dwelt with them in allied kingdoms. Much is said of them elsewhere. What must be emphasised here is the way that their providential contact with the Elves at such a crucial stage in their development singled out this people from all other Mannish races for elevation. Consequently, their direct descendants, the Dúnedain, eventually came to deem themselves a ‘High People’ – in comparison with other Men, whom they divided into ‘Middle’ and ‘Wild’ Peoples.

The ‘Middle Peoples’ shared the same origins and earliest histories as the ‘High People’, but their development was largely unaided by Elven-lore or fortuitous circumstance. For the ancestors of the Middle People were those of the Edain and their close kin who did not pass west to Númenor after the end of the First Age, remaining instead in Middle-earth where they elevated their culture at a far slower rate. However, they greatly increased in number and by the end of the Second Age, their descendants were far more numerous than those of the Dúnedain who had returned meanwhile to Middle-earth. Yet the kinship between the two peoples could still be discerned; and if their culture was ‘lower’ than that of the High Men, then their histories were also untroubled by regret.

In comparing the destinies of these first two groupings of Men, one may note close parallels with the ‘High’ and ‘Middle’ Elves, i.e., the Noldor and the Sindar, likewise separated at an early point in their history but later reunited under circumstances both grievous and uplifting. Both ‘High’ groups were early singled out for exaltation beyond the measure of the rest of their kindreds, yet a large proportion of them rebelled against higher authority, and were exiled to Middle-earth as a consequence. And in both cases the ‘Middle’ race, which had freely elected to remain in mortal lands, found its culture greatly enriched by contact with the returning Exiles, while the higher kindred was obliged to diminish its own culture to some extent in order to lessen the gulf between the peoples.

A further similarity in the divisions of Men and Elves lies in the third group, comprising those peoples who shared the same basic origins as the two ‘Higher’ groups but who were soon sundered from them – and, as a result, pursued paths of almost totally separate development. For by comparison with the ennobled members of their races, both the Silvan Elves and the ‘Wild Men’ were rustic and primitive. The various races of Men who were termed ‘Wild’ in the lore of the Dúnedain were not akin (except in the remotest possible sense) to the Edain of the First Age, and their subsequent histories display this basic difference. Included in this third grouping were: the Easterlings, the Haradrim, the Men of the White Mountains (and their descendants, men of Dunland), the Variags of Khand and, perhaps most alien of all, the ‘Púkel-men’.

Available evidence suggests that the first Men of non-Adûnaic stock – perhaps even an entirely different race – to wander into the westlands were the peaceful aboriginal hunters later known as the Woses or (in Rohan) ‘Púkel-men’. During the Elder Days, they appeared in Beleriand, and later settled the regions around the western vales of the White Mountains, especially those lands south of the river Isen (still called Druwaith Iaur or ‘Old Púkel-land’). However, early in the Second Age, another Mannish people, better organised and far less peaceful, followed the hunters into the mountain-valleys and drove them out of their ancient homes. The ‘Púkel-men’ sought refuge in the southern forests, particularly Druadan, while their dispossessors occupied the fertile uplands and vales of the Mountains. However, these newcomers eventually found their fortunes diminished by the first rise to power of Sauron of Mordor. For, while they continued to grow in craft, making many works of stone amid the high valleys, they soon fell into Sauron’s power, being ruled by him during most of the Accursed Years. These were the ‘Men of the Mountains’ who built the Dunharrow and the labyrinth under the Dwimorberg – the purpose of which was never recorded – and who later swore an oath of fealty to Gondor which they afterwards broke with terrible consequences. After Sauron’s first overthrow and the establishment of Gondor, their race was diminished; they abandoned the Mountains, and only the souls of the Dead remained to trouble the peace of the region.

Significantly, in their strange story and unhappy fate can be seen the seeds of the same destiny which overtook the very noblest of the High People: the Númenoreans. For despite the vast gulf between them, both peoples experienced the same hunger for power unmatched by spiritual growth, and in both cases this resulted in an overreaching of ambition and eventual destruction. So, while the cultural differences among the Mannish peoples were (and still are) immense, ultimately, they were (and are) cancelled out by the great factors in common, most notably Free Will, the gift of all Free Peoples, and the possession of immortal souls tempered by Mortality: the Gift of Men.

Their common Inheritance was realised by the wise even before the fall of Númenor had tied the destiny of Men irrevocably to Middle-earth. Indeed, the Third Age was as notable for the alliances forged among Mannish peoples as for the surviving enmities; and although Easterling and Southron peoples assailed the Western Kingdoms throughout the Age, the aftermath of the War of the Ring brought many signs of renewed hope that, one day, those ancient hostilities might be eradicated. King Elessar (Aragorn) himself set the first example by pardoning and freeing all those of alien Mannish race taken during the War, and though it was not recorded that he achieved the lasting peace he sought, by his example he indicated the direction to be pursued.

Menegroth ‘Thousand Caves’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Grey-elves of Doriath to the great underground fortress and Palace of their king Elwë Thingol, excavated and built (with the aid of the Dwarves of Belegost) early in the First Age. It lay underneath a stony hill in the centre of Doriath, and its doors were guarded by the river Esgalduin. Menegroth was said to be the strongest and the fairest of all kingly halls in Middle-earth, and long indeed it stood. But in the end, like all cities and palaces of the Eldar, it was sacked and defiled: on the first occasion by Dwarves (though not of the kindred which had assisted in its building); and on the second by Elves. Both groups of attackers were independently attempting to steal the Silmaril which was lodged there.

Meneldil ‘Lover-of-the-Heavens’ (Q.) – From Year 2 to 158 Third Age, the third King of Gondor; the son of Anárion and grandson of Elendil the Tall. Meneldil was born in Minas Anor before the ending of the Second Age and remained there throughout the War of the Last Alliance. Near the end of this War, in 3440 Second Age, Anárion was slain at the gates of the Barad-dûr; therefore after the Fall of Sauron in the following year, his brother Isildur was obliged to tarry in the South-kingdom, instructing his young nephew in the art of kingship. For two years Isildur acted as Regent before marching away to his own death at the Gladden Fields.

During Meneldil’s long reign the South-kingdom was healed of many of the hurts it had sustained in the War against Sauron. His son Cemendur succeeded him.

Meneldor – A swift young Eagle of the Misty Mountains and a close comrade of the mighty Gwaihir the Windlord. Together with his liege-lord, and Gwaihir’s brother Landroval, Meneldor rescued the Ring-bearers from certain death at the feet of the volcano Orodruin, when the completion of Frodo’s mission brought about the final venting of the titanic forces which were imprisoned there.

Meneldur (Tar-Meneldur) – From 740–883 Second Age, the fifth King of Númenor. Though the youngest of the three children of Tar-Elendil (fourth King), he, rather than his elder sister Silmariën, inherited the Sceptre (in his son Tar-Aldarion’s time the Númenorean laws of succession were profoundly changed so that the Sceptre descended to the eldest child, whether man or woman). The descendants of Silmariën later carried the Númenorean succession back to Middle-earth. Meneldur was a great astronomer and built a mighty tower for this purpose in the northernmost heights of the Forostar. For this he was called Elentirmo ‘Star-watcher’.

Menelmacar ‘Heavenly-swordsman’ (Q.) – The High-elven form of the Grey-elven name MENELVAGOR.

Meneltarma ‘Pillar-of-the-Heavens’ (Q.) – The highest mountain of Númenor, situated in the middle of that island, most westerly of all mortal lands. From its hallowed summit the farsighted could make out the White Tower which marked the Haven of the Eldar in Eressëa, part of the Undying Lands, which lay even further West, forever beyond the reach of the Númenoreans. Its lower slopes were gentle, but the sides of the peak grew ever steeper as one ascended it; only by means of a specially-cut approach-road were people able to achieve the summit. Here – before the degeneration of the Númenoreans – was the holiest place in the land.2

Menelvagor ‘Heavenly-swordsman’ (Sind.) – The Grey-elven name for the constellation Orion, derived from Q. Menelmacar.

Menelya ‘Heavens’-day’ (Q.) – The fifth day of the enquië or ‘week’ in both the Elvish calendar and the ancient Númenorean system of Kings’ Reckoning, which was ultimately adopted by most of the folk of Middle-earth who used the Common Speech. It was named after the Firmament (which to the Elves meant the Heavens themselves rather than that which they contained). The Dúnedain used the Sindarin form of this name, Ormenel; the Hobbits’ translation was Hevensday, later Hensday.

Men-i-Naugrim ‘Way of the Dwarves’ (Sind.) – The OLD FOREST ROAD.

Men of Westernesse – See NÚMENOR.

Mere of Dead Faces – See DEAD MARSHES.

Meresdei – An archaic form of the Hobbits’ name for the sixth day of the week. The original name for this day was Eärenya, ‘Sea-day’ (Q.), given by Men of the (maritime) realm of Númenor, and established in their system of Kings’ Reckoning, which was ultimately adopted by the Hobbits. The Shire-folk had, of course, no knowledge that the original (Elvish) week included only six days, and that the ‘Sea-day’ had been added by the Númenoreans. In fact, most Hobbits loathed the very idea of the Sea, and few ever gave thought to the origins of the (translated) names found in their calendar. By the end of the Third Age, Meresdei had been shortened to Mersday.

Meres of Twilight – A translation of the Grey-elven name Aelin-uial.

Mereth Aderthad ‘Feast of Reunion’ (Sind.) – The name given by Fingolfin, High King of the Noldor, to the great feast and celebration which he decreed in the 21st Year of the Sun; it was held near the sources of the river Narog in West Beleriand, at the Pools of Ivrin in the southern vales of the Mountains of Shadow. The occasion was to celebrate the reuniting of the Noldor with the Sindar – and of the House of Fingolfin with the House of Fëanor.

Merethrond – The ‘Great-Hall-of-Feasts’ (Sind.) of the city of Minas Tirith, where Occasions of State were celebrated in the usual manner.

Meriadoc ‘the Magnificent’ – One of the most distinguished Hobbits of history, remembered in the Annals of the Shire not only for his deeds as a member of the Fellowship of the Ring, but for his deep interest in the origins of the Hobbits themselves, as shown by his many contributions to the sum of Hobbit-scholarship (made after the War of the Ring, during his years as Master of Buckland).

Meriadoc, more usually known as ‘Merry’, was born in Buck-land in the year 2982 Third Age (1382 Shire Reckoning), the only child of the Master of the Hall, Saradoc ‘Scattergold’ Brandybuck and his wife, the former Esmeralda Took (sister of Thain Paladin II). Merry was therefore cousin to his great friend Peregrin Took and second cousin to his other (slightly older) good friend, Frodo Baggins. As his name perhaps implies, Merry’s disposition was cheerful, even irrepressible; and, like his cousins, he exhibited a strong strain of the Fallohidish ‘adventurous’ temperament.

Yet even in the midst of the adventures that were to follow Meriadoc was already showing signs of his developing interests in ‘deeper’ matters. Of the two younger Hobbits of the Company he was undoubtedly the more mature, and unlike Peregrin, he took the Quest seriously from the first, characteristically spending a good deal of time in the libraries of Rivendell, studying maps of the lands which lay far beyond his knowledge.

Since Meriadoc was later to become deeply attached to one of these lands, Rohan, it is perhaps worth recounting just how his admiration for Théoden, the old King of the Mark, brought this to pass. Being of ‘aristocratic’ (Hobbit) background himself, from the start Merry was able to express this admiration in the correct manner – by formally pledging his service to the King, a gesture which greatly pleased the aged ruler, though doubtless he continued to regard the Hobbit more as a ward than a warrior. Nonetheless, Meriadoc of the Shire accompanied the Riders of Rohan on their epic journey to the aid of Gondor during the War of the Ring. And in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields he stood by Théoden after the King had been struck down by the Chief Nazgûl, and was one of the two valiant warriors who brought about the Ring-wraith’s downfall.

For these deeds Merry won great honour and renown among the Rohirrim, who named him Holdwine in their language and gave him rank and much esteem in their land. He later became a close friend of King Éomer and remained greatly attached to Rohan for the rest of his long life, visiting the Mark often and learning its language. For this tongue – a form of which was common enough among Men of the northern vales of Anduin – greatly interested Meriadoc, who fancied he could detect many names and words in it akin to his own Hobbit-speech. Therefore, after his return to the Shire, he made further study of the ancient language links between Hobbits and Northern Men, eventually producing at least one work on the subject, a short treatise on Old Words and Names in the Shire.

Another subject which later captured the interest of this intelligent and widely travelled Hobbit was the calculation of years, and to this end he studied various forms of calendar reckoning used by some of the races of western Middle-earth. Finally, Meriadoc also seems to have been a fair botanist, with yet another scholarly work, Herblore of the Shire, to his credit. It seems quite likely that Merry’s initial work in this particular field grew out of his great interest in (and fondness for) ‘pipe-weed’, the origins and history of which obviously held a special fascination for him.

Nonetheless, while all these varied academic accomplishments doubtless earned him respect, this could not compare with the great honour which Meriadoc’s hereditary office and youthful heroics brought him in the eyes of the Shire-folk. For, although he arguably accomplished greater deeds on foreign fields of battle, it is certain that he was most esteemed by his fellow Hobbits for his adroit handling of the police action known as the Scouring of the Shire, in which he captained the Hobbitry-in-arms with sharp professional skill and admirable attention to detail.

At the age of fifty, in 1432 Shire Reckoning, Merry succeeded his father Saradoc as Master of Buckland. Two years later, after Peregrin had been made Took and Thain, King Elessar appointed the Thain, the Master and the Mayor of Michel Delving (Samwise) as Counsellors of the North-kingdom; and for some fifty years more these old comrades continued to work together, shouldering the civic responsibilities of the Shire. Finally, in 1484 Shire Reckoning (Year 63 Fourth Age) Meriadoc and Peregrin took counsel together and resigned their offices. Handing over their chattels and estates to their sons, they rode away south, leaving the Shire for ever. The two elderly Hobbits first travelled to Edoras in Rohan, where Merry saw his old friend Éomer for the last time (the King died that autumn). Then they continued their journey to Gondor, where they dwelt with King Elessar in great honour and Splendour for some years before they, too, passed away and were laid to rest in the Hallows, in the House of the Kings.

Note: Meriadoc wedded Estella Bolger, and although no children are recorded for them in available genealogical tables, on the basis of the penultimate entry in Appendix B, one must assume that Merry had at least one son, who in turn became Master of Buck-land.

Mering Stream – The name in Rohan for the boundary-stream between Rohan and Gondor. It rose in the Firienwood, on the edges of the White Mountains, and flowed north and east – separating the Eastfold of Rohan from the province of Anórien – before joining the river Entwash. In Gondor it was called the Glanhir.

Merlock Mountains – See ‘THE MEWLIPS’.

Merry Brandybuck – See MERIADOC ‘THE MAGNIFICENT’.

Merry Gamgee – The second son (and fourth child) of Samwise Gamgee, named after Meriadoc ‘the Magnificent’.

Mersday – See MERESDEI.

Messenger Service – The system of communication most used in the Shire, since lettered Hobbits wrote continually to their friends, and expected prompt replies. The Messenger Service, which also included the Quick Post, carried all the mail plus any worthwhile news among the four Farthings. The office of Mayor was held responsible for its efficient functioning.

Methed-en-Glad ‘End of the Wood’ (Sind.) – A stronghold in Dor Cúarthol used by Túrin.

Methedras ‘Last-Peak’ (Sind.) – The southernmost peak of the Misty Mountains. Below it, in a great cleft or fork, lay the coomb of Nan Curunír, the ‘Wizard’s Vale’ of Isengard.

Mettarë (Q.) – The last day of the year in both the Elvish calendar and in KING’S RECKONING: the system begun by the Númenoreans and later adopted, in one form or another, by most of the Westron-speaking peoples of Middle-earth. In the (Elvish) Calendar of Imladris this day immediately preceded the opening of spring, while in the Dúnedain system it fell in mid-winter; however, in both, mettarë was an ‘extra’ day belonging to no fixed season or month.

‘The Mewlips’ – An odd and decidedly disturbing poem found (as No. 9) in the Shire-collection published under the title The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. It is in the form of an eerie tale told for the unwary traveller, who is cautioned to avoid the path which leads

Beyond the Merlock Mountains,

    a long and lonely road,

through the spider-shadows and the

    Marsh of Tode

to the noisome pools where the strange, cannibalistic Mewlips dwell. The verse might be said to encapsulate all the alien horrors ever heard of in the Shire.

Michel Delving – The chief township of the Shire, located on the White Downs in the Westfarthing.

Mickleburg – A rendering into Common Speech of the name given by the Edain of the First Age to the great Dwarvish city of BELEGOST.

Middle-earth – A translation of both Endórë (Q.) and Ennor, Ennorath (Sind.). In all records of the Third Age, this expression means ‘Mortal Lands’, i.e. all the land East of the Sundering Seas and subject to natural laws.

Middle Peoples – An expression in Dúnedain lore developed during the Third Age. According to the Dúnedain, the ‘Middle Peoples’ were those races of Men descended from the clans of the Edain who did not pass West to Númenor at the beginning of the Second Age. Of this type were the tall, blond, relatively uncultured but brave and noble Northern Men, such as the Rohirrim. The Dúnedain (the ‘High People’) accounted them as distant kin, and both loved and respected these ‘Men of Twilight’. See also MEN.

Midgewater Marshes – An expanse of stagnant and treacherous bog which lay between Bree and the Weather Hills, to the north of the Great East Road. As their name implies, these marshes were infested with pestilent flying insects and other unpleasant creatures; consequently, they were usually avoided by travellers.

Midyear’s Day – See LITHEDAYS.

Milo Burrows – The son of Rufus Burrows and Asphodel Brandy-buck. Unlike most Hobbits, Milo was indifferent to the delights of personal correspondence and, as a result, was given a gold writing set by Bilbo Baggins when the elderly Hobbit departed the Shire for the last time in 3001 Third Age (1401 Shire Reckoning).

Mîm – A Dwarf of the First Age, one of the so-called Petty-or Lesser-dwarves, the Noegyth Nibin, who wandered into Beleriand long before others of the Khazâd. It was this race who first delved the Caves of Narog, where in after years Finrod Felagund had his realm and city of Nargothrond. Another such ancient dwelling of the Noegyth Nibin was on the solitary hill of Amon Rûdh in West Beleriand. Mîm was the heir of those who had originally excavated Amon Rûdh, and together with his sons dwelt there for much of the First Age. But he was fated to become enmeshed by the Doom of the Children of Húrin, and so was destroyed. For Túrin Turam-bar, then the leader of an outlaw band, encountered Mîm and his sons not far from the western march of Brethil, and afterwards dwelt on the hilltop, together with Mîm, and his small family (see BAR-EN-DANWEDH). But Mîm was captured by Orcs, and though he stipulated that Túrin not be slain, revealed the whereabouts of the outlaws’ lair. The hill was attacked by Orcs. Túrin was captured, and all the outlaws save one were slain. Thus Mîm came once more into his own. But not many years afterwards, Túrin’s father Húrin, released at last from Angband, came to Amon Rûdh, and there encountered Mîm, and slew him.

Note: in the preface to the selection of Hobbit-verse published as The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, an oblique reference is made to the ‘Númenorean legend of Túrin and Mîm the Dwarf’ in connection with the origins of poem No. 14, ‘The Hoard’. The poem concerns, among other things, the fate of an ancient, solitary Dwarf of the First Age who inherited an Elvish treasure and lost it again (to a dispossessing Dragon).

Minalcar – See RÓMENDACIL II.

Minardil – From 1621–34 Third Age, the twenty-fifth King of Gondor. He was slain in battle with the Corsairs of Umbar (led by Angamaitë and Sangahyando, the great-grandsons of Castamir the Usurper), at Pelargir, during a raid upon Gondor’s principal remaining naval base. His son Telemnar died during the Great Plague which followed two years later.

Note: in Appendix A I (iv), it is erroneously stated that Minardil was the son of Eldacar II, the twenty-first King, who was deposed by Castamir. In fact, he was the son of Hyarmendacil II (Vinyarion), and was thus the great-grandson of Eldacar.

Minas Anor ‘Tower of the [Setting] Sun’ (Sind.) – Originally a beautiful fortified city built shortly after the founding of Gondor at the end of the Second Age, Minas Anor was for years accounted one of the two principal fortresses of the realm; however, by the time of the War of the Ring, at the end of the Third Age, it had been renamed Minas Tirith, and had become the chief city and the only surviving stronghold of the diminished South-kingdom.

Minas Anor was founded in 3320 Second Age as the capital of the province of Anórien and the High Seat of Anárion, younger son of Elendil the Tall and conjoint King of Gondor. It was the twin of Minas Ithil, the ‘Tower of the [Rising] Moon’, High Seat of Anárion’s brother Isildur and the capital of Isildur’s province of Ithilien, which lay on the eastern shores of the Great River. Yet neither was accounted the centre of the South-kingdom, for Osgiliath, the Citadel of the Stars, lay in between the two, upon both sides of the Anduin; and it was no fortress but a large and populous city, created as the capital of the entire realm.

However, though never planned to be either the chief city or main fortress of the South-kingdom, from the beginning Minas Anor possessed a number of natural advantages which ultimately enabled it to endure. Chief of these was its position – upon the very knees of Mindolluin, easternmost of the White Mountains which were the backbone of the ancient realm. From its founding, Minas Anor was cunningly fashioned to make use of its unique position; and eventually it grew into a strong towering city, delved into the side of the mountain so that its rearmost walls were themselves the living rock of Mindolluin. Seven concentric walls it had and many towers, and the topmost circle of the City was built upon a great crag seven hundred feet high. At the summit of this mighty keep stood the Citadel of Anárion and the Court of the Fountain.

Originally both Minas Anor and Minas Ithil were of equal royalty but, as is told elsewhere, the Tower of the Moon was taken by Sauron of Mordor during the War of the Last Alliance, and although it was recaptured when Sauron was first overthrown at the very end of the Second Age, Minas Ithil afterwards became accounted an eastern outpost rather than a seat of Kings. In contrast, in the year 420 Third Age, Minas Anor was rebuilt by Ostoher, seventh King of the Line of Anárion, and it then became the summer residence of Gondor’s royalty. Osgiliath survived as capital of the realm for a further thousand years – but in 1636, the Great Plague decimated the city and it remained partially deserted. Accordingly, in 1640, Tarondor, twenty-seventh King, removed the royal seat permanently to Minas Anor.

So by the middle of the Third Age Gondor’s former westernmost fortress had become its new capital; and although both Osgiliath and Minas Ithil still endured, neither was ever again able to rival the Tower of the Sun. In 1900 Calimehtar, son of Narmacil II, built the White Tower at the highest point of the Citadel Rock. At the feet of this tower, the White Tree grew in the Court of the Fountain, while above it the banner of the Kings floated free in the wind, one thousand feet above the neighbouring plain.

Yet the days of the Kings were even then drawing to an end. During the reign of Eärnil II (who followed Ondoher, son of Calimehtar), the power of Mordor arose once more and Minas Ithil was taken by the Nazgûl. The Tower of the Moon thus became a place of dread: men of Gondor called it Minas Morgul, the ‘Tower of Sorcery’, and Minas Anor was then renamed Minas Tirith, the ‘Tower of Guard’ (the name by which it was known while the Third Age lasted). Shortly after this the last descendant of the royal Line of Anárion rode away to Minas Morgul and never came back, so the Banner of the Ruling Stewards replaced that of the Kings. And when, in 2475 Third Age, Osgiliath was finally ruined, Minas Tirith became the last surviving city of the realm as it had been originally ordered. Nonetheless, although Gondor continued her slow decline, hope endured and, in 2698, Ecthelion I, seventeenth Ruling Steward, rebuilt the White Tower of Calimehtar (ever after known as the Tower of Ecthelion). But few further additions were made to the City’s strength, for the chief hopes of its inhabitants afterwards rested in its impregnable outer walls.

In the event, however, it was not these walls of stone which enabled Gondor to survive the War of the Ring; rather, it was the will of her people and the foresight of her rulers. For in the latter years of the Age the Stewards, being for the most part wise and far-seeing men, had assumed that sooner or later Gondor would be invaded in strength – and that no walls could long stand against the power of Mordor if other means of defence could not somehow be contrived.

Therefore, they made alliance with Men of other races, and they strengthened the outer defences of the Realm. And so, when Sauron at last launched his attack, during the War of the Ring, Minas Tirith survived, even though the Great Gates were broken and the lower circles of the City were burned.

But all such damage was healed in the Fourth Age which followed the successful conclusion of the War. New and stronger gates were made for the City by the Dwarves of Erebor, and with the lifting of the threat from the East, many folk came from the seaward vales of Lebennin and Belfalas to dwell there. Best of all, the Kings of the Line of Elendil returned to Gondor and the Standard of the White Tree flew once more from the topmost tower of Minas Anor, last memory of vanished Númenor and the fairest City in the west of Middle-earth.

Minas Ithil ‘Tower of the [Rising] Moon’ (Sind.) – From its founding in 3320 Second Age until its final fall in 2002 Third Age, one of the two principal fortresses of Gondor, having been originally created as the twin of Minas Anor, the Tower of the Sun, and as the High Seat of Isildur, conjoint King of the Realm. After its capture by the Nazgûl, this once-fair city became known in Gondor as Minas Morgul, the Tower of Sorcery; it was cast down after the War of the Ring and never rebuilt.

Yet at its first raising, Isildur’s city was fully as beautiful as Minas Anor, his brother Anárion’s High Seat. It was also the repository of the White Tree, brought by the Men of Númenor from their drowned homeland, and one of the seven palantíri rescued by them was kept there as well. It was the capital of the fair province of Ithilien and stood in an upland vale in the Mountains of Shadow, on the very borders of Sauron’s ancient realm of Mordor. For the builders of Minas Ithil believed that the Lord of Mordor had been destroyed in the drowning of Númenor.

But Sauron had escaped, and after a period of hiding in Mordor he unleashed war upon the Dúnedain: in 3429 Second Age his armies came over the Mountains of Shadow and took the Tower of the Moon in a savage surprise attack. Isildur managed to escape with the palantír but his city was taken and its White Tree burned. So began the War of the Last Alliance, in which the armies of Elves and Men at last had the victory, and the first overthrow of Sauron brought an end to the Age.

Minas Ithil was then restored to the Dúnedain, but no King of Gondor ever resided there again. Isildur himself dwelt in Minas Anor for the two short years he lingered in Gondor, and his former capital became no more than an outpost of the Dúnedain. As such it endured the turmoils of the succeeding two thousand years.

By the end of the second millennium of the Third Age, Gondor had dwindled sadly from its frontier days of glory. Osgiliath, originally the chief city and capital of the whole realm, was partly desolate, and the South-kingdom was now ruled from Minas Anor. In the year 2000 the Nazgûl issued over the high pass of Cirith Ungol and laid siege to the Tower of the Moon; and although for two years their forces were unable to enter the fortified city, even so the siege was too powerful to be broken by Gondor, and no reinforcements were able to get through. In 2002 Minas Ithil fell at last and the Nazgûl themselves then inhabited it, together with many Orcs. Men of Gondor then began to call it Minas Morgul, the ‘Tower of Sorcery’, and Minas Anor was consequently renamed Minas Tirith, the ‘Tower of Guard’.

Sauron was content with this gain, for by it he had dealt a heavy blow to the Dúnedain, who still revered Isildur’s memory; moreover, he had acquired for his most faithful servants a foothold on the western side of the Mountains of Shadow; and he could afford to wait. The Nazgûl remained quiescent for some years (although in 2050 Eärnur, the last King of the Line of Anárion, was lured to this evil fortress and never returned). Not until the years immediately before the War of the Ring did the Lord of Minas Morgul finally come forth with his hosts to give battle to the Dúnedain. And even these skirmishes – in which Osgiliath was finally ruined and its last bridge broken – were no more than trials of Gondor’s strength, undertaken to keep the Dúnedain off balance until the Dark Lord should unleash the great and final war long prepared.

This occurred in 3019 Third Age, when a mighty host came down from the mountains and captured West Osgiliath, pouring across the Great River in many boats. With all of the ruined city of Osgiliath in his hands, the Witch-king of Minas Morgul then advanced towards Minas Tirith, capturing the Rammas Echor and the Fields of Pelennor and besieging the last fortress of Gondor. Yet on March 15th, five days after leaving Minas Morgul, the Lord of the Nazgûl was himself destroyed – and the Morgul-host was also utterly overwhelmed – in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Minas Morgul fell once more into the hands of the Dúnedain, but it had been too long an evil place for any Man to dwell there, and by order of the King Elessar the once-beautiful Tower of the Moon was cast down and its foundations removed.

Minas Morgul ‘Tower of Sorcery’ (Sind.) – The name given in Gondor to the city of MINAS ITHIL from the time it fell to the Nazgûl in 2002 Third Age until its destruction at the end of the Age.

Minastan – The second son of King Minardil of Gondor and younger brother of King Telemnar, who perished with all his children in the Great Plague of 1636 Third Age. After Telemnar’s death, Minastan’s son Tarondor became Gondor’s twenty-seventh King.

Minastir (Tar-Minastir) – From 1731–1869 Second Age the eleventh King of Númenor, and one of the greatest warriors in her history. During his reign war broke out at last in Middle-earth between the Elves and Sauron, and news eventually reached Númenor that Sauron’s armies were ravaging Eriador and threatening the borders of the Elven-land of Lindon, then ruled by Gil-galad. Accordingly, because he loved the Eldar even more than he envied their immortality, Minastir despatched a great navy to the aid of the Elven-king in 1700 Second Age. With this reinforcement, Sauron was defeated and Gil-galad was able to contain the invasion and later mount a successful offensive, securing peace in Eriador for many years. This was the first great renewal of the Alliances of the First Age against Morgoth, and far more successful.

Minas Tirith ‘Tower of Guard’ (Sind.) – In the First Age, the name given by the Elf-king Finrod Felagund to the fortress built by him on the strategic island of Tol Sirion, where he himself dwelt until the founding of Nargothrond, being succeeded there by his brother Orodreth (who also succeeded Finrod as King of Nargothrond). It was captured during the Dagor Bragollach, by Sauron, and was renamed Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the ‘Island of Werewolves’.

The same name, Minas Tirith, was also given, in the Third Age, to the city of MINAS ANOR in Gondor, after its sister-fortress of Minas Ithil had been captured by the Ringwraiths (2002 Third Age).

Mindeb – One of the smaller rivers of Beleriand, a tributary of the Sirion. The Mindeb rose in the Crissaegrim and flowed due south for twenty leagues before its confluence with the larger stream. It was accounted the eastern border of the land of Dimbar, and the western of Nan Dungortheb.

Mindolluin ‘Towering-Bluehead’ (Sind.) – The easternmost of the White Mountains. Upon a spur of this great hill, Men of Gondor built the city of Minas Anor.

Mindon Eldaliéva ‘[Tall] Tower of the Eldar’ (Q.) – The loftiest of the towers of the city of Tirion the Fair, in Eldamar. It was built by the Vanyar, and is sometimes called the Tower of Ingwë. At its feet lay a great square or public place; and in its topmost chamber there burned a silver lamp, the Flammifer or Beacon of Eldamar. Its height is not known. Also called The Mindon.

Minhiriath ‘Land-between-the-rivers’ (Sind.) – The southernmost part of ancient Eriador, bounded upon the south by the river Gwathló (Greyflood), on the north by the Baranduin (Brandywine), on the east by the old South Road, and on the west by the Sea. Once thickly forested, in the Second Age Minhiriath was peopled by a woodland folk thought to be descended from the Haladin of the First Age. They later abandoned the region after the onset of the Númenorean logging operations in its forests, and fled to the White Mountains.

In the Third Age Minhiriath was incorporated into the realm of Arnor, and in the course of time formed the greater part of the lesser state of Cardolan. But Cardolan fell in the wars with Angmar, and the Great Plague of 1636 Third Age completed the devastation begun by the Witch-king. In the year 2912 this unhappy land was again overwhelmed, by great floods which followed the thaws of the Long Winter. It lay desolate throughout the remainder of the Age.

Minohtar – A nephew of King Ondoher of Gondor, slain in battle with the Wainriders (1944 Third Age).

Min-Rimmon ‘Towering-Rimmon’ (Sind. + Mannish.) – A beacon-hill which rose on the northern edge of the White Mountains, in the province of Anórien. It was part of a chain of seven such BEACON-HILLS which allowed Gondor to communicate speedily with her ally Rohan in time of need.

Note: the name Rimmon is in a pre-Númenorean tongue.

Minuial ‘Star-fading’ (Sind.) – The Grey-elves’ name for the time of day known as TIN DOMË.

Minyatur ‘The Founder’ (Q.) – The High-elven title taken by Elros brother of Elrond, when he ascended the throne of Númenor as its first King (Year 32 Second Age). See ELROS TAR-MINYATUR.

Míriel Serindë – A Queen of the Noldor in Eldamar; she was the first wife of the Noldorin High King, Finwë, and the mother of Curufinwë, whom Míriel named Fëanáro (Fëanor), by which name he was known ever after. Her own title Serindë (‘The Seamstress’) reflects the admiration in which she was held by the Noldor for her matchless skill in needlecraft.

The bearing of such a prodigious child as Fëanor so exhausted her both physically and spiritually – and filled her with such foreboding for the future – that she went into a decline and died: the first of all the Eldar to pass away while dwelling in the Blessed Realm (her husband Finwë was to be the second – though he did not fade and die, but was slain). Finwë afterwards wed again, though not without opposition. His second spouse was a princess of the Vanyar and a kinswoman of Ingwë: Indis the Fair. By her Finwë had two more sons, Fingolfin and Finarfin. But perhaps because of the great love he had borne Míriel, his eldest son was always his favourite.

Míriel (Tar-Míriel) – The daughter and only child of Tar-Palantír (formerly Ar-Inziladûn), twenty-fourth King of Númenor. According to the Númenorean laws of succession, she should have inherited the Sceptre on her father’s death, but her cousin usurped the Throne in her stead, taking the Númenorean title Ar-Pharazôn (‘the Golden’). And at the same time, perhaps in an attempt to legitimise his reign, he forcibly wedded Míriel; she was then called, by the Númenoreans, Ar-Zimraphêl. She was the last to perish in the Inundation of Númenor – her husband was the first.

Mirkwood – A rendering of the Grey-elven Taur e-Ndaedelos (literally, ‘Forest of Great Fear’); the name given during the Third Age to the mightiest surviving forest of western Middle-earth, formerly known as GREENWOOD THE GREAT. This renaming occurred at the end of the first millennium, after the raising of the evil tower of Dol Guldur, which then cast a shadow over the forest.

Mirröanwi ‘Incarnate beings’ (Q.) – The Children of Ilúvatar.

Mirrormere – A translation of the Khuzdul (Dwarvish) name KHELED-ZÂRAM.

Miruvor (Sind., from the older Q. miruvóre) – This High-elven word, believed by the Eldar to be derived from the language of the Valar, meant ‘cordial’, or perhaps ‘nectar’ (in the original Olympian sense). According to a note on the subject,3 the Elves believed that the Valinorean drink came from the honey of the (undying) flowers grown in the Gardens of Yavanna, in Valimar; it was thought that the Valar dispensed this drink at their festivals.

The ‘Cordial of Imladris’, made by the Eldar of Rivendell, was doubtless prepared with similar skill, though the honeys from which it was distilled were less potent. Nonetheless, it was still an extremely warming and powerful restorative – which proved of great value to the Company of the Ring, trapped in a blizzard upon the heights of Caradhras.4

Misty Mountains – A rendering of the Grey-elven Hithaeglir (literally, ‘Mist Peaks’); during the Second and Third Ages, the greatest of all mountain-ranges in western Middle-earth, and a mighty barrier separating Eriador and Wilderland. Almost three hundred leagues these mountains ran, from Northern Waste to southernmost peak, in an unbroken chain, shrouded with the ever-present mist which gave them their ancient name. They were considered virtually unscalable, and the few routes across them could not be undertaken without great difficulty. For much of the Third Age (and doubtless the Second), the dangers of such a journey were increased by the presence of many Orcs of the Mountains who infested the High passes. Certainly an aura of evil clung to this great range of peaks: they were said (by the Eldar) to have been reared at the Beginning of Arda, by Melkor, as a barrier against potential foes (he raised the Ered Engrin, the ‘Iron Mountains’ of Angband, in the same epoch, and for the same reason).

Mithe – The point, in the south-eastern corner of the Shire, where the outflow of the river Shirebourn ran into the Baranduin (Brandy-wine). The landing-stage there was called the Mithe Steps.

Mitheithel ‘Grey-source’ (Sind.) – The river HOARWELL.

Mithlond ‘Grey-havens’ (Sind.) – The chief harbours in Middle-earth, during the Second and Third Ages, of the Eldar. See GREY HAVENS.

Mithrandir ‘Grey-wanderer’ (Sind.) – The name among Elves and Dúnedain for the Wizard known (to Northern Men) as GANDALF THE GREY.

Mithrellas – An elven-lady of Lórien and (later) Belfalas. See GALADOR.

Mithril ‘Grey-brilliance’ (Sind.) – The most precious metal known in Middle-earth.

All folk desired it. It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim. The Elves dearly loved it.’5

The Eldar were not the only people to desire this valuable metal, which was to be found only in a single great lode beneath the peak of Caradhras, deep in the Mines of Moria (discovered in the early Second Age). The Dwarves themselves valued it beyond price, and it was the desire of the Dwarf-miners of Moria for further supplies of mithril which led to their destruction and disinheritance. In 1980 Third Age, while seeking the mother-lode, far beneath Barazinbar (Caradhras), they disturbed an evil spirit of the Underworld, the Balrog, with consequences appalling for their people. In this way mithril was both the foundation of the Moria-dwarves’ fabulous wealth and the means of their eventual downfall.

Note: mithril was also known as ‘silver-steel’ (in Bilbo Baggins’ narrative, There and Back Again), as well as ‘true-silver’ and ‘Moria-silver’. The alloy ithildin was a derivative of mithril.

Mithrim ‘[Home of] The Grey Ones’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Grey-elves of Beleriand to those of their kindred who dwelled in that region of the north which was afterwards named after them, together with its great Lake and the mountains which bordered it on the west. Mithrim was the south-easternmost part of the (larger) land of Hithlum, bordered on south, east and west by mountain ranges (the Ered Wethrin and the Ered Mithrim), and protected from the north by the great lake. Here the returning Noldor led by Fëanor had their first encounter with the race they were afterwards to call ‘Grey-elves’; here they made their first encampment in Middle-earth (Mithrim was thus the most ancient of the High-elven realms in Exile, though not the longest to endure); and here was fought their first battle against Morgoth, the ‘Battle-under-Stars’ in which Fëanor was slain. In the weeks and months following this battle Fingolfin, arriving at last in Middle-earth in despite of Fëanor, also camped beside the great Lake of Mithrim; and later took these lands as his realm. But after Fingolfin’s death, Fingon his heir withdrew from the greater realm and concentrated his power into Mithrim, which then became the vanguard-state of the Eldarin cause. But Fingon and all his people were slain in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and Mithrim was afterwards occupied by Easterlings. It was never regained.

Mittalmar ‘Inlands’ (Q.) – The central province of Númenor, containing the Arandor (‘Kings’-land’) which itself was the most populous part of the realm.6

Mode of Beleriand – A Tengwar alphabet (based upon the Fëanorian system). It was developed by the Grey-elves of Beleriand during the First Age, but was maintained, curiously enough, by the High-elves of the Second. In this mode of writing, the older system of diacritic marks (used to denote vowels) was replaced by a less stylised method. Unallocated Tengwar were incorporated as vocalic symbols with the full status of ‘letters’, and the tehtar (‘signs’) were either abbreviated or discarded. The grey-elven inscription on the Doors of Durin was written in this mode. See ALPHABET OF FËANOR.

Mode of Erebor – See ANGERTHAS MORIA.

Monendei – An archaic form of the Hobbits’ word for the third day of the week, being actually a translation of Isilya, ‘Moon’s-day’ (Q.), the name for this day in the ancient Númenorean system of Kings’ Reckoning. The week was the first part of this Númenorean calendar to be adopted by other peoples after it was taken to Middle-earth; and the Hobbits were probably using translated forms of the weekdays by the end of the first millennium of the Third Age. By the time of the War of the Ring, Monendei had been shortened to Monday.

Moon-letters – A form of secret writing created by the Dwarves, who desired privacy in all things. ‘Moon-letters’ were runes which were written with silver pens and which could only be read when held up before the light of the moon. The most cunningly devised moon-letters required the would-be cryptographer to illuminate the letters by a moon of the same phase and season – i.e. on virtually the same day of the year – as when they were originally drawn. Thrór’s map, given to his grandson Thorin Oakenshield by Gandalf the Grey, was inscribed with runes of this type.

Morannon ‘Black-gate’ (Sind.) – The heavily fortified entrance to the land of Mordor; an impregnable wall which ran from the western foothills of the Ered Lithui (Ashy Mountains) to the northern buttresses of the Ephel Dúath (Mountains of Shadow), barring the pass of Cirith Gorgor and the entrance to the vale of Udûn. Guarded at either side by the two Towers of the Teeth, Narchost and Carchost, the Morannon was in the form of a stone rampart, many feet high.

In it there was a single gate of iron, and upon its battlement sentinels paced unceasingly. Beneath the hills on either side the rock was bored into a hundred caves and maggot-holes; there a host of Orcs lurked, ready at a signal to issue forth like black ants going to war.7

Mordor ‘Black-land’ (Sind.) – The Land of Shadow, realm of Sauron the Great throughout two Ages of the World and the heart of all his ancient might, once the most potent in Middle-earth. It was chosen by Sauron early in the Second Age (c. 1000) to serve him as a fortress-land, and its fortunes mirrored his own up to his final overthrow at the end of the War of the Ring (3019 Third Age).

Even before its adoption by Sauron, Mordor was a bleak and desert land, barren and infertile; its chief merits (from Sauron’s point of view) lay in the enormous natural fortifications which walled it on the north, south and west: the Ered Lithui (‘Ashy Mountains’) and the greater range of the Ephel Dúath, the Mountains of Shadow. One hundred leagues the Black Land measured from northern wall to southern buttress, and one hundred and fifty from west to east (where alone it lay open to the world). In the far northwestern corner the two mountain-chains met, enclosing the deep-shadowed vale of Udûn (‘The Pit’); and in the very centre of the plain of Gorgoroth stood the fire-mountain Orodruin, amid the ruin of untold years of volcanic torment. South of this northern desert stretched the wider plain of Nurn, in the centre of which lay a great Inland Sea.

Such was Mordor during the early years of the Second Age – and to Sauron, newly arisen and not yet powerful, it must have seemed made especially for his purposes: for in those days his chief foes were stronger than he, and he desired above all a realm which could with little trouble be made secure. Accordingly, he took Mordor and fortified its passes, and upon a huge south-facing spur of the Ered Lithui he raised a mighty fortress, the Barad-dûr, the ‘Dark Tower’, to dominate the plain of Gorgoroth. Orodruin’s fires he learned to harness to his own uses, and in a short time he had made himself master of the Black Land, which he filled with evil folk, bred to his service.

With the forging of the Ruling Ring in the middle years of the Age, Sauron finally gained enough power to send his hosts forth from Mordor to ravage the Westlands of Middle-earth; and for much of the remainder of the Second Age his forces continued to threaten the southlands. Yet at the very end of the Age Sauron overreached himself, and the combined strength of the Elves and the Dúnedain cast him from his dark Throne and drove his spirit away in exile. Mordor then became desolate and uninhabited, except for a few garrisons from Gondor, stationed in fortresses built by the Dúnedain to watch over the passes and prevent any evil thing from entering or leaving. For many years the Black Land was quiet and Orodruin’s fires were stilled. (It was at this time that the castles of Durthang, Narchost, Carchost and Cirith Ungol were built.)

But the fortunes of Mordor always mirrored Sauron’s own, and by the end of the first half of the Third Age he was once more awake and plotting to regain his ancient realm – although for many years he did not dare to reclaim it openly. Instead, while himself continuing to dwell in Dol Guldur, he sent his chief servants, the Ringwraiths, secretly to prepare Mordor for his re-occupation. This they did before the end of the second millennium, while Gondor was fully occupied in holding off attacks from Easterlings (doubtless stirred up for this very purpose by his other agents). For the next thousand years the power of Mordor grew again – and was allowed to grow because there was no strength capable of obstructing it; and in 2951 Sauron himself again returned to the Black Land, after an absence of nearly three thousand years.

Yet even with all this careful preparation, and despite the boasted inviolability of Mordor’s frontiers, in the final test the fearsome reputation and impassable mountain-walls were insufficient to keep the foes of the Dark Lord at bay. During the War of the Ring, while Sauron’s attention was deliberately held elsewhere, his borders were passed by two enemies who bore with them the key to Sauron’s survival or defeat. The success of their mission brought about the fall of Sauron and the final ruin of Mordor; and although the southern lands around Lake Nurnen were afterwards settled by emancipated slaves, the northern plains of Gorgoroth, Udûn and Lithlad were deserted and were never again made habitable. Mordor became once more a desert, but an empty desert.

Morgai ‘Black Fence’ (Sind.) – A ridge of jagged hills in Mordor. It ran parallel to the Mountains of Shadow for some thirty leagues south of the Durthang Spur. Thus it was an inner fence of Sauron’s realm (as opposed to the ‘outer-fence’ of the Ephel Dûath).

Morgoth ‘Dark Foe [of the World]’ (Sind.) – The name given by Fëanor of the Noldor to the eldest and greatest of the Ainur, MELKOR the Mighty, whose fall from Grace during the Eldest Days initiated a series of lasting and profoundly tragic consequences for the World. From his very Beginnings, Melkor opposed himself to the wishes of the Creator and the Themes of the Great Music – for alone of the Ainur he envied Eru and desired to emulate (and surpass) him. And after the Making of Arda (the World) he desired to rule the ‘Little Kingdom’ for himself, brooking no equals. So began his rebellion, which waxed or waned according to his circumstances for many Ages of the World until, after bringing evil, war, ruin and death to the Middle-world, he was cast out for ever by the Valar.

His first realm in Middle-earth, Utumno (‘The Pit’), was made in the Far North; its westerly outpost was Angband. But in the Battle of the Powers Utumno was ruined, and Melkor was carried, a prisoner, back to Valinor. For three ages of the world he was held captive in the Halls of Mandos, but feigned repentance, and so was released, though not permitted to return to mortal lands. But Melkor secretly hated the Valar and the Eldar, and in furtherance of this hatred he poisoned the Two Trees – the Light of Valinor and Eldamar – and stole the Silmarils which had been made by Fëanor; and slew Fëanor’s father Finwë; and then fled back to Middle-earth with his prize, to plan and build anew, dwelling everafter in Angband. And the Noldor followed him, to regain that which he had stolen. So began the war of the Great Jewels, in which Morgoth, as he was then named (and ever after known in Middle-earth) was ultimately victorious over the Eldar and the Edain.

It is known that Morgoth was discomfited at least once during the War of the Great Jewels – by Beren and Lúthien – yet apart from the loss of a single Silmaril, his victory seems to have been complete. His specially bred armies of Orcs and Trolls, augmented by Dragons and Balrogs, invaded Beleriand and captured the High-elven cities of Nargothrond and Gondolin. The Elves fled or hid themselves or were destroyed in the Great Darkness that followed Morgoth’s victory.

Nonetheless, a single ship, bearing an ambassador from Middle-earth, eventually arrived on the shores of the Undying Lands, guided by the Light of the recovered Silmaril; and the representations which were then made brought about the mustering of the Valar and their intervention against the Enemy. The blow struck by this host against Thangorodrim obliterated that region and brought about severe disturbances of the land and seas, inundating a sizeable part of north-western Middle-earth. Morgoth was thrust through the ‘Doors of Night’ into the Void.

Yet his terrible example was to have lasting consequences, for not even the mightiest blow could destroy the evil now awake in Middle-earth. Although Morgoth’s followers were for the most part overwhelmed with Angband, many of the creatures he had ‘created’ lived on, and his chief servant survived – later to be revealed as Sauron the Great, Lord of Mordor.

Note: also called Bauglir (‘The Constrainer’), Belegurth (‘The Great Death’) and The Enemy.

Morgul ‘Black-wraith’ (Sind.) – In the absence of clear information from surviving records of the Third Age, all hypotheses must assume the lesser stature of guesses; nonetheless, it seems possible that Morgul was the name or title of the Lord of the Ringwraiths, the Witch-king of Angmar, who later became Lord of Minas Ithil, which his armies captured on Sauron’s behalf in 2002 Third Age. The Tower of the Moon was then renamed Minas Morgul, and the vale in which it lay became known as Imlad Morgul.

Morgulduin – The river which flowed through Morgul Vale (formerly Ithil Vale). It was given this name in Gondor after the Nazgûl captured Minas Ithil in 2002 Third Age; previously, it had been known as Ithilduin.

See also IMLAD MORGUL.

Morgul-knife – A deadly, sorcerous weapon, doubtless devised by the Lord of the Ringwraiths and used by him in an attempt on the life of the Ring-bearer.8 The blade pierced the heart of the victim, simultaneously taking his life and turning him into a wraith like the wielder of the Morgul-knife, only of far lesser stature and power. If by chance the blade missed the heart, a fragment of the knife would remain in the wound and slowly work its way inwards. Like all such weapons of darkness, the blade (the bewitched part) wilted and turned to smoke when exposed to the rays of the sun; thus the dagger could only be used during the hours of night.

Morgul Vale – A translation of IMLAD MORGUL.

Moria – Of all the mighty works of stone created by the Dwarves of Middle-earth, none was greater, nor more famed, nor more dreaded (in later days) than the vast underground city of the Dwar-rowdelf, called by the Dwarves themselves Khazâd-dûm (‘The-Mansion-of the-Khazâd’), and by the Elves Hadhothrond (a rendering of Khazâd-dûm), but among themselves, in later Ages, Moria, the ‘Black-pit’.

The story of Moria is a tale with an irresistible sense of destiny, of massive achievement, great power and royalty, of uncountable wealth and unsurpassed skill in stone-working, tunnelling, mining, delving and craftsmanship. It is also a tale of greed, self-satisfaction, obsession and final loss, brought about by the very factors which made the Dwarrowdelf the mighty achievement it was, from the Elder Days until the latter half of the Third Age.

Of all the names of this ancient realm, Khazâd-dûm, the Dwarves’ own term for it, was naturally by far the most venerable. Khazâd was the name this people had for their own race, the name they believed had been given to them by Aulë the Smith, the Craftsman of the Valar and their own demiurgic ‘sponsor’, who also gave them their ancient skills and singular nature. It was fitting, therefore, that their greatest accomplishment should be given the simple title ‘Mansion-of-the-Dwarves’ – for no other Dwarf-delving in Middle-earth, not even the First Age cities of Nogrod and Belegost, nor the dolven halls of Erebor, ever approached the sheer size and scale of Moria.

The name Moria itself is an Elvish (Sindarin) word and it was ‘given without love; for the Eldar, though they might at need, in their bitter wars with the Dark Powers and his servants, contrive fortresses underground, were not dwellers in such places of choice … and Moria in their tongue means the Black Chasm.’9 A vast and boundless chasm it was, from its very beginning, but it did not become black until after the Heirs of Durin fled, many thousands of years later; while the Dwarves dwelt in Khazâd-dûm, ‘it was not darksome, but full of light and splendour…’10

The beginning of the city lay far back in the Elder Days when, alone among the Dwarves’ seven Fathers, Durin the Deathless awoke and came to the great vale of Azanulbizar (as it was afterwards named), on the eastern side of the Misty Mountains. There he received a sign of his great royalty (see DURIN THE DEATHLESS), and there he made his dwelling, in the caves about Lake Kheled-zâram (the Mirrormere). Many Dwarves then came and laboured there, transforming the rough-hewn caves into carven halls and passages, roads and tunnels, mines and pits. Great gates they built overlooking Azanulbizar and its lake; and all of Moria which lay on or above the height of these Gates was then systemised into levels – while the halls which were delved below (and these were many, and endlessly branching) were known as deeps.

Between the First and Second Halls (on the same level as the Gates) was a chasm so deep that even the miners of Moria were never able to sound it. Across this, in a single curving span, the Dwarves built a narrow bridge of stone which could only be crossed in single file; this was Durin’s Bridge, an ancient defence against any enemies who might capture the Gates and the First Hall. High in the peak of Zirak-zigil the Dwarves carved a chamber with a ledge from which Durin (or his many successors of the same name) could view the wide lands of Eriador. This was Durin’s Tower, and it was reached by an even more ambitious feat of stone masonry, the ‘Endless Stair’, which climbed in unbroken spiral from the lowest Deep to the very pinnacle of the mountain, in many thousands of steps.

Such was the Dwarf-city of Moria. Many of the Khazâd dwelt there, especially after the end of the First Age, when the cataclysm which overwhelmed Thangorodrim and most of Elvish Beleriand also destroyed the ancient Dwarf-cities of the Blue Mountains: Nogrod and Belegost. Thus many Dwarves from these cities came to Moria, bringing their skills with them, so that the Dwarrowdelf became a colossal underground city occupying much of the area beneath the three peaks of the Misty Mountains: Caradhras (called Barazinbar by the Dwarves), Celebdil (Zirak-zigil) and Fanuidhol (Bundushathûr).

Early in the Second Age the Dwarves of Moria made their greatest discovery, one which increased their power and wealth beyond all dream or design: below the lowest Deeps of Baraz, where miners had delved for many years in search of gold and silver (‘the toys of the Dwarves’11) and iron (‘their servant’12), they discovered a new ore, light and yet strong, beautiful and versatile. This metal became known to the world at large as mithril (‘Grey-flame’, a Sin-darin word), for the Dwarves never revealed their own name for it. However, they traded their surplus willingly enough. For the Elves especially loved mithril, and it was the news of the discovery of the great lode under Moria which caused many High-elves of Lindon, descendants of the Master Craftsman Fëanor himself, to settle nearby, on the western side of the Misty Mountains. This Elven-land became known as Eregion, and a close friendship soon grew up there between the Elves and Dwarves. To further this friendship the Moria-dwellers extended their kingdom westwards to the far side of the Mountains, and the Doors of Durin, built there by Dwarf-wrights, were etched and designed by the hand of no less an Elven craftsman than Celebrimbor, as a sign of the alliance between the two peoples.

Yet war came upon the Westlands before half of the Second Age had passed. The Elven-craftsmen of Eregion were overcome by the renascent forces of Sauron the Great – and doubtless Moria would also have been pillaged had the Dwarves not shut their impregnable doors in the face of the advancing hordes; they kept them closed throughout the remainder of Sauron’s first dominion in Middle-earth. Thus Moria survived the Accursed Years; and though other races did not fare so well, the Dwarves grew ever richer and cared little for the turmoils which were taking place outside their Gates.

At the beginning of the Third Age Moria was therefore at the height of its power. The wars and alliances which had devastated other lands were of small concern to the Miners there, still busily extending their realm. But their nemesis awaited, slumbering deep under Caradhras. Towards the end of the second millennium the Miners were again busy following the mithril-lode down into the bowels of the earth; and in this search for yet more wealth, their picks and axes broke down the last wall of rock which imprisoned a Terror of the Ancient World. The Balrog of Morgoth, buried deep under the Mountains since the ruin of Thangorodrim nearly two Ages before, was thus unfettered; in two years it slew many Dwarves, including Durin VI and his son Náin I. The inhabitants of Moria then abandoned their ancient works and fled far away, leaving their vast halls dark and empty – except for that which continued to stalk the endless passages and lightless Deeps.

The loss of Moria proved the undoing of Durin’s house. Without a secure dwelling, this people dwindled, and many were slain by the enemies the Dwarves always managed to acquire. Other Dwarf-kingdoms were founded – and some prospered, for a while – but always the Heirs of Durin’s Line dreamed of returning to Moria. The first to do so was Thrór, disinherited King of Erebor, which had been sacked and occupied by the Dragon Smaug in 2770 Third Age. Some twenty years later Thrór, perhaps unbalanced by the misfortunes of his House, foolishly walked alone into the darkened realm. He never returned, though his decapitated corpse was later cast out on the steps. For a host of Orcs was now dwelling in Moria (although even they did not dare to seek the lower Deeps where the Balrog still prowled). This atrocity brought about the great WAR OF THE DWARVES AND ORCS, of which much is said elsewhere. Yet while, in the end, the Dwarves had the victory over the Orcs of Moria, they could not yet reclaim their ancient realm. For, as Dáin Ironfoot told Thráin, Thrór’s heir, ‘we will not enter Khazâd-dûm … Beyond the shadow it waits for you still: Durin’s Bane. The world must change and some other power than ours must come before Durin’s Folk walk again in Moria.’13

The second attempt to reclaim this realm was better organised but equally foolhardy. In 2989 Balin son of Fundin (and one of the twelve companions of Thorin Oakenshield on the Quest of Erebor), led an expedition to Moria from the Lonely Mountain. With him he took many companions, including Óin and Ori, Flói, Frár, Lóni and Náli. They effected an entry against the few Orcs who remained there, and managed to survive for some five years before a host of Goblins came up the river Silverlode and forced the defenders to take refuge in their last strong-point, the Chamber of Mazarbul. There all fell.

Such was the history of the great realm as briefly recounted in available Records of the Shire (which were no doubt derived from Gimli the Dwarf). It is not said whether the Heirs of Durin ever returned to Moria in the Fourth Age, but this is unlikely, despite their long-cherished dreams. For in the New Age all folk dwindled save Men; and those races which did not disappear altogether or depart (like most of the Elves) were gradually diminished and became rustic; and eventually they were either completely forgotten by Men or were made into figures of fun in legends and folk-tales. Such was the fate of the Dwarves. But even the most absurd of modern nonsense stories about them usually manages to credit the Dwarves with awe-inspiring skill in works of stone and metal; and if the Khazâd themselves have now completely disappeared from Middle-earth, at least records remain of their achievements. Of these the mighty city of Moria was unquestionably both the greatest and the longest to endure.

Moria-silver – MITHRIL.

Moriquendi – See DARK-ELVES.

Mormegil ‘Black Sword’ (Sind.) – A nom de guerre of Túrin Turambar, awarded him by the Elves of Nargothrond during the years when he was that city’s foremost warrior. Túrin was, of course, the wielder of the black sword Gurthang (formerly ANGLACHEL).

Morrowdim – The Shire name for the period of twilight known to the Grey-elves as aduial and to the High-elves as TINDÓMË.

Morthond ‘Black-root’ (Sind.) – One of the largest of the seven rivers of Gondor. It rose under the White Mountains and flowed down to find the Sea north of Dol Amroth in Belfalas. At its mouth were ancient elf-havens built by Silvan Elves of Lórien early in the Third Age.

Morthond Vale – A large, fertile, well-populated valley, situated high in the White Mountains between the source of the river Morthond and the Hill of Erech. Also known as the Blackroot Vale.

Morwen Eledhwen – A princess of the Edain, the daughter of Bara-gund of the First House. She wedded Húrin the Heir of Dor-lómin, and bore him three children: Túrin, Lalaith (who died in infancy), and Nienor. But her life was unhappy, for she and hers fell under the curse of Morgoth.

Morwen was born in Ladros, in Dorthonion; but while she was still a child that region of the North was attacked, and captured, by Morgoth (after the Dagor Bragollach); and she was taken to safety in Dor-lómin, where the House of Hador still maintained a realm on the very frontiers of war. There she later wedded Húrin, and there their children were born. But when her eldest child Túrin was seven, there came the renewal of open war, and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, in which Húrin was captured, having fought to the last. In the days which followed this catastrophe Morwen remained perforce in Dor-lómin, which was now subject to Morgoth; but she contrived to smuggle Túrin, now the Heir of Húrin and Hador, out of that oppressed land to safety, in Doriath.

She herself, together with her daughter Nienor, remained in Dor-lómin for a further twenty years. Then, taking advantage of a momentary easing of the power of Morgoth in that region, she fled, with Nienor, to Doriath, hoping to find Túrin still there. But he was gone. And soon afterwards came news of the sack of Nargothrond; and with it news of Túrin. Then Morwen quitted Doriath, in search of Túrin; and in an attack made upon her party by the Dragon Glaurung, chief instrument of Morgoth in the matter of the Children of Húrin, she was lost; and was never again seen by Elves or Men – save by her husband Húrin, whom she met again on the day of her death, years afterwards. She was buried with her son, at Cabed Naeramarth.

Morwen of Lossarnach – A lady of southern Gondor who wedded Thengel, son of King Fengel of Rohan (in 2943 Third Age). This was the first recorded union between any of the Dúnedain and the Rohirrim, who were by then traditional allies of Gondor.

Thengel was old by the time he married, and he had dwelt for most of his life in Gondor, being at feud with his father Fengel (by all accounts a King of unpleasant personal habits and quarrelsome nature). While living in the South-kingdom, Morwen bore Thengel three children, including his only son Théoden. In 2980 Fengel died, and Thengel returned to Rohan to become its sixteenth King. There, Morwen – whom the Rohirrim called ‘Steelsheen’ – bore him two more children, the last child being Théodwyn, beloved sister of young Théoden.

Théodwyn’s own daughter Éowyn (who was later adopted by Théoden after he became King) was said to have ‘a grace and pride that came to her out of the South from Morwen of Lossarnach.’14

Mounds of Mundburg – The name given in Rohan to the burial-mounds of those who fell in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields (March, 3019 Third Age). The mounds themselves were not far from Minas Tirith (‘Mundburg’), on the site of the great battle, near the river Anduin. Inside these long green barrows were laid all the warriors slain during the battle, both Dúnedain and Rohirrim – save only King Théoden himself. The story of the individual heroism of the fallen was celebrated in a lay, made in Rohan, which sings of the Mounds of Mundburg.15

Mountains of Aman – The Pelóri.

Mountains of Defence – The Pelóri.

Mountains of Lune – The Hobbits’ name for the Ered Luin, the ‘Blue Mountains’ which lay to the west of the Shire.

Mountains of Mirkwood – A small range of broken hills that rose some distance north of the Old Forest Road which ran through the gloomy wood. In the Fourth Age they formed the southern boundary of King Thranduil’s Elven-realm; the enchanted river which also guarded the Wood-elves’ kingdom had its source in these mountains.

Mountains of Mithrim – See MITHRIM.

Mountains of Moria – The three great peaks which rose above the underground Dwarf-kingdom of Khazâd-dûm: Caradhras (Barazinbar), Celebdil (Zirak-zigil) and Fanuidhol (Bundushathûr). In the Westron or Common Speech they were known as Redhorn, Silver-tine and Cloudyhead.

Mountains of Shadow – A translation of the Grey-elven name Ered Wethrin (also ‘Shadowy Mountains’); in the Third Age, a name given by Men of Gondor to the western wall of Mordor, closest to their realm (properly Ephel Dúath ‘Dark [shadowy]-outer-fence’).

Mountains of Terror – A translation of the Sindarin name Ered Gorgoroth, given by the Elves of Beleriand to the southernmost heights and precipices of Dorthonion: a region of horror and dread. The reason for the name, and for the fear in which this region of Beleriand was held, lay in the infestation of this range of mountains by evil creatures: spiders of monstrous size, descendants of Ungoliant. There was no more dangerous place in Middle-earth, save Angband itself.

These creatures first appeared after the return of Ungoliant and Morgoth to Middle-earth; so rapidly did they breed that before long not only the Mountains of Terror but also the valley whose northern wall they were (Nan Dungortheb), had become their preserve; and as a result was avoided by all save the foolhardy, the ignorant, and the desperate. Moreover, at least one of these creatures somehow survived the ruin of Beleriand, and later came to Mordor, there to fatten once more upon the blood of Elves and Men. This was SHELOB THE GREAT.

It is recorded that the Ered Gorgoroth were successfully crossed once only: by Beren of the Edain.

Mountains of the East-The Orocarni (‘Red Mountains’), a range of mountains of unknown dimension which lay along the western shore of the Inland Sea of Helcar, a remnant of ILLUIN.

Mountains of Valinor – The Pelóri.

Mount Dolmed – See DOLMED.

Mount Doom – A translation of the Sindarin Amon Amarth, the name given in Gondor to the volcano Orodruin, when it burst into flame to herald Sauron’s first assault upon the survivors of Númenor (in 3429 Second Age).

Mount Everwhite – A translation of the Quenya name Oiolossë (also Taniquetil), highest of the Mountains of Valinor (the Pelóri).

Mount Fang – A rendering of the Sindarin word Orthanc into the Common Speech or Westron. Orthanc was, of course, the great tower of Angrenost (Isengard), built by Gondor late in the Second Age.

Mount Gram – A northerly peak of the Misty Mountains whose precise location has not been recorded. It was reportedly the dwelling place of the Goblins who, led by Golfimbul, attacked the Shire in 2747 Third Age (1147 Shire Reckoning) and were decisively defeated by Bandobras ‘the Bullroarer’ Took at the Battle of Greenfields that same year.

Mount Gundabad – See GUNDABAD.

Mount Rerir – See RERIR.

Mount Taras – See TARAS.

Mouth of Sauron – This was the self-awarded title of the Lieutenant of the Dark Tower, who conducted all his dark Master’s embassies. In origin he was said to have been one of those renegades who settled the coastlands of Middle-earth during the Second Age. Whether or not he actually was of such great age cannot be told, for ‘his name is remembered in no tale…’16

Mouths of Anduin – The Great River reached the Sea at Belfalas via a large and complex delta known as the Ethir Anduin, the ‘Mouths of Anduin’.

Mouths of Entwash – After passing through the flat, low-lying country south of the Emyn Muil, the river Entwash meandered into a wide marshy delta, actually greater in size than the Mouths of Anduin. It was a sad country with tall reeds and many birds, but no inhabitants. There were seven Mouths of Entwash, as much as thirty leagues apart, and all flowed into the Great River between the Emyn Muil and Cair Andros.

Mouths of Sirion – The Sirion delta, in the Bay of Balar. (Possibly a translation of Ethir Sirion.)

Mugwort – A family of Bree-hobbits.

Mûmak – The origin of this word is not known although it may be in the language of the Men of Harad. The mûmakil were pachyderms, giant war-beasts known to the Hobbits (in tales only) as ‘Oliphaunts’.

Mundburg ‘Guardian-fortress’ – The name used in Rohan for Minas Tirith, the great fortified city of Gondor.

Mungo Baggins – The eldest son of Balbo Baggins of Hobbiton, the father of Bungo and the grandfather of Bilbo the Renowned.

Muzgash – An Orc-soldier of the Tower of Cirith Ungol, a member of Shagrat’s company. Like his comrade Lagduf, Muzgash was shot by one of his own race, one of the Orcs of Minas Morgul, who were in hot dispute with the Ungol-orcs over the possession of certain items of booty.17