Oghor-hai – The name given by Orcs to the Drúedain.

Ohtar ‘Warrior’ (Sind.) – The Esquire of Isildur and one of the three Dúnedain to survive the disastrous Battle of the Gladden Fields (Year 2 Third Age), where Isildur and his three eldest sons were slain, together with many Dúnedain of the North-kingdom. At Isildur’s express command – he was unwilling to leave otherwise – Ohtar escaped with Isildur’s sword (Narsil, the Sword of Elendil, which had been broken in combat with Sauron two years before). After long wandering he managed to cross the Misty Mountains and so came to Rivendell, where Valandil, the Heir of Isildur, had been anxiously awaiting news of his father and brothers.

Óin – From 2385–2488 Third Age, the King of the Dwarf-realm in the Grey Mountains. He was the grandson of Thorin I, who founded the colony, and his own grandson, Dáin I, was the last King of Durin’s Line to rule there. Also the name of a Dwarf of Durin’s Line, the son of Groin and brother of Glóin (the father of Gimli Elf-friend). Óin was also the cousin of Balin son of Fundin and, like Balin, he spent the greater part of his adventurous life engaged in honourable service to the Kings of Erebor in Exile: Thráin II and his son Thorin (II) Oakenshield. Thus, in 2941 Third Age, Óin, Gloin and Balin were among those chosen by Thorin – then a penniless exile – to accompany him on a desperate expedition to reclaim the treasure of Erebor, taken many years before by the Dragon Smaug.

The success of this Quest won its members great wealth and renown among the Dwarves of the reconstituted Kingdom Under the Mountain; however, after many years of prosperity, some of Thorin’s former companions began to grow restless in Erebor, particularly Balin, Óin and Ori. Finally, in the year 2989, Balin assembled a small expedition including these two old comrades, and they set out with the declared aim of recovering Moria, greatest of all Dwarf-realms but lost to Durin’s Folk centuries earlier. The fate of that expedition is well documented. Balin himself had reigned as ‘Lord of Moria’ for no more than five years before a host of Orcs overwhelmed the Dwarves and drove them to seek shelter deep within the ancient and desolate Dwarf-city. Óin was killed while attempting to find a way out on the western side, where he was taken by the ‘Watcher in the Water’.

Oiolairë ‘Ever-summer’ (Q.) – One of the FRAGRANT TREES of Númenor; by tradition a bough cut from this tree was attached to the prows of Númenorean ships setting out on journeys of exploration, to ensure a safe return.

Oiolossë ‘Mount-everwhite’ (Q.) – The highest of the Pelóri range of Valinor, and therefore of all mountains in the World. Upon its summit stood the palace of Manwë, the Lord of the Valar, and his spouse, Varda. Older Quenya names for this holy mountain were Taniquetil, ‘High-white-peak’, and Elerrína, ‘star-crowned’. The Sindarin equivalent was Amon Uilos. It was also called ‘The Hill of Ilmarin’.

Oiomúrë – The northernmost part of Araman, a cold land of swirling mists on the borders of the Helcaraxë.

Oldbuck – An ancient family of Shire-hobbits, who acquired a position of ascendancy comparatively early in the history of the Shire, and later developed into one of its two leading dynasties. The Old-bucks, who were largely of Stoorish blood, hailed originally from the Marish, a low-lying and fertile part of the Eastfarthing; and according to their own lore, they claimed descent from the first Thain of the Shire, Bucca of the Marish. The Thainship afterwards became a hereditary office among the Oldbucks and remained within the family until the year 2340 Third Age (740 Shire Reckoning), when Gorhendad Oldbuck led the clan across the Brandywine to settle the narrow strip of land between the river and the Old Forest. This was the area known as Buckland, and to commemorate the event Gorhendad renamed the family Brandybuck and began building Brandy Hall. That same year the family relinquished the Thainship, which then passed to the equally eminent Took Family.

Old Ford – The chief fording place across the Great River in Wilder-land, where the Great East Road descended from the Misty Mountains and, crossing the Anduin, passed into Mirkwood.

Old Forest – The name given in the Shire to the area of ancient woodland which lay due east of it, between the river Baranduin and the Barrowdowns. Although the Hobbits were quite unaware of it, the name was not inapposite, for this forest was one of the last surviving tracts of the vast primeval woods of the Elder Days. As Elrond Halfelven once remarked, ‘Time was when a squirrel could go from tree to tree from what is now the Shire to Dunland west of Isengard.’1 The only wood of comparable age was Fangorn Forest. The trees of the Old Forest were quite unlike other varieties known to the Shire-folk, except for the ancient willow-trees of the Withywindle valley. Yet this very river-valley was the centre of the mysterious power which filled the Forest, mysterious and malevolent; chief among these trees was the Great Willow, whose ‘grey thirsty spirit drew power out of the earth and spread like fine root-threads in the ground … till it had under its dominion nearly all the trees of the Forest from the Hedge [the High Hay] to the Downs.’2

Old Forest Road – The Great East Road, where it passed through the forest of Mirkwood. Its eastern end, where the Road emerged at length from the vast gloom of Mirkwood by the banks of the River Running, became swampy and dangerous towards the end of the Third Age, and the Old Forest Road became as a consequence little used. It had once been called Men-i-Naugrim, the ‘Dwarves’ Road’.

Old Grange – The grain-storehouse of Hobbiton, Bywater and district. Unlike most buildings of the area, the Old Grange was constructed of brick and stone in the Mannish fashion. Sadly, this old barn was destroyed by agents of Saruman.

Old Guesthouse – The chief inn of the city of Minas Tirith, situated on the main thoroughfare of the lowest circle, Rath Celerdain, the Street of the Lampwrights. It was constructed of old stonework, with a lawn enclosed on three sides by the building. The fourth side was open to the street.

Old Man Willow – The chief peril of the OLD FOREST lay in the malevolent influence exerted over its trees by the Great Willow which, from earliest times, was able to dominate the Withywindle valley, and eventually came to control almost the entire forest. The rotten heart of the Willow placed a powerful spell over all creatures of the wood (save Tom Bombadil and those under his protection). From its sweetly sung webs of sleep few escaped who once wandered down to the banks of the Withywindle, and in the Old Forest all paths, by some strange chance, led to the river.

Old Toby – Tobold Hornblower; also the name given to a popular brand of Southfarthing PIPE-WEED named after him (other favoured varieties were ‘Longbottom Leaf’ and ‘Southern Star’).

Old Took – Gerontius Took.

Old Winyards – An excellent variety of red wine from the Southfarthing of the Shire, strong in quality and flavour, with sound character, a pleasing bouquet, rich fruit, distinctive tobacco notes and a long finish. It was much praised by those (wealthy) Hobbits who drank it. Hobbits, as a rule, were more partial to well-brewed ale than to wine, although the latter beverage was by no means unknown.

‘Old Words and Names in the Shire’ – An etymological treatise written by Meriadoc Brandybuck, Master of Buckland. This worthy Hobbit found many previously dormant interests greatly stimulated by his travels during the War of the Ring. Among other pursuits, he later took up the study of the origins of the language then used by the Hobbits of the Shire, discovering a definite kinship with the tongues of Northern Men. Hobbits had originally dwelt in the upper vales of Anduin, whence these tongues had sprung. Meriadoc guessed that the language formerly spoken by Hobbits was closely related to the Northern tongue still used by the Rohirrim, and his treatise attempted to show this, evidently with fair success (for example, he traced the origins of the word Hobbit to the Mannish word holbytla, ‘hole-builder’). Later scholarship has proved many of Meriadoc’s assumptions correct. Like Dwarves, Hobbits always spoke the tongues prevalent in the lands where they dwelt. Therefore, in the middle of the Third Age, after settling in what was then a part of Arthedain, where the Westron was used, they adopted this Common Speech with ease. Yet many of the older names in their language, such as smial and mathom, long survived, as reminders from times when they had lived in Wilderland, a shy, quiet little people, unnoticed by all folk save their immediate neighbours but by no means averse to learning all they could, in their own elusive way.

‘Oliphaunt’ – A fine example of Hobbit comic bestiary lore, in the form of a short, somewhat terse poem recited by Samwise, who evidently knew the verse well3. Oliphaunt was the name given in the Shire to the great war-beasts of the Haradrim, known as mûmakil. In fact, it is unlikely that any Hobbits had ever seen such an animal – until the War of the Ring.

Olog-hai ‘Troll-race’ (Black Speech) – The name given by Sauron’s Servants to a race of ‘improved’ Trolls which emerged in Southern Mirkwood and on the northern borders of Mordor towards the end of the Third Age. They were more cunning and fierce than other Trolls, and could endure the rays of the Sun. So marked were the differences between the Olog-hai and others of the Troll-kind that their enemies held them to be, not Trolls, but huge Orcs. This was, however, an erroneous assumption.

Olórin – The true name of that wisest and kindliest member of the Order of Istari (Wizards), who was known in Middle-earth as Mithrandir or Gandalf the Grey. Olórin is a name of Maiarin form.

Olvar – See KELVAR AND OLVAR.

Olwë – The younger brother of Elwë Thingol, and conjoint Lord of the Teleri, the Third Kindred of the Eldar, on the Great Journey. The Teleri were last on the line of march, and of their two hosts the one led by Olwë was the hindmost of all. But in Beleriand his elder brother Elwë was lost, and the time came for the Eldar to depart; Elwë did not reappear, and the Vanyar and Noldor sailed away into the West; and the Teleri were left behind. Then Olwë became their king, and they dwelt by the sea-coasts. But after the passing of perhaps half an Age, the summons again came from Valinor, and this time most of the host of Olwë embarked, and was carried across the Sea, leaving Elwë and his people behind in Middle-earth.

We are told that Olwë’s people did not come directly to Aman, but tarried in Tol Eressëa for a further Age; there they first learned and developed the craft of ship-building (in this they were instructed by the Sea-Maia Ossë), and only then did they complete the long Journey and set foot in Eldamar. On the northern shore of its Bay they made their new home, the city and port of Alqualondë, the Haven of the Swans. The other Calaquendi called them Falmari, the Sea-elves.

Olwë’s daughter was Eärwen, who wedded Finarfin, the youngest of the three sons of Finwë. In this way the Teleri were allied with the Noldor. But this unhappily did not prevent Olwë’s people from bearing the brunt of an insane attack launched upon them by the Noldor, in what has become known as the Kinslaying at Alqualondë. This, the most grievous of all the deeds of Fëanor, took place at the time of the theft of the Silmarils and the rebellion of the Noldor, when the Sea-elves led by Olwë denied the use of their ships to the Noldor. Nor would Olwë join Fëanor’s revolt. Fighting broke out, and the Teleri were severely handled and many were slain; their ships were taken from them, and used by Fëanor for his purposes, and afterwards contemptuously burned, by his order, on the shores of a remote bay in Middle-earth. In time the Teleri were able to restore their city and ships, but the loss in lives was made good only slowly. Olwë never again returned to Middle-earth.

Ondoher – From 1936–44 Third Age, the thirty-first King of Gondor. His brief (eight-year) reign was cut brutally short by a massive invasion of Wainriders, old foes of the Dúnedain. Ondoher led the main Army of Gondor across the Anduin to meet the Easterlings, and battle took place upon the ancient field of Dagorlad. The Dúnedain were defeated and Ondoher, together with his only two sons, was slain.

The passing of the King – and the death of his heirs – brought about two crises for the South-kingdom: an immediate military problem and a later constitutional dilemma. Both were resolved by the same man, Eärnil, Captain of Gondor’s Southern Army at the time of the invasion. First, this able soldier defeated the Wainriders (see BATTLE OF THE CAMP), and so ended the threat to Gondor from the East for that time. Then, the problem of the Succession was resolved when the Council of Gondor awarded Eärnil Ondoher’s crown. He was the penultimate King of the Line of Anárion.

Ondolindë ‘Rock-of-the-Music-of-Water’ (Q.) – The High-elven name given by Turgon of the Noldor to the great and beautiful city he built on the hill of Amon Gwareth in the Hidden Vale of Tumladen; however, this city and refuge was more generally known – to the world outside – under its Grey-elven name GONDOLIN.

Ondosto – A town in the Forostar (north region) of Númenor, possibly a centre of the stone-quarrying industry in that province.

One Ring – The RULING RING of Sauron the Great.

Onodló – The ENTWASH river.

Onodrim ‘Ent-folk’ (Sind.) – The collective plural in use among Grey-elves for the race of ENTS. The standard plural was Enyd.

‘O Orofarnë, Lassemista, Carnimírië!’ – A lament for the destroyed rowan-trees of Fangorn Forest, sung to the Hobbits Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took by the Ent Bregalad (Quickbeam).4 He was an Ent much attached to rowans, and the three trees named in this lament were especially beloved members of ‘the People of the Rose’ murdered by Orcs of Saruman. For this reason Bregalad was the first Ent to decide upon revenge against the Wizard.

Opening Hour – In the traditions of the Eldar, the Hour before Hours: the first hour of the life of the Silver Tree Telperion, not reckoned into the Count of Time.

Oraeron ‘Sea-day’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Dúnedain of Middle-earth to the sixth of the seven days in their week (see KINGS’ RECKONING). The original, Quenya name, used in Númenor during the Second Age and by most Westron-speaking peoples of the late Third Age, was Eärenya; Hobbits knew it as Meresdei (later Mersday).

Orald – The name given among Northern Men to the creature known (to Buckland Hobbits) as Tom Bombadil.

Oranor ‘Sun’s day’ (Sind.) – The Grey-elves’ name for the second day of their six-day week, and the name used by the Dúnedain of Middle-earth for the second day of their seven-day week. This day was known to the High-elves – and the Westron-speaking folk of Middle-earth who used KINGS’ RECKONING – as Anarya. The Hobbits, who used their own idiosyncratic form of Kings’ Reckoning, used a translated form of the Elven names: Sunnendei (later Sunday).

Orbelain ‘Day-of-the-Valar’ (Sind.) – One of the two Grey-elven names for the sixth and final day of their week (enquië), being equivalent to Valanya (Q.), the High-elven name. Its alternative name was Rodyn in Sindarin.

This was the chief day of the week, dedicated to the Valar, or Powers. It was later incorporated by the Dúnedain of Númenor into their own calendar-system (see KINGS’ RECKONING), and the Dúnedain of Middle-earth – many of whom spoke the Grey-elven tongue – used Orbelain to mean the chief and final day of their seven-day week.

Orch (pl. yrch) – The Grey-elves’ name for the creatures known to Men as Goblins, Hobgoblins, Suart-alfar and many other names, but in records of the First, Second and Third Ages as ORCS.

Orcrist ‘Goblin-cleaver’ (Sind.) – One of a matching pair of Elven-swords forged in the High-elven city of Gondolin during the First Age, for use in the wars against Morgoth the Enemy. Its mate was GLAMDRING. Both blades were fashioned at a time when Elvish smithcraft was at its height, and both were of marvellous workmanship, with many curious properties. The swords were captured when Gondolin was destroyed at the end of the First Age, and after two full Ages they turned up in the lair of a band of Stone-trolls, in eastern Eriador.

The swords were recovered from this unsavoury resting-place by the members of Thorin Oakenshield’s famous expedition to Erebor, in 2941 Third Age; and Thorin himself chose to wear Orcrist throughout the remainder of his adventures. He wielded the sword to great effect in the Battle of Five Armies later that same year and after he fell in that battle, his weapon was laid upon his tomb in Erebor, to give warning should enemies approach: for the blades of both Orcrist and Glamdring burned with a fierce blue flame if Orcs or Trolls came near.

Orcs – Any memories still preserved by Men of a far-distant time, when the world was both brighter and darker, are now almost buried in a morass of folk myth, and are thus easily dismissed by the sceptical as mere ‘superstition’. And many of the denizens of age-old epic tales are similarly dismissed because our memory of them has become confused, and the feelings they once engendered in the breasts of Men have been forgotten or diminished. In this way the Goblins and Hobgoblins of an earlier time are now ‘remembered’ as diminutive creatures of malice who tease domestic pets, turn milk sour and – at their most malevolent – abduct human offspring while substituting their own progeny as ‘changelings’.

Nonetheless the real, darker origins of these creatures may still be accurately traced. Orc is derived from the Grey-elven word orch (pl. yrch) and is today recalled somewhat in the Italian Orco or the French Ogre, both of which terms are classically applied to the ferocious, blood-drinking creatures whose appearance in even the most innocuous of folk-tales brings about a revival of ancient fears. Clearly these are more accurate recollections of the foul and dangerous race of Orcs – no myth to dwellers in Middle-earth during the First, Second and Third Ages – than the mischievous sprites and kobolds of Celtic and Germanic myth.

Orcs were first bred by Melkor (Morgoth), far back in the Elder Days. They appeared in Middle-earth some time after the awakening of the Quendi in Cuiviénen, and were afterwards believed to be themselves descended from the Quendi, for their sires, it was said, had been abducted by Melkor and twisted and corrupted into this new race: evil, filled with his dark will, cannibalistic and cruel. They abhorred the light of the Sun from their Beginning, emerging from their lairs and caves to do battle for their Black Master only at nightfall. They were bred in Darkness, lived in darkness, died in the dark; yet although they were cowardly and unreliable, so long as the will of their Dark Master animated them they were formidable soldiery, and the enmity between them and the Elves was bitter.

But at that far-off time the true Quendi were succoured by the Valar, who came back to Middle-earth in a great host and fought the Battle of the Powers against Morgoth. Their Enemy was captured, and his oldest stronghold, Utumno, was thrown down for ever. And his hosts of Orcs and Trolls (another of his counterfeits) were well-nigh destroyed. Yet some survived, sleeping under stone; and as the Ages of the Master’s imprisonment wore away, and his will once again awoke in Middle-earth, they too awoke, and went out into the Night, and did evil; and increased in number, so that by the time Morgoth had once again rebelled against the Valar, and returned in triumph to Middle-earth, there were legions upon legions of dark soldiery awaiting his orders.

Yet these evil hosts were, in themselves, insufficiently adept (or valiant) to prevent the returning Noldor from inflicting defeat after severe defeat upon them. The Orcs were merely Morgoth’s infantry in the War of the Great Jewels, his most expendable commodity, easily bred and easily led; and as fighters they were no match for the Elves, or their allies the Edain. Only when in overwhelming strength – or when accompanied by one of their Master’s more terrible servants, such as Balrogs or Dragons – were they able to withstand their enemies, or attack them successfully. Nonetheless, they inflicted great loss on the Eldar and the Edain during the War, and after; and they remained the most numerous and often encountered of Morgoth’s creatures. In the end sheer numbers told, and the Elf-realms and cities were captured and ground into the dust, by hosts of shrieking Orcs who were undeterred by enormous losses; and with this final defeat the Darkness rolled over most of Middle-earth. But the Valar at last took pity on the innocent, and themselves came with a great host to Mortal Lands, and Morgoth was cast out, while his innumerable servants were destroyed or scattered far abroad.

Yet the evil that was made in the First Age lived on in many of its ancient forms. Morgoth was destroyed, but those of his creatures which escaped the Breaking of Thangorodrim fled far and wide, and their prodigious breeding powers enabled them to spread. Hitherto the Orcs had chiefly been found in the Far North, in Angband, the land of Morgoth, but in the Second Age many tribes and bands made their homes in the Misty Mountains, and the Ered Mithrin, while others made lairs in the passes of other mountain-ranges, or delved tunnels from which to waylay travellers. And they began to diverge into different breeds, varying to some extent in size, colouring and minor details. Yet all were possessed of the same barbarous nature; and they were hideous, with jagged fangs, flared nostrils, tufted ears and slanting eyes which could see like gimlets in the dark – but which still feared the light of Sun as powerfully as in earlier times. They wielded spears and curved scimitars and bore shields of hide, and their weapons were often poisoned. All were filled with fierce, demonic energy and had formidable strength; and they hated Elves and Men with an abiding hatred which reached back into their beginnings.

In the Second Age which followed the Fall of Morgoth the Orcs spread far and wide through Middle-earth – and when the time came for the second arising of Sauron the Great, also a servant of Morgoth during the Elder Days, they were ready and apt to his hand, even as their ancestors had served Sauron’s master. With their aid Sauron rapidly made himself Lord of Middle-earth (or of a great part of it), and their numbers swelled once more. Yet the defeats which Sauron suffered at the end of the Second Age were in part brought about by the basic untrustworthiness of his chief soldiers, and so he determined to improve the breed when the time came once more for his arising, in the Third Age which followed his defeat upon Orodruin.

Nevertheless, the first part of the Third Age was dominated by the Dúnedain of Gondor and Arnor, and the western reaches of Middle-earth were made unsafe for the Goblin-kind. At this time most of the Orcs which had survived the Last Alliance dwelled in their old lairs in the northernmost Misty Mountains, the chief stronghold of which was Gundabad, not far from the Grey Mountains. There they hid, and delved new tunnels to bar the passes, while others passed east to southern Mirkwood and entered the service of the ‘Necromancer’ operating from his new tower of Dol Guldur.

In 1981 Third Age, after the Dwarves had fled from Moria, the ancient Dwarf-realm was occupied by Orcs of the mountains, and it was the brutal and obscene insult offered by these usurpers to the dispossessed Dwarves which led to the first organised attempt on the part of one of the Free Peoples to exterminate the race of Orcs. The six-year WAR OF THE DWARVES AND ORCS led to vast numbers of Goblins being slain by the vengeful Heirs of Thrór, and at the Battle of Azanulbizar the surviving Goblins were practically annihilated. Those that managed to escape fled south.

Yet once more their powers of regeneration enabled the Orcs to repopulate all their old haunts before many years had passed. In 2510 the wife of Elrond, the Lady Celebrían, was captured by a band of Goblins in a high pass of the Misty Mountains. And although she was later rescued by her sons, from that date onwards the routes across the Mountains from Eriador to Wilderland became increasingly dangerous and hazardous because of these creatures. Only the Elves of Rivendell and the Men of the Carrock Ford made any attempt to combat the menace, with mixed success: in 2941 a well-armed party of thirteen Dwarves, one Hobbit and a Wizard was assailed by an Orc-band while attempting the crossing, and only presence of mind saved them from a terrible fate.5

Yet the Third Age closed, like both previous ages, with an overwhelming victory on the part of the Free Peoples over the Dark Powers, and the Orcs shared the downfall of their Master. The numbers who fell in battle – at the Hornburg, on the Pelennor Fields and in the final combat before the Black Gate – were never estimated. Doubtless the survivors fled north once more, to their ancient homes amid the crags of the Misty Mountains, but no records speak of this. It is certain, however, that the race was not extinguished, and soon increased its numbers once more to become the threat to the Free Peoples it had remained since the Great Darkness of its first creation.

Understandably enough, few Orcs have ever been mentioned by name in the records of their foes. Azog was the name of the Great Orc who slew King Thrór of the Dwarves, and who was himself dispatched by Dáin Ironfoot, later King Under the Mountain. Azog’s son Bolg led the Orcs to the Battle of Five Armies (2941 Third Age), but was slain by Beorn the Skin-changer for his trouble. A certain Golfimbul led a foolhardy invasion of the Shire in 2747, and was killed by the Hobbit Bandobras Took at the Battle of Greenfields. During the War of the Ring the leader of the Uruk-hai of Isengard was named Uglúk, while a chieftain of the Goblins of Mordor was called Grishnákh.

The name Uruk-hai is in the Black Speech of Mordor and means, more or less, ‘Great Orcs’. The breed was thought (by some) to be the result of a blasphemous blending of the races of Orcs and Men on the part of Saruman the Wizard; others claimed the Uruk-hai had been bred by Sauron himself. Certainly the Uruks were larger in size than other Goblins, and were uncomfortably man-like in other ways; but they were nonetheless true Orcs (even as the Ologhai, thought to be giant Orcs, were in actuality exceptionally agile Trolls).

Yet the Uruk-hai were able to ignore the presence of the Sun, unlike all other Orcs, and they fought with swords which had straight blades, unlike the usual curved and jagged scimitars; and they displayed more tenacity and courage than ordinary Orcs, and were as a consequence worthier foes. Most of them perished at the Battle of the Hornburg (March, 3019 Third Age).

Orë – The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘heart’ or ‘inner mind’; also the title of Tengwa number 21, which represented the sound of (untrilled) r in those languages which required it.

Orfalch Echor – The name given by Elves of Gondolin to the narrow and secret pass through the Encircling Mountains, the hidden gate of their land. It was guarded at one end by a tunnel, and by the hidden door to the world outside, and throughout its length by seven more guarded gates, each of which had to be passed before the traveller at length passed out of the Orfalch and beheld, far off across the valley, the city of Turgon.

Orgaladh ‘Tree-day’ – The Sindarin form of Aldëa (Q.), the name given by the Númenoreans to the fourth day of the week. The name Orgaladh was used only by the Dúnedain of Middle-earth, direct descendants of the Númenoreans. Most other folk of Middle-earth who used the Dúnedain calendar-systems retained the original (Quenya) names for the months and days; although the Hobbits used translated forms of these names. Thus their name for Aldëa or Orgaladh was Trewesdei (later Trewsday).

Orgaladhad ‘Trees’-day’ (Sind.) – The Grey-elves’ name for the fourth day of the Eldarin six-day week. Its High-elven equivalent was Aldúya, the name originally given in honour of the Two Trees of Valinor. In the later, Mannish system of Kings’ Reckoning the Númenoreans created a seven-day week and the name Aldúya was replaced by Aldëa, ‘Tree-day’ – in reference to the (single) White Tree of the High-elves, of which a descendant, Nimloth, grew in the King’s Court in Númenor. Orgaladh (‘Tree-day’) was therefore the Sindarin word for the fourth day of the Mannish week, while the plural form Orgaladhad referred only to the same day in the Elvish week. See also previous entry.

Orgilion ‘Stars’-day’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Grey-elves and the Dúnedain of Middle-earth to the first day of their respective weeks – the six-day week of the Eldar and the seven-day week of the Kings’, Stewards’ and New Reckonings used by the Dúnedain and many other folk of western Middle-earth. Its High-elven form was Elenya; the Hobbits’ name was Sterrendei (later Sterday).

Ori – A Dwarf of Erebor, one of the twelve companions of Thorin Oakenshield on the famous expedition of 2941 Third Age. After the successful conclusion of that mission, Ori lived for many years in peace and honour in the Lonely Mountain until, in the year 2989 he joined Balin’s fated expedition to Moria. It was Ori’s hand which recorded (in the famous Book of Mazarbul) the last days of the doomed colony some five years later. He fell defending the Chamber of Mazarbul and Balin’s tomb, one of the last to perish.

Orithil ‘Moon’s-day’ (Sind.) – The name used by the Grey-elves and the Dúnedain of Middle-earth for the third day of both the (six-day) Eldarin and the (seven-day) Númenorean week. The High-elven equivalent – also used by most of the Westron-speaking peoples of Middle-earth – was Isilya. The Hobbits’ (translated) name for it was Monendei (later Monday).

Orkish Tongues – See BLACK SPEECH.

Orleg – A member of Túrin’s outlaw band, slain by Orcs.

Ormal – See ILLUIN.

Ormenel ‘Heavens’-day’ (Sind.) – The fourth day of the week in both the Elvish and Mannish usage, equivalent to Menelya (Q.). Ormenel was used by the Grey-elves and by the Dúnedain of Middle-earth, while the Quenya name was used by the High-elves, the Númenoreans of the Second Age, and most of the Westron-speaking peoples of the Third Age. The Hobbits used a translated form, Hevenesdei (later Hevensday or Hensday).

Ornendil – The first son of Eldacar II, twenty-first King of Gondor. Civil war broke out in Gondor on Eldacar’s ascension to the throne in 1432 Third Age, and eventually the rebels, led by Castamir the Usurper, gained the upper hand. For several years they besieged Osgiliath, the capital, and in 1437 finally captured it. Although Eldacar managed to escape, his son was taken by the rebels and, at the orders of Castamir, executed. His father later avenged him.

See also KIN-STRIFE.

Orocarni – See MOUNTAINS OF THE EAST.

Orod-na-Thôn ‘Pine-mountain’ (Sind.) – See DORTHONION.

Orodreth – The second of the four sons of Finarfin; together with his brothers and sister (Galadriel) he came back to Middle-earth in exile during the First Age, and fought in the earlier battles against Morgoth. For the first four centuries of his exile, Orodreth was Finrod’s warden, in the tower of Tol Sirion which the sons of Finarfin – under Finrod’s leadership – had built; but at the Dagor Bragollach, and in the months afterwards, this tower came under siege, and it was captured by Sauron, and then Orodreth fled from the North and joined Finrod in Nargothrond (as did some other Elven-princes of those days). And when Finrod departed into the North with Beren, never to return, Orodreth succeeded him as King of Nargothrond.

Orodreth had one daughter, Finduilas, born in Nargothrond. She, formerly the betrothed of Gwindor son of Guilin, fell in love with Túrin of the Edain, when that warrior came to her father’s city in the years following the Nirnaeth Arnoediad (at which Orodreth had not been present). But it was by the coming of Túrin that Nargothrond’s fate was sealed. Bold and stirring though his leadership was (Orodreth virtually abdicated the generalship of the armies of Nargothrond to Túrin during this time), his counsels proved not all wise, and in the end he led the Elven-hosts to destruction, upon Tumhalad. There Orodreth was slain in battle. Finduilas, taken prisoner by the Orcs, was slain shortly afterwards. Túrin alone survived.

Also the name taken by one of the Dúnedain: the sixteenth (from 2655–85 Third Age) Ruling Steward of Gondor.

Orodruin ‘Burning Mountain’ (Sind.) – The ancient name for the greatest active volcano in western Middle-earth, which thrust its smoking cone almost vertically up from the very centre of the plain of Gorgoroth in Mordor. The ‘Fire-mountain’ was the heart of the ancient realm of Sauron the Great, and the forge of his might; there he made the Ruling Ring during the middle of the Second Age.

Indeed, the existence of the volcano – thought to be a relic of Morgoth’s early destructive activities in Middle-earth6 – was undoubtedly a deciding factor when Sauron originally chose Mordor to be his stronghold (c. 1000 Second Age). To the east of the Mountain, upon a lofty spur of the Ered Lithui, he raised the Dark Tower; and a road he made from the Barad-dûr to the volcano, thrusting straight across the smoking plain to ascend the mountain’s side in a great spiral. In the side of the cone he delved great chambers, the Sammath Naur, ‘Chambers of Fire’, and thereby gained access to the eternal fires which burned at Orodruin’s heart.

But after his initial domination over the Westlands, during the Accursed Years, Sauron was finally defeated and taken prisoner by Ar-Pharazôn of Númenor in the late Second Age, and in his absence the Fire-mountain became once more dormant. Nonetheless, before the Age had passed he returned to wreak vengeance upon the Dúnedain survivors of Númenor, and then Orodruin erupted once more, and was renamed in Gondor Amon Amarth, ‘Mount Doom’. It was afterwards known by this later name.

Orofarnë – See ‘O OROFARNË, LASSEMISTA, CARNIMÍRIË!’

Oromë the Great – The Huntsman of the Valar, one of the seven ‘High Ones’ (Aratar) of Arda, ‘who alone of the Valar came often to Middle-earth in the Elder Days’; the Rider of the horse Nahar, and bearer of the great horn Valaróma; and first master of the Hound Huan. He is called by the Calaquendi Oromë (which may be onomatopoeically derived, meaning ‘blowing of horns’), and by the Grey-elves ARAW.

During the First Age Oromë came many times to Middle-earth, and pursued the evil creatures of Morgoth to the death – for sport – and so he was the first of all the Valar to encounter the Firstborn Children of Eru. At this time they named him Tauron and Aldaron, for they deemed (rightly) that the Huntsman was also a lover of trees. It was he who bore three of their kings away to Valinor, so that they might see the Light which shone there with their own eyes, and so persuade their people to make the Great Journey; and afterwards Oromë himself led his first stage of the march from the East, as far as Beleriand. After that time he came to Middle-earth only as a member of the Host of the Valar.

Oromë’s spouse was Vána the sister of Yavanna. His own sister Nessa was the spouse of Tulkas.

Oromet – A hill of the province of Andúnië in Númenor. Upon this hill stood a tower which gazed into the West; it had been built by Tar-Minastir, who sent a force to the aid of Gil-galad.

Oropher – One of the Sindarin princes who emigrated eastwards after the Fall of Morgoth to rule forest-realms of their own. He was King in the north of Greenwood the Great until the end of the Second Age, when he led a conjoint force of Wood-elves of his realm and a smaller contingent from Lórien, led by Amdir, to the Battle of Dagorlad. The Wood-elves suffered severely at this great battle and few of them ever returned to the forests. Oropher was slain; his son Thranduil survived and became King of the Woodland Realm in the Third Age.

Orophin – A Wood-elf of Lothlórien who, together with his brothers Haldir and Rúmil and other Elves, guarded the western borders of that land at the time of the War of the Ring.

Orrostar ‘Eastlands’ (Q.) – The easternmost cape-province of Númenor. It was the granary of the realm.7

Orthanc ‘Mount-fang’ [literally ‘Forked Height’] (Sind.) – The Tower of Isengard, built by Men of Gondor shortly after the founding of the Realms in Exile at the end of the Second Age. It stood within the Ring of Angrenost, and was constructed from four pinnacles of hard, glossy black stone, welded into a single tower five hundred feet high. Just below the summit, these pinnacles ‘opened into gaping horns … sharp as the points of spears, keen-edged as knives. Between them was a narrow space … and a floor of polished stone, written with strange signs’.8

For many years after its completion the fortress of Angrenost with its impregnable Tower remained useful to Gondor; but by the middle years of the Third Age the South-kingdom of the Dúnedain had withdrawn its forces from an area so far north, and for many centuries the Tower remained locked while the Ring of Angrenost fell into disrepair. Yet secreted somewhere within Orthanc still remained one of the palantíri (Seeing-stones) of the South-kingdom, and it was the lure of the Stone which attracted Saruman the Wizard – who, by the closing years of the Age, was actively seeking independent power in Middle-earth. As is told elsewhere (see ISENGARD), in the year 2953 Saruman came to Rohan and made friendly overtures to the King of that land – and to Beren, Ruling Steward of Gondor, desiring that the custodianship of the fortress be given up to him. In need of a strong ally in this important strategic position, Beren gave Saruman the keys of Orthanc, which the Wizard then occupied.

In this way Saruman gained possession of one of the most powerful fortresses in Middle-earth. After much seeking he discovered the missing Palantír, and armed with this invaluable device he at once began to extend the web of his plots. Little by little he altered and strengthened Isengard, while secretly taking many evil creatures into his service. So it was that when the Ruling Ring of Sauron was once more discovered, Saruman turned the power of Orthanc against the Free Peoples in an attempt to seize the Ring for himself. In this he was unsuccessful: his armies were destroyed, his fortress-walls were torn down by the vengeful Ent-folk and he himself was expelled from the Order of Wizards and from the Tower of Orthanc, which then reverted to its rightful ownership.

Osgiliath ‘Citadel-of the-Stars’ (Sind.) – The capital and chief city of Gondor from its founding in 3320 Second Age until 1640 Third Age, when it was superseded by the fortress-city of Minas Anor. In the centuries which followed it was gradually deserted and lost all its former eminence, and by the time of the War of the Ring the city was little more than a vast ruin upon either bank of the Great River, whose eastern side was occupied by forces of Sauron.

Yet at its beginning the Citadel of the Stars had been a proud, vast and populous city, where was kept the chief of the four palantíri (Seeing-stones) of the South-kingdom. It lay on both sides of the Anduin, where the road from Minas Anor to Minas Ithil crossed the river via a great stone bridge. But, like Minas Ithil, Osgiliath had been built at a time when Sauron of Mordor was still widely believed to have perished in the ruin of Númenor; and as a consequence it was unfortified, save for a few out-works, while its many bridges opened the way from the East into the heartlands of Gondor. Accordingly, when Sauron quietly returned to Mordor. and suddenly took Minas Ithil in a surprise attack at the end of the Second Age, Osgiliath lay virtually defenceless before his advance.

It has been recounted elsewhere (see LAST ALLIANCE) how Anárion son of Elendil defended East Osgiliath with desperate courage while his elder brother Isildur brought aid from the North. Sauron was overthrown in that war, and for many years afterwards the glory of Osgiliath grew with the ascendancy of Gondor itself: for the first thousand years of the Third Age the South-kingdom flourished and extended its bounds, and the Kings ruled from Osgiliath, where the Great River flowed through beneath the broad stone bridge. But in 1432 Third Age a terrible civil war, the ‘Kinstrife’, broke out, and in that war Osgiliath was besieged by the rebels; in 1437 the fugitive King Eldacar was forced to flee into the North, and Osgiliath was severely damaged by fire and sword: the Dome of Stars, beside the Great River, where the Palantír had been kept, was razed and the Stone was lost for ever in the waters of Anduin.

So began the decline of Osgiliath. Two hundred years later an even greater evil struck Gondor, when a foul pestilence came into the South-kingdom from the East. Osgiliath was sorely afflicted by the Plague, and most of its inhabitants died – save only those who fled north and west to spread the contagion elsewhere. King Telemnar and all his children perished and his nephew removed the royal seat to Minas Anor at the feet of the White Mountains further west. Yet the city lingered on, partly ruinous, for another thousand years of Gondor’s slow decline – until the year 2745, when a new race of soldier-orcs appeared on the marches of Ithilien and swept across the narrow land to capture Osgiliath. They were finally driven out, but in that war the city was finally destroyed and its great bridge was broken. The west bank of Anduin then became a frontier of war: fortifications were thrown up and Men of Gondor remained permanently on guard. The far bank was shrouded in shadow and was filled with watchful eyes of another sort. So the situation remained until the War of the Ring, when the ruined city was again attacked – once in June of the year 3018 (when the assault was thrown back by Boromir son of Steward Denethor II), and again in March of the following year, when a great force from Minas Morgul forced the crossings and advanced towards Minas Tirith (Minas Anor). Although this army was decisively defeated at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and Osgiliath was recaptured, the city was never rebuilt and was afterwards allowed to fall peacefully into final ruin.

Ossë – The Maia of the Sea, the chief servant of Ulmo. His spouse was Uinen. He came into the World at the same time as Ulmo, and ever after lived in the Seas, notably the eastern reaches of Belegaer. Here he came to know the Quendi, of the Telerin kindred, the minstrels of the Elves; this Kindred he loved always, and grieved when the time came for them also to pass into the West. At his prayer they halted their voyage while still in the mouth of the Bay of Eldamar; and for an age longer Ossë retained their companionship. But then for the last time the summons came; and as a final gift the Sea-maia taught the Teleri the craft of shipbuilding, so enabling them to come to the last shores. He was everafter their patron and friend.

Note: Ossë was known to the Sindar as Gaerys, ‘the Awesome’.

Ossiriand ‘Land of the seven rivers’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Sindar of Beleriand to all the country between the river Gelion and the Blue Mountains, south of and including the river Ascar, down whose northern shore the Dwarves first came into Beleriand. But Ossiriand was never a land of Dwarves, nor of Men (save one). Long empty, it was given by Thingol of Beleriand to Denethor lord of the Nandor (the Green-elves) who had come at length into Beleriand, last of all the Telerin peoples to make the journey to the West of Middle-earth. Here the people of Denethor afterwards dwelt, though Denethor himself was slain in the First Battle of Beleriand. But at the end of the Age, tumults and inundations overwhelmed most of Beleriand beyond the Ered Luin, and only remnants of Ossiriand and Thargelion (to the North) were left. Ossiriand was then re-named Harlindon, (‘South-Lindon’), and so it remained. (Lindon, ‘Land-of Song’, had been the name originally given by the exiled High-elves to all the Land of the Seven Rivers: a green and secret country into which none of them ever journeyed while the First Age lasted.)

Ossiriand was sixty leagues long by fifty broad (at its widest). Its northern boundary was the Ascar and its southern the Adurant with its island of Tol Galen, once the home of Beren and Lúthien. The Seven Rivers were Ascar, Thalos, Legolin, Brilthor, Duilwen, Adurant, and the Gelion, into which the first-named six all shed their waters.

Ost-in-Edhil ‘Fortress-of the-Eldar’ (Sind.) – The name given in tradition to the (fortified) city built by those Noldor led by Celebrimbor who, in 750 Second Age, journeyed to Eregion near the Misty Mountains, to found a realm near the Dwarvish city of Moria. Ost-in-Edhil was the capital city of Eregion, and though its whereabouts have never been disclosed on available maps, it must have stood near Moria Gate. It was captured and razed by forces of Sauron during the War of the Elves and Sauron, in 1697 Second Age.

Ostoher – From 411–92 Third Age, the seventh King of Gondor. It was this King who rebuilt the city of Minas Anor to make it a suitable summer dwelling of Gondor’s royalty.

Otho Sackville-Baggins – The son of Longo Baggins and Camellia Sackville, and the first of the short-lived Sackville-Baggins family. Otho is better remembered as the ill-tempered husband of the formidable Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, and as the father of the worthless and unfortunate Lotho (‘Pimple’).

Outer Ocean – See EKKAIA.

‘Outsiders’ – The Shire-hobbits’ term for any folk who suffered the misfortune of having originated elsewhere. To guard against unwarranted intrusion on the part of such ‘Outsiders’, Hobbits maintained the custom of ‘beating the bounds’, thus ensuring that few intruders were able to penetrate the Shire-dwellers’ rustic idyll.

Overbourn Marshes – A low-lying area south of the Eastfarthing in the Shire, between the rivers Brandywine (Baranduin) and Shire-bourn.

Over-heaven – The three separate aspects of the Creation were: Over-heaven, Middle-earth and the Underworld. Between Over-heaven and Middle-earth were the Undying Lands of the West, home of the Valar and the Eldar from time immemorial.

Overhill – One of the three villages of the Westfarthing which clustered close to the Hill of Hobbiton and the Bywater Pool. Overhill lay north of The Hill.

Overlithe – The name given to Leap Year’s Day in the Shire Calendar. Hobbits celebrated Leap Years by observing four Lithedays (instead of the usual three), of which the third, Overlithe, was an extra day in the calendar and did not normally appear. The four Lithedays were: I Lithe, Mid-year’s day, Overlithe and 2 Lithe.