Sackville-Baggins – A family of Shire-hobbits which lasted for only two generations. See also LOBELIA SACKVILLE-BAGGINS.

Sador – An elderly crippled family retainer of the House of Húrin. Túrin’s name for him was Labadal.

Saeros – One of the Elves of Doriath; but not of the Sindar, for he was one of those few Nandor, formerly of Ossiriand, who dwelt with Thingol in Menegroth. In Doriath he became mighty, and was accounted one of the king’s closest advisers. Yet for all his supposed wisdom, Saeros was so foolish as to pass insulting remarks to Túrin of the Edain; and for this Túrin struck him. The following day Saeros attempted to take his revenge, by ambushing Túrin as he passed through Neldoreth on his way back to Dimbar (where he was fighting against the Orcs in company with the Elves and the Men of Brethil). Túrin, however, escaped this treacherous attack, and he pursued Saeros through the forest; and in his flight the Elf missed his footing and fell to his death in a deep ravine. Fearing condemnation, Túrin fled from Doriath, never to return – and so began his dreadful odyssey.

Sakalthôr (Ar-Sakalthôr) – From 3033–3102 Second Age, the twenty-second King of Númenor, and one of the (later) rulers who took a royal name in the Adûnaic tongue (as opposed to the Eldarin nomenclature of the earlier Kings of Westernesse). His rightful Quenya name was Tar-Falassion.

Salmar – One of the Maiar. He was of the service and following of the Vala Ulmo, and wrought the horns of the Sea-lord, the Ulumúri.

Sam Gamgee – See SAMWISE GAMGEE.

Sammath Naur ‘Chambers of Fire’ (Sind.) – The great dolven forges in the side of the volcano Orodruin in the land of Mordor. They were constructed by Sauron the Great early in the Second Age, and afforded him access to the volcanic inner fires of the mountain. At their heart lay the CRACKS OF DOOM.

Samwise Gamgee – There are few examples of loyalty, devotion and faithfulness recorded in the annals of the Third Age to equal those displayed by the illustrious Hobbit Samwise Gamgee, servant and steadfast companion of Frodo Baggins and honourable member of the Fellowship of the Ring. Throughout the many trials and hardships endured without complaint at his master’s side, his purpose never faltered: to remain with Frodo wherever he might go, even to Mordor. And in the end he was rewarded richly: with honour, and many descendants, and a long life; and a journey across the Sea at the end of it.

And yet Samwise – who later became Mayor of the Shire no less than seven times, and whose name was recorded in rolls of honour in Gondor and other lands – was born the youngest of three sons to a staunchly working-class family; and his trade was the humble craft of horticulture, or gardening. In fact, the Gamgees of Hobbiton were renowned for conservatism and a lack of aspirations, yet these faults, if faults they were, sprang from respectfulness and a love for their gentle craft; and if they were less progressive and ambitious than other Hobbits, then all agreed they were worthy citizens. Sam’s father Hamfast (known as ‘the Gaffer’) was the gardener to the Bagginses of Bag End, the local squirearchy and the wealthiest Hobbits of the district. Yet neither of the Gaffer’s two eldest sons chose to follow him in this trade, and it was his youngest, Samwise, born in 1380 Shire Reckoning, who remained with his ageing father and practised the craft of horticulture as Hamfast had taught him. In due course of time he succeeded the Gaffer in the position, though he continued to live with his father in Number Three Bagshot Row (in close proximity to the extensive gardens for which he then bore the whole responsibility). He spent each working day weeding, clipping, digging, planting, seeding, cutting and anxiously tending the fruits, vegetables and flowers which grew in such profusion there.

Like other Hobbits of his own age, Sam spent many recreational hours in the local taverns (particularly The Green Dragon), being partial to a drop of well-brewed ale; and his companions at these establishments agreed that Sam was a likeable fellow, good with his hands, but a bit of a dreamer. In fact, Sam had spent much of his childhood listening (far more than was wise) to old Mr Bilbo, the then occupant of Bag End, and it had been Bilbo who taught the eager Hobbit-child his letters, simultaneously filling Sam’s mind with fancies, stories and tales.

In due course Bilbo quitted the Shire for good, and his heir, Frodo Baggins, then became Samwise’s employer. Sam continued to work for Frodo in much the same way that his father had worked for Bilbo – until one day in Shire-year 1418, when the trusting young gardener was recruited by two of his master’s close friends (Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took) into a ‘conspiracy’. They had guessed at certain ideas even then taking shape in Frodo’s mind, and Sam was instructed to learn what he could about the visits of Gandalf the Grey and other connected matters. But when caught eavesdropping one morning outside Frodo’s study window, Sam’s conscience reasserted itself, and no more information from his lips did the conspirators receive.

The chief result of this incident was that Gandalf chose Samwise to accompany Frodo on a journey to Rivendell that was even then being planned. One may guess that the Wizard’s motive was twofold: to keep the matter of the Ring a secret, and to ensure for Frodo a stalwart and useful companion on the road which lay ahead. In this Gandalf was more successful than he had perhaps foreseen, for of all the companions and friends Frodo encountered during his adventures, none proved surer than Sam, the first chosen for him.

The full tale of Sam’s adventures at Frodo’s side during their long and arduous quest from the quiet Shire of their home to the very walls of Mordor – and beyond – forms the chief section of the lay made in Gondor after the War of the Ring and known as The Tale of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom. For where Frodo went, there Sam also journeyed; and Frodo’s tale is Sam’s also. Together they entered Sauron’s own land: two Hobbits from the simple countryside ‘expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go’.1 And they survived the horrors that befell them to reach the very Cracks of Doom in the cone of the volcano Orodruin, there to make an end of the Ruling Ring and of its Black Master. Samwise was afterwards accounted, like his master, a Ring-bearer – indeed, he bore the Ring into Mordor, having been separated from Frodo by a sudden and treacherous attack. In a moment of supreme heroism, Samwise fought off the danger and later rescued his master from the nearby Orc-tower in which he had been imprisoned. During this hour of trial Sam used the Ring (to escape from Orcs), and so for a while came to understand something of Frodo’s burden. The Ring-spell worked on him so that he briefly saw himself as The Great Gardener, who might overcome Sauron by the force of his will and make a fertile garden bloom where once the reeking plains of central Mordor had smouldered. But his basic commonsense overcame the treacherous vision, and he renounced the Ring. In this way he too saved the Quest from disaster – and without his stout support Frodo would never have reached the Cracks of Doom.

For their deeds the two Hobbits were later honoured before the assembled Hosts of the West at the Field of Cormallen, and the King of Gondor himself bowed his knee before them.2 Samwise later accompanied his master and his other companions back to the Shire, where further toil awaited them all; yet in the end the War of the Ring was brought to a conclusion, and the sturdy Hobbit was enabled to return to his beloved craft. Indeed, the Shire was much ravaged by the War and needed all his skills. To the astonishment of all, Sam’s labours blossomed the following year (1420 Shire Reckoning) during a summer of extraordinary beauty, when every tree seemed laden with fruit, and the Shire was seen to be healed. For this accomplishment Samwise was revered among the Hobbits; and in due course his eldest son Frodo took the surname Gardner, in token of the achievement.

Sam lived to full age in the Shire, becoming Mayor seven times and dwelling in comfort (amid general esteem) at Bag End. For Frodo passed over Sea at the end of the Third Age, and to his former servant he left his entire estate. Sam thus became Frodo’s heir. He married Rose Cotton, the companion of his boyhood, and she bore him thirteen children, of whom the eldest was Elanor, called the Fair. He lived at Bag End until 1482, Shire Reckoning. On September 22nd – his 102nd birthday – he rode away from Hobbiton and passed West to the Havens, last of the Ring-bearers.

Note: the name Samwise is a translation (into Early English, for contextual reasons) of the original Hobbit-name Banazîr (‘Half-wise, simple’); Gamgee is likewise a rendering of Galbasi or Galpsi (‘Game-village’).

Sandheaver – A family of Little Folk (Hobbits) of Bree.

Sandyman – A family of Shire-hobbits, who owned and operated the Mill of Hobbiton. Neither the elder Sandyman nor his shiftless son Ted were much liked in the locality, and Ted eventually proved something of a bad lot: he threw in with the rogues of Saruman’s employ during the War of the Ring and allowed them to ‘remodel’ his mill. The machinery ceased to grind corn and instead churned out a stream of filth into The Water. These matters were all attended to by the returning members of the Fellowship of the Ring.

Sangahyando ‘Throng-cleaver’ (Q.) – See ANGAMAITË AND SANGAHYANDO.

Saradoc ‘Scattergold’ Brandybuck – The Master of Buckland from 1408–32 Shire Reckoning, and the father of Meriadoc ‘the Magnificent’.

Sarn Athrad – See FORD OF STONES.

Sarn Ford – The last ford across the river Baranduin before it reached the Sea south of Harlindon. Sarn Ford was the southernmost boundary of the Shire and the road which ran from Michel Delving to join the Greenway south of the river crossed the Baranduin at this point.

Sarn Gebir ‘Stone-spikes’ (Sind.) – Fierce, dangerous shoals on the Anduin shortly before the Great River ran through the gorge of the Argonath. These rapids were impassable to all river traffic, and travellers were obliged to take to the land if they wished further to descend the Anduin; for this purpose a portage-way was constructed early in the Third Age by Men of Gondor.

Saruman the White – Also known as Curunír, the ‘Man-of-Skill’; Chief of the Order of Istari (Wizards), leader of those five MAIAR sent to Middle-earth early in the Third Age (c. 1000) in order ‘to contest the power of Sauron, and to unite all those who had the will to resist him’.3 Saruman’s knowledge was ‘deep’, and his hands were ‘marvellously skilled’, and he became Head of the White Council which alone moved against Sauron during the middle years of the Age. But his pride grew with his power, and little by little his true wisdom decreased as his fabled skills multiplied – and in the end he fell, bloodlessly, under Sauron’s control, a victim of his own slow corruption. He died at the end of the War of the Ring, a shamed traitor, stripped of all power and lordship, and came no more to Valinor.

The manner of Saruman’s passing is recounted by Frodo in some detail in his narrative; less well-documented is the story of the Wizard’s arising. For many years he wandered in the East of Middle-earth, acquiring arcane knowledge and learning many new skills. He then began to strengthen his will and so trained himself for eventual dominance, thus forgetting one of the chief injunctions of his Order. Yet many years of the Third Age were to pass before other members of the White Council detected his slow deviation from their common goal, and in due course Saruman succeeded in having himself declared Head of that same Council (the Istari and the Chief Eldar), in the service of which he bent all his newly acquired powers of mind and hand.

It was afterwards seen that Saruman had long desired to become a Power in himself, and that it was this weakness which was the beginning of his slow downfall. (For the other members of the Council, and of his Order, remained true to their original task, and did not seek to impose their will on others where it was resisted.) At all events, Saruman made his first deliberate move in this direction in the year 2759 Third Age, when he appeared at the Coronation of King Fréaláf of Rohan, successor of the mighty Helm Hammerhand. The Wizard brought with him rich presents, and declared himself the friend of Rohan and Gondor, and a little later was able to persuade Steward Beren of Gondor to grant him the Keys of Orthanc, the mighty Tower which, together with its fortress of ISENGARD, commanded the strategic Gap of Rohan. All thought this a welcome move. For although Saruman’s policies were already distorted and his aims self-serving, he long concealed his true mind.

For many years he dwelt in peace with his neighbours; but all the time the Wizard was secretly searching the Tower of Orthanc for a long-lost treasure of the Dúnedain, the possession of which would immeasurably strengthen the power he craved. This was the Palantír of Orthanc, one of the fabled Seeing-stones of Gondor, and in the end he found it – and kept it – in some secret place high in the lonely Tower. Nonetheless, his fascination with devices and objects of craft led the Wizard (like others before him) up dangerous paths. Long obsessed with the fate of the Ruling Ring of Sauron, and with the lost secrets of the Elven-smiths of Eregion, he suspected before anyone else that the Ring was indeed awake and seeking its Master (who was then dwelling in Dol Guldur). And when, in 2851 Third Age, the White Council met to consider ways of bringing about Sauron’s downfall before he should again grow too powerful, Saruman, hoping that the Ring would expose its location if Sauron were left unharassed, deliberately overruled a strong recommendation (from Gandalf the Grey, second of the Order) that Dol Guldur be attacked and its occupant destroyed or driven out. Saruman himself then secretly began to explore the shallows of the Gladden; for in his long search for information he had learned from the libraries of Gondor somewhat of Isildur’s death. And when the Wizard discovered that Sauron was also seeking the Ring in that same area, he became greatly alarmed – but still he withheld his vital insights from his fellow members. Fourteen years later the White Council met for the last time under Saruman’s leadership. Still he dissembled concerning the Great Ring, for by then he had begun to suspect that Gandalf the Grey was closer to its whereabouts than he. For this reason he began to spy on Gandalf, and he withdrew from the Council, and took Isengard and Orthanc for his own, rebuilding the fortress and gathering to him many Orcs and Wild Men. His mask of friendship towards the Rohirrim stiffened, and he began to meddle in their affairs, and to subvert their rule; for by this time Saruman was planning the destruction of Rohan as the first stroke of the war which he plainly foresaw.

Fifty years later (c. 3000 Third Age) he dared for the first time to use the Palantír of Orthanc.

‘Further and further abroad he gazed, until he cast his gaze upon Barad-dûr. Then he was caught!’4

For Sauron possessed the Stone of Minas Ithil, which his servants had captured nearly a thousand years earlier; and his will was greater than that of Saruman. Still the Master of Isengard believed that he would prevail – even in combat with the Lord of the Rings – if only the Ruling Ring were his. But his efforts to secure it during the War of the Ring went badly wrong. Foiled in this, he attacked Rohan – but his great army never came back from Helm’s Deep (see BATTLE OF THE HORNBURG), and in the end Saruman was himself assailed in Isengard and forced to seek refuge in the impregnable Tower of Orthanc. He was afterwards confronted by those he had made his enemies; and he was cast from the Order of Istari and from the Council of the Wise. Bereft of all true power, he was afterwards released to go where he might. Yet Saruman had still some power left – the charm of his voice – and his malice was unabated. Northwards he journeyed, to the Shire (where his agents had long been at work) and from motives of pure malevolence he there awaited the return of the four Hobbits whose deeds (as he saw it) had robbed him of his own and brought him to a sorry pass. For the Shire had been ravaged by his orders, and Saruman wished to observe the Hobbits’ grief and dismay.

It is recounted in the Red Book that Saruman was murdered by his own slave at the very doors of Bag End in the Shire; and so it came to pass that he who had once been a messenger of the Valar, who had come to Middle-earth in hope and desire to aid lesser creatures afflicted by Sauron, who had in his day possessed more knowledge than any other loremaster, whose voice was subtle and whose skills of hand were a byword, died in the dust like a vagabond, his throat cut by a poor mad wretch whom he had himself destroyed. It was not the least of the tragedies of the War of the Ring, and it did not go unmourned.

Sauron the Great – The self-styled Ruler of Middle-earth and declared Enemy of the Free Peoples; servant of Morgoth in the Elder Days and supreme force for Evil throughout two subsequent Ages: Black Master of the land of Mordor, Eye of the Dark Tower, Seducer, Betrayer and Shadow of Despair; the Lord of the Rings of Power.

A discussion of Sauron’s true nature would necessitate an enquiry into the intrinsic nature of Evil itself, since he later became – though he had not always been – the focus for all the greed, lust and terrible energy which was to be found in Middle-earth during the two Ages of his supremacy. All Evil gravitated to him, just as he himself became its ultimate source; and though he was, in the end, like Morgoth before him, cast into the void for ever, the mischief he had committed during the long years of his ascendancy could never be wholly unmade. And he has had many successors.

‘Yet nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so.’5 In his origins, he was one of the divine Ainur, of the race called Maiar; and he served the Vala Aulë, and learned great craft from him. (Sauron is a later name given to him by the High-elves in their own language, and means ‘the Abhorred’, while the Grey-elves knew him as Gorthaur ‘the Cruel’.) But in earliest times he relinquished his labours with Aulë the Smith, and transferred his allegiance to Melkor; and when Melkor first began to devise evil in Arda, long before the Elves awoke in Cuiviénen, Sauron was already his most accomplished, powerful and valuable servant. Great service he rendered to Melkor – and continued to render while Melkor ruled Middle-earth, acting as cruelly towards Elves and Men as his Master had ever done, though at first with less power to command.

His name first appears in records at the time of the Dagor Bragollach, when his armies of orcs and werewolves captured the tower of Minas Tirith on Tol Sirion that Finrod had built; and here for a while he dwelled, in Tol-in-Gaurhoth (as the island was renamed by the Eldar; it means ‘Isle of Werewolves’), the Lieutenant of Morgoth (as Melkor was now known). Yet long before this he had been the first Captain of Angband. At the time of its building, this underworld realm was but a western bastion of Utumno, and Sauron was its castellain. But then the Valar came to Middle-earth and fought the Battle of the Powers against Morgoth, and took him prisoner back to Valinor; but Sauron was overlooked, and escaped the doom of imprisonment. And by the time of the Bragollach he was become an evil lord of great power, second in the world only to Morgoth himself. Sauron it was who devised the ending of the outlaws of Dorthonion (see GORLIM THE UNHAPPY); and he is remembered by the Elves as the slayer of Finrod Felagund.

At all events, the Servant survived where the Master did not, and with the coming of the Host of the Valar the cause of Evil in the First Age was ended. So great was the destruction wrought among Morgoth’s many servants that for a while the Eldar believed that Evil had been ended for ever. Morgoth himself was cast for ever into outer Darkness. But Sauron somehow survived the Breaking of Thangorodrim; and when he was summoned, by Eonwë captain of the Host of Valinor, to return to the Blessed Realm and there accept judgement on his crimes – likely as he well knew to involve imprisonment for many Ages in the Halls of Mandos – he refused.

Remaining therefore in Middle-earth – where the cause of Evil was now laid low indeed – Sauron after a time became aware of the growing power of Númenor across the Seas, and of the hosts of his former enemies who still dwelt in the westlands of Middle-earth, a bar between him and his domination over mortal lands.

Alarmed by the strength of both the Elves and the Númenoreans, Sauron then began to seek for a land which he could fortify after the manner of Angband of old, where he could build a new Thangorodrim as a fortress of his might. Such a land lay empty, away to the south and east, behind impassable mountain-walls, and in its centre stood a mighty volcano, whose age-old fires had covered the plain round about with layer upon layer of dark ash. This forsaken land Sauron took for his own, and it was named Mordor, the ‘Black-land’. There he built his Dark Tower, the Barad-dûr, and there he dwelt throughout the Second Age.

Although in later years Sauron’s appearance grew hateful – so that his power then lay in terror alone – at this time he was still able to appear fair of aspect and form. Accordingly, he determined upon treachery and deceit as his chief weapons, offering knowledge, wearing a fair form and bearing fair names, many of them signifying reverence for Aulë. Gil-galad, Elven-king of Lindon, whom Sauron first approached, nonetheless refused all dealings with him. Not so with other Elves: Celebrimbor of Eregion, greatest of surviving craftsmen, was less wise in these matters than Gil-galad and made a covenant with Sauron, whereby each provided the other with knowledge. Together they began to forge the Rings of Power.

It was by this means that Sauron of Mordor made himself supreme in Middle-earth for the remainder of the Second Age. He aided the Elven-smiths in their great task, and secretly wrought the One Ring to rule all the other rings which then passed under his control – so long as their owners wore them. This brought at last the revelation of his true nature, and the Elves made war upon him. Too late: his strength was already greater than theirs, and Eregion was overrun, and Celebrimbor slain. Only Gil-galad held out – and even he would have been defeated had not aid arrived from Númenor in the nick of time. In this way the Edain of Númenor renewed their ancestral alliance with the Elves – and so gained for themselves the chief hatred of the Lord of the Rings. Sauron was forced to withdraw from Eriador and turn his interests eastward, for strong though he was, his power did not compare with that of Númenor, and he could wait. Nonetheless, his writ ran throughout most of Middle-earth for the remainder of the Second Age, and many peoples endured the full weight of his tyranny.

Yet all the time the island-realm of Númenor continued to grow in strength over the horizon, and the day of their second clash drew nearer. In 3261 the long-expected fleets appeared off Umbar, but so great was the power of the host led by Ar-Pharazôn the Golden that Sauron’s own armies melted away and he was left defenceless.

Yet not all his skills deserted him. Perceiving that the King of Númenor was a vain man, Sauron humbled himself and appealed to the mercy (and the pride) of Pharazôn, who did not make an end of him but carried him back, a prisoner, to Númenor. There Sauron’s old gifts for dominance and betrayal quickly reasserted themselves; he made himself Pharazôn’s chief counsellor and began to complete the process of corruption that the Númenoreans of the Kings’ Party had already long developed. He introduced a cult of the Dark and the name of Morgoth was spoken with awe in the high places of Númenor – while evil sacrifices were made, burnt offerings to Sauron’s former Master. In every sense, Númenor edged closer to the abyss under Sauron’s wicked tutelage.

He had been captive less than fifty years when, at his instigation, an ageing Ar-Pharazôn gave orders for the assembly of the Great Armament. In 3319 this host put to sea and sailed into the West, to give battle for the Undying Lands.

In the ensuing downfall of Númenor, Sauron’s mortal body was destroyed, but his spirit survived and fled back to Middle-earth, shapeless and vengeful. He was never again able to appear in a pleasing form, but instead became the Dark Lord, terrible of aspect, black and burning hot, with a single lidless Eye ‘rimmed with fire … glazed, yellow as a cat’s … and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing’.6 Hiding in Mordor for a while, he learned that a remnant of the Númenoreans had escaped him and were even then building mighty realms-in-exile upon his borders. Mustering his dispersed armies with furious speed, Sauron struck, purposing to sweep the newcomers into the Sea; in 3429 Second Age he came across the Pass of Cirith Ungol, capturing Minas Ithil and driving the Dúnedain back across the Anduin. But once more he had underestimated his foes: they made alliance against him and broke his armies, and laid siege to the Dark Tower itself; and in final combat with Gil-galad and Elendil, Sauron was cast down and his Ring was taken from him.

For the first thousand years of the Third Age Sauron slept and the westlands had peace from him. But slowly he began to take shape once more, though at this time he was too weak to recapture Mordor, which was essential to his greater purposes but which was closely guarded by the Dúnedain of Gondor. Instead he raised the smaller fortress of Dol Guldur on a hill in the southern reaches of Greenwood the Great. There he began to hatch his plots once more. Evil stirred in the Forest; Orcs and Trolls reappeared in great numbers, and wolves howled on its borders. Greenwood was renamed Mirkwood and the power of ‘the Necromancer’ of Dol Guldur was spoken of with dread. In the meantime, desiring to strike at his enemies but seeing no hope at that time in an assault upon Gondor (then at the summit of its power), Sauron sent his chief servant, the Lord of the Ringwraiths, northwards into Eriador with the purpose of destroying the North-kingdom of the Dúnedain. How this task was faithfully carried through to a fearful conclusion is told elsewhere (see ANGMAR). Indeed, for most of the Third Age this most terrible servant worked assiduously on his Master’s behalf. The eventual destruction of the North-kingdom freed Sauron and his servants to work for the downfall of Gondor, and the weakening of the South-kingdom allowed Mordor to be reopened and occupied by the Nazgûl.

Yet throughout much of the Third Age Sauron continued to engage in policies of secrecy and concealment. He lay hidden in Dol Guldur, creating the grand designs while his servants harried his foes, growing ever more powerful even while the Wise debated whether or not he had awakened at all. Above everything else he desired to recover the Ruling Ring, for by the fact of his own existence Sauron knew it had not been destroyed; and to this end he bent all his guile during the remaining years of the Age. In the end he was driven from Dol Guldur before his spies could discover the Ring’s whereabouts, and soon afterwards he came openly to Mordor once more and proclaimed himself. However, being cautious, and wishing this time to be certain of victory before striking, the Dark Lord forbore to attack his foes until the Ring should come within his grasp. But his enemies (who indeed, as he feared, possessed his Ring), made their own moves even while he hesitated: and in the final campaign that was made against him Sauron’s armies were defeated in the hour of victory, his plans were brought to nothing, his servants were destroyed, the Dark Tower was cast down – and the Ruling Ring itself, the fount of all his hopes, was melted in the Fires of Mount Doom. So ended the Third Age, and so passed the power of Sauron the Great. He was cast into the void for ever and the fear of his dominion was lifted from the World.

Sauron’s Road – The causeway which ran from the western gate of the Dark Tower across the reeking plains of Gorgoroth to Orodruin, the Fire-mountain, heart of Sauron’s realm. It was built during the early Second Age to enable Sauron to gain access to the Sammath Naur, the ‘Chambers of Fire’ which he had delved into the side of the volcano’s smouldering cone.

Scary – A village in the Eastfarthing of the Shire.

Scatha the Worm – One of the great Dragons of the Third Age, who dwelt in the Grey Mountains at the time of the Dwarves’ expulsion from Moria (1981). Little is recorded of this Worm, save that, like all his breed, he was greedy and cruel; and he possessed a large hoard taken by force from the Dwarves. He was eventually slain by Fram son of Frumgar of the Men of Éothéod, who thus won himself great riches. Unfortunately, the subsequent disposition of Scatha’s hoard became a source of bitter dispute between Fram and the Dwarves, who claimed the treasure. Fram insulted the rival claimants and they slew him in return.

Sceptre of Annúminas – The chief symbol of the High-kingship of the Númenorean Realms in Exile. By the end of the Third Age, the Sceptre was the single most ancient object fashioned by Men’s hands then in existence, being in origin the Silver Rod of the Lords of Andúnië in Númenor during the Second Age, and therefore over five thousand years old at the time of the War of the Ring.

After the death of Elendil, who brought it to Middle-earth, the Sceptre was kept at his Northern capital of Annúminas beside Lake Evendim in Eriador; but after the final fall of the North-kingdom, it was given into the safekeeping of Master Elrond of Rivendell, together with the other treasures of Elendil’s House. Elrond surrendered it to King Elessar (Aragorn II) after the War of the Ring, to be the symbol of the Reunited Kingdom.

Note: a Sceptre was also the supreme symbol of royalty in Númenor; this tradition was maintained in Arnor but not in Gondor, where the Kings’ token was the Silver Crown.

Scroll of Kings – The manuscript wherein was inscribed the list of the names of the Kings of Númenor; it was kept in Armenelos, the chief city of that land. By tradition, all writing on that scroll was in the High-elven tongue, even in latter days.

‘The Sea-bell’ – An odd and decidedly disturbing Shire-poem, No. 15 in the Adventures of Tom Bombadil collection. It has been closely associated with Frodo Baggins, having been at some point subtitled Frodo’s Dreme – though its dating seems to make it unlikely to have been composed by him. Nonetheless, the unknown verse-maker displayed surprising empathy with the Ring-bearer and the poem seems to provide an insight into the despairing dreams which visited Frodo during his last two years in the Shire. It is, of course, quite possible that ‘The Sea-bell’ was actually written by Frodo, and that the manuscript was later discovered by a member of the Fairbairn family (who maintained custody of the Red Book of Westmarch during the Fourth Age), and subsequently copied directly into the Red Book itself. In which case the meaning of the poem becomes suddenly and chillingly more clear. The narrator takes a strange journey over Sea, where he finds to his anger that everything seems beyond his reach: he is unacceptable in the Undying Lands, and all flee at his approach. Tarrying there nonetheless, he grows old and mad – and still no one speaks to him. In the end, he forsakes the West, having found no refuge, and returns to mortal lands. But he has become a ghost, and has no substance in the world of Men; and so he is doomed to wander for ever, haunted and alone. If Frodo was in truth visited by such dreams, then his final passing over Sea must have been blessed indeed.

Sea-elves – The FALMARI.

Sea of Nurn – See NURNEN.

Sea of Rhûn – In the Third Age, the largest landlocked body of water remaining in western Middle-earth, and as a consequence sometimes known as the Inland Sea. It lay far in the East, beyond Mirkwood and Rhovanion, over a hundred leagues south-east of the Iron Hills; and it was of vast dimensions, being over fifty leagues across at its widest point.

Seat of Seeing – The name given in Gondor for the carven stone chair on top of the Hill of the Eye (Amon Hen), above the Falls of Rauros upon Anduin.

Seaward Tower – See TIRITH AEAR.

Second Age – There were 3,441 years between the Breaking of Thangorodrim and the first overthrow of Sauron the Great. In the lore of the Elves and the Dúnedain this period was known as the Second Age of Middle-earth, and all later epochs were named and calculated accordingly. The Second Age began immediately after the fall of Morgoth with the founding of the Elf-kingdoms of Lindon. Much of north-western Middle-earth had been inundated or damaged in the terrible wars of the previous Age, and the Elves were much reduced in number, while their old realms lay under the Sea. Yet those Elves that chose to remain in mortal lands prospered for a while, wandering the Westlands and having commerce with other races. The Dwarves, too, flourished during this period, possessing the one invulnerable citadel (the realm of Moria) to be found in Middle-earth – save only the Dark Tower of Sauron. For this former servant of Morgoth also awoke once more during the Second Age, and began again to make himself a power in the world. It was a measure of his success that the latter part of the Age was afterwards called the Accursed Years.

But for the Men of Númenor across the Western Seas the Second Age was the epoch of great glory and splendour. The land of Westernesse was founded in the 32nd year of the Age by the Edain, who were led at that time by Elros, called afterwards Tar-Minyatur; and he became their first King. While dispute and conflict raged to and fro in Middle-earth, the island-realm of Númenor grew ever more powerful until, by the last third of the Age, even the coastlands of Middle-earth itself were under its sway. In the end came the inevitable clash between Sauron and the Dúnedain of Númenor, a clash in which Sauron was temporarily defeated; yet ultimately he prevailed over them by treachery, and his evil counsels led most of the Dúnedain to destruction, when Númenor was cast under the Sea. The Second Age ended with the events brought about by Sauron’s discovery that his victory over Númenor was not yet complete. He suddenly attacked the Dúnedain Realms-in-Exile, but failed to conquer them with one blow as he had hoped, and the Last Alliance which his foes made against him overthrew his might, cast down the Barad-dûr and laid his realm in ruins.

Secondborn – MEN.

Second Line (of Rohan) – The name given in the lore of Rohan to all the Kings of the Mark between Fréaláf Hildeson (tenth King) and Théoden Ednew (seventeenth King).

Second Music (of the Ainur) – In the lore of the Eldar, this term refers to the Ending of the World (Ambar-metta) and of the Universe; when a Great Music shall again be sung, but with different themes, and with the participation of all the Children of Ilúvatar.

Second People – A translation of the Quenya word Atani; the race of MEN.

Second Prophecy of Mandos – See DAGOR DAGORATH.

Second Spring of Arda – In the lore of the Eldar, the Years of the Sun, when light once again was brought to mortal lands. The (first) Spring of Arda had been long before, when the Valar dwelt in Almaren and the Lamps Illuin and Ormal had shone over the face of the world, stimulating growth and change. This archaic period, however, had been marred by Melkor, who destroyed Almaren and broke the Lamps, causing Darkness to fall over Middle-earth – a Night which was to endure for Ages upon Ages, until the raising of Anar (and Isil).

Secret Fire – The Flame of Anor, also called the Flame Imperishable; the divine Life-force of the World and of Eä, the Universe.

Seeing-stones – The PALANTÍRI.

Self-cursed – An Elvish epithet for the race of MEN.

Serech – See FEN OF SERECH.

Seregon ‘Stone-blood’ (Sind.) – A variety of stonecrop with crimson flowers which grew on the stony height of Amon Rûdh.

Serindë ‘The Seamstress’ (Q.) – See MÍRIEL SERINDË.

Serni ‘Stony’ (Sind.) – The major tributary of the river Gilrain in Gondor. Its source was in Lebennin south of the White Mountains. The Serni flowed south-west through the province to join the larger river some little distance above the town of Linhir.

Seven Fathers – According to the lore of Dwarves, their race was descended in antiquity from Seven Houses, each of which had its own Founding Father. The eldest and most royal of these Seven Fathers was Durin I, widely called ‘the Deathless’..

Seven Rings – The Seven RINGS OF POWER made for the (seven) Dwarf-kings during the Second Age by the Elves of Eregion working under the tutelage of Sauron of Mordor. Sauron’s secret purpose was, of course, the making of Great Rings which would bring the Dwarves under his domination; but the Dwarves were a race that easily resisted all such spells, and the Seven proved useless as a means to this end. Accordingly, in the years that followed, Sauron bent all his will towards recovering the Rings: three he regained, while four were consumed (together with their owners) by Dragons. The last Ring to be recovered by Sauron was that originally given to Durin III of Moria by the Elven-smiths; it was taken from Thráin II, Durin’s Heir, during his torment in Dol Guldur.

Seven Rivers – A translation of the Sindarin element Ossir; the Seven Rivers of Ossiriand were Gelion, Ascar, Thalos, Legolin, Brilthor, Duilwen and Adurant. In the Second and Third Ages, this term was also applied to the (original) land of Gondor, which also had seven rivers: Lefnui, Morthond, Ringló, Gilrain (or Gilraen), Sirith, Erui, and Anduin.7

Seven Stars – Heraldic emblem, used both by the Dwarves of Durin’s House and by the Dúnedain of Gondor, followers of Elendil. The Dwarf-emblems represented the constellation known as the Sickle (the Plough or Big Dipper), while the Númenorean Seven originally stood for the (single) stars on the banners of the ships which bore the seven palantíri back from drowned Númenor to Middle-earth at the end of the Second Age. These Seven Stars were later incorporated into the heraldry of Gondor, where, together with the White Tree and the Silver Crown, they represented the Line of Elendil.

Seven Stones – The PALANTÍRI.

‘Shadow-Bride’ – A short, disquieting Shire-poem, one of the lesser verses scribbled in the margins of the Red Book and subsequently published (No. 13) in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

Shadowfax – The name given in Rohan to the chief of the Mearas, Princes of Horses; the last descendant of Felaróf of Éothéod in the Third Age. Until approached by Gandalf the Grey, the horse was completely untamed, although he subsequently became a great comrade of the Wizard, bearing him into battle throughout the War of the Ring. At the end of the Age Shadowfax passed over Sea together with his master.

Shadowmere – A lake or tarn beneath the Hill of Ilmarin (Oiolossë) in Eldamar. Beside it, say the Elves, stands the ‘Great-watch-tower’ of Tirion.

Shadowy Mountains – A translation of Ered Wethrin; also a term (Third Age) for the Ephel Dúath, the west-wall of Mordor.

Shagrat – An Orc of Mordor, captain or sergeant of the Guard of the Tower of Cirith Ungol at the time of the War of the Ring. He was afterwards described (by Samwise, who encountered him) as ‘a large orc with long arms that, as he ran crouching, reached to the ground’.8 Being the fiercest Orc in the Tower, he survived when his company and another Orc-troop fought for possession of certain items of booty. Shagrat subsequently escaped the carnage and fled the tower – to carry the vital items to Barad-dûr, with potentially disastrous consequences.

Sharbhund – The name among the Petty-dwarves for AMON RÛDH.

Sharkey – A nickname in the Shire for Saruman the Wizard. It was in origin the Orkish word sharkû (‘old-man’), given to Saruman by his servants in Isengard and taken to the Shire by his other agents.

Sharkey’s End – A dry term, used only in Bywater, for the Hobbiton lane known as New Row. The Wizard Saruman (known in the Shire as ‘Sharkey’) was slain at the end of the road on the last day of the War of the Ring (November 3rd, 1419 Shire Reckoning).

Shathûr – See BUNDUSHATHÛR.

Shelob the Great – The last of the Great Spiders of Middle-earth. These creatures infested the passes of the Mountains of Terror in Beleriand during the First Age, drinking the blood of all who came near, for they served no master but their own monstrous hunger. The ancestor of them all was Ungoliant – who poisoned the Two Trees of Valinor – and the last of her brood to survive was Shelob the Great.

Most of the evil creatures of Beleriand were destroyed when that land was drowned under the Sea at the end of the First Age, but by some chance Shelob escaped, and slowly made her way south, until she came at last to the Mountains of Shadow. There she built a lair in a high pass, afterwards called Spider Glen, and dwelt for many years, she ‘who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dûr; and she served none but herself … for all living things were her food and her vomit darkness.’9 She spun her webs of horror high in the Pass named after her for two full Ages, and Sauron tolerated her; for although his Orcs were eaten by her, she guarded his land better than he himself could have done.

Shelob’s Lair – The den of the Great Spider Shelob. It was a cavern of great size, linked with other caves by many passages and tunnels, and it lay just below the summit of the Pass of Cirith Ungol on the western side. The road across the Pass had been tunnelled through solid rock at this point, and travellers were accordingly forced to use the outer passages of the Spider’s Lair (Torech Ungol) on their way to and fro. For this reason the builders of the Tower of Cirith Ungol (which lay on the further side of the Pass) devised a back-door passage which partly avoided the hazard.

Shepherds of the Trees – The ENTS.

Ship-kings – The period of Gondor’s greatest maritime expansion took place under her ‘Ship-kings’, who ruled between the ninth and twelfth centuries of the Third Age. Their Númenorean ancestors had, of course, always been great mariners, whose argosies journeyed back to Middle-earth many centuries before the founding of the Realms-in-Exile; and the harbours at Umbar and Pelargir had been founded a full thousand years before Minas Anor or Osgiliath. This heritage was not forgotten in the South-kingdom, and when Gondor began to prosper, the Dúnedain turned once more to sea power to realise their imperial ambitions south and west of their own coasts.

The ‘Ship-kings’ were the four rulers of Gondor most closely associated with this policy. The first was Tarannon, twelfth King, who constructed the first fleets and conquered the coastal areas south and west of the Mouths of Anduin; in token of his victories he took the name Falastur (‘Lord-of-the-coasts’). He was succeeded by his nephew, Eärnil I, in 913 Third Age. Eärnil improved on Falastur’s work, restoring the ancient Númenorean haven of Pelargir upon Anduin, and capturing the rival Haven of Umbar two years after his succession to the Throne. But in 936 he was lost at sea, and his own son Ciryandil, the third ‘Ship-king’, fared no better, falling in battle at Umbar defending the Haven from an attack of Haradrim (in 1015).

Ciryandil’s son Ciryaher was the fourth and last of the ‘Ship-kings’, and he later became the most powerful ruler in Gondor’s history. He set in hand a programme of fleet-building, all the while awaiting the most propitious moment for avenging his father; and when the time was ripe he crossed the Poros and descended upon the forces of Harad, which were still besieging Umbar, having failed to capture it despite their slaying of Ciryandil. At the same time the fleets of Gondor landed armies on the coasts to take the Haradrim in flank. Then the Southron besiegers were so severely defeated that not for several centuries were they able to recover their strength. To commemorate his great victory, Ciryaher took the royal name Hyarmendacil (‘South-victor’). He was the mightiest of all the Kings of Gondor and reigned for 134 years. But with him died the line of the ‘Ship-kings’: his own son Atanatar (II) Alcarin proved little better than a vain spendthrift, and the great gains of the ‘Ship-kings’ were allowed to slip away.

Shire – A translation (into Early English, for contextual purposes) of the Hobbit-word Sûza, the name among western Hobbits for the region of authority of their Thain, approximately speaking between the river Baranduin (Brandywine) and the Emyn Beraid (Tower Hills). These lands had previously been part of Arnor, and later Arthedain, but by 1600 Third Age had long been deserted, and although still rich and fertile were growing wild with disuse. At that time many Harfoots and Fallohides were dwelling in somewhat crowded conditions in and near the village of Bree in Eriador, and there was a strong desire to occupy the unused agricultural land west of the Baranduin. Permission was accordingly sought from King Argeleb II of Arthedain by the Hobbit-leaders Marcho and Blanco (both, incidentally, Fallohides), and when this was forthcoming a great multitude of Hobbits crossed the Bridge of Stonebows and took possession of the lands beyond.

The King’s conditions for the freehold of the Shire were not exacting, and the Shire-hobbits soon settled down to a quiet, peaceful and prosperous existence. Many of their kin joined them in the years that followed the Founding of the Shire (1601 Third Age, or Year One of the Shire Reckoning), and all went well until thirty-six years later, when the Great Plague came into Eriador from the East and South. The Shire-folk suffered loss, but soon recovered in the years that followed and afterwards passed altogether out of the knowledge of other folk.

The long years of peace stretching from those days to the time of The War of the Ring brought about an understandable state of insularity among the Shire-hobbits. Their heroes tended to be selected from among those who had lived to particularly old ages, or who had sired the greatest numbers of children. It is true that Bandobras ‘Bullroarer’ Took was lauded for military prowess, but in general, warlike activities (like all ‘adventurous’ tendencies) were not much appreciated in the Shire. The countryside was fruitful and Hobbits grew steadily fatter – and echoes of growing danger from Outside did not cross the Baranduin.

Shirebourn – A river of the Shire. It arose in the Green Hill Country in the Eastfarthing and flowed south and east to join the Baranduin (Brandywine) north of the Overbourn Marshes.

Shire-moot – An emergency meeting of all landed Hobbits, summoned at times of doubt or danger by the Thain of the Shire. Such meetings were not a frequent occurrence.

Shire-muster – An assembly of arms in the Shire, which was an even rarer occasion than the Moot (see previous entry). The only Hobbit with authority to summon the Muster was the Thain of the Shire.

Shire Reckoning – The calendar system adopted by the Hobbits of the Shire after the founding of their land. Though basically similar to the venerable KINGS’ RECKONING of the Dúnedain, the Shire system differed in one important respect: all years were reckoned from the Hobbits’ first Crossing of the Baranduin (1601 Third Age, Year One of the Shire), and the observance of Ages was not recognised in the Shire following that date. But although the Hobbits also had their own ancient names for the days and months, the system they observed was still easily recognised as a variant of the same venerable Númenorean calendar, brought to Middle-earth by the Dúnedain. Months were all of equal length – 30 days – and there were five ‘extra’ days (outside the month) which made up the chief feast days. Three of these formed a midsummer festival, known in the Shire as Lithe, the chief holiday of the year, the other (two-day) festival being at Yule. Leap Years were allowed for by adding an extra Lithe-day between Mid-year’s day and 2 Lithe. Late in the Third Age (c. 1100 Shire Reckoning) the Hobbits made a further modification to the calendar. This was called Shire-reform, and its purpose was to stabilise the names of the days and the dates on which these might fall from year to year. This was achieved, and the same date in any one year had the same weekday name in all other years, so that Shire-folk no longer bothered to put the weekday in their letters and diaries. They found this quite convenient at home, but not so convenient if they ever travelled further than Bree.

Shire-reform – See previous entry.

Shirriffs – The Shirriffs (or ‘Shire-reeves’) were the chief law-enforcement officials of the Shire. As most laws were observed to the letter, being after all based upon common sense and ancient tradition, the Shirriffs’ task was easy, and the job was far more concerned with trespass and matters of property than with actual crime (which was almost unknown in the Shire). The office of First Shirriff was normally held by the Mayor of Michel Delving, while the main body was more commonly known as the Watch. There were twelve all told, three in each Farthing, and they were distinguished from other Hobbits by a feather worn in the cap. The Shire also possessed a ‘Special Constabulary’ – whose size varied at need – for the purpose of patrolling the borders. These were known as ‘Bounders’.

Sickle (of the Valar) – A translation of the Quenya word Valacirca: the name given by dwellers in Middle-earth to the constellation of seven stars set in the sky by Varda (Elbereth) as a sign of the eventual fall of Morgoth; it is of course the same constellation known to later Men as ‘The Plough’ (or ‘Great Bear’, or ‘Big Dipper’).

Siege of Angband – The name given by the Eldar to the period of four centuries, between the Dagor Aglareb (the Third Battle of Beleriand) and the Dagor Bragollach (the Fourth Battle), when Morgoth was hemmed into the North by the chain of Elf-kingdoms reaching from Hithlum in the West to Mount Rerir in the East. Strictly speaking, it was not a true Siege, for Morgoth was untrammelled in the North and North-east, and was always able to move his armies to and from Angband by these routes; the Siege only bore upon the south of his land. Therefore no real pressure could ever be inflicted upon him, and his real capacity for waging war remained largely unaffected: as was afterwards realised by the Eldar, in calamitous fashion.

Silent Watchers – Two great stone statues, three-headed, with vulture faces and claws, which guarded the gate of the Tower of Cirith Ungol in Mordor. ‘Each had three joined bodies, and three heads facing outward, and inward, and across the gateway … They seemed to be carved out of huge blocks of stone, immovable, and yet they were aware: some dreadful spirit of evil vigilance abode in them. They knew an enemy. Visible or invisible none could pass unheeded.’10

It seems unlikely that these monstrous guardians were set in place by the original builders of the Tower, for the fortress had been raised in the early years of the Third Age by Men of Gondor, and its purpose had been the guarding of the route across the Pass behind. But the Tower was later abandoned, and Sauron returned to Mordor, and the fortress was strengthened by his slaves and filled with Orcs.

Silima – The name given by Fëanor of the Noldor to the mysterious crystalline substance devised by him in Eldamar during the First Age, when the Two Trees still flowered and the craftsmanship of the Noldorin Kindred had not yet brought grief to the Valar and the High-elves. Silima was exceedingly hard, and possessed the gift of capturing light – and only Fëanor ever knew the secrets of its making. He wrought the three silmarilli (‘Jewels-of-silima’) from this material.

Silmariën – The eldest of the three children of King Tar-Elendil of Númenor. She was born in the year 548 Second Age, while Númenor was still young and its people uncorrupted. Although she was the eldest child of the King, after her father’s death she was prohibited from receiving the Sceptre, for the laws of that time allowed only male heirs to rule in Númenor (this law was soon afterwards changed). Her younger brother became King in her place, as Tar-Meneldur. Nonetheless, it was through the Lady Silmariën that the House of Elendil traced its lineage back to Elros Tar-Minyatur and the still more ancient High-elven ancestry. She wedded Elatan, a Lord of Andúnië – a fair western province of Númenor – and from Valandil their son were descended Amandil and his son Elendil. From Elendil the Tall were descended all the Kings of Arnor and Gondor.

Silmarilli ‘Jewels-of-silima’ (Q.) – The name given by Fëanor of the Noldor to the three Great Jewels wrought by him during the Elder Days, the mightiest works of craft ever made. So great was their beauty that none could behold it and be unmoved; so terrible was its effect that, because of the Jewels, grief and dissent, followed by rebellion, came to the Undying Lands, where the Silmarils had been wrought, and war and untold suffering to Middle-earth, where they were taken perforce. In the end they were lost for ever, in the Heavens, under the Earth, and in the deeps of the Sea.

The tale of the Silmarils is the story of the rebellion and fall of Fëanor, and the exile of those Noldorin Elves whom he led to Middle-earth. The Jewels were made from a mysterious crystalline substance, exceedingly hard, which was somehow able to capture light and store it within its depths. The light was the ancient Light of the Two Trees of Valinor. But the glory of the Great Jewels overwhelmed one of the Valar, afterwards called Morgoth, who stole them from the Noldor and fled with them to Middle-earth, first poisoning the Two Trees so that their Light was dimmed for ever. This action grieved the Valar – whose land was plunged into eternal twilight – but it enraged the Noldor, who now regarded the Silmarils as symbols of the pride of their race. Fëanor led a great host of the Noldor back to Middle-earth against the wishes of the Valar, and so exiled himself and his people from the Undying Lands. The war which the Noldor and their allies then fought against Morgoth in Middle-earth lasted for centuries, and at the end of it great destruction had taken place and many hitherto immortal lives had been lost – but the Silmarils were still in the possession of Morgoth (save one only, recovered by Beren of the Edain and Lúthien daughter of Thingol Greycloak of the Elves). In the end the Valar, taking pity on the innocent, themselves came to Middle-earth and crushed Morgoth in a titanic battle, in which his fortress of Thangorodrim was obliterated and Beleriand of the Grey-elves drowned under the Sea. The single Jewel recovered by the Eldar, which came back to the Undying Lands with Eärendil the Mariner, had already been set in the sky by Elbereth herself as a sign of hope to dwellers in Middle-earth. But the other two Silmarils were taken by force from Morgoth by the Valar – and were then stolen, at the very end of the Age, by the two surviving sons of Fëanor, Maedhros and Maglor. Indeed they were still constrained to attempt this deed, by the Oath they and their father had sworn on the eve of the rebellion long before in Eldamar. Yet by now their touch had become defiled, and they could not bear to keep or hold the Jewels; and Maedhros cast his into a chasm of the earth, and Maglor threw his into the Sea.

The Silmarillion – The title given to the large and exceedingly ancient collection of songs and tales of the First Age assembled in Riven-dell during the latter part of the Third Age by the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins (under the title Translations from the Elvish). The Silmarillion proper is made up of five separately originated works: the Ainulindalë or Music of the Ainur (composed by Rúmil of Tirion); the Valaquenta or History of the Valar and Maiar (authorship unknown); the Quenta Silmarillion or History of the Silmarils (derived from many sources); the Akallabêth or Downfall of Númenor (composed in Gondor during the early part of the Third Age); and Of the Rings of Power, written by the renowned Hobbit Frodo Baggins.

Silmarils – See SILMARILLI.

Silme – The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘starlight’; also the title of Tengwa number 29, which was used in almost all cases for the value of the sound s.

Silme Nuquerna – A reversed form of the Tengwa number 29 (see previous entry), incorporated into the Fëanorian writing-system as letter number 30. Reversed letters of this type carried exactly the same phonetic value but were inverted for convenience of writing, i.e., when accompanied by one of the diacritic tehtar or ‘signs’. The example shown above has an a tehta incorporated in order to illustrate this usage.

Silpion – See TELPERION.

Silvan Elves – A translation of Tawarwaith (Sind.); the Wood-elves.

Silver Crown – The Crown of Gondor. It was made in the shape of an ancient Númenorean war-helm, with a high crown and long cheek-guards which fitted closely to the face. The original Silver Crown was said to be the actual war-helm of Isildur, but in the days of Atanatar (II) Alcarin (‘the Glorious’) this was replaced by a far more flamboyant crown, though still of the same shape. The Crown of Alcarin was made of pure silver, and was wrought with wings like sea-birds’, and was embellished with seven diamonds studded at intervals in the Circlet. Above all was set a single great white jewel.

The Crown was the chief emblem of royalty in Gondor, but in Arnor (and in Númenor) the Kings wore only a simple diadem, and the chief mark of Kingship was a Sceptre.

Silverlode – An (approximate) translation of the Sindarin name Celebrant.

Silver Rod – See SCEPTRE OF ANNÚMINAS.

Silver-steel – One of the names given to the metal MITHRIL.

Silvertine – A translation of the Sindarin word Celebdil; the name of that mountain known to Dwarves as Zirak-zigil. It was one of the three Mountains of Moria.

Simbelmynë ‘Ever-mind’ – A type of small white flower clustered thickly on the sides of the royal burial-mounds in the Barrowfield of Edoras. Also called uilos and alfirin.

Sindar ‘Grey-elves’ (Q.) – The name given in the High-elven tongue by the Noldor of Middle-earth to the Elves of Beleriand and Mithrim, in origin a subdivision of the TELERI. All these were the subjects of Thingol of Doriath, and many dwelled with their lord in Menegroth, his underground city beside the Esgalduin; but the classification also included the Falathrim or ‘Coast-elves’ whose lord (under Thingol) was Círdan the Shipwright; and also the various wandering Telerin peoples who made their abode west of the Blue Mountains during the First Age, save only the Nandor of Ossiriand, whom the Noldor called Laiquendi (‘Green-elves’).

The manner of the sundering of the Grey-elves from the main host of the Teleri is recounted elsewhere. Here, it is enough to recall that the love the Grey-elves felt for the lands of western Middle-earth exceeded that which they bore for their kindred, or for the Undying Lands which they had never seen; at all events, the ‘Sea-longing’ did not at that time fully awaken in their hearts, and so they lingered on the shores of mortal lands while the remaining Eldar took ship into the Far West.

The country in which they chose to make their home was called Beleriand, a land of many forests and mountains and the most westerly in Middle-earth. There the Grey-elves were ruled by Thingol Greycloak, eldest and greatest of their Kings, who wedded the Lady Melian of the Valar and dwelt agelong in Doriath.

For years uncounted the Sindar dwelt in Beleriand in peace and happiness – a state which, if less exalted than that of their High-elven kin, far across the Sea, was a pleasurable mode of existence. And even when evil began, slowly and almost imperceptibly, to awaken in Middle-earth, the Sindar at first were not greatly troubled; for in those days they had the friendship of the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains, and from them acquired arms and armour. And indeed evil did not at first come into Beleriand, for the Grey-elves were then a numerous people, hardy and valiant, noblest of all Elves remaining in mortal lands; and the Orcs did not dare the wrath of Thingol. But gradually Beleriand came under siege, and raids began to be made deep into Thingol’s domain (see FIRST BATTLE OF BELERIAND); and shortly afterwards there came from the West a mighty fugitive, one of the great Valar, who had turned renegade and had committed a terrible crime against the peoples of the Undying Lands. His name was Morgoth, and with his return to Middle-earth the long peace of the Sindar came to an end. In fear of the pursuit which followed, Morgoth built a mighty realm somewhat to the north of Beleriand. The name of this place was Angband. But before much time had passed a fleet of ships appeared on the horizon: a great fleet, of white swan-vessels, with gilded sails and many proud banners. These were the Noldor, High-elves of Eldamar, coming in pursuit of Morgoth and desiring to recover that which he had stolen from them. Thus were the sundered Second and Third Kindreds of the Eldar reunited after countless years, and so began the War of the Great Jewels which was to devastate western Middle-earth.

In those wars Morgoth was, at the last, utterly victorious. The High-elves were nigh on annihilated and their allies, the Edain, were grievously reduced in number; the Grey-elves also suffered, while their land of Beleriand was thrown down under the Sea by the cataclysm in which Morgoth was finally overthrown. Only a small coastal strip – Lindon – remained to them, and there most of the survivors dwelt in the Second Age which followed the defeat of Morgoth.

At that time the Grey-elves were ruled by Celeborn and Thranduil; for Thingol was no more. Celeborn ruled in South Lindon (Harlindon), but after some years he removed eastward to Eregion, and thence across the Misty Mountains to the inaccessible forests in the vale of Anduin (see LOTHLÓRIEN). Those of the Grey-elves who would accompanied him, or went further north with Thranduil; while those that remained in Lindon were ruled by Gil-galad of the Noldor, one of the few High-elven princes to survive the War of the Great Jewels.

As the Second and Third Ages passed, the waning years lessened the numbers of the once-numerous Sindar, and in the hearts of many the ‘Sea-longing’ awoke at last, and from the Grey Havens of Mithlond many grey ships put to sea, never to return. For with the passing of years the time drew nearer for the Eldarin kindreds to depart from mortal lands, and leave Middle-earth to the Dominion of Men, their inheritors; and in the Fourth Age Celeborn finally abandoned Lothlórien to the Wood-elves and, together with his small retinue, returned to Eriador to dwell in the House of Elrond, last of the Sindarin lords to linger in Middle-earth.

Note: Sindar was the name given to this Eldarin race by the Noldor; their own term for themselves was Edhil, ‘Elves’.

Sindarin – The language of the Grey-elves. It was an ancient tongue of the Eldar, being descended, like the High-elven speech (Quenya), from the still more ancient root-language of all Elvenkind. But the long years of the Elder Days altered the Sindarin tongue, and although in basic structure it continued to resemble Quenya, many other mutations took place which affected the sound of this (phonetic) Eldarin speech. As these changes in spoken Sindarin largely took place before the Grey-elves devised methods of writing or inscription (see ALPHABET OF DAERON), one may assume that the sections of Grey-elven speech which appear in translations from the Red Book are in the tongue that was spoken in Beleriand during the First Age.

Sindarin was therefore to some degree less noble and antique than Quenya, for the High-elven speech brought back to Middle-earth by the Noldor was little changed from the original archaic Eldarin root-tongue, and in both spoken and written forms differed greatly from the language of the Grey-elves of Beleriand. Nonetheless, the Noldor Exiles put aside their own Ancient Speech and adopted instead the tongue spoken by the (far more numerous) Grey-elves; this then became the language of the Eldar in Middle-earth, and was later learned by the Edain, who kept it alive in Middle-earth long after the Eldar themselves had departed.

All the place-names in Arnor and Gondor that were given by the Dúnedain were in the Grey-elven tongue. The personal names of the Dúnedain themselves were also often in Sindarin, the exception being the royal names of Númenor, which had been in the more ancient High-elven language. Names of all the Kings of Gondor, and of all the Kings of Arnor (but not of Arthedain) were also in this Quenya speech (e.g. Elendil, Ciryaher, Eärendur). But rulers of Arthedain and Chieftains of the North invariably carried Sindarin personal names (Aranarth, Arvedui, Aragorn). After the establishment of the Realms in Exile, the spoken Sindarin of the Dúnedain deeply influenced the (Mannish) Common Speech of the West-lands, which afterwards became the most widely spoken language in both Eriador and Gondor. See also SPOKEN TONGUES.

Singollo ‘Grey-cloak’ (Q.; older form Sindacollo) – See THINGOL GREYCLOAK.

Sirannon ‘Gate-stream’ (Sind.) – A river of Eregion. It originally flowed from an underground source near the West-door of Moria down into the flat lands of eastern Eriador, falling first over a gentle cataract (the Stair Falls) before wandering westward through the land of the Elven-smiths. But at an unknown date in the last millennium of the Third Age, the Gate-stream was dammed and formed a lake which sealed off the Doors of Durin from the surrounding lands.

Siril – The chief river of Númenor; it rose in springs from the Meneltarma and flowed southwards to find the sea in a sandy delta which formed the border between the provinces of Hyarrostar and Hyarnustar.

Sirion ‘Mighty-flowing’ (Sind.) – The greatest river of western Middle-earth during the First Age. It flowed south for 140 leagues before reaching the sea, and throughout its course was accounted the border between East and West Beleriand. It had seven tributaries, of which the Rivil, which had its source on Dorthonion, was the most northerly, and the Narog the most southerly. The Sirion reached the Sea in a great delta, the Mouths of Sirion – where this enormous stream was nearly a mile wide – and during its journey from Ard-galen to the Bay of Balar it underwent nearly every transformation a river can experience, flowing through marshland, over mighty falls – and even underground, for nearly ten miles.

Siriondil – From 748–830 Third Age, the eleventh King of Gondor. Also the name of the father of King Eärnil 11 of Gondor. Though not himself King, he was of royal blood, being the grand-nephew of Narmacil II, twenty-ninth King. This kinship was the constitutional basis of Eärnil’s claim to the Throne of Gondor.

Sirith ‘Flowing’ (Sind.) – One of the Seven Rivers of Gondor. It flowed south from a source high in the mountain-vales of Lebennin and joined the Anduin some little distance downstream from the port of Pelargir. Its chief tributary was the Celos (or Kelos).

Skinbark – A translation of the Sindarin name Fladrif, which was borne (as a ‘short name’) by an aged Ent of Fangorn Forest.

‘Slinker’ – See SMÉAGOL-GOLLUM.

Smallburrow – See ROBIN SMALLBURROW.

Smaug the Golden – One of the greatest Urulóki (Fire-dragons) of Middle-earth during the Third Age, a beast of cunning and cruelty whose first recorded appearance in the Annals of the Age was in the year 2770, when he came flaming out of the North to capture, sack and occupy the Dwarf-kingdom of Erebor, east of Mirkwood. The attack was so successful that most of the Dwarves unfortunate enough to be caught inside the Lonely Mountain on that day were exterminated – and for good measure Smaug also destroyed the nearby Mannish town of Dale.

After completing these labours, the Dragon crawled inside the Mountain and there gathered all the wealth of both Erebor and Dale into one vast heap, upon which he lay in contented slumber for nearly two full centuries.

So fearsome was the known wrath of Smaug that none came to challenge his ownership of the hoard for many years, and he grew complacent and vain. Yet in the end he was slain, for several reasons, the chief of which was his own Dragon-conceit.

As is told in The Hobbit, Smaug’s vanity accidentally led him to reveal the existence of a vulnerable unarmoured patch on his underside, and armed with this information the enemies of Smaug were able to pierce this spot with an arrow. Smaug was slain by the rightful heir of the Kings of Dale, Bard the Bowman of Esgaroth, in the year 2941 Third Age, and his bones ever after lay in the shallows near the ruined Laketown. His destruction accomplished, the Kingdom Under the Mountain and the town of Dale were both restored to their rightful owners and the region had peace for many years.

Sméagol-Gollum – Undoubtedly the most tragic of all the personal tales associated with the history of the Great Ring was that of the creature known as Sméagol, or Gollum. Originally a lowly member of a family of proto-Hobbits, he became an early victim of the malevolent power of the Ring, which he bore for nearly five hundred years of his long and miserable life, unwilling – and unable – to relinquish it. Yet in the end the Ruling Ring itself discarded him – and the loss of his greatest, indeed his only treasure proved the stimulus which finally caused him to leave his long-secret refuge under the Misty Mountains; and in recovering his Precious at the last, he brought about its destruction as well as his own, and so was reunited with it for ever.

The tale of Gollum’s long and terrible odyssey has been recounted at length in the Red Book – in both of the major sections of narrative, for both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins encountered him during their adventures. This entry will accordingly confine itself to recording those details of Gollum’s ancestry which lie outside the main tale.

He was born in the twenty-fourth century of the Third Age and was in origin closely akin to Hobbit-kind, for his family were of Stoorish blood but had returned to the vales of Anduin after dwelling in Eriador, unlike most of their race. They dwelt at that time not far from the banks of the river Anduin, near the Gladden Fields.

This young Stoor was named Sméagol (orig. Trahald), which means ‘burrowing-in’; and, like most of the clan, he made his living by fishing in the Great River. And it was while on a fishing expedition that Sméagol chanced to discover the Great Ring – or rather, his friend Déagol found it on the river-bed where it had lain undisturbed for over two thousand years.

The Ring-spell had an instant effect on Sméagol, who promptly murdered his friend to gain possession of the golden thing. Taking it back to his little community, he soon discovered the Ring’s more obvious properties, which he used in small, mean ways. He rapidly became unpopular among his kinfolk, not least for the habit he developed of making unpleasant glottal noises in his throat (from which he gained the name Gollum), and in the end his furtive ways and sneaking tricks brought about his expulsion from the family hole.

Wandering north, alone and miserable, he chanced to follow a stream to its source deep under the Misty Mountains; for Gollum had always hated and feared the light of Sun and Moon, and it seemed to him that under the bowels of the Mountains he would be safe for ever from such things. In the underground caverns beneath the Orc-mines of the High Pass he made his home. And there he remained for many lives.

For from the first the terrible power of the Ruling Ring was on him, though to Gollum it gave power according to his measure: long life but little else (save the power of invisibility), and for many centuries he eked out a miserable existence, growing thin and unnaturally strong as his years lengthened beyond their natural measure – but never ‘fading’ or becoming a wraith, for in the endless darkness he found little need to wear ‘the Precious’ (as he termed the Ring). And so, although almost wholly ruined, Gollum was slow to fall completely under the power of the Ring.

Such was the misshapen, evil-minded creature encountered by Bilbo Baggins in the year 2941 Third Age, almost five hundred years after the finding of the Ring and the murder of Déagol; and with that meeting the Great Ring chose for itself a new bearer, for it was plain that as long as it stayed with Gollum it would never again leave the cave under the Misty Mountains. Bilbo found the Ring and Gollum was left desolate in the dark. But three years afterwards, his desire finally overcame his fear and he ventured forth into the world to begin his long search for the ‘thief’ of the Precious.

During the next seventy years Gollum hunted the length and breadth of Wilderland, being captured at last by Sauron while prying on the very borders of Mordor. There he was put to the Question – and in this way the Lord of the Rings at last learned the truth concerning the whereabouts of his long-lost treasure. And so began the War of the Ring.

Released from Mordor with instructions to hunt for the Ring, Gollum finally located the Fellowship while they were passing through Moria, and from that time onwards he was almost continually within sight of the Ring-bearer and his burden, from Lothlórien down the length of the Great River, across the Emyn Muil and into Mordor itself.

Yet it was later acknowledged by the Ring-bearer that, but for Gollum’s self-serving treachery (oddly mixed with a genuine devotion to Frodo), the Quest could not have been achieved at all: for at the very last stroke, the power of the Ring overcame Frodo, and without the (ill-intentioned) intercession of Gollum at the brink of the Cracks of Doom, there can be little doubt that Sauron would have prevailed. In this way Gollum atoned for all the evils committed during his long life.

Smial – A translation of the original Hobbit-word trân (‘burrow’), being the name given by Hobbits to the tunnels and delvings which were their most ancient (and most characteristic) form of dwelling-place. The practice of living in holes in the ground was indeed archaic, but by the time of the War of the Ring the custom had fallen somewhat out of use in the Shire, due to the shortage of suitable land; and thus it was ‘only the richest and the poorest Hobbits that maintained the old custom’.

Naturally enough, smials varied greatly in size and splendour. Some of the larger examples (such as Brandy Hall and the ‘Great Smials’ of the Tooks) were of vast dimension, with many branching tunnels and passages, while Bag End was a well-preserved example of ‘manor-hole’.

Snaga ‘Slave’ (Black Speech) – A contemptuous name given by larger breeds of Orc (such as the Uruk-hai) to lesser Goblins.

Snowbourn – A river of eastern Rohan. It rose in Harrowdale and flowed northwards as far as the hill of Edoras, after which it bent eastward to join the Entwash.

Snowmane – The steed of King Théoden of Rohan. Snowmane bore his royal master throughout the War of the Ring and perished in battle on the Pelennor Fields (March, 3019 Third Age). The horse was slain by a dart from the Witch-king, and crushed Théoden beneath him when he fell. Snowmane was afterwards buried where he had fallen, in a mound later called Snowmane’s Howe.

Solmath – The second month of the year in the Shire and Bree Reckonings, equivalent to Nenimë in Kings’ Reckoning and to our February.

Song of Parting – The lament made by Beren of the Edain for his beloved, Lúthien Tinúviel, daughter of Thingol Greycloak.

Sorontil – A great mountain of Númenor; it stood on the North Cape of the Forostar (north region) and was second in height only to the Meneltarma.

Soronúmë ‘Eagle of the West’ (Q.) – One of the constellations made by Varda (Elbereth).

South Downs – A broad ridge of downland in Eriador, an eastern outlier of the Barrow-downs, which lay to the south of the Bree-land. The Great North Road passed between the two ranges of downs.

‘Southern Star’ – A highly-regarded brand of Pipe-weed grown in the Southfarthing of the Shire.

Southfarthing – One of the four quarters or ‘farthings’ of the Shire. The Southfarthing was the sunniest region of the Hobbit-land, and was rightly famous for its viticulture and its leaf-plantations.

South Ithilien – See ITHILIEN.

South-kingdom – GONDOR.

Southlinch – A variety of Pipe-weed grown in Bree, on the south slopes of Bree Hill. By all accounts this brand of weed, though acceptable, was inferior to varieties grown in the Southfarthing of the Shire.

‘Speaking-peoples’ – A name given in the lore of the early Elves to the articulate races of Middle-earth; by which the Elves meant those of the Free Peoples able to converse with Elvenkind. The ‘speaking-peoples’ were: Ents, Hobbits, Dwarves, Men and, of course, the Quendi (Elves) themselves.

Spies of the Valar – An epithet for the FAITHFUL or Elendili of Númenor, used only by the (heretical) royalists.

Spoken Tongues – The diagram below is intended to show, in as clear a manner as possible, the ancestry and development of the various languages used by Men and Elves of Middle-earth during the First, Second and Third Ages.

Springle-ring – A country dance common in the Shire.

Spring of Arda – The name given in the traditions of the Eldar to the epoch at the very beginning of time, after the making of Arda (the World), when the Valar dwelled in Almaren and the two Lamps, Illuin and Ormal, shone out over the face of the Earth, giving Light. During this vanished time the first plants began to grow, and the first beasts awoke and walked in the wild. But the Spring came to a sudden and shocking end, with the launching of war upon the Valar by Melkor. He overthrew the Lamps and Middle-earth was plunged a Darkness that was to endure until the Making of the Moon and Sun.

Staddle – A village of the Bree-land. It stood to the east of Bree village on the south-eastern slopes of Bree Hill, and was the main dwelling-place for the Little Folk (Hobbits) of the area.

Stair Falls – An ornamental waterfall over which the Sirannon (‘Gate-stream’) of Moria originally flowed, on its way down to the lowlands of eastern Eriador. When the stream was dammed during the later part of the Third Age, the water ceased to flow over the Stair Falls in any measurable quantity.

Standelf – A village of the Buckland, at the southern end of the trackway which ran northwards to meet the Great East Road near the Brandywine Bridge.

Standing Silence – A moment of ceremonial silence observed by the Dúnedain at the commencement of each meal. All who were to dine faced west, ‘towards Númenor that was, and beyond to Elvenhome that is, and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be’.11

Starkhorn – The name given in Rohan to a great peak of the northern White Mountains. The Starkhorn overlooked the (southern) head of Harrowdale valley.

Star of Elendil – A translation of the Quenya word ELENDILMIR.

Star of the Dúnedain – The rayed brooch that Aragorn II, Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North, wore on his cloak when he served Gondor as ‘Thorongil’ (‘Eagle of the Star’). He later presented it to Samwise Gamgee.

Star of the House of Fëanor – The heraldic emblem of the Noldorin Elves of Fëanor’s House. It was a Star of eight rays. An example may be found in the designs on the Westgate of Moria, which was etched by the hand of Celebrimbor of Eregion during the Second Age. Celebrimbor was Fëanor’s grandson.

Steelsheen – An admiring name given by the Rohirrim to the Lady Morwen of Lossarnach, wife of King Thengel of Rohan, mother of Théoden, and grandmother of Éowyn (who was said to have inherited her temperament from this noble lady).

Sterday – A later form of the word Sterrendei, which was the first day of the week in the Shire Reckoning, equivalent to Elenya (‘Stars’ day’) in Kings’ Reckoning and the Elven Calendar of Imladris.

Stewards of Gondor – The chief counsellors to the royal Line of Anárion in the South-kingdom of the Dúnedain. They were traditionally appointed by the King from among his close advisers, but after the middle years of the Third Age the Stewardship became hereditary and all subsequent Stewards of Gondor were afterwards chosen from among the descendants of Húrin of Emyn Arnen, who had been Steward to King Minardil (1621–34).

The waning of the Line of Anárion produced a corresponding strengthening of this hereditary Stewardship, and all holders of the Office after Pelendur, Steward to Ondoher and Eärnil II, received the Rod of Stewardship by virtue of being the eldest son. Pelendur was followed by Vorondil (the Hunter), and Vorondil by Mardil Voronwë, who officiated for both Eärnil and his son Eärnur. Mardil was later accounted the first of the RULING STEWARDS.

Stewards’ Reckoning – A calendar-system of the Dúnedain of Gondor, introduced by Mardil the Good Steward in the year 2060 Third Age to replace KINGS’ RECKONING. It was in essence the older system which had already been adopted piecemeal by most of the inhabitants of the Westron-speaking area, updated and adjusted in order to eradicate the accumulated deficits of five and a half millennia of the Númenorean calendar. Hador (seventh Ruling Steward) later added one day to the year 2360 to complete this adjustment process, but no further revisions were made during the Third Age. In the Fourth Age Stewards’ Reckoning was replaced in Gondor by the New Reckoning, which represented a return to the older Kings’ Reckoning adapted to begin the year in spring. Stewards’ Reckoning was the final form adopted by the Westron-speaking peoples during the Third Age (although the Shire- and Bree-dwellers continued to employ their idiosyncratic versions of the older system, together with their own nomenclature).

Sting – The name given by the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins to the short Elvish sword (or long Elvish knife) discovered by him in a Trolls’ hoard during an early adventure in the year 2941 Third Age. The weapon was forged by Elven-smiths of Gondolin during the First Age for the wars against Morgoth the Enemy, but fell into evil hands after that city was destroyed. The sword’s history throughout the Second and Third Ages is of course unknown, but one may surmise that it passed from hoard to hoard until it finally came to rest in a remote Troll-lair in eastern Eriador. The possessors of that hoard were slain by Gandalf the Grey, and shortly afterwards their intended victims were able to ransack the cave for wealth and weapons. Brought to light in the same cache were the Elf-swords Glamdring and Orcrist (borne afterwards by Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield of the Dwarves). Like all Elf-blades, Sting gleamed with a cold blue light if any servants of the Enemy were nigh at hand, and its cutting edge was sharper by far than any weapon made in later Ages. Bilbo used Sting many times during his adventure, and later passed the sword to Frodo, who bore it from Rivendell to the borders of Mordor. Samwise Gamgee bore it as far as the Cracks of Doom. After the War was over, Sting became an heirloom of the Gamgee family.

Stock – The chief village of the Marish in the Shire. It lay near the river Baranduin (Brandywine), between the Great East Road and the Bucklebury Ferry.

Stockbrook – A stream which arose in the Woody End of the Shire and flowed north-east to join the Baranduin a little way south of the village of Stock (after which it was presumably named).

Stock Road – A trackway which ran from the Great East Road near the Three-farthing Stone and bent south and east in a wide loop through the Green Hill Country and Woody End to the village of Stock in the Eastfarthing.

Stone of Erech – An enormous black spherical stone, some ten feet or so in diameter, which was said to have been brought to Middle-earth from Númenor in 3320 Second Age by Isildur, eldest son of Elendil the Tall. It was set by Isildur atop the ancient Hill of Erech in Morthond Vale as a symbol of the royalty of Gondor (and its kinship with ancient Númenor), and the Men of the White Mountains were required to swear fealty to the Dúnedain upon it. When the mountain-people later broke their Oath, it was to the Stone of Erech that they were summoned, a full Age afterwards, in order to fulfil their vow and so achieve rest at last.

Stone of the Hapless – See TOL MORWEN.

‘The Stone Troll’ – A comic verse composed by Samwise Gamgee. It has been preserved as part of Frodo Baggins’ narrative in the Red Book, and may also be found (No. 7) in the collection entitled The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

Stone-trolls – See TROLLS.

Stonewain Valley – A deep, hidden valley between Druadan Forest and the northern White Mountains. During the late Second Age it was used by Men of newly founded Gondor as a route between the quarries at Min-Rimmon and the cities of the Pelennor. In later years the quarries and the wagon-road fell into disuse, and were afterwards forgotten; and the forest drew a veil across the entrance once more. By the time of the War of the Ring, a full Age after the building of Gondor, only the ancient Wild Men of Druadan Forest knew of the existence of the forgotten wain-road through the mountains; and when they revealed this secret to the Riders of Rohan, the Rohirrim were able to use the Valley to outflank an army of foes which stood between them and the relief of besieged Minas Tirith.

Stoningland – A name given by the Riders of Rohan to the land of Gondor; Mundburg (‘Guardian-fortress’) was their name for the city of Minas Tirith.

Stoors – One of the three breeds or clans of Hobbits. The Stoors were larger and heavier in build than others of their race, and originated from the upper vales of Anduin, where they had once lived in close concord with the Men of that region of Wilderland. They were also the last Hobbit-tribe to leave those parts, eventually crossing the Misty Mountains westward in a great migration during the fourteenth century of the Third Age, after which they settled in Dunland or in the Angle between the rivers Hoarwell (Mitheithel) and Loudwater (Bruinen). But with the arising of the dread realm of Angmar the following century, a number of Stoors dwelling in the Angle re-crossed the Misty Mountains and went to dwell near the Gladden Fields. (A surviving family of this branch was still there a thousand years later; see SMÉAGOL-GOLLUM.)

In the meantime the Dunland Stoors remained where they were until shortly after the founding of the Shire (1601 Third Age), when they duly emigrated north-west to join their kinfolk west of the Baranduin. These latecomers settled mostly in the Eastfarthing, near the banks of the river, and later some of them re-crossed the Baranduin to dwell in the area known as Buckland (see OLDBUCKS). The Stoors brought to the Shire many traces of the Dunlending culture unconsciously absorbed during the years spent east of the Greyflood. In this way their cultural influences were closely akin to those of the Bree-men (themselves descended from ancestors of the Men of Dunland), who likewise migrated into central Eriador during the Third Age. Even by the time of the War of the Ring a certain ‘foreign’ quality of the Eastfarthing- and Buckland-hobbits was easily remarked by other Shire-dwellers.

Straight Road – The name given by Men, in the Third and later Ages, to the ancient route across the Sea into the Far West, by which Elves and those appointed could still make the journey to Valinor and Eressëa, even after the globing of the World.

(The) Strangers – MEN.

Strider – The nickname given by folk of Bree to the Ranger of Eriador known (to his own people) as ARAGORN II, sixteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North. See also TELCONTAR.

Strongbow – A translation of the Grey-elven name Cúthalion.

Stybba ‘Stubby’ – A pony of the Rohirrim, lent to Meriadoc Brandy-buck during the War of the Ring by King Théoden of Rohan.

Súle ‘Wind’ (Q.) – An alternative title for the Fëanorian Tengwa number 9 (normally known as thúle, ‘spirit’). The Sindarin equivalent was Sûl.

Súlimë ‘Windy’ (Q.) – The third month in both Kings’ and Stewards’ Reckoning, and the twelfth in the New Reckoning of the Fourth Age. Although this month-name was adopted by most of the folk in the Westron-speaking area during the Third Age, the Dúnedain, who had originally brought it to Middle-earth, used only the Sindarin equivalent Gwaeron. The Hobbit-name was Rethe.

Súlimo ‘Lord of Winds’ (Q.; literally ‘Lord of the Breath of Arda’) – See MANWË SÚLIMO.

Summerdays – The Bree-name for the period of midsummer known in the Shire as Lithe.

Sunday – The later form of the word Sunnendei, the Shire-word for the second day of the week. (It was equivalent to – and in origin a translation of – the Quenya word Anarya, ‘Sun’s-day’.)

Sunlending – The name given in Rohan to the province of Anórien in Gondor.

Sunless Year – The name given in traditions of the Eldar to the period of time between the death of the Two Trees and the raising of the Sun and Moon.

Sunnendei – See SUNDAY.

Súrion (Tar-Súrion) – From 1394–1556, ninth King of Númenor.

Súthburg ‘South-fortress’ – The first name given by the Rohirrim to the tower known, after the death of Helm Hammerhand, as the HORNBURG. It had originally been called Aglarond.

Sutherland – A translation of the Sindarin word Haradwaith.

Sûza – In the original (as opposed to translated) Hobbit-speech, the name given by Hobbits to the lands between the river Baranduin and the Tower Hills, the region of authority of their Thain, granted to them in perpetuity in 1600 Third Age (by King Argeleb II of Arthedain) and settled the following year. It has been translated from the Red Book as ‘the Shire’.

Swanfleet – See GLANDUIN.

Sweet Galenas – See PIPE-WEED.

Sword of Elendil – NARSIL.

Sword-that-was-broken – ANDÚRIL.