The Complete Tolkien Companion

Bag End – The ancestral dwelling of the well-to-do Hobbit family of Baggins, originally built into the Hill of Hobbiton by Bungo Baggins, father of Bilbo. It was the ‘manor-hole’ of the villages of Hobbiton and Bywater, and was rather more magnificent than common village smials. Its desirability caused great friction between Bilbo and his cousins, the Sackville-Bagginses: on one notable occasion he returned (in 2942 Third Age) from a long absence to find them actually in possession of the place, his death having been conveniently presumed. Rumours quickly spread around his neighbourhood that the tunnels of Bag End were stuffed with sacks of treasure. Needless to say, such stories were wild exaggerations of the (fairly) modest wealth Bilbo had earned as reward for his services to the Dwarves of Erebor. The luxurious hole was eventually sold to the persistent Sackville-Baggins by Frodo, Bilbo’s heir, before his own flight from the Shire in the year 3011. However, after his return the following year, Bag End once more became Frodo’s residence; and upon his final departure two years later, his entire estate, including his home, passed to Samwise Gamgee.

Baggins – An ancient family of repute in the Shire. There was said to be a strong Fallohidish strain in the Baggins clan – but Hobbits said this of all families (such as Tooks and Brandybucks) who were noted for ‘adventurous’ tendencies. The most illustrious members of this family were of course Bilbo and his heir Frodo.

Bagshot Row – A residential lane on the Hill of Hobbiton which ran alongside the Party Field. Number Three was the residence of Hamfast Gamgee and his son Samwise, gardeners to the Baggins family. Destroyed by the agents of Saruman during the War of the Ring, it was later restored as New Row (and old Hamfast to Number Three).

Bain son of Bard – From 2977–3007 Third Age, the second King of Dale, following the death of the Dragon Smaug and the rebuilding of that city at the feet of the Lonely Mountain. His father was Bard the Bowman, slayer of the Dragon.

Balan – See BËOR (THE OLD).

Balar – The great Bay of Balar lay in the south of Beleriand, forty-five leagues from cape to cape at its widest point. In the mouth of the bay lay a tiny islet, the Isle of Balar, said to be a remnant of the greater island of Tol Eressëa (removed to the Far West).

Balbo Baggins – An illustrious member of the Baggins family (of the Shire), wedded to Berylla Boffin. He was Bilbo’s great grandfather.

Balchoth ‘Horrible-horde’ (Sind.) – The name given in Gondor to a fierce clan of Easterlings who, in the latter part of the Third Age, forcibly occupied the wide realm of Rhovanion, south and east of Mirkwood. Princes of this land had traditionally been friendly with Gondor (Eldacar had been born there), but they were no match for the invading Balchoth, who were given to evil ways and wholly under the sway of the Dark Lord.

In 2510 they abandoned their petty pillaging of the lower vales of Anduin and crossed the River in strength to invade Calenardhon, the sparsely peopled northernmost province of Gondor. They were aided by Orcs and other fell creatures. During the ensuing battle, the northern army of Gondor was driven back in a desperate retreat and all seemed lost, when the horsemen of Éothéod suddenly charged from the North – in response to a belated plea for aid from Cirion, Ruling Steward of Gondor. The Riders routed the Easterlings and hunted them to the death across the fields of Calenardhon. In gratitude (and desire to have a strong ally to his north), Cirion ceded the province to the Men of Éothéod. In Gondor this new realm was then known as Rohan.

See also BATTLE OF THE FIELD OF CELEBRANT.

Baldor – The eldest son of Brego, second King of Rohan. Baldor’s rashness brought about both his father’s untimely end and his own lonely death. The Rohirrim, newly settled in the former province of Calenardhon, had chosen a green hill at the feet of the White Mountains on which to build the Kings’ Seat; this ‘Golden Hall’ was named Meduseld, and Brego held a great feast there to celebrate its completion. In front of the assembled company, Baldor then vowed to walk the PATHS OF THE DEAD. He duly passed the Dark Door in Dunharrow and was never seen again by any men of Rohan. His father died of grief the following year (2571 Third Age) and Baldor’s brother Aldor became king in his stead.

Balin son of Fundin – A noble Dwarf of the House of Durin and a lifelong follower of the Kings of Erebor. Gentle, though no less proud than others of his race, Balin nonetheless became a great warrior and adventurer of his day, fighting at the Battle of Azanulbizar (where his father Fundin fell). He was afterwards one of the companions of Thráin son of Thrór, and was journeying with him when Thráin was taken by the forces of Dol Guldûr (2845 Third Age) and afterwards slain. Balin then became a follower of Thráin’s son Thorin Oakenshield, and was one of the Thirteen Dwarves (and one Hobbit) who re-took Erebor from the Dragon Smaug, re-establishing the Dwarf-kingship ‘under the Mountain’. Some years later, Balin became restless with peace and luxury and resolved to lead an expedition to Moria, most ancient of all Dwarf-realms in Middle-earth and long lost to Dwarf-kind. The colony was exterminated in 2994, five years after Balin had declared himself ‘King of Moria’. He was entombed in the Chamber of Mazarbul.

Balrog ‘Demon-of-Power’ (Sind., from Q. Valarauka) – In their origins, as a part of the Thought of Ilúvatar, these were MAIAR of the following or service of Melkor, the mightiest of the Ainur. They had the form of spirits of fire. At the beginning of days they took service with Melkor, and were swiftly corrupted to his purposes, appearing everafter to Elves and Men as demonic beings of great size, fire-enshrouded, who bore, as their principal weapon, a whip of many thongs. Only the mightiest among the Eldar could hope to withstand them, for no ordinary weapons or warriors could harm or daunt these most dreadful of all Morgoth’s servants.

Gothmog their lord was finally slain by Ecthelion, Captain of Gondolin, in single combat in the courtyard before the King’s Tower, during the final stages of the sack of that Elven-city. The Balrogs took part in all the major assaults of Morgoth during the War of the Jewels, and were nearly all destroyed in the fall of Angband. Yet one at least survived the breaking of Thangorodrim and fled to the safest place it knew – the roots of the mountains.

And yet this hiding-place was not secure enough. In 1980 Third Age by mischance the Dwarves of Moria were delving deep under Caradhras for mithril and thus accidentally released the entombed Balrog, which slew two of their Kings: Durin VI and (the following year) his son Náin I. The Dwarves then fled from Moria, never to return while the Third Age lasted. Inside the dark halls of Khazâd-dûm the Balrog walked and even the Orcs feared its presence. It was finally destroyed by Mithrandir, at the cost of his own life.

Note: a curious early legend states that the name Gothmog, given to that ‘Lord of Balrogs’ who slew Fëanor at the Battle-under-Stars in the North (and many other of the Eldar besides), and was slain by Ecthelion, is derived from Kosomot (Q.), who is in turn named as the ‘son of Melkor’.1

Bamfurlong – A locality in the Shire, not far from Maggot’s Farm in the Marish of the Eastfarthing.

Ban – In original (as opposed to translated) Westron (the Common Speech) spoken by the Hobbits of the Third Age, the root banmeant ‘half’. Thus the Westron name for one of the Hobbit race was banakîl, ‘halfling’. The name Banazîr, ‘halfwise’, was the original Westron version of Samwise, as it is commonly translated from the Red Book.

Bandobras ‘Bullroarer’ Took – One of the tallest ‘Halflings’ in Shire-history and the most notable Hobbit up to the period of the War of the Ring. Being four feet five and able to ride a horse, this adventurous Took was given the admiring nickname of ‘Bullroarer’. He was also the first Hobbit in history to fight (and win) a battle: that which occurred at Greenfields in 2747 Third Age, after marauding Orcs led by Golfimbul of Mount Gram had invaded the Northfarthing. Bullroarer slew the leader and the remaining Orcs fled in dismay.

Banks – A common Hobbit-name, found in Bree and the Shire.

Ban of the Valar – A mighty prohibition laid upon the founders of Númenor (the Edain) by the Valar, Guardians of the World. While the Númenoreans were allowed to explore the Seas to the east of their island – and to return to Middle-earth – the Ban specifically restricted them from sailing westward out of sight of their own shores. This was to ensure that none of the (mortal) Edain ever reached the Undying Lands, which then lay within sight of keen-eyed watchers upon the Meneltarma, highest mountain in Númenor.

At first the Edain respected the Ban, confining their exploratory voyages to the eastern reaches of the Great Sea, including the shores of Middle-earth; but as their power grew, they became ever more jealous of the immortality of the Elves. Eventually the growing resentment of the Ban became a Númenorean obsession. The few remaining ‘Faithful’, who still followed the Eldar and used the Elvish tongues, were increasingly persecuted; while most of the Númenoreans continued to look westward with growing envy and yearning. In the end the proud and deranged King Ar-Pharazôn was seduced by Sauron into breaking the Ban – by carrying battle into the Western Seas, in an attempt to take immortal life from the Valar by force. As a result, the world was altered, the Seas devoured Númenor, and the Undying Lands were withdrawn for ever from all further temptation.

Barad-dûr ‘Dark Tower’ (Sind.) – The ancient fortress of Sauron’s might. It crouched upon a great south-pointing inner spur of the Ashy Mountains in Mordor, with its ‘towers and battlements, tall as hills, founded upon a mighty mountain-throne above immeasurable pits; great courts and dungeons; eyeless prisons sheer as cliffs, and gaping gates of steel and adamant.’2 First constructed early in the Second Age (and completed with the power of the Ring, which rendered its foundations impregnable), the Barad-dûr was incomparably the mightiest stronghold of the Age – and, when rebuilt, of the Age which followed. The Dark Tower was destroyed (for the first time) after a seven-year siege by the Army of the Last Alliance at the end of the Second Age. But its huge foundations, built with the power of the Ring, survived and could not be unmade. More than two thousand years later, Sauron, again arisen, secretly waited for many years in his lesser fortress of Dol Guldûr in Mirkwood while the Barad-dûr was raised once more. Finally, in 2951 Third Age, Orodruin burst once more into flame and the Dark Lord openly returned to the Dark Tower. At the end of the War of the Ring the Barad-dûr was thrown down for the second and final time, its foundations at last unmade by the annihilation of the Ruling Ring.

Note: called Lugbúrz (‘Dark Tower’) in the Black Speech.

Barad Eithel ‘Tower of the Well’ (Sind.) – A tower built on the borders of Ard-galen by Fingolfin son of Finwë, at the beginning of the wars against Morgoth; the chief stronghold of the neighbouring lands, Fingolfin’s kingdom of Mithrim and his son Fingon’s of Dor-lómin. The Barad Eithel was Fingon’s redoubt at the commencement of the Battle of Numberless Tears; the place outside whose walls the Elf Gelmir son of Guilin was deliberately and cruelly put to death in order to enrage the defenders of the Tower. The device succeeded, and Fingon sortied from Barad Eithel – to meet his death in the battle. The tower then came into the possession of Morgoth.

Barad Nimras ‘White Tower’ (Sind.) – A coastal fortress raised by Finrod son of Finarfin to guard the havens of Brithombar and Eglarest from the sea. It was an out-work of Nargothrond, Finrod’s kingdom, but garrisoned by Elves of the Falas, whose lord, Círdan, was an ally of Finrod’s. It was captured the year following the Battle of Unnumbered Tears by the armies of Angband, and thrown down.

Baragund – One of the Edain of the First House; the younger brother of Belegund, and son of Bregolas the brother of Barahir; Baragund was thus the cousin of Beren Erchamion. He was the father of Morwen Eledhwen, who wedded Húrin of the Third House. Together with all his clan, Baragund dwelled in Dorthonion, which this House of Men held in fief from the sons of Finarfin. But after the great defeat on Ard-galen, in the Battle of Sudden Flame, the northern kingdoms were for the most part swept away; and the Men of Dorthonion were nigh on annihilated. Only Barahir still held out, with twelve comrades, including both Baragund and Belegund and his own son Beren. Three years later, after many desperate adventures, the band of outlaws was betrayed by one of their number – GORLIM THE UNHAPPY – and all save one, including Baragund and his brother, were slain.

Barahir – A chieftain of the First House of the Edain; the father of Beren Erchamion. While he was still a boy, Barahir’s people removed from Estolad, which had been their first dwelling in Beleriand, to Ladros (Dorthonion), which they held in alliance with the Noldor. But after a while Morgoth unleashed war upon the Eldar and the Edain and in the Battle of Sudden Flame overthrew the siege upon his land. Dorthonion was overrun, and the Elves were driven back. In that battle Barahir saved the life of the Elven-king Finrod, and as a reward Finrod gave him his ring, with pledges of friendship to Barahir’s House and kin. Three years afterwards Barahir, who with twelve faithful companions was all that remained of the Edain of Dorthonion, was slain in an ambush. Of the twelve, only his son, Beren, survived.

Also, from 2395–2412 Third Age, the name of the eighth Ruling Steward of Gondor.

Finally, the name of a Prince of Ithilien in the Fourth Age. Like his grandfather Faramir, this latest Barahir had scholarly interests, and the ‘Tale of Aragorn and Arwen’ is ascribed to his composition.

Baran (of Estolad) – The elder son of Bëor of the Edain; he assumed the chieftainship of the First House following his father’s departure to take service with Finrod Felagund.

Baranduin ‘Golden-brown-[long] River’ (Sind.) – The Grey-elves’ name for one of the three principal rivers of Eriador. The Hobbits of the Shire knew it as the Brandywine (orig. Bralda-hîm, ‘Heady-ale’, more formally Branda-nîn, ‘Border-water’). The Baranduin long served as a natural eastward defence of the Shire; so far as the Hobbits knew, it was crossable at only one point: the Bridge of Stonebows at the north end of the Buckland. This arched bridge, built in the early years of the North-kingdom to speed the King’s messengers between east and west, was known to the Hobbits as the Brandywine Bridge.

The lesser river Withywindle (‘Winding-willow-river’) flowed into the Baranduin at the southerly edge of the Buckland; from here the enlarged river passed into the Overbourn marshes and then out of knowledge of the Hobbits at Sarn Ford. It eventually reached the Sea in a great estuary south of Harlindon.

Barazinbar – The Dwarvish (Khuzdul) name for the great peak of the Misty Mountains known to Men as the Redhorn and to Elves as Caradhras. It was the most northerly of the three mountains under which lay the vast and ancient Dwarf-kingdom of Khazâd-dûm – and under Barazinbar itself lay the fabulous mithril mother-lode. For many reasons, the exiled Dwarves of Moria were only too familiar with the cruel profile of the mountain.

Bard (I) of Esgaroth – From 2941–77 Third Age, King of Dale; otherwise known as Bard the Bowman, for his deed of slaying the great dragon Smaug when it attacked the lake-town of Esgaroth (in 2941). Bard subsequently led an army to the Lonely Mountain (Erebor), in alliance with Elves of Mirkwood, to exact compensation from the Dwarf-expedition which had stirred up the Dragon in the first place. A disastrous confrontation with the Dwarves was avoided by the timely arrival of an enemy hostile to all: the Goblins of the North. Bard’s forces helped secure a victory against these Orcs in the ensuing Battle of Five Armies, after which he rebuilt Dale and became its first King since Girion. His son Bain ruled after him.

Bard II – The son of Brand son of Bain, and thus the great-grandson of Bard the Bowman. He was the fourth King of Dale restored. After his father fell in battle at the doors of Erebor during the War of the Ring, Bard jointly led the combined forces of Men and Dwarves which raised the siege of the Lonely Mountain and drove the Easterlings away.

Bardings (from Bardingas ‘Sons-of-Bard’) – The followers of King Bard (‘the Bowman’) of Esgaroth and his descendants; Men of Dale.

Bar-en-Danwedh ‘House of Ransom’ (Sind.) – The bitter name given to his own dwellings upon Amon Rûdh by the Dwarf Mîm, after his capture by Túrin Turambar.

Bar-en-Nibin-Noeg ‘House of the Petty-Dwarves’ (Sind.) – The name of Mîm’s house on Amon Rûdh before his capture by Túrin.

Bar-erib – One of the strongholds used by Túrin’s band during the campaign of Dor Cúarthol.

Barliman Butterbur – During the time of the War of the Ring, the innkeeper of The Prancing Pony, chief hostelry of the Bree-land. His family had owned and run this important inn for generations.

Barrow-downs – A range of low, grey-green hills lying east of the Shire, between the Old Forest and Bree. A region of dread to Shire- and Bree-dwellers alike – and rightly so – they were also the site of the most ancient memorials to Men of Middle-earth, having been occupied by the ancestors of the Edain, before this people crossed the Blue Mountains into Beleriand during the First Age. The hills were crowned with old stone circles, isolated dolmens and numerous ‘barrows’, or stone-chambered burial-mounds, where the early Men had buried their noble dead. Their remote descendants, the Dúnedain of Arnor, therefore revered (and feared) the barrows, which they knew as Tyrn Gorthad, ‘Mounds-of-Dread’; later princes of Arthedain and Cardolan inhumed their own royal dead there in similar mounds. But after the final fall of the North-kingdom, evil spirits from faraway Angmar entered the mounds and animated the dead. These ‘Barrow-wights’ walked in the hollow places among the stone-rings and the Downs became more than ever a place of fear to those of nearby lands.

Barrowfield – The burial-field which flanked the main road on the approaches to Edoras, the chief city of Rohan. There, all the Kings of the Mark were buried, together with their royal accoutrements, in long ‘barrows’ or grave-mounds. The First Line (of nine Kings from Eorl the Young to Helm Hammerhand), were inhumated in a row of nine mounds on the west of the road; the Second Line, beginning with the barrow of Fréaláf Hildeson, stood to the east. There were seventeen mounds raised altogether during the Third Age.

Barrow-wights – According to ancient Mannish belief, certain evil spirits who possessed the power to inhabit and animate the bodies of the dead. See also BARROW-DOWNS.

Battle of Azanulbizar (2799 Third Age) – Also known as the Battle of Nanduhirion. One of the great battles of the Third Age: a decisive and exceptionally sanguinary confrontation between traditional enemies, and the conclusive battle of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs.

Losses on both side were heavy for, although the Dwarves had righteous anger and superb weaponry on their side, the sky was cloudy and no sun appeared to hinder the light-hating Orcs of AZOG, gathered in ranks on the slopes above the ancient gates of the Dwarf-realm. The warriors of Thráin, Thrór’s son, charged repeatedly, but their initial assaults were repulsed with great loss. Indeed, many of the mighty among them had fallen before – almost too late – reinforcements finally arrived, from the Iron Hills. These were led by Náin, son of Grór. Náin was killed by Azog, but his own son Dáin (Ironfoot) slew the great Goblin and hewed off his head. The few surviving Orcs fled southwards.

The numbers of Dwarf-dead were almost beyond counting; and much to their grief (for it went against custom), the Dwarves were forced to heap the bodies of their fallen and burn them in a great fire, rather than leave them to wolf and worse. Accordingly, in Dwarf-lore, a ‘Burned Dwarf’ was one of those warriors who fell at Azanulbizar. They were greatly honoured in memory.

Battle of Bywater (November 3rd, 1419 Shire Reckoning/3019 Third Age) – The final battle of the War of the Ring, in which the agents of Saruman were defeated and driven out of the Shire by a Hobbit-force led by Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, and the first to be fought in the Shire for nearly three hundred years.

Battle of Dagorlad (3434 Second Age) – The greatest battle of the Second Age, in which the forces of Sauron the Great were put to flight or utterly destroyed by the Last Alliance of Elves (led by Gilgalad son of Fingon) and Men (led by Elendil the Tall). It was a stupendous conflict: even a full Age later, the area north of the Black Gate was still widely known as ‘Battle Plain’. The many graves of Men, Elves and Orcs there were eventually swallowed up by marshland.

After the victory of Dagorlad, the armies of the Last Alliance passed through the Black Gate, entered Mordor and laid siege to the Barad-dûr for seven years – before Sauron finally emerged to be overthrown, in a deadly combat which cost the lives of both Gilgalad and Elendil.

Battle of Dale (3019 Third Age) – More properly, the second Battle of Dale (the first being known as the Battle of Five Armies), in which Men of Dale and Dwarves of Erebor were initially defeated by Easterlings of Sauron’s rule. Kings Dáin Ironfoot of Erebor and Brand of Dale were both slain; but their forces withstood the siege that followed – and their sons, Thorin (III) Stonehelm and Bard II, later drove the attackers away from Dale, which was subsequently rebuilt.

Battle of Five Armies (2941 Third Age) – Sometimes referred to as the first Battle of Dale. Its more popular name stems from the fact that no less than five separate armies participated, though not, of course, on five separate sides. The Five Armies were: Elves, led by Thranduil of Mirkwood; Men, led by Bard of Esgaroth; Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield and Dáin Ironfoot; a Goblin-host, led by Bolg son of Azog; and a Wolf-horde which marched with the Orcs to plunder Erebor.

Having disturbed the dragon Smaug from his long sleep in the gutted halls of Erebor, the thirteen Dwarves of Thorin’s party were able, in the Worm’s absence, to re-enter the Lonely Mountain and take possession of its vast wealth. In the meantime, Smaug, angry with the lake-dwellers of Esgaroth for aiding the Dwarves, flew south to raze and burn their town; but was slain by Bard the Bowman, descendant of kings. Gathering the surviving Lake-men together, Bard then promptly marched north to Erebor to demand compensation for damage to the lake-town (and a reward for slaying the Dragon). His Men were soon joined by an Elf-host of Mirkwood, with other grievances against the Dwarves. But Thorin – who now called himself Thorin II – had secretly sent to the Iron Hills for aid: and he refused to parley with these armies at his Gate, biding his time till Dáin Ironfoot’s forces arrived; as he knew they would, after hearing of his need (not to mention the unguarded wealth of Erebor). The Dwarves of the Iron Hills duly appeared and all seemed set for a tragic battle between the three armies when suddenly, from the North, appeared a vast Goblin-host in alliance with an army of Wolves. The Orcs had also heard of the death of the Dragon and had come to sack the Mountain. In the face of this new threat, Elves, Men and both Dwarf-forces joined together in a desperate alliance – and finally, with the aid of the Eagles and of Beorn the skin-changer, the Orcs and Wargs were defeated.

King Thorin II Oakenshield was mortally wounded and later buried with the Arkenstone on his breast and the elf-sword Orcrist at his side; his kinsman, Dáin Ironfoot, then became King under the Mountain. Less haughty than Thorin, he wisely gave the Men and Elves their just compensations and became a great and wise King, finally falling in the (second) Battle of Dale (3019 Third Age).

Battle of Fornost (1974 Third Age) – The final battle of the Dúnedain and their allies against Angmar, in which the Elven forces of Círdan (of Lindon) and the host of Eärnur of Gondor defeated the Witch-king of Cam Dûm, destroying his army and the power of Angmar for ever. This victory was, however, too late to save King ARVEDUI or his kingdom of ARTHEDAIN.

Eärnur of Gondor was the son of King Eärnil, who had already promised to send to the aid of Arvedui if and when he could. So when word finally reached Eärnil that the Witch-king was about to assail Arthedain for the last time, the King kept his word – but before Gondor’s expeditionary force could reach the North-kingdom, Arvedui had been defeated and was dead. Nonetheless, Eärnur’s army arrived in due course at Lindon, where Círdan then assembled a host of Elves, together with the surviving Dúnedain of the North. When ready, this force crossed the Blue Mountains and marched east into Eriador. By this time, however, the Witch-king was already in occupation of Arthedain’s chief city, Fornost Erain. When he advanced contemptuously to meet these new foes, the cavalry of Gondor circled round the Hills of Evendim to his north and fell upon his right flank. Frantically fleeing east and north, the retreating forces of Angmar were then attacked simultaneously by the pursuing cavalry and, simultaneously, by another host of Elves from Rivendell, led by Glorfindel. In this way, the forces of Angmar were so thoroughly routed that none of them survived. Angmar never arose again and the Witch-king was driven from the North.

Battle of Greenfields (2747 Third Age) – See BANDOBRAS ‘BULLROARER’ TOOK.

Battle of Sudden Flame – A translation of Dagor Bragollach (Sind.); a title applied to the Fourth Battle of Beleriand, in which Morgoth overthrew the Siege of Angband, slaying Fingolfin the High King and overrunning many leagues of territory. It took place in the 455th Year of the Sun, and was the foreshadow of the still greater defeats to follow. The name of the Battle refers to the unusual stratagem employed by Morgoth to wreak confusion amongst his foes: his first onslaught took the form of a great outpouring of fume and fire from Angband, which kindled the grass of Ard-galen and set the North literally ablaze. (Ard-galen was afterwards called Anfauglith, the Gasping Dust.)

Battle of the Camp (1944 Third Age) – One of the many battles fought in defence of the realm of Gondor, after the waning of its power had led to repeated assaults from EASTERLINGS. The latest of these invaders, a confederation known as Wainriders, had already been waging war with Gondor for almost a century by the year 1944. Then King Ondoher fell in battle with them north of the Black Gate, and the northern wing of the Wainriders streamed into Ithilien (the lands of Gondor between the Great River and the Mountains of Shadow). There, believing Gondor defeated, they camped and feasted, before preparing to despoil the lands across the River, where Minas Anor lay virtually defenceless. But unknown to their chiefs the Captain of the Southern Army of Gondor, Eärnil, had meanwhile defeated the Haradrim, the Wainriders’ southern allies. Force-marching north, Eärnil came against the camp where the Wainriders were revelling, and easily routed them. They were driven north in confusion and terror, and many of them were engulfed in the Dead Marshes.

As a reward for this victory, Pelendur, Steward of Gondor, offered the crown of Ondoher to Eärnil (although it had already been claimed by ARVEDUI of Arthedain). Eärnil accepted and became as great a ruler as he had been a warrior. He was not to know that his was the last line of Kings to be founded in Gondor while the Third Age lasted.

Battle of the Crossings of Erui (1447 Third Age) – The decisive battle of Gondor’s civil war, the Kin-strife, in which the hitherto-deposed King, Eldacar, defeated the forces of the usurper Castamir in a great fight at the fords of the river Erui, in Lebennin. Much of the valour of Gondor perished on that day, but Castamir also died at Eldacar’s own hand, and the rightful Line was thus restored. However, the sons of Castamir escaped the disaster and later came to Umbar, where they established a lordship independent of Gondor; for ever after the Corsairs of Umbar were a peril to Gondor and a constant menace to her coastal provinces.

Battle of the Crossings of Poros (2885 Third Age) – This crucial victory by the armies of Gondor against her ancient foes, the Haradrim of the South, was won with the timely aid of new-found allies, the Riders of Rohan. Folcwine of the Mark thus fulfilled the OATH OF EORL; though his twin sons, Fastred and Folcred, were slain in the battle. They were buried together upon the shores of the river Poros in a single mound.

Battle of the Field of Celebrant (2510 Third Age) – An historic battle of Gondor, in which near defeat at the hands of an implacable enemy was exchanged for an overwhelming victory and a new ally. When a massive invasion of the BALCHOTH suddenly crossed the river Anduin in 2510, Cirion, twelfth Ruling Steward of Gondor, quickly moved to deploy his Northern Army into the area. But as this force marched up from the south, it was cut off, and pushed north in disarray over the river Limlight. There, it was assaulted by a host of Orcs of the Mountains and forced towards the Anduin. All hope seemed lost when the sound of ‘great horns of the North wildly blowing’ was first heard in Gondor. Eorl the Young, of Éothéod, had answered an earlier summons for aid, late though it seemed. Seven thousand of his Riders broke like a storm on the flanks and rear of the Balchoth and harried them to destruction across the plains of Calenardhon, the northern province of Gondor they had so often raided prior to this invasion. As a reward to Eorl and his people, Cirion ceded them this sparsely peopled region; they re-named it the Riddermark, ‘Mark-of-the-Riders’ (although it became known in Gondor as Rohan).3

Battle of the Gladden Fields (Year 2, Third Age) – Following hard on the heels of the great victories at the end of the Second Age, when the Barad-dûr was cast down and Sauron overthrown, came this military disaster, where much of the royal blood of Arnor was spilled. Isildur, the only surviving son of Elendil, was marching north to take up the High-kingship of both Gondor and Arnor, having spent the two previous years in Gondor, instructing his nephew Meneldil, Anárion’s son, in kingship. His party, which included his three eldest sons (the youngest Valandil had remained in Rivendell) was ambushed on the banks of the Anduin south of the river Gladden by a multitude of Orcs of the Mountains. When all was lost, Isildur jumped into the Great River, hoping to swim to safety, for the Ring on his finger had the power of rendering him invisible. And so he might have escaped – had not the Ring slipped from his finger, betraying him to the Orcs, who then saw him and killed him with arrows. The Great Ring then sank into the mud at the river-bottom, to lie undiscovered for more than two thousand years. Isildur’s body was never found.4

Battle of the Gwathló (1700 Second Age) – The turning-point of the War of the Elves and Sauron, in which the Dark Lord, on the brink of victory over Gil-Galad and the Elves of Lindon, was heavily defeated when a large force from Númenor intervened on the side of the beleaguered Eldar. Routed first of all in open battle at Sarn Ford (on the Baranduin), Sauron’s retreating army of Eriador was then taken in flank and rear by a further force of heavy Númenorean infantry landed from ships at the old harbour of Vinyalondë, at the mouth of the Gwathló (Greyflood). He was driven back to Mordor; but the Elves had survived only with the help of the Dúnedain, and Eriador had been devastated.

Battle of the Hornburg (3019 Third Age) – Sometimes called the Battle of Helm’s Deep, for this great clash of arms of the War of the Ring took place beneath and on the walls of that fortified place in Western Rohan known by the latter name. Helm’s Deep – a narrow glen leading into the eastern faces of the White Mountains – was sealed off by the Deeping Wall, twenty feet high. On the south side the Deeping Tower stood tall; but the strongest of the bastions guarding the deep was against the northern wall: the Hornburg. It was held by King Théoden and his men throughout the battle, and from it was launched the dawn sortie which overthrew the siege.

Already weakened by internal subversion and treachery, Rohan was increasingly pinned between the rival powers of Mordor and the traitor Saruman, both inexorable foes. The more immediate threat came from the nearer neighbour: Isengard, fortress of Saruman the White, who, in his eagerness to destroy the power of the Riders and so extend his own dominion east and south, struck too soon. Saruman’s first invasion came in February 3019, when his armies of Orcs and Dunlendings attempted to force the Fords of Isen, the river which bordered the Rohan’s Westfold province. At that time his forces were driven back, but the Rohirrim themselves suffered great losses, including King Théoden’s only son Théodred. Early in March Saruman again struck at the Fords – and this time the defenders, now led by Erkenbrand lord of Westfold, were beaten and scattered in the darkness. The Army of Isengard flooded into Westfold Vale, bringing fire and razing the countryside as it advanced south with terrible speed.

Earlier that same day a powerful force of Riders of the Mark, led by the aged King Théoden himself, had set out from Edoras, many leagues to the east, for the purpose of reinforcing Erkenbrand. This force was still urgently westbound late on the following day when news came of the defeat at the Isen. On Gandalf’s advice, Théoden’s squadrons then turned aside and rode for Helm’s Gate, a fortress of Rohan which lay in the northern vales of the White Mountains, some thirty leagues south of Isengard. It was the strongest place in all Rohan (save Dunharrow), and accordingly Théoden hoped to gather there all that survived of the Westfoldmen and so withstand a siege. But although he indeed found a number of defenders already on the walls and in the Hornburg, the invading army that now followed him was numerous and ferocious beyond expectation.

By midnight the enemy had captured the outer fortifications, and the Orcs and Dunlendings began their fierce and repeated attempts to storm the Deeping Wall and its two embattled towers. So great were their numbers that they thought nothing of their losses. The Isengarders also carried devilish devices, and shortly before dawn they used a ‘blasting-fire’ to breach the Deeping Wall and to carry it by assault. The defenders were swept away – or back into the Deep itself – and the Deeping Tower fell to the enemy. Most of the Rohirrim and their allies had meanwhile retreated to the Hornburg, and there they now awaited the dawn, for it was believed that all Orcs feared the Sun and fought less well under its light (though actually the Uruk-hai of Isengard were not much handicapped in this way, and the Men of Dunland were not affected at all).

In any case, not even the Hornburg could long be held against the strength still arrayed outside its gates. Therefore, preferring to risk all in a final sortie, King Théoden chose to await the first rays of the Sun and then ride forth in a great charge. On his order, simultaneously, the great Horn of Helm rang out from the Tower, echoing and re-echoing in the chasm behind the Wall. The Isengarders were overthrown by this sudden sortie, and the Riders charged down the ramp and clove through them to reach the Dike. Behind them came the defenders of the caves in the Deep (whence many had fled when the Deeping Wall was taken), driving their enemies before them.

And so the invaders found their siege broken and their assault brought to nothing; for the sortie utterly confused them, and the light of the Sun discomfited them, and above all they feared the ghostly horns which echoed without ceasing in their ears. In a state of complete rout, the Isengarders scrambled across the Dike in an attempt to reach the open coomb where they might again have the advantage; for they were still a great army. But during the night, Erkenbrand of Westfold had force-marched across the Vale and the foothills, together with all the survivors of the second battle at the Isen; and he too now appeared on the north wall of the coomb, his forces extended in open skirmishing order. With Erkenbrand was Gandalf, mounted upon Shadowfax. And across the coomb, barring all escape, lay a great and sinister forest which had seemingly sprung up in the hours of darkness: rank upon rank of silent, watching trees, their roots buried deep in the grass, waiting.

These were the HUORNS, the sentient trees of Fangorn Forest, who had crossed the Westfold Vale during the night, having been sent to the aid of Rohan by Treebeard. These strange creatures hated Orcs and desired to be revenged for many atrocities committed by the Isengarders in Fangorn during previous years.

Thus the Orcs were menaced on three separate sides, and the final charge of the Rohirrim completed their destruction. For, rather than face the spears of the Riders, they fled in panic under the shadow of the trees; there they died, caught and strangled one by one. So perished most of the Army of Saruman.

The victory of the Hornburg had a further effect: by eliminating the threat from Isengard it freed the majority of the Rohirrim to ride to the aid of their ally Gondor, also in great straits. In this way the Battle of the Hornburg came to be accounted one of the great clashes of the War of the Ring, second in scale only to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, which took place a short time afterwards.

Battle of the Pelennor Fields (3019 Third Age) – The greatest battle of the Third Age, in which Sauron’s first and most powerful assault, against Minas Tirith, was defeated against all odds, with great loss to the Dark Power, not least that of his Black Captain, the Lord of the Ringwraiths.

The chief defence of Minas Tirith lay in its walls and great gate. In addition, the farmlands around the city – the Fields of Pelennor – were further fortified, though the military value of these fortifications may be doubted. Begun by Steward Ecthelion II some eighty years before the War of the Ring, this outer defence consisted of a great perimeter wall some thirty miles in circumference, called the Rammas, with a pair of bastions covering the point where the main road out of the City ran along a causeway through Osgiliath and across the River. By the time of the War, the forces of Gondor were grown too few to defend this immensely long perimeter with any hope of success; and Sauron’s first assault carried his armies directly across the River, through Osgiliath, and – despite the heroic efforts of the defenders of the Causeway Forts – through the Rammas at many points and into the Fields of the Pelennor. Those who manned the forts and the wall were forced, therefore, to make a speedy retreat across some ten miles of open land to the safety of the city. This withdrawal, covered by Faramir’s rearguard, was supported by a sortie from Minas Tirith, with the entire remaining strength of Gondor’s cavalry thrown in to prevent the enemy overrunning the retiring defenders [see Drawing 1].

Nightfall found the city of Minas Tirith besieged on three sides by the army of Minas Morgul, first finger of the Hand of Sauron. For two nights and one dark day, the enemy remained just outside the city walls, digging fire-pits and bringing up great siege engines to test the defences with a gruesome and demoralising hail. Finally, just before dawn on the third day of the Siege, they brought forward the great battering-ram Grond (named after the Mace of Morgoth). Wielded by Trolls and shielded by Orc-archers, this weapon soon demolished the City Gate, and the Lord of the Nazgûl, mounted on a huge black horse, prepared to enter where no enemy had ever passed before.

At this point the Battle of the Pelennor Fields began. Hardly had the Black Captain reached the Gate when, from the north, came the sound that no one, defender or besieger alike, had expected to hear: the battle-horns of Rohan. By a strategem, the Rohirrim had avoided the forces of Sauron stationed to block their advance, and were even then breaking on the northern flank of the besiegers like surf upon a ridge of black sand. Sweeping all before them, the Riders soon cleared the entire northern half of the Pelennor [Drawing 2], cramming the enemy to the south of the Causeway Road. Théoden’s cavalry scattered the Orcs, drove the guards of the warengines into the fire-pits and routed the Southron horsemen.

Yet events might still have gone badly for Gondor. Théoden of Rohan had fallen at the climax of his great charge, and in their subsequent fierce onset, the Rohirrim had not kept a broad front but had penetrated in wedges, leaving great areas unfought, especially around the individual war-beasts of Harad. The forces of Morgul, now led by Gothmog (the Black Captain had been slain and Théoden avenged), were preparing their counter-attack when, to the dismay of Gondor and Rohan, black sails were sighted upon the Anduin, heading for the Harlond landings. But the ships that bore the black sails were filled with fresh forces from Lebennin and the southern fiefs, led by Aragorn, the Heir of Isildur.

And so the forces of Morgul were caught between the Wall, the City, the River and the Rohirrim [Drawing 3]. The Rohirrim, now largely unhorsed, continued to cut their way south; the men of Lebennin with Aragorn at their head strode north; and a sortie from Minas Tirith charged east. Only to the River could the forces of Sauron flee – and there they fought and died, or perished in the waters.

Battle of the Plains (1856 Third Age) – The disastrous battle fought against the invading Wainriders by the Men of Rhovanion assisted by Narmacil II of Gondor. The Wainriders were victorious and swept into Rhovanion. Narmacil was slain and the Northmen either fled or were enslaved.

Battle of the Powers – The third of the Wars of Arda, in which the Valar, after many ages during which they had not contested the rule of Mortal Lands with Melkor the evil Ainu (Morgoth as he was afterwards named), came swiftly back and overthrew him for the sake of the Quendi (the Elves), who had at last awoken in Middle-earth and were in peril.

It is said in the traditions of the Elves (who actually remembered little or nothing of that battle) that the first of Melkor’s strongholds to be destroyed was his north-western fastness of Angband, then newly built and commanded by Sauron, a Maia and a servant of Melkor. Then the Valar pressed forward to besiege Utumno, Melkor’s older and greater stronghold. For several years this siege continued; and in the tumults the shape of the northern lands was changed – not for the first time, nor the last. Eventually Utumno was broken for ever and Melkor was taken, a prisoner, back to Valinor, there to be incarcerated in the Halls of Mandos for a period of three Ages.

Battle of Unnumbered Tears – A translation of the Sindarin Nirnaeth Arnoediad, being the name given in the traditions of the Eldar and the Edain to the Fifth and final Battle of Beleriand, in which Morgoth the Enemy finally and for ever overthrew the Elf-kingdoms and the realms of Men, making himself, finally and incontestably, Master of Middle-earth. It took place in the 470th Year of the Sun, and was the greatest defeat ever suffered by Elves or Men in their long wars against Morgoth or Sauron. Among the slain were: Fingon the High King, son of Fingolfin the son of Finwë (the first to die because of the Silmarils); Azaghâl the Dwarf-king of Belegost, defeater of the Dragon Glaurung; Huor of the Edain, together with most of the Men of Dor-lómin; and many more besides. All the Elves of Mithrim were slain. Only Turgon King of Gondolin – now High King of the Noldor – escaped, with most of his people. Morgoth’s victory was now all but complete. Nowhere in Middle-earth, save in Doriath, Gondolin and Nargothrond, were there realms or organised peoples to withstand him; but Thingol of Doriath took little part in this war (though despite his renunciation of the works of the Noldor he was enmeshed in their destruction before the end), and Morgoth’s armies swept where they would throughout Beleriand. Nargothrond and Gondolin fell. The War of the Jewels was over. What little hope remained now lay in the West.

Battle Pit – The mass grave for those ruffians of Saruman who perished at the BATTLE OF BYWATER. It had previously been a sandpit.

Battle Plain – A translation of the Sindarin word Dagorlad.

Battles of Beleriand – The name given in the lore of the Eldar and the Edain to the five great battles fought against Morgoth the Enemy in the War of the Great Jewels during the First Age of Middle-earth. The first three of these were won by the Eldar; the last two were decisive victories for Morgoth, and cost the Elves the war.

The First Battle took place in the Dark Year, after the flight of Morgoth to Middle-earth, but before the rising of the Moon or Sun. Seeking to eliminate the Grey-elves from Beleriand, Morgoth sent out two great hosts, one hunting south-west, the other south-east. For months they swept all before them. But Thingol had sent to Ossiriand for help, and the Elves of Doriath and Ossiriand fought a great battle against the Orcs in East Beleriand, and crushed them; though DENETHOR of Ossiriand was slain. However the western battle was lost by the Sindar, and the Elves of the Havens were driven to the edge of the Sea. Thingol strengthened Doriath in expectation of more battles to come, but before either side could make further moves the northern sky was lit by a great burning: Fëanor and the High-elves of his House had returned to Middle-earth to regain the Silmarils. Thingol took no further direct part in the War.

The Second Battle is called the ‘Battle-Under-Stars’, the Dagornuin-Giliath, for it was fought directly after the First Battle; while the Moon had not yet appeared in the skies of Middle-earth. Fëanor, having landed at Losgar (and burned his ships), swiftly occupied Mithrim; where his encampment was attacked by Orcs from Angband. They were heavily defeated, and the Noldor pursued them northwards, as far as the gates of Angband. Fëanor, who was leading the pursuit, was mortally wounded by Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs of Angband. Nevertheless it was accounted a victory for the Eldar.

The Third Battle is named Dagor Aglareb, the ‘Glorious Battle’; it was fought in the 60th Year of the Sun. As its name implies, it was an overwhelming victory for the Eldar. A sudden assault from Angband was contained and trapped north of Dorthonion, on the plains of Ard-galen; and not an Orc of that army ever returned to Morgoth’s domain. This was the last and greatest of the victories won by the Eldar; and it was followed by the Long Peace, which lasted for four hundred years.

The Fourth Battle was the ‘Battle of Sudden Flame’, the Dagor Bragollach. Long years of peace had lulled the Eldar – now reinforced by new allies, the Edain – into a false sense of security. In the Year of the Sun 455 Morgoth took advantage of this by unleashing all his might in one crushing blow. The advance of his armies was aided by rivers of fire which ran ahead of them and kindled the plain of Ard-galen, and even the north- and eastward-facing slopes of the mountain ramparts of Mithrim and Dorthonion. Ard-galen was transformed into a charred desert; and the Siege of Angband was overthrown. Many of the realms opposed to Morgoth were swept away; and hereafter the survivors were on the defensive. It was too late, moreover, for the Eldar and Edain to reverse the momentum of their fortunes.

Fifteen years after the Dagor Bragollach came the fifth and last Battle of Beleriand, which the Elves called Nirnaeth Arnoediad, ‘Unnumbered Tears’, or the Day of Lamentation. It is not called a battle. Morgoth was utterly victorious and the Elf-kingdoms and the realms of Men were extinguished. And yet it had been intended to be a victory for the Eldar; indeed, the day was planned to begin with the enemies of Morgoth manoeuvring on the plains of Anfauglith (Ard-galen), in order to decoy Morgoth into a trap. But Morgoth was fully informed of their intentions (by ULDOR THE ACCURSED), and himself sprang his enemies’ snare, before they were ready. Treachery within the ranks of the allies nullified their abundant heroism; and Fingon, High King, was slain. Only the host of Gondolin made a successful retreat from that field. The last military hope of the Elves and the Edain was destroyed for ever. Henceforward Morgoth was Lord of Middle-earth. The War of the Great Jewels had been fought – and lost.

Battles of the Fords of Isen (3019 Third Age) – Two fierce clashes, only days apart, which took place during the War of the Ring between the Rohirrim of Westfold and the armies of Saruman the White, lord of Isengard. Both battles were fought at the strategic Fords of Isen, chief crossing-point into Rohan from the north. The first occurred on February 25th, when Théodred, son of King Théoden and Second Marshal of the Mark, was slain – although the Rohirrim were rallied by Erkenbrand, lord of Westfold, and the Isengarders were held at the river. Nevertheless, the Orcs and Wild Men attacked again, on March 2nd, and in the torrent Erkenbrand was swept away. The Army of Isengard poured into Rohan, but was afterwards crushed before the walls of Helm’s Deep.5

Battle-Under-Stars – A translation of Dagor-nuin-Giliath; see BATTLES OF BELERIAND.

Bauglir ‘The Gaoler’ (Sind.) – One of the names given to Morgoth by the Elves of Middle-earth.

Bay of Belfalas – ‘The Windy Bay of Bel’, greatest bay in western Middle-earth, lying between Cape Andrast and Umbar.

Bay of Eldanna – The westernmost and most beautiful bay in Númenor, directly facing Tol Eressëa in the West. It lay between the cape-provinces of Andustar and Hyarnustar, and its chief port was ELDALONDË THE GREEN.

Beacon-hills – From time immemorial Gondor used every means of communication available to her in order to safeguard and unite the realm. The most useful aids were, of course, the palantíri, the Seeing-stones of Númenor. But with the waning of the Third Age, many of these Stones were lost, and Gondor was forced to revive older, more primitive means of swift communication with her provinces and allies. The chain of seven hills in the eastern range of the White Mountains, running through the province of Anórien from Minas Tirith to the Firienwood on the borders of Rohan, might have been placed there specifically for Gondor’s purposes. A beacon lit on one summit could be made out from the next, and so on; in this way a warning – of invasion or any other sudden peril – might be passed between Rohan and Gondor in the time it took to kindle seven baskets of pitch-soaked firewood.

The seven beacon-hills of Anórien were: Halifirien (the most northerly), Calenhad, Min-Rimmon, Erelas, Nardol, Eilenach, and Amon Dîn (the southernmost). Eilenach and Rimmon were in a forgotten tongue, the language of the Men of the White Mountains during the Dark Years.

‘Beater’ and ‘Biter’ – Translations of Orc-epithets given in antiquity to the famous Elf-swords Glamdring (‘Foe-hammer’) and Orcrist (‘Goblin-cleaver’). The weapons were discovered by members of Thorin Oakenshield’s expedition to Erebor (2941 Third Age), in a Trolls’ lair.

Beechbone – An Ent of Fangorn; sadly, a fatality in the Ents’ assault upon Isengard during the War of the Ring.

Belecthor I – From 2628–55 Third Age, the fifteenth Ruling Steward of Gondor.

Belecthor II – From 2811–72 Third Age, the twenty-first Ruling Steward of Gondor. The last White Tree of Minas Tirith died with him and, ominously, no sapling could then be found to replace it. The dead Tree was left standing.

Beleg – From 946–1029 Third Age, the second King of Arthedain.

Belegaer ‘Great-Sea [of the West]’ (Sind.) – The name given in Beleriand to the ocean which separated the shores of Valinor from the coastlands of Middle-earth.

Beleg Cúthalion – One of the mightiest of the Grey-elves of Beleriand in the Elder Days, chief of the Marchwardens of Thingol’s Hidden Kingdom of Doriath and friend and companion of Túrin Turambar. Beleg, named Cúthalion (‘the Strong Bow’), was Thingol’s chief captain, fought at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and took a part in many of the deeds of those times. Among these was the Hunting of Carcharoth, in company with Beren and Thingol himself. In later years Beleg was bidden by Thingol to seek out and safeguard Túrin Húrin’s son, who was Thingol’s ward. Beleg indeed found Túrin, and afterwards fought at his side in a little-known campaign in the lands of the upper Teiglin, during the years following the Nirnaeth. At the onset of this quest, Thingol had given to Beleg an ancient sword from his armoury, named ANGLACHEL. Now Beleg wielded the weapon more often than his great bow, for this war was at close quarters. But the refuge of the outlaws (for such they were) was betrayed. Beleg was badly wounded and left for dead in the attack which followed: Túrin was taken alive by the Orcs, who bore him away northward towards Angband. But Beleg recovered, and, with the aid of a refugee Elf named Gwindor, hunted down the Orcs who had captured Túrin. Then Beleg went stealthily to release the unconscious Túrin, but in severing his friend’s bonds the black sword Anglachel slipped, and its point struck Túrin’s foot – he awakened, and slew Beleg in the dark, thinking him an Orc. Túrin grieved greatly for his friend, and made a song afterwards, named Laer Cu Beleg, the Song of the Great Bow. Beleg’s sword, Anglachel, he took for himself, and bore it until his life’s end.

Belegorn – From 2148–2204 Third Age, the fourth Ruling Steward of Gondor.

Belegost ‘Mighty-fortress’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Elves to the Dwarf-city of Gabilgathol, built by the Dwarves early in the First Age in the east of the Blue Mountains, north of Mount Dolmed. It was known to Men as Mickleburg. From here, and from their other great city of Nogrod (Tumunzahar, the ‘Hollow-Peak’), the Dwarves mounted journeys and trading expeditions into Thingol’s Beleriand. They were thus the first new ‘speaking-peoples’ encountered by the Sindar.6 Soon afterwards Thingol sought the counsel of the Dwarves of Belegost, and they aided him in the planning and building of Menegroth, the ‘Thousand Caves’ of Doriath; for this service they were paid in pearls. Intercourse between the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains and the High-elves, however, was less happy. The Noldor for the most part despised the ‘Stunted People’, as they called them, and Caranthir the son of Fëanor, who held the easternmost regions of Beleriand, nearest to the Dwarf-kingdoms, was haughty in his dealing with them. But mounting danger drew the Dwarves and the Eldar closer together, and a satisfactory trading partnership was eventually arranged, to the mutual profit of both parties.

The first name of any King of Belegost to be recorded by the Eldar is that of Azaghâl, who brought his people to the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and fought faithfully in alliance with the Sons of Fëanor. It was the Dwarves of Belegost, armoured and masked against dragon-fire, who defeated the Dragon Glaurung, though Azaghâl himself was killed in the fight. But the defeat of the Eldar in the War against Morgoth brought about a further sundering of Elves and Dwarves. Dwarves from Nogrod slew King Thingol in his own hall, and tried to steal the Nauglamir, which had been made long before by their forefathers for Finrod of Nargothrond. The Dwarves of Belegost, however, did not side with their kinsmen in this deed, or in the grievous deeds which followed. Like all peoples, the Dwarves were caught in the ruin of Beleriand: the Sea flowed in to cover Beleriand, and a great gulf was carved into the Blue Mountains, casting down Mount Dolmed and drowning the cities of Nogrod and Belegost, though they had lain on the eastern side of the mountains. But the survivors went to Moria in after years, swelling its numbers, and true to the tradition of their forefathers, soon struck up another agreeable relationship with the Noldor – which came to nothing, or nearly nothing, in the end.

Belegund – One of the Edain of the First House, the son of Bregolas brother of Barahir, and elder brother of Baragund; Belegund was also the father of Rían wife of Huor (of the Third House) and thus the grandfather of Tuor and great-grandsire of Eärendil the Mariner. (His younger brother Baragund was the grandsire of Túrin Turambar.) Belegund and his brother were among the twelve companions of Barahir on Dorthonion, outlaws who waged guerrilla warfare against the forces of Morgoth in the years following the Dagor Bragollach; both were among those of their band slain by Orcs after their betrayal by Gorlim the Unhappy.

Belemir – One of the Chieftains of the Edain of the First Age; the grandson of Bëor the Old of the First House, descended from Bëor’s second son Belen. He wedded Adanel of the Third House, and their granddaughter was Emeldir ‘the Manhearted’, mother of BEREN ERCHAMION.

Belen – The second son of Bëor the Old of the First House of the Edain. He was the direct forefather of BEREN ERCHAMION.

Beleriand ‘Country of Balar’ (Sind.) – The land of the Grey-elves during the Elder Days, and the most westerly Elven-realm anywhere in Middle-earth, until its sudden destruction at the end of the First Age.

Its discovery by the Elves came at the end of their ‘Great Journey’; for generations they had been moving ever West into the wide and beautiful lands that lay beyond, following the call of the Valar, who had summoned all of Elvenkind across the Sea to Valinor in order to guard them from the evil of Melkor. Two of the Kindreds completed the Journey, passing through Beleriand and taking ship into the Uttermost West, where ever after they dwelt in bliss. However, most of the third Kindred, afterwards called Sindar (Grey-elves), fell so deeply in love with the lands west of the Ered Luin (Blue Mountains) that they lingered on the coasts and in the forests, unmoved as yet by the Sea-longing and taking instead a keen delight in the forests, rivers, meads and mountains of their new country. Thingol Greycloak, father of Lúthien Tinúviel, was their King. Later, many of the Grey-elves’ long-sundered Noldorin Kindred – ‘High-elves’ of Eldamar – rebelled against the Valar and came back to Middle-earth in exile. In their attempts to recover the stolen Silmarils by force from the renegade Vala Morgoth, these High-elves received some aid from their Grey-elven kin and (later) from Men. All were, in the end, completely defeated, and Beleriand became infested by evil things from Angband. But in the end Morgoth the Enemy was overthrown; his evil realm in the North was destroyed, and Beleriand itself was overwhelmed in the same cataclysm and cast under the waves. At the beginning of the Second Age, all that remained was Lindon (the former country of Ossiriand), divided into the two capes of Forlindon and Harlindon. Havens were established there. Throughout the Second Age this last remnant of ancient Beleriand was ruled by Gil-galad son of Fingon, last High-elven king in Middle-earth.

Belfalas – The name given to both the greatest bay in western Middle-earth and an adjacent coastal province of Gondor, a cape which thrust into the Bay of Belfalas from north of the Anduin delta. The chief city of the province was the sea-washed tower of Dol Amroth, with its ancient Elf-havens on the shores below.

Belladonna Baggins – The well-to-do and reputedly eccentric wife of Bungo and mother of Bilbo Baggins. She was a child of Gerontius, ‘the Old Took’.

Bell Gamgee – Wife of Hamfast Gamgee (‘the Gaffer’), and the mother of Samwise.

Belmarie – A poetic invention in the Hobbit style, supposedly a name of Elvish origin. It occurs in the poem ‘Errantry’,7 and refers to a fanciful Elf-kingdom.

Belthil ‘Holy-light’ (Sind.) – The name given by King Turgon of Gondolin to the Image he wrought of the Tree Telperion; it stood in the Tower of the King, together with its sister-tree, Glingal, the Image of Laurelin the Golden. Both were destroyed in the sack of Gondolin.

Belthronding – The name given by Beleg the Elf to his great bow.

Béma – The name given in the Northern Mannish tongue to the Vala Araw (Sind.), whose High-elven name was Oromë.

Bent World – A term for Earth, in its later (and current) ‘marred’ aspect as a spherical body; as opposed to the ‘Straight World’ of remote antiquity.

Bëor (the Old) – The name given by his people to Balan, chieftain of the First House of the Edain, after he had abdicated his chieftainship (in favour of his son Baran) in order to go to Nargothrond and serve the Elven-king Finrod. He was the first of the Edain to take service with one of the Noldor. (Bëor means ‘vassal’ in the Mannish tongue of that time.) Bëor, or Balan, had been the leader of the first Mannish people ever to enter Beleriand; and from the moment he first spoke with Finrod, his allegiance to the Eldar seems never to have been in doubt. For this reason members of his House were afterwards treated with great honour by the Eldar. He was a forefather of all the heroes and Elf-friends among the Edain. Bëor died in his 84th year.

Beorn – In the late Third Age, Beorn was the chieftain of the clan of Northern Men whose traditional duty it was to maintain the trade routes from Eriador to Wilderland, particularly over the high pass of the Misty Mountains and across the Ford of Carrock. Bilbo Baggins attributed many strange characteristics to Beorn; whatever the truth of these stories, he was certainly a Man of ursine strength, fiery temper and a suspicious nature.

Like all his clan, the Beornings, he hated Orcs even more than strangers, and thus later came to play a vital role in the Battle of Five Armies, where his opportune arrival and berserker rage helped to overthrow the Goblin army. Beorn personally slew Bolg, the chief of the Orcs. The Beornings were akin to the Éothéod and to the Men of the Vales of Anduin; their language was a Northern dialect related to that of Dale.

Beornings – See BEORN above.

Bereg – One of the great-grandsons of Bëor the Old, a leader of a fragment of the First House of the Edain who were afraid to settle in Beleriand and who returned over the Blue Mountains into Eriador.

Beregar – The father of ERENDIS of Númenor. He was descended from the First House of the Edain.

Beregond – From 2763–2811 Third Age, the twentieth Ruling Steward of Gondor, and one of the greatest soldiers in her history. In 2758–59, while still heir to the Stewardship, he defeated a long-prepared attack by the Corsairs of Umbar and simultaneously sent aid to Rohan, which was then suffering grievously from the effects of the Long Winter and Dunlending invasion.

Also the name of a man-at-arms in the Third Company of the Guard of the Citadel at Minas Tirith, and a friend of Peregrin the Halfling. He was devoted to Faramir (son of Steward Denethor II) for whom he ‘risked all, to save him from death’.8 For his decisiveness and moral courage, Beregond was afterwards honoured by the King and appointed Captain of Faramir’s personal guard.

Beren Erchamion – The noblest and most high-destined of all the heroic Edain of the First Age was Beren, son of Barahir. His name is indissolubly linked with that of the Lady Lúthien Tinúviel, who shared both his deeds and – to the sorrow of the Elves – his fate. The Tale of Beren and Lúthien was long preserved, the chief source being the Sindarin ‘lay’ composed in Beleriand by Grey-elven minstrels before the ending of the Elder Days. The Lay of Leithian (‘Release from Bondage’) is a long work – so long that only Elrond himself was said to have remembered it in full.9

It begins with Beren’s father Barahir, and of his friendship with the Elven-king Finrod of Nargothrond, whose life he saved at the Battle of Sudden Flame. To Barahir, Finrod gave his ring, as a token of gratitude. Barahir was slain shortly afterwards, by Orcs, who captured this jewel; but his son Beren avenged him, regaining the heirloom. He then fled the wreck of Dorthonion, crossing the forbidding Mountains of Terror and fighting off the attacks of monstrous spiders, before reaching the hidden forest of Neldoreth, in Doriath. There he beheld, dancing ‘to music of a pipe unseen’,

Tinúviel the elven-fair,

Immortal maiden elven-wise10

Lúthien swiftly fled when he appeared; but then Beren called her by her elven-name, Tinúviel, meaning ‘Nightingale’.

And doom fell on Tinúviel

That in his arms lay glistening.11

Lúthien was the daughter of Thingol Greycloak, King of this land of Doriath into which Beren, fleeing from peril, had chanced to wander. Beside the waters of the Elven-river Esgalduin they plighted their troth.

Many were the hardships they endured together in the years that followed. Beren’s suit was not pleasing to Thingol, who sent him on an impossible quest to be rid of him. Beren was taken by the forces of the Enemy, and imprisoned. But Lúthien rescued him, and after many further adventures they entered Angband itself and recaptured one of the three Silmarils – as Thingol had bidden. This was afterwards accounted the greatest deed of the Elder Days.

But Beren was slain in the hour of triumph by the Wolf Carcharoth, guardian of the Gates of Angband; and he died in the arms of Lúthien who, in her grief, also chose to accept mortality and die in Middle-earth, so that she might follow him. They were both reborn by the Grace of the Valar, and lived out mortal lifespans elsewhere in Beleriand. Their Line continued through their son Dior Eluchîl to Elwing; and handed down with the ancestry was the Silmaril, greatest heirloom and trophy of the House of Thingol.

Note: the name Erchamion (‘One-handed’) refers to Beren’s mutilation by the Wolf Carcharoth.

Beren (of Gondor) – From 2743–63 Third Age, the nineteenth Ruling Steward of Gondor; father of Beregond, leading warrior of the day. It was he who gave the keys of Isengard, then an ancient but deserted fortress of Gondor, to Saruman the Wise, hoping to have the great Wizard’s aid in defending the northern provinces and allied territories (especially Rohan, gravely weakened by invasion, hardship and famine).

Bereth – The sister of Baragund and Belegund of the First House of the Edain. She was the ancestress of the lady Erendis who wedded King Tar-Aldarion of Númenor.

Berúthiel – A queen of Gondor, the loveless, childless and misanthropic wife of the first of Gondor’s ‘ship-kings’, Tarannon. She was of malign disposition, and much feared because of her cats – nine black and one white – which acted as her spies. Tarannon is said to have repudiated her and cast her adrift on the Great Sea (together with her cats).12

Beryl – An emerald.

Bifur, Bofur and Bombur – Three of the thirteen Dwarves who, in 2941 Third Age, undertook the Quest of the Dragon of Erebor, as companions of Thorin Oakenshield. Unlike the other Dwarves of the company, these three were not of Durin’s line.

‘Big People’ – Hobbit-parlance for Men.

Bilbo Baggins – One of the most remarkable Hobbits of his or any other day. It is a tribute to the gentle nature of this kindly old Hobbit that he is as much remembered for his scholarship and abundant generosity as for courage and ‘adventurous’ tendencies.

Bilbo’s hitherto-hidden skills of authorship came to light when, after returning from his epic Journey to the East (2941–42 Third Age), he sat down in his comfortable ancestral hole and proceeded to write, in a somewhat untidy hand, a clear if self-deprecating account of the events leading up to the Battle of Five Armies and the restoration of the Dwarf-kingship of Erebor. In these events Bilbo himself, of course, played a most prominent part, earning great credit with Dwarves, Wizards and Elves (not to mention the modest fortune pressed upon him for his future comfort).

During the course of these adventures, Bilbo gained possession of the One Ring. This curious incident – so unlike the other events of the expedition, though not unrelated to them – is described in great detail in Bilbo’s book.13 It is as if Bilbo had wished to establish his claim to the Ring as being beyond all doubt, so precise is his accounting of the scene in the dim lower caverns of the orc-mines, with the Ring in his pocket like a leaden weight as he fought for his life with words.

After the Ring had passed out of his possession, Bilbo changed his mind about the accuracy of this part of the tale. But he never altered the manuscript he had written some sixty years before; so it is only in Frodo’s narrative that we later hear of Bilbo’s remorse concerning this single (but significant) untruth.

At all events, the old Hobbit slipped quietly away to Rivendell in his eleventy-first (IIIth) year, leaving his estate – and the Ring – to Frodo. There, dwelling in peace with Elrond and the High-elves, he spent much time studying Elvish Books of Lore. The total of his very considerable labours in this field has yielded some of the most remarkable scholarship in all Hobbit history. Thus Bilbo’s ‘Translations from the Elvish’ is a typically modest title for the three large red volumes crammed with so much of the history of the First Age, when Hobbits apparently did not exist at all.

Bilbo travelled very little after his retirement to Rivendell and in company with the Three Rings, he finally passed over Sea at the ending of the Third Age, his years in Middle-earth then totalling one hundred and thirty-one. Bilbo was thus the longest-lived Hobbit in history, always generous to a fault and long remembered for his wryly humorous personality as well as for his deeds and other accomplishments. His adoption of the orphaned Frodo Baggins was an act of great philanthropy, well repaid. Unlike most Hobbits, neither Bilbo nor Frodo ever married, and their heirs were Samwise Gamgee and his family.

Bilbo Gamgee – Tenth child and fifth son of Master Samwise of Bag End.

Bill (the pony) – A gaunt, half-starved animal purchased in Bree by Barliman Butterbur, innkeeper of The Prancing Pony, on 30th September 3019 Third Age, to replace others stolen from Meriadoc Brandybuck during the previous night. His poor condition was due to the treatment meted out by his previous owner. However, under the loving care of Samwise Gamgee, Bill flourished and proved of great value to the Company as a pack-animal, although he was later parted from them outside the doors of Moria. Yet despite Sam’s sorrowful apprehensions, Bill eventually succeeded in making his way back to Bree, where he was stabled and fed for a time at The Prancing Pony. He was later reunited with Samwise.

Bill Ferny – A Man of Bree; a shifty, unpleasant sort of person, remembered with distaste. Ill-favoured from birth, Ferny later became involved (in a subordinate way) with the machinations of Isengard. He did his best to hinder the Company of the Ring at The Prancing Pony, afterwards being ejected by the Bree-folk and working more openly for Saruman as warden of the Buckland Gate. His fate is not recorded.

Bindbale Wood – A wood near Rushock Bog in the Northfarthing of the Shire.

‘Biter’ – See ‘BEATER’ AND ‘BITER’.

Black Breath – An evil essence given off by the Nazgûl. Its effects were to render the victims feverish and delirious with dark, despairing dreams and no will to live. Few remedies were sufficient.

Black Captain – An epithet used in Gondor for the fell Lord of Minas Morgul, leader of the Nine Riders, King of the Nazgûl, in his aspect as a warlord of irresistible cruelty, power and terror. In the North, Men had known him as the WITCH-KING of Angmar. Ruler, Sorcerer and Ringwraith, he was greatly to be feared.

Black Easterling – Khamûl, second in command of the Nazgûl.

Black Foe (of the World) – A translation of the name Morgoth, first applied to the renegade Vala Melkor by Fëanor.

Black Gate – A translation of the Sindarin word Morannon; the main pass into the land of Mordor. The Black Gate was situated where the Ashy Mountains and the Ephel Dúath joined hands south of the great field of ancient Dagorlad. There, a defile (Cirith Gorgor) leading between the two mountain walls was stopped, at its mouth, by a vast wall of stone stretching from cliff to cliff; this wall was pierced by a single gate with great doors of iron. Set upon guardian-hills to either side of the Morannon – and high above the wall – rose the ‘Towers of the Teeth’, Narchost and Carchost, which had originally been built by Gondor to watch over Mordor and prohibit the entry (or exit) of evil things. But the watch failed and the Towers were re-occupied by the servants of Sauron.

Black Land – A translation of Mordor (Sind.).

Black Númenoreans – During the first millennium of Númenor’s rise to power, many of the Dúnedain who dwelt there began to return to Middle-earth, for although the Western Seas had been forbidden to them by the Ban of the Valar, great territories lay still unconquered in Middle-earth. These early explorers and harbour-builders were followed in later days by other Númenoreans, more restless and not averse to taking lordships over lesser men. Many coastal areas of Middle-earth were seized by these so-called ‘Black Númenoreans’ and brought under their subjection. Among them arose nine great princes, each of whom was cultivated by Sauron the Great. He gave a Ring of Power to each lord. In accepting and wearing the rings they thus fell into his trap and became RING-WRAITHS, enslaved to him for ever.

With Sauron’s fall at the end of the Second Age this renegade strain of Númenor dwindled, mingling their blood with lesser races. In 933 Third Age, Umbar, the oldest of their coastal realms, fell to Gondor; and the followers of Elendil erected on a headland there a great monument in memory of Ar-Pharazôn’s triumph over Sauron the Great. But in the course of the many wars of the Age, Umbar was taken again by the enemies of Gondor and remained for many years afterwards an independent state, bitterly hostile to Gondor and a refuge for her foes.

Black Pit – Translation of Moria (Sind.): an Elvish name for the great Dwarf-city under the Misty Mountains; also known as Hadhodrond. It was not an admiring name.

Black Riders – The Nazgûl, the Nine RINGWRAITHS, undying servants of Sauron, Lord of the Rings. They were so-called because they were invariably mounted on beasts of black colour, whether horse or other, more fell creature.

Blackroot – A translation of Morthond (Sind.); name of the long, cold river which emerged from the White Mountains high in the Vale of the same name, and flowed south to the Sea.

Black Shadow – The name given in Gondor to the sickness which emanated from the Ringwraiths. See BLACK BREATH.

Black Speech – This unpleasant tongue developed out of Sauron’s desire, early in the Accursed Years, to devise a single language for use by all his servants. But the minds of not all his creatures were able to grasp such a concept and, after Sauron’s first overthrow at the end of the Second Age, this ancient tongue was forgotten by all but the Ringwraiths.

Few specimens are extant: it is not a language scholars willingly record. The most famous example is the Ring-inscription.

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul

ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul

The word nazg (‘ring’) can also be found in the ancient name Nazgûl ‘Ringwraiths’; and the element burzum (‘darkness’) can similarly be seen in the Orcs’ name for the Barad-dûr: Lugbúrz (‘dark-tower’). Sauron revived the use of this language on his second arising in the Third Age, but only he and his most immediate lieutenants used it in its original form. Other versions were greatly debased.

Black Sword (of Nargothrond) – A translation of Mormegil (Sind.); the admiring title bestowed upon the warrior Túrin Turambar by folk of West Beleriand during the years in which he fought for the elven-city of Nargothrond. Túrin was so-called because of the sword GURTHANG he bore.

Black Years – An epithet for the ACCURSED YEARS; the period from the middle of the Second Age to the dawning of the Third, when Sauron of Mordor enslaved much of western Middle-earth. The Black Years ended with his first overthrow (3441 Second Age). Also called by the Elves ‘the Days of Flight’.

Bladorthin – As the Dwarves of Erebor recorded, Bladorthin was a ruler or king of Elves who ordered a sheaf of new spears from the smiths of Erebor in the days before the coming of the Dragon. Unfortunately he died before delivery of the weapons and his heirs did not choose to honour the agreement. The spears were therefore kept in hoard by the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain.

Blanco – See MARCHO AND BLANCO.

Blessed Realm – An Elvish term for the Undying Lands or Uttermost West. The oldest recorded name for Valinor was Aman.

Blooting – The Bree word for the eleventh month of the year, roughly corresponding to our November. The Shire word was Blotmath (pronounced ‘Blommath’).

Blotmath – See BLOOTING above.

Blue Mountains – A translation of Ered Luin (Sind.). This high, windy range marked the westernmost boundary of Eriador and the easternmost of Beleriand. The Ered Luin were first crossed by the Eldar, passing West on their way to the Sea far back in the First Age. But the Elder Days ended in a cataclysm which drowned the lands and shook the mountains to their foundations; and the Ered Luin were then divided into two separate ranges by a gulf of the inrushing Sea. Icy colds gripped the northern chain. During the Third Age few folk dwelt in these inhospitable mountains, save a handful of Dwarves who maintained settlements in the eastern foothills. Also called Ered Lindon, the ‘Mountains of Lindon’, by the Noldor.

Blue Wizards – See ITHRYN LUIN.

Boar of Everholt – In the latter days of King Walda of Rohan, the great Boar of the Firienwood (on the borders of Gondor and Rohan) was accounted a worthy and daunting prey for any huntsman. But Walda was slain by Orcs and his son Folca vowed to pursue no wild beast while there remained a single goblin alive in Rohan. When the last den had been exterminated, Folca rode away to hunt the Boar of Everholt. He slew the beast but died later of the tusk-wounds it gave him.

Bob – A Hobbit of Bree; the ostler in charge of the stables at The Prancing Pony inn.

Boffin – See BOPHÎN.

Bofur – See BIFUR, BOFUR AND BOMBUR.

Bolg – An Orc-captain, the son of AZOG and leader of the Goblin force at the Battle of Five Armies, where this large and savage Orc was slain by (the even larger and more savage) Beorn.

Bolger – A prosperous Hobbit-family with pretensions to aristocratic status: nearly all their children were given prestigious names.