Wainriders – See EASTERLINGS.

Walda – From 2842–51 Third Age, the twelfth King of Rohan, third of the Second Line of the Mark. He had been King only nine years when he was trapped and slain by Orcs in the mountains near Dun-harrow. His son Folca mounted a great campaign against the Orcs and succeeded in driving them from the Mark.

Wall’s End – A translation of the Grey-elven name Ramdal.

Wandlimb – A translation of the Sindarin name Fimbrethil (literally ‘slender-birch’).

Wargs – A Northern Mannish name for wolves, but more properly applied to the evil werewolves (Gaurhoth, Sind.), which appeared in Middle-earth during the First Age and remained to plague the wilderness ever after. Unlike real wolves, the Wargs were phantasms which only assumed real (and deadly) shapes after darkness had fallen; like Orcs, they were afraid of the Sun.

War of the Dwarves and Orcs – A bitter six-year conflict between two ancient races of Middle-earth, the first attempt on the part of one of the Free Peoples deliberately to exterminate the Orcs of the Misty Mountains. It raged from 2793–99 Third Age, and reached a climax with the bloody Battle of Azanulbizar, in which the Dwarves gained a pyrrhic victory over their foes.

The enmity was brought about by the Orcs of Moria and their murder of King Thrór. The Dwarves of Durin’s Line had fallen on evil times and had been driven from Erebor by the Dragon Smaug, and as a result their pent-up wrath overflowed when the news – of the murder, and the contemptuous desecration of Thrór’s body which followed – was brought to Thrór’s heir Thráin II. He mustered all his people, ‘and they were joined by great forces sent from the Houses of other Fathers; for this dishonour to the heir of the Eldest of their race filled them with wrath.’1

For six years the Dwarves pursued the fugitive Orcs the length and breadth of Wilderland, above and below ground, wreaking havoc among their foes and slaughtering all they could find. In the end they advanced upon Moria itself, and in the valley of Azanulbizar (the Dimrill Dale) they fought the greatest battle of the war against the Orcs. Many fell on both sides until in the nick of time reinforcements arrived from the Iron Hills; before the Sun went down the murderers of Thrór had been themselves slain, and those Orcs which had survived were fleeing south in terror and disarray.

The War of the Dwarves and Orcs was over, but the victorious Dwarves had themselves suffered cruelly in the final fight. Náin of the Iron Hills was slain, and so were Frerin son of Thráin and Fundin father of Balin. Thráin himself had lost an eye and Thorin had been wounded. Nonetheless, the Dwarves did not regret their victory, even while they begrudged its cost. They burned the bodies of their dead and marched away to their various homelands. And for over a hundred years no Orc dared show its face in the Vales of Anduin.

War of the Elves and Sauron – The first great conflict of the Second Age, brought about by Sauron’s betrayal of the Elven-smiths and his forging of the Ruling Ring, by which means he intended to make himself Ruler of Middle-earth. For the Elves, therefore, the War was a question of survival; and survive they did, though at great cost – and not without aid from an unexpected quarter.

The War commenced with Celebrimbor’s discovery that he and his fellow Smiths of Eregion had been deceived by Sauron of Mordor. Sauron had aided in the forging of most of the Rings of Power, but unknown to the Elves had secretly planned to use this very means to overthrow the Free Peoples. In 1600 Second Age he succeeded in forging the Ruling Ring – and upon the instant, across the leagues between Orodruin and Eregion, Celebrimbor ‘was aware’ of Sauron’s treachery and of his intentions. The Elf immediately hid the Three Elven-rings and declared his hostility to the Lord of Mordor. In 1693 the first clashes between the Elves and Sauron’s forces took place, but the Elves had waited too long and Sauron’s power was greater than theirs. Two years afterwards he advanced into Eriador.

Although little is now known of the strategies of the War, it may be assumed that Sauron’s initial advance into the North was made with the object of surrounding Eregion and (presumably) seizing the Three Rings. Accordingly, he drove a great wedge between the Elven-smiths’ land and Gil-galad’s forces further to the north and west, and bent all his attention upon the siege of Eregion. Nonetheless, Gil-galad contrived to send reinforcements (led by Elrond) to Celebrimbor. Too late. In 1697 Eregion was captured and ravaged, and Celebrimbor was slain. The surviving Noldor retreated northwards beyond the Bruinen and founded the refuge of Imladris (Rivendell), and Sauron turned his attention to the Elves of Lindon, led by his oldest remaining foe, Gil-galad of the Noldor.

Luckily the Elven-king had foreseen Sauron’s treachery to some extent and so had not entirely been caught unprepared by the outbreak of war. Many Elven-warriors resisted Sauron’s westward advance, yet by 1699 the armies of Mordor had overrun Eriador and were at the very borders of Lindon. All seemed lost – and then, just in time, a great fleet and host arrived in the Gulf of Lune, sent by King Tar-Minastir of Númenor to the aid of Gil-galad. Minastir’s motives seem to have been somewhat mixed, for while he entertained great regard for the Eldar, he yearned for their immortality. Nonetheless, the help he sent was welcome indeed, and with it Gilgalad was able once more to mount an offensive against the Dark Lord. Sauron was defeated in Eriador in 1700 and, the following year, driven out altogether. So ended the War.

War of the Great Jewels – The longest and most terrible war ever fought in Middle-earth, which lasted for many centuries of the First Age and brought grief, terror and unparalleled destruction to mortal lands. The War of the Great Jewels was begun for unworthy motives, and those who commenced it were, in the end, utterly defeated, together with their blameless allies. Only by the intercession of the Valar, at the very end of the Age, was it finally brought to an end; yet its effects were far-reaching and lingered beyond the change of days.

The origins of the War of the Great Jewels lie far back in the Elder Days, with the cult of craftsmanship perpetrated in Eldamar by the Noldorin High-elves, of whom Fëanor was a chief and the greatest in arts and lore. Pride in craftsmanship led to pride for its own sake, and eventually to possessiveness. Fëanor created the Silmarils, the ‘Great Jewels’ which were so marvellously beautiful that none could behold them without longing to possess them; and at last one of the great Valar, Morgoth, succumbed to this lure and stole the Jewels, which he carried back to Middle-earth.

The Noldor grew enraged at Morgoth’s act, and resolved to follow him back to Middle-earth and wrest the Jewels from him by whatever means necessary. Against the expressed will of the Valar, they took ship and followed Morgoth; and almost immediately they were engaged in battle with his forces. Yet although this first clash resulted in victory for the Elves – and other victories were to follow, on an even greater scale – no real progress was ever made towards their ultimate objective: the recovery of the Silmarils. And in the end the tide of battle turned irretrievably against them. They were defeated, and their cause was ruined.

The War of the Great Jewels is sometimes also known as the War of Beleriand – of old the heartland of the power of the Elves in Middle-earth – and although the purpose of the Noldor was the recovery of the Jewels, this war aim rapidly became identified with the holding of Beleriand against Morgoth; indeed, this alone was as much as the hosts of the Noldor were ever able to achieve. But at the outset of the War the returning Noldor rapidly gained the initiative from the armies of Angband. An attack on their first encampment was swiftly rebuffed, and Beleriand, which at that time had been partially occupied by Orcs, was swiftly liberated. This initial series of successes was followed by the formulation of the governing strategy of the Noldor, in which the natural bastions of the north of Beleriand were occupied and fortified by the various Noldorin princes and their respective hosts, with the aim of erecting a permanent barrier against Angband, but with the ultimate intention of bringing Morgoth to battle on the open plains beyond: a battle which the Noldor, at this time, had no doubts whatever of winning. Then, and only then, did they envisage an advance upon Angband and a settling of accounts with Morgoth.

But this conservative strategy left the initiative entirely in the hands of the Enemy; and in the fullness of time he took advantage of it, to his profit (being aided in this ‘waiting game’ by his knowledge of the precariousness of the alliance of peoples opposed to him, and of its inevitable – if prolonged – dissolution). So it came to pass. And although in the end the alliance lasted for more than four centuries, Morgoth’s strategy was proved sound. The Noldor quarrelled amongst themselves, and the Sindar withdrew their aid; and even the arrival in Beleriand of a new and formidable people, the Atani (Men), did no more than postpone the evil day.

A study of the various battles fought during this long period reveals that in defence the Noldor and the Atani were at their most formidable. Indeed, the only battles they ever won were those in which they themselves had been attacked (even so they did not win all of these); and the greatest disaster of all came about as a result of a gigantic planned offensive against Morgoth. Yet the real military reason for their ultimate defeat lies in the fact that, in choosing to fight an attritive war (their only choice in view of the immense strength of Angband) they thus surrendered their best card – their matchless valour and superior weaponry – to the Enemy. For his armies, although less valorous and indeed clumsily led for the most part, were always far more numerous and indeed renewable; whereas from the day of their arrival at Losgar the Noldor began to decrease. And the longer the War lasted the more the balance began to favour the Enemy.

Such was the pattern of events. Initial victories of the Eldar were followed by a defensive strategy; and this, successful at first, was followed by the four-hundred-year Siege of Angband, the last two centuries of which are known as the Long Peace. But for reasons explained above, the Siege was at last overthrown by a sudden attack from Angband; and although for another decade or so the Noldor rallied valiantly, and indeed recaptured some of the territory lost during that battle, the tide had turned against them for ever. The Battle of Sudden Flame was followed by the Nirnaeth Arnoe-diad, in which a supposedly co-ordinated offensive went disastrously wrong – due to treachery – and brought about the all but total destruction of the last armies of the Eldar and the Edain. The northern front was overthrown and Beleriand was at last laid bare to Morgoth.

Yet the War of the Great Jewels was not yet over; for there were still isolated communities of Elves and Men who fought on – no longer in hope of overthrowing Morgoth, but because it was all that was left to them to do. But with frightening rapidity these islands were sundered one from the other; and the long-held (and immensely powerful) refuges of the Noldor, chiefly the cities of Nargothrond and Gondolin in Beleriand, were successively assailed and captured. For although they had been built by far-sighted Elven-princes in anticipation of just such a day, when the time came their powers of endurance were compromised by other forces now at work in Middle-earth: treachery not the least. Even the ancient coastal havens of the Grey-elves were sacked and destroyed; and now, in all Beleriand, there was only one Eldarin realm still standing: the Kingdom of Doriath, defended by the Girdle of Melian. Yet this, too, fell, though not to Morgoth; and now all was over. Only in secret lairs at the Mouths of Sirion, and on the Isle of Balar, did Elves and Men survive. But there was no longer any thought (except in the minds of the Sons of Fëanor) of regaining the Silmarils or of defeating Morgoth. Indeed, it seemed only a matter of time before their Enemy discovered these last refuges and assailed them also, so making an end of the Eldar and the Edain.

But now the time had at last come for the Valar themselves to intervene. As long as the Noldor alone had been suffering destruction, they had held aloof; but now other peoples, guiltless of the crimes of Fëanor and his followers, had also been imperilled and had already endured great loss of life. The original reasons for non-intervention therefore no longer obtained – and the Valar, when informed of the change of situation, decided to take a part in the War. The host they sent from the West utterly obliterated Morgoth’s land of Angband; and the Silmarils were at last regained: but not by the Noldor.

The very last act of the long tragedy was the stealing of the two remaining Silmarils, recovered from Morgoth, by the two surviving Sons of Fëanor. But this in turn led directly to the destruction (or at least final loss) of the Great Jewels; and with the removal of the Silmarils from the reach of all who desired to possess them the War came to an end; and with it the First Age of the World. Morgoth was cast into the void and the Exiles (with a few notable exceptions) were permitted to return to the Far West. The Edain – who had not brought the War about, but had bravely fought against Evil with great loss of life – were richly rewarded. But nothing could resurrect the dead, or restore the lost lands of Beleriand, or remove the stain of guilt from the sorrowful High-elves, whose rashness and pride had led to the War in the first place.

Many indeed of the Noldor voluntarily continued their exile in mortal lands, for it seemed to them then that by labouring and healing they might in time come to atone for the great distress they had brought about. The product of this policy was the creation of the Rings of Power; and the result of that was the War of the Ring, two full Ages after the end of the War of the Great Jewels.

War of the Powers – See BATTLE OF THE POWERS.

War of the Ring – The name given in Gondor and the Shire to the great conflict which took place at the end of the Third Age between Sauron the Great, Lord of the Rings, and the Free Peoples of Middle-earth, acting in league. The object of the War was the possession of the Ruling Ring made by Sauron in the Second Age. The Dark Lord wished to regain it, and his foes to destroy it; in the end the Free Peoples prevailed and Sauron was himself engulfed in the wave of destruction which followed the melting of the Ring in the Cracks of Doom.

The War of the Ring is, of course, the very subject on which both Bilbo and Frodo have written so eloquently (and at such length) in the Red Book of Westmarch. That renowned volume indeed tells the story of the War from the point of view of the Hobbits, who had much to do with its successful conclusion, and there can be few who will expect to find it retold in these pages. By unprecedented heroism and great good fortune (as it is called) the Ring was carried to the Fire despite all Sauron’s increasingly frantic efforts to recover it – and simultaneously his armed might was checked on the very point of victory by excellent strategy and impeccable timing.

Defeated on the field of battle, Sauron was defeated in spirit and outguessed by his foes at every single turn; and although much damage was done and many lives were lost before all was over, in the end both Sauron and the Ring were removed from the world and an age-old peril was extinguished for ever.

War of Wrath – The Name given by the Eldar to the final – and exceedingly brief – stage of the WAR OF THE GREAT JEWELS, in which the Valar, learning at last of the triumph of Morgoth and of the afflictions of Middle-earth, returned to mortal lands with a great host and, in a series of swift battles, achieved what the combined might of Elves and Men had been unable to accomplish in five centuries of bitter warfare. Angband was destroyed and Morgoth was taken captive; and the remaining Silmarils were, for a while, recovered.

Wars of Beleriand – The WAR OF THE GREAT JEWELS.

Watch – The SHIRRIFFS.

Watcher in the Water – A hideous monster, a kind of demonic cephalopod, which, during the latter part of the Third Age, dwelt in a sinister lake at the West-door of Moria. The lake was itself created by the damming of the river Sirannon, and in this way the western entrance to the Dwarf-realm was sealed. For this reason it was afterwards guessed that the Watcher itself had been initially responsible for the damming of the river.

Watchful Peace – The name given by the Wise to the period between 2063–2460 Third Age, when Dol Guldur was temporarily abandoned by Sauron (because of a desire to preserve his true identity from an increasingly inquisitive White Council).

The Water – The chief river of the Shire (apart from the Baranduin). It rose in the north-west and flowed through Hobbiton, Bywater and Bridgefields to join the Baranduin (Brandywine) north of the Bridge of Stonebows. During this journey it formed two lakes or tarns: the Bywater Pool and a larger expanse (itself called, rather confusingly, ‘The Water’) north of Frogmorton.

Waybread – A translation of the Sindarin words len-bas or lembas.

Waymeet – A village in the Westfarthing of the Shire. It grew up around an ancient crossroads, where the road from Little Delving to Sarn Ford crossed the Great East Road. Also called Waymoot.

Weather Hills – See following entry.

Weathertop – An approximate translation of the Sindarin name Amon Sûl (literally ‘Hill of Winds’). It was the tallest and most southerly of the Weather Hills range in central Eriador.

Wedmath – The eighth month of the Shire Reckoning, equivalent to Urimë in the Númenorean calendar (Kings’ Reckoning).

Wellinghall – A translation of the (unknown) ‘short name’ for an Ent-house used by Treebeard. It was on the south-eastern slopes of Methedras, not far from the source of the Entwash river.

Wells of Varda – The great cisterns in Valinor wherein the Queen of the Valar, Varda (Elbereth), is said to have gathered and stored the luminescent dew from the Two Trees. They were emptied by Ungo-liant after the poisoning of the Trees, and never again refilled.

West-elves – The Eldar.

Westemnet – The name given by the Rohirrim to that region of their land which lay to the west of the river Entwash.

Westernesse – An archaic translation of the Quenya word Númenórë (literally, ‘People-of-the-West’).

Western Sea – Belegaer.

Westfarthing – One of the four quarters or ‘farthings’ of the Shire. It was bounded by the Tower Hills in the west, by the villages of Needlehole and Nobottle in the north, by the villages of Hobbiton and Bywater – and the Three-farthing Stone – in the east, and by the township of Michel Delving in the south. Until the Fourth Age, it was the least inhabited portion of the Shire.

Westfold – The name given in Rohan to the region between the river Isen and the northernmost White Mountains. Its chief stronghold was Helm’s Deep.

Westfold Vale – The low-lying central area of the Westfold, watered by the Deeping Stream.

West-gate (of Moria) – The Doors of Durin. Early in the Second Age, during the years of Moria’s greatest wealth and glory, many High-elves removed to the lands between the Swanfleet (Glanduin) and the Loudwater (Bruinen), to trade with the Dwarves. For their part, the Moria-dwellers extended their realm westward to enable this commerce to flourish. Where the Misty Mountains ended in a great vertical cliff the Dwarves constructed a door of marvellous workmanship, utterly impenetrable to those who did not know its secret. In return, the High-elves embellished the Doors of Durin with designs and writings in ithildin, a metal made from mithril which reflected only light of moon and stars.

Westlands – The name given (in a general sense) to all the lands west of the Misty Mountains and the river Anduin.

Westmansweed – The name given in the Common Speech (Westron) to the herb Sweet Galenas.

Westmarch – A translation of the Grey-elven name Nivrim, being the western part of the Forest of Region in Doriath, the area of wood which lay beyond the Sirion.

Also (Third Age), the name of a sparsely peopled region lying between the West-farthing and the Tower Hills, properly speaking part of the West-farthing itself. It was granted to the Shire-dwellers in perpetuity by King Elessar (Aragorn II) in 1453 Shire Reckoning (Year 32 Fourth Age), and was settled by many Hobbits from the other Farthings. Three years after its founding Fastred of Green-holm and his bride Elanor the Fair (daughter of Samwise) removed to Undertowers, on the eastern slopes of the Tower Hills, and Fastred was named Warden of Westmarch by the King. It was in Undertowers that the famous RED BOOK OF WESTMARCH was afterwards kept.

West Road – The Great West Road. It joined Minas Tirith with Edoras.

Westron – The COMMON SPEECH.

Wetwang – See NINDALF.

White Company – The personal guard of Faramir Prince of Ithilien, inaugurated after the War of the Ring by King Elessar (Aragorn II). Its first Captain was Beregond son of Baranor, formerly of the Citadel Guard of Minas Tirith.

White Council – The Council of the Wise (two Wizards and the chief Eldar) formed in the late Third Age to co-ordinate policy against Evil in Middle-earth. It was summoned by the Lady Galadriel of Lothlórien and its first chief was Saruman the White.

At the time of its founding (2463 Third Age), the chief enemy of the Free Peoples was the ‘Necromancer’ of Dol Guldur, and the overriding aim of the Wise was the discovery of his true identity; for even at that time there were some who believed that the Necromancer was Sauron himself. Nonetheless, this was not easy to ascertain. Sauron had, in his turn, perceived the Council from a distance, and had retired into the East to avoid a confrontation with his chief foes, for at that time he was not yet strong enough to challenge their combined might. And so the White Council abandoned their fruitless vigil, hoping that the more optimistic assessment of events was accurate.

The second meeting was in the year 2851 – but this, too, was a fruitless experience, for the Council’s titular head, Saruman the White, was then already falling into evil ways; he governed the doings of the Council with a firm hand and overrode a projected assault upon Dol Guldur (which had been proposed by Gandalf the Grey) for reasons of his own. Ninety years later the Council met again. This time Saruman agreed to the attack (again for reasons of his own) and the assault of the Wise upon Sauron was made that same year. Too late. Sauron had meanwhile prepared contingency plans and when the attack came he merely withdrew from Mirk-wood and re-entered Mordor.

And so the years drew on to the War of the Ring. In 2953 the White Council met for the last time, and once more Saruman lied to the assembled Wise, misleading most of them concerning the fate of the Ruling Ring. Yet by that time there were some among the Council who were beginning to cherish deep suspicions concerning Saruman himself – and so when the War of the Ring broke out in 3018 Third Age, they were not entirely unprepared for the rapid succession of events which followed, not the least of which was the open treachery of Saruman the White, for over five hundred years the leader of the White Council and during all that time the main reason for its singular lack of success.

White Crown – See SILVER CROWN.

White Downs – An area of downland in the Westfarthing of the Shire which sheltered the chief township of the region, Michel Delving.

‘White-fiends’ – A name for the Elves, given in fear and hatred by the Easterlings in Morgoth’s service who occupied Hithlum and Dor-lómin after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

White Hand – The heraldic emblem chosen by the renegade Wizard Saruman the White after his renunciation of the White Council in 2953 Third Age and his subsequent fortifying of Isengard. It was borne by all his servants, including Orcs, as a device emblazoned on shield and helmet.

White Lady (of the Noldor) – See AREDHEL.

White Mountain – OIOLOSSË.

White Mountains – A translation of the Sindarin name Ered Nimrais.

White Rider – The name given in Rohan and Gondor to the Wizard Gandalf, formerly the Grey, reincarnated as the White.

White Tower – An alternative name, used especially in Minas Tirith, for the TOWER OF ECTHELION.

White Tree – The chief symbol of the royalty of Gondor. It was a direct descendant of Telperion, Eldest of Trees, through Galathilion (the Tree of the High-elves in Tirion), Celeborn (the Tree of Eressëa), and Nimloth of Númenor. When disaster overwhelmed Númenor in 3319 Second Age, Elendil brought a fruit of Nimloth to Middle-earth, and planted it in Minas Ithil, where it grew and flourished for a while, being jealously guarded: for it was the token from afar of the Edain of Númenor and of their ancient kinship with the High-elves, and through the High-elves with the Valar themselves.

The White Tree of Gondor blossomed often, but only occasionally put forth fruit; each time it did so, the seed was planted elsewhere, in fear lest the Line of Telperion die from the world. In this way the Tree was preserved when Sauron attacked and captured Minas Ithil in 3429 Second Age; he burned the original Tree but a sapling had already been planted in Minas Anor, where it afterwards grew.

For over a thousand years this White Tree flourished in the Court of the Fountain in Minas Anor, until the Great Plague of 1636 Third Age, when it died. A further sapling was then planted (by King Tarondor) which survived until 2852; as no seedling could then be found, the dead Tree was left standing by the fountain. But after the successful conclusion of the War of the Ring the newly crowned King Elessar (Aragorn II) discovered a sapling growing wild in a high place above the city of Minas Tirith, and this he planted in place of the dead Tree. It blossomed almost immediately and grew to grace and beauty during the Age which followed.

See also TWO TREES.

Whitfoot – A family of Shire-hobbits. See WILL WHITFOOT.

Whitfurrows – A village in the Eastfarthing of the Shire, near the junction of the Quarry road and the Great East Road.

Whitwell – A village in the Green Hill Country of the Shire, not far from Tuckborough.

Widfara (‘Wide-farer’) – A man of Rohan, one of the scouts employed by King Théoden to reconnoitre the way through Anórien during the War of the Ring.

Wilderland – An alternative name for the region of Middle-earth more usually known as Rhovanion. Its boundaries were approximate, but included the Misty Mountains, the river Celduin-Carnen, and the Grey Mountains.

Wildman of the Woods – A war-name assumed by TÚRIN TURAMBAR, after his escape from the wreck of Nargothrond.

Wild Men – See WOSES.

Willie Banks – One of the Little Folk (Hobbits) of the Bree-land, unfortunately killed in 3019 Third Age in a skirmish between the Bree-dwellers and the robber band led by Bill Ferny and Harry Goatleaf.

Willowbottom – A village in the Eastfarthing, near the southernmost reach of the Woody End.

Will Whitfoot – The Mayor of Michel Delving during the closing years of the Third Age and (apart from a brief convalescence) the first seven years of the Fourth. He was reportedly a Hobbit of remarkable girth and great respectability, much liked by the Shire-dwellers; and he had a strong sense of responsibility. During the occupation of the Shire by agents of Saruman in 3019 (1419 Shire Reckoning), he bravely set out from Michel Delving to Bag End to protest against the unwarranted liberties taken by the invaders, but never arrived, being abducted while on the road and afterwards incarcerated in the Lockholes. He was released by the returning Travellers later that same year and, after an interim of several months, he was re-elected at the Free Fair in 3020 (1420). He retired in Year 7 Fourth Age (1428) and was succeeded as Mayor by Samwise Gamgee.

‘The Willow-meads of Tasarinan’ – A lament or chant sung by Treebeard the Ent (to the Hobbits Meriadoc and Peregrin), in which the old Tree-herd mourned the passing of the Elder Days, and the drowning of many wide lands that he had known and loved in those distant times.

Wilwarin ‘Butterfly’ (Q.) – The constellation Cassiopeia, created by Varda (Elbereth) at the time of the awakening of the Quendi in Cuiviénen.

Wilya – An older spelling for VILYA.

Windfola – A noble horse of Rohan, the steed of the Lady Éowyn (and Meriadoc the Hobbit) for the great ride from Edoras to Minas Tirith during the War of the Ring.

Windle-reach – A long, clear reach of the lower Withywindle (between Grindwall and the weir).

Window of the Eye – The topmost turret-room in Barad-dûr, so called because Sauron was accustomed to stand there, gazing out with his single Yellow Eye over the lands of his claimed realm.

Window of the Sunset – A translation of the Sindarin name Henneth Annûn.

Winterfilth – The tenth month of the year in the Shire Reckoning, equivalent to Narquelië in Kings’ Reckoning (although the Hobbits believed that the name dated from the years before they had adopted the Númenorean calendar, when this month was the last of the year). Its Bree-equivalent was Wintring.

Wintring – See preceding entry.

Wiseman Gamwich – The son of Hamfast of Gamwich; he left the village of his family’s origins and removed to Tighfield in the Northfarthing.

Witch-king – The Lord of the Ringwraiths, chief servant of Sauron the Great throughout the Second and Third Ages of Middle-earth and for much of the latter Age a great and evil Power in his own right, second only to his Black Master as a symbol of terror and despair. His were the policies and schemes which led to the founding of Angmar and the collapse of the North-kingdom of the Dúnedain; his were the armies which came from Mordor in 2000 Third Age to capture Minas Ithil from Gondor; his was the hand which slew the last King of the Line of Anárion; and his was the black host which emerged from the Tower of Sorcery during the War of the Ring to crush the Dúnedain for ever. He was a King and a Sorcerer, and he wielded great fear, and no warrior or army could withstand him; yet in the end he was slain, and his age-old power was brought to nothing, in fulfilment of a prophecy made long before.

Of his origins little has been recorded. He was the mightiest of those renegades called Black Númenoreans, and in the later years of the Second Age he left Númenor and came to Middle-earth, where he became a lord of great power, working in league with Sauron of Mordor but not at that time one of Sauron’s servants. But Sauron, being treacherous even to his allies, determined to bring the Númenorean renegades directly under his control, and to that end he forged the Nine Rings of Power for Mortal Men. These he gave to nine powerful lords, of whom the Sorcerer King was the greatest; and they fell into his power for ever, becoming undead wraiths (Úlairi) under the control of the Ruling Ring and its Master. The Ringwraiths served Sauron with pitiless fealty throughout the remainder of the Second Age, and when the Dark Lord was overthrown by Gil-galad and Elendil they passed ‘into the Shadows’ to await his second arising.

After the first thousand years of the Third Age had passed both they and their Master were stirring once more, and in the fourteenth century the Ringwraiths openly declared themselves. Their Chief came north, to the lands between the Ettenmoors and the Northern Waste, and there established a realm, whose chief purpose was the destruction of the North-kingdom of Arthedain, last survivor of old Arnor. This evil realm was named ANGMAR, and throughout the second millennium the Witch-king (as he was known to the Dúnedain of the North) worked unceasingly for the downfall of his enemies. In the end he accomplished his chosen task, but at the cost of his own realm, and he was driven from the North by the combined forces of Gondor and Lindon.

He returned to Mordor and there gathered the other Úlairi; and in 2002 they issued from the Pass of Cirith Ungol and captured Minas Ithil, which thereafter became a place of great fear. In 2050 the Witch-king sent an insolent challenge to King Eärnur of Gondor (whose army had destroyed Angmar). Eärnur had indeed been challenged by the Lord of Minas Morgul seven years earlier, on the day of his coronation, but at that time had been restrained from accepting. But on this second occasion he furiously rejected all wise counsels and rode away to give combat to the Lord of the Ringwraiths. He never returned. In this way the Witch-king, having destroyed the Northern Kingdom, now extinguished the ruling Line of the South-kingdom.

Having wrought all these strokes against his foes, the Lord of Morgul seemed content for many centuries to lie quiescent in Minas Morgul, for the time was not yet come when he would ride openly to battle against the most ancient foes of his Master. But by the end of the Age Sauron was again returned to power; and with the Dark Lord’s reappearance in Mordor the power of the Nine waxed accordingly. On learning of the whereabouts of the Ruling Ring (from the prisoner Gollum), Sauron instantly despatched his trustiest servants to seek the Shire; and (as has been recorded elsewhere) one of these2 came to Hobbiton on the very evening of Frodo’s departure. Led by their Sorcerer King, the Ringwraiths pursued Frodo and his companions across Eriador, yet failed to catch them, being foiled, not only in the Shire, but in Bree, on Weather-top and at the Ford of Bruinen. Defeated, they returned to Mordor and to Dol Guldur – and to Minas Morgul: for the hour was approaching when Sauron would launch open war upon Gondor.

Chief among the Dark Lord’s war-captains was the King of Minas Morgul. Throughout the year of 3018 he mustered a great host and, in March the following year, led his evil army forth across the Morgulduin bridge and down to Osgiliath. So began the siege of Gondor, in which the Dúnedain, defeated at the crossings, were driven back to Minas Tirith and forced to endure a two-day siege in which the host of Morgul, led by their Black Captain, prepared to demolish the Great Gate of Gondor. This they accomplished at dawn on March 15th, and the Witch-king prepared to enter ‘under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face’.3 Yet in the instant of victory the initiative was snatched from the Witch-king. Checked at the Gate by Gandalf, he suddenly discovered that his armies were being violently attacked by the Riders of Rohan. And in attempting to stem this new tide, he was confronted by two warriors against whom all his ancient power availed him nothing. Two swords, wielded by a Shieldmaiden of Rohan and a Hobbit of the Shire, broke the ancient spell which knitted his sinews together, and he was cast down into the void at last – in fulfilment of an ancient prophecy that he would not fall ‘by the hand of man’. With his passing the armies of Morgul were left without a captain, and in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields which followed his fall they were utterly destroyed. None returned to Minas Morgul, which was later cast down by the Dúnedain.

Withered Heath – A desolate region in the eastern range of the Grey Mountains, notoriously the abode of Dragons.

Withywindle (‘Winding-willow-river’) – A brown river, bordered by many hundreds of ancient willow-trees; it arose in the Barrow-downs and flowed through the Old Forest to join the Baranduin at Haysend (the southern part of Buckland). Its central valley was known as ‘The Dingle’.

Witnesses of Manwë – Three great eagles that dwelt on or near the summit of the Meneltarma, the holy mountain of Númenor.4

Wizards – The name given in western Middle-earth to the five members of the Order of Istari (Heren Istarion), who first appeared in the early years of the second millennium.

It was afterwards said that they came out of the Far West and were messengers sent to contest the power of Sauron, and to unite all those who had the will to resist him; but they were forbidden to match his power with power, or to seek to dominate Elves or Men by force and fear.5

The Wizards were of the race called MAIAR; and the prohibition laid upon them at the commencement of their mission – that they should renounce all native-born power and conduct themselves within the limitations of Middle-earth itself – would seem to indicate a desire on the part of those who sent them to intervene in the affairs of mortals as indirectly as possible. The Wizards together formed an Order sworn to the service of ‘the Secret Fire’. They were five in number, ‘graded’ by means of coloured vestment: Saruman the White, Gandalf the Grey, Radagast the Brown and two ‘Blue Wizards’ whose names may have been Alatar and Pallando, Maiar of Oromë. Each bore a Wizard’s staff as a symbol of his membership of the Order. All were wise, and each had some speciality or particular interest, though their ranks were sundered by time and the natural processes of Middle-earth.6

Wizard’s Vale – See NAN CURUNÍR.

Wold – The name given in Rohan to the wide grasslands between Fangorn Forest and the Anduin, south of the river Limlight. Many horses and studs were kept there by the Rohirrim.

Wolf-riders – Orcs of small stature who habitually rode into battle mounted upon Wargs. They were ferocious in battle; their speciality was slashing at the underbellies of horses.

Wolves – See WARGS.

Wood-elves – A translation of Tawarwaith (Sind.). See AVARI; ELVES; NANDOR.

Woodhall – A village in the Eastfarthing of the Shire, at the northeastern corner of the Woody End.

Woodland Realm – See THRANDUIL.

Woodmen – In the First Age, this term was applied solely to the Haladin of Brethil; in the Second Age, to the dwellers in Minhiriath and Enedhwaith, also foresters; and in the Third Age to a tribe related to the Northern race of Middle-earth (like the Beornings and the Men of Dale), who lived in scattered settlements in western Mirkwood.

Woody End – The largest forested area in the Shire, some fifteen miles broad at its widest point. It lay between the Stock-Tuckborough road, the river Shirebourn and the Green Hill Country, and was the wildest part of the Shire.

Wormtongue – Gríma son of Galmód, a Man of Rohan. He was a clever but corrupt and mean-spirited person, and in the years before the outbreak of the War of the Ring was easily seduced by the Wizard Saruman into betraying his people. He afterwards worked secretly for Saruman, and by dint of guile had himself appointed King Théoden’s chief counsellor. His task was to lull the King’s fears concerning Isengard – until it was too late – and simultaneously to undermine the King’s morale by constant emphasis on Théoden’s age (actually a mere 71 at the time of the War of the Ring) and supposed decrepitude. For some years he succeeded in this task, although he earned the hatred of all those members of Théoden’s house who saw beneath the mask; hence his nickname Wormtongue. In 3019 his counsels of despair came close to bringing about the downfall of the Mark. But his treachery, well-known to all except Théoden, was exposed to the King by Gandalf the Grey, and Gríma the Wormtongue was obliged to flee for his life.

Believing Saruman on the point of victory, he rode to Isengard, just in time to be captured by Treebeard and imprisoned (with his master) in the Tower of Orthanc. He later accompanied Saruman when the Wizard was expelled from Orthanc, and journeyed with him to the Shire. But Saruman’s constant contempt and ill-treatment drove Wormtongue mad, and in the hour of the Wizard’s expulsion from the Shire Gríma murdered Saruman in a frenzy of rage and despair. He was killed by the Hobbits as he attempted to flee.

Woses – An ancient race of aboriginal Men, the origins of whom have not been recorded, and whose physical appearance was markedly different to other Men. From available evidence it seems that, in the late First Age, they were known to – and lived among – the Haladin in Brethil, having perhaps even arrived in advance of them: they were said to have come from the far south-east of Middle-earth and to have been persecuted by all other races of Men.7 The name for them among the Haladin was Drûg – said to be a name (orig. Drughu) in their own tongue – though the Eldar called them Drúedain, which indicates their recognition of these creatures as True Men, despite their unlovely (by comparison with the Edain) appearance.

In the early Second Ages, they were found in the region between the river Isen and the westernmost spur of the White Mountains (this region was afterwards called Drúwaith laur, ‘Former pûkel-land’ on maps made during the Third Age). Later they moved eastward into the vales of the White Mountains, driven perhaps by fear of the Númenorean mariners who were even then beginning to make settlements on the coastlands of Middle-earth and, in Minhiriath, cutting down trees by the square mile for ship-building. The Woses continued to live by hunting rather than agriculture or craft, and preserved their elusive and wary way of life for as long as they could. But in those years another race of Men came to the White Mountains, and these incomers drove the ‘púkel-men’ away from the high vales. Fleeing from the Men of the White Mountains, the Woses came by mountain-paths to their last refuge: the ancient Forest of Druadan (as it was later called), at the very eastern end of the Ered Nimrais range. There they vanished into the Wood, and were afterwards hardly ever seen by unfriendly eyes.

Throughout the Third Age the Wild Men of Druadan Forest continued to dwell in the depths of the wood, hunting as they had always done and avoiding all contact with other Men. It seems certain that they suffered at the hands of the Orcs (when the Orcs could catch them), and on this account conceived a great hatred for the gorgûn, as they termed these creatures. They turned their weapons – bows and blowpipes – upon those who hunted them and took care to avoid the sight of all other living creatures; for they were ‘woodcrafty beyond compare’, and they learned the ways of the forest better than any other creature, save Elves. But by the time of the War of the Ring their uneasiness at the worsening taste in the wind which blew from the East led them to make overtures to the Rohirrim, offering aid in return for a peaceful life; this offer of help was gratefully accepted, and led directly to the great victory of the Pelennor Fields (see STONEWAIN VALLEY). After the War King Elessar (Aragorn II) of neighbouring Gondor declared the Wild Men free of the Forest for ever, and he forbade any man to enter it without their leave.

Note: a late source indicates that the stone images of the ‘púkel-men’ that could be seen on the approach to Dunharrow in Rohan had been carved by the Drúedain themselves in earlier ages, as warnings to intruders.8 Presumably those who had collected them up – the builders of Dunharrow – had recognised the latent power still inhabiting these ancient images and employed it in their own works.

Wulf – The son of Freca, a renegade of mixed Dunlendish and Northern blood. After his father had been slain (for insolence) by King Helm Hammerhand of Rohan, Wulf made overtures to the Hillmen of Dunland, and in concert with other enemies of the Mark invaded Rohan in 2758 Third Age. This force was too great for the Rohirrim to withstand, and Helm was driven in retreat to the Horn-burg fortress; Helm’s son Haleth remained to defend Meduseld, and was slain before the doors of the Golden Hall by Wulf. The renegade then entered in and called himself King.

But meanwhile many of the Rohirrim had not been defeated, although they endured a siege of a whole winter (the Long Winter of 2758–59) in the Hornburg and Dunharrow. The latter fortress was occupied by Helm’s sister’s son Fréaláf, and in the spring he made a secret descent from the Hold and captured Meduseld, slaying Wulf with his own hand. With the death of their leader the Dunlendings were easily driven out of the Mark, and as Helm had perished during the winter Fréaláf then became King of Rohan. He was the first of the Second Line.