The Complete Tolkien Companion

Eä ‘Let it Be’ (Q.) – According to High-elven tradition, the Word spoken by God (Ilúvatar) when He caused the material universe to come into Being at the Creation; afterwards the name of the Universe itself.

Eagles – The greatest birds of Middle-earth; in origin a direct manifestation of the Thought of Manwë, Lord of the Valar (or so the Eldar believed) in the same way that all things that grow upon the earth were in origin a manifestation of the thought of Yavanna Kementári – and all evils traceable to Melkor.

The Eagles of Manwë were not evil, nor was any other race ever able to dominate them. In the youth of the world, before evil stirred, they dwelt in the treetops; but after the rebellion of the Noldor and the Darkening of Valinor, Manwë desired through his messengers to learn what was passing in Mortal Lands, and commanded the children of his thought to leave their arboreal dwellings, and henceforth live among the crags and peaks of the mountains, the loftiest of all dwellings of Middle-earth. So the Eagles came for the first time to their eyries.

In those far-off days they were far greater in size than their descendants: Thorondor, their first King, who dwelt with his people in the Crissaegrim and the Encircling Mountains, is said to have had a wing span of thirty fathoms, or 180 feet. On many occasions the power, speed and courage of the Eagles led by Thorondor were of help to the Eldar in the turmoils of the First Age; but after the drowning of Beleriand, the Eagles removed further east, to the Misty Mountains, where they afterwards dwelt among the high peaks. Among them was a House of princes, descendants of old Thorondor, who were greater in size than Eagles of other families, having prodigious wingbreadth and powerful talons. These, when not used for hunting, were employed against Orcs: for there was a great feud between the Eagles and the Goblins of the Misty Mountains in the later Third Age, especially after the Orcs attempted to re-establish themselves in the high passes during the years which followed the Battle of Azanulbizar (2799).

By the time of Thorin Oakenshield’s 2941 expedition across the Mountains, the Orcs of the Misty Mountains were firmly in control of the passes and, in alliance with the wolves of Wilderland, were already beginning to trouble the lands of the upper vales of Anduin. Thorin’s party was assailed by a host of these Goblins, and was in great danger when the Eagles, observing the commotion from afar, swept down to rescue the members of the expedition from a fiery fate. In this way an alliance was formed with the great birds, resulting in the Eagles’ crucial assistance at the Battle of Five Armies later that same year.

The Great Eagles of the Misty Mountains continued to preserve their friendship with Gandalf the Grey, who had accompanied the Dwarves’ expedition, though it was many years before they were again called upon to lend their strength and speed to the common cause against Sauron. Gwaihir the Windlord, King of the Eagles, himself rescued Gandalf from imprisonment in Saruman’s Tower of Orthanc in the year 3018 and, the following year, from the peak of the mountain Celebdil after the Wizard’s epic struggle with the Balrog. For the final battle with Sauron at the Black Gate, the Eagles sent all their host; and Gwaihir, together with his brother Landroval and kinsman Meneldor, rescued Frodo and Samwise from imminent death at the feet of Orodruin, after the Ring had been destroyed and Sauron cast down.

The Great Eagles were noble birds, fleet and swift, proud and independent – and often cruel and merciless to their foes. Yet they were true allies, and on many occasions their aid staved off certain defeat for the armies of Elves and Men. For these services they were richly rewarded by their friends. They afterwards returned to their high fastness among the peaks of the Misty Mountains.

Eämbar ‘Sea-dwelling’ (Q.) – The name given to the great ship built by Aldarion of Númenor to serve as a floating house and command centre combined. It was generally moored against Tol Uinen, an island in the Bay of Rómenna: the ship also served as the meeting-halls of the GUILD OF VENTURERS.

Eärendil ‘Sea-lover’ (Q.) – The son of Tuor of the Second House of the Edain and Idril, daughter of Turgon, King of High-elven Gondolin in the First Age. Their child was born in Gondolin before its fall and, escaping the sack, was brought to manhood on the shores of Beleriand, which for a while remained free of the Shadow. He later wedded the Elf-maiden Elwing the White, daughter of Dior, son of Lúthien Tinúviel, thus uniting the remnants of the peoples of Gondolin and Doriath. He dwelt for a while in Arvernien, on the shores of the Bay of Balar. On the death (or departure) of his father and mother, he became lord of this last Elven-people; it was at this time that he wedded Elwing.

Eärendil had long harboured a twofold purpose in his heart: to sail the Sea, seeking for his beloved parents, and to come to the Undying Lands and there beseech the aid of the Valar against Morgoth. From his boyhood a love of the Sea had filled him, and so, in his manhood, he determined at last to implement these desires. With the aid of Círdan the Shipwright he built the ship Vingilot, from birchen planks of the wood of Nimbrethil. Then he set sail. Three times he attempted to pass the Shadows which barred the way West – and three times a wind of wrath arose and drove his ship away. In the end, defeated, he turned back.

The oldest form of Eärendil’s legendarium states that he was now joined by his wife Elwing, who had taken on the likeness of a sea-bird; she brought with her the Silmaril of Doriath; and its holy radiance enabled them at last to pass the Shadows and so come to the shores of Eldamar. There he was received by Eonwë, Herald of the Valar, and prepared for his further journey into the hidden land beyond the Pelóri, highest mountains in the world. Eärendil duly passed through the Calacirya, the ‘Light-cleft’, now dark and forlorn, into Valimar. His embassy was heard by the Valar, who were at last persuaded to send a force to the aid of Elves and Men of Middle-earth oppressed by Morgoth and his servants.

Eärendil’s fate is not known for sure, though it is certain he never again came to Middle-earth. The most hallowed tales maintain that he was bidden to sail the evening sky for ever, in a ship made of mithril and elven-glass, with the Silmaril affixed to his prow, shining as a beacon-star and a symbol of Hope to all dwellers in Middle-earth.

The seed of Eärendil lived on in mortal lands. His sons Elros and Elrond, the Peredhil or Half-elven, each founded great dynasties of Men and Elves. Elros became first King of Númenor, and Elrond was the mightiest Chief of Elves and Men during the Third Age.

Also the name of the fifth King of Gondor, who ruled from 238–324 Third Age.

Eärendil’s Star – The Evening Star.

Eärendur ‘Sea-lover’ (Q.) – The younger brother of King Tar-Elendil of Númenor, born in 361 Second Age; also the name of one of the Lords of Andúnië, a descendant (through the Lady Silmariën) of Elros Tar-Minyatur, and a forefather of Elendil the Tall. The name was used a third time for the tenth and last King of Arnor, who ruled from 777–861 Third Age.

Eärenya ‘Sea-day’ (Q.) – The sixth day of the Númenorean week. The Númenoreans, who were great mariners, desired to add a further day to the ancient Elvish enquië they had previously used; Eärenya was inserted between the former fifth and sixth days to produce a seven-day week – which was eventually adopted by almost all the Westron-speaking peoples of Middle-earth. This day was known to the Dúnedain of Middle-earth in its Grey-elven form, Oraearon; the Hobbits called it Meresdei (later Mersday).

Eärnil I ‘Sea-lover’ (Q.) – From 913–36 Third Age, the thirteenth King of Gondor and second of the four ‘Ship-kings’ who expanded the realm during the first millennium of the Age. Eärnil was the nephew of Tarannon Falastur, ‘Lord-of-the-Coasts’, who had died childless; and he came to the throne with Falastur’s great victories to consolidate. In particular, Eärnil purposed to extend Gondor’s sway further south, as far as the Cape of Umbar, which was then occupied by a colony of Black Númenoreans, old enemies of the Dúnedain of Gondor. To this end, he rebuilt the ancient Númenorean haven of Pelargir on the lower reaches of Anduin, where he amassed a great fleet; and he took Umbar, which then became a fortress of Gondor. He was later lost at sea.

Eärnil II – From 1945–2043 Third Age, the thirty-second King of Gondor and one of the greatest warriors in her history. Though he came to the throne by merit rather than royalty, Eärnil proved sure of hand, true of word and a mighty ruler. He was Captain of Gondor’s Southern Army at the time (1944) when the Wainriders’ Confederacy made their last and greatest assault upon Gondor. King Ondoher and both his sons were slain in battle with these Easterlings, and the Wainriders poured into North Ithilien. There they camped and prepared to march across the Anduin – where Minas Anor lay defenceless. But in the meantime Eärnil had defeated the southern army of the invaders in a bloody affray at the Crossings of Poros. Wheeling about, he force-marched north and came against the camp of the Wainriders with great strength. His army utterly defeated the Easterlings and drove them northwards out of Ithilien in confusion and terror.

For this deed Eärnil was granted the Kingship of Gondor, after an interregnum of one year in which the Councillors of the Realm endeavoured to decide what was to be done: for there was no close relative of Ondoher who might claim the Crown, and all remembered the Kin-strife. Some held that the kingship should be given to Arvedui, King of Arthedain; others opposed his claim. At all events, Eärnil was awarded the Crown, nominally as the nearest relative (he was descended from Narmacil II). But he acknowledged Arvedui as his kinsman and promised to send to the aid of Arthedain if and when he could. It was some thirty years before he felt himself able to do so, however – although when he heard of the final preparations for Arthedain’s destruction (in 1973), he sent his own son Eärnur north with a great fleet. This force destroyed the evil realm of Angmar, butarrived too late to save either Arvedui or Arthedain. Eärnur later succeeded his father.

Eärnur ‘Sea-lover’ (Q.) – From 2043–50 Third Age, the thirty-third King of Gondor and the last to sit upon the Throne of that realm until the Restoration of the Kingship at the end of the Third Age. He was the son of the warrior-king Eärnil II, and resembled his father in his command of the martial skills. But whereas Eärnil also developed the qualities of wisdom, gentleness and restraint, his son did not, eschewing marriage and living only for the joys of battle; he was also burdened with a rash temperament. Yet for all that Eärnur was a great soldier, and his father appointed him Captain of the army which was sent to the aid of Arthedain in the far North.

In 1974 this army arrived by ship at the Harlond in the Gulf of Lune. It included many tall Men, brave banners and stout horses, for Eärnur himself proposed to lead the cavalry of Gondor in the forthcoming battle against the Witch-king of Angmar – who had already conquered Arthedain. In alliance with an Elf-host of Lindon, led by Círdan, the Army of Gondor crossed the Lune and advanced towards Fornost. The forces of Angmar came up against them rashly, for the Witch-king did not fear the Dúnedain or the Elves; but Eärnur’s cavalry wheeled north around the hills of Evendim and fell upon the right flank of the enemy. Angmar’s forces broke and scattered, and Eärnur pursued them north-eastwards across Eriador. He overtook the Witch-king west of the river Mitheithel – and at the same instant reinforcement arrived from Rivendell, led by the Elf-lord Glorfindel. Angmar was utterly overwhelmed and the Witch-king was driven from the North.

Yet the son of Eärnil had made a great enemy. The Witch-king remembered his defeat and resolved to be avenged. Therefore, when Eärnur became King in 2043, he received a challenge from the Nazgûl-lord of Minas Morgul (who was none other than the Witch-king himself). Eärnur was minded to accept the challenge but was restrained from doing so by the wise Steward, Mardil. But seven years later the Lord of Minas Morgul renewed the taunt, and Eärnur rode precipitately forth with a small escort to the gates of the Tower of Sorcery. He was never seen again.

Eärnur left no heir; therefore, after his death had been presumed, Mardil the Steward took office in the King’s name – though neither he nor his Heirs, the Ruling Stewards, ever called themselves King or sat upon the great Throne. And for nearly a thousand years, the Crown of Gondor lay between the hands of King Eärnil, where he slept upon a stone bed in the Houses of the Kings.

Eärrámë ‘Sea-wing’ (Q.) – The name of the ship built in Arvernien by Tuor of the Edain at the end of the First Age, in which he and his wife Elwing the White sailed into the West and were lost to the knowledge of dwellers in Middle-earth.

Eärwen ‘Sea-maiden’ (Q.) – The daughter of Olwë of the Teleri and wife of Finarfin of the Noldor; she was the mother of Finrod, Orodreth, Angrod, Aegnor and Galadriel, and her children were able to claim kinship with Thingol Greycloak of Doriath (her father’s brother).

East Bight – The name given to the huge bay in the forest on the eastern flank of Mirkwood.

East-elves – The people of the great forests east of the Misty Mountains; Silvan elves. See also AVARI.

Eastemnet – A low-lying area of Rohan between the rivers Entwash and Anduin.

Easterlings – The name given among folk of Gondor and Rohan to the various races and peoples from the lands of Rhûn and beyond. Most notable of these were the BALCHOTH and the Wainriders, whose incursions into Western Lands during the latter part of the Third Age often threw Gondor and her allies into great danger. Yet all peoples of Middle-earth had originally come from the East; the Edain themselves were merely the first Men to do so. Easterling tribes and clans first appeared in the west of Middle-earth during the latter part of the Elder Days: not many years, in fact, after the migration of the Edain. (For the most part these Men assisted Morgoth.) But by the time of the great Easterling invasions of the Third Age, the Edain had long returned from Númenor and their mighty realms stood in the path of this new drive westward. The North-kingdoms of the Dúnedain were shielded by the position of Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains, but the Men of Dale were exposed to assault; and Gondor herself was constantly threatened by the existence of a great natural route across the wide plains between southern Mirkwood and the northern fences of Mordor.

The earliest Easterling invasions took the form of mass migrations rather than military expeditions, and their forces were easily driven off; but later incursions were better organised and far more formidable – the Wainriders, for example, moved their people and baggage in huge wains, or carts, while their nobility fought from chariots. They were also stronger and more numerous than previous invaders, and better armed. From 1851–1941 they attacked Gondor repeatedly, forcing her to waste resources she desperately needed. In 1856 King Narmacil II fell in battle with the Wainriders, and Gondor withdrew all her forces behind the Great River. Rho-vanion, one of her traditional allies, was enslaved by the Easterlings, but rose in revolt in 1899. Seizing his chance, Narmacil’s son Calimehtar then crossed the Anduin in force and brought the Wainriders to battle on the old Field of Dagorlad. The victory he won there brought Gondor relief from the Easterling attacks for some time, for it was not until the year 1940 that the Wainriders reappeared – in great strength, and in alliance with other peoples, passing north and south of Mordor in their last and greatest invasion. King Ondoher fell in battle during the first assault of this new campaign and only a fortunate victory by the Southern Army saved Gondor from being overrun.

Five hundred years later, another fierce Easterling people had made their way west as far as the brown meads south of Mirkwood. These were the Balchoth, a cruel clan completely under the sway of Sauron, and they terrorised the lands on both sides of the Great River. In 2510, discontented with sporadic raiding, a great host of Balchoth – aided by Orcs of the Mountains – crossed the Anduin on many boats and rafts. This sudden invasion was only thrown back because of the foresight of Cirion, twelfth Steward, and because of the valour of the horsemen of the North, led by Eorl the Young (see BATTLE OF THE FIELD OF CELEBRANT). But not even the combined strength of Gondor and Rohan could continually stem the westward flood, and the Easterlings threatened their frontiers while the Third Age lasted.

Eastfarthing – One of the four quarters, or ‘farthings’, of the Shire.

Eastfold Vale – The area of Rohan bordered by the White Mountains, the Mering Stream, and the rivers Entwash and Snowbourn. South of the Mering Stream, the land was called Anórien, and was accounted part of Gondor. Through the vale ran the chief road from Edoras to Minas Tirith.

East Lórien – Throughout the last half of the Third Age, the evil power of DOL GULDUR dominated the southern reaches of Mirk-wood. But after overthrowing the dark fortress at the end of the War of the Ring, Celeborn of Lothlórien took all of this forest region, cleansed it, made it part of his realm and called it East Lórien.

East Vale – A translation of the Grey-elven name Talath Rhúnen. See THARGELION.

Echad i Sedryn ‘The Camp of the Faithful’ – Túrin’s stronghold on AMON RÛDH.

Echoing Mountains – A translation of the Grey-elven name Ered Lómin; the western mountain-wall of the lands of Hithlum and Dor-Lómin.

Echoriath ‘Encircling Mountains’ (Sind.) – A node or massif of tall peaks which buttressed the land of Dorthonion on the west, originally part of the Ered Wethrin but separated in later days from this range by the vale of the upper Sirion, and from the Ered Gorgoroth in the east by the Pass of Anach. In earliest times the Encircling Mountains had contained a deep lake amidmost, perhaps as a result of volcanic action and the formation of a caldera, which afterwards filled with water. But this lake drained away, and what was left was the deep, hidden vale of Tumladen, with the hill of Amon Gwareth in its centre. Upon this hill, and protected by the Encircling Mountains, Turgon of the Noldor in after days built his city of Gondolin.

Echuir – The Sindarin word for ‘stirring’, as applied to the final ‘season’ of the Eldarin loa or year. The Quenya term was coirë.

Ecthelion of the Fountain – One of the Captains of Gondolin, whose particular duty was the guarding of the innermost gate of the seven which protected Gondolin from the world beyond the Encircling Mountains. He was one of Turgon’s chief lieutenants, and fought at Turgon’s side during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. But he is chiefly remembered as the Elf who slew – and was himself slain by – the Lord of Balrogs, Gothmog, in the last defence of the city.

Ecthelion I – From 2685–98 Third Age, the seventeenth Ruling Steward of Gondor. He rebuilt the White Tower of the Citadel in the city of Minas Tirith.

Ecthelion II – The father of Denethor II and, from 2953–84 Third Age, the twenty-fifth Ruling Steward of Gondor. Because of Gondor’s growing need for men of worth, he initiated the practice of taking foreigners into his service, and some he rewarded with great honour. (One of these was none other than Aragorn II himself, in another guise.)

Edain ‘Men’; ‘The Second People’ (Sind. from Q. Atani) – In its most ancient form, the name for the race of Men (as opposed to the ‘First People’, the Elves). Later this title, in its Sindarin form (above), was applied more specifically to the Men who belonged to the Three Houses of the Elf-friends, who came across the Blue Mountains into Beleriand during the Elder Days, and fought alongside the Eldar in the long wars against Morgoth the Enemy; and it is in this later, Grey-elven form that the name is most often encountered.

Of the forging of this most ancient friendship, and of the trials undergone by the ‘Second People’ in their defence of Beleriand against Morgoth, The Silmarillion has much to say. Arriving piecemeal in tribal groupings, the Three Houses first established independent chiefdoms and kingdoms in Beleriand; then, as one by one these peoples encountered the evil of Morgoth, they joined with the Eldar and held lands in fief from the Elven-kings. Thus for the most part they shared the fate of the Elves, and were nigh on annihilated before the greatest of their heroes, Eärendil, son of Tuor of the Third House of the Edain, and Idril, daughter of Turgon, King of Gondolin, sailed west over Sea to reach the Undying Lands and bring the aid which succoured Middle-earth.

At the ending of the First Age, in return for their sacrifices in the wars, the Edain were granted land ‘West-over-Sea’ – the Isle of Elenna, most westerly of mortal lands. Using Eärendil’s Star as their beacon, the greater part of them then set out for their future home. They named their new realm Númenor.

The Elves then called this people Dúnedain, ‘Men-of-the-West’. And the Númenoreans began to grow more kingly and proud, and more like the Eldar themselves, with whom they lived in friendship for the greater part of the Second Age; for they had also been rewarded with longer life than other Men, though not with that immortality they always desired. Yet Númenor withered and fell at last, and few survived: only the Faithful, led back to Middle-earth by Elendil the Tall. Like the Elves, they were a dwindling people.

Edennil ‘Friend-of-Men’ (Sind.) – A title awarded to Finrod Felagund.

Edhellond ‘Elf-havens’ (Sind.) – An ancient harbour of the Grey-Elves and Silvan Elves in the lee of Dol Amroth, on the coast of Belfalas. Throughout the Third Age, the tradition remained in Dol Amroth that Elves from Mirkwood and Lórien would sail down the Morthond from their Forests to the Sea, resting at the Edhellond before taking ship into the West. It was here that the ship of Amroth waited in vain for Nimrodel.

Edhelrim ‘The Elves’ (Sind.) – The Grey-elves’ collective plural for their own race. Also Eledhrim.

Edoras ‘The Courts’ – The chief city of Rohan, situated at the feet of the White Mountains near the river Snowbourn. It was built in the late Third Age, after the fashion of the North – as a hill-fortress with stockade and dike. Crowning the hill was the magnificent King’s Hall, Meduseld, completed by Brego, second King of the Mark. Edoras was not a true stronghold, and the Kings of Rohan used Dunharrow, in the mountains further south, as a place of refuge in time of war.

Edrahil – An Elf of the city of Nargothrond, chief of those loyalists who refused to forsake their King Finrod Felagund, and who accompanied him to his death in Tol-in-Gaurhoth. It was at Edrahil’s suggestion that Finrod, instead of casting the crown of Nargothrond away in bitterness, gave it instead to his younger brother Orodreth to hold in keeping. But Finrod – and Edrahil – never returned from the north, and Orodreth later became King of Nargothrond by right.

‘Edro!’ – A Sindarin imperative, meaning ‘Open!’

Egalmoth – From 2698–2743 Third Age, the eighteenth Ruling Steward of Gondor.

Egladil ‘Angle’ (Sind.) – That part of Lothlórien which lay between the confluence of Anduin and Silverlode.

Eglador ‘Land of the Forsaken’ (Sind.) – The earliest of all Elven-names for the land of DORIATH. See also EGLATH.

Eglantine Took – The wife of Paladin and mother of Peregrin Took.

Eglarest – The southernmost of the two Havens of the Falathrim on the shores of Beleriand, founded by CÍRDAN THE SHIPWRIGHT early in the First Age. It lay at the mouth of the river Nenning (its sister-haven was Brithombar at the outflow of the Brithon). Círdan himself dwelt there throughout most of the war against Morgoth, but in the year following the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, both Havens were assaulted by great armies from Angband, and fell at last. They were never rebuilt. Círdan and the survivors of the Falathrim went to dwell on the Isle of Balar, and afterwards, when the Age was ended and Beleriand drowned and broken, to the Grey Havens of Mithlond on the shores of Lindon.

Eglath ‘Forsaken Ones’ (Sind.) – The name assumed by those of the Teleri (the Third Kindred of the Eldar) who would not depart from Middle-earth at the Beginning of Days, but instead lingered in Beleriand, seeking for Elwë Thingol their lord, who had been lost to them for many years.

Eilenach – One of a series of seven BEACON-HILLS between Gondor and Rohan. Eilenach was a tall hill in the midst of the Forest of Druadan, at the southern end of the chain.

Eilenaer – An older (pre-Númenorean) name for the HALIFIRIEN.

Eilinel – The wife of GORLIM THE UNHAPPY, murdered in Dorthonion by soldiers of Sauron after the Dagor Bragollach.

Eithel Ivrin ‘Ivrin’s Well’ (Sind.) – A spring and cataract beneath the southernmost buttresses of the Shadowy Mountains in West Beleriand; it was the source of the river Narog. Also called the ‘Falls of Ivrin’ and the ‘Pools of Ivrin’.

Eithel Sirion – The source of the great river Sirion, on the eastern slopes of the Ered Wethrin (the Shadowy Mountains) on the borders of Ard-galen.

Eket – A short Númenorean sword, with a blade between twelve and eighteen inches long, two-edged and pointed.

Ekkaia – The name given in the lore of the Eldar to the Outer or Encircling Sea of Arda – the ocean which encompassed all the lands of the earth in the days before its reshaping at the time of the fall of Númenor.

Êl, Elin, Elenath – The Sindarin word for ‘star’. (Elenath was the collective plural.) See ELEN, ELENI, ELENION; GIL, GILIATH.

Elanor ‘Sun-star’ (Sind.) – A small, golden winter flower found in the forest-glades of Lothlórien. It was also known to grow in Tol Eressëa, so presumably it came to Middle-earth via Númenor.1

Elanor ‘the Fair’ Gamgee – The eldest child of Sam Gamgee, born to Sam and Rose in the last year of the Third Age. Like a number of the children born then, she had golden hair, which was previously most unusual in a Hobbit-maid. After her father was made a Counsellor of the North-kingdom (Year 13 Fourth Age, 1434 Shire Reckoning), she was appointed Maid of Honour to the Queen of Gondor and Arnor.

In her thirty-first year, Elanor married Fastred of Greenholm and four years afterwards the couple moved to Undertowers, beneath the Tower Hills on the borders of the Westmarch. There the family long continued to dwell – and to preserve the Red Book, given by Samwise to Elanor in the year 61 Fourth Age, on his way to the Grey Havens and the Western Shores.

See also ELVES; QUENDI.

Eldarin – The generic name given to the languages spoken by the Eldar. The only two of these recorded in Middle-earth were the High-elven Quenya (‘the Speech’) and the Grey-elven Sindarin. Of the two, Quenya was by far the more ancient, being the oldest of all written languages. It was flowing, flexible and highly modulated, and was said (by the Eldar) to have been influenced by the speech of the Valar. The Sindarin language was related to Quenya, and both were descended from a common ancestral tongue spoken in Middle-earth far back in the Elder Days. But during the long years when the Three Kindreds were sundered, the Grey-elves remained in Mortal Lands and their language therefore changed to a far greater extent than Quenya, though the original kinship could still be discerned. See also SPOKEN TONGUES.

Eldarion – The only son of King Elessar and Queen Arwen of Gondor and Arnor. He ruled after his father’s passing in the year 120 Fourth Age.

Elder Children, Elder Kindred – The ELVES.

Elder Days – The First Age of Middle-earth.

Elder King – A title bestowed upon Manwë, Lord of the Valar, by the Grey-elves.

Eldest of Trees – TELPERION.

Eledhrim – See EDHELRIM.

Eledhwen ‘Elf-sheen’ (Sind.) – See MORWEN ELEDHWEN.

Elemmakil – Captain of the Guard of the Outer Gate of Gondolin at the time Voronwë (of Gondolin) brought Tuor son of Huor there. After some hesitation, he allowed them to pass under escort.

Elemmirë ‘Jewel-star’ (Q.) – The name of one of the stars created by Elbereth to bring light to Middle-earth, and so aid the newly awakened Quendi (the Elves), at the beginning of the Elder Days. Also the name of an Elf of the Vanyar, the minstrel who made the Lament for the Two Trees, the Aldudénië.

Elen, Eleni, Elenion (Q.) – The High-elven word for ‘star’, descended (like its Grey-elven equivalent, ÊL, ELIN, ELENATH), from the very ancient Elven word-element el. It can be found in the personal title Elentári, ‘Star-queen’, in many words and names of Quenya origin used by Men of Númenor and Gondor (e.g. Elendil, ‘Star-lover’, Elenna, ‘Land-of-the-Star’), and also in the ancient High-elven name for the first day of the week: Elenya. The Eldar (‘People-of-the-Stars’) of course had many names for the stars, but at the time of the War of the Ring, the word Elen was the most ancient still preserved in Middle-earth. Its collective plural was Elenion, of which the Sindarin Elenath was the closest equivalent.

Elendë ‘Star-land’ (Q.) – Eldamar.

Elendil (Tar-Elendil) ‘Star-lover’ (Q.) – From 590–740 Second Age, the fourth King of Númenor. During his reign (c. 600) the first exploratory ship, piloted by Vëantur, made the journey back to the shores of Middle-earth.

Elendil the Tall – From 3320–3441 Second Age, the first High-king of both Arnor and Gondor, and the founder of these Dúnedain Realms in Exile.

Elendil was born in Númenor before its fall, the son of Amandil, last Lord of the Faithful of Andúnië. The Faithful were those Númenoreans who held true to the ways of the Eldar and thus survived when their rebellious countrymen were destroyed in the Downfall of that land in the year 3319 Second Age. Elendil than led the Faithful back to Middle-earth in nine ships, bearing a seedling of the White Tree, and the seven palantíri.

Although Elendil was the High-king of both realms, he chose to dwell in Arnor, the senior of the two kingdoms, which he ruled personally from his beautiful city of Annúminas, beside Lake Evendim; his sons, Isildur and Anárion, ruled Gondor conjointly.

For a while both Exile Kingdoms were allowed to grow in peace. But, unbeknown to Elendil, Sauron the Great had also escaped the ruin of Númenor and had secretly re-entered Mordor. Forced to wait there while he gathered his strength, the Dark Lord became enraged on discovering that Elendil, whom he most hated, had escaped him, and was ordering a realm upon his borders. In the year 3429 Sauron struck. Lying within his easy reach, on the shoulders of the Mountains of Shadow, Minas Ithil was quickly taken; but Anárion successfully defended the line of the Anduin, while Isildur escaped into the North to rally Arnor.

One year later, Elendil formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men with Gil-galad, Elven-king of Lindon. The combined Hosts were mustered in Arnor and, in the year 3434, with Elendil and Gilgalad at their head, they crossed the Misty Mountains and marched south. At the ensuing Battle of Dagorlad, Narsil, the Sword of Elendil, and Aiglos, the Spear of Gil-galad, scythed through their foes and, though losses were grievous, the Alliance prevailed. Sauron was driven back to the Barad-dûr and there endured a long siege. Seven years later he finally emerged to engage Elendil and Gil-galad in single combat on the slopes of the volcano Orodruin. Though Sauron was himself overthrown in that fight, Gil-galad and Elendil were both slain. The High-kingship then passed to Isildur.

Elendil’s body was secretly laid in a tomb on the hill of Eilenaer (the Halifirien, afterwards called Amon Anwar ‘Hill of Awe’) by Isildur. There it lay for over two thousand years until, in the time of Cirion the Steward, the casket was removed with reverence from the mound and taken back to Minas Tirith, to lie in the Hallows.

Elendili ‘Elf-friends’ (Q.) – Another name for the FAITHFUL of Andúnië.

Elendilmir – The Star of Elendil; the ‘crown’ of Arnor (though the Sceptre of Annúminas was the chief emblem of royalty in the North-kingdom). It was a single white gem bound to the brow by a slender fillet of silver and had descended to Elendil (and so Isildur) from Silmariën of Andúnië. It was in Isildur’s possession at the time of the disaster of the Gladden Fields (Year 2 Third Age) and was lost with his body. Accordingly, a new Elendilmir was made in Rivendell for Valandil, Isildur’s last remaining son and now the King of Arnor. It was this jewel, known also as the Star of the Dúnedain, which Aragorn wore in battle at the Pelennor Fields.

After the War of the Ring and the expulsion of Saruman from Isengard, a close search of Orthanc revealed a hidden vault, in which were two items: a small golden case, large enough to hold a ring, on a golden chain; and the Elendilmir. Had Saruman actually found Isildur’s body and pillaged it of its treasures?5

Elendur – The eldest of the four sons of Isildur, slain at the Gladden Fields (Year 2 Third Age). He was born in Númenor in 3299 Second Age. Also the name of the ninth King of Arnor, who ruled from 652–777 Third Age.

Elenna-nórë ‘The Land named Starwards’ (Q.) – This great isle was the most westerly of all Mortal Lands, being just within sight of Tol Eressëa. At the end of the First Age, Elenna was given to the Edain by the Valar as a reward for their aid in the wars against Morgoth the Enemy. Accordingly, they set sail at the dawn of the new Age and founded there the realm of Númenor, far removed from the turmoil of Middle-earth.

Elentári ‘Star-queen’ (Q.) – The High-elven form of the Grey-elven name ELBERETH. This Lady was more usually known to the High-elves as Varda ‘The Exalted’.

Elentirmo ‘Star-watcher’ (Q.) – A name for King Tar-Meneldur of Númenor after he had built a great star-gazing tower in the northernmost wilderness.

Elenwë ‘Star-maiden’ (Q.) – The wife of Turgon of the Noldor. She perished during the dreadful crossing of the Helcaraxë, the Northern Ice, at the beginning of the period of Exile.

Elenya ‘Stars’-day’ (Q.) – The first day of the ‘week’ (enquië) in Elvish and Númenorean reckoning – and ultimately in the calendar of almost all Westron-speaking peoples of Middle-earth. The Sindarin name for the same day was Orgilion, which was the word used by the Dúnedain. The Hobbits used a translation of Elenya: Sterrendei, which later became simply Sterday.

Elerrína ‘Star-crowned’ (Q.) – A name for OIOLOSSË.

Elessar ‘Elf-stone’ (Q.) – The title taken by Aragorn II on his accession to the throne of Gondor. Although the name had been foretold for the Dúnadan long before, the reason for it was not apparent until he received the green gem mounted in a silver eagle which had originally been given by Galadriel to her daughter Celebrían, and by Celebrían to her daughter Arwen Evenstar. Thus it came to Aragorn when he passed through Lothlórien with the fellowship of the Ring;6 thenceforth he wore the jewel at all times.

After the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the people of Gondor also gave Aragorn the title ‘Elfstone’, not knowing who he was or why the lords of the Realm treated him with deference – but perceiving the great emerald as a work of Elvish craft.

Note: later sources expand on the history of the green jewel, though variations between them serve to confuse7. A consensus is that there were two stones of this name, the first made in Gondolin by one of the Noldor called Enerdhil, later given to Idril, and by her to Eärendil, with whom it passed into the West; the second made during the Second Age in Eregion by Celebrimbor for Galadriel in memory of the first Elessar, and used by her for its healing power. It was this ‘lesser’ Elessar which passed to Aragorn.

Elestirnë (Tar-Elestirnë) ‘Lady of the Star Brow’ (Q.) – The name given to ERENDIS, Queen of Númenor (and estranged wife of Tar-Aldarion) when she began to wear the diamond her betrothed had given her, not as a brooch, but mounted on a silver fillet about her brow. This is said to be the origin of the Númenorean kings’ custom of wearing a diadem rather than a crown.

Elf-friend – A possible translation of the name Elendil (which also means ‘Star-lover’). More specifically a title of honour awarded to folk of other race who proved friendly to Elves. The Edain of the First Age were known as the ‘Three Houses of the Elf-friends’.

Elfhelm – A Marshal of Rohan who fought in – and survived – many of the battles of the War of the Ring, including the great Battle of the Pelennor Fields (March, 3019 Third Age). He fought at the Isen against Saruman, and later led the right wing of Riders when Théoden’s men broke through the unguarded Pelennor wall at its most northerly point and charged to the relief of the city. There, his éored wrought great destruction among the Orcs and Men who manned the fire-pits and siege-engines near the city-walls of Minas Tirith.

Several days later, Elfhelm commanded the main body of the Rohirrim who guarded the northern flank in Anórien while the Host of the West marched to offer battle at the Black Gate.

Elfhild – The wife of King Théoden of Rohan. She died early in her life while giving birth to Théoden’s only son, Théodred, himself slain during the War of the Ring. Théoden never remarried.

Elfstan Fairbairn – The eldest son of Elanor ‘the Fair’, daughter of Samwise Gamgee. He was the founder of the Fairbairn family.

Elfwine – The nineteenth King of Rohan and the son of Éomer and Lothíriel, daughter of Imrahil of Dol Amroth.

Ell – A unit of measure, roughly one-and-a-half yards.

Elladan and Elrohir – The twin sons of Elrond. Like their father (and his brother, Elros Tar-Minyatur), they were Peredhil (‘Halfelven’) and therefore possessed the life of the Eldar – while Elrond himself remained in Middle-earth. In 2509 Third Age their mother, Celebrían, was journeying across the passes of the Misty Mountains when her party was ambushed by Orcs. The brothers rode swiftly to their mother’s aid – and succeeded in rescuing her – but they never forgot the days of torment she experienced at the Orcs’ hands while in captivity. Both Elladan (‘Man-of-the-Stars’) and Elrohir (‘Star-rider’) rode with the Dúnedain of the North to Aragorn’s aid during the War of the Ring and, with the Grey Company, passed the Paths of the Dead and fought their way to Pelargir. There they took ship with the host of Lebennin and Langstrand up the Anduin, in time to arrive at a crucial moment during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. After the Passing of the Three Rings, they remained with the Dúnedain of Arnor. Like their sister Arwen – although for different reasons – both brothers elected to become of mortal-kind.

Elmo – The younger brother of Elwë and Olwë of the Teleri. Little is said of him in records, other than that he was the grandfather of Celeborn. See LINES OF DESCENT.

Elostirion – The name of the tallest of the towers of Emyn Beraid, in which the chief or master palantír was kept. It was built by Gil-galad during the Second Age.

Elrohir – See ELLADAN AND ELROHIR.

Elrond ‘Star-dome’ (Sind.) – Son of Eärendil and brother of Elros Tar-Minyatur; Herald of Gil-galad; Bearer of the Great Ring Vilya, mightiest of the Three, and Master of Rivendell throughout the Second and Third Ages of Middle-earth. The sons of Eärendil were Elros and Elrond, the Peredhil or Halfelven. ‘In them alone the line of the heroic chieftains of the Edain in the First Age was preserved; and after the fall of Gil-galad the lineage of the High-elven Kings was also in Middle-earth only represented by their descendants.’8

The lineage of the Peredhil was indeed impressive. Eärendil the Mariner, their father, was the son of Tuor (of the Third House of the Edain) and Idril Celebrindal, daughter of Turgon, High-elven King of Gondolin. Their mother Elwing the White was the daughter of Dior, son of Beren (of the First House of the Edain) and Lúthien Tinúviel, daughter of Thingol Greycloak and the Lady Melian of the Valar.

At the end of the First Age Elros and Elrond were appointed a choice: to become Mortal – albeit with greatly increased lifespan – or to accept the life of the Eldar. Elros decided to stay with the Edain, and was thus chosen to be Númenor’s first King. But his brother’s heart lay with the Eldar of Middle-earth, and so Elrond chose to be of Elven-kind. Ultimately the same choice was later inherited by his own three children: Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen Undómiel.

The early years of the Second Age were peaceful, and at that time Elrond dwelt with Gil-galad in Lindon, north of the Lune. The fabled refuge of Imladris (Rivendell) was not established until the middle of the War of the Elves and Sauron, which began in the year 1693. After Sauron’s invasion of Eriador, Elrond was sent by Gil-galad to the aid of the Elven-smiths of Eregion. Although he could not save Eregion, he rescued the survivors and retreated northwards with them to a hidden valley deep in the foothills of the Misty Mountains; there Elrond founded the ‘Last Homely House’ of his kin. For the remainder of the Second Age Elrond, now an Elvenlord of power, defended Imladris against all who would overcome it. And during the War of the Last Alliance, which secured Sauron’s overthrow at the end of the Age, he marched with the Host as the Herald of Gil-galad. Gil-galad had already bequeathed Vilya, greatest of the Three Rings to Elrond; and thus it was saved from destruction when Gil-galad perished at Sauron’s hand.

Throughout the Third Age Elrond dwelt in Rivendell, wielding Vilya in concert with the other two Rings. But he could hardly stand aside from the affairs of his kinsfolk and other Free Peoples, and when, during the middle years of the Age, the North-kingdoms of the Dúnedain began to break up, the surviving Men of those lands relied heavily on Master Elrond’s aid. He gave them sanctuary when they needed it, and sent a force to the last battle at Fornost against the Witch-king (in the year 1974). And when the North-kingdom finally fell, Elrond took the Heirs of Isildur into his own house, where also were kept the treasures of Isildur’s Line: the Ring of Barahir, the Shards of Narsil, and the Sceptre of Annúminas.

But the House of Rivendell was not a fortress, nor a camp of war. It was a place of learning, merriment and quiet, beside a running stream, deep in a forest-clad northern valley. There, with his children, his loremasters and many of the chief Eldar of Middle-earth as his counsellors, Elrond dwelt until the end of the Age. Then the Master of Rivendell, friend of Elves and Men, passed in his turn ‘West-over-Sea’; and with him went the Three Rings of the Elves. Thus Elrond was finally reunited with his wife Celebrían (who had gone over Sea long before); but he was sundered at the last from his sons Elladan and Elrohir, and from his beloved daughter Arwen.

Elros Tar-Minyatur – The son of Eärendil the Mariner and twin brother of Elrond; from 32–442 Second Age, the first King of Númenor; and the founder of the Dúnedain royal line. He was known to the Edain by the High-elven title Tar-Minyatur (‘High First-ruler’; Elros means ‘Star-glitter’), and he reigned over the Land of the Star for more than four hundred years; for to him and his descendants the Valar granted a great lifespan. His son Vardamir Nólimon succeeded him (albeit briefly).

Elu Thingol – See THINGOL GREYCLOAK.

Eluchíl ‘Thingol’s Heir’ (Sind.) – See DIOR ELUCHÍL.

Eluréd ‘Thingol’s Heir’ (Sind.) – The elder of the two infant sons of Dior Eluchíl. He was left to starve in the forest by the sons of Fëanor, after the sack of Doriath, together with his younger brother Elurin.

Elurin – See preceding entry.

Elvenhome – A translation of ELDAMAR.

Elven rings – The Three Rings.

Elven-smiths – Prior to the rebellion of the Noldor, and the return of this people in Exile during the First Age, Elvish craft in Middle-earth had chiefly taken the form of skills with speech, song and enchantment. But the war which the Noldor then began against Morgoth compelled them to develop anew the art of smithying, and so forge their own weaponry.

Naturally this was of a uniquely Elvish nature, though at first many of the techniques were acquired from the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains. One notable feature of the swords and daggers they created was the happy faculty of warning their owners of approaching evil creatures (such as Orcs and Trolls) by shining with a cold blue light. But for the Orcs – who captured much Elvish weaponry in the First Age – such blades were objects of fear and abhorrence.

During the Second Age, the craft of smithying was further developed by the Noldor of Fëanor’s House, in Eregion (where they had access to metals mined by the Dwarves of Moria). They forged the Great Rings, perhaps the supreme examples of Elvish skill after the Silmarils. Yet all such Elvish essays into high craftsmanship now seem ill-starred, and the fate of the Great Rings echoes that of the Great Jewels: they were marvellous beyond measure, but great peril was brought into the world with them – and remained until they were finally removed from the Circles of the World.

Elven-swords – See preceding entry.

Elves (Trans. from Quendi ‘the Speakers’) – In the Beginning of Days, long before Good or Evil moved in Middle-earth, when only the wild beasts and ancient trees inhabited the forests and valleys, the first of the ‘speaking peoples’ awoke. These were the Elves, the Firstborn, the immortal Elder Race of Middle-earth, noblest of the Children of God. No subsequent race has ever had such a profound effect upon Middle-earth; for the Elves were, materially and spiritually, more closely bound to Middle-earth than Men; and all that they did was done long ago; and as a result the long effects of the presence of Elves in Middle-earth are more deeply rooted than the works of Men, though the full measure of them can no longer easily be discerned.

In those most ancient of all days the subsequent differences between the Elf-kindreds had not yet begun to manifest themselves, and for a timeless period the Firstborn roamed freely around the waters of Cuiviénen, and in the eastern forests, learning, understanding, and, above all, speaking: to each other (most of all) and to those beasts and growing things (kelvar and olvar) whose thoughts the Elves most desired to know. Their role in the affairs of Middle-earth is therefore one of awakening and teaching, rather than creation, or as in the case of Morgoth (and, unfortunately, Men) sub-creation. The Elves were the Quickeners of intellect, and articulation; they did not, strictly speaking, ‘invent’ these gifts; but they stimulated them, in themselves and in others; and having awakened and taught to the full extent of their ability (and their destiny) they departed from Middle-earth, leaving the remaining ‘speaking-peoples’ with the same hereditary task.

Yet the changefiilness of Mortal Lands affected the Elves in time, and, as is told in many places, they came to be divided into two main branches: the East-elves (or Avari), who loved the forests and were content there: and the West-elves, who conceived an awareness of their destiny and awaited a manifestation of it. These latter were the ELDAR; the Three Kindreds who were summoned to dwell across the Sea in Eldamar, and who began the Great Journey into the West for that purpose. Thus, far back in the First Age, two of these Kindreds at last sailed out of Middle-earth to the Undying Lands, and dwelt there agelessly in peace and exaltation. However, the lesser Elves remained in Middle-earth throughout the Elder Days; and with them lingered a part of the Third Kindred of the Eldar, the Sindar (Grey-elves), who had stilled the Eldarin Sea-longing and had chosen to pass their days in Mortal Lands rather than sail into the West.

Yet not all the High-elves were content to remain in the Undying Lands; a great number of the Noldor (the Second People) returned in exile to Middle-earth before the end of the First Age, thus initiating a series of changes for other peoples of mortal lands. Naturally enough, the return of the Exiles most directly affected their Grey-elven kin, who quickly adopted much of their lore (including the Tengwar, the High-elven alphabet of cursive letters). The Grey-elves themselves – who were numerous and whose language, Sindarin, was the most widely spoken among all Elves – subsequently passed on some of the Noldorin culture they had absorbed to the Wood-elves (another name for the Nandor), with whom they often dwelt in latter years. Ultimately, this gradual cultural transfer reached other races altogether. Thus, for example, the Grey-elves’ own runic system (see ALPHABET OF DAERON) eventually spread to the Dwarves, and even, in a greatly debased form, to the Orcs and other servants of the Dark Power.

However, the peoples most profoundly affected were the Edain: the Three Houses of Men who came west into Beleriand before the Elder Days had passed, and who adopted the ways of the Elves they found there. The Elves of Middle-earth gave this knowledge freely, for in Men the Firstborn had recognised the shapes of their future inheritors; and so they enriched the minds of the Edain with all that Elven-lore could endow, even while they themselves began to prepare for their own separate destiny.

For the Undying Lands of Eldamar and Eressëa, in the Far West, had been set apart from the Beginning of Days as a refuge for all Elven-kind: to be a final home, removed from the perils and mortality of Middle-earth. And deep within the breasts of most Elves slumbered the ‘Sea-longing’, an innate desire to pass West to Eldamar and dwell there for ever. It was of course the exiled High-elves who felt this call most keenly, for they themselves had already once dwelt beyond the Sea. Accordingly, with the ending of the First Age and the lifting of their exile, most of the Noldor returned once more into the Undying Lands, and with them went a great number of the Grey-elves.

After the passing of the Three Rings, two full Ages later, few indeed of the Eldar (whether High-elves or Grey-elves) still tarried in mortal lands – though the Elven-woods of Wilderland long remained peopled by the lesser kindreds. For in the hearts of the Wood-elves the Sea-longing seldom awoke, and for the most part this people never came to Eldamar. They lingered instead in Middle-earth and eventually declined altogether, sharing the fate of all those whose destiny it remains to dwell on the Hither Shores.

Note: today only dim memories of the Elder Race survive in the legends and traditions of Men, though once there was great friendship between the peoples. Folk-stories, garnered from all quarters of the world, afford glimpses into remote antiquity – but little more. For example, most northern and western lands of Men have tales of ‘sprites’, ‘piskies’, ‘brownies’ and other diminutive creatures of wisdom, enchantment and malice. Indeed such creatures take many forms, and are given many names; and in many cases a confusion has obviously occurred between two or even three quite distinct races.

Yet from time to time a shaft of light strikes through the murk. The ancient Irish, who had many exceedingly antique legends and traditions, believed that Ireland had in the past been invaded by successive waves of races, not all of whom were of mortal fibre, and most of whom came from the (mystic) West. One of these, called in Irish Tuatha de Danaan (the ‘People of Don’) are said, quite specifically, to have sailed out of the West to Ireland to fight the evil Fomorians, to have defeated them, and then to have themselves been defeated by a new invasion of evil creatures, the Fir Bolg. The Tuatha then sailed back into the Far West, and did not return. (Significantly, they are not remembered as tiny creatures of malice – feeding on saucers of milk and stealing babies, and all the rest of the debased folk-memory – but as tall, beautiful, high beings of Light, great warriors and magicians, immortal and wise.) Some Welsh legends echo this theme, though different names are, of course, used.

Indeed, the idea of a Golden Age before the Age of Men – when older beings of quite different origin and destiny walked the earth – is exceedingly widespread. The Greeks had their age of ‘Titans’ (who were not, in the original legend, gigantic beings, rather beings of power; it was only later that power became equated with gigantism). Interestingly enough, the fate of the Titan Prometheus (who tried to steal Fire from the Gods and was chained to a rock as a punishment, doomed to be savaged each day by an eagle) contains curious jumbled echoes of the destinies of Fëanor (who likewise challenged the ‘Gods’), and his eldest son Maedhros, who, as is told in The Silmarillion, was chained to a rock and left there (but actually rescued by an Eagle). It seems that, in the course of time, what folklorists call ‘telescoping’ has occurred; and this explains why, in regions of comparative isolation – certainly of less cultural diffusion – such as the Celtic West and the Germanic north, the legends have been preserved in less adulterated fashion. Yet examples can be found everywhere. And while the vanar and liosalfar of Scandinavian myth are undoubtedly a recollection of Elves and their divisions, even the cherubim and seraphim of (Judaic) Cabbalistic tradition obviously owe a great deal to dimly preserved memories of older, more potent races, in the divine ‘hierarchy’ somewhere between the true Demiurges (Angels and Archangels) and Men. Finally, the populous pantheon of ancient Sumeria is chock-full of beings who are neither Gods nor Men – as indeed are many other religious systems. But as might be expected, it is in the remoter lands of west and north that the memories are most clearly preserved.

Elves of the Darkness – The DARK-ELVES.

Elves of the Falas – The FALATHRIM.

Elves of the Light – The CALAQUENDI.

Elves of the Twilight – The SINDAR.

Elvish – See ELDARIN.

Elwë Singollo – THINGOL GREYCLOAK.

Elwing the White – The daughter of Dior Eluchíl, son of Beren of the Edain and Lúthien daughter of Thingol Greycloak of Doriath. She was born at Lanthir Lamath (the ‘Echoing-Cataract’) in Ossiriand, and took her name – meaning ‘star-spray’ – from this fair place. When she was still a child, Thingol her grandsire perished and Dior then arose and went to take up the lordship of Doriath; his wife Nimloth and his children, Eluréd, Elurin and Elwing, went with him, and dwelled for a while in Menegroth. But the realm of Doriath Renewed was not fated to endure. On a night of winter, the sons of Fëanor came against Dior’s realm with fire and sword, to wrest from his keeping the single Silmaril which Beren and Lúthien had recovered years before. In this task they were not successful, though they slew Dior, and Nimloth his wife, and Eluréd and Elurin their sons – and were themselves slain in the same battle. But Elwing escaped from Doriath, bearing the great necklace (the NAUGLAMIR) in which was set the Silmaril, and came in the end to the coastlands near the Sirion delta, where for a while she and her people found refuge from the works of Morgoth Bauglir. Here Elwing came to the fullness of her beauty, and she wedded Eärendil the Mariner of Arvernien, thus uniting the noblest House of the Noldor in Middle-earth with the fairest House of the Grey-elves: the Line of Thingol and Melian.

Her high destiny is well known. When her husband Eärendil despaired of reaching Aman and so fulfilling his Quest, Elwing is said to have taken the likeness of a great sea-bird and flown out to Sea, bearing the Silmaril; to alight exhausted upon the prow of Eärendil’s ship Vingilot. They then used the Jewel to pass the Shadows and so come to the West. We are also told that, while the ship rested on the strands of Valinor, Elwing wandered northward to the land of the Teleri in Aman, at Alqualondë (she was after all akin to the people of Olwë, who was her great-grandsire’s brother); but afterwards, together with Eärendil, she came at last to Valimar. There she was offered the choice of all the Half-elven: to be for everafter of Elven- or Man-kind. She chose the former, for herself and for Eärendil. She afterwards dwelt in a white tower on the edge of Belegaer, the Great Sea, between the land of the Teleri and the region known as Araman, and there she dwells still, the patroness of all sea-birds and bride of the Evening Star.

Emeldir ‘the Manhearted’ – The mother of Beren and wife of Barahir; she led the retreat of the First House from Dorthonion, after the Dagor Bragollach. Most of the surviving menfolk of that House remained in Dorthonion, to contest it with Morgoth, and all save one – her son Beren – were slain.

Emerië – The chief pastureland (for sheep) in Númenor. It lay in the south-west of the Mittalmar (central province).

Emerwen ‘Shepherdess’ (Q.) – The name given to Princess (Tar-) Ancalimë of Númenor in her youth, when she dwelt in Emerië with her mother Erendis.

Emyn Arnen – The ‘Royal Hills’ which lay between the Anduin and the Mountains of Shadow, in the province of Ithilien. They were, in fact, an eastern spur of the White Mountains, divided from the main range in ages past by the wide river-plain of the Anduin. The Emyn Arnen marked the boundary between North and South Ithilien. In the Fourth Age, after the destruction of Minas Ithil (latterly Minas Morgul), the Princes of Ithilien dwelt in these hills.

Emyn Beraid – The ‘Tower Hills’ which marked the western boundary of the Shire. They were crowned with three Elf-towers built by the High-elven Exiles. The tallest tower contained a palantír (Seeing-stone) of singular sort; it ‘looked’ only over Sea, and had been set there in the late Second Age by Elendil the Tall, so that he might gaze from afar at Eressëa and Eldamar – and at his drowned homeland of Númenor. After Elendil’s death, the High-elves took over the custodianship of this Stone, and made occasional pilgrimages to the Emyn Beraid to use it.

Emyn Duir ‘Dark Mountains’ (Sind.) – A group of low mountains in the north-eastern part of Greenwood, thickly covered with dark fir-woods. In later years these hills became evil and their name was changed to Emyn-nu-Fuin, the Mountains of Mirkwood.

Emyn Muil – A knotted range of hills, cloven by the Anduin and the deep gorge of the Argonath. To the east they fell away until the land became flat and featureless; on the western side of the Great River, the hills dropped sharply in a cliff or scarp above the plain of Rohan. This was Rohan’s east wall. South of the Emyn Muil, on the eastern bank of the river, the lands sloped down into the swamps of Nindalf and the Dead Marshes.

Emyn-nu-Fuin ‘Mountains under Night’ (Sind.) – A later name for Mirkwood.

Enchanted Isles – The name given to the chain of islands set in the Great Sea as a defence and a cloak for Aman, after the rebellion of the Noldor and the beginning of their Exile. At this time Aman was also hidden by other means. The Enchanted Isles were of unknown number, and their positions also were not known (if indeed these remained constant). Few, journeying westward out of Middle-earth, ever passed their net.

Encircling Mountains – The ECHORIATH.

Encircling Sea – EKKAIA.

Enderi – The ‘Middle-days’ (Q.) which the Elves added to the middle of their year to produce a total of 365. See CALENDAR OF IMLADRIS.

Endless Stair – One of the most impressive feats of stonemasonry ever executed by the Dwarves of Moria was the construction of this marvellous spiral stair, which climbed, in many thousand steps, from the lowest Deep to the very pinnacle of the Silvertine. At the head of the Stair a high, windy chamber was carved into the living rock of the peak: Durin’s Tower, where Kings of the realm might gaze out over the Misty Mountains.

After the desertion of Moria by the Dwarves in the late Third Age, the Endless Stair and Durin’s Tower were lost and became a legend even to the Dwarves. But they were not destroyed until the epic ‘Battle of the Peak’ between Gandalf and the Balrog in January 3019 Third Age.

Endóre ‘Middle-earth’ (Q.) – The Sindarin equivalent was Ennor.

Enedhwaith ‘Middle-folk’ (Sind.) – The open heath-country which lay between southern Eriador and the Isen, bounded on the east by Dunland and the southern peaks of the Misty Mountains. It had once been thickly forested. Always sparsely populated, this region was desolated after the severe floods of 2912 Third Age, themselves the result of the thaw following the Fell Winter of the previous year.

Enerdhil – An elf-smith of Gondolin, creator of the first ELENDILMIR.

Ennor – See ENDÓRË.

Enquië – The High-elven (Quenya) word for ‘week’, applied to both the six-day week of the Eldar and the (later) seven-day week of Kings’ Reckoning. The Eldarin ‘days’ were: Elenya (‘Stars’-day’), Anarya (‘Sun’s-day’), Isilya (‘Moon’s-day’), Aldúya (‘The-Day-of-the-Two-Trees’), Menelya (‘Heavens’-day’) and Valanya (‘The-Day-of-the-Valar’). Valanya was sometimes known as Tárion. The Númenoreans, who were much concerned with the Sea, added Eärenya (‘Sea-day’) to the list as the sixth day of the enquië, thus producing a seven-day week. Tárion (or Valanya) then became the ‘High’ day in the Dúnedain reckonings. They also changed Aldúya to Aldëa (‘The-Day-of-the-White-Tree’).

Entish – The language of the Onodrim or ENTS.

Engwar ‘The Sickly’ (Sind.) – An Elvish term for Men.

Entmoot – A ritual assembly of Ents which occurred infrequently, and only at times of great need. The traditional place for these meetings was the Derndingle, deep in the heart of Fangorn Forest.

Ents – If the Elves were the oldest ‘speaking-peoples’ of Middle-earth, then the Onodrim, or Ents, were the most ancient race of all. The Grey-elven form of their name is Enyd (sing. Anod), from which Ent, the word used in Rohan, was doubtless derived.

In legend Ents were created, by direct dispensation from God, in response to the prayer of the Vala Yavanna, who feared for the safety of the growing things she had set upon the earth, especially trees, and desired to create a race of ‘shepherds’ who would protect them. They thus predated the awakening of Elves in Middle-earth by an unknowable margin; but Ents themselves admitted that until they met the Elves, they had not learned how to speak in tongues. From the moment the Elves cured them of dumbness, the Ents eagerly learned the languages of ‘the Speakers’, which they used after their own fashion, strung together in polysyllabic phrases of almost endless adjectives and the (very) occasional noun; a language of long, slow observation and an Entish reluctance to jump to conclusions. For the Ents’ nature was close to that of the trees they protected and herded; ageing only slowly, Ents and trees passed down the Ages together.

Physically, each of the Onodrim most resembled the family of trees with which he was associated. Their strength was immense: as tree-roots can tumble the strongest structure, given time, so could Ents display the same enormous force, all in a few seconds. Their power was sometimes compared with that of Trolls, but Ents were indeed much stronger than these lumpish beasts, which were created by Morgoth the Enemy in mockery of Ents, as Orcs were of Elves.

Their history is sad. Like the Elves, their flowering period was that wide expanse of time known as the Elder Days. For long years they walked the giant primeval forests, tending their flocks, speaking with the Elves (very quickly) and with each other (very slowly). But the Ents gradually grew apart from the Entwives, and ‘entings’ became few. The Entwives grew less interested in trees and forests, being more concerned with grasses, flowers and shrubs, and all the lesser growing things. They made gardens to live in, where they grew ever more skilful at these pursuits, while the Ents continued to wander and saw the Entwives less and less often. Towards the end of the First Age, the Entwives crossed the Great River east-wards to escape the Darkness rolling down from the North; their agriculture continued to bring them great honour from Men but, in the end, the wars they had sought to escape swept over their country, leaving only Brown Lands and barren earth where their gardens had flowered. By the time of the War of the Ring, at the end of the Third Age, the surviving Ents had long hidden in their remaining woods, of which Fangorn was the chief survivor. There they wandered alone, dwindling, but still tending their beloved trees.

Entwade – The fords across the river Entwash between the Easternnet and Westemnet of Rohan.

Entwash – The name in the tongue of Rohan for the large, meandering river which flowed from sources in Fangorn Forest, across the plains of Rohan, to meet the Anduin in a broad, low-lying delta north of the province of Anórien. Its Sindarin name was Onodló.

Entwash Vale – The fens of the lower Entwash, including the delta.

Entwood – The name in Rohan for Fangorn Forest.

Envinyatar ‘The Renewer’ (Q.) – A secondary title assumed by King Elessar (Aragorn II) of Gondor.

Enyd – The ENTS.

Éofor – The third son of Brego the second King of Rohan; forefather of Éomer.

Éohérë ‘Muster’ – The full assembly of Riders of the Mark.

Eöl – One of the greatest smiths of the Elder Days; a Dark-elf – the only one of the Avari to be mentioned in records – the spouse of Aredhel of the Noldor and father of Maeglin the Traitor. Of all the individual histories of Elves and Men of the First Age, his is among the most tragic.

Eöl dwelled alone in the dark woods of Nan Elmoth; he was of a solitary disposition and did not care overmuch for other Elves of any race. He was in fact closer to the Dwarves. From them he learned much of smithying, but after a while surpassed even his masters and came to acknowledge no lordship in the matter of craft. It is told how the Noldorin princess Aredhel came to be wandering in Eöl’s woods, and how he captured her, and took her forcibly to wife, and made her dwell with him in his gloomy retreat; and how a son, Maeglin, was born to them. But when Maeglin was still young, his mother took him and fled from Nan Elmoth, back to Gondolin where her brother Turgon still reigned over his Noldorin people. Eöl followed them, and so came also to Gondolin. Before Turgon’s throne, in the Tower of the King, the last act of the drama was played out. Greeted at first in kindly fashion by Turgon, Eöl spurned the king’s friendship and defied his law. Then he attempted to slay his son Maeglin, but in error slew instead his wife, Aredhel Ar-Feiniel. He was executed for this crime by being cast over a precipice.

But two at least of his works lived on, and played a part in the events of that age. The black sword Anglachel, made by Eöl from meteoric iron, came to Beleg Strongbow, and after him to the renowned warrior of the Edain, Túrin Turambar. And Eöl’s son Maeglin dwelt everafter in Gondolin, and became one of its lords, and in the end betrayed it to destruction.

Éomer Éadig – From 3019 Third Age to 63 Fourth Age, the eighteenth King of Rohan, and the close friend and ally of King Elessar (Aragorn II) of Gondor and Arnor.

Éomer’s father was Éomund, the Chief Marshal of the Mark during the early part of King Théoden’s reign. Éomund married Théodwyn, youngest sister of the King, who bore him two children: Éomer and Éowyn. But Éomund was slain by Orcs in 3002 and, shortly afterwards, Théodwyn died – to the great sorrow of the King, whose own wife had died in childbirth many years before. Therefore Théoden took Éomund’s children into his house, treating them as his own son and daughter. And after the King’s only son Théodred was slain in the opening campaign of the War of the Ring, Éomer, already Third Marshal of the Mark, became Théoden’s heir.

He rode with Théoden’s host to the defence of the Westfold Vale and the Battle of the Hornburg, where he and Aragorn fought so fiercely in league that none dared to stand against them. From the Hornburg, he accompanied the King on his last ride down to Gondor; and, when Théoden fell in battle during the great charge of the Rohirrim, Éomer was named King of the Mark. He and his men fought at Aragorn’s side throughout the remainder of the War of the Ring.

In 3021 Third Age Éomer wedded Lothíriel, daughter of Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth; their son, Elfwine the Fair, succeeded him.

Éomund – The chief Captain of the Hosts of Éothéod under Eorl the Young. Also the name of the Chief Marshal of the Mark during the early reign of King Théoden of Rohan; the father of Éowyn and Éomer, eighteenth King. Éomund was responsible for the safety of the east marches of Rohan, where Orc-raiders were a constant threat to the prized horses of the Mark. In 3002 Third Age, his rashness and famed hatred of Orcs finally cost him his life, when he unwisely pursued a small raiding party into ambush.

Eonwë – One of the MAIAR, the Herald of Manwë.

Éored – The name given in the tongue of the Rohirrim to the standard Rohan military unit: the cavalry squadron. Each of these bodies of mounted Riders was commanded by a noble, or by one of Marshal’s rank; each was recruited and furnished by the lord’s own household and mounted, armed and equipped according to the style of fighting employed by the Rohirrim. These squadrons varied in size, according to the duration of the muster and the size of the household, and were the chief unit of military strength, for the Men of Rohan did not usually fight on their feet. In centuries of living their horse-life they had polished their equestrian skills until they had become the most formidable cavalry anywhere in the west of Middle-earth – and thus of great assistance to the (largely foot-bound) forces of their ally Gondor.

Their tactics were those of both light and heavy cavalry: reconnaissance, envelopment, attack and pursuit. They were armed with ash-wood spears, swords, and bows for long-distance work, and knew the craft of chain-mail manufacture, so they were not only well-armed and -mounted, but well-armoured also. Their method of attack was, firstly, to thin the enemy ranks with arrow fire, then to surround – or at least outflank – the enemy, and, finally, to charge home in a body, using their lance-points on the first encounters and afterwards drawing swords for the close work. Unless they were greatly outnumbered, or at some other disadvantage, there was no cavalry in the west of Middle-earth which could stand against them. Although the éored was the basic unit, the Rohirrim often fought in larger armies, comprising many squadrons and formed into wings or columns under the command of senior Marshals. Six thousand men of the Mark – a full éoherë or Muster of Rohan – charged behind Théoden at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, but Théoden himself reckoned he might have assembled, if he had chosen, an expeditionary force of 10,000 – in later terms, the equivalent of a cavalry corps.

Eorl the Young – The last Lord of Éothéod (from 2501–10 Third Age) and the first King of Rohan (2510–45). Eorl was first called ‘the Young’ by his Men because his father Léod died while the son was still a mere stripling; Léod was attempting to tame a wild horse when it threw him and his head struck a rock. Instead of killing the horse, as was expected, Eorl captured him, named him Felaróf and rode him till his life’s end.

In the year 2510 Eorl’s people received tidings that Gondor was in danger; straightaway he led his Riders to war, and his aid saved Gondor’s Northern Army from defeat at the hands of the Balchoth. In return, Cirion, twelfth Ruling Steward of Gondor, gave to Eorl and his people the wide province of Calenardhon, which Eorl renamed Riddermark, the Mark of the Riders. Cirion in his turn received the Oath of Eorl, pledging the Riders’ continued allegiance to Gondor. Thirty-five years later, Eorl, still almost as fresh-faced and tow-haired as in his youth, was slain by Easterlings in a new assault upon Rohan. His son Brego succeeded him and drove away the enemy. Eorl was laid to rest – together with Felaróf – in the first of many mounds to be built in the Barrowfield at Edoras.

Eorlingas – ‘The Eorlings’, the Sons of Eorl. An honorific title assumed by the warriors of Rohan.

Éothain – The second-in-command of the éored of Westfold Vale at the time of the War of the Ring. This éored was led by Éomer, then Third Marshal of the Mark.

Éothéod – From 1977–2510 Third Age, the northern homeland of the Horse-lords, before they moved south to the country which became known as Rohan. The lands of Éothéod lay between the Misty Mountains, the Ered Mithrin (Grey Mountains), and northwestern Mirkwood. Prior to their settlement of this region, the Riders had dwelt in the vales of Anduin, between the Great East Road and the Gladden Fields; and before that, in the wide plains of Rhovanion south of Greenwood. But after the final destruction of Angmar, this virile and expanding people, feeling a need for new territory, migrated north.

Éowyn – In the songs and lays made by minstrels of Rohan concerning the War of the Rings and the part played in it by the Rohirrim, great honour was given to a woman: the ‘Lady of the Shield-arm’, who, defending her fallen Lord, slew the Chief Nazgûl and brought his power to nothing (as had been indeed foretold many years before). This was the Lady Éowyn, sister of Éomer and later the wife of Prince Faramir of Gondor. She was the daughter of Éomund, Marshal of the Mark, and Théodwyn, sister of King Théoden; but after their early deaths, both she and her brother were taken into the King’s House and raised as his son and daughter. Éowyn grew tall and fair, with a graceful step – and a skill with horse and blade to match any Rider of the Mark. As proud and brave as her brother, she found it increasingly difficult merely to wait upon the King in his decline; and she brooded much upon what she saw as the fall of Rohan into mean dishonour. Moreover she fell hopelessly in love with Aragorn of the Dúnedain; a love that, she soon realised, could never be requited.

Thus Éowyn determined to find honourable death as a ‘shield-maiden’ on the field of battle. Disguised as an ordinary Rider of the Mark, she rode with the King’s host to the Fields of the Pelennor – and to her own supreme act of heroism. Even so, the evil hurt she took from the Nazgûl whom she slew seemed likely to bring her the end she had desired. But Éowyn was eventually cured in the Houses of Healing, where she met Faramir, Steward of the Realm; and at last she renounced all thoughts of battle and death. She and Faramir plighted their troth after the final victory of the West. They later dwelt together in Emyn Arnen where she was known as the ‘White Lady’.

Epessë ‘After-name’ (Q.) – A secondary or informal name bestowed on one of the Eldar, as opposed to the essë or given name.

Ephel Dúath – The ‘Dark Outer-fences’ of Mordor, known to Men of Gondor as the Mountains of Shadow. In the Third Age this range of jagged peaks and dolorous vales was the second greatest in Middle-earth. The Ephel Dúath formed an impassable western and southern wall around the land of Mordor. The main range marched southerly from the Black Gate, parallel with the Great River (and in some cases only twenty miles from it), far into the lands of the Harad. Thirty leagues south of the river Poros, it bent abruptly east, stretching for a further two hundred leagues before turning northeast again and dwindling into a low, sullen line of hills.

Ephel Brandir ‘Brandir’s Fence’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Woodmen of the Forest of Brethil (the Haladin) to the stockaded settlement built by them at the instigation of their chieftain, BRANDIR THE LAME, on the crown of the hill Amon Obel.

Eradan – From 2080–2116 Third Age, the second Ruling Steward of Gondor.

Erchamion ‘The Empty-handed’ (Sind.) – See BEREN ERCHAMION.

Erebor – The Lonely Mountain; the chief ancestral Halls of Durin’s folk in the later Third Age, following their flight from Moria. Erebor was founded in 1999 Third Age by Thráin I, son of Náin I who was slain by the Balrog in Moria.

As its name implies, the Mountain stood apart from other ranges, and was a notable landmark in the flat plain east of Northern Mirkwood. It was easily defended (except against Dragons) and was exceedingly rich in rare ores. Yet shortly after its founding, Erebor was curiously abandoned by the majority of Durin’s folk, who passed into the North and established a second colony amid the Grey Mountains. But this colony eventually came to naught and, in 2590 Thrór son of Dáin I led Durin’s Folk back to the Lonely Mountain, which then began to prosper greatly. However in the year 2770 Smaug the Golden, hearing of the new-forged wealth of Erebor, sacked the Mountain, occupying the Great Hall and driving the Dwarves into exile and (relative) penury. For two centuries the Dragon was unchallenged until, in 2941, the unlikely combination of thirteen Dwarves and one Hobbit led to the unexpected demise of the Worm and the return of the King under the Mountain.

In the War of the Ring, Erebor was again attacked, by Easter-lings of Sauron’s rule, but the combined forces of Dwarves of Erebor and Men of Dale successfully withstood a siege there until news came north of Sauron’s overthrow. The heartened defenders, led by Thorin II Stonehelm and Bard II of Dale, sallied forth and drove away the enemy. Ever after the Kingdom under the Mountain was in alliance with and under the protection of Gondor.

Erech – See STONE OF ERECH.

Ered Engrin – The IRON MOUNTAINS.

Ered Gorgoroth – The MOUNTAINS OF TERROR.

Ered Lindon – A name given by some of the High-elves to the Ered Luin, the Blue Mountains. This was of course because they first espied these mountains from the land of Lindon, then in eastern Beleriand.

Ered Lithui – The ‘Ashy Mountains’ which provided Mordor with a northern rampart. The range ran east from the Morannon (parallel with the southern range of the Ephel Dúath) into the wide and desolate lands of southern Rhûn. Upon a south-westerly spur projecting from the inner wall stood the Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower.

Ered Lómin – The ECHOING MOUNTAINS.

Ered Luin – The BLUE MOUNTAINS.

Ered Mithrin – The ‘Grey Mountains’, which ran eastwards from Gundabad (in the Misty Mountains) to the Withered Heath.

Ered Nimrais – The ‘White Mountains’ of Gondor. Unlike other mountain-chains of Middle-earth, the Ered Nimrais did not form a single range; instead, from a central massif or knot, great spurs projected north, south, east and west, as far as Cape Andrast and the Sea. Upon the knees of the most easterly of these mountains, Mindolluin, the Men of Númenor built the white city of Minas Anor (later Minas Tirith).

Ered Wethrin – The ‘Shadowy Mountains’ which formed the eastern boundary-wall of the lands of Hithlum, Mithrim and Dor-lómin, in the north of Beleriand.

Eregion ‘Land-of-Holly’ (Sind.) – The land of the Noldorin Elvensmiths, in Eriador, west of the Misty Mountains, whose chief city was Ost-in-Edhil. It was settled by the Noldor in 750 Second Age and destroyed by Sauron less than nine hundred years later. The Elves of Eregion were master craftsmen of the House of Fëanor, led by Celebrimbor, Fëanor’s descendant. They migrated to eastern Eriador after hearing of the discovery of a great mithril-lode under the Dwarf-realm of Moria, and founded their colony at Moria’s western gate to trade with the Dwarves for this metal. The Dwarves were happy enough with this arrangement, and both races worked together for many years in friendship and prosperity. In time the skill of the High-Elves of Eregion grew, and under the tutelage of Sauron of Mordor, it reached a pinnacle with the forging of the Rings of Power, the greatest work of Elven-craft since the creation of the Silmarils. But Sauron betrayed the Elven-smiths and himself forged the Ruling Ring in Secret. Learning of this, the Noldor then hid the Three Elven-rings – the others had by now been distributed – but war was launched upon them by Sauron, and in the year 1697 Eregion was overrun and ravaged. The Dwarves of Moria were safe behind their impregnable mountain-walls but the Noldor were driven out or destroyed. So ended the brief flowering of Eregion.

The token of the Noldorin smiths was holly, which they planted freely and used to indicate the borders of their realm. Many of these ancient trees survived in Eregion when all other living things had passed away, and still stood in later Ages. For this reason Eregion was known simply as Hollin to Men of Eriador during the Third Age.

Ereinion ‘Scion-of-Kings’ (Sind.) – See GIL-GALAD.

Erelas – A beacon-hill which stood on the north wall of the White Mountains, overlooking the vale of Anórien, fourth in the chain of beacons stretching between Gondor and Rohan.

Erellont – The name of one of the three valiant mariners who were companions of Eärendil on his last voyage. See also AERANDIR.

Erendis – The wife of King Tar-Aldarion of Númenor. She was descended from the First House of the Edain and was of great beauty; but her marriage to Aldarion was unhappy, since his real devotion was to the sea and his fleets of ships. She felt otherwise and there was conflict between them. She bore him only one child, a daughter (later Queen Tar-Ancalimë) and withdrew from his life entirely. In old age she wished once more to become reconciled to her husband – who was then, as ever, at sea – and in the year 985 Second Age journeyed to Rómenna in the east of Númenor to greet his return, but is reported to have ‘perished in water’.

Note: see ‘Aldarion and Erendis’ in Unfinished Tales, 223–80.

Eressëa ‘Lonely’ (Q.) – Shortened form of Tol Eressëa, ‘the Lonely Isle’; the name given by the Calaquendi to the great ship-shaped isle which had once been rooted in the waters of Middle-earth, but was set adrift by the agency of the Valar and used to enable the Three Kindreds of the Eldar to complete the Great Journey and so come to the far West.

It is said in the traditions of the Elves that it was the Sea-Maia Ossë who begged the Teleri – the last of the Kindreds to travel by this marvellous means – to stay their voyage while they were still some distance from the strands of Aman; for he loved the Teleri, and did not wish to be parted from them; and they, loving him, did as he asked; the Isle was grounded in the Bay of Eldamar and stood there ever after. Tol Eressëa then became its name. For an age or more the Teleri continued to dwell there, but many still yearned to complete the Journey and so come to the source of the Light which lit the western horizon; and so, at their request, Ossë sadly taught them how to build ships, and the Teleri sailed away from Eressëa, to Aman. But, after years the lonely Isle was re-peopled with Grey-elves and returning Noldorin Exiles, who built anew the city of Avallónë; nearest of all cities to the Blessed Realm, and visible (to the Farsighted) from the summit of Meneltarma in Númenor. From Eressëa these Elves would, from time to time, sail to Númenor, there to enrich the culture of the High Men who then dwelled in that now-vanished country. But at the Drowning of Númenor, the shape and nature of the World were altered, and both Eressëa and Aman were removed for ever from the seas of the earth.

Erestor – One of the Noldor of Rivendell: Chief of the Counsellors of Elrond’s house.

Eriador – ‘Eriador was of old the name of all the lands between the Misty Mountains and the Blue; in the South it was bounded by the Greyflood and the Glanduin that flows into it above Tharbad.’9 In the North lay the great ice-waste of Forochel and the bitter colds of the realm of Morgoth. But after centuries of war, famine and plague had depopulated the region, the various settlements of Men, Elves and Hobbits became increasingly isolated from each other, and eventually only the great ruins of Eriador were left to testify to its former glories.

Erkenbrand – A Lord of Rohan and, at the time of the War of the Ring, the Master of Westfold Vale. He took command of the West-fold forces after Théodred, Théoden’s son, fell in battle with the armies of Saruman, early in the year 3019 Third Age. Though it was at first feared that Erkenbrand, too, had fallen, he organised a well-ordered retreat and was able to bring the battered but unbroken Westfold Riders to the aid of the King at the Battle of the Hornburg.

Erma ‘[Physical] matter’ (Q.).

Ernil i Periannath ‘Prince of the Halflings’ (Sind.) – An honorific title awarded to Peregrin Took by the people of Gondor, who believed he bore the rank with which their natural courtesy endowed him.

‘Errantry’ – A lengthy Hobbit-poem found in the Red Book of Westmarch; almost certainly composed by Bilbo, since it shows kinship with the later work (‘Eärendil Was A Mariner’) recited by him in the Hall of Fire in Rivendell prior to the Council of Elrond.10 With his head full of Elvish influence – though not, at that time, Elvish skill – Bilbo probably wrote ‘Errantry’ shortly after his return from Erebor, long before he came to know the Elves better. The references to Elvish ‘lore’ and ‘names’ (such as Aerie, Belmarie) would seem to show that the Hobbit was not at the time fully conversant with Elvish tongues or history. As has been remarked, these words are ‘mere inventions in the Elvish style, and are not in fact Elvish at all.’

The poem is cyclical, and may be recited therefore endlessly. Its subject, though whimsically treated, is obviously influenced by various older tales that Bilbo may have unconsciously absorbed during his earlier stay in Rivendell. Later in his life, of course, the worthy Hobbit returned to Elrond’s house and studied Elven-legends in greater detail. In a desire to make use of the metrical devices he had invented years before, Bilbo then rewrote ‘Errantry’ in the form in which it appears in the Red Book.

Eru ‘The One’ (Sind., from Q. Ilúvatar, ‘Father-of-All’) – God.

Eruhantalë ‘Thanksgiving to Eru’ (Q.) – The autumn Festival in Númenor.

Erui – One of the Seven Rivers of Gondor, flowing from its source high in the vale of Lossarnach to its confluence with the Anduin thirty leagues above Pelargir.

Erukyermë ‘Prayer to Eru’ (Q.) – The Spring Festival in Númenor.

Erulaitalë ‘Praise of Eru’ (Q.) – The Midsummer Festival in Númenor.

Erusen – This ancient word translates as ‘Children-of-God’, and refers to Men and Elves, for whom the world (Arda) was created. Eruhíni Ilúvataro (Q.) carries the same meaning.

Eryn Galen – GREENWOOD THE GREAT.

Eryn Lasgalen – For most of the Third Age this mighty forest east of the Misty Mountains was known as Mirkwood, although its original name had been Greenwood the Great. This change of name was gradual, and was largely due to the evil influence of Dol Guldur in the south of the Forest. But after the end of the Third Age, the Elves of Lórien crossed the Great River and destroyed Dol Guldur; Celeborn of Lórien and Thranduil of Northern Mirkwood then met in the midst of the Forest and renamed it Eryn Lasgalen ‘The Wood of Greenleaves’ (Sind.).

Eryn Vorn ‘Black Woods’ (Sind.) – The wooded Cape of Minhiriath, south of the Baranduin estuary.

Esgalduin ‘Veiled-river’ (Sind.) – The Enchanted River of Doriath. It rose from two sources in the Mountains of Terror, and flowed south, then west; in the north dividing Nan Dungortheb from Dor Dînen, and in the south forming a boundary between the forests of Neldoreth and Region.

Esgaroth – The Lake-town of the River Running, built upon stilts in the shallows of the Long Lake. When the nearby town of Dale was destroyed by Smaug the Dragon in 2770 Third Age, many of the Men who had dwelt there went south and swelled the numbers of the lake colony. Most of the trade (in wine and food) between Dorwinion (near the Inland Sea of Rhûn) and the kingdom of the Wood-elves in Mirkwood then passed through the lake-dwellers’ ken. Esgaroth, therefore, in addition to its fishermen, had merchants and riverboatmen, who charged modest fees for speeding this commercial traffic.

As such, the town prospered under its burgesses, until the arousal of the Dragon almost two hundred years later. Smaug flew south to raze the Lake-town, but though he caused great damage, the Dragon was himself slain by Bard of Esgaroth, heir of the Kings of Dale. A great part of the Lake-town’s inhabitants then returned to the mountains and rebuilt Dale, and Bard became their king. Esgaroth continued to prosper.

Esmeralda Brandybuck – The wife of Saradoc Brandybuck and the mother of Meriadoc, later Master of Buckland and a Counsellor of the North-kingdom.

Essë – The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘name’; also the title of the Tengwa (or ‘letter’) number 31, one of the ‘additional’ Tengwar. It represented the sound z. See also ÁRE.

Estë ‘Rest’ (Q.) – A Queen of the Valar, the spouse of Irmo (Lórien). She is the Healer, dressed in grey, who brings peace to the wounded and afflicted. She wakes only at nightfall, and sleeps by day on an island in the Lake of Lorellin, in her spouse’s domain of Lórien, in Valimar. In the hierarchy of the seven Valier (Valar Queens), Estë is named fourth, after Nienna and before Vairë. Her spouse Irmo is one of the two Fëantúri (Mandos is his brother), and is the Master of Dreams and Visions.

Estel – The Sindarin name for ‘Hope’, by which Aragorn II was known in his youth, before Elrond revealed to him his true name and lineage.

Estelmo – The Esquire of Elendur the son of Isildur, and one of only three Dúnedain to survive the disaster of the Gladden Fields (Year 2 Third Age). He was clubbed on the head and left for dead.

Estolad ‘The Camp’ (Sind.) – The name given by Men (in the newly learned tongue of the Grey-elves) to the region of East Beleriand where the Edain first settled. It lay east of the river Celon, and south of the wood of Nan Elmoth, and was chosen on the advice of Finrod Felagund of the Noldor. For at that time the Edain, new-come in the West, were dwelling in an encampment on Ossiriand, the land of the Green-elves – who did not at all desire their presence. The first tribe of the Edain to settle in Estolad were the house led by Bëor the Old (though Bëor himself afterwards went away to Nargothrond); a year or so afterwards, the encampment was swelled by the arrival of the most numerous of the Adûnaic peoples: the Third House, led by Marach Aradan.

The conjoined Houses of Men were not to dwell long in this remote region. Hearing of their (long-foretold) presence in western Middle-earth, some of the princes of the Noldor (notably those Elves of the houses of Fingolfin and Finarfin) invited the newcomers to leave Estolad and hold lands further north, as allies and friends of the High-elves. This they did. The First House went to Dorthonion, and the Third, the People of Marach, to Dor-lómin. However, Estolad was not deserted, for many remnants of kindreds remained. This mongrelised clan of Men lingered in Estolad for another century, but were finally driven out in the years of Morgoth’s triumph.

Ethir Anduin ‘Mouths of Anduin’ (Sind.) – The delta of the Great River, where it flowed into the Bay of Belfalas in six broad streams.

Ethring – The small township built on either side of the river Ringló in Gondor; there, the road from Morthond to Pelargir forded the stream.

Ethuil ‘Spring’ (Sind.) – The first season of the Eldarin loa (year). The (older) Quenya name was tuilë.

Ettendales – See ETTENMOORS below.

Ettenmoors – A wild and remote region of northern Eriador, haunted by Trolls; it lay north of Rivendell and south of the realm of Angmar.

Ever-cold – A translation of the Sindarin name Himring.

Evereven – A poetic reference to the Eternal Twilight of Valinor and Eldamar, used (in the First Age) after Morgoth’s poisoning of the Two Trees had removed their Light from the Undying Lands.

Evermind – A translation of the Northern Mannish word simbelmynë, being the name given in Rohan to the white grave-flowers of the Barrowfield near Edoras. Also called alfirin.

Exiles – The High-elves of Middle-earth, the NOLDOR.

Ezellohar – One of the (untranslated) names in Elven tradition for the green mound which stood before the western gate of the city of Valimar (or Valmar), in Valinor. Another was Corollairë. Here grew – and for many Ages stood in glory – the Two Trees of the Valar, raised from the green earth of Ezellohar by the enchantments of Yavanna Kementári.