Faelivrin – An admiring name (which means ‘Ivrin’s Daysheen’ in the Sindarin tongue) given to FINDUILAS daughter of Orodreth, the Heir of Finrod, by Gwindor, a prince of Nargothrond.

Faerie – The ‘Perilous Realm’, the land of the Elves, as reported in mortal tradition. It is essentially a poetic term, for mortals are entirely unacquainted with these regions, and their interpretations can only be mere approximations of an unimaginable (for mortals) state of existence. Thus, in Bilbo’s There and Back Again,1 the term Faerie (together with Aerie) is used as a fanciful name for imagined Elf-kingdoms, somewhere vaguely in the West.

Fairbairns of the Towers – The descendants of Samwise Gamgee’s daughter, Elanor ‘the Fair’, traced through her eldest son Elfstan Fairbairn. Early in the Fourth Age, her family moved to Undertowers, on the slopes of the Tower Hills in the Westmarch of the Shire. They were later made Wardens of Westmarch, and eventually assumed the custodianship of the famous Red Book – charged with the duties of compiling, copying and safekeeping of one of the principal record-sources of the Third Age.

Fairë ‘Spirit [in general]’ (Q.; Sind. faer) – See also FËA.

Fair Elves – A translation of the Quenya name Vanyar, meaning the First (and Highest) Kindred of the Eldar, who came to Valinor in the Beginning of Days and dwelt there ever after, unlike the ‘Deep-elves’ and the ‘Grey-elves’, both also Eldarin Kindreds. The Vanyar had golden hair.

Fair Folk-The Elves.

Faithful – The Faithful of Númenor; the small group of families who, despite increasing persecution, continued to hold to the ancient Elvish traditions and tongues throughout the gradual estrangement of their people from the Eldar and the Valar. They lived mainly in the province of Andúnië, in the most westerly part of the island.

Like most Númenoreans, the Faithful were great mariners; and in 2350 Second Age, after many journeys back to Middle-earth, they established their own haven there, at Pelagir, on the lower Anduin. When Númenor was eventually destroyed (in the year 3319), a number of the Faithful escaped the disaster and sailed back to Middle-earth in nine of their ships, bearing a seedling of the White Tree and the seven palantíri. Led by Elendil the Tall, son of Amandil, last Lord of Andúnië, they then founded the Dúnedain Realms in Exile, Arnor and Gondor, in the Westlands of Middle-earth.

Falas ‘Coastland’ (Sind.) – A name for any coastal region (e.g. Belfalas ‘The coasts of Bel’; Anfalas ‘Long-beach’), but in its earliest proper sense, for the shorelands of West Beleriand: the abode of the Falathrim, the ‘Coast-elves’, a Telerin kindred who dwelt in this region, mainly at their two fortified Havens of Eglarest and Brithombar, throughout much of the First Age.

Falastur ‘Lord-of-the-Coasts’ (Sind.+Q.) – The imposing title adopted by Tarannon, twelfth King of Gondor (from 890–913 Third Age) and the first of that realm’s four renowned ‘Ship-kings’. His actual victories were comparatively modest in the light of the achievements of his immediate successors – Hyarmendacil in particular. But, as Captain of the Hosts, Tarannon succeeded nonetheless in extending the rule and reach of Gondor along the shorelands west and south of the Anduin, thus re-establishing the ancient Númenorean sea-power (to a limited degree). To commemorate these conquests, he laid down Gondor’s first permanent fleet and took the crown in the name of Falastur.

Falathar – One of the three faithful companions of Eärendil. See AERANDIR.

Falathrim ‘Coast-Elves’ (Sind.) – An Elven-people: the Eldar of western Beleriand, originally part of the main host of the Teleri who had come last of all to the coastal lands of Middle-earth, in the days of the Great Journey. There the last of the many sunderings of the Teleri took place, when this people passed over Sea, leaving behind two subdivisions of their kindred: the Eglath, who remained to search for Elwë their lord, lost years before in Nan Elmoth, and who subsequently became the Elves of Doriath; and the Teleri who then dwelt on the coasts, declining to depart with the main host because of their love for the sea-lands of Beleriand – and because of the entreaties of the Sea-Maia Ossë, who did not desire them to vanish out of his domain for ever. From these earliest days the Falathrim were led by CÍRDAN THE SHIPWRIGHT, and dwelt chiefly in the two ancient Havens of Eglarest and Brithombar. In the lore of the Elves, they are accounted ‘Grey-elves’ (Sindar), and Úmanyar, but not Moriquendi, for those that survived the turmoils of three Ages of Middle-earth came in the end into the Far West, to the long home appointed for all those of Eldarin race. Their last dwelling in Middle-earth was the Haven of Mithlond; and Círdan himself was the last of all Elves to leave the ‘Hither Shores’.

‘The Fall of Gil-galad’ – The name given in the Common Speech to an Elvish lay, composed in Lindon or Rivendell early in the Third Age (the original title is unknown), and now no longer extant. At least one copy was evidently kept in Rivendell, for both Aragorn and Bilbo – and, surprisingly, Sam Gamgee – had an acquaintance with the poem. Bilbo probably brought a copy away with him on his return from Erebor via Elrond’s house, later translating it at Bag End, where the sharp-eared Sam doubtless picked up a few stanzas.

Gil-galad was no less than the last High-elven King of Middle-earth, and the Lay concerns his long fight against the power of Sauron through the Second Age. This culminated in the Last Alliance, the (first) overthrow of Sauron and the death of the mighty Gil-galad:

the last whose realm was fair and free

between the Mountains and the Sea.2

Fall of the Noldor – A translation of the Quenya title Noldolantë; being the name of the long lay or song composed by Maglor the second son of Fëanor, in the time between the Fall of Morgoth and his own death, when he wandered, half-mad, on the wild coasts of Middle-earth. Its subject was the making of the Silmarils, the rebellion of Fëanor, the Curse of Mandos – and all the evil deeds which followed after, bringing ruin upon the Deep-elves. Maglor and Maedhros, the two eldest sons of Fëanor, were the only two of the seven brethren ever to repent in any measure of their Oath. Both slew themselves at the end of the First Age, but one copy at least of the Noldolantë survived (probably in Rivendell), and so came to be one of the chief source-references of the Quenta Silmarillion.

Fallohides – One of the three breeds or clans of Hobbits. Unlike the other two, Harfoots and Stoors, the Fallohides were ‘more friendly with Elves than the other Hobbits were, and had more skill in language and song than in handcrafts; and of old they preferred hunting to tilling.’3 They were also noticeably fairer of colouring than other Hobbits, often taller, (sometimes) slimmer, and were frequently found in some leadership capacity, being characteristically more adventurous than others of their people. They were also the least numerous. Marcho and Blanco, who led the Crossing of the Baranduin and the founding of the Shire (1601 Third Age, Year 1 Shire Reckoning) were scions of this excellent stock.

Falls of Ivrin – The EITHEL IVRIN.

Falls of Sirion – The greatest fall or cataract on the river Sirion, where the marshes formed by the confluence of the Aros with the Sirion in flat country suddenly emptied over a precipice into a foaming basin – which was itself drained by means of underground courses, reappearing nearly ten miles downstream at the Gates of Sirion.

Falmari ‘Elves-of-the-Crested-Waves’ (Q.) – More familiarly ‘Sea-elves’. A name given in Aman to those of the Telerin Elves who came first across the Sea, by way of Eressëa, to the Undying Lands, on whose shores they afterwards dwelt, at Alqualondë: the People of Olwë.

Fana ‘Veil’ (Q.) – See FANUILOS.

Fangorn – This Sindarin word meaning ‘Beard-of-Tree’ is used in the Red Book to mean both the great Forest which stood on the eastern side of the Misty Mountains, and the venerable Guardian Ent who ruled that strange country.

It is not clear whether the Forest was named after the Ent, or the other way about; however, it is certain that both were of exceedingly great age. Fangorn himself claimed that the Wood had seen over three Ages of the outside world. Indeed, both Treebeard’s Forest and the Old Forest near the Shire were the last remaining enclaves of the great woods of the Elder Days, and both contained deep vales from which the Great Darkness had never been lifted. Treebeard put it another way:

Taurelilómëa-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurëa Lómëanor4

(‘Forestmanyshadowed-deepvalleyblack

Deepvalleyforested Gloomyland)’5

was the old Ent’s particular expression for those dark regions. This translates (very approximately) as: ‘there is a black shadow in the deep dales of the forest.’ It is delivered in a typically Entish agglomeration of Elvish (Quenya) words – Taurë, tumbo and lómë are the original forms of the Quenya names for ‘forest’, ‘[deep]-valley’ and ‘many-shadowed’ respectively.

Fantasie – A poetic invention in the Elvish style which appears in Bilbo’s poem ‘Errantry’. See also AERIE; BELMARIE; FAERIE.

Fanuidhol ‘Cloudy-head’ (Sind.) – The Elves’ name for the southernmost of the three mountains of Moria. The word is derived from the ancient Grey-elven element fan-, fanui- ‘cloudy’ (and from the older Quenya fana- ‘veil’).

Fanuidhol was known as Bundushathûr to the Dwarves and Cloudyhead to Western Men.

Fanuilos – One of the ceremonial titles of ELBERETH, in her aspect as divine or demiurgic intercessary. In this role she was often thought of as standing on the slopes of Mount Oiolossë, radiant with inner (divine) light, arms uplifted as she listened to invocations for aid from Men and Elves.

Note: the Quenya element fana referred to the fanar, or ‘veils’, with which the Valar clothed themselves when dealing with Elves and Men. (These ‘veils’ were in essence their physical manifestations.) The full title Fanuilos means ‘Bright [Angelic]-Figure-EverWhite’, as the suffix -los refers to the brightness of fallen snow (cf. Lossoth, ‘Snow-people’).

Faramir – One of the two sons of King Ondoher of Gondor, slain, in battle with the Wainriders’ Confederacy, in 1944 Third Age. The death of the King and his two sons in this battle resulted in the crown of Gondor being awarded to a victorious captain, who took the royal title Eärnil II.

Also the name of the Prince of Ithilien, Lord of Emyn Arnen and Steward to King Elessar of Gondor and Arnor. Faramir was the son of Denethor II, twenty-sixth and last of the Ruling Stewards – before the events of the War of the Ring brought about the return of the King and the transference of Gondor’s rule. He succeeded his father during the Siege of Minas Tirith (March, 3019), and he ordered the affairs of the City until the crowning of King Elessar in May, when he was given the princedom of Ithilien.

Faramir was also the younger brother of Boromir (of the Fellowship of the Ring), and was like him in many ways, though not all. For while Faramir took pleasure in music and lore, his brother thought only of battles and great deeds. Nevertheless the needs of that time were such that Boromir was esteemed the higher of the two, especially in the eyes of their father. In the event both Boromir and Denethor died in the War of the Ring, and Faramir was badly wounded but was later healed. In this way he came to the Stewardship.

Despite his father’s opinion, Faramir was in no way Boromir’s inferior as a warrior, and he spent much of the war on especially dangerous duty in Ithilien, then occupied by forces of the Dark Lord. Immediately before Sauron’s long-awaited assault on Minas Tirith, Faramir hurried back across the Anduin and took charge of the outer defences of the City. While leading the rear-guard in the final retreat from the out-wall on March 12th, he was struck by an arrow and fell in a dark swoon. For three nights he lay in peril until healed at last by the King’s own hand.

Later, Faramir was well rewarded for his valour and loyalty, and the Office of Steward – and the title of Prince of Ithilien – was given to him and his heirs in perpetuity. He afterwards wedded the Lady Éowyn of Rohan and they dwelt together in Emyn Arnen during the years of King Elessar’s rule. Faramir died in Year 83 Fourth Age and was succeeded – both as Prince of Ithilien and as Steward of Gondor – by his son Elboron.6

Faramir Took – The only son of Peregrin Took, born in Year 9 Fourth Age (1430 Shire Reckoning) to the union of his famous father and Diamond of Long Cleeve. Peregrin named his only son Faramir in honour of the new Prince of Ithilien, whom Peregrin greatly admired. Faramir Took eventually married Goldilocks, one of Sam Gamgee’s many children, thus uniting two of the Shire’s most illustrious families.

Far Downs – The green-grey, treeless uplands which sloped away to the Grey Havens on the western edge of the Shire.

Far Harad – The southernmost reaches of Middle-earth. Little was mentioned of its people in the records of Gondor, since prolonged if intermittent warfare between the Haradrim and the Dúnedain of the South poisoned relationships between the two races.

Farin – A Dwarf of Durin’s House. He was the son of Borin and uncle of Thrór, first of the second Line of Kings under the Mountain.

Farmer Cotton – Tolman ‘Tom’ Cotton; in the last fifty years of the Third Age (and a good many of the Fourth), one of the most prosperous Hobbits of Bywater and its district.

Farmer Cotton’s only daughter Rose became Sam Gamgee’s wife in 3020 Third Age, the Great Year of Plenty. Thus were links forged between the Cottons (who played a prominent part in the Scouring of the Shire) and the ascendant Gamgee family.

Farmer Maggot – A well-known and important Hobbit-farmer of the Eastfarthing, renowned for the prosperity of his holdings (and the excellence of his mushrooms). Yet for all his respectability, Maggot was also considered a canny person with his ear close to the soil; and it seems certain that he was on terms of friendship and mutual respect with Tom Bombadil.

Faroth ‘Hunters’ (Sind.) – See TAUR-EN-FAROTH.

Far West – The meaning of the direction West carried a special significance for the inhabitants of Middle-earth. For this was the direction in which all things flowed – where Elves sailed when they grew weary of mortal lands, and where the Valar themselves dwelt, in the Uttermost West, in Valimar of the Twilight.

Men of Gondor faced West in Standing Silence at the commencement of each meal: ‘we look towards Númenor that was, and beyond to Elvenhome that is, and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be.’7

‘Fastitocalon’ – The age-old myth of the giant sea-beast which mariners mistake for an island (with disastrous consequences) is the subject of the Hobbit-poem ‘Fastitocalon’, which, together with ‘Oliphaunt’, is a good example of the Hobbits’ taste for comic bestiary lore. The poem is published as No. 11 in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (though originally it was no more than an anonymous scribble in the margins of the Red Book).

Fastred – A Knight of Rohan; one of King Théoden’s house-carles, who fell at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields (3019 Third Age) and was laid to rest among his fellows there, beside the Great River.

Fastred and Folcred – The twin sons of Folcwine, fourteenth King of Rohan. Together they brought aid to Gondor in one of her southern wars, thus fulfilling the Oath of Eorl. Under the twins’ leadership, the Rohirrim turned the Battle of the Crossings of Poros (2885 Third Age) against the invading Haradrim; however, both sons of Folcwine were slain in the battle, and their burial mound afterwards guarded the Crossings.

Fastred of Greenholm – In her thirty-first year Elanor ‘The Fair’, eldest child of Sam Gamgee, wedded Fastred of Greenholm (a descendant of Holman the Greenhanded), and together they moved to the Westmarch of the Shire. They were later made Wardens of Westmarch and eventually became custodians of the Red Book, which their descendants (the Fairbairns) continued to maintain down the years.

Fathers of Men – A translation of the Quenya word Atanatári.

Fatty Bolger – FREDEGAR BOLGER.

Fatty Lumpkin – A well-fed pony of great common-sense; a faithful companion of Tom Bombadil.

Fëa ‘Spirit’ (Q.) – The soul. From the older form phaya (Q.). See also FAIRË; HRÖA.

Fëanáro ‘Spirit-of-Fire’ (Q.) – See following entry.

Fëanor ‘Spirit-of-Fire’ (Sind., after the Q. Fëanáro) – The eldest of the three sons of Finwë (the only child of Finwë’s first spouse Míriel), and after the death of his father the joint High King of all the rebelling Noldor; the greatest craftsman of all time, whose pride grew together with his fabled skills until, in the end, his mightiest accomplishment brought about his own downfall, and the downfall of the Elven-people he ruled – not to mention years untold of misery for the guiltless inhabitants of Middle-earth, whither he went in exile. Fëanor was the first of the royal Exiles to be slain in Middle-earth, and dwells still in the Halls of Mandos.

Much is said of Fëanor and of his deeds – and even more of the fruits of his deeds – in records of the First Age, and little more than encapsulation is needed within these pages. His real name was Curufinwë (‘the Skill of [the House of] Finwë’); though he was known all his life as Fëanáro (his mother’s name for him), and survives in records and tales as Fëanor. Born during the Eldest Days, in Tirion the Fair, he was a prodigy among Elves. Amazingly skilled at matters of craft, and with a formidable intellect which made him the foremost loremaster and inventor of his people, he embodied the dynamic principle of activism, and was constantly at work, learning, experimenting, storing, devising, practising, polishing and developing; until he had altogether redirected his inherent drives, away from ‘passive’ understanding and contemplation, towards ‘active’ subcreation of the highest order. So he is remembered for lore, and for skill, but not for wisdom.

Nonetheless, he wrought many objects of wonder, and in all his chosen fields accomplished more than all his successors. Among the lesser marvels were the palantíri (the Seeing-stones which were so prized in Númenor and Middle-earth many thousands of years later). And Fëanor himself also perfected the ancient Eldarin Tengwar, the ALPHABET OF FËANOR which served his people and others ever after. Such were Fëanor’s deeds of mind and hand in Eldamar while the White Tree and the Golden still shone.

It has been recorded that only Fëanor was ever able to make the substance silima, the crystalline material from which he later created the chief source of his overweening pride. For his greatest achievement of all was the fashioning of the three silmarilli, the ‘Jewels-of-silima’, that captured the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor and preserved it within their depths, so that they shone with glory like stars and gladdened the eyes of all who beheld them.

But the glory and splendour of the Silmarils led to terrible events. The Great Jewels tempted even one of the Valar (who was already given over to evil). He slew Finwë, and stole the Jewels, and poisoned the Trees so that their Light was dimmed for ever and the Land of the Valar plunged into twilight. This fallen Vala – now called (by Fëanor) Morgoth – then fled to Middle-earth in possession of the Silmarils.

Instead of accepting this turn of events and thus following the example of the Valar (whose loss was far greater), Fëanor grew wroth, and in the folly of his pride he vowed to pursue Morgoth across the Sea to Middle-earth in order to regain the Jewels by force. A great number of the Noldor supported him; but the Valar prohibited the venture. Nevertheless, Fëanor had his way, for the Noldor rebelled, and many of that Kindred followed the banners of Fëanor and Fingolfin back to Middle-earth in a great fleet of ships. But even as they sailed away from the Blessed Realm, great shadows rolled across the face of the Sea behind them, barring their return.

In the event, the Exile of the Noldor in Middle-earth endured for many bitter years. Finally defeated in their long wars against Morgoth, they were only saved from complete destruction by the intervention of the Valar, who cast out the Enemy and overthrew his realm. Most of the Exiles were then allowed to return to Eldamar, but not all – and not Fëanor, for the leader of the rebellion had been slain, together with a great number of his kin, in the War for the Great Jewels that he had made: for Fëanor was mortally wounded at the Battle-under-Stars, and died in the arms of his sons before the rising of the first Moon over Middle-earth.

Note: in the Second Age the survivors of Fëanor’s House were led by Celebrimbor, his grandson. In their time they too reached a peak of craftsmanship which came to an end with the making of a peril hardly less deadly than that created by their Forefather in the days of his pride.

Fëanturi ‘Masters-of-Spirits’ (Q.) – Two of the great Valar: the brethren MANDOS and LORIEN.

Feast of Reuniting – A translation of the Grey-elven words Mereth Aderthad, being the name given by Fingolfin the High King of the Noldor to the great feast he ordained for all the Eldar in Middle-earth, Noldor and Sindar alike, in the 21st Year of the Sun, First Age. It was celebrated at the Eithel Ivrin.

Feast of the Spring of Arda – The celebration ordained by the Valar after the completion of the shaping of the World; it was held in Almaren. At this feast Tulkas, newly come to Middle-earth, wedded Nessa the sister of Oromë.

Felagund ‘Lord of Caves’ (from orig. Khuz. felak-gundu ‘Cavehewer’) – The name given by the Dwarves to the Elven-king Finrod son of Finarfin, after he had, with their aid, enlarged and occupied the ancient delvings of Nulukkizdîn in the gorge of the river Narog. This underground city was of course known to Elves and Men as Nargothrond.

Felaróf – The steed of Eorl the Young. The first of the fabled Mearas of Éothéod and Rohan. The Mearas were a long-lived line of horses thought to be descended from the steeds of Béma (the Huntsman of the Valar); they would bear no one but the rightful King or his offspring, and would accept no bridle or stirrup.

First caught and bridled by Léod, Lord of Éothéod, Felaróf bolted, throwing Léod and causing his death. His son Eorl was expected to slay the horse, but instead he subdued the animal, named him and rode him thereafter. The horse understood the speech of Men and proved as long-lived, being laid to rest with his master in the same mound of the Barrowfield (in 2545 Third Age).

Fellowship of the Ring – The eight companions of Free Peoples who were chosen by Elrond to accompany the Ring-bearer on the Quest of Mount Doom. They were: Gandalf; Aragorn, Dúnadan of the North, and Boromir, Prince of Gondor (for Men); Legolas, son of King Thranduil (for the Elves); Gimli, son of Glóin (for the Dwarves); and four Hobbits – Meriadoc, Peregrin, Samwise, and Frodo, the Ring-bearer. The Fellowship set out from Rivendell on December 25th in the year 3019 Third Age.

Fell Winter – In Third Age records, this term refers to the winter of 2911, which struck northern Eriador with great severity, causing many of its rivers to freeze. At that time packs of white wolves from the North invaded the Shire.

Fengel – From 2903–53 Third Age, the fifteenth King of Rohan, son of Folcwine of the Second Line. He was grasping and unpleasant, especially towards his children; therefore, Fengel’s son Thengel, of his own choice, spent much of his life in Gondor, where he won renown. Thengel was the father of Théoden.

Fen Hollen ‘Closed Door’ (Sind.) – A solemnly guarded ornamental door or postern gateway in the sixth circle of Minas Tirith, upon the side facing Mount Mindolluin. It led to the Hallows, the final resting-place of Gondor’s great, upon a high plateau between the City and the cliffs above.

Fenmarch – The low-lying border country between the Mouths of Entwash and the White Mountains, north of the Mering Stream; the frontier of Rohan and Gondor. Most of the eastern part of Rohan’s Eastfold was fen country, drained by the broad river Entwash.

Fen of Serech – A region of marshy ground surrounding the confluence of the upper Sirion and the Rivil stream, in south-western Ard-galen, guarding the Pass of Sirion from the North. It was thus a natural defence of the Noldor against the evil of Morgoth, especially in latter days, and for this reason perhaps they never drained the marsh or reclaimed the ground.

Fens of Sirion – The westerly fringe of the AELIN-UIAL marsh.

‘Ferthu Théoden hal!’ – ‘Hail Théoden on thy going!’

Field of Cormallen – The Field of the Ring-bearers where, on April 6th, 3021 Third Age, the Host of the West gave thanks for the downfall of the Dark Lord, and the Ring-bearers Frodo and Samwise were publicly honoured by the King. The occasion was distinguished (particularly for Samwise) by the first performance of the Lay of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom, which was composed especially for the event.

The Field of Cormallen was in North Ithilien, between the refuge of Henneth Annûn and the isle of Cair Andros.

Fields of Pelennor – The rich and fertile townlands of Minas Tirith; that area (about three leagues in diameter at its widest) which was enclosed by the Rammas Echor, the out-wall of the City.

Fíli and Kíli – The two Dwarf-sons of Dís, descended from the Line of Erebor. Both marched on the Quest of the Lonely Mountain, led by their uncle, Thorin Oakenshield; and both fell during the Battle of Five Armies (2941 Third Age), defending him from Orcs. Thorin was also slain and Dáin Ironfoot of the Iron Hills then became King under the Mountain.

Fimbrethil ‘Slender-birch’ (Sind.) – Wandlimb the lightfooted; an Entwife of Treebeard’s youth. She was lost with the other Entwives when their gardens were turned into Brown Lands during the wars of the Second and Third Ages.

Finarfin – The third and youngest of the three sons of Finwë of the Noldor, brother of Fingolfin and half-brother of Fëanor. Though the youngest of the three brothers, he was accounted by the Eldar the wisest, for he alone forsook the march into exile, and repented of the rebellion, and thus returned from Araman to Eldamar with a great many of his people, to continue dwelling with the Valar, and with the ‘Fair-elves’, the Vanyar. Both Finarfin and his brother Fingolfin were akin to the Vanyar, for their mother Indis was of this people; and they and their descendants were for the most part golden-haired, like all the Fair-Elves.

However, Finarfin’s own children – Finrod, Orodreth, Angrod, Aegnor, and Galadriel – were not so wise as he, and they joined their hosts to that led by Fingolfin, and so came to Middle-earth in exile, and shared in the deeds of that time. But all save Galadriel were slain in the War of the Great Jewels.

Note: in records of the Third Age this name is occasionally written Finarphir. The reason is not immediately obvious – unless the intended spelling is actually Finarphin and a typographical error has resulted in the final n being replaced with an r. To confuse matters further, in early editions of The Lord of the Rings the Noldorin Elf Gildor Inglorion identifies himself as ‘of the House of Finrod’, but in later editions as ‘of the House of Finarphir’, whereas throughout The Silmarillion the name of the father of Finrod is always written Finarfin. The latter spelling must be regarded as the more accurate.

Finarphir – See note under preceding entry.

Findegil – A scribe of the Court of Gondor during the second century of the Fourth Age. In the year 172 he was instructed to make a copy, exact in all respects, of the Red Book of the Periannath – which was itself a copy of the Thain’s Book of the Shire, originally made at the request of King Elessar. Findegil’s copy was formally presented to the descendants of Peregrin Took and was kept at Great Smials ever after.

Finduilas – The name of the Elven-daughter of Orodreth, King of Nargothrond after the death of his elder brother Finrod Felagund. She was the beloved (he had named her Faelivrin) of the Elf-lord Gwindor, a prince of that same city; but Gwindor was captured during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and afterwards enthralled in Angband. And when he escaped and later returned to Nargothrond he came accompanied by Túrin of the Edain. Though Gwindor still loved Finduilas, unhappily for him she fell in love with Túrin. The Elf nobly released her from her earlier promises and bade her go where love called, though he added a warning against the fate surrounding Túrin, and he told her who Túrin really was.

It was shortly after this that Nargothrond fell to the power of Morgoth. Most of the Elf-women and -children were captured – including Finduilas – and Gwindor was slain; but Túrin, pursuing the Orcs who had captured her, became further enmeshed in the net of his doom, and never caught up with her. To his grief he afterwards learned that she had been killed by the Orcs, not far from the Crossings of Teiglin. She was buried in a barrow nearby, the Haudhen-Elleth (‘Mound of the Elf-maid’); but her spirit passed into the West.

Also the name of a princess of Dol Amroth in the late Third Age, the daughter of Adrahil and later wife of Steward Denethor II of Gondor. She bore Denethor two fine sons, Boromir and Faramir, but died early, from loneliness and depression, in 2988 Third Age, four years after her husband had come into his Stewardship. Denethor never wed again.

Finglas ‘Hair-leaf’ (Sind.) – Leaflock the Ent; one of the surviving Onodrim of the Elder Days still living in Fangorn at the time of the War of the Ring. As the years slowly passed, Finglas gradually began to resemble one of his flock, eventually regressing to total treehood.

Fingolfin – The second son of Finwë of the Noldor, elder brother of Finarfin and (younger) half-brother of Fëanor. Fingolfin was accounted by the Noldor the bravest of the three sons of Finwë; but although there had been enmity between himself and Fëanor, like the latter, Fingolfin unwisely chose to avenge the death of their father and repay the hurts offered to their House, and he too rebelled against the Valar; for he had but lately vowed to Fëanor that he would follow where his half-brother led. With him into exile went all his House, including his two sons Fingon and Turgon and his only daughter Aredhel Ar-Feiniel.

The long story of the deeds of the Elves’ first High King in Exile is stirring, yet ultimately tragic and wasteful. Abandoned in Aman by Fëanor after the Kinslaying at Alqualondë (in which, to his everlasting regret, he had played a part), Fingolfin was nevertheless undaunted, and accomplished the daring and desperate feat of crossing the Northern Ice, the Helcaraxë, into Middle-earth; though not without severe loss. It is said that the first Moon to grace the night-skies of Arda shone coldly down upon the Elf-host of Fingolfin in the freezing wastes of the North. At this time, unknown to Fingolfin, the Battle-under-Stars had already been fought in Middle-earth, and Fëanor lay dying in Ard-galen. But Fingolfin marched now swiftly south, towards Mithrim, where the Sons of Fëanor and their hosts were encamped beside the lake; but perceiving that the appearance of the new Sun in the sky had put all creatures of Morgoth to flight, he wheeled his great army across the passes of Ered Wethrin and crossed the seventy leagues of Ard-galen to stand before the very gates of Angband. There for the first time the Elf-lord truly understood the reality of the Power to whom he and the other Noldor had so rashly opposed themselves; and it was at this moment that he first conceived the ‘containment’ stratagem which was hereafter to govern the methods by which the Noldor waged war against their Enemy. For Fingolfin had a warrior’s eye, and had perceived that the might of Angband was too great – infinitely too great – ever to be overthrown by assault or direct action. The only possible chance lay in decoying Morgoth’s armies to destruction upon Ard-galen; and this in turn meant setting a leaguer, or siege line, around Angband, with the double aim of protecting Beleriand to the south and (eventually) of provoking Morgoth into some rash action.

It was indeed the only possible strategy (see WAR OF THE GREAT JEWELS); and for many years and centuries it succeeded in penning the power of Morgoth into the far North. But as a policy it was essentially defensive, and Morgoth was always allowed to plot in secret. Worse, the Siege could be actively pressed only from the south and west, which left vast areas in the north and east available to the Enemy for the discreet movement of armies. Nor was the Siege pressed on a tactical (i.e. close-range) level; fifty leagues of open steppe separated the Gates of Angband from the linked chain of Elven-kingdoms, leagues in which the vast if unwieldy hordes of Morgoth were ultimately able to prevail over the dwindling and little-replenished ranks of the Eldar. Worst of all, the Siege was effective – and the military force of the Eldar and their allies coherent – only so long as all held true and acted as one army. And this happened less often than Fingolfin envisaged. Yet for all these drawbacks Fingolfin’s was the only possible strategy available to the Elves, and though he lived only to see it crumble away in ruin – dying as a result in fury and despair – for four centuries and more it served the Noldor well.

Fingolfin was proclaimed High King of the Noldor in the first Year of the Sun. In that same year he had looked on the doors of Angband, afterwards returning to Mithrim – to meet again Fëanor, as he had supposed. But Fëanor was dead. And memories were still fresh among Fingolfin and his people of the terrible crossing from Aman. For a while an alliance between the two hosts seemed less likely than a battle, but Fingon son of Fingolfin had meanwhile performed the heroic feat of rescuing Maedhros the eldest son of Fëanor from torment upon Thangorodrim, and Maedhros in humility and sincerity now offered the High-kingship to Fingolfin, his father’s half-brother.

Fingolfin and his people now occupied Hithlum and Mithrim as their realm. His elder son Fingon held the neighbouring land of Dor-lómin; but Turgon the younger went across the Echoing Mountains to Nevrast, and with him went Ar-Feiniel his sister. These were but three of the realms founded by the Noldor in those days, the first twenty years of the Sun, for the Sons of Fëanor likewise founded kingdoms in a great barrier line across the north – a barrier against Morgoth. And Fingolfin was High King of all. In the 21st year after his setting foot in Middle-earth he held a great feast, the Feast of Reunion, to which all Elves, of whatever kin, were invited.

Four centuries passed, years not altogether free from war, for time and again Morgoth made trial of Fingolfin’s strength and purpose – and each time the High King’s strategy and warcraft destroyed his armies. After the Dagor Aglareb Fingolfin had drawn the bonds of the Siege tighter, and his forces now patrolled as far as the borders of Angband. Nonetheless Morgoth had by now finished preparing the gigantic blow with which he meant to break free of the constraints of Fingolfin for ever. He unleashed the Dagor Bragollach, the Battle of Sudden Flame, in which the Elves’ cavalry was destroyed on the burning plains of Ard-galen, while their foot-soldiers were thrown back with loss into Hithlum and Mithrim. Their allies, the Edain, were likewise defeated and driven, for the most part, from the North. Perceiving the onset of the very disaster he had long feared – from the day he had first gazed on the real might of Angband – Fingolfin the High King rode forth in madness from the rags of his army and clove through the Orcs to reach the Gates of Angband. There he challenged the Enemy to single combat. But despite his courage, there could be only one result of such a fight. Fingolfin perished; and the High-kingship of the Noldor in Middle-earth then passed to his eldest son, Fingon.

Fingon (the Valiant) – The elder son of Fingolfin of the Noldor, brother of Turgon and Aredhel Ar-Feiniel. Like his father, he was one of the mightiest – and, as his name implies, most valiant – of all the High-elves of Middle-earth; and in his time he succeeded to the High-kingship of all the Noldor in Exile. But he did so at a time when fortune had turned irrevocably against the Eldar in their war against Morgoth, and he had reigned as High King for only fifteen years when Morgoth unleashed the final battle, in which the ruin of the Elves and the Edain was at last accomplished. In this final battle, the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Fingon died, slain by a Balrog.

During his later life in Middle-earth Fingon reigned in Mithrim, ceding his former principality of Dor-lómin to a House of the Edain, friendly to his kin. He is remembered above all as the Elf who achieved the epic feat of rescuing a kinsman (Maedhros son of Fëanor) from torment upon Thangorodrim. For this Fingon is named The Valiant. He never wedded, and was succeeded as High King of the Noldor in Exile by his younger brother Turgon King of Gondolin.

Finrod Felagund – The Friend of Men, called also The Faithful and Lord of Caves; the founder of Nargothrond and Companion of Beren. His memory is exalted in the tales both of Elves, of whom he was one of the noblest to walk the earth, and Men, towards whom he always behaved as a benefactor. For the sake of one Man Finrod laid down his life in Middle-earth.

Finrod was the eldest son of Finarfin. His three brothers were Orodreth, Angrod and Aegnor; and his sister was Galadriel. The children of Finarfin – though not Finarfin himself – came back to Middle-earth in the Elder Days, and waged war upon Morgoth in company with the Houses of Fingolfin and Fëanor; though only half their people had followed them to Middle-earth. Finrod was the great friend of Turgon, and into the minds of both Elves came dreams (sent at the bidding of the Vala Ulmo), warning them against dark days to come, and putting into their minds the thought of the needs of that future time. And while Turgon founded the Hidden City of Gondolin, as is told elsewhere, Finrod, having learned, from his kinsman Thingol of Doriath, of the Dwarf-delved Caves of Narog in West Beleriand, founded there the city of Nargothrond. He was afterwards called Felagund, ‘Cavehewer’ in the Dwarvish tongue.

It was Finrod, first of all High-elves, who discovered the race of Men, though their arrival had long been prophesied among the Eldar. The Men he encountered were Edain, of the kindred of Balan (Bëor) of the First House of the Edain, as this people were afterwards known; and though Finrod is called ‘Friend of Men’, it was with this kindred of Men in particular that his fate was woven. Balan entered Finrod’s service – the first of all the Edain to serve a prince of the Noldor. Barahir, his descendant, fought at Finrod’s side at the Dagor Bragollach, and indeed saved his life. Barahir’s son Beren thus had a claim on Finrod’s aid, and Finrod honoured the pledge and accompanied Beren on his Quest, relinquishing his kingship to do so.

But this first attempt to steal a Silmaril was doomed to bitter failure. All the Companions of the Quest were caught and imprisoned, by Sauron the servant of Morgoth, in the tower of Tol-in-Gaurhoth (formerly Tol Sirion) which guarded the Pass of Sirion. There Finrod was slain, by a werewolf, defending his friend Beren from the monster. Thus he repaid the debt, and so passed into the West for ever. Finrod Felagund never wedded, and was succeeded at Nargothrond by his brother Orodreth.

Finwë – The first King of the Noldorin Elves, and one of the four princes (the other three were Ingwë, Olwë and Elwë) who led the Eldar on the Great Journey out of Middle-earth into the Far West. He was the father of Fëanor, Fingolfin and Finarfin, and thus the founder of one of the most royal Houses of the Eldar. But he was slain, in Aman, by Melkor (Morgoth), and thus was spared the shame which afterwards came upon his House, when two of his sons rebelled against the Valar and returned to Middle-earth, to make vengeful war upon Melkor.

Alone of the High-elven kings of old, Finwë wedded twice. His first wife was Míriel of the Noldor, who bore him Curufinwë, afterwards called Fëanor. But this birthing so taxed her body and spirit that of her own will she died soon afterwards, and passed for ever to the Halls of Mandos. Finwë then wedded one of the Vanyar, Indis the Fair, a kinswoman of Ingwë (who was High King of all the Elves of Aman). This second wedding did not please Fëanor, and by it was created a division in the House of Finwë that bore fruit in after years. Yet Finwë loved Fëanor best of all his three sons – or perhaps it was the memory of Míriel Serindë that he loved. At all events, when Fëanor first went against the will of the Valar, and was banished as a result from Tirion where Finwë ruled, Finwë himself quitted the city upon the hill of Túna and went to live in Formenos, the fortress to the north which Fëanor had built for himself; and Finwë’s second son Fingolfin ruled the city of Tirion in his place. So it was that when Melkor came to take the Silmarils from Fëanor’s armoury – having already left the Two Trees dying on the mount of Ezellohar – Finwë resisted him, but was struck down. And in the deeds which followed this murder (for such it was) Finwë’s house was laid low, and two of his three sons were slain, even as he had been, and by the same foe, and for the same cause.

Fire of Doom – The volcanic furnace in the ‘Chambers of Fire’ (the Sammath Naur) in the cone of Orodruin.

Fíriel ‘Mortal-woman’ (Sind.) – The daughter of King Ondoher of Gondor, and the wife of Arvedui ‘Last-king’ of Arthedain. After the death of Ondoher and his sons, Arvedui claimed the crown of Gondor, basing part of his case on his marriage to Fíriel. However, his claim was rejected, and the crown was instead awarded to a victorious general (albeit of royal blood), Eärnil II.

Fíriel is also the name of the central figure in one of the more reflective Hobbit-poems, ‘The Last Ship’, collected and published as No. 16 in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

Though rustic and given to rhetorical jokes, Hobbit-verse occasionally bids fair to glimpse things deeper than were generally known in the Shire. Nevertheless, the obvious allegorical content of ‘The Last Ship’ indicates that in origin it is not, in fact, a Hobbit poem at all. For Hobbits did not, as a rule, care for allegory, and verse-advice in the Shire normally took a more practical form. In its original form, therefore, this particular verse almost certainly came from Gondor.

In the poem, Fíriel is watching for the dawn, somewhere near the mouth of a river in Gondor. She runs through the grass to the riverbank just in time to hear the silvery notes of Elf-harps and singing:

like wind-voices keen and young

and far bells ringing.

Three Elf-kings and their retinue sail majestically past in a swan-ship, on their way ‘over-Sea’ to the Undying Lands. They summon Fíriel to join them, but her feet sink in the clay of the riverbank and she realises that she must remain behind and accept her (mortal) fate.

The poem dates from the early Fourth Age, from a time when Elves were indeed sailing West in greater numbers than before.

Note: the -iel suffix in names of Sindarin form usually indicates femininity, e.g. Fíriel, Berúthiel, Galadriel. The High-elven equivalent was -ë, -ën, e.g. Telperiën, Vanimeldë, Silmariën. (The Grey-elven suffix -wen meant specifically ‘maiden’, e.g. Morwen, ‘Dark-maid’, and Arwen, ‘Royal-maid’.)

Firiendale – The cleft from which the Mering Stream arose.

Firienfeld – In Rohan, the name for the guarded upland meadow where stood the mysterious Dunharrow.

Firienwood – This small forest marked part of the border between the realms of Gondor and Rohan, nestling up against the knees of the White Mountains where the fens of Rohan’s Eastfold blended into the pastureland of Anórien. The traveller from Edoras to Mundburg (Minas Tirith) passed along a road through the wood, while above him on his right rose the HALIFIRIEN, the northernmost of Gondor’s seven beacon-hills. It was called the ‘whispering wood’.

Firimar ‘Mortals’ (Sind.) – One of the Elves’ early names for the race of Men.

Firith – The Sindarin word for ‘fading’, as applied to the fourth of the six ‘seasons’ of the Eldarin ‘loa’ or year. The Quenya term was quellë (or lasse-lanta).

First Age – The assembly of a comparative chronology of the First Age – the ‘Elder Days’ of the Elves – has long carried virtually insuperable problems for the scholar, not the least of which has been the absolute dearth of precise information of the kind which compilers need in order successfully to impose systems of dating upon hitherto-undated epochs. Great events were known to have taken place, but their accurate location within a time-scale itself related to the existing time-scales of Middle-earth (such as The Tale of Years) has, until now, been impossible to achieve.

However the later publication of several extremely important pieces of ancient literature, many of which provide exactly this kind of cross-datable information, has reversed the situation. By cross-dating – that is, by comparison work – a perfectly adequate chronology of the six-century period which we may term ‘the Years of the Sun’, i.e. the late First Age, can now be compiled. But before the onset of this period, the further back we go into the past the more the haziness increases, until before long we find ourselves dealing with quantities of elapsed time so vast that they make all Man-made dating systems seem quite absurdly inappropriate. For this compelling reason the following chronological table does not attempt to assign year-values to, or within, these remote epochs, though brief summaries of the great events they contain are included. All, however, may be assumed to involve spans of years greater by far than the gulf of time which lies between those days and ours.

I have deliberately chosen not to follow the example of Prehistorians who, as all know, assign ancient year-values in reverse order, thus leaving their time-scale conveniently open-ended. It is an effective system, provided it can be made to mesh smoothly with the known dates at the beginning of the New Age (which, of course, run in the proper, forwards, direction). In other words, Year One of the Old Age must be made to precede – by one year – Year One of the New Age. But when Year One (Old Age) is itself unsurely located – as is the case here – then the entire raison d’être of the reverse-dating system becomes undermined, and the system itself becomes inapplicable, for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, the closing years of the First Age (i.e. all events postdating the fall of Gondolin) are the least-known of all; in fact they can only be estimated. And as a result the otherwise splendid system of reverse-order-dating must be rejected.

Luckily, the first Year of the Sun provides the necessary ‘fixed point’ from which to commence a Chronology proper (without such a fixed point no chronology at all would be possible, unless it was open-ended at both ends). For this year is the earliest date belonging to our relative list (of course, it cannot be located in absolute terms, but all the dates which follow are computed directly from it, until after the fall of Gondolin, when we enter an area of uncertainty). I am therefore obliged to commence the Chronology proper at this point. I have assigned succeeding year-values in ascending order, according to measurable elapsed time.

Although most of the given dates are believed accurate to within a very small margin, some are necessarily of a more tentative nature. I have enclosed these within parentheses.

THE FIRST AGE

The Spring of Arda. First war with Melkor, who is defeated. The Valar come to Almaren; raising of Illuin and Ormal. Return of Melkor and delving of Utumno, the Pit. Second War with Melkor: Almaren is destroyed and the Lamps are cast down. Founding of Valinor and raising of the Mountains of Defence. Beginning of the Great Darkness and founding of Angband.

The Years of the Trees. Yavanna Kementári makes the Two Trees of Valinor; beginning of the Count of Time. After many ages the Quendi awake in Cuiviénen. For the sake of the Quendi the Valar make war upon Melkor. Battle of the Powers and destruction of Utumno; Melkor is imprisoned. The Eldar make the Great Journey from Cuiviénen to Aman. Foundation of Doriath in Middle-earth. Birth, in Eldamar, of Fëanor. Dwarves appear in the Blue Mountains. Building of Menegroth. Birth, in Menegroth, of Lúthien. The Nandor come to Beleriand. Release from Mandos of Melkor; he subverts the Noldor. Death of the Two Trees and slaying of Finwë. Theft of the Silmarils. Rebellion of Fëanor.

The Sunless Year. The Kinslaying at Alqualondë and Curse of Mandos. First Battle of Beleriand. Fëanor comes to Middle-earth; he burns the Telerin ships at Losgar, abandoning Fingolfin in Araman. Battle-under-Stars in the North: Fëanor is slain. Rising of Isil (the Moon). Fingolfin and his hosts cross the northern icefields into Middle-earth after great hardship. Capture of Maedhros son of Fëanor, by treachery. He is tormented upon Thangorodrim.

Years of the Sun.

First Battle (of Beleriand) – See BATTLES OF BELERIAND.

Firstborn – The Elves.

First House (of the Edain) – The House of Bëor (see LINES OF DESCENT).

First Kindred (of the Eldar) – The VANYAR.

First Line (of Rohan) – All the Kings of the Mark in direct descent from Eorl the Young to Helm the Hammerhand. See also BARROWFIELD and SECOND LINE (OF ROHAN).

Firth of Drengist – A narrow gap in the Echoing Mountains, between Lammoth and Nevrast, through which a torrential river (see CIRITH NINNIACH) flowed to the Sea. On the west of the mountains lay a long firth, or deep-water estuary. At the mouth of this Firth, a place called Losgar, Fëanor landed with his fleet, after his flight from Eldamar. Here also he burned those same ships.

Fladrif – One of the three elder Ents of Fangorn Forest. His name was translated by Treebeard as ‘Skinbark’, and he was said to be much attached to birch-trees. Many of his folk were destroyed by Orcs of Saruman in the late Third Age, and Fladrif then retreated into the high places of the mountains, where he remained ever after.

Flame Imperishable, Flame of Anor – The SECRET FIRE.

Flame of Udûn – The Balrog, as addressed by Gandalf during their epic confrontation on the Bridge of Khazâd-dûm.8 The Sindarin word UDÛN is translated ‘Hell’ or ‘the Underworld’, so this epithet means, literally, ‘Hell-fire’ – the dark, unclean flame which constituted both the intrinsic nature and the chief weapon of the demonic Balrog.

Flammifer of Westernesse – The Star of Eärendil; it was so called by the Edain because it shone like a beacon and guided them across the Western Seas to Númenor.

Flet ‘Floor’ – A tree-platform, much used by the Galadhrim or ‘Tree-people’ of Lothlórien, who called them telain (sing. talan).

The Floating Log – A tavern of the Shire; the chief inn of Frogmorton and district.

Flói – A Dwarf-warrior of Erebor and one of the companions of Balin son of Fundin in the ill-fated attempt to establish a colony in Moria. One of the first casualties of that expedition, Flói was killed by an orc-arrow in 2989 Third Age, during the clearing of the first halls. He was buried ‘under grass’ near Lake Kheled-zâram (the Mirrormere), as the Dwarves had not yet regained access to the main halls and therefore could not follow the custom of laying their dead in tombs of stone.

Flower of Silver – ISIL (the Moon).

Foamriders – The Teleri of Aman, as they are called in the Lay of Leithian. It is an approximate translation of Falmari (Q.).

Folca – From 2851–64 Third Age, the thirteenth King of Rohan. See also BOAR OF EVERHOLT.

Folcred – See FASTRED AND FOLCRED.

Folcwine – From 2864–2903 Third Age, the fourteenth King of Rohan, and the strongest leader to arise since the evil days of the Long Winter. His first act was the re-conquering of the Dunlending-occupied lands of the Westmarch, between the rivers Isen and Adorn. Later, to honour the Oath of Eorl, Folcwine sent a force of cavalry to the aid of Steward Túrin II of Gondor. This force was captained by his twin sons Fastred and Folcred, who fell in battle at the Crossings of Poros (2885).

Followers – A translation of the Quenya word Hildor; the race of Men.

Folde – The northern part of Rohan’s Eastfold. The home of Éomer third Marshal of the Mark, before the War of the Ring.

Ford of Brithiach – The only crossing-place of the upper Sirion between Tol Sirion and the Andram; it lay downstream from the former confluence with the Dry River, and somewhat to the north of the northern eaves of Brethil.

Ford of Bruinen – The Ford of Rivendell, where the Great East Road crossed the river Loudwater (Bruinen). It was protected by a high bank on the further (eastern) side. Like the enchanted stream of Mirkwood, the Bruinen was under the power of an Elven-lord and, upon his command, would rise to bar the Ford.

Ford of Carrock – A fording-place across the upper Anduin in northern Wilderland; it was marked by the great rock of Carrock. The crossing was kept open by the Beornings who charged a (reportedly high) toll for this service. Further south, the Old Ford provided the only other crossing-point for many hundreds of miles in either direction.

Ford of Stones – A translation of the Sindarin name Sarn Athrad; the ford across the Gelion where the Dwarf-road from the Blue Mountains crossed from Thargelion into East Beleriand.

Fords of Aros – The Arossiach. See AROS.

Fords of Isen – A translation of Ethrain Engrin. The chief crossingpoint of the river Isen between its source in the Wizard’s Vale and its confluence with the Adorn. The Fords (which lay some ten leagues south of Isengard) were a strategic keypoint in many a war, and a matter of conflict between the Rohirrim and the Dunlendings from the early days of the Mark.

Forelithe – The sixth month of the Shire Reckoning, coming immediately before the Lithedays, the three-day Mid-year period. In Bree this month was itself termed Lithe.

Forest-between-the-rivers – A translation of TAUR-IM-DUINATH.

Forest of Brethil – The largest wood in West Beleriand. Properly speaking, it was but the western outlier of the far greater forests of Doriath (Neldoreth and Region), but the river Sirion flowed between, and although in early times Thingol had accounted Brethil as part of his realm, he was later persuaded to grant this land to Mannish people: the Haladin, newly come to Beleriand and already in grievous need of a permanent refuge from the evils of the time. Thingol, therefore, granted Brethil to the people of Haleth (the Haladin), on condition they guarded his western flank. The Haladin accepted these terms, and dwelt within the wood for the remainder of the First Age.

The adjacent Forests of Neldoreth and Region were composed largely of beech- and holly-trees; but Brethil was a birch forest, as indeed its name tells us. In shape, it was rather like the faraway forest of Lothlórien in the east of Middle-earth, for it lay between the converging arms of two rivers, the Sirion and the swift Teiglin. The forest measured perhaps twenty leagues across at its widest point, and narrowed like a spear-head the further one journeyed south-west. In the centre of the wood there rose a tall hill, Amon Obel, on which the Woodmen later built a stockaded hill-fort, Ephel Brandir. Fifteen leagues to the south of Amon Obel and five beyond the southern border of Brethil, stood the lonely height of Amon Rûdh.

Forest of Neldoreth – See NELDORETH.

Forest of Region – See REGION.

Forest River – A river which rose in the Grey Mountains, flowed through northern Mirkwood and entered the Long Lake towards its southern end. It was the main highway of riverborne commerce between the Men of Lake-town and the Wood-elves of Thranduil’s realm in Mirkwood.

Foreyule – The last month of the Shire Reckoning (known as Yulemath in Bree and the Eastfarthing).

Forgoil ‘Straw-heads’ – A Dunlendish word applied as an epithet by the (dark) Dunlendings to the (blond) Rohirrim. It is the only example of this ancient language recorded in the Red Book.

Forlindon ‘North-Lindon’ – That part of Lindon which lay north of the Gulf of Lune. In the Second and Third Ages it was peopled mainly by Elves.

Forlond – The ‘Northern-haven’ of the Gulf of Lune.

Forlong the Old – At the time of the War of the Ring, Forlong (then known, somewhat irreverently, as ‘Forlong the Fat’) was Lord of Lossarnach in Gondor. To the Siege of Minas Tirith (March, 3019 Third Age), he led two hundreds of his own folk. Although Forlong fought valiantly, in the end he was surrounded and cut down by Easterlings on the Pelennor Fields.

Note: the name Forlong is of pre-Númenorean origin, unlike most of the personal names used in Gondor, which were of Grey-elven (Sindarin) form.

Formen – The Quenya word for ‘north’; also the title of Tengwa number 10, which represented the sound f. It was also used to indicate (directional) North – or even ‘right-hand region’, since the Eldar numbered the cardinal points W,S,E,N, and orientated all maps with W at the top.

Formenos(t) ‘Northern-citadel’ (Q.) – The name given by Fëanor to the city he built in the north of Eldamar during the twelve years of his exile from Tirion. There he kept the Silmarils – until they were stolen. It was abandoned when Fëanor and his sons went into exile in Middle-earth.

Forn – The name by which Tom Bombadil was known to Dwarvish folk. The Eldar knew him as Iarwain Ben-adar (‘Old Fatherless’).

Fornost Erain ‘Northern-fortress of the Kings’ (Sind.) – The chief stronghold of Arnor and later the capital of ARTHEDAIN (from 861 Third Age). It was known as ‘Kings’ Norbury’ in the Common Speech.

With the rise of the Witch-king of Angmar, and the fall of Rhudaur and Cardolan, Fornost became the principal fortress of the remaining Dúnedain of the North. It survived until 1974, when Angmar defeated King Arvedui, and the Witch-king captured the great burg on the North Downs. Although the Witch-king was himself defeated the following year (see BATTLE OF FORNOST), the North-kingdom never arose again and Fornost became desolate. Men of the westlands later feared to go near the ruin, and it became known as ‘Deadmen’s Dike’.

Forochel – In the Third Age all that remained of Angband, the once great realm of Morgoth the Enemy, was the icebound bay and cape of Forochel, then inhabited only by the Lossoth or Snowmen of that region. See also ICE BAY OF FOROCHEL.

Forodwaith ‘Northern-folk’ – The lands of the far North, named after the Men who dwelt there during the First Age. Their Third Age descendants were the Lossoth, the ‘snow-people’ of Forochel.

Forostar ‘Northlands’ (Q.) – The northernmost province of NÚMENOR, a great north-pointing cape about 300 miles from base to tip, rising from infertile stony plains to chilly, windswept highlands and ultimately towering sea-cliffs.

Forsaken Elves – See EGLATH.

The Forsaken Inn – The most easterly tavern on the Great East Road. It was one day’s journey from Bree, on the edge of the Wild.

Forsaken People – A translation of the Grey-elven word EGLATH.

Forthwini – A prince of the early Éothéod; son of MARHWINI.

Forweg – A leader of the outlaw-band joined by Túrin after his flight from Doriath; he was slain by Túrin.

Fourth Age – Although the Third Age was generally held to have ended with the Downfall of the Lord of the Rings on March 25th, 3019, the Fourth Age proper did not begin until the Passing of the Three Rings, some two years later, on September 22nd, 3021. For purposes of record-keeping, however, the Fourth Age was officially begun (in the New Reckoning of the Reunited Kingdom) on the anniversary of Sauron’s fall, being the equivalent of March 25th, 3021 in the older system.

It was the epoch in which Men came into their final inheritance, while all other ‘speaking peoples’ – Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits – correspondingly declined.

Fourth Battle (of Beleriand) – The BATTLE OF SUDDEN FLAME.

Fragrant Trees – A translation of Nisimaldar (Q.), the name given by the Númenoreans to the region around the city of Eldalondë in the west of their realm where many species of sweet-smelling and beautiful trees, brought as gifts by the Eldar of Eressëa, throve and grew tall. These included oiolairë, lairelossë, nessamelda, vardarianna, taniquelassë, yavannamirë and malinornë (mallorn).

Fram – The son of Frumgar and a lord of the Men of Éothéod. His greatest feat – for which he was long remembered in the tales of the Rohirrim, descended from the Éothéod – was the slaying of the great Dragon Scatha, scourge of the Grey Mountains and bane of Dwarves. The Dragon-hoard thus recovered was largely Dwarvish in origin, and Fram found himself involved in a dispute over the possession of the treasure. He sent the Dwarves the teeth of the Worm, made into a necklace, accompanied by an insulting message; as a result, the Dwarves indignantly slew Fram, thus perpetuating the nascent hostility between their race and the Northern Men.

Note: the Horn of Buckland, given by Éomer of Rohan to Meriadoc of the Shire, was part of Scatha’s Hoard.

Framsburg – A hill-fort of the Éothéod, built near the sources of Anduin by Fram, Frumgar’s son. It was subsequently abandoned when the Riders of Éothéod emigrated south to their new land of Rohan.

Frár – A Dwarf of Erebor and a member of Balin’s ill-fated expedition to Moria. In 2994 Third Age, five years after the colony had proudly proclaimed Balin ‘Lord of Moria’, Orcs attacked and, according to the Book of Mazarbul, Frár then fell in defence of the Second Hall.

Fréa – From 2645–59 Third Age, the fourth King of Rohan. He was the fourth child of Aldor the Old, and was himself already aged when he came to the kingship.

Fréaláf Hildeson – From 2759–98 Third Age, the tenth King of Rohan and the first of the Second Line. He was born in 2726, the son of Hild, sister of Helm Hammerhand, ninth King (and last of the First Line).

During the Long Winter (2758–9), Rohan suffered grievously, not only from famine but from invasion by Dunlendings led by Wulf, son of Freca. Wulf captured Meduseld after slaying Helm’s older son Haleth; and Helm himself perished (along with his younger son Háma) during the subsequent siege of the Hornburg. But Fréaláf and many others had meanwhile retreated into the Dunharrow; and with the thaw, he secretly descended from the mountains with a small band of comrades and recaptured Edoras, slaying Wulf and avenging his kin.

Fréawine – From 2659–80 Third Age, the fifth King of Rohan.

Freca – One of the chieftains of Rohan during Helm Hammerhand’s reign. His possession of wide lands near the river Adorn gave Freca virtual independence of the King, and he grew contemptuous of Helm’s authority. In 2754 Third Age, he deigned to attend one of Helm’s councils, but only for the purpose of procuring a marriage between the King’s daughter and his own son Wulf. Helm refused – for in addition to his other defects, (it was said that) Freca had much Dunlendish blood in his veins. Insults followed and Freca was slain by Helm’s own hand. Freca’s followers then made alliance with the Dunlendings and four years later invaded the Mark in great strength.

Fredegar Bolger – Frodo Baggins’ distant relative and close friend. Although he took no part in their journey, Fredegar greatly assisted Frodo’s party by concealing their departure from the Shire as long as possible, thus (unknowingly) putting himself in great danger.

Later, during Saruman’s occupation of the Shire, Fredegar rekindled his courage and organised a resistance movement in the Brockenborings, in the northern part of the Eastfarthing. When finally captured by Saruman’s men, Fredegar was imprisoned in the Michel Delving lockholes until eventually released by his returning friends. He was harshly treated during this incarceration and lost both a great deal of weight and his (hitherto well-merited) nickname of ‘Fatty’.

Free Fair – The seven-yearly event held on the White Downs near Michel Delving in the Shire, during the three days of Lithe (Midsummer). Among the other attractions of the Fair was the election of the Mayor of Michel Delving, the Shire’s most important official.

Free Folk, Free Peoples – Elves, Dwarves, Ents, Hobbits and Men.

Frerin – A Dwarf of Erebor; the younger son of Thráin II, and brother of Thorin Oakenshield and Dís (mother of Fíli and Kíli). With his father, brother, sister and grandfather (King Thrór), Frerin escaped the attack on Erebor made by Smaug the Golden in 2770 Third Age, afterwards going into exile with his family.

As is recounted elsewhere (see WAR OF THE DWARVES AND ORCS), the ignoble death of Thrór brought all Seven Houses of Dwarves together for a war of revenge upon the Orcs of Moria. In the Battle of Azanulbizar (2799), Frerin fell, together with his kinsman Fundin, during the first assault of the Dwarves upon the Orcs.

Frery – See AFTERYULE.

Friend-of-Men – A translation of Atandil (Q.), or Edennil (Sind.). One of the titles awarded (by Men) to the Noldorin prince FINROD FELAGUND.

Friend of the Noldor – A Noldorin title for the Smith of the Valar, Aulë, who is said to have taught them great craft-lore in their earliest days in Valinor.

Frodo Baggins – The tale of the Downfall of the Lord of the Rings is, of course, in essence the story of the Hobbit Frodo Baggins and his selfless undertaking of the Quest of Mount Doom on behalf of all the Free Peoples of Middle-earth. That tale is told in great detail elsewhere (and in such superb style) that it would be unnecessary – and impertinent – to attempt any précis of it here. In any case, it is assumed that readers of this Companion are already familiar with Frodo’s odyssey; and that admiration for his exploits has prompted them to take a deeper interest in the historical context in which his journey took place. This entry will therefore be confined to setting in order Frodo’s biographical details and noting his literary accomplishments, which were considerable (if not undertaken with the same academic enthusiasm which prompted his cousin Bilbo to become the foremost Hobbit scholar of his Age).

Frodo Baggins was born in 2968 Third Age (1368 Shire Reckoning) in Buckland, to Drogo, great-grandson of Balbo Baggins, and Primula, youngest child of Gorbadoc ‘Broadbelt’ Brandybuck, of Brandy Hall. When he was twelve, his father and mother were both drowned in a boating accident; and some years later Frodo was adopted by his cousin. At that time the renowned Bilbo Baggins, still unmarried and therefore without an heir to his considerable fortune, was ninety-nine years old, and had been living quietly for some forty years following his unexpected return from the East. So when Frodo was twenty-one, the kindly old Hobbit invited him to leave the Buckland and join him in his luxurious Hobbiton smial. Both Hobbits shared the same birthday, September 22nd, and were, in addition, related; so the arrangement worked very well – until the day of Bilbo’s 111th birthday (and Frodo’s 33rd, his ‘coming of age’), when Bilbo departed from the Shire, leaving most of his belongings and property to his heir.

It is not recorded anywhere that Frodo ever felt anything other than deeply grateful towards the old Hobbit; and, for his part, Bilbo thought Frodo the best Hobbit in all the Shire – though he little realised how vital his judgement of character might someday prove. Frodo indeed took strongly after Bilbo, and outwardly continued his benefactor’s reputation for eccentricity during the seventeen years he lived alone in Bag End. Like Bilbo, Frodo had a strong element of Fallohidish blood in his veins; and this distressingly adventurous tendency surfaced in the form of long, solitary walks across the Shire, and (some said) occasional encounters with Elves. In short, he rapidly became thought of as the heir to ‘Mad Baggins’ in all respects. So when, in his fiftieth year, Frodo suddenly announced he was selling Bag End to return to the Buckland, there was some consternation in the neighbourhood but little real surprise. The Hobbiton folk, of course, had no idea of the real reasons for Frodo’s quitting the Shire; and few of them ever learned of his subsequent deeds on their behalf. Indeed, so far as Hobbits were concerned, the War of the Ring was largely a matter of expelling from the Shire the undesirable elements which had occupied it following Frodo’s departure. And their later gratitude was chiefly given to those (i.e. Meriadoc, Peregrin and Samwise) who took leading roles in stimulating this desirable turn of events.

Obviously, little more need be said here of Frodo’s many adventures following the departure from Buckland in September of 1418 Shire Reckoning. His Quest achieved, Frodo returned to the Shire little more than a year after setting out. But he did not take a leading role in the Reconstruction that followed (apart from serving as Deputy Mayor for a short time); and as soon as he could, Frodo once more settled down to a quiet life in Bag End. At this point he commenced his writing, and for the next year or so occupied his days in composing his part of the Tale of the Ring – and reorganising various (incomplete) volumes of Bilbo’s, bequeathed to him for this very purpose.

Yet Frodo’s own account was later found to be a work of great literary merit, and for this reason alone his contribution to the store of Shire-learning must be considered of great value. Particularly apt were his translations from Elvish speech, for his old skill with languages had never deserted him, being exceeded in the Shire only by Bilbo’s. Bilbo himself was a true scholar – and Meriadoc Brandybuck became an extremely competent etymologist and botanist – but Frodo eschewed all such academic bypaths and confined his writing to a single (extremely clear and moving) account of the War of the Ring, which he titled, modestly enough: The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the Return of the King (as seen by the Little People; being the memoirs of Bilbo and Frodo of the Shire, supplemented by the accounts of their friends and the learning of the Wise). This account forms the core of the Red Book of Westmarch, which is itself the most valuable surviving source of information concerning the Third Age.

Frodo, of course, passed over Sea only two years after returning to the Shire that he loved. As a Ring-bearer this was his privilege – yet his words to Sam Gamgee reveal some of the loss he must have felt in leaving:

I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so … when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.9

Frodo departed Middle-earth at the age of only fifty-two, on his (and Bilbo’s) birthday, September 22nd, 1421 Shire Reckoning.

Frodo Gardner – The eldest son of Samwise Gamgee, and the heir to Bag End. In token of his father’s famed skills, he took the name Gardner; the family rose to prominence during the Fourth Age.

‘Frodo’s Dreme’ – See ‘THE SEA-BELL’.

Frogmorton – An Eastfarthing village situated on the Great Road.

Frór – The second son of Dáin I, Dwarf-king of the Grey Mountains colony. Together with his father, Frór was killed by a COLD-DRAKE at the gate of the Dwarves’ Hall (2589 Third Age). Soon afterwards, Durin’s people forsook the Ered Mithrin (Grey Mountains).

Frumgar – The chieftain who led the Éothéod from their original home near the Gladden to their new Northern lands, following the overthrow of Angmar and the cleansing of those regions (1977 Third Age).

Fuinur ‘Dark-lord’ (Sind.) – One of the BLACK NÚMENOREANS of the middle Second Age. He and another lord, Herumor, went to Middle-earth during the Accursed Years, and so fell under Sauron’s dominion. Their names are recorded because they afterwards went to the lands of Harad, and became great among the Haradrim. In this way Sauron’s will was set to work among the Men of the South, transmitted thence by two Men of the West.

Fundin – The son of Farin of Durin’s House, and the father of Balin and Dwalin. Together with countless other Dwarves, he fell in the Battle of Azanulbizar (2799 Third Age).

Further Shores – A translation of the ancient Sindarin word Haerast: the coast of Aman the Blessed. See also NEVRAST.