The Complete Tolkien Companion (2 page)

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My warmest thanks to my agent Julian Alexander for his encouragement; to my old friends Ian, Charles, Tim and Neil for their prodding, and particularly to my dear wife Kate for editing services beyond the call of duty.

My gratitude to HarperCollins Publishers and the J. R. R. Tolkien Estate Ltd for permission to quote from the following volumes:

The Hobbit
© The J. R. R. Tolkien Copyright Trust 1937, 1951, 1966, 1978, 1995.

The Lord of the Rings
© The Trustees of the J. R. R. Tolkien 1967 Settlement 1954, 1955, 1966.

The Silmarillion
© The J. R. R. Tolkien Copyright Trust and C. R. Tolkien 1977.

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
© The J. R. R. Tolkien Copyright Trust 1962.

The Road Goes Ever On
text © The J. R. R. Tolkien Copyright Trust 1961, 1967.

J. E. A. T.

Compiler's Note

SMALL CAPITALS
have been used to indicate lines of further research within this
Companion. Italics
are merely intended to emphasise a word's linguistic qualities. References to works in the Tolkien canon are generally found in the form of notes at the end of each letter of the alphabet (chapter). Because of the difficulties in reconciling the many different paginations of
The Lord of the Rings,
most references to this work are by Book, Chapter and Appendix. Abbreviated references to other books by Tolkien are as follows:

The only other abbreviations used are for the various languages of Middle-earth. These are as follows:

Since nearly all of the Kings of Númenor took royal names beginning with either
Tar
- or
Ar-,
to avoid clustering these individuals into (at most) two locations, I have alphabetised them under the main parts of their names, e.g. Amandil (Tar-Amandil) or Pharazôn (Ar-Pharazôn).

Accursed Years
– One of the many names given by tradition to the period of Sauron the Great's first dominion over Middle-earth. Other names – the Black Years, the Dark Years, The Days of Flight – betray equally bitter memories of the latter part of the Second Age, when Númenor grew in power while Men and Elves of Middle-earth groaned under Sauron's tyranny or fought desperate wars for their very existence.

Sauron established this early dominion by means of the Rings of Power. These were forged in Eregion, not by the Lord of Mordor but by the High-elves of Celebrimbor's House, seduced for this purpose in the days when Sauron's treacheries were not readily apparent. Under his tutelage, the Elven-smiths grew skilful at this craft and succeeded in forging, first lesser Rings with limited powers, then the Nine, the Seven and the Three.

The One Ring was forged by Sauron himself – and from the moment he first put it on and spoke the Ring-spell, his power in Middle-earth waxed, until many of the Free Peoples were defeated or enslaved. The Accursed Years had numbered more than a thousand before the Last Alliance of Elves and Men took Sauron's Ring, cast down the Dark Tower and laid his first realm in ruin, thus ending the Age.

Adamant
– An antique name for diamond.

Adan
–
See
EDAIN
.

Adanedhel
‘Elf-man' (Sind.) – An admiring name given by some of the Elves of the city of Nargothrond to the Man Túrin Turambar, son of Húrin of the Third House and Morwen Eledhwen of the First House of the Edain.

Adanel
– A wise-woman of the Edain in the First Age; she was the sister of Hador Lórindol of the Third House and later wedded
BELEMIR
of the First House. Their grand-daughter was Emeldir ‘the Manhearted', the mother of
BEREN ERCHAMION
.

Adorn
– A river in Rohan. It rose in the White Mountains and fell westward into the Isen.

Adrahil (of Dol Amroth)
– A war-leader of Gondor; he was instrumental in the victory of 1944 Third Age against the Wainriders and fell in battle in that campaign. Also the name of his descendant, the twenty-first Prince of Dol Amroth; the father of Imrahil and his sister the Lady Finduilas, who became the wife of Denethor, twenty-sixth Steward of Gondor.

Aduial
(Sind. from Q.
Undómë
) – Eventide, twilight, ‘Star-opening'. The root of the word, -
uial,
also occurs in the Grey-elven name for Lake Evendim:
Nenuial.

Adûnaic
– The language that the Dúnedain of Númenor adopted in the days of their power. It was largely based on their early native Mannish speech before this became influenced by Eldarin modes of thought. It perished in the Downfall of Númenor. The survivors, or Faithful, of that land spoke either the Grey-elven (Sindarin) tongue, or the Common Speech of Middle-earth, which had itself partly been derived from the ancient Adûnaic.

The word
Adûnaic
(‘The-Speech-of-the-West') is itself an example of that Númenorean tongue, as are the names of all the Kings and Princes of Númenor after Tar-Calmacil (except Tar-Palantír) – and the name of the Downfall itself,
Akallabêth.

See also
SPOKEN TONGUES
.

Adûnakhôr (Ar-Adûnakhôr)
‘Lord-of-the-West' (Adûn., Q.
Herunúmen
) – In its Númenorean form, as it appears here, the royal title assumed by the twentieth King of Númenor. It was ill-omened for two reasons: firstly, this was the first time a Númenorean ruler had taken a royal title in a Mannish tongue, as opposed to the older practice of assuming Eldarin names; and secondly, the particular title ‘Lord of the West' had hitherto been given only to the Elder King, Manwë Súlimo, Lord of the Valar and chief of the Ainur, the Holy Ones. Adûnakhôr's choice of name was therefore both insolent and blasphemous; though the popularity he gained from the Númenoreans by so choosing may have seemed sufficient recompense. During his reign open use of the Eldarin tongues was banned.

Adurant
‘Double-course' (Sind.) – A river of Ossiriand. It was the southernmost of the six tributaries of the Gelion, a fast-running mountain stream whose source was high in the Blue Mountains. Adurant reached the lowlands in two branches, which joined together some miles further on to enclose the ‘Green Isle' of Tol Galen.

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
– A collection of assorted hobbit-poems taken from various sections of the Red Book and published, together with explanatory notes, under the title of the most well-known of the verses.

‘The Adventures of Tom Bombadil'
– A Hobbit-poem about the semi-legendary (to some Hobbits) dweller ‘down-under-hill' in the Old Forest on the eastern borders of the Shire. It dates to the early Fourth Age. The poem, together with many others, has been published as a separate supplement to the available translation of the Red Book of Westmarch; it appears under the same general title (
see
previous entry).

Aeglos
‘Snow-thorn' (Sind.) –
See
AIGLOS
.

Aegnor
‘Fell-fire' (Sind. [originally
Aikanáro,
Q.]) – The fourth of the sons of Finarfin of the House of Finwë, one of the princes of the Noldor who came back to Middle-earth during the Elder Days to make war upon Morgoth for the recovery of the Silmarils. At the beginning of the Long Peace, he and his brother Angrod took the northern part of the Dorthonion highland; they held it in fief from Finrod, their elder brother, as the northernmost bulwark of the Elves' domains against the evil of Morgoth. In the four hundred and fifty-fifth year since the return of their father's people to Middle-earth, Morgoth, long quiescent in Angband, unleashed sudden war upon the Noldor: the Battle of Sudden Flame, in which the hills of Dorthonion in the north were literally kindled in the fire of his onslaught. In that desperate fight Aegnor and his brother Angrod were among the first to fall.

‘A Elbereth Gilthoniel'
– The opening line (and title) of the beautiful Hymn sung by the Eldar of Middle-earth to Elbereth, or
Varda
(Q.), in her aspect as
Fanuilos,
the divine or demiurgic intercessary.
1
In the Hymn she is pictured as standing on the slopes of Mount Everwhite (Oiolossë, Q.), arms raised, listening to the cries for aid of Elves and Men. Although the language is Sindarin, it is unlikely that this verse is of Grey-elven origin. It was the Exiles, the High-elves who dwelt among the Sindar in Lindon, in Lórien and in Rivendell, who most longed for the solace of the Vala Queen Elbereth, with whom they had once dwelt in bliss. The style of the poem bears hallmarks of Quenya inflection, especially in the High style of the language chosen and in the reverential second person singular used throughout.

Note:
compare with the High style of Quenya used in
Namárië,
the Lament of Galadriel in Lothlórien.
2

Aelin-uial
‘Meres of Twilight' (Sind.) – The name given by the Elvenfolk of Doriath, Thingol's kingdom in Beleriand, to the region of eerie marshes which bordered their forested land in the southwest, where the river Aros flowed into the Sirion. Here lay a flood-plain, and here the renewed waters of the Sirion diverged, temporarily, into wide fens before gathering together once more into the great Falls of Sirion. The Meres were part of the defensive circle of enchantment woven about Doriath by its Queen, the Lady Melian, after the rebellion of Morgoth.

Aeluin
‘Blue-mere' (Sind.) – A small lake in eastern Dorthonion.
See
TARN AELUIN
.

Aerandir
‘Sea-wanderer' (Q.) – A mariner of the Edain, one of those three who accompanied their lord Eärendil on his great journey from Middle-earth to the Undying Lands, at the end of the First Age. As all know, that journey brought about the mustering of the Valar and the overthrow of Morgoth. Aerandir, however, never set foot on the shores of Aman the Blessed; for he and his two companions, Falathar and Erellont, were bidden by Eärendil to remain in the boat Vingilot while he himself continued the journey on foot. After the deliberations of the Valar the three were given a new ship, and sent speedily back to Mortal Lands. Their fate was not that of Eärendil.

Aerie
– A poetic invention in the Hobbit style, supposedly a name of Elvish origin. It occurs in the poem ‘Errantry' (part of
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
collection) and refers to an imaginary Elf kingdom.

Aerin
– A woman of the Edain, a kinswoman of Húrin of the Second House, who dwelt in Dor-lómin during the First Age. The fall of Dor-lómin in the wars brought about occupation of that land by a lesser race of men, Easterlings brought thither by Morgoth and planted as a colony. Aerin, despite her lineage, was wedded perforce to one of these, named Brodda. She is remembered in the tales of Men as one who secretly lent aid to Morwen the mother of Túrin Turambar; later it was this same woman Aerin who revealed to Túrin whither his mother had departed, and so unwittingly brought home to him the import of his deeds. Túrin, in his rage, slew Brodda at his own board and fled into the night. Of Aerin's eventual fate no tales speak, though it is likely she was slain by vengeful Easterlings.