The Complete Tolkien Companion (7 page)

By early 1974, King Arvedui, ‘Last-king' of Arthedain, was in desperate straits. Though already reinforced by an Elf-host from Lindon, in his great need he had also sent to Gondor for aid. That spring – too late for Arvedui or Arthedain – a mighty host arrived from Gondor, led by Eärnur, son of King Eärnil. In alliance with Elves of Lindon and Rivendell, Eärnur utterly defeated the forces of Angmar, who were already feasting and revelling in Fornost, believing their victory complete. The Witch-king escaped, having accomplished his main purpose: the destruction of the North-kingdom. But he afterwards counted Eärnur of Gondor chief among his enemies.

Angren
– The Sindarin name for the river Isen.

Angrenost
‘Iron-citadel' (Sind.) – An earlier name, given in Gondor, for the Ring of
ISENGARD
.

Angrim
‘Iron-net' (Sind.) – Father of
GORLIM THE UNHAPPY
, of the First House of the Edain.

Angrist
‘Iron-cleaver' (Sind.) – A dagger of Dwarf-make, forged by the great smith Telchar (who also wrought the sword
NARSIL
) during the First Age in the city of Nogrod. It later came into the possession of one of the Sons of Fëanor, Curufin the Crafty. When, in the course of the treacheries of those days, Curufin made war upon his ally Beren of the Edain, he was defeated and the knife Angrist was taken from him; by Beren, who with its aid was able to cut a Silmaril from Morgoth's Iron Crown.

Angrod
‘Iron-champion' (Sind. from Q.
Angarato
) – The brother of
AEGNOR
.

Anguirel
–
See
ANGLACHEL
.

Anna
– The Quenya word for ‘gift'; also the title of Tengwa number 23, used as consonantal
y
in those languages which required it.

Annael
– A Sindarin Elf who fostered the man-child Tuor son of Huor in his secret dwelling in the Androth, the caves of Mithrim. Of all his people, he alone had returned from the Nirnaeth.

Annatar
‘Lord-of-gifts' (Q.) – A benevolent title assumed by Sauron the Great at the beginning of the Second Age, in furtherance of his then policies of apparent friendliness towards the Eldar.

Annon-in-Gelydh
‘Gate-of-the-Noldor' (Sind.) – The concealed entrance to Nevrast: a tunnel through the eastern wall of the Echoing Mountains on the borders of Dor-lómin, built by Turgon's people when they still dwelled in Nevrast.

Ann-thannath
– A mode of verse and song used by the Elves of Beleriand, difficult to render into Common Speech (Westron) because of its Elvish patterns of thought and inspiration. The
Lay of Leithian
was originally composed in this mode.

Annúminas
‘Tower-of-the-Sunset' (Sind.) – The first and only capital of Arnor, a fair city on the banks of Lake Evendim (Nenuial), built by Elendil after the fall of Númenor. Annúminas did not long survive the division of Arnor (861 Third Age), and was allowed to fall into ruin after the Heirs of Elendil removed to Fornost Erain, which then became the capital of Arthedain. The chief
palantír
of the North was kept there.

Anod
–
See
ENTS
.

Anor
– Sindarin form of the Quenya word
ANAR
(the Sun).

Anórien
‘Sun-land' (Sind.) – One of the two oldest provinces of Gondor. It contained most of the realm west of the Anduin and east of the White Mountains. Its chief city was Minas Anor, later renamed Minas Tirith.

Anto
– The Quenya word for ‘mouth'; also the title of Tengwa number 13, used for
nt
sounds and (in Sindarin and Mannish) for
dh.

Anwar
–
See
AMON ANWAR

Apanómar
‘After-born' (Q.) – An early Elvish term for the race of Men.

Appledore
– A common Bree name.

Ar(a)
– A royal prefix to the names of those later Kings of Númenor who took their ceremonial titles in
ADÛNAIC
, discarding the Eldarin prefix
Tar
-.
Ar
- meant ‘ruler, king' in early Mannish tongues, themselves partially derived from ‘proto-Quenya'; and, as an acknowledgement of their Númenorean (and Eldarin) ancestry, all Kings and Chieftains of the Dúnedain of the North (beginning with Argeleb I) also adopted this prefix in their names (e.g. Aragorn, Araphant, Arassuil).

Aradan
‘Royal-man' (Sind.) –
See
MALACH ARADAN
.

Arador
– From 2912–30 Third Age, the fourteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North, and grandfather of Aragorn. He was captured and put to death by hill-trolls.

Araglas
– From 2327–2455 Third Age, the sixth Chieftain of the Dúnedain.

Aragorn I
– From 2319–27 Third Age, the fifth Chieftain of the Dúnedain, slain by wolves.

Aragorn II
– Born in Rivendell (2931 Third Age), the only son of Gilraen the Fair and Arathorn II, fifteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain of Arnor. When his father died in battle only two years after Aragorn's birth, the boy in his turn became Chieftain. His mother then took him to safety in Rivendell, where the young Dúnadan was fostered by Elrond himself. There he bore the name
Estel
(‘Hope') to conceal his true lineage from the emissaries of Sauron who were scouring the North for the last Heir of Isildur. On his twentieth birthday, Elrond revealed his true name and ancestry, and the ancient hopes of his House, and he gave to Aragorn the heirlooms of his Line: the Ring of Barahir and the shards of Elendil's sword Narsil.

Then Aragorn went out into the world and took up his part in the fight against Mordor. He made many journeys and served many notable Lords (including King Thengel of Rohan and Ecthelion II, Ruling Steward of Gondor). He became the hardiest and wisest of living men, having also the friendship of Gandalf the Grey. But because of the many burdens he carried, Aragorn also grew sad and stern of countenance; and he was clad ever in simple green and brown as a Ranger of the North.

Yet he was no less than the direct descendant – through Kings of Arnor and Arthedain, and Chieftains of the North – of Isildur, Elendil's son; and, through Elendil, of Elros Tar-Minyatur, first King of Númenor and brother of Elrond Halfelven of Rivendell. And the Halfelven were themselves of the kin of Lúthien Tinúviel, whose Line, it was said, should never fail. To re-establish the ancient Kingship of both Gondor and Arnor was Aragorn's sworn duty, and his great hope.
See also
LINES OF DESCENT
.

Aragost
– From 2523–8 Third Age, the eighth Chieftain of the Dúnedain of Arnor.

Arahad I
– From 2455–2523 Third Age, the seventh Chieftain of the Dúnedain, and the father of Aragost.

Arahad II
– From 2654–2719 Third Age, the tenth Chieftain.

Arahael
– From 2106–77, the second Chieftain. Arahael was the son of Aranarth and the grandson of Arvedui, ‘Last-king'.

Araman
‘Beyond-Aman' (Q.) – The name given by the Eldar of the Undying Lands to a region of cold semi-desert which lay north of Eldamar, on the eastern side of the Mountains of Defence, and which extended into the Far North. This land grew wider as one journeyed north, for the Pelóri range bent to the north-westward, away from the sea-coast. Araman was uninhabited, as was the equally barren southern waste of Avathar.

Aranarth
– From 1974–2106 Third Age, the first Chieftain of the Dúnedain. The death of his father, King Arvedui, and the final destruction of Arthedain, caused the Heirs of Isildur to conceal their royalty and pass into the shadows as Rangers of the North. The line of succession, however, remained unbroken. Aranarth was the first of fifteen Chieftains before the final restoration of the fortunes of the House of Isildur.

Arandor
‘King's Land' (Q.) – The most populous part of Númenor, containing the Meneltarma, the city of Armenelos and the harbour of Rómenna.

Arandur
‘Servant of the King' (Q.) – The Stewards of Gondor.

Aranel
‘Star-king' (Sind.) – One of the birth-names of
DIOR ELUCHÍL
.

Aranrúth
‘Anger-of-the-King' (Sind.) – The sword of Thingol Greycloak of Doriath; it was probably of dwarf-make, and may have been forged for him by the smiths of Nogrod at the beginning of the wars of Beleriand. In a late source, we are told that this weapon survived the sack of Doriath and ultimately came into the possession of the Kings of Númenor.
9
Presumably – since there is no mention of the sword in Third Age records – it was lost for ever, along with many other ancient treasures, in the Inundation.

Arantar
– From 339–435 Third Age, the fifth King of Arnor.

Aranuir
– From 2177–2247 Third Age, the third Chieftain of the Dúnedain.

Aranwë
‘Kingly' (Q.) – An Elf of Gondolin, the father of
VORONWË
.

Araphant
– From 1891–1964 Third Age, the fourteenth King of
ARTHEDAIN
. During Araphant's reign, contact with Gondor, long broken, was renewed. Little, however, came of the contact. Aid was sent to Araphant's son Arvedui, but it arrived too late to save the North-kingdom from final destruction.

Araphor
– From 1409–1589 Third Age, the ninth King of Arthedain. In 1409, the last year of his father's reign, a great host came out of Angmar and entered the lands of Cardolan and Arthedain, razing the country and burning the Tower of Amon Sûl. King Arveleg of Arthedain was defeated and slain; but his son Araphor, though still a stripling, drove the forces of the Witch-king away and successfully defended Fornost on the North Downs. In this he had the aid of the Elves of Lindon. For most of his reign afterwards Eriador had peace, Angmar having been temporarily checked by Elves of Lindon and Rivendell (and, it is said, Lórien).

Arassuil
– From 2719–84 Third Age, the eleventh Chieftain of the Dúnedain.

Aratan
‘Royal-man' (Q.) – The second son of
ISILDUR
. During the War of the Last Alliance, he and his brother Ciryon were entrusted with guarding the western approach to Mordor (Cirith Dúath, later Cirith Ungol) in case Sauron should sortie from that place. Together with his father and two of his brothers, he was slain at the Gladden Fields (Year 2, Third Age).

Aratar
‘High-ones' (Q.) – The innermost council of the
VALAR
, eight in number.

Arathorn I
– From 2784–2848, twelfth Chieftain of the Dúnedain.

Arathorn II
– From 2930–33 Third Age, the fifteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain, and father of
ARAGORN 11
, the Renewer. In the prime of his life he married Gilraen the Fair, daughter of Dirhael, descendant of Aranarth, first Chieftain. Their only child was Aragorn; when the son was in his second year and the father in his sixtieth, the Chieftain was struck in the eye by an orc-arrow and perished, proving exceptionally short-lived for one of his race (as had indeed been foreboded some years before).

Araval
– From 1813–91 Third Age, the thirteenth King of Arthedain.

Aravir
– From 2247–2319 Third Age, fourth Chieftain of the Dúnedain.

Aravorn
– From 2588–2654 Third Age, the ninth Chieftain of the Dúnedain.

Araw
– Sindarin form of the High-elven name
OROMË
, given to one of the great Valar, the Huntsman, who alone visited Middle-earth frequently in the Elder Days. In the Northern Mannish tongues he was known as
Béma.
The Elves said that he stocked Middle-earth with noble animals of all kinds to further the pleasures of the Chase. The Mearas, the royal horses of Rohan, were thought to have been descended from an animal brought by him from ‘West-over-Sea', as were the beasts known as the ‘Kine of Araw'.