The Complete Tolkien Companion (8 page)

Archet
– A village of the Bree-land, peopled by both Hobbits and Men. It lay upon the northern edge of the Chetwood, which stretched east from the Bree-country into the wilds beyond.

Arciryas
– A Prince of Gondor and younger brother of Narmacil II (slain in battle with the Wainriders in 1856 Third Age). He was also an ancestor of Ëarnil II, the victor of the Battle of the Camp (1944).

Arda
– The Quenya word for ‘kingdom' or ‘realm', but more properly the name given by God to the World as He originally created it. Also the title of Tengwa number 26, representing the sound
rd
in the High-elven tongue and the softer
rh
in Grey-elven and Mannish usage.

Ardamin (Tar-Ardamin)
– From 2825–99 Second Age, the nineteenth King of Númenor.

Ard-galen
‘Green-region' (Sind.) – The name given by the Elves of Beleriand to the vast, grassy plain north of Dorthonion and east of the Mountains of Shadow (the Ered Wethrin). North of Ard-galen lay the Iron Mountains which were the southern border of Morgoth's realm of Angband. Ard-galen was a region rather like Calenardhon (Rohan) in later days,
steppe
as we would call it today – in other words ideal cavalry country. But in the Battle of Sudden Flame the Elvish horse-archers, who had manoeuvred freely on the plain throughout the Long Peace, were overcome by fire; and they were burned to death or driven forth. The Green Region of the north became a desert, arid, lifeless and evil. It was then named
Dor-nu-Fauglith
‘Land-[buried] under-choking-ash', and
Anfauglith,
the ‘Gasping-dust'.

Aredhel
– The daughter of Fingolfin of the Noldor, sister of the Elven-kings Fingon and Turgon, and wife of the Grey-elf Eöl the Smith. Aredhel was also the mother of Maeglin the Traitor.

She was born, like all the Noldor of those days, in Eldamar, and she joined her brothers and her father in their support of the rebellion of Fëanor, and thus shared their exile. Together with Fingolfin's host, she made the perilous crossing of the Helcaraxë (the northern ice) into Middle-earth, and afterwards dwelt with her youngest brother Turgon, in his first kingdom of Nevrast by the Sea and later in Gondolin, the Hidden City. But long before, in Eldamar, she had been called
Ar-Feiniel,
the White [Royal] Lady, for she was dark-haired and pale, and dressed always in the palest colours; but she had a passion for adventure, fulfilled in former days only by hunting.

It was this restlessness of hers which proved her undoing; for she wilfully decided to go and visit the Sons of Fëanor, her old friends, ignoring – or overlooking – her brother's admonitions concerning her safety. As a result she lost sight of the escort that had been told off to guard her, and came, by various paths, into the dreary forest of Nan Elmoth, wherein she was caught and taken to wife by the ‘Dark Elf', Eöl the Smith. Aredhel bore Eöl a son, named by his father
Maeglin
but by his mother
Lómion.
After some years, both he and she decided to escape from the dour life they were forced to lead, and in so doing made their way to Gondolin – where Turgon, overjoyed to see them, granted them sanctuary and honour.

But they had been pursued: by Eöl, who was taken when trying to enter the Hidden City. And in the course of the interview which followed, the crazed Eöl attempted to slay his son Maeglin with a poisoned shaft. The point instead struck Aredhel, who died from the venom. Eöl was executed for this crime. Maeglin survived.

Ar-Feiniel
–
See
AREDHEL
above.

Argeleb I
– From 1349–56 Third Age, the seventh King of Arthedain and the first to claim lordship over all the former lands of Arnor – in token of which he took his royal name with an
AR
- prefix. Argeleb's hopes for a reunited North-kingdom led to defiance and ultimately invasion from Rhudaur, where the Dúnedain were few and the Line of Isildur extinct. It was later learned that Rhudaur was in secret alliance with the evil realm of
ANGMAR
at this time.

In the war that followed, Argeleb fortified his eastern frontier, but fell in battle with Angmar and Rhudaur. His son Arveleg I succeeded him and, for a time, drove away the forces of Angmar from the Weather Hills.

Note:
the ruined fortifications described in Book I Chap. 10 were those constructed by Argeleb (except the Tower of
AMON SÛL
, raised long before by Elendil himself).

Argeleb II
– From 1589–1670 Third Age, the tenth King of Arthedain. It was this ruler who, embroiled in endless wars with Angmar, freely gave permission for the Hobbits Marcho and Blanco, together with their following, to cross the Baranduin and settle in the fertile lands beyond. All that he asked of the Hobbitry in return was: ‘that they should keep the Great Bridge in repair … speed his messengers, and acknowledge his lordship'.
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So the Hobbits first came to the Shire, as they called their new land. Three hundred years later the North-kingdom came to an end and the Shire-dwellers soon forgot (except in tradition) that there had ever been a King.

Argonath
‘Pillars-of-the-Kings' (Sind.) – The mighty carven stones on either side of the Anduin, where it flowed through a chasm into Nen Hithoel. They were built by Rómendacil II of Gondor (
c.
1340 Third Age), to mark the Realm's northern frontier and to forbid all but legitimate travellers from passing further. The Argonath were fashioned in the likenesses of Isildur and Anárion: ‘still with blurred eyes and crannied brows they frowned upon the North. The left hand of each was raised palm outwards in a gesture of warning; in each right hand there was an axe; upon each head there was a crumbling helm and crown.'
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Argonui
– From 2848–2912 Third Age, the thirteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain of Arnor.

Arien
– One of the female
MAIAR
, a fire-spirit, who was chosen by the Valar to guide the Sun,
ANAR
, on its celestial course.
See also
TILION
.

Arkenstone
– The greatest and most prized possession in the hoard of the Dwarf-kings of Erebor, lost to their House when the dragon Smaug pillaged the Lonely Mountain (2770 Third Age). The Arkenstone was a great white gem of brilliant translucency, mined from ‘The-Heart-of-the-Mountain' – as the jewel was itself afterwards called by the Dwarves of Durin's House. Unexpectedly recovered from the Dragon by the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins in the year 2941, it was later used by him in an attempt to secure peace between Dwarves, Men and Elves before the Battle of Five Armies. It was afterwards laid to rest with Thorin Oakenshield, who was mortally wounded in that battle.

Armenelos (the Golden)
‘Royal-fortress-of-the-Heavens' (Q.) – The chief city of Númenor, where the kings of that land dwelled throughout the latter part of the Second Age. It stood near the centre of the island, in the
Arandor
(‘Kings'-land'), at the feet of the Meneltarma, the highest mountain of Númenor. Originally, Andúnië in the west of Númenor had been the capital, but the regions about Meneltarma had been hallowed at the founding of the land, and Elros Tar-Minyatur, the first king, had built a tower and a citadel upon a hill, not far from the valley of the royal tombs, which had always been at the feet of Meneltarma. As time passed Andúnië lost the supremacy, and Armenelos grew, and became the royal residence.

Arminas and Gelmir
– Two Elves of Finarfin's House, more specifically of the people of Angrod, who came from Círdan bearing a message of warning to the King of Nargothrond (Orodreth: his elder brother Finrod was dead). The message was not heeded, and Nargothrond fell shortly afterwards.

Arnach
– A shortened form of the name
Lossarnach,
the province of Gondor which lay to the south of the White Mountains between the rivers Sirith and Erui, one day's journey from Minas Tirith. The word is of (pre-Adûnaic) Mannish form, and its meaning is not recorded.

Arnor
– The more northerly of the two Númenorean
REALMS IN EXILE
, founded by Elendil the Tall in the year 3320 Second Age, after he and his House escaped the wreck of Númenor and returned to Middle-earth with the remnant of the Dúnedain. Though it was the elder and more prestigious of the twin states, the fortunes of Arnor did not mirror those of its sister-realm, the South-kingdom of Gondor. Whereas for over a thousand years Gondor grew ever more powerful and glorious, the North-kingdom allowed itself, comparatively early in its history, to be dissolved into three separate states – a factor which led to its subsequent conquest and eventual destruction.

Elendil himself wielded the High-kingship of both realms from his Northern capital of Annúminas; he was thus also accounted first King of Arnor. Upon his death (in 3441 Second Age) the Highkingship, and the rule of Arnor, passed to his elder son Isildur – who never reached Annúminas to take up the Sceptre, perishing instead at the hands of the Orcs while on the northward journey (Year 2, Third Age). The kingship of Arnor (but not the High-kingship of both realms) then passed to Isildur's fourth son Valandil – who, being only a child, had remained in Rivendell and thus escaped the massacre by the Gladden where his father and three elder brothers were slain. Valandil was accounted Arnor's third King. On the death of Eärendur, tenth King, in 861, Arnor ceased to exist as a single Realm – after his three sons quarrelled over the succession. As a result, the proud Kingdom was divided into three separate states: Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur.

It was not until almost five hundred years later that the first attempt was made to reconstitute Arnor as a single Kingdom, when Argeleb I of Arthedain, noting that the Line of Isildur was extinct in Cardolan and Rhudaur, thus claimed lordship over both. Cardolan wavered, but Rhudaur fiercely rejected the claim; it was later learned that Rhudaur was in secret league with the Witch-realm of Angmar, even then arising to the north of the Ettenmoors and preparing for the long wars which would eventually destroy the North-kingdom. But before its final destruction one other attempt was made to re-establish the Kingdom of Arnor – indeed, to re-join both Arnor and Gondor under the ancient High-kingship.

Following the death of King Ondoher of Gondor in 1944 Third Age, King Arvedui of Arthedain, who had married Ondoher's daughter Fíriel some four years previously, claimed the throne of Gondor. Isildur, he said, had not intended that Arnor and Gondor be divided for ever. Moreover, the sons of Ondoher had died with him in battle; whereas the Northern Succession to which he, Arvedui, was Heir, stood in line unbroken from Isildur, and before that from Elendil himself. But Gondor ignored this claim, and awarded the Crown instead to a victorious general, Eärnil.

Eärnil of Gondor was a wise King and, although the realm of Arthedain might seem a small thing to a ruler of all Gondor, he made a point of assuring Arvedui that he did not ‘forget the royalty of Arnor, nor deny our kinship … I will send to your aid when you have need, so far as I am able.'
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To honour his pledge, he sent his son Eärnur north with a great fleet, but the Army of Gondor was too late to save the North-kingdom. Arvedui perished in the North and with him passed the Kingship of Arthedain, and of Arnor.

Note:
the original realm of Arnor constituted all Eriador between the Misty Mountains and the river Lhûn, excluding the lands of Hollin (Eregion) and Rivendell (Imladris). In contrast, its successor-state of Arthedain contained only the north-western region of old Arnor, as far east as the Weather Hills and as far south as the Great Road.

Arod
– A fleet-footed horse of Rohan who bore the Elf Legolas and the Dwarf Gimli throughout the War of the Ring.

Aros
– A river of Beleriand, which formed the southern border of Thingol Greycloak's Kingdom of Doriath. It rose from two sources high in the precipices of southern Dorthonion and flowed southwards; below the confluence of these source-streams, the Aros was fordable only at the Arossiach, where the road from Nan Dungortheb and Dor Dínen crossed into Himlad. To the south-east of Doriath the Celon joined its waters to the larger river, after which the renewed Aros bent westward and flowed through the southern marches of Thingol's land before forming a confluence with the still greater river Sirion, north of the marshes of Aelin-uial.

Arroch
– The horse of Húrin of Dor-lómin.

Arossiach
‘Fords-of-Aros' (Sind.) –
See
AROS
above.

Artamir
– The elder son of King Ondoher of Gondor. Along with his father and younger brother Faramir, he fell in battle with the Wainriders (in 1944 Third Age), thus giving
ARVEDUI
of Arthedain cause to claim the crown of Gondor.