A Dictionary of Tolkien

by David Day

  Some of these beings of Melkor’s survived below the thunders of the deep far beneath the abysmal seas in ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep even into the Third Age of the Sun. The “Red Book of Westmarch” tells that when a fiery Balrog was loosed in the Dwarf-kingdom of Moria, another being came out from the dark waters that lay below the great mountains. This was a great Kraken, many tentacled and huge with a slimy sheen. It was luminous and green and an inky stench came from its foul bulk. Like a legion of serpents it lay in the black water beneath the mountain. Eventually, it came to the clear water of the River Sirannon, which flowed from the West Gate of Moria. There is built a great wall in the river bed and made for itself a black pool, hideous and still. The Kraken was guardian of the West Gate and none could pass without challenge. For this reason, in the “Book of Mazarbul” it was named Watcher-in-the-Water. During the Quest of the Ring, this evil being was awakened by the Fellowship of the Ring, who managed to escape to Moria.

  Kûd-Dûkan

  In each of the lands of Middle-earth the Halfling people, who were called Hobbits by Men, bore different names according to the language of the various peoples. In the land of Rohan the Hobbits were named Kûd-dûkan, which means “hole-dwellers”. From this root word it is thought that the Hobbitish term Kuduk became commonly used both by Hobbits of the Shire and by the Men of Bree in the latter part of the Third Age of the Sun.

  Ll

  Laiquendi

  Of the Three Kindred of Elves who chose to come out of the eastern lands of Middle-earth and search out the Land of Eternal Light in the West, there were many who, out of love for Middle-earth or in fear of the perils of the journey, forsook the quest and never came to the Undying Lands. The Nandor, one factor of the Teleri, were such an Elven people.

  Denethor, son of the Nandor king Lenwë, gathered many of the Nandor to him in the Age before the Rising of the Sun and took them from the wilderness of Eriador to Beleriand, where they were welcomed by the Grey-elves of that land and given protection and many gifts of steel and gold. There they were granted a land that was called Ossiriand, “land of seven rivers”, which was in the south of Beleriand. While there the Nandor were renamed the Laiquendi – “Green-elves” – because of their garments, which were green to hide them from their foes, and for their love and knowledge of all that was green and grew. They were second only to the Shepherds of Trees, the Ents, as protectors of the Olvar of the forest, and of the Kelvar as well, for the Laiquendi did not hunt the creatures of the woodlands.

  For a time they were a happy people again, as no evil creatures dared to enter Beleriand in those days. The Laiquendi sang in the woodlands like the nightingales and tended the forest as if it were a great garden. Their singing was so beautiful and so constant that the Noldor, when they came to that land, renamed it Lindon, which in Quenya is “land of song”. It always remained Lindon, even after all but this small part of Beleriand fell beneath the sea in the time of the Great Battle and the War of Wrath.

  After the release of Melkor a great evil came to Middle-earth once again, as the “Quenta Silmarillion” relates. Melkor’s armies of Orcs, Trolls and Wolves appeared and the First Battle in the Wars of Beleriand took place. Though the Grey-elves and the Laiquendi were victorious over the evil army on Amon Ereb in Ossiriand, the Laiquendi lord Denethor was slain. His people were full of great sorrow and would take no new king. They swore that they would never again come into open battle with the Enemy but would remain under cover of the forest, where they could ambush their foes with darts and arrows.

  Ever after, the Laiquendi kept this pledge and became a tribal people, and their enemies were harassed but could not defeat them, for they made no cities that the Enemy could find and destroy. These people were as the wind in the trees, which sometimes can be heard but never seen. And in time, after the disasters of the Fourth and Fifth Battles of Beleriand, many of the Noldor and Edain hid from the Enemy in the realm of the Laiquendi and learned much woodlore from them.

  Lairelossë

  In the lost land of Númenor, in the forested westlands of Andustar, was a part that was so filled with a multitude of scented evergreen trees that it was called Nísilmaldar, or land of “the Fragrant Trees”. Among the many trees that grew there was the fragrant flowering evergreen called Lairelossë, meaning “summer-snow-white”, which was first brought to Númenor by the Sea Elves of the island realm Tol Eressëa.

  Lake Men

  Between Mirkwood and the Iron Hills lay the Long Lake and the city of Esgaroth, and it was here that the Lake Men lived in the Third Age of the Sun. These were Northmen who had been traders upon the lake and the Running River. They had become wealthy trading with the Elves of the Woodland Realm in Mirkwood and with the Dwarves of Erebor, the Lonely Mountain.

  Esgaroth was built upon pylons driven into the lake bottom, and a wooden bridge stood between the city and shore. It was not, however, proof against the winged Fire-drake Smaug, who in 2770 came to Erebor. In 2941 Smaug attacked Esgaroth, and, though the warrior of Dale called Bard the Bowman slew the beast, the city was ruined. Yet the Lake Men were saved from starvation, for with a part of the Dragon’s hoard of jewels, the town was rebuilt.

  The ruler of the Lake Men, called the Master of Esgaroth, was an elected merchant. In the time of the slaying of Smaug, the Master was cowardly and corrupt, but a new Master followed him who proved honest and wise, and the Lake Men prospered again.

  Landroval

  Eagle of the Misty Mountains. Landroval was the brother of Gwaihir the Windlord, the lord of the Eagles of Misty Mountains. Landroval and his brother were the largest Eagles of the Third Age, and often came to the aid of the Free Peoples against the evil servants of Sauron. Landroval flew with Gwaihir on many of his adventures; notably, the Battle of Five Armies and the battle before the Black Gates of Mordor. After the destruction of the One Ring, Landroval and Gwaihir rescued Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee from the fiery lava floes on the slopes of Mount Doom.

  Laurinquë

  In Hyarrostar, the southwest lands of Númenor, there once blossomed the golden-flowered tree called Laurinquë. Its flowers hung in long clusters and were much loved for their beauty, and its wood was much valued by the mighty Númenórean sea lords as it provided excellent timber for their ships.

  Leaflock

  Ent of Fangorn Forest. Leaflock was the Westron name for one of the three oldest Ents still surviving on Middle-earth at the time of the War of the Rings. Leaflock’s Elvish name was Finglas. By the end of the Third Age, he moved about very little for he had become sleepy and “treeish”.

  Legolas

  Elven prince of the Woodland Realm. Legolas (whose name meant “green leaf”) was the son of Thranduil, the Sindar Elf king of the Woodland Realm of Northern Mirkwood. In 3019 of the Third Age of the Sun, Legolas became a member of the Fellowship of the Ring. His keen Elf eyes, his woodland skills and his deadly bow all proved of great value to the Fellowship in their many adventures. After the death of Boromir and the breaking of the Fellowship, Legolas went on with Gimli the Dwarf and Aragorn to fight at the Battle of Hornburg. The three rode on through the Passes of the Dead to take the Corsair ships at Pelargir, then sail on into the Battle of Pelennor Fields. In the aftermath of the war, Legolas started a colony of Woodland Elves in Ithilien. After the death of Aragorn in the year 120 of the Fourth Age of the Sun, Legolas, along with his friend, Gimli the Dwarf, sailed to the Undying Lands.

  Light Elves

  The tale of the Great Journey tells how most of the Vanyar, Noldor and Teleri reached the shores of the Undying Lands in the time of the Trees of the Valar. There they dwelt in Eldamar and were tutored by the Powers of Arda, the Valar and their people, the Maiar. The Elves grew wise and noble and learned many skills: the making of jewels, and precious metals, the building of majestic cities and the finest arts of music and language. These people were called the Light Elves for they were shining both in body and spirit, and, of all peoples to live within the Circles of th
e World, they were the fairest by all accounts.

  Lindar

  As is told in the “Ainulindalë”, all things that came into the World came out of the grand themes of the Music of the Ainur. Elves were the fairest of all beings and their singing was almost a match for the beauty of the Great Music. Among the Elves, the loveliest singers were the Teleri, who listened tirelessly to the sounds of water against river banks and on the sea shore, and their voices became fluid, subtle and strong. Because of their skill in singing they were sometimes known by the name Lindar, which means the “singers”.

  Lindon

  After the War of Wrath and the destruction of Angband, all but a small part of Beleriand sank into the Western Sea. This was a part of Ossiriand just west of the Blue Mountains called Lindon. Its name means the “land of song” because the Laiquendi Elves, famous for their singing, had from the earliest time made these woodlands their home. By the Second Age Lindon was a narrow coastal realm west of that small part of the Blue Mountains which stood in western Eriador. Both Lindond and the Blue Mountains were divided in two by the great cleft of the Gulf of Lune. The northern part was Forlindon and served by the port of Forlond and the southern part was Harlindon and had the port of Harlond. The most important city and port, however, was Mithlond, or the “Grey Havens”, which was at the head of the Gulf of Lune. As the only remnant of Beleriand to survive, it was especially important to the Elves. From the beginning of the Second Age Gil-galad, the last High King of the Noldor on Middle-earth, came to rule in Lindon, and Círdan, the Ship-lord of the Falathrim, became master of the Grey Havens. After the destruction of the Elven Smiths in 1697 of the Second Age, and the outbreak of the War of Sauron and the Elves, the Númenóreans sent a fleet to Lindon and helped Gil-galad drive Sauron from Eriador. At the end of the Second Age, however, Gil-galad had to ride forth again from Lindon, with the army of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, against Sauron in Mordor. Although the forces of Mordor were overthrown, Gil-galad was slain. Lindon no longer had a High King and the realm was thereafter governed by Lord Círdan from the Grey Havens. During the Third Age, the Elves of Lindon were a much diminished people and more and more were taking their magical white ships and sailing west to Eldamar, in the Undying Lands. However, from time to time Círdan sent what aid he could to the Dúnedain, and in the Battle of Fornost it was the Elves of Lindon which turned the tide of battle and finally broke the power of the Witch-kingdom of Angmar.

  Surviving the War of the Ring, Lindon, along with all the kingdoms of the Eldar on Middle-earth, diminished during the Fourth Age, as one by one the High Elves departed from the Grey Havens. Finally, Círdan himself gathered together the last of his people upon his last ship and sailed westward over the sea to the Undying Lands.

  Lissuin

  Many of the most beautiful of the flowers of Middle-earth were brought as gifts to mortals from the shores of the Undying Lands by the High Elves of Eldamar.

  Such was the case of the sweet-smelling flower Lissuin, for the histories of Númenor tell how the Elves of Tol Eressëa brought the flower Lissuin and the golden star-flower Elanor into mortal lands. The two flowers – one because of its fragrance, the other because of its colour – were woven into garlands and were worn as crowns at wedding feasts.

  Little Folk

  The Hobbits were known to be the smallest of the people of Middle-earth in the Third Age of the Sun. In height they measured between two and four feet, and, though quick and nimble, they were of far less strength than Dwarves. Both Men and Elves often called them the Little Folk.

  Lómelindi

  To the ears of Elves, the loveliest of the song birds of Arda are the Lómelindi, the “dusk-singers”, whom the Elves have also named Tinúviel and Men have called Nightingales. The name of these fair creatures is woven into many tales and the voices of the most beauteous women of Elf-fame, Melian, Lúthien and Arwen, are compared to the Lómelindi’s song.

  Lórellin

  In Valinor, the land of the gods, is the garden of Lórien, the Vala who is Master of Dreams, and in that vast garden is the lake called Lórellin. Surrounded by these wonderful gardens, and with the misty, wooded isle of Estë, the Healer, in the middle of its glimmering waters, Lórellin is considered the fairest lake on Arda.

  Lórien

  During the Second and Third Age of the Sun, the Elf-realm in the Golden Wood to the east of the Misty Mountains was often called Lórien, but its true name was Lothlórien, and its history is told under that name. The true Lórien was a far more ancient place in the Undying Lands. Lórien, which means “Dreamland”, was a vast garden of extraordinary beauty in southern Valinor where the Valar, Maiar and Eldar came for physical and spiritual restoration of their powers. It was the garden of the Vala, Irmo, who was himself most often called Lórien, the Master of Dreams. It was a gentle, restful place filled with silver trees and multitudes of flowers. The waters of its crystal fountains magically refreshed all visiting Valar and Eldar. In the midst of this most beautiful of gardens were the glimmering waters of the lake Lórellin and in the midst of that lake was the isle of tall trees and gentle mists that is the home of his wife Estë, the Healer, the Vala who grants rest to those who suffer. Lórien’s brother is Mandos, the Master of Doom and his sister is Nienna, the Weeper.

  Lossoth

  On the icy Cape of Forochel to the north of the Westlands there lived a people called the Lossoth, in the Third Age of the Sun. They were a reclusive, peaceful folk, wary of all the warlike Men of Middle-earth. In the common tongue of Men they were called the Snowmen of Forochel, and they were said to be descended from the Forodwaith of the Northern Waste.

  The Lossoth were poor people of little worldly knowledge, but they were wise in the ways of their cold lands. They built their homes from snow and, in sliding carts and skates of bone, they crossed the ice lands and hunted the thick-furred animals from which they fashioned their clothes. It is claimed that the Lossoth could foretell the weather by the smell of the wind.

  Lothlórien

  The fairest Elf-kingdom remaining on Middle-earth in the Third Age of the Sun was to be found in the Golden Wood just to the east of the Misty Mountains beyond the Gates of Moria. It was called Lothlórien, the “land of blossoms dreaming”, which was also called Lórien, “dreamland”, and Laurelindórinan, “land of the valley of singing gold”. In this wooded realm the golden-leaved, silver-barked Mallorn trees grew. They were the tallest and fairest trees of Middle-earth and upon their high branches the Elves of Lothlórien, who were called the Galadhrim, or “tree-people”, made their homes on platforms called telain or flets. For the most part the Galadhrim were all but invisible, for they moved about among the high limbs and wore Grey-Elf cloaks possessed of magical chameleon-like qualities. Here the Noldor Queen, Galadriel, and the Sindar King, Celeborn, ruled; and some part of the brilliance of the Eldar-kingdoms of ancient times could be glimpsed in this realm. Lothlórien had one great city-palace called Caras Galadon, the “city of trees”. It was a royal hall built on the crest of a high hill where stood the tallest trees in the wood. This hill was walled and gated and then encircled with other great trees. Modelled on the Grey-Elf kingdom of Doriath in lost Beleriand, Lothlórien was similarly protected by powerful enchantment. Galadriel was the highest ranking Eldar remaining upon Middle-earth and by the power of Nenya, her Ring of Adamant and of Water, she cast a spell of protection around Lothlórien, so enemies might not be able to enter and making it invisible to the Eye of Sauron. For nearly all the years of the Third Age, Lothórien remained apart from the struggles of the other peoples of Middle-earth, but during the last years of the age, the Fellowship of the Ring entered the realm. Fleeing the servants of Sauron, they found rest and shelter, and by Queen Galadriel they were granted magical gifts that renewed their strength and will. In the War of the Ring, Lothlórien was attacked three times by Sauron’s servants from Dol Guldur, in Mirkwood. These forces were driven away, and, after the fall of Mordor, the Elves of Lothlórien
destroyed Dol Guldur and renamed Mirkwood the Forest of Green Leaves. When, early in the Fourth Age, Galadriel left Middle-earth for the Undying Lands and Celeborn took a greater part of the Galadhrim to the Forest of Greenleaves and founded East Lórien, the Golden Wood of Lothlórien was slowly abandoned, and the magical light in that place faded.

  Lúthien

  Elven princess of Doriath. Lúthien was the daughter of the Sindar Grey-elf king, Thingol and Melian the Maia. She was born during the Ages of Starlight and was considered the most beautiful maiden of any race ever born. In the year 465 of the First Age of the Sun, she met the mortal Edain hero Beren, and the couple fell in love. King Thingol did not approve and set Beren an impossible task: the Quest of the Silmaril. Despite many perils, Lúthien also embarked on this quest. With Huan, the Hound of the Valar, she overcame Sauron on the Isle of Werewolves, and freed Beren from its dungeons. She then went on with Beren to Angband, where she cast spells of enchantment which allowed Beren to cut a Silmaril from Morgoth’s Iron Crown. Although the quest was achieved in the end, it cost Beren his life. Lúthien was filled with such remorse, she faded and died. However, when she stood before Mandos, Lord of the Dead, she sang a song of such sadness that in pity he granted the couple a second mortal life. United at last with Beren, Lúthien soon gave birth to Dior, their only child. The two lovers lived quietly for another forty years in Ossiriand, before they were granted their second and final death.

  Mm

  Maiar

  When the World was first made, the Ainur, the “holy ones”, came out of the Timeless Halls and entered this new land. The Ainur had been without shape or form in the Timeless Halls, but within the Spheres of the World they took many and various forms. These people were the Powers of Arda and the mightiest among them were the Valar, who numbered fifteen. The lesser Ainur were a multitude called the Maiar and they were the servants of the Valar. Though the Maiar were many within the Undying Lands, few are named in the histories of Men, for their concerns are seldom with mortal lands and mortal matters, but with Valar in the Undying Lands.