A Dictionary of Tolkien

by David Day

  Mightiest of the Maiar is Eönwe, the Herald of Manwë, the Wind Lord. Eönwe’s strength in battle rivals that of even the Valar, and the blast of his trumpets is a terror to all his foes, for in the wake of its sound comes the Host of the Valar. It was he who taught the Edain great wisdom and knowledge. Ilmarë, who throws down her spears of light from the night sky, is chief of the Maiar maids. She is also handmaid to Varda, the Star Queen, who rules the Heavens.

  Arien, the fire spirit who once was a Maia of Vána’s golden gardens in Valinor, is most worshipped by Men. It is she who guides the flight of the Sun, for, as the “Narsilion” tells, the Sun was the last fruit of Laurelin, the Golden Tree of Valar; it was placed in a great vessel shaped by Aulë, which was then hallowed by Manwë before being carried by Arien into the sky.

  As Arien goes by day, so by night flies Tilion, the Huntsman of the silver bow. Tilion was once a Maiar of Oromë, but he now carries the vessel of the Moon, which was the last flower of Telperion, the Silver Tree of Valinor.

  The Maiar Ossë and Uinen, servants of Ulmo, the Ocean Lord of the Valar, are known to all who sail on the seas. Ossë is master of the waves of Belegaer, the Western Sea, and though it is said that Ossë truly loves the Sea-elves and it was he who first brought the art of shipbuilding to the World, he is feared by all mariners. For both in joy and in wrath, he is a fearsome power. However, all mariners have a great love of Uinen, Lady of the Calms. She is the spouse of Ossë, and only she may restrain his raging tempers and his wild spirit. Beleaguered mariners pray to her that she may lay her long hair upon the waters and calm the tumult. As Ossë loved the Sea-elves, so did Uinen love the Númenóreans; until the Downfall of Númenor and the Change of the World she always travelled before the ships of these sea folk.

  Of all the tales of the Maiar, perhaps the strangest is that of Melian, who served both Vána and Estë in Valinor, but who in the Ages of Starlight came to Middle-earth. There in the forests of Beleriand she met the Eldar lord Elwë Singollo and married him. This is the only union of Elf and Maia that ever was, and, through four long ages of stars and one of Sun, Melian was queen of the Grey-elves and wife of Elwë, who was called Thingol and King Greymantle. In that time their realm was the fairest kingdom of Middle-earth because of the light and beauty of Melian. Yet, tragically, Thingol was slain near the end of the First Age of the Sun. Melian wrapped herself in grief and the light of the kingdom faded. The queen rose up and returned to Valinor once again, leaving Mortal Lands for ever.

  Many other good and strong spirits came to inhabit Middle-earth. These were perhaps Maiar, like Melian, yet from the histories this cannot now be learned. Chief of these, in the tales of Middle-earth, is he whom the Grey-elves named Iarwain Ben-adar, which means both “old” and “without father”. By Dwarves he was named Forn, by Men Orald, and by Hobbits he was called Tom Bombadil. He was a short, stout Man, with blue eyes, red face and brown beard. He wore a blue coat, a tall battered hat with a blue feather, and great yellow boots. Always singing or speaking in rhymes, he seemed a nonsensical and eccentric being, yet he was absolute master of the Old Forest of Eriador where he lived, and no evil within the World was strong enough to touch him within his realm.

  Other spirits, who may have been servants of the Vala Ulmo, also lived within the Old Forest. One of these was the River-woman of the Withywindle, and another was her daughter, Goldberry, who was Bombadil’s spouse. Goldberry was golden-haired and as beautiful as an Elf-queen. Her garments were silver and green, and her shoes were like fish-mail. In her hair and in her belt were many flowers, and her singing was like bird song.

  At the end of the first millennium of the Third Age of the Sun, it is told that five Maiar came to Middle-earth. They came not in grand forms but in the shape of ancient Men. Each was white-bearded and wore a traveller’s cape, a peaked hat, and carried a long staff. These were the Istari, whom Men called the Wizards and much of their tale is told in the “Red Book of Westmarch”. Yet only three of the five are named in the histories. Radagast the Brown was a master of birds and animals of the forest and lived near Mirkwood in Rhosgobel. Saruman the White was in the arising of the Istari Order counted the greatest, and for a time he was indeed skilful and wise, but he fell into evil ways, brought ruin down upon many and was himself completely destroyed in his efforts to make himself a great power. Gandalf the Grey was most famous of the Istari. In the beginning he was called Olórin and he served both Lórien, the Master of Dreams and Nienna, the Weeper,; he was acknowledged the wisest of the Maiar race. The last two of the Istari were Alatar and Pallando, called the Blue Wizards and servants of Oromë, the Horseman. Of their fate and deeds upon Middle-earth little is told.

  Yet not all the Maiar are good and fair spirits. Many were corrupted by the rebellious Vala, Melkor the Enemy. Foremost among these were the Balrogs, who were once bright spirits of fire, as fair as Arien who guides the Sun, but were twisted into demon forms by hatred and wrath. Cloaked in a foul darkness, the Balrogs were maned in fire and they wielded whips and blades of flame. Gothmog was their lord and the tale of the deeds of the Balrog host is long and bloody.

  The spirit that took the form of a huge and fearsome Spider was named Ungoliant. She devoured light, vomited forth darkness and spun a black web of unlight that no eye could pierce. None could tame this spirit who perhaps was once a Maia of Melkor. Ungoliant had long since turned to serving only herself and, though she destroyed the Trees of the Valar with Melkor, she turned on Melkor at the last. In the end, driven into the great deserts of the South, it is said that having no other to turn on she consumed herself.

  The Vampires and Werewolves of Angband may also have been Maiar in their beginning, like the Balrogs. It is said they were malevolent spirits that took on terrible forms, yet no tale tells of their making. Out of all the Vampires the one called Thuringwethil, “lady of the shadow”, alone is named, and of the vast Werewolf host Draugluin is named both lord and sire.

  One Maia is known above all others because of his great evil, as the histories of Middle-earth tell. This is Sauron, whose name means the “abhorred”. Sauron, the Dark Lord, who was once a Maia of Aulë the Smith, was chief servant and eventual successor to Melkor.

  In the Ages of Darkness, while Melkor ruled in Utumno, and in the Ages of Stars, while Melkor was chained by the Valar, Sauron ruled the evil realm of Angband. On the return of his master, and through all the Wars of Beleriand until Melkor was cast into the Void, Sauron was his greatest general. He was also called Gorthaur the Cruel, and he survived longest of all the Maiar who served Melkor. Many were the wars and holocausts through the Ages of Lamps, Trees, Stars and Sun that Sauron survived. After the terror of the First Age of the Sun, it is said that Sauron reappeared in the Second Age in fair form and assumed the name Annatar, “giver of gifts”. Eventually, when he made himself Lord of the Rings, his evil spirit was revealed and war, like a black shadow, again covered Middle-earth.

  In the Downfall of Númenor Sauron’s body was destroyed. Yet his spirit fled to Mordor and by the power of the One Ring he made himself again a form, though he could no longer appear fair. Thereafter, he took the shape of the Dark Lord and became a fearsome warrior with black armour on burning black skin and had terrible, raging eyes. But even this form was destroyed at the end of the Second Age when Mordor fell and the One Ring was taken from his hand. Yet, so great was the power of Sauron’s spirit, that in the Third Age he again made himself a form. His spirit became manifest in the sorcerous power of one great lidless Eye. Like the eyes of all the great hunting cats of forest, mountain and plain made into one, and made entirely evil, was the Eye which was wreathed with deadly flame and ringed in darkness. But even this form depended on the power that was in the One Ring, and, in the war that ended the Third Age, the Ring was destroyed. Once more, and finally, Sauron’s spirit was swept into the shadows and never again did this Maia arise.

  Mallorn

  On the banks of the Silverlode, which flowed east of the Misty Mou
ntains, was a forest land where the tallest and loveliest trees of Middle-earth grew. These were the Mallorn trees, which had barks of silver and blossoms of gold, and from autumn to spring the leaves were also golden-hued. In the Third Age of the Sun, this land was called the Golden Wood and Lothórien, “land of blossoms dreaming”. This woodland of Mallorn trees was made a safe refuge from evil creatures by Elven powers, and the trees thrived and grew as they grew in no other place on Arda, except in the Undying Lands. There lived Galadhrim, the Elves of the kingdom of King Celeborn and Queen Galadriel. And within the shelter of the Mallorn tree limbs, where the trunks forked near the crest, the Galadhrim built their dwellings, which were called telain or flets. Their king and queen lived in a great hall in the tallest Mallorn. The Galadhrim were like spirits of the woods and in that realm there was no cutting or burning of wood. It truly was a kingdom of trees, and a golden glow of Elven power shone there like none other in that Age.

  Mallos

  In the fields of Lebennin, near the delta of the River Anduin, there grew the flowers that Grey-elves named Mallos, the “gold-snow”. Their blooms were fair and never fading, and in Elven songs they were likened to golden bells calling the Elves to the Western Sea.

  Mandos

  On the deserted western shore of the Undying Lands and facing the Encircling Sea and the Walls of Night there are the Halls of Mandos where, in the lore of Eldar, the spirits of slain Elves are called to inhabit the Hall of Awaiting, until the summons of Ilúvatar at the time of the World’s End. This is the House of the Dead, the vast mansions of the Vala Namo who is also called Mandos, the Master of Doom, who knows the fate of all. He is the stern Judge of the Dead, who only once felt pity, when Lúthien sang to him. His wife is Vairë, the Weaver. His brother is Lórien, the Dream-master and his sister is Nienna, the Weeper.

  Manwë

  Vala, King of Arda. Manwë Sulímo is the Lord of the Air, and with his wife, Varda, Queen of the Heavens, rules all of Arda from their mansions of Ilmarin on top of Taniquetil, the tallest mountain in the world. Manwë, meaning “the Good”, is also referred to as the Wind Lord, for his element is the clear air, wind, clouds and storms. Eagles and all birds are sacred to him. His eyes and his clothing are blue and his sceptre is made of sapphire. Manwë sees all the world beneath the skies and he is the breath of all the peoples of the world. The Vanyar Elves are the dearest to his heart for their greatest skill is in poetry which is his chief delight.

  Mearas

  All the Horses of Arda were created in the image of Nahar, the white steed of Oromë, the Valarian Horseman. The true descendents of Nahar, it was believed, were the Mearas, the “Horse-princes” of Rohan, for they were magical and wonderful. White and silver-grey, they were fleet as the wind, long-lived and tireless and filled with great wisdom.

  The tales of Rohirrim record how the first Mearas came to the Men of Rhovanion. In the twenty-sixth century of the Third Age of the Sun, the lord of the Éothéod, who was named Léod, tried to tame the most beauteous Horse his people had ever seen, but the Horse was wild and proud and threw Léod, who was killed. So the Horse was named Mansbane. However, when Léod’s son, Eorl, came to the Horse, it surrendered to the young lord as if in atonement. Eorl renamed him Felaróf, Father of Horses, for from him came forth the Mearas, who allowed none but the kings and princes of Eorl’s Line to ride them. Though they could not speak, they understood the speech of Men, and did not need a saddle or bridle as they obeyed the spoken word of their masters, the Rohirrim of the royal house.

  The Mearas were loved and honoured by their masters and the banner of the Rohirrim was always the fleet white form of Felaróf galloping upon a green field.

  In the War of the Ring, the Mearas did great service. One named Snowmane carried Théoden, the king of the Rohirrim, into the Battles of the Hornburg and Pelennor Fields, where they won great glory for the Rohirrim, though in the end both Horse and rider were slain by the Witch-king of Morgul. Another Meara in the War performed greater deeds still. He was Shadowfax and, breaking the law that none but kings and princes might ride the Mearas, he carried the White Rider, the Istari Mithrandir, who was also named Gandalf. Shadowfax was stout-hearted and strong-limbed, for he stood firm with the White Rider against the terror of the Nazgûl and outran even the loathsome Winged Beasts. He carried Gandalf into the lands of Gondor during the siege of the White Tower. After the Battle of Pelennor Fields, he carried the Wizard with the army of the Captains of the West to the Black Gate of Mordor, and to the final confrontation with the evil armies of Sauron.

  Meduseld

  Among the strongest allies of the Dúnedain in the Third Age were the Kings of Mark who ruled the land of Rohan from the palace called Meduseld, the Golden Hall. Meduseld was a huge gold-roofed feasthall built by Brego, the second king of the Rohirrim horsemen, in the year 2569. It stood at the highest point in Edoras, the hill-fort and capital city of Rohan. Within was the golden throne of the king, tall pillars gilded in gold, and carved walls hung with rich tapestries. It was to the Golden Hall of Meduseld and King Théoden that four of the Fellowship of the Ring came as emissaries of the Dúnedain to call the Rohirrim to arms in the War of the Ring.

  Melian the Maia

  Maia queen of Doriath. In Valinor, Melian was a Maia spirit who tended the flowering trees in the Dreamland of Lórien, and served the Valarian queens, Vána the Youthful and Estë the Healer. However, during the Ages of Starlight she went to Beleriand in Middle-earth and fell in love with Elwë Singollo, the High King of the Teleri. Together, Melian and Thingol (as Elwë was then called) founded the realm of Doriath and built Menegroth. This was the realm of the Sindar, or Grey-elves, which was protected by an invisible barrier of a powerful spell, called the Girdle of Melian. Melian and Thingol had one daughter, the incomparable Lúthien. For many Ages of Starlight and most of the First Age of the Sun, Melian’s enchantment of Doriath protected the realm from harm. Finally, however, the strife of the War of the Jewels found its way into the Sindar kingdom. When King Thingol was slain by treachery in Menegroth in the year 505 of the First Age, she could no longer bear to live in Middle-earth. Queen Melian fled from Beleriand. Her spell of protection of Doriath melted away, and she returned to the Undying Lands.

  Melkor

  Vala, Lord of Darkness. Even as an Ainur spirit, Melkor – which means “he who arises in might” – was filled with pride, and brought discord to the Great Music and the Vision. Upon Arda, Melkor took Darkness and Cold as his domain. During the Shaping of Arda, he thwarted its making so it became marred and imperfect. And while the Valar set about building their kingdom of Almaren, Melkor corrupted many of the Maiar spirits. He took them into the north of Middle-earth and built his rival kingdoms of Utumno and Angband. In Arda, Melkor waged five great wars against the Valar, laid waste to Almaren and destroyed both the Great Lamps and the Trees of the Valar. In the beginning Melkor appeared in forms both fair and foul, but after the destruction of the Trees of Light, he always assumed his evil form, which the Elves called Morgoth, “the Dark Enemy of the World”.

  Tall as a tower, Morgoth wore an iron crown and black armour. He carried the mace called Grond, the Hammer of the Underworld, and a huge black shield. The fire of malice was in his eyes, his face was twisted and scarred, and his hands burned perpetually from the fire of the Silmarils. Yet, in the War of Wrath, all of Melkor’s power was destroyed, and he alone of the Valar was driven from the Spheres of the World, and dwells for ever in the Void.

  Men

  As the Elves had come forth with the Rekindling of the Stars, so Men came with the Rising of the Sun. In the land the Elves called Hildórien, “land of the followers”, which was in the far East of Middle-earth, Men first opened their eyes to the new light. Unlike the Elves, Men were mortal and, even by Dwarf measure, short-lived. In strength of body and nobility of spirit Men compared poorly with Elven-folk. They were a weak race that succumbed readily to pestilence and the rough elements of the World. For these reasons Elves ca
lled them the Engwar, the “sickly”. But Men were stubborn as a race, and they bred more quickly than any other people except the Orcs, and though great numbers perished they multiplied again and finally thrived in the eastern lands, and so by some were called the Usurpers.

  Morgoth made his way to those lands and in Men, for the most part, he found a people he could easily bend to his will.

  Some fled from this evil and scattered to the West and to the North. Eventually, they reached Beleriand, and the Kingdoms of the Noldorin Elves. The Noldor accepted the allegiance of these Men and called them the Atani, the “Secondborn”, but later, as the greater part of the people of Beleriand spoke the Grey-elven tongue, they were more commonly named the Edain, the “second ones”. The Edain were divided into three hosts: the First House of Bëor, the Second House of the Galadin and the Third House of Hador. The deeds of the Three Houses of Elf-friends were renowned. Of the tales of Men in the First Age is the “Narn i Hîn Húrin”, which tells of Húrin the Troll-slayer; of Túrin who slew Glaurung, the Father of Dragons; of Beren, who cut a Silmaril from Morgoth’s Iron Crown; and of Eärendil the Mariner who sailed “Vingilot” and carried the Morning Star into the heavens.

  In the First Age still more of the race of Men came out of the East. They were a different people whom Elves called Swarthy Men and Easterlings. In times of war, most of these men proved unfaithful and, though feigning friendship with the Elves, they betrayed them to Morgoth, the Dark Enemy.