A Dictionary of Tolkien

by David Day

  Misty Mountains

  Nearly one thousand miles long, the mountain range called the Misty Mountains ran from the far north of Middle-earth south to the Gap of Rohan and separated the lands of Eriador from Rhovanion. The Misty Mountains were the home of Orcs, Great Eagles and the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm. For a time its northernmost part made up the defences of the Witch-kingdom of Angmar and the Orc-hold of Gundabad, while in its southernmost part, the evil Wizard Saruman defended his stronghold of Isengard. Called the Hithaeglir, the “misty peaks”, by the Elves, the major peaks of the Misty Mountains were Methedras, Bundushathûr, Zirak-zigal, Barazinbar and Gundabad; while the High Pass, the Redhorn and the tunnels of Khazad-dûm were the three main passages through them.

  Mordor

  At the end of the first millennium of the Second Age, Sauron founded an evil kingdom on Middle-earth, just to the east of the River Anduin. This was called Mordor, the “black land”, and for two ages was Sauron’s base of power in his quest for dominion over all of Middle-earth. Mordor was defended on three sides by two unassailable mountain ranges: the Ash Mountains in the north, and the Shadowy Mountains in the west and south. Through these mountains, there appear to have been only two passes: Cirith Ungol in the west and Cirith Gorgor in the northwest. Besides the small circular plain called Udûn inside Cirith Gorgor, Mordor’s two major regions were the Plateau of Gorgoroth and the wide plain and slave fields of Nurn.

  Gorgoroth was a vast dreary plateau of slag heaps and Orc pits always under the pall of smoke from the volcanic mountain of Orodruin (or Mount Doom) near its centre. Here too, on the northeast side of the plateau on a spur of the Ash Mountains, was Sauron’s stronghold, the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr. Nurn, however, was a vast farmland populated by slaves and slave-drivers who supplied the massive foods and basic materials for Sauron’s armies. Nurn was drained by four rivers, and each flowed into the inland sea of Nûrnen.

  After forging the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom in 1600, Sauron completed Barad-dûr and began the War of Sauron and the Elves. Although surrendering to the astonishing power of the Númenóreans in 3262, Sauron managed to destroy them by guile and return to Mordor after Númenor’s destruction. In 3429, Sauron’s forces made war on Gondor, but retribution came in 3434 when the Last Alliance of Elves and Men destroyed his army on Dagorlad and broke down the Black Gate in order to enter Mordor. After a seven-year siege Barad-dûr was taken, the One Ring was cut from Sauron’s hand, and all of his evil servants driven out of Mordor. During the early part of the Third Age, Mordor was empty and Gondor built the Tower of the Teeth and the fortress of Durthang in the north pass, and the Tower of Cirith Ungol in the west pass, to watch over Mordor and prevent any of Sauron’s scattered allies from entering the kingdom. Unfortunately, after the devastation of the Great Plague of 1636, Gondor abandoned these fortresses and they were taken over by Orcs and prepared for the entry of the Nazgûl and Sauron himself. In 2942 Sauron returned and in 2951 began rebuilding Barad-dûr. However, the unmaking of the One Ring proved a final blow. Sauron was destroyed for the last time and Mordor was never again a threat to the peace of Middle-earth.

  Morgoth

  Vala Lord of Darkness. Morgoth, meaning “the Dark Enemy”, was the name the Noldor Elves gave the evil Valarian Lord who destroyed the Trees of Light, stole the Silmarils and slew their king. However, his history is accounted here under his original name, Melkor.

  Moria

  In the year 1697 of the Second Age of the Sun, in the midst of the War of Sauron and the Elves when all of Eregion was being laid waste by dark forces, the Dwarves of the mighty mansions of Khazad-dûm in the Misty Mountains sealed their great doors and went out no more into the world beyond. Thereafter, it was considered a secret and dark place, its histories and people were unknown to those of the outside world, and so it was called Moria, the “dark chasm”. In this way, the Dwarves of the Misty Mountains survived the devastation of the Second Age, and happily delved beneath the mountains until the year 1980 of the Third Age. That year, while pursuing a rich vein of mithril in one of their mines, they accidently released an evil Balrog spirit that had hidden and slept beneath the roots of Barazinbar since the end of the First Age. Though they battled for a year against the demon, after the deaths of two of their kings, the Dwarves deserted Moria. Thereafter, Moria became the domain of the Balrog, the Orcs and other servants of Sauron. The once dazzling beauty of its halls and grottoes was ruined and mutilated and it became an evil, dank and haunted place. For five years, from 2989 to 2994, a group of Dwarves attempted to re-establish a kingdom in Moria, only to be trapped and slaughtered when they were caught between an army of Orcs at the East Gate and a new threat, the terrible Kraken, called the Watcher in the Water, at the West Gate. It was not until 3019 of the Third Age that the Balrog was at last slain by Gandalf the Wizard. Yet, although the evil tyrant of Moria was slain, it appears that its vast halls remained abandoned and empty forever after.

  Moriquendi

  In the High Elven tongue of Quenya, all Elves who did not come to the Undying Lands in the time of the Trees of the Valar were named Moriquendi, the Dark Elves. They were Elves of lesser power than those who witnessed the Undying Lands in the time of their greatest glory. Among the Moriquendi were: the Avari, the Silvan Elves of Lothlórien and Mirkwood, the Nandor, the Laiquendi, the Falathrim and the Sindar.

  Mount Doom

  The massive volcanic mountain that stood in the centre of the blackened plateau of Gorgoroth, within Mordor, was the mighty, natural forge upon which Sauron made the One Ring in the year 1600 of the Second Age of the Sun. Called Mount Doom in the language of Men, its elvish name was Orodruin, the “mountain of red flame”, and under that name its history may be found.

  Mûmakil

  In the Third Age of the Sun in the south lands of Harad, there lived beasts of vast bulk that are thought to be ancestors of the creatures Men now name Elephants. Yet it is said the Elephants that now inhabit the World are much smaller in size and might than their ancestors.

  In the years of the War of the Ring the fierce warriors of Harad came north to the lands of Gondor at the call of Sauron, and with their armies they brought the great Mûmakil, which were used as beasts of war. The Mûmakil were harnessed with the gear of war: red banners, bands and trappings of gold and brass; on their backs they had great towers from which archers and spearmen fought. They had a natural thirst for battle, and many foes were crushed beneath their feet. With their trunks they struck down many enemies and in battle their tusks were crimsoned with the blood of their foes. They could not be fought by mounted Men, for Horses would not come near the Mûmakil; nor by foot soldiers, who would be crushed. In war they would frequently stand as towers that could not be captured: shield-walls broke before them and armies were routed.

  These thick-skinned beasts were almost invulnerable to arrow-shot. In only one place, their eyes, could the Mûmakil be blinded or even killed by arrows released with great force. When blinded they became enraged with pain, and often destroyed masters and foes alike.

  Nn

  Nahar

  Horse of Valar. The gigantic white Horse of Oromë, the Huntsman of the Valar. Nahar is the first Horse in creation and the progenitor of all horses. Oromë rode Nahar often into the forest lands of Middle-earth through the Ages of Darkness and Starlight. On one such journey, Oromë and Nahar discovered the Elves by the Waters of Awakening.

  Nandor

  Among the Elves to undertake the Great Journey in search of the Undying Lands there were Three Kindred. The third and largest kindred were the Teleri, and because these people were so numerous their passage was slowest, and those unable or unwilling to complete the Journey were in greater numbers than the other two kindred. The first division recorded in that Journey came when the Teleri halted before the Great River Anduin and, looking beyond, saw the Misty Mountains. This mighty barrier terrified the Elves and so, rather than risk crossing the mountains, Lenwë, a lord of the Teleri, led his peo
ple away. They went southwards down the Great River Anduin and lived in places unknown to others of their kin; they were named the Nandor, “those who turn back”. They were a wandering woodland folk and they had no equal in ways of woodlore and woodcraft, or in knowledge of the Kevlar and Olvar of Middle-earth. They hunted with bows and had weapons made from certain base metals, but they did not know how to forge arms of steel with which to fight the evil creatures that, in later Ages, came out of the North.

  For more than two Ages of Starlight the Nandor lived in harmony in the lands of their wanderings, in the Vales of Anduin. Some crossed over the White Mountains and came into Eriador. They grew wiser in the ways of the forests and waters, but when evil beings attacked them in the forests they were unprepared and their numbers began to dwindle. Many were slaughtered by legions of steel-shod Orcs, gangs of Stone-trolls and packs of ravening Wolves.

  Many Nandor, practising their woodcraft, hid as best they could from the lurking terror. However, Denethor, son of King Lenwë, gathered many of the Nandor to him and set off once again on the long-abandoned westward march. He sought what kindred he could to aid him, for tales had reached the Nandor of the might of the Sindar, led by one who had once been king of all the Teleri, Elwë Singollo, now named Thingol. Denethor crossed the Blue Mountains and entered Beleriand, bringing a great number of Nandor under the sovereignty of their rightful king once again.

  There, they were welcomed by the Sindar, who protected them, and taught them some of the arts of war and granted them Ossiriand, the “land of seven rivers”, as their realm. They were called Nandor no more but Laiquendi and Green-elves because of their love of green woodlands and their habit of dressing in green cloth so they might be one with the forest in the sight of an enemy. So in that Age before the coming of the Sun, they lived happily by rivers and in the forests of Ossiriand, and the sweet singing of the Laiquendi rivalled the melodies of the nightingale.

  Nargothrond

  The largest kingdom of Noldor Elves in Beleriand during the First Age was that controlled by Finrod from his fortress city of Nargothrond. This was a powerful underground fortress carved in the caverns of the Narog River and from it Finrod ruled most of West Beleriand. Modelled on the Thousand Caves of Menegroth, the vast complexes of this fortress-palace were expanded by the Noldor and the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains from the original delvings of the Petty-Dwarves who had once lived there. Although its people were involved in many skirmishes and battles with Morgoth’s forces, Nargothrond remained undiscovered and secure until late in the fifth century when they went often and openly to war. This proved their undoing, for in 496 they fought the Battle of Tumhalad against Glaurung the Dragon and a massive army and were destroyed. Glaurung then entered Nargothrond before its stone bridge could be destroyed. All within were slaughtered or enslaved and for five years Glaurung ruled its caverns before he himself was slain. Briefly thereafter, Mîm, the last of the Petty-dwarves, returned to the caverns that were once the home of his ancestors, but when he too was slain the ancient halls were empty forever after.

  Naugrim

  During the Ages of Starlight before the kingdom of the Grey-elves had grown to its full power, a race of Dwarves who were long-bearded and armed with steel weapons came over the Blue Mountains into Beleriand. The Grey-elves thought these people deformed and unlovely, and named them the Naugrim, the “stunted people”. But the Naugrim came not to fight but to trade and barter, and by this traffic both races thrived. And though the Naugrim lived in prosperous peace with the Elves, there was only an uneasy alliance and no great friendship between them.

  Nazgûl

  In the twenty-third century of the Second Age of the Sun, in Middle-earth there arose nine mighty wraiths who in the Black Speech of Orcs were named the Nazgûl, which is “Ringwraiths”. And of all the evil servants and generals of Sauron the Ring Lord, these Nazgûl proved to be the greatest.

  It is said that the Nazgûl were once powerful kings and sorcerers among Men and they were each given a Ring of Power by Sauron. These Rings were nine of the magical nineteen Rings that Celebrimbor and the Elven-smiths of Eregion forged for Sauron. For many centuries these Men used their Rings to fulfil their own desires, yet all were ruled by the One Ring that Sauron made. Though these chosen Men lived by the power of the Rings far beyond the span of ordinary mortals, their forms faded. By the twenty-third century they were wraiths entirely, and thralls that thought only of how they might serve Sauron the Ring Lord. So they roamed the World committing terrible deeds. They wore great cloaks, black and hooded, and hauberks of mail and silver helms, yet beneath were the grey robes of the dead and their bodies were invisible. Any who looked into their faces fell back in horror, for nothing seemed to support helm and hood. Yet sometimes there appeared, where faces should be, the glow of two luminous and hypnotic eyes or, in rage and power, a red and hellish flame.

  The weapons of the Nazgûl were numerous: they carried swords of steel and of flame, black maces and daggers with magical poisoned blades. They used spells of beckoning and spells of blasting sorcerous fire, and the curse of their Black Breath was like a plague of despair and the curse of its terror froze the hearts of their foes. The Nazgûl were untouchable to mortal Men, for arms could not harm them unless blessed by Elvish spell, and any blade that struck them withered and perished. So for a thousand years of the Second Age of the Sun the Nazgûl, on nine black Horses, swept over the lands of Middle-earth like a nightmare of terror. And in all that time, they fared in the wars as did Sauron the Ring Lord himself. They did not perish until the realm of Sauron’s Mordor fell and the seven-year Siege of Barad-dûr was broken by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men at the end of that Age. Isildur, the Dúnedain lord of Gondor, cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand, and the Nazgûl, with the Ring Lord, were swept away to the shadows and the waste places in the eastern lands of the World where they had no form or power.

  The Nazgûl were both formless and powerless for thirteen centuries in the Third Age of the Sun. Yet the One Ring had not been destroyed and Sauron was able to make himself a shape again. So in the fourteenth century he summoned again his great servants, the Nazgûl, out of the shadows. The nine Black Riders arose in the East and the greatest of these came to the north of Eriador, where he made the kingdom of Angmar and built a great citadel in Carn Dûm. He called forth Orc legions and the evil Hillmen of the Ettenmoors. For more than six centuries there was continuous war in Eriador. This Nazgûl lord, who was at that time called the Witch-king of Angmar, made constant war against the Dúnedain of Arnor and out of Carn Dûm came much evil. One by one the great provinces and cities went down until 1974, when the last – the province of Arthedain and the city of Fornost – fell to the barbarous hordes. Yet the Witch-king’s possession of the Dúnedain Kingdom of the North was short-lived, for in 1975 his army was routed and destroyed by the Elf-lords Círdan and Glorfindel and by Eärnur, the king of Gondor, at the Battle of Fornost. But still the Witch-king and his master Sauron counted this as a great deed, for they were little concerned with the slaughter of Orcs and Hillmen, and the destruction of the power and the kingdom of the Dúnedain of the North in Arnor was indeed a great victory by the Dark Powers.

  The Witch-king of Angmar, called the High Nazgûl, deserted the ruined lands of Eriador and returned to Mordor. And though Sauron was not yet come, but hid still in Dol Guldur in the darkness of Mirkwood (where the Nazgûl called Khamûl, the Black Easterling, was his chief lieutenant) there were in Mordor other Nazgûl who had come secretly three centuries before. In that time they had laboured to rebuild the evil power of that land and had gathered Orkish hordes about them.

  In the year 2000 the Nazgûl came out of Mordor to fight the Dúnedain of the South in Gondor, and two years later the eastern citadel, Minas Ithil, the “tower of the Moon”, fell. The Nazgûl made this place their own and renamed it Minas Morgul, the “tower of black wraiths”, and sometimes the Tower of Sorcery and the Dead City. The High Nazgûl, the Witch-king of Angma
r, was now called the Morgul Lord and wore a crown of steel. It was he who slew Eärnur, the last king of Gondor, and for a thousand years he made war on the Men of Gondor with both sorcery and the might of his army, and he eroded their power, laid waste their cities and ruined their lands.

  It was not, however, until the year 2951 that Sauron the Dark Lord declared himself and came to Mordor. It is said that Sauron feared to declare himself openly before that time lest someone possessed the One Ring, which could destroy him. And it was not until later still that even the wisest among Men knew that he commanded the wraiths of Morgul, and that these wraiths were the Nazgûl of the Second Age.

  In the year 3018 of the Third Age the War of the Ring had its beginning. For in that year Sauron learned where the One Ring was hidden and such was his desire that he sent all nine Nazgûl to take it. Yet they were thwarted in their errand. When they came to the borders of Rivendell the nine Black Riders were unhorsed at the Ford of Bruinen and were driven away by the Elvish powers that commanded the river.

  The search for the One Ring brought the Nazgûl to the Shire, where their suspicion fell on the Hobbit Frodo Baggins. Rightly, they suspected Frodo of being the Ring-bearer and pursued him and his companions. On several occasions they nearly succeeded in capturing the Ring-bearer. Indeed, on Weathertop, the Witch-king wounded Frodo Baggins with a poisoned dagger. Still, the Ring-bearer and his companions managed to take refuge by entering the kingdom of Elrond Half-Elven.

  Yet they reappeared in still mightier forms, on steeds as dreadful as themselves. These steeds were the Winged Beasts for which Elves and Men had no name. They were ancient beings that had come into the World before the Count of Time began. Though they had beak and claw and wing, they were not birds, nor even Bats: they were serpentine beings like Dragons, yet older. They were made by Melkor, Sauron’s master, in Utumno’s foul pits, where serpent, Kraken and other vile creatures of hidden places had arisen. Fed on the cannibal meats of the Orcs and grown larger then all creatures of the air, the Winged Beasts carried the Nazgûl high over the lands with the speed of the winds. Despite their might and fierceness, in the War of the Ring the Nazgûl were in deadly peril, because the One Ring was in the hands of their foes. In the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the Morgul Lord, who could not be slain by the hand of Man, was brought to an end by the shield-maiden Éowyn of Rohan and the Hobbit warrior Meriadoc Brandybuck. Though eight of the Nazgûl remained they, too, were soon destroyed. As they rose to fight the enemy at the Black Gate of Mordor, there was a great alarm within Mordor itself. Sauron commanded the Nazgûl to hasten to Orodruin, the Mountain of Fire, that is called Mount Doom, for there stood the Hobbit Frodo Baggins. On their Winged Beasts the Nazgûl flew like the wind to Sauron’s aid, but to no avail, for Frodo Baggins dropped the One Ring into the Fire of Mount Doom. In that moment Sauron and all his dreadful world were destroyed. As the Black Gate collapsed, the Dark Tower toppled, and in the midst of their flight the mighty Nazgûl fell shrieking in flames that ended them for ever.