A Dictionary of Tolkien

by David Day

  Neekerbreekers

  In the foul Midgewater Marshes in northern Eriador there lived vast numbers of blood-sucking insects. Among them were some noisy creatures akin to crickets that were named Neekerbreekers by Hobbits. Travellers in the Midgewater Marshes were driven all but mad by the awful repetitious din of the creatures’ “neek-breek, neek-breek”.

  Neldoreth

  Among the most loved of the trees growing in the Middle-earth were those that Elves called Neldoreth but Men knew as Beech. According to the tales of lost Beleriand, the great halls of Menegroth, the Thousand Caves, had carved pillars like the Beech trees that grew within the vast Taur-na-Neldor, the Forest of Neldoreth, which was thought to be the fairest forest in Beleriand. And in the minds of Elves the Neldoreth was loved the more because in part it was like the Golden Tree of the Valar, called Laurelin, which once lit the Blessed Realm with Golden Light.

  The triple-trunked Beech of Doriath that was named Hírilorn was mightiest of the Neldoreth that ever grew in Middle-earth, and in it was built the guarded house of Lúthien – as the tale of the Quest of the Silmaril relates.

  Nessa

  Vala called “the Dancer”. Nessa is the sister of Oromë the Huntsman, and the spouse of Tulkas the Wrestler. A spirit of the woodlands, the deer are sacred to the beautiful Nessa, who is light-footed, agile and a wonderful dancer.

  Nessamelda

  One of the many fragrant evergreen trees that was brought from Tol Eressëa to the land of Númenor by the Sea Elves in the Second Age of the Sun was the Nessamelda. This was the “three of Nessa”, the dancing Vala goddess of the woodlands, the sister of Oromë the Huntsman and was most numerous in that part of Númenor called Nísimaldar, land of “Fragrant Trees”.

  Nienna

  Vala called “the Weeper”. Nienna’s chief concern is mourning, which is the meaning of her name. She is the sister of Lórien and Mandos. She lives alone in the west of Valinor where her mansions look out on the sea and the Walls of Night. Her tears have the power to heal and fill others with hope and the spirit to endure.

  Nimbrethil

  In lost Beleriand there grew many fair white birch trees, which were called Nimbrethil in the tongue of the Grey-elves. “Vingilot”, the mighty ship that Eärendil the Mariner sailed over Belegaer, the Western Sea, to the Undying Lands, was built with timber from these huge trees.

  Nimrodel

  Elven maid of Lothlórien. During the second millennium of the Third Age of the Sun, Nimrodel and her lover Amroth became betrothed in Lothlórien. However, the pair were separated at the time of the rising of the monstrous demon, the fiery Balrog of Moria in 1980. Nimrodel, meaning “white lady”, lost her way through the White Mountains and was never seen again.

  Niphredil

  At the end of the Second Age of Starlight, the fairest child that ever entered the World was born to Melian the Maia and Thingol, king of the Sindar. She was born in the woodlands of Neldoreth in Beleriand and was named Lúthien. To the woodland at that time came the white flower Niphredil to greet fair Lúthien. This flower was said to be a Star of the Earth, as was this only daughter born of Eldar and Maia union. Though many Ages of Stars and Sun passed, and Lúthien with her lover Beren had long ago gone from the Spheres of the World, the Star flower Niphredil remained as a memory to the fairest daughter of the Earth.

  In the Third Age of the Sun, the white flower grew still in the Golden Wood of Lothlórien, where, mixed with the gold flower Elanor, it thrived. In the Fourth Age of the Sun the fairest Elf-maid of that age came to the forest. This was Arwen Undómiel, and she, like Lúthien, shared the same fate of tragic love for a mortal, and in that forest Arwen plighted her troth to Aragorn, the Dúnedain. Years later in that same forest she chose to die on a bed of these white and gold flowers.

  Noegyth Nibin

  The ancient tales of the lost realm of Beleriand tell of a race whom the Grey-elves called Noegyth Nibin. They were small people – smaller even than Dwarves, from whom they descended. Men called them Petty-Dwarves and in the First Age of the Sun Mîm, the last of this dwindled race, was bloodily slain by Húrin.

  Nogrod

  One of the two great kingdoms of Dwarves in the Blue Mountains was Nogrod, the “Dwarf-dwelling”. The Dwarves of Nogrod, just like those of nearby Belegost, were skilled smiths and craftsmen who prospered in their trade with the Elves of Beleriand, and fought valiantly against Orcs and Dragons during the First Age. Most famous of the smiths of Nogrod in the making of weapons was Telchar, who forged Narsil, the sword of Elendil which cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand, and Angrist, the knife of Beren which was used to cut a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown.

  The downfall of Nogrod came about when some of its Dwarf craftsmen, staying in Menegroth, were asked by King Thingol of the Grey-elves to set the priceless Silmaril gem in the golden necklace called the Nauglamír. The craftsmen were overcome by greed, slew Thingol and stole the necklace. Before they could escape, they were slain in retaliation and the necklace was returned to Menegroth. Enraged, the Dwarves of Nogrod sent out a large army, sacked Menegroth and once again took the necklace. However, before they could safely return to Nogrod, the Dwarf army was ambushed by Beren and Dior and, with the aid of the Laiquendi, and the Ents, the entire army was slaughtered. At the end of the First Age, the Dwarf Kingdom of Nogrod, along with Belegost, and most of Beleriand, sank into the sea.

  Noldor

  Mightiest of the Elves who inhabited Middle-earth were the Noldor, and most far-famed in the songs and tales that have come to the ears of Men. For these were the Elves who wrought the Great Jewels called the Silmarils, as well as the Rings of Power. The mightiest wars that were ever known to Elves and Men were fought over these great works.

  Of the Eldar who came to the Undying Lands, the Noldor were the Second Kindred. The name Noldor means “knowledge”, which, above all the Elves, they strove hardest to possess. In the years of the Trees of the Valar their king was Finwë, and at that time great was their joy in learning from their tutors, the Valar and the Maiar. In that golden and silver light everlasting the Noldor grew strong and noble. Their city of Tirion on the green hill of Túna, which looked over the starlit sea, was mighty and beautiful. For the city was built in the Pass of Light named Calacirya, the only passage through the vast Pelorí Mountains, which enclosed the lands of Eldamar and Valinor. Through this gap flowed the Light of the Trees and it fell on the west of the city. To the east, in the shadow of Túna, the Elves looked on the Stars that shone over the Shadowy Seas.

  So it was that the Noldor became wise people, but they especially excelled in the crafts of Aulë, Maker of Mountains. They cut the great towers of Eldamar from rock and carved many things of beauty out of radiant white stone. They were the first to bring forth the gems that lay in the mountain heart. They gave the stone freely, and the mansions of the Elves and the Valar glinted with the gems of the Noldor, and the very beaches and pools of Eldamar, it is said, shone with the scattered light of gems.

  To the king of the Noldor and his queen, Míriel, was born a son named Curufinwë, who was called Fëanor, which is “spirit of fire”. Of all craftsmen who learned the skills of Aulë, Fëanor was mightiest. Even among the Maiar there were none to surpass him. For he was first to make those magical Elven-gems that were brighter and more magical than the Earth stone. They were pale in the making, but when set under Stars they were compared to the eyes of the Elves, for they took on the light of the Stars and shone blue and bright. Fëanor also made other crystals called Palantíri, the “seeing stones”, which were the magical stones that, many Ages later, the Elves of Avallónë gave to the Dúnedain. But greatest of the deeds of Fëanor was the making of those three fabulous gems that captured the mingled Light of the Trees of the Valar within their crystals. These were the Silmarils, the most beautiful jewels that the World has ever seen, for they shone with a living light. Yet, as is told in the “Quenta Silmarillion” and the “Noldolante”, the high ambitions of Fëanor, coupled w
ith the evil deeds of Melkor, led to the greatest bane that was ever known to the Elven peoples. However, tragedy befell the Noldor when Melkor came forth and with the Spider, Ungoliant, destroyed the Trees of the Valar, slew Finwë and stole the Silmarils. Fëanor swore an oath of vengeance that was a curse on his people for ever more. In anger he followed Melkor, whom he named Morgoth, the “dark enemy of the World”, to Middle-earth. So began the War of the Jewels and the Wars of Beleriand, which were fought through all the days of the First Age of the Sun.

  During this age of war the Noldor also brought great gifts to Middle-earth. And for a time there arose the Noldor Elven kingdoms in Hithlum, Dor-lomin, Nevrast, Mithrim, Dorthonion, Himlad, Thargelion and East Beleriand. Fairest of the Noldor relams were the two hidden kingdoms: Gondolin, which was ruled by Turgon; and Nargothrond, which was held by Finrod Felagund.

  In the War of the Jewels Fëanor was slain, as were all his seven sons: Amras, Amrod, Caranthir, Celegorm, Curufin, Maedhros and Maglor. His brother Fingolfin and Fingolfin’s children, Fingon, Turgon and Aredhel, were also killed by Morgoth. And though Finarfin, the other brother (and third son of Finwë), had remained in the Undying Lands where he ruled the remnant of the Noldor in Tirion, all his children went to Middle-earth and his four sons, Aegnor, Angrod, Finrod Felagund and Orodreth, were killed. So of all the Noldor lords and their children only Finarfin’s daughter, Galadriel, the eventual Queen of Lothlórien, survived on Middle-earth.

  Through the years of the First Age Morgoth and his servants destroyed all the Noldorin kingdoms. At that time there were in Beleriand many other people whose doom in part was tied to that of the Noldor. Because of these wars, the realms of the Grey-elves, who were also called the Sindar, were destroyed, as were the Dwarf-realms of Nogrod and Belegost and most of the kingdoms of the Three Houses of the Edain.

  But finally the Valar and the Maiar came forth out of the Undying Lands against Morgoth. Thus occurred the Great Battle and the War of Wrath. Before this mighty force Angband fell and Morgoth was cast into the Eternal Void for ever. Yet the struggle was so great that Beleriand was broken and most of the land was swallowed up beneath the sea.

  Of all the royal lines of the Noldor few who survived the War of the Jewels could claim direct descent. So it was that Gil-galad, son of Fingon, son of Fingolfin, set up the last Noldor high kingdom in Mortal Lands. This was in Lindon, the last part of Beleriand to remain after the Great Battle. With Gil-galad lived Celebrimbor, son of Curufin, only prince of the House of Fëanor to live into the Second Age. Galadriel (daughter of Finarfin), Elrond and Elros the Half-elven and many Sindar lords also came, as well as Círdan of the Falathrim, the Laiquendi and the Edain – the Men who were loyal to the Elves during the War of the Jewels.

  At that time many of the Elves took ships from the Grey Havens and sailed to Tol Eressëa in the Bay of Eldamar in the Undying Lands and built there the city of Avallónë. The Edain were also given a fair island in the Western Sea, called Númenorë, and they too left the lands of Middle-earth.

  Yet all those of royal Noldorin line remained. Gil-galad ruled Lindon, and Círdan held the Grey Havens. But in the year 750 of the Second Age, it is said Celebrimbor came out of Lindon and made a kingdom at the foot of the Misty Mountains in the land of Eregion, near the Dwarf-realm of Khazad-dûm. These Elves were named the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, the “people of the jewel-smiths”, and the Elven-smiths, in the legends of later times. It was here, though the subtle persuasions of Sauron, that the Rings of Power were forged by Celebrimbor, grandson of Fëanor, who created the Silmarils, and so was wrought the second great work of the Noldor, over which another cycle of bitter wars was fought. For Sauron at that time made the One Ring that would rule all the other works of the Noldor. In anger and fear the Elves arose, and the War of Sauron and the Elves was fought. Celebrimbor and most of the Gwaith-i-Mírdain were slain, Eregion was laid waste and, though Elrond Half-elven came with an army, all he could do was rescue those few who remained and take refuge in Imladris, which Men called Rivendell. There the only Noldor stronghold between the Blue and the Misty Mountains was made.

  In this time, Lindon itself was in peril, but descendants of the Edain, the Númenóreans, brought their immense fleets and drove Sauron into the East. Later still they returned and captured the Dark Lord, but did not destroy him. They held him prisoner, and in this way came their Downfall, for he turned them against the Valar and they were swallowed by the sea for their folly.

  So Sauron returned to Middle-earth, where only the Noldorin realms of Lindon and Rivendell stood, though the kingdoms of Greenwood the Great and Lothlórien had been built with Noldorin and Sindarin nobles and Silvan subjects. But with Sauron’s return there was war again. The Last Alliance of Elves and Men was made and in that war, which ended the Second Age, Gil-galad and the king of the Dúnedain were slain by Sauron, but Sauron himself was destroyed with all the realm of Mordor.

  Thereafter, there was no High King of the Noldorin Elves in Middle-earth, yet the kingdoms remained. The lordship of Lindon and the Grey Havens fell to Círdan, while Elrond still ruled in Rivendell. During the Third Age the most beautiful kingdom was Lothlórien, where Queen Galadriel reigned, the noblest Noldor still to live in Middle-earth. Though few Noldor lived among those named the Galadhrim in the Golden Wood, it was the brightest and most like the Noldorin realms of old.

  As is told in the “Red Book of Westmarch”, when at the end of the Third Age the One Ring was unmade and Sauron was destroyed, Elrond was summoned out of Rivendell and Galadriel came out of Lothlórien to the white ships that would take them into the Undying Lands. With the queen gone, Lothlórien faded, and the Noldorin kingdoms of Middle-earth dwindled in the years of the Fourth Age. It is said that Círdan the Shipwright took the last of the Noldor to the Undying Lands. There dwell now the remnant of the Noldorin people who suffered most grievously, inflicted the greatest sorrow, did the greatest deeds, and won the most fame of all the Elves in the tales that have come down through the Ages. What their deeds have been since the sailing of the last ship, only the Great Music at the End shall make known to those who live in Mortal Lands.

  Nómin

  When Men entered the lands of Beleriand in the First Age of the Sun, they saw for the first time the Elves of Finrod Felagund, lord of the Noldor. These Men were amazed at the beauty and knowledge of these Elves, whom they named the Nómin, which means the “wise”.

  Nori

  Dwarf of Thorin and Company. Nori embarked on the Quest of Erebor in the year 2941 of the Third Age, which resulted in the death of Smaug the Dragon and the re-establishment of the Dwarf-kingdom under the Mountain. Nori settled in Erebor for the rest of his life.

  Northmen

  In the Third Age of the Sun many Men who were descended from the Edain of the First Age inhabited the northern Vales of Anduin. These Men were of many tribes and kingdoms and they were called the Northmen of Rhovanion. Though no single lord governed these Northmen, they were constant enemies of Sauron and all his servants. For through all Rhovanion these proud Men often fought the Orcs, Easterlings and Wolves of the Dark Lord, and at times they even dared to join battle with the great and ancient Dragons that came out of the Northern Waste.

  These Northmen remained in Rhovanion for many centuries and did not succumb to the evil power of Sauron. In the histories that concern the last centuries of the Third Age of the Sun, the names of some of these strong and noble people are recorded: the Beornings and the Woodmen of Mirkwood; the Lake Men of Esgaroth; the Bardings of Dale; and, perhaps the most powerful and far-famed, the Éothéod, from whom the Rohirrim, the Riders of the Marks, were descended. These were all strong and noble Men, and, in the War of the Ring, the Northmen proved to be true allies of the Dúnedain, attacking minions of Sauron on the battle-field, in woodland and in mountain pass.

  From the eleventh century of the Third Age the Northmen were allies of the Gondor Men against the Easterling invaders. Many entered the army of Gondor and their fortun
es from that time followed the doom of the Gondor kings.

  Númenor

  After the First Age of the Sun, there was a remnant of that race of Men called the Edain who allied themselves with the Elves in the War of the Jewels against Morgoth. As a reward for their bravery, the Valar raised a great island in the midst of the Western Sea, so these people, called the Dúnedain, might have a land of their own. This was Númenor – “Westernesse” in the language of the Men of Middle-earth – founded in the year 32 of the Second Age and the mightiest kingdom of Men in all of Arda. The Men of Númenor were given a life span many times that of other mortals, along with greater powers of mind and body that had previously been only granted to Elves. The island of Númenor, which was also called Andor, “land of gift” or Elenna, “land of star”, was roughly shaped like a five-pointed star. It was approximately 250 miles across at its narrowest and five hundred miles at its widest, and was divided up into six regions. At the centre was Mittalmar, the “inlands”, which contained: Arandor, the “kingsland”; Armenelos, the royal city; Meneltarma, the sacred mountain; and the port of Rómenna. Each of the five peninsulas that radiated from Mittalmar was a separate region: Forostar, the “northlands”; Orrostar, the “eastlands”; Hyarrostar, the “southeastlands”; Hyarnustar, the “southwestlands”; and Andustar, the “westlands” with its major city and port of Anúnie, which means “sunset”.