A Dictionary of Tolkien

by David Day

  Yet the terror of that Age finally came to an end. For the Valar, the Maiar, the Vanyar and the Noldor of Tirion, all came out of the Undying Lands and the Great Battle was joined. In it Angband was destroyed and all the mountains of the North were broken. Beleriand with Angband fell into the boiling seas; Melkor was cast out into the Void for ever more and his servants the Orcs were exterminated in the northwest of Middle-earth.

  Still the Orcs survived, for part of the race lay hidden in foul dens beneath the dark mountains and hills. There they bred and multiplied. Eventually, they came to Melkor’s general, Sauron, offering their services, and he became their new master. They served Sauron well in the War of Sauron and the Elves and in all his battles until the War of the Last Alliance, when the Second Age ended with the fall of Mordor and with most of the Orkish race again being exterminated. Yet in the Third Age of the Sun as in the Second, those Orcs hidden in dark and evil places lived on. Masterless, the Orcs raided and ambushed for many centuries but made no grand schemes of conquest until more than a thousand years of the Age had passed, when as a great and evil Eye, Sauron, re-appeared in the dark realm of Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood. As in the Second Age of the Sun, the dark destinies of Sauron and the Orcs were again made one, and for two thousand years of the Third Age Orkish power increased with that of their Dark Lord.

  Their power first grew in Mirkwood, then in the Misty Mountains. In 1300 the Nazgûl re-appeared in Mordor and the realm of Angmar in northern Eriador, and the Orcs flocked to them. After six hundred years of terror Angmar fell, but the evil realm of Minas Morgul arose in Gondor, and there again the Orcs increased, with those of Mirkwood, the Misty Mountains and Mordor, for the next thousand years.

  Yet it was said that Sauron was not fully pleased with his Orkish soldiery and he wished to increase their strength. And though no tale tells of it, it was believed that Sauron through terrible sorcery made a new breed of greater Orcs. In the year 2475, those creatures, the Uruk-hai, came out of Mordor and sacked Osgiliath, the greatest city of Gondor. These were Orcs grown to the height of Men, yet straight-limbed and strong. Thought they were truly Orcs – black-skinned, black-blooded, lynx-eyed, fanged and claw-handed – Uruk-hai did not languish in sunlight and did not fear it at all. So the Uruk-hai could go where their evil brethren could not, and, being larger and stronger, they were also bolder and fiercer in battle. Clad in black armour, often carrying straight swords and long yew bows as well as many of the evil and poisoned Orc weapons, the Uruk-hai were made élite men-at-arms and most often were the high commanders and captains of the lesser Orcs.

  In the centuries that followed, the Uruk-hai and the lesser Orcs made alliances that they might ruin all the kingdoms of Men and Elves that were in the Westlands. Therefore, the Orcs made treaties with the Dunlendings, the Balchoth, the Wainriders, the Haradrim, the Easterlings of Rhûn and the Corsairs of Umbar to achieve their aim. The Orcs came even to the realms of the Dwarves. In the year 1980 Moria was taken by a mighty Balrog demon. With him were the Orcs of the Misty Mountains, who had come out of their capital of Gundabad in great number to inhabit the ancient Dwarvish city, heaping contempt on the Dwarf people and slaying whoever came near this most ancient realm.

  Yet in the North this was to be the undoing of the Orcs, for the Dwarves were so enraged that they cared not at what cost they would have revenge. So it was that from 2793 to 2799 there was waged a seven years’ war of extermination called the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. In this war, though it cost the Dwarves dearly, almost all the Orcs of the Misty Mountains were hunted out and slain, and at the East Gate of Moria the terrible Battle of Azanulbizar was fought. The Orcs were destroyed and the head of their Orc general, Azog, was impaled on a stake. So it was that for a century the Misty Mountains were cleansed of this vile race, yet in time they returned to Gundabad and Moria.

  In the year 2941 a second great disaster befell the Orcs in the North. After the death of the Dragon Smaug, all the Orc warriors of Gundabad came to the Dwarf-realm of Erebor and the Battle of the Five Armies was fought beneath the Lonely Mountain. The Orcs were led by Bolg of the North, son of Azog, and he wished to have vengeance on the Dwarves, but all he achieved was his own death and that of all his warriors.

  In the War of the Ring, the last great conflict of the Third Age of the Sun, the Orkish legions were everywhere, as the “Red Book of Westmarch” relates. From the Misty Mountains and the shadows of Mirkwood the Orcs came to war under banners both black and red. Fearless Uruk-hai with shields and helmets carrying the emblem of the White Hand came out of Isengard, where the rebel Wizard Saruman ruled. In Morgul both greater and lesser Orcs were marked with a white moon like a great skull; and under Sauron’s command were the countless Orcs of Mordor of whatever breed, who were marked with the symbol of the Red Eye. All of these prepared for war and many others as well. They fought numerous skirmishes and ambushes, as well as the Battles of the Fords of Isen, the Battle of the Hornburg, the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the Battle under the Trees and the Battles of Dale. In these assaults thousands on both sides fell, and, though in many of these battles the Orcs were utterly vanquished, it is told that Sauron held back the greatest part of his force within Mordor until the enemy came to the northern gateway of his realm.

  Yet in the War of the Ring, all was to be resolved in one last battle before Morannon, the Black Gate. All the dreadful forces of Mordor were gathered there and at Sauron’s command they fell on the army of the Captains of the West. However, at that very moment, in the volcanic fires of Mount Doom, the One Ring of Power which held all Sauron’s dark world in sway, was destroyed. The Black Gate and Black Tower burst asunder. The mightiest servants of Sauron were consumed in fire, the Dark Lord became black smoke dispelled by a west wind, and the Orcs perished like straw before flames. Though some survived they never again rose in great numbers, but dwindled and became a minor Goblin folk possessed of but a rumour of their ancient evil power.

  Ori

  Dwarf of Thorin and Company. In 2941 of the Third Age, Ori embarked on the Quest of Erebor which resulted in the slaying of Smaug the Dragon and the re-establishment of the Dwarf-kingdom under the Mountain. Ori remained in Erebor until 2989, when he set out with Balin and Óin in an attempt to re-colonize Khazad-dûm. He died there in 2994, in the Chamber of Mazarbul.

  Orocarni

  Far to the east of Middle-earth were the Orocarni, the “Red Mountains”, or the Mountains of the East. In the Ages of Starlight they stood on the eastern shore of the Inland Sea of Helcar where, in the bay of Cuiviénen, the Elves were first awakened. The Orocarni were of a reddish hue and filled with the music of a multitude of rivers and springs that flowed down into the crystal waters of the Sea of Helcar.

  Orodruin

  Often called Mount Doom, that immense volcanic mountain of Mordor was more properly called Orodruin, the “mountain of blazing fire”. Although Orodruin was less than five thousand feet high, it stood alone and dominated the vast, barren plateau of Gorgoroth in the northern part of Mordor. Orodruin was the fire and forge of Sauron who, within the Chambers of Fire and the fissures called the Cracks of Doom within its volcanic cone, made the One Ring in 1600 of the Second Age. A still active volcano through the Second and Third Ages, Orodruin’s eruptions coincided with Sauron’s various risings, and its black belching clouds darkened and fouled the skies far beyond the realm of Mordor. The fires of Orodruin proved to be critical in the War of the Ring, for only there could the One Ring be unmade and Sauron’s power destroyed – and indeed, in the year 3019, the Quest of the Ring was achieved. When the One Ring was thrown into the Cracks of Doom, Orodruin underwent its final and most cataclysmic eruption, so great that the mountains of Mordor shook, and the Black Gate of Morannon and the tower of Barad-dûr toppled down in a smouldering heap of blackened stones.

  Oromë

  Vala called “the Huntsman”. An Ainu spirit who descended from the Timeless Halls to Arda during the Ages of Darkness and Stars, Oromë loved to rid
e on his white horse, Nahar, through the forests of Middle-earth. Oromë’s name means “Horn blower”, and the sound of his horn, Valaróma, was a terror to the servants of darkness. His sister is Nessa the Dancer, and his spouse, Vána the Ever-young. Oromë was the first of the Valar to discover the Elves, and it was he who summoned them to Eldamar. By the Sindar he is called Araw and by Men, Béma. He lives in the Woods of Oromë, in southern Valinor.

  Orthanc

  The tower in Isengard that was controlled by the evil Wizard Saruman during the War of the Ring was called Orthanc, meaning “cunning mind” in Rohan. It was built in the midst of the fortified Isengard plain at the southern limit of the Misty Mountains and near the source of the River Isen. Orthanc was a five hundred foot tall tower built from four pillars of black rock by the Men of Gondor. It had a distinctive twin-pronged pinnacle with a flat roof between, marked with figures from astronomy. Abandoned by the Men of Gondor during the last part of the Third Age, the Wizard Saruman gained the keys to it in 2759 and took control of it and the Palantir, or “Seeing Stone”, that was kept in one of its chambers. Later he gathered a vast army within Isengard and made war on the Rohirrim. From Orthanc, Saruman controlled many destructive machines of war, but these were incapacitated by the Ents when they flooded the plain about the tower. But the black stone of the tower proved invulnerable to assault, for the stone of Orthanc could not be broken. Eventually, Saruman was forced to surrender the tower, and Orthanc once again passed into the hands of the Men of Gondor.

  Osgiliath

  The first capital of Gondor was Osgiliath, the “citadel of stars”, which was built at the end of the Second Age and bridged the River Anduin midway between Minas Anor and Minas Ithil. Osgiliath remained intact until Gondor’s civil war in 1437 when its legendary Dome of Stars was burned, along with most of the city. This was followed by the disaster of the Great Plague of 1636. The royal court was moved in 1640 to Minas Anor, which later was renamed Minas Tirith. In 2475, Osgiliath was completely sacked by the Uruk-hai legions out of Mordor, and although these were driven back the city was now totally deserted. In the War of the Ring, Osgiliath was briefly defended by Gondor Men on two occasions but soon fell to Sauron’s servants and had its stone bridge broken. After the destruction of Mordor at the end of the war, Osgiliath was regained by Gondor, but it does not appear to have been rebuilt during the Fourth Age.

  Ossë

  Maia sea spirit. Ossë, Lord of the Waves, with his wife, Uinen, the Lady of the Calms, ruled the seas of Middle-earth. Ossë served Ulmo, Lord of All Waters. Ossë was feared by all who sailed the seas. Sailors prayed to Uinen that she might quell his rage and calm his wild, tempestuous joy. Ossë, who befriended the Teleri Sea Elves and taught them the art of ship-building, also raised the island of Númenor from the sea floor.

  Ossiriand

  In the east of Beleriand until the end of the First Age of the Sun was Ossiriand, the woodland home of the Laiquendi Green Elves. It was called Ossiriand, the “land of seven rivers”, because the River Gelion and six of its tributaries flowed through it. Because the Laiquendi were most famous for their singing Ossiriand was also called Lindon, the “land of song”. Indeed, after the destruction and sinking of Beleriand at the end of the First Age, it was by this name that the small part of Ossiriand that survived was known. As the last surviving fragment of Beleriand, Lindon became the domain of the Eldar of Gil-galad, the last High Elven King on Middle-earth.

  Ost-in-Edhil

  In the year 750 of the Second Age, many Noldor Elves left Lindon and went into Eriador. There, near the west door of Khazad-dûm in the White Mountains, they founded the realm of Eregion and built the city of Ost-in-Edhil, the “City of Elves”. These were the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, the Elven-smiths who in the year 1500 forged the Rings of Power. Ost-in-Edhil was a fair and prosperous city with its white Elven towers rising up in the midst of the holly forest of Eregion. However, when the Elven-smiths discovered Sauron had forged the One Ring to command the other Rings of Power, they rose up against him. In the ensuing War of Sauron and the Elves, in 1697 of the Second Age, Ost-in-Edhil was utterly destroyed and the realm of the Elven-smiths was no more.

  Pp Qq

  Pelargir

  Built near the mouth of the Great River Anduin in 2350 of the Second Age by the Númenóreans, the city and port of Pelargir became the most important haven for the ships of the Dúnedain on Middle-earth. It was here that Elendil landed after the destruction of Númenor and went out to found Gondor and Arnor. It was rebuilt during the tenth century of the Third Age by Eärnil I, and became the main base of power for the mighty Ship Kings of Gondor in their struggles with their rivals, the Black Númenóreans of the city-port of Umbar, far to the south in the land of Harad. During the Gondor’s civil war in 1447, Pelargir was seized by the rebels, but was regained after a year-long siege. Although suffering most of the same ills that afflicted all of Gondor, and often attacked by Haradrim, Easterlings and the Corsairs of Umbar, Pelargir survived as the chief port of Gondor until the War of the Ring. Only then were the black ships of the Corsairs able to overcome the defences of Pelargir, but even so their dominion did not last long. The Dúnedain chieftain Aragorn brought the phantom army of the Dead Men of Dunharrow and routed the Corsairs, who fled in terror and Aragorn seized the whole of their fleet. With these captured ships, Aragorn was able to bring the Men of Pelargir up the River Anduin in that last defence of Gondor on Pelennor Fields and turn the tide of battle. Through the Fourth Age, Pelargir once more grew wealthy and powerful as the chief port of the Reunited Kingdom.

  Pelennor Fields

  During the War of the Ring, there was a fair and green plain called the Pelennor Fields surrounding Gondor’s fortress-city of Minas Tirith. Here the crucial Battle of the Pelennor Fields was fought, and the tide of the war turned. Pelennor means the “fenced land” because the plain was encircled by a defensive wall called the Rammas Echor, that was built by the Ruling Steward Ecthelion II in the year 2594 of the Third Age. This wall was rapidly breached by the army of the Witch-king of Morgul when he advanced upon Minas Tirith during the War of the Ring. Fortunately, the Rohirrim cavalry drove the Witch-king’s forces onto the fields where eventually his evil hordes were overcome and destroyed.

  Pelóri Mountains

  The greatest mountains in all of Arda were the Pélori Mountains, which were raised by the Valar to defend the Undying Lands from Melkor’s forces in Utumno on Middle-earth. They were raised in a vast crescent that made up the boundary of Valinor on the north, east and south sides. Already the tallest mountains in the world, the Pelóri (meaning “fenced peaks”) Mountains were made taller and steeper still after the destruction of the Trees of the Valar. Of its many peaks, Taniquetil, the Mountain sacred to Manwë, was the tallest and stood in the central and eastern part of the range, not far from the only pass through these mountains. This gap was called Calacirya, which means the Pass of Light.

  Peregrin Took

  Hobbit of the Shire. Peregrine Took was born in 2990 of the Third Age, the son of the Thain of the Shire. As a loyal friend of Frodo Baggins, he undertook the Quest of the Ring in 3019. He survived many adventures with the Fellowship of the Ring until its collapse, when both Pippin and his Hobbit friend, Meriadoc Brandybuck, were captured by Orcs. Luckily, both Hobbits escaped into the Fangorn Forest, where they met Treebeard the Ent, and were instrumental in provoking the Ent attack on Isengard. Gandalf later took Pippin to Gondor where he was made a Guard of the Citadel, and helped save the life of the Steward’s son, Faramir. At the Battle before the Black Gate of Mordor, Pippin distinguished himself by slaying a Troll. Later that year he fought in the Battle of Bywater. Pippin and Merry were the two tallest Hobbits in history – measuring nearly four and one-half feet – due to the drinking of Ent-draughts. In the fourteenth year of the Fourth Age, Pippin became the thirty-second Thain of the Shire and ruled until the year 64. He and Merry decided to spend their last years in Rohan and Gondor, where they were buried wit
h honour in the House of Kings.

  Periannath

  In the histories of the War of the Ring it is told how the smallest and most timid of races, the Hobbits, were the means by which the War was won. And so the Periannath, as the Hobbits were known in the Grey-elven tongue, became famed in the songs of Elves and Men and were praised for their valour.

  Petty-dwarves

  The tales of Elves in the First Age of the Sun tell of a remnant of an exiled people of the Dwarves who lived in the land of Beleriand long before the Elves came. These were the Petty-dwarves and they inhabited the forest land of the River Narog and delved the halls of Amon Rúdh and Nulukkizdîn (which later became the Elven kingdom of Nargothrond). But when the Sindarin Elves came into the nearby land of Doriath, not knowing what manner of being these people were, they hunted them for sport. In time they learned they were but a diminished Dwarvish people who had become estranged from other Dwarves by some evil deed done long before in the land east of the Blue Mountains. So the Sindar ceased their persecution of this unhappy race, whom they called the Noegyth Nibin.

  Yet in Beleriand these people dwindled. Having no allies in a land of strife, they enter the histories of Elves in the tales of Túrin. By that time the Petty-dwarves numbered only three: their lord, who was named Mîm, and his two sons, Ibun and Khîm. The “Tale of Grief” relates how Mîm led Túrin Turambar and his followers into the ancient Dwarf-delvings of Amon Rûdh, where they found shelter. But later, Mîm was captured by Orcs and saved his own life by betraying Túrin and his band. So the Orcs made a surprise attack and slaughtered these Outlaws. Mîm won his freedom to no purpose, for both his sons perished, and, though he lived to gather a great Dragon hoard that Glaurung left behind in ruined Nargothrond, it happened that Túrin’s father, the warrior called Húrin, came to Mîm’s door. With a single blow Húrin slew Mîm in vengeance and so ended the life of the Petty-dwarf, the last to live within the Circles of the World.