A Dictionary of Tolkien

by David Day

  In the Third Age of the Sun, when Sauron for a second time arose in Mordor, there were still many evil and slow-witted Trolls who haunted Mortal Lands. Some of these were called Stone-trolls; others were Cave-trolls, Hill-trolls, Mountain-trolls and Snow-trolls. Many tales of the Third Age tell of their evil. In the Coldfells north of Rivendell they slew the Dúnedain chieftain Arador.

  In the Trollshaws of Eriador, for centuries, three Trolls fed on village folk of that land. By Troll standards these three Trolls were mental giants, for they spoke and understood the Westron tongue of Men and had an elementary, if faulty, knowledge of arithmetic. None the less, by quickness of wit, the Wizard Gandalf was able to turn them to stone. In Moria the Balrog commanded many huge Cave-trolls.

  Yet it is said Sauron was not yet pleased with the evil of these servants and sought to put their great strength to better use. So it was that, towards the end of the Third Age, Sauron bred Trolls of great cunning and agility who could endure the Sun as long as Sauron’s will was with them. These he called the Olog-hai, and they were great beasts with the reasoning intelligence of evil Men. Armed with fangs and rending claws and stone-scaled as others of the Troll race, they also carried black shields, round and huge, and swung mighty hammers that crushed the helmets of foes. So, in the Mountains of Mordor and the forests about Dol Guldur in Mirkwood where the Olog-hai were sent to war by Sauron, a great evil was loosed upon Sauron’s foes.

  In the War of the Ring on Pelennor Fields and before the Black Gate of Mordor, the terror of these savage beings caused terrible destruction. Yet they were held by a mighty spell, and, when the Ring was unmade and Sauron went into the shadows, the spell was broken. The Olog-hai drifted as if their senses were taken from them; they were like mute cattle wandering dark fields and for all their great strength they were scattered and slain.

  Trollshaws

  In Eriador, during the last thousand years of the Third Age, the forest that stood just north of the Great East Road and east of the Elf-kingdom of Rivendell was called the Trollshaws. It had once been a civilized part of Arnor, and the ruins of Dúnedain castles were there, but since the wars with the Witch-king of Angmar the forest had become the domain of Trolls who loved nothing better than feasting upon unwary travellers. The Trollshaws was the home of three trolls: Bert, Tom and William Huggins, who were turned to stone by Gandalf during the Quest of Erebor.

  Tulkas

  Vala called “the Wrestler”. Tulkas was the Hercules of the Valar. Last of the Ainur to enter Arda, he came to fight Melkor in the First War. Even-tempered and slow to anger, Tulkas loved testing his strength against others. He was youthful and handsome with golden hair and beard. Sometimes called Tulkas the Strong, and Tulkas Astaldo, meaning “valiant”, his spouse was Nessa the Dancer. During the War of Powers, Tulkas captured Melkor, and in the War of Wrath, he performed feats of terrific strength.

  Tuor

  Edain of Dor-lómin. Tuor was born in 473 of the First Age of the Sun, just before the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, in which his father Huor was slain and his uncle, Húrin, was captured. Tuor was raised by Sindar Elves in the caves of Androth until he was sixteen, when he was captured and made the slave of Lorgan the Easterling. He later escaped and for four years lived as an outlaw. In 496, Tuor entered the hidden realm of Gondolin in order to deliver to King Turgon Ulmo the Ocean’s Lord’s warning of Gondolin’s imminent destruction. Turgon, however, refused to go, and Tuor also remained and married the Elven princess, Idril. The couple had a single child, Eärendil. In 511, Gondolin was sacked. Tuor, Idril and Eärendil, with the survivors of Gondolin, escaped to the Havens of Sirion. Some years later, Tuor sailed with Idril to live in Eldamar.

  Turgon

  Elven king of Gondolin. Born during the Ages of Stars in Eldamar, Turgon was the second son of Fingolfin of the Noldor. After the destruction of the Trees of Light, Turgon was among the Noldor who pursued Morgoth and the Silmarils to Middle-earth. In Beleriand, Turgon claimed Nevrast as his realm. However, in the year 51 of the First Age of the Sun, Ulmo the Vala showed Turgon the hidden valley of Tumladen within the Encircling Mountains. There he built a city of white stone and called it Gondolin. It was completed in 104, and Turgon ruled his hidden kingdom for five centuries. In 473, he led the Gondolindrim into the Battle of Unnumbered Tears. Only the sacrifice of the rearguard of the Edain averted total disaster. In 496, Ulmo sent the Edain hero Tuor to warn Turgon, but he refused to flee. After years of spying in 511, Morgoth finally discovered Gondolin’s location and sent his armies to destroy it. Turgon, with his sword Glamdring in his hand, died fighting in defence of his beloved city.

  Túrin Turambar

  Edain of Dor-lómin and Dragon-slayer. Túrin was born in 465 of the First Age, the son of Húrin and Morwen. After the disaster of the Battle of Unnumbered Tears in 473, Túrin was sent to be raised by the Grey-Elf king Thingol in Doriath. From 482, Túrin, with his mentor, the Sindar warrior Beleg Strongbow, fought the minions of Morgoth in the marches of Doriath and beyond. In 486 he adopted the name Neithan and went into exile. After capturing the Petty-dwarf, Mîm, he and his outlaw band made the caves beneath Amon Rûdh the centre of their operations. During this time, he was called Gorthol Dragon-helm. From 488 to 496, Túrin lived in Nargothrond and was called Mormegil the Black Sword. After fighting in the disastrous Battle of Tumhalad, Túrin returned to Nargothrond where Glaurung the Dragon bound him with a spell and an evil curse. For the next three years, calling himself Turambar (“master of doom”), he lived among the Haladin, and in 500 married the maid, Níniel. In 501, Glaurung entered Brethil and Túrin ambushed and slew him with his sword, Gurthang. However, before dying, the Dragon revealed to Túrin that his wife Níniel was, in fact, his long lost sister, Nienor. Realizing he had married his own sister, Túrin killed himself.

  Turtle-fish

  In the lore of Hobbits there is the tale of a great Turtle-fish that is called the Fastitocalon. Whether the tale grew from the sighting of a leviathan upon the sea or was the product of Hobbit fancy cannot now be discovered, for no other race upon Arda ever makes mention of this mighty creature.

  Uu

  Uglúk

  Uruk-hai of Isengard. During the War of the Ring, Uglúk was the captain of the quarrelsome Orc band that captured the Hobbits, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, in Rohan. Shortly after the band was slaughtered by the Horsemen of Rohan. Uglúk’s rank was probably due to the fact that he was larger, stronger and nastier than ordinary Orcs. Uglúk was slain by Éomer, the Marshal of Riddermark.

  Uilos

  On Middle-earth there was an eternally blossoming flower called Uilos, meaning “white” in Elvish. It was a star-like flower and appeared in great abundance on burial mounds. By Men it was called Simbelmynë or Evermind in Westron.

  Uinen

  Maia sea spirit. Uinen, the Lady of the Calms, was the wife of Ossë, the Lord of the Waves. Both served Ulmo the Ocean Lord who was master of water in all its forms. Uinen was as loved by those who went on the sea as Ossë was feared. Sailors prayed to Uinen that she might grant them safe passage.

  Úlairi

  The long histories of the Rings of Power tell how after the War of Sauron and the Elves there arose nine wraiths in the lands of Middle-earth. These were the Úlairi, who were called the Nazgûl in Black Speech and whom Men knew as the Ringwraiths. Once great lords among Men, the Úlairi succumbed to the temptation of the sorcerous Rings and in time became slaves of the Dark Lord Sauron. The tale of their destruction of the realms of Elves and Men is long and terrible.

  Ulmo

  Vala Ocean Lord. Ulmo, meaning “Lord of the Waters”, commands the movement of all water on Middle-earth: from its seas, lakes and rivers to its rainfalls, mists and dews. During the Ages of Stars, Ulmo helped bring the Elves to the Undying Lands, and he often instructed the Elves in music and the ways of the sea. Ulmo did not often manifest himself but when he did it was usually as a gigantic sea king rising from the waters in a wave-crested helmet and mail
armour of silver and emerald. His voice is deep and strong, and when he blows his white sea-shell horns, the Ulumúri, the seas reverberate with their sound.

  Úmanyar

  Of all those newly arisen Elven people who in the years of Starlight chose to heed the summons of the Valar and leave Middle-earth to come to the Undying Lands, only a part completed the Great Journey. Those who reached the Undying Lands, the continent of Aman, were named Amanyar, while those who were lost on the way, and broke away from the main hosts were named the Úmanyar, “those not of Aman”. The main divisions of the Úmanyar were called Nandor, Laiquendi, Falathrim and Sindar, but there were also many smaller tribes and families amongst those lost on that long road of many perils.

  Umbar

  The greatest coastal port in Harad, the southlands of Middle-earth, during the Second and Third Ages of the Sun was called Umbar. The name Umbar referred to the city, port, fortress, cape and surrounding coastal lands. It was a large natural harbour which by the second millennium of the Second Age had become the Númenóreans’ chief port in Middle-earth. In the year 3261 of the Second Age, the Númenóreans raised a mighty fleet which landed in Umbar to contest Sauron’s power, but after the destruction of Númenor those of that race in Umbar fell under Sauron’s power. These people became known as the Black Númenóreans and they often led the powerful fleets of Umbar against the Dúnedain of Gondor, particularly those in the rival port of Pelargir. In the tenth century of the Third Age, kings of Gondor attacked Umbar and broke the sea power of the Black Númenóreans and took possession of port, city and territories. Umbar became a part of the kingdom of Gondor until the civil war and revolt in 1448, when rebel forces and Haradrim allies took possession of the port and separated from Gondor. In 1810, Gondor briefly captured the port and city, but it was soon regained by the Haradrim. Once again the black ships, or dromonds, of Umbar were on the waters raiding the coast, and these people who were called the Corsairs of Umbar became the terror of the seas. In anticipation of the rising power of Sauron, in 2980, Aragorn II (under the name of Thorongil) led a raiding party into Umbar’s port and burned a large part of its fleet. During the War of the Ring itself, the Corsairs attacked Pelargir, but were devastatingly defeated by Aragorn and the Dead Men of Dunharrow. The Corsairs were forced to sue for peace and, during the Fourth Age of the Sun, Umbar was controlled by the Dúnedain kings of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor.

  Undying Lands

  The vast continent of Aman in the far west of Arda was most often called the Undying Lands. As this was the land of the immortal Valar, Maiar and Eldar, the name appears to be appropriate enough. It was primarily made up of two realms: Valinor, the home of the Valar and Maiar with its capital of Valinor, and Eldamar, the home of the Vanyar, Noldor and Teleri Elves with their capitals of Tirion and Alqualondë. After the Change of the World, the Undying Lands were taken to a place beyond mortal reckoning. Thereafter, they could only be reached by sailing in the magical white ships of the Elves along the “Straight Road” that takes them out beyond the Spheres of the World.

  Ungoliant

  Spider of Avathar. Ungoliant was the monstrous and gigantic Spider that lived in Avathar, an uninhabited wasteland between the Pelóri Mountains of Valinor and the cold sea of the south. Probably a corrupted Maia spirit in her beginning, Ungoliant was the vilest creature ever to exist in Arda. She possessed the power to weave a web of darkness, called the Unlight of Ungoliant. At Melkor’s bidding, Ungoliant poisoned and destroyed the Trees of the Valar. Then Melkor and Ungoliant fled to Middle-earth, where they fell to fighting one another over the Silmarils. So great was Ungoliant’s evil power that Melkor himself might have been overcome had his legion of Balrogs not driven her off. Ungoliant fled to the Valley of Death at the foot of the Mountains of Terror in Beleriand where she bred with the spider-like creatures there, and created a monstrous brood of giant Spiders. Later, Ungoliant wandered south into the deserts of Harad, where – finding nothing else to eat – she consumed herself.

  Uruk-hai

  In the year 2475 of the Third Age a new breed of Orkish soldiery came out of Mordor. These were called the Uruk-hai. They were black-skinned, black-blooded and lynx-eyed, nearly as tall as Men and unafraid of light. The Uruk-hai were of greater strength and endurance than the lesser Orcs, and more formidable in battle. They wore black armour and black mail; they wielded long swords and spears and carried shields emblazoned with the Red Eye of Mordor.

  As the spawning of lesser Orcs was counted among the greatest evils of Melkor, so was the breeding of Uruk-hai numbered among Sauron’s most terrible deeds. By what method Sauron bred these beings is not known, but they proved to be well suited to his evil purpose. Their numbers multiplied and they went among all the lesser Orcs and often became their captains or formed legions of their own, for the Uruk-hai were proud of their fighting prowess and disdainful of the lesser servants of Sauron.

  When the Uruk-hai multitude came unexpectedly on the Men of Gondor with spear and sword, they drove the Men before them and stormed Osgiliath, set torches to it, and broke its stone bridge. Thus, the Uruk-hai laid waste the greatest city of Gondor.

  This, however, was but the beginning of the work of the Uruk-hai, for these great Orcs were valued by the Dark Powers and they fell to evil deeds with a passion. Throughout the War of the Ring the Uruk-hai were among the forces that came from Morgul and Mordor. And under the banner of the White Hand of Saruman they came in vast numbers out of Isengard into the battle of the Hornburg. Yet, with the end of the War and the fall of Mordor, the Uruk-hai were as straw before fire, for with Sauron gone they, with the lesser Orcs and other evil beasts, wandered masterless and were slain or driven into hiding in deep caverns where they might only feed on one another, or die.

  Uruks

  In the Third Age of the Sun there came out of Mordor a terrible race of giant Orcs. In Black Speech they were named the Uruk-hai, but they were commonly called Uruks. They were as tall as Men with all the evil traits of Orcs, yet they were stronger and unafraid of light.

  Urulóki

  The Urulóki Fire-drakes that came forth in the First Age of the Sun from the Pits of Angband were part of the great race of Dragons. These Urulóki, or “hot serpents”, were fanged and taloned, dreadful in mind and deed, and filled with breath of flame and sulphur. The first of their kind was Glaurung, Father of Dragons, but he had many offspring who in turn produced many broods. Of all creatures they were the greatest despair of Men and Elves, and the bane of Dwarves.

  Utumno

  In the northeast of Middle-earth during the Ages of the Lamps, Melkor the Vala built a mighty fortress ringed with mountains, called Utumno. Here he plotted against the other Valar and gathered rebel Maiar spirits and monsters, like the Balrogs, the Werewolves and the Great Spiders. After Melkor destroyed the Lamps of the Valar, Utumno’s empire on Middle-earth expanded through the Ages of Darkness that followed. However, conflict with the other Valar was again inevitable after the Rekindling of the Stars and the coming of the Elves. After a history of prolonged destruction the Valar at last made war on Utumno at the end of the First Age of the Stars. This was the War of Powers, and at the end of that war its master Melkor was captured and put in chains.

  Vv

  Vairë

  Vala called “the Weaver”. Ainur spirit of the Timeless Halls that entered Arda and became one of the Valar, Vairë is the wife of Mandos, the Doomsman. She is the weaver of fate, for she weaves the tapestries which hang on the walls of House of the Dead and tell the tale of the world to the end of Time.

  Valar

  When Eä, the “World that Is”, was given substance, there came into it a part of the first race, the Ainur, the “holy ones”. In the Timeless Halls they had been beings of pure spirit who the “Valaquenta” records entered the World and, taking earthly form, became divided into two peoples. The people that were less powerful were numerous and their tale is recounted in the name of the Maiar; the greater powers were fiftee
n in number and they are here accounted as the Valar, the Powers of Arda.

  It is told in the ancient books that, when the Valar and Maiar came and first shaped the rough form of the World, they strove to make the perfect beauty that they had perceived in the Vision. Yet in this there was strife among the Valar and war marred their work. But at last the first kingdom of the Valar called Almaren, was made on an isle in the middle of the vast lake in Middle-earth, and all the World was lit by two brilliant Lamps that stood to the North and South. Thus began the Ages of the Lamps. Yet one of the Valar revolted and broke the Great Lamps of the Valar and destroyed the Isle of Almaren and its enchanted gardens.

  So the Valar left Middle-earth and went West to the Continent of Aman where they placed the Pelóri Mountains about them and made their second kingdom of gardens and mansions more fair than the first. This kingdom was called Valinor and its city of domes, bells and great halls was named Valimar. At this time the Trees of the Valar, which gave Eternal Light, golden and silver, were made and all of Aman was lit within the borders of the Pelóri Mountains; the kingdom was a miracle of beauty.

  First of the Valar is Manwë, who lives on Taniquetil, the highest mountain of Arda. He is the Wind Lord and the First King. All of Arda is his domain, but his chief love is the element of the air and so he is called Súlimo, “lord of the breath of Arda”. He sits on a burnished throne clothed in azure robes, the Sceptre of Sapphire in his hand. Like sapphire too are Manwë’s eyes, but even more bright, and as fearsome as lightning. Manwë sees all the World beneath the skies. The turbulence of the air is his mind’s workings; his wrath is the thunderstorm that rocks the Earth and breaks even the mountain towers. All the birds of the air are his, the Eagles above all others. His is the Breath of the Earth and the Breath of the peoples of Arda. Speech and sound itself are thus parts of his element, and the arts he loves above all others are poetry and song.