A Dictionary of Tolkien

by David Day

  Within the domed halls of Ilmarin, the “mansion of the high airs” which Manwë made on Taniquetil, there also resides the queen of the Valar. She is Varda, the Lady of the Stars, fairest of all the Valar for the light of Ilúvatar is still on her. She is a spirit of light that is like a fountain of diamonds. It was Varda who made the Stars, and so Elves call her Elentári and Elbereth, the “Star queen”. Her name is a talisman to all those who would have light dispel darkness. It was Varda who filled the Lamps Illuin and Ormal with the Light that lit all the World, and later too she took the dew of the Trees of the Valar and made the Stars brighter still. She made the forms of the Stars that are known as the constellations: the Butterfly Wilwarin, the Swordsman Menelmacar, the Sickle Valacirca, the Eagle Soronúmë and many others. In these forms may be read the fate of all the peoples of the World.

  It is said that Elves love Varda above all others, for it was her stars that called them into the World, and part of her early light is for ever held in their eyes. For this deed they named her Tintallë and Gilthoniel, the “Kindler”, and for ever they sing to her by starlight and call her the Exalted and the Lofty.

  Next of the Valar is Ulmo, whose element is Water. He is the Ocean Lord, whom all mariners know and Dwarves and Orcs fear. Most often he is vast and formless in his deep watery World, but his arising is like a high tidal wave come to shore; his helmet is wave-crested and his mail is emerald and brilliant silver. He raises the Ulumúri, the great white horns of shell, to his lips and blows deep and long. When he speaks his voice too is deep as the sounding depth of the sea. Yet his form is not always fearful, nor indeed does he always appear as the Ocean Lord. For his is water in all its forms, from the spring rains and the fountains, to the rush of brooks and streams, to the sinuous currents of rivers. His voice, as well, may be gentle and sweet, beautiful and sorrowful. Yet, subtle or fierce, Ulmo moves over all the World and all that waters may learn by bank and shore comes finally to this lord.

  Nourisher of all the World is Yavanna, for her name means “giver of fruits”; she is also Kementári, “Queen of the Earth”. She takes many forms but often stands as tall as the most elegant cypress, green-robed and lit with a golden dew. All those who love the fruits of the Earth love Yavanna and worship her. She is the force that through the green fuse drives the flowers, and the first seeds of all the Olvar were devised and planted by her. She is the protectress of all the fleet-footed Kelvar of woodland and field. It was Yavanna who brought forth the mighty forests of Arda, and she who, during the Ages of Darkness, protected life in the lands of Middle-earth with the Sleep of Yavanna – a great enchantment cast over Mortal Lands. The greatest of her works was the making of the Trees of the Valar, and, after their destruction, it was she who coaxed from their charred stalks a single flower and a single fruit, from which the Moon and Sun were made. Spouse of Yavanna, with whom she shares the element of Earth, yet more deeply, is Aulë the Smith, Maker of Mountains, master of all crafts, deviser of metals and gemstones. He is named Mahal, the “maker”, by Dwarves, for he is the power that fashioned these people from earth and stone. Imperfect though they were, the Dwarves were strong and stubborn as the stones themselves and loved all things that concerned their lord. Aulë was also friend and tutor of the Noldorin Elves, who first cut out the gemstones and excelled in building towers and cities of bright stone. They came often to his mansions, cut deep in the mountain roots of Valinor, and learned many of his skills. The greatest of his deeds was the vast work that he undertook in the earliest Ages, when he shaped the forms of the Earth itself.

  Deeper still than Aulë’s mansions are the Halls of Mandos, which are on the western shore where the waves of Ekkaia, the Encircling Sea, wash the Undying Lands. This is the House of the Dead where the Vala Námo lives, who by all, after his mansion, is called Mandos, the Speaker of Doom. A master of spirits is the Doomsman and, of the Valar, most aware of the Will of Ilúvatar. He is unbending and unmoved by pity, for he knows all the fates that were declared in the Music. In the lore of Elves, the spirits of slain Elves are called to the Lord of the Dead and they inhabit his mansion in the place called the Halls of Awaiting.

  Near Mandos on the west shore of Valinor lives his sister, Nienna the Weeper. She is the cloaked woman in mourning, but she is not Despair, even though Grief is her domain; tears flow from her ceaselessly and her house looks out upon the Walls of the Night. Instead, she is Pity and Suffering that brings wisdom and endurance beyond hope; from the waters of her tears much is born that is unlooked for, yet it is often that which sustains life. So it was that the tears of Nienna and the skill of Yavanna brought forth Isil the flower of the Moon and Anar the fruit of the Sun from the ruin of the Trees of the Valar, and from such grief the Light of the World was born, both by day and by night.

  In the southern lands of Valinor are the beautiful Woods of Oromë, where Oromë, Tamer of Beasts and the Huntsman, resides. All nations of horsemen love him as well as those who live by hunting and those who are herdsmen and foresters. Oromë is fearsome when hunting and his wrath in battle is dreadful. With spear and bow, the Huntsman rides out on his steed Nahar, a beast white and silver with hooves of gold that shake the Earth. When Oromë blows his great hunting horn Valaróma, all evil creatures flee before him, the mountains and woods echo with sound and in his train come hunting hounds and Maiar and Eldar huntsmen on furious Horses. Most often this huntsman is called Oromë the “horn-blower”, which is Araw to the Men of Gondor and Béma in Westron; to Elves he is Aldaron in Quenya and Tauron in Sindarin, which mean “forest lord”.

  Now these are the eight Valar who are called the Aratar, the mightiest of the powers who dwell in the Sphere of the World. Yet there are six more Valar, and one more after them who fell into evil ways and thus is counted last.

  Those who desire eternal youth worship Vána, wife of Oromë and younger sister of Yavanna. Vána the Ever-young is her name; she has gardens of golden flowers and her chief delights are bird song and flower blossom.

  Nessa the Dancer is named next; she is Oromë’s sister. She loves the fleet woodland creatures and they come to her, for the beautiful Nessa is herself a wild spirit who dances unceasingly on the green and never-fading grasses of Valinor.

  The husband of Nessa is Tulkas the Strong, who entered Arda last of the Valar. He is called the Wrestler and also Astaldo, the “valiant”. He is the strongest of all the Valar, quick and tireless, gold-haired and gold-bearded; even in war he carries no weapon for his naked strength and great heart overwhelm all enemies.

  Brother to Mandos is Lórien, the Dream Master. Like Mandos, Lórien is named after the place of his dwelling, for Lórien is the fairest garden within Arda. His true name is Irmo, but to all he is Lórien, King of Dream and Vision.

  Within the fair gardens of Lórien is the Lake Lórellin in which there is an island filled with tall trees and gentle mists. Here Estë the Healer, the gentle one, lives. Her mantle is grey, and rest is what she grants. She is praised by all, but her true gifts are most desired by those whose suffering is great. The Vala named Vairë is the wife of Mandos, and she is called the Weaver. Within her husband’s halls she tirelessly weaves on a loom the tapestries of history and fate long before those events are come in the course of Time.

  Last of the Valar is he who in the beginning was mightiest of the Ainur. He was named Melkor, “He who arises in Might”. He owned in part the powers of all the Valar, but chiefly his realm was Darkness and Cold. He moved over Arda like a black cloud that was dreadful to behold, like the World’s nightmare come into daylight. All evil that was and is in the World had its beginning in Melkor, for he revolted against Ilúvatar in the Timeless Halls and came to Arda in anger, wishing to make his own kingdom. He brought corruption into the World, and with him came a part of the Maiar twisted by his malice. He made his fortress, Utumno, and his armoury, Angband, deep under the mountain roots of Middle-earth. In Arda he waged five great wars against the Valar and put out the fairest lights of the World by d
estroying both the Great Lamps and the Trees of the Valar.

  In the beginning Melkor appeared in forms both fair and evil: his wiles were many and even Manwë the First King was deceived. Yet after the Darkening of

  Valinor, he always assumed his evil form and the Elves called him Morgoth, the “dark enemy of the World”. This warrior king was like a great tower, iron-crowned, with black armour and a shield black, vast and blank. His countenance was evil, for the fire of malice was in his eyes and his face was twisted with rage and scarred by the claws of Thorondor the Eagle lord and the knife of Beren the Edain. He bore eight other wounds and his hands were burned from the fire of the Silmarils, so he was perpetually in pain. Grond the mace, called the Hammer of the Underworld, was his chief weapon and it sounded like thunder and split the Earth with its force. Yet, in the War of Wrath, all this power was destroyed, though Melkor summoned Dragons, Balrogs, Orcs, Trolls and every other evil being to his aid. This war was the end of him, and, though much of his evil and some of his servants remained, he alone of the Valar was driven from the Spheres of the World and now dwells for ever in the Void.

  Valaraukar

  Of the Maiar, the servants of the Valar, there were many who were of the element of fire. Melkor came among these fire spirits in the earliest days and corrupted many of them, turning them against Ilúvatar and the Valar. From brilliant beings they were transformed to demons that burned with hate: they were hulking monsters robed in darkness and they carried whips of flames. Feared by all, these corrupted Maiar were named Valaraukar, “scourges of fire”, but more commonly in Middle-earth they were known as the Balrogs, the “demons of might”. It is under that name the history is told of their evil deeds in Mortal Lands of Arda.

  Valimar

  In the centre of Valinor in the Undying Lands was the city of the Valar and the Maiar. It was called Valimar, the “home of the Vala” and was filled with white stone mansions, silver domes and golden spires. The city was famous for the celestial music of its many gold and silver bells. Before its white walls and golden gate of Valinor was Máhanaxar, the Ring of Doom, where the thrones of the Valar were set in a great council circle. And there, too, for many ages, was the fair Green Mound of Ezellohar upon which grew the Trees of the Valar.

  Valinor

  The first realm of the Valar and Maiar within the World was Almarin. Their second realm was Valinor, the “land of the Valar” on the vast western continent of Aman. Protected on three sides by the huge Pelóri Mountains, and bounded by the sea of Ekkaia on the west, the Valar and Maiar built the city of Valimar and planted the Trees of Light by which all their domain as far as the Pelóri Mountains was lit. After the destruction of the Trees of Light, the Valar then created the Sun and the Moon which they set in the heavens and which lighted all the World. Valinor is dominated by the massive mansions and territories of the Valar and their attendant Maiar. Most impressive is Ilmarin, the mansions of Manwë the Wind Lord and Varda the Star Queen on the peak of Taniquetil, the tallest mountain on Arda. After the destruction of Númenor and the Change of the World in the Second Age of the Sun, Valinor, along with the rest of the Undying Lands, could not be reached by those coming from mortal lands, except by the magical boats of the Elves which could sail the Straight Road beyond the Spheres of the World.

  Vampires

  Whether it was from bird or beast that Melkor bred the evil bloodsucking Bat of Middle-earth, no tale tells. But in the First Age of the Sun, it is told how, in this winged form – made large and armed with talons of steel – Vampire spirits came into the service of Melkor the Dark Enemy.

  In the Quest of the Silmaril, Thuringwethil, the “woman of secret shadow”, was a mighty Vampire and was the chief messenger to travel between Angband and Tol-in-Gaurhoth, where Sauron ruled the Werewolf regions. When Tol-in-Gaurhoth fell, Sauron himself took on Vampire shape and fled. Once the sorcerous power of Sauron was broken, many evil enchantments were also shattered. The shaping-cloak that gave Thuringwethil the power to take Bat-shape fell from her, and the Vampire’s dread spirit fled.

  Vána

  Vala called “the Ever-young”. Vána is the eternally youthful spirit of the Valar who is happiest when surrounded by flowers, birds and gardens. The sister of Yavanna the Fruitful, and the spouse of Oromë the Huntsman, Vána is the personification of spring. She can be found in her gardens in Valinor which are filled with golden flowers and many-coloured birds.

  Vanyar

  Of the Three Kindred of Elves who undertook the Great Journey from Middle-earth to the Undying Lands, least is told in the histories that have come to Men of that Kindred which is counted first and whose king, Ingwë, is named High Lord over all the Elven peoples. This race is the Vanyar, who are also known as the Fair Elves. They seem golden, for their hair is blondest of all peoples. They are most in accord with the Valar and are much loved by them; the counsel of the Lord of the Valar, Manwë, and Varda his queen is always theirs.

  The Vanyar have had little to do with Men. Only once have they returned to Middle-earth and then it was to fight against Morgoth the Enemy in the War of Wrath, which ended the First Age of the Sun. None of the Vanyar stayed on in Middle-earth; all crossed the sea and returned to the Undying Lands.

  What is known of the Vanyar has come to the ears of Men from the exiles – the Noldor who returned to Middle-earth at the time of the Arising of Men. Though they are the least numerous of the Three Kindred, the Vanyar are the most wise and valiant. With the Noldor in their first days in the Undying Lands they built the city of Tirion on the green hill of Túna. This was a great city with white walls and towers, and tallest of the towers of all the Elves was Mindon Eldaliéva, Tower of Ingwë. From it shone a silver lamp over the Shadowy Seas and in the court of the Tower of Ingwë stood a seedling named Galathilion from the tree Telperion, which flourished with the Elven people.

  But after a time the Vanyar came to love the Light of the Trees still more, for it inspired them to compose songs and poetry which are their chief loves. So it was that they wished to settle where their full power might be seen. Thus, Ingwë led his people out of Tirion to the foot of Taniquetil, the Mountain of Manwë, the High Lord of the Valar. Here the Vanyar pledged to stay, and there they have remained, though the Trees have faded long ago.

  Varda

  Vala Queen of the Stars. The greatest and most beautiful queen among the Valar, Varda is the wife of Manwë, the King of Arda. She lives in their palace of Ilmarin on the top of Taniquetil, the tallest mountain on Arda. Varda is often called the “Queen of the Light” for light is her element. It was she who made and rekindled the stars, lighted the Lamps of the Valar, collected the dew of light from the Trees of the Valar, and placed the Moon and the Sun in the heavens. Varda is the Vala Queen of Heaven, most beloved by Elves, and by them is known by many titles: Tintallë, Elentári, Fanuilos, Snow-white, Gilthoniel, Elbereth and Lady of the Stars.

  Vardarianna

  The land of Númenor was blessed in its beginning by the gifts of the Valar and the Eldar. Among the gifts of the Elves were the many fragrant evergreen trees that were brought to Númenor by the Teleri Sea Elves from the Lonely Isle of Eressëa and much valued for the heavenly scent of their flower, leaf, bark and wood. Among them was the Vardarianna, which as the name implies was a tree “beloved of Varda”, the Valarian Queen of the Heavens.

  Variags

  In the land of Khand, south of Mordor, there lived a fierce folk called the Variags during the Third Age of the Sun. They were allied to the evil Easterlings and Haradrim and were servants of the Dark Lord Sauron. The histories of the West tell how twice the Variags came forth at the bidding of Sauron against Gondor. In the year 1944, with the Men of Near Harad, the Variags fought the army of Eärnil of Gondor and were defeated at Poros Crossing. More than a thousand years later the Variags, with the Haradrim and Easterlings, came to the aid of Sauron’s armies from Morgul and Mordor in the War of the Ring. But this was the last time they fought Gondor, for an end came to
Sauron’s power and the Variags made peace with the Dúnedain, and were content with their own land of Khand.

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  Wainriders

  Out of the lands of Rhûn in the nineteenth century of the Third Age of the Sun an Easterling people came to make war on the Men of Gondor. They were a numerous well-armed folk with great Horse-drawn wains and war chariots. By the western Men they were named Wainriders and for a hundred years they made war on the Gondor Men. In 1856 the first battle was fought, in which the Wainriders defeated Gondor and her allies, the Northmen. They killed King Narmacil II, took the lands of Rhovanion and enslaved the Northmen who lived there.

  The Wainriders ruled Rhovanion until the last year of that century, when the Northmen revolted and Calimehtar, the new king of Gondor, brought his army north. In battle at Dagorlad, the Wainriders were driven east to Rhûn by this new king. But still the Wainriders fomented trouble on the borderlands of Gondor and, with the aid of the Ringwraiths and the Haradrim, in 1944 they made yet another war on Gondor. And so, from both the East and the South, the Men of Gondor were forced to divide their armies. Gondor’s King Ondoher went to the East, where his army was broken by the Wainriders and he and his two sons were slain. But the southern army of Gondor defeated the Haradrim army and then marched East. It surprised the victorious Wainriders and annihilated them with an avenging wrath. Their encampment was set alight, and those not slain in the Battle of the Camp were driven into the Dead Marshes where they perished. Thereafter, the name of the Wainriders vanished from the annals of the West and they were not named again in any of the histories of Elves or Men.

  Wandlimb

  Entwife of Treebeard. Wandlimb the Lightfooted was a female Ent, or “Entwife”, who was beloved of Treebeard of the Fangorn Forest. Wandlimb most resembled a Birch tree, and consequently her Elvish name was Fimbrethil or “thin birch”. During the Ages of the Sun, the Entwives moved into the open lands and tended fruit trees, shrubs and grasses, while the Ents preferred the deep timbered forests. But late in the Second Age, the gardens of the Entwives were destroyed. Wandlimb and the other Entwives were either slain at this time, or driven far to the East or South of Middle-earth.