Halfast of Overhill – Samwise Gamgee’s ‘cousin Hal’; the son of Halfred of Overhill, a village in the Westfarthing of the Shire.
Half-elven – The PEREDHIL.
Halflings – A translation of the Sindarin word Periannath; the name in the Common Speech for the Shire-folk; who spoke of themselves as Hobbits, a word derived from quite a different meaning.
Half-orcs – An epithet used in Rohan for a particular race of creatures from Isengard; a fell breed with the height of true Men and all the ill-favoured characteristics of Orcs.
Halfred Gamgee – The second son of Hamfast Gamgee and elder brother of Samwise. When a young Hobbit, he quitted Number Three Bagshot Row and moved to the Northfarthing.
Halfred Greenhand – The eldest son of the fabled Holman the Greenhanded of Hobbiton. In token of his father’s prowess, Halfred adopted the surname Greenhand. His only son Holman, the last of that family, passed on the gardener’s trade to Hamfast Gamgee.
Halfred of Overhill – The younger brother of Hamfast Gamgee and son of Hobson ‘Roper’ Gamgee of Tighfield. Halfred had one son, Halfast, born after he went to live at Overhill in the Westfarthing.
Halifirien – The northernmost of the seven BEACON-HILLS which lay along the feet of the White Mountains between Gondor and Rohan. Its original name was Eilenaer. The Halifirien overlooked the Firienwood, which stood at the border of the two countries. On a high place of the mountain stood the tomb of Elendil, built by his son Isildur in the days following the Victory of the Last Alliance. (In those days the Halifirien was the mid-point of the realm of Gondor.) Halifirien means ‘Holy Mountain’ in the tongue of Rohan, and long before it had been known to the Dúnedain as Amon Anwar, the ‘Hill of Awe’; the Firienwood was called the ‘whispering wood’.
Halimath – The ninth month in the Shire Reckoning. (In Bree the same month was called Harvestmath.)
Halla – The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘tall’; also the title of the tehta or ‘sign’ used for breathed h. The tehtar were diacritic marks which acted as vowel substitutes in the Fëanorian alphabet. Halla was a vertical raised bowless stem.
Hallacar – The son of Hallatan of Hyarastorni of Númenor; husband of Tar-Ancalimë.
Hallas ‘Long-leaf’ (Sind.) – From 2567–2605 Third Age, the thirteenth Ruling Steward of Gondor.
Hallatan of Hyarastorni – A lord of Númenor, descendant of Elros Tar-Minyatur.
Hallows – A sacred or holy place; also a name for a tomb-complex. The Tombs of the Kings and other great men of Gondor were built on a high plateau behind the city of Minas Tirith, and could be reached only through a guarded door, Fen Hollen, on the inside of the sixth wall of the city.
Halls of Waiting – See following entry.
Halls of Mandos – The name given in traditions of the Eldar to the Houses of the Dead, in the Uttermost West of Valinor; the place of Awaiting after Death, where the spirits of the departed go perforce, to sit in meditation on their past lives before being released; thereupon the souls of earth-bound Elves awaken once more in the Blessed Realm, but the souls of Mortal Men pass on, away from Arda for ever, to be gathered into the Thought of Ilúvatar. The Keeper of the Houses of the Dead – and judge of the time of abiding there – is the Vala Námo, more often called Mandos (though this is properly the name of the Halls themselves).
Halmir – See HALADIN.
Háma – The younger son of King Helm Hammerhand of Rohan. In the winter of 2758–59 Third Age he was besieged in the Hornburg, together with his father and many of the King’s followers. He led a party of desperate men on a foray early in the new year and was lost in the snow. Helm himself died a short time afterwards. Also the name of the Captain of King Théoden’s household and the Door-ward of Meduseld. He fell during the Battle of the Hornburg (March, 3019 Third Age) and was buried there in a separate mound.
Hamfast ‘the Gaffer’ Gamgee – The son of Hobson ‘Roper’ Gamgee and the father of the illustrious Samwise. For much of his life Hamfast was the most well-respected gardener of Hobbiton and district, being rightly renowned as much for his rural witticisms as for his superb potatoes. He was born in 2926 Third Age (1326 Shire Reckoning), second son to a family of rope-makers in Tighfield. Young Hamfast, however, was more interested in the trade of his older ‘cousin’ Holman Greenhand, a gardener of note, who lived in Hobbiton by the Pool of Bywater. He became apprenticed to Holman and eventually succeeded him as the area’s principal horticulturalist, being employed mainly in the extensive gardens of Bag End.
Hamfast married Bell Goodchild, who bore him six children, of whom Samwise was the youngest. Yet only Sam shared his father’s love of the soil; he assisted in the gardens at Bag End until ‘the Gaffer’ retired, whereupon Sam in his turn took over the job. Old Hamfast enjoyed his retirement, living quietly in Number Three Bagshot Row – apart from a minor upset in 1419 Shire Reckoning, when he was temporarily evicted – until finally, in the year 1428, at the age of 102, he died content. In his later years the Gaffer had seen his favourite son acclaimed as a hero of the Shire, a leader of society and (best of all) as the greatest gardener of all time.
Also the name given by Samwise to his fourth son.
Hamson Gamgee – The eldest son of Hamfast Gamgee and elder brother of Samwise. Rather than follow his father’s trade of gardening, Hamson moved back to Tighfield (where a branch of the family still lived), and pursued instead his uncle Andy’s profession of ropemaking.
Handir – The father of Brandir the Lame of the HALADIN, the son of Haldir and Gloredhel of Dor-lómin. In his time he succeeded to the chieftainship of the Men of Brethil, but was slain in battle with Orcs while still in middle life. Brandir succeeded him.
Harad ‘South’ (Sind. from Q. Hyarmen) – The name given in Gondor to all those lands south of the river Harnen; a fuller title was Haradwaith ‘[Lands of the] South-peoples’. This area was divided (according to the reckoning of the Dúnedain) into Far and Near Harad, and comprised a patchwork of petty kingdoms, all of which were frequently – indeed, almost continually – at war with Gondor during the Third Age.
Haradrim ‘People of-the-South’ (Sind.) – The inhabitants of the lands of Harad; the Southrons, a fierce race of Men divided into a number of different but belligerent kingdoms. Throughout much of the Third Age their armies repeatedly marched against Gondor; mostly they were defeated and driven back to their desert lands. Yet on only one occasion were the Haradrim totally overthrown by Gondor’s might (see HYARMENDACIL I); and for over two thousand years they remained an unpredictable threat on the southern borders.
For all their (observed) warlike intentions and (ascribed) lust for gold, the Haradrim were nonetheless accounted True Men. Their methods of warfare were unlike those of other folk: many horsemen, and troops of giant war-beasts, called mûmakil, on the backs of which rode their chieftains. Their soldiers were armed with spear and shield, helm and scimitar, all adorned with gold and much ornament. They were also reportedly darker-skinned than the Dúnedain of Gondor, due no doubt to the long effect of the bright Sun in those distant lands. By all accounts, the Men of Harad were formidable warriors and determined opponents, and their enmity towards Gondor was deep-rooted.
The principal issue behind the initial outbreak of hostilities between the two peoples was the possession of Umbar, which lay on the coast of Haradwaith some seventy leagues south of the river Harnen. Traditionally Black Númenorean land, it had been seized by Gondor in the tenth century of the Third Age; and in 1015 the Haradrim – stirred up by the dispossessed Black Númenoreans – attacked Umbar in great strength. Ciryandil King of Gondor was slain and both the Havens and City of Umbar were invested. But the besieged Dúnedain held out, and some years later the Southron Federates were heavily defeated by King Ciryaher – so heavily, in fact, that for several hundred years afterwards none of the Haradrim dared to cross the Poros, and the wide lands between that river and the Harnen became subject to Gondor.
But in the course of time Gondor
’s hold over the Harad was loosened and eventually broken. In 1540 a second King of Gondor was slain by the Southrons, and even though King Hyarmendacil II avenged him, Gondor could no longer prevent the Haradrim from raiding her frontiers. Moreover, it seems clear that from this point onwards there was an increasing measure of co-operation between the Haradrim and the Corsairs of Umbar (for Gondor had not long held Umbar, having lost it again in 1448). In any event the Haradrim themselves were in possession of Umbar by the nineteenth century; furthermore, in 1944 they made an alliance for the first time with an Easterling people (the Wainriders). So the net around Gondor drew ever tighter.
Yet although Gondor was eventually forced to evacuate the debatable land of Harondor, for many centuries her strength still proved sufficient to defend her shortened borders. And though there was intermittent raiding by land and sea throughout this period, it was not until almost a thousand years later that any further full-scale assault came from south of the Poros. It was Sauron himself – or rather, his emissaries – who brought this about; for in 2885 their whisperings stirred up the Haradrim, who invaded South Ithilien by their traditional route. This army was heavily defeated and driven south in disarray (see BATTLE OF THE CROSSINGS OF POROS).
Nonetheless the Haradrim were never again quiescent while the Third Age lasted. Their incessant border-raiding bled Gondor’s strength at a time when Sauron the Great was once more openly returning to power in Mordor; and in due course Sauron brought them more and more under his sway. During the War of the Ring, a great force of Haradrim, supported by many mûmakil, fought for Sauron’s part at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. But in that great clash at Gondor’s gate, they were defeated yet again, and their hopes of plunder dashed once more. Nevertheless, the warriors of Haradwaith were not so easily subdued, and in the first decades of the Fourth Age there was fighting again along the Harnen.
Harad Road – The main route between the Harad lands and Gondor. In the latter years of the Third Age, this road, originally built by Men of Gondor, was mainly used by her enemies, the Haradrim, to speed their forces northwards.
Haradwaith ‘Lands-of-the-South-peoples’ (Sind.) – All the lands south of the river Harnen.
Haranyë ‘Century’ (Q.) – The hundred-year cycle in the system of KINGS’ RECKONING.
Hardbottle – A village of the Shire, home of the Bracegirdle family.
Harding – A knight of King Théoden’s Household. He perished in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
Harding of the Hill – The great-grandson of Samwise Gamgee (through his son Frodo Gardner). The Gardners of the Hill lived in Bag End following Sam’s departure from the Shire.
Hareth – The daughter of Halmir chieftain of the HALADIN; She wedded Galdor the Tall of Dor-lómin, the son of Hador Lórindol, thus uniting the Second and Third Houses of the Edain. Her own Sons were Húrin and Huor.
Harfoots – One of the three breeds or clans of Hobbits; the ‘most normal and representative variety of Hobbit, and far the most numerous [and] most inclined to settle in one place’.1 Harfoots also maintained the archaic habit of dwelling in burrows (or smials) for longer than other Hobbits. Most Shire-hobbits were Harfoots.
Harlindon ‘South-Lindon’ (Sind.) – That part of the Elvish land of LINDON which lay south of the Gulf of Lune.
Harlond ‘Southern-haven’ (Sind.) – The name for at least two separate harbours in Middle-earth: a haven in the Gulf of Lune, and the landings on the Anduin which served Minas Tirith as a river-port.
Harma – The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘treasure’; also the title of Tengwa number 11, which represented the sound (hard) ch (as in loch). This sound later became ‘softened’ to simple h (e.g. from Rochand to Rohan), except at the end of words and before the consonant t.
Harnen ‘South-water’ (Sind.) – This river was accounted the frontier between South Gondor and the lands of Harad. It rose in the southern range of the Ephel Dúath (Mountains of Shadow) and flowed westwards to find the sea some two hundred miles south of the Anduin delta.
Note: on early maps of Third Age Middle-earth, this river, though marked, is not named.
Harondor ‘South-Gondor’ (Sind.) – The name given in Gondor to all the lands between the rivers Poros and Harnen. In the early Third Age the Dúnedain of the South claimed these barren desert lands as part of their realm. Later, Harondor became a contested region between Gondor and the Harad.
Harrowdale – The high vale in the northern White Mountains, above which lay Dunharrow, the most ancient stronghold in Rohan.
Harry Goatleaf – One of the Big Folk of Bree, employed in the year 3018 Third Age as a watcher on the western gate. Like one or two other Bree-men, he was of inferior sort and easily corrupted. He later became a common footpad and his fate is not recorded.
Harvestmath – See HALIMATH.
Hasufel – A noble horse of Rohan; a handsome grey whose rider, Gárulf, was slain during the War of the Ring, in a battle between Orcs of Isengard and the éored of Éomer, Third Marshal of the Mark. Éomer later lent Hasufel to Aragorn and the horse served him well.
Hathaldir the Young – One of the Edain of the First House; he was a companion of BARAHIR in the last campaign made on Dorthonion in the years following the Dagor Bragollach.
Hathol – The Grandson of Malach Aradan of the Third House of the Edain; father of Hador Lórindol of Dor-lómin.
Hatholdir – A lord of Númenor and friend of King Tar-Meneldur. His son Orchaldor wedded the King’s daughter Ailinel.
Hauberk – A sleeveless mail-jacket designed to protect the neck and upper body.
Haudh-en-Arwen ‘Howe [Burial-mound] of the Maiden Queen’ (Sind.) – The burial tumulus, in Brethil, of HALETH. Also known as Tûr Haretha (‘Haleth’s Mound’) in the early form of Adûnaic spoken by the Haladin.
Haudh-en-Elleth ‘Mound-of-the-Elf-maid’ (Sind.) – The burial barrow of Finduilas daughter of Orodreth King of Nargothrond, at the Crossings of Teiglin. She was slain by Orcs.
Haudh-en-Gwanûr ‘Mound-of-the-Twins’ (Sind.) – The barrow which covered the remains of the brothers Fastred and Folcred of Rohan. It stood by the river Poros. See BATTLE OF THE CROSSINGS OF POROS.
Haudh-en-Ndengin ‘Hill-of-Slain’ (Sind.; also known as Haudh-en-Nirnaeth, ‘Mound-of-Tears’) – The great mound of corpses – of Elves and Men alike – built by the Orcs of Angband after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, in Anfauglith.
Haunted Mountain – A translation of the Northern Mannish word Dwimorberg; being the name given in Rohan to a peak of the White Mountains, which overhung Dunharrow.
Haunted Pass – Cirith Gorgor.
Haven of the Swans – A translation of the Quenya name ALQUALONDË; the chief city and haven of the Sea-elves of Aman (the Teleri).
Havens of Sirion – The secret harbour near the Sirion delta, founded by Elves after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and the fall of the Falas.
Havens of the Falas – EGLAREST and BRITHOMBAR. See also FALATHRIM.
Haysend – A village of southern Buckland. It was located at the mouth of the Withywindle, where this river flowed out of the Old Forest and became part of the Baranduin (Brandywine).
Hayward – A family of Buckland-hobbits, traditional keepers and patrollers of the High Hay.
Headstrong – A family of Shire-hobbits related to the Brandybucks.
Heathertoes – A family of ‘Big People’ of Bree.
Heavy-handed – An early Elvish epithet for the race of Men.
Heirs of Anárion – The ruling dynasty of Gondor, from the death of Elendil at the end of the Second Age to the passing of King Eärnur (2050 Third Age). Anárion was the younger son of Elendil the Tall, who founded both Arnor and Gondor in the year 3320 Second Age. From that date onwards, Anárion ruled Gondor conjointly with his elder brother Isildur, until his own death at the siege of Barad-dûr in 3440. When Elendil himself died, one year later, the lordship of Arnor was taken up by Isildur, and Gondor’s rule was then given to Meneldil, Anárion’s son
. From Meneldil, the Kings of Gondor descended in line unbroken for nearly a thousand years.
Throughout the second millennium of the Third Age, the maintenance of the Line of Anárion became ever more difficult, and at last open dispute flared between rival claimants to the Throne. There then ensued the disastrous Kin-strife, the civil war of Gondor which nearly brought an end to the South-kingdom. Nevertheless, the Heirs of Anárion endured until the days of Eärnur, the thirty-third King; after him the last link with Elendil was broken. For Eärnur rode away to Minas Morgul and never came back, and he left no son to succeed him. Gondor was thereafter ruled by her Stewards (of the House of Húrin).
See also LINES OF DESCENT.
Heirs of Isildur – The ruling dynasty of Arnor (and Arthedain). Although the North-kingdom itself dwindled in both size and strength and eventually passed away altogether, its ruling House was maintained against all odds in line unbroken – until, at the very end of the Third Age, the last Heir of Isildur was able to restore both the Kingship in Arnor and the ancient union with the South-kingdom of Gondor. Isildur was the elder son of Elendil the Tall, High-King of Arnor and Gondor and founder of both the Realms in Exile. Upon his father’s death Isildur assumed the High-Kingship and in Year 2 Third Age journeyed to Arnor to take up the Sceptre. But he never reached the North-kingdom, and his youngest son Valandil – whose three brothers were also lost with Isildur – then became King. All the Kings of Arnor and Arthedain (and the subsequent Chieftains of the North) were descended father to son from Valandil. The last Heir of Isildur in the Third Age was Aragorn II, sixteenth Chieftain of the Dúnedain; he later became ruler of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. See also LINES OF DESCENT.
Helcar ‘Icy’ (Sind.) – The name given in the lore of the Eldar to the great Inland Sea of the north and east of Middle-earth, formed in ancient days by the destruction of the Mountain of Illuin. The Lake of Cuiviénen, the ‘Water of Awakening’ of the Elves, was a bay of Helcar.
The Complete Tolkien Companion Page 33