The Complete Tolkien Companion

by J. E. A. Tyler

  Ilmarin ‘Mansion of the High Airs’ (Q.) – The name given by the Eldar to the high palace of the Valar King and Queen, Manwë and Varda; it stood atop Mount Oiolossë, highest of the Mountains of Valinor (the Pelóri).

  Ilmen – The heavens.

  Ilúvatar ‘Father-of-All’ (Q.) – The Creator. Called also Eru, ‘The One’ (Sind.).

  Imlach – One of the early Edain, of the Third House. He was a younger son of Marach, and the father of AMLACH.

  Imlad Morgul ‘Vale of Sorcery’ (Sind.) – One of the western valleys of the Mountains of Shadow, lying only twenty miles north-east of the bridges of Osgiliath. It was guarded by the evil tower of Minas Morgul and watered by the Morgulduin, once the Ithilduin, flowing gently down through Ithilien to the Anduin. The valley, the tower and the river were all renamed in Gondor after the fall of Minas Ithil to the Nazgûl (in 2002 Third Age).

  The waters of the Morgulduin were poisonous, and the loathsome white flowers in the meadows of the valley produced noxious vapours; rottenness and decay filled Imlad Morgul. At the end of the Third Age the vegetation there was burned to the rock and the evil tower was thrown down for ever.

  Imladris ‘Deep-cloven-valley’ (Sind.) – The original Elvish name for the valley of RIVENDELL.

  Imloth Melui – A vale in the province of Lossarnach in Gondor; its woods and wild roses were locally renowned.

  Imrahil – The Prince of DOL AMROTH; at the time of the War of the Ring the chief nobleman of Gondor after the House of Húrin (the Line of the Ruling Stewards). He was the son of Adrahil and brother of the Lady Finduilas, wife of Steward Denethor II.

  Imrahil was also a capable warrior, and to the Siege of Minas Tirith he brought seven hundred sturdy Dúnedain of Belfalas, strengthened by a company of mounted men. (This latter force constituted Gondor’s sole cavalry arm until the arrival of the Rohirrim.) He commanded the City when both the Steward and his heir, Faramir, were stricken during the Siege, and later fought gallantly in battle on the Pelennor Fields and before the Black Gate of Mordor. His daughter Lothiriel later wedded King Éomer of Rohan.

  Imrazôr (the Númenorean) – See GALADOR.

  Incanús – A name given to Gandalf ‘in the south’ for which there are two widely differing (though not necessarily mutually exclusive) explanations. Firstly, that it was used by the Men of Harad and it is said to have meant ‘North-spy’.1 (There is no record of Gandalf journeying to Haradwaith but that does not mean he never went there often enough to acquire a disparaging nickname.) The second2 presupposes that by ‘in the south’ Gandalf meant Gondor in the far-off days (two thousand years earlier) when he had first seen her; in this hypothesis Incanús is a Quenya word meaning ‘Mind-ruler’.

  Indis the Fair – A maiden of the Vanyar, and one of the very few of this noblest of all Eldarin kindreds ever to be mentioned in records. She is said to have been akin to Ingwë the High King of all the Elves. Indis became the second wife of the King of the Noldor, Finwë; his first, Miriel Serindë, had passed away of exhaustion (and foreboding), after bearing the king’s first son Fëanor. The wedding of Indis and Finwë was disliked by Fëanor, and mistrusted by some others, but she bore her husband two splendid sons: Fingolfin and Finarfin. The latter was golden-haired like his mother, and his House afterwards became renowned for this hereditary trait.

  Indor – The father of Aerin of Dor-lómin.

  Ingold – A warrior of Minas Tirith, leader of those who guarded the northern section of the Rammas (the out-wall of the Pelennor Fields) prior to the Siege of the City (March, 3019 Third Age).

  Ingwë – The King of the Vanyar, the ‘Fair-elves’ of Eldamar and Valinor, and High King of all the Quendi, whether in Aman or Middle-earth. He was born by the waters of Cuiviénen, at the Awakening of the Elves, and later led the First Kindred of the Eldar, the Vanyar, on the Great Journey from the east of Middle-earth to the Uttermost West, first of all the Quendi to set foot on the shores of Aman the Blessed. There afterwards he dwelled, in Tirion, and later in the halls of Manwë and Varda upon the mountain Oiolossë, and was held first among all the Eldar. Ingwë returned to Middle-earth only once – when he led the Host of the Vanyar to the Great Battle which overthrew Morgoth.

  Inland Sea – As it appears on late Third Age cartography, this term refers to the Inland Sea of RHÛN. References from the First Age, however, apply to the (greater) Sea of HELCAR.

  (The) Inscrutable – An Elvish epithet for the race of Men.

  Inziladûn (Ar-Inziladûn) – From 3175–3255 the twenty-fourth and penultimate King of Númenor. Inziladûn deplored the schism which had come to divide the Númenoreans and the Eldar and in token of this he changed his (Adûnaic) name to the (High-elven) Tar-Palantír, ‘The Farsighted’, shortly after his accession to the throne. This act of contrition came too late to save Númenor from her Downfall. Palantír’s daughter Míriel, who should have succeeded him, was prevented from doing so by rebellious elements, and forcibly wedded to her uncle Gimilkhâd. In the year 3255 Second Age he seized the Sceptre and became King, taking the (Adûnaic) royal name Ar-Pharazôn, ‘The Golden’. Pharazôn was the last King of Númenor.

  Inzilbêth (Ar-Inzilbêth) – A beautiful Númenorean princess of the Line of Andúnië. She was wedded – against her will – to the schismatic King Ar-Gimilzôr; and bore him two sons: INZILADÛN and GIMILKHD.

  Ioreth – An elderly woman of Minas Tirith (formerly from the province of Lossarnach) who nursed the sick and otherwise aided the Healers during the Siege of the City (March, 3019 Third Age).

  Irensaga – A jagged peak in the northern White Mountains; it overlooked Harrowdale in Rohan, forming the northern wall of the Hold of Dunharrow.

  Irmo – The real name of the Vala better known as LÓRIEN.

  Iron Crown – The crown in which Morgoth the Enemy mounted the three Silmarils which he had stolen from the High-elves of Eldamar and brought to Middle-earth in the latter part of the First Age, thus precipitating the War of the Great Jewels. At least one of the Silmarils was recovered, by Beren and Lúthien; the remaining two Jewels were taken from their keeper by the Valar, at the end of the Age, and the crown was beaten into a thrall’s ring, which was then placed about his neck – for ever.

  Iron Hills – The location of one of the two main settlements of Durin’s Folk in the latter years of the Third Age. These mountains lay about forty leagues east of Erebor and formed the only natural barrier between Mirkwood and the wide lands of the East.

  The colony there was begun in the year 2590 Third Age, after attacks by Dragons had forced the Dwarves out of the Grey Mountains. Then Grór son of Dáin I, together with many of Durin’s Folk, went to the Iron Hills, while his elder brother Thrór, Durin’s Heir, led the greater part of them back to the Lonely Mountain, founded long before by Thráin I.

  For a while the two Dwarf-kingdoms flourished. Although the Dwarves of the Iron Hills were a cadet branch of the Line of Durin, they were numerous and well armed, and while their wealth did not compare with that of Erebor, perhaps this very lack saved them from the unwelcome attentions of Dragons. For it was the Lonely Mountain, fabulously wealthy and full of Dwarves grown fat with prosperity, that Smaug the Golden, greatest Worm of his day, eventually chose as his dwelling-place in 2770. For the 170 years that Smaug reigned in Erebor, the Iron Hills colony, led by descendants of Grór, boasted the only secure Dwarf settlement in the west of Middle-earth. Yet despite their toughness and fierce disposition, even the Dwarves of the Iron Hills were no match for the forces which Sauron began to assemble in the East as the Age waned. And it was chiefly for this reason that, in the year 2941, Gandalf the Grey purposed to bring about the reinstatement of the Kingdom of Erebor and the destruction of the Dragon.

  After the death of Smaug there followed a crucial period when the Dwarves of Erebor were in dispute with both the Men of Esgaroth and the Elves of Mirkwood over the disposal of the Dragon-hoard. To back his claim with force, Thorin Oakenshield, besieged in the Lonely Mountain, sent se
cretly to the Dwarves of the Iron Hills (now led by Dáin Ironfoot, grandson of Grór). Over five hundred of these sturdy people set out to aid Thorin, fully prepared to give battle to Elves and Men on behalf of their kin. However, this grievous clash was averted by the (timely) arrival of an invading army of Orcs, the foes of all; and the mattocks and axes of the Iron Hills were put to better use on Orc-necks. As Thorin Oakenshield was slain in this battle, Dáin Ironfoot, Durin’s Heir, became the new King Under the Mountain. He ruled both Dwarf-realms with great wisdom until he fell at last in the War of the Ring.

  Iron Mountains – A translation of the Sindarin words Ered Engrin; the name given by the Eldar to the great chain of mountains raised by Morgoth at the beginning of his realm in the north of Middle-earth, to protect it from attack (from South or West). Their full extent is not recorded, but it is known that they curved west-east in a great sickle, fencing in Utumno and Angband behind a hedge of grim peaks. The most southerly spur of this range (in later days) was Thangorodrim, beneath which lay the Gates of Angband.

  Isen – A river which rose in the southernmost vales of the Misty Mountains and flowed through the Gap of Rohan to find the Adorn some fifty leagues south-west of Isengard. The conjoined rivers flowed into the Sea between Enedhwaith and Drúwaith Iaur.

  Isengard – One of the mightiest fortifications of Middle-earth in the Third Age. The Ring of Isengard was a huge rock-wall, roughly circular in shape, which enclosed a shallow valley approximately one mile in diameter. This natural fortress lay within the greater valley of Nan Curunír, southernmost of the Misty Mountains and several leagues north of the Gap of Rohan. During the early days of the South-kingdom, the rock-wall was cunningly refashioned by the Dúnedain, for they wished to make the Ring into a fortress of Gondor’s might. At the centre of the enclosed valley they constructed the Tower of Orthanc, in which they set one of the four palantíri (Seeing-stones) of the Realm. At the time of its building, just before the ending of the Second Age, the Ring was named Angrenost, ‘Iron-citadel’ – which was also the meaning of the later, more widely used name Isengard (a word in the tongue of the Rohirrim). Angrenost was then accounted the northernmost bastion of Gondor’s power – though it lay, in fact, beyond her borders. For many centuries it dominated the strategic Gap between the Misty Mountains and the White. But as the long years of the Third Age passed, Gondor retreated from her northern provinces. The impregnable Tower was locked and abandoned, and the Ring of Isengard became filled with wild folk from the hills and fells of Dunland.

  For over fifty years the Dunlendings used the Ring as a base from which to harry the western frontiers of Rohan (though they were never able to enter the Tower). But in the end they were driven out; and then came Saruman the White, Chief of Wizards, speaking soft words and asking for the Keys of Orthanc, for he desired (he said) to dwell there, as a friend of both Rohan and Gondor. This was in the year 2759, when Rohan was in sad disarray following the Long Winter and its attendant evils. Saruman was granted permission to settle in Isengard and the Keys of the Tower were given up to him by the Steward of Gondor.

  For many years Saruman dwelt there quietly, while the Rohirrim slowly rebuilt their strength. But it was later seen how, from the first, the Wizard had desired above all to make himself a great lord of Men – and how, to this end, he had gained possession of the mightiest stronghold north of Minas Tirith (not to mention its Seeing-stone).

  In the last decade of the third millennium of the Age, Saruman abandoned all pretence of custodianship and claimed Isengard for his own. He repaired the ancient rock-wall and, underneath the valley enclosed by the Ring, delved many pits and armouries, caves and dens, in which to house his new and formidable armies. Yet in the event, the Wizard launched his long-planned war upon Rohan before he was fully ready – and the unlikely alliance that was made against him proved too great for even the power of Isengard to withstand. Saruman was cast out from the society of those he had once sought to dominate. In the last analysis, Isengard, though strong indeed, was less formidable than he had imagined.

  After the War of the Ring, the rock-wall was cast down, and the vale transformed into a garden; but the Tower of Orthanc (which no power could destroy) was locked once more, and its Keys passed again into the keeping of the King of Gondor. Its palantír was afterwards kept in Minas Tirith.

  Isengrim Took (Isengrim II) – From 2683–2722 Third Age (1083–1122 Shire Reckoning), the twenty-second Thain of the Shire. He commenced the excavation of a suitable dwelling-place for the aristocratic Took family, the splendid burrowings later known as Great Smials.

  Isenmouthe – See CARACH ANGREN.

  Isil (Q.) – The High-elven name for the Moon. According to tradition, both Moon and Sun (Anar) were set aloft by the Valar after the death of the Two Trees, to bring Light to Middle-earth. Isil was an aerial vessel, made by Aulë, and containing the last Flower of Silver, coaxed by Yavanna from the dying Tree Telperion. It was steered on its celestial course by Tilion, one of the Maiar.

  In Sindarin, Ithil.

  Isildur – From 3320 Second Age to Year 2 Third Age, the conjoint King of Gondor, and from 3441 Second Age to Year 2 Third Age, the second King of Arnor. He was the elder son of Elendil the Tall (founder of both Realms in Exile) and the brother of Anárion, who was slain at the gates of the Barad-dûr. Isildur was born in Númenor, and when that mighty realm foundered under the Western Seas (in 3319 Second Age), he helped his father and brother to lead a remnant of the Dúnedain back to Middle-earth. There they founded the Númenorean realms-in-exile, Arnor and Gondor.

  Elendil became the High King of both realms, but chose to concentrate his rule in the North-kingdom of Arnor, while Isildur and his younger brother Anárion were given the South-kingdom of Gondor to rule conjointly. Anárion lived mostly in his city of Minas Anor on the knees of the White Mountains, and Isildur, together with his own four sons, dwelled in Minas Ithil, the ‘Tower of the Moon’, which he had raised among the vales of the Mountains of Shadow, the western border of Mordor. But the Lord of Mordor had not perished in the ruin of Númenor (as all then believed), and so when Sauron finally launched a war against the Dúnedain of Middle-earth, the first stronghold to fall to his renascent power was Isildur’s own city of Minas Ithil. In 3429 Second Age, the forces of Mordor came across the Spider’s Pass and captured the Tower of the Moon in a surprise attack, sacking the city and burning its White Tree. But Isildur and his family escaped and, leaving his brother to defend the line of the Anduin, he passed down the river to the Sea, raising the alarm and enlisting allies as he went. And while Sauron attempted vainly to force the crossings of the Anduin, Isildur came at last to the havens of Lindon in the North, and brought the tidings to his father Elendil.

  So began the war of the Dúnedain and the Elves against Sauron, known as the LAST ALLIANCE. Together with his father, his sons and their Elven-allies, Isildur marched south with a great army as soon as this could be mustered. In the final battle before the Black Gate, Sauron was defeated and driven back to the Dark Tower, where he was long besieged. There Isildur’s brother Anárion was slain, and there, in the following year (3341, the last of the Second Age), his father Elendil perished in personal combat with Sauron – who was also overthrown. Isildur then became High King of both Arnor and Gondor.

  On the last battlefield Isildur had gained possession of the Ruling Ring of Sauron. This, unwisely – and against the urgings of Círdan and Elrond, who were present – he took as weregild for the death of his kin, cutting the Ring from Sauron’s own hand with the broken hilt-shard of Elendil’s sword. This act ultimately nullified the victory so dearly bought.

  For the first two years of the Third Age, Isildur remained in the South-kingdom, instructing his brother’s son Meneldil in kingship. Then, after planting a sapling of the White Tree in Minas Anor, in memory of his brother, he marched away, together with his three eldest sons and an escort of no more than 200 knights to take up the Northern Sceptre. Beside the Gladden Fields in Wilderla
nd, this party – who were unmounted – was ambushed by a host of Orcs of the Mountains, and all but three were slain. Isildur almost escaped only to be betrayed by his greatest treasure: he perished in the waters of the Anduin.3 His fourth son Valandil then became King of Arnor.

  Isildur’s Bane – The name given among the Dúnedain of Arnor to the RULING RING of Sauron – which brought about the death of their last High King.

  Isilmë – The sister of Silmariën of Númenor.

  Isilmo – The father of King Tar-Minastir of Númenor.

  Isilya ‘Moon’s-day’ (Q.) – The third day of the enquië or week in both the Elvish calendar and the Kings’ Reckoning. The Sindarin name for the same day was Orithil; while the Hobbits of the Shire and Bree called it Monendei (later shortened to Monday).

  Isle of Balar – The great island in the mouth of the Bay of BALAR in Middle-earth, a remnant of ERESSËA. At the end of the First Age it became the dwelling of the Falathrim and the last redoubt of the Elves in Middle-earth. Gil-galad Ereinion, heir of Fingon the High King, was fostered here.

  Isle of Werewolves – A translation of the Grey-elven name Tol-in-Gaurhoth, as the island of Tol Sirion was renamed after its fall to Sauron servant of Morgoth, two years after the Dagor Bragollach. Here Finrod Felagund met his death.

  Istari – The ancient Order of WIZARDS (Heren Istarion, Q.), actually Maiar of Valinor.

  Isumbras Took (Isumbras I) – In 2340 Third Age (740 Shire Reckoning), Isumbras became the thirteenth Thain of the Shire and the first Hobbit of the influential Took family to hold this office. The Oldbucks, with whom the hereditary Thainship had previously resided, re-crossed the Baranduin in that year and founded the Buckland, changing their family name to Brandybuck.

  Ithilbor – The father of SAEROS of the Nandor.

  Ithildin ‘Star-moon’ (Sind.) – A metal developed during the Second Age by the Elven-smiths of Eregion; it was made from mithril, which the Elves obtained from the Dwarves of Moria. Ithildin was particularly suitable for the finest embellishments and hidden markings, for it did not shine unless illuminated by moon or stars, and even then only after the correct spells had ‘unlocked’ it. The Doors of Durin (the West-gate of Moria) were inlaid with designs traced in this metal.