For this deed the Noldor were cursed by the Valar; and they forfeited whatever chance they might have had of gaining the friendship of Elwë Thingol, King of Beleriand, for Thingol was the brother of Olwë. The Noldor themselves had been bitterly divided over the Kinslaying ever since the truth about its cause had become known. Thus were the Noldor sundered from the Sindar, and from each other: to the clear profit of Morgoth. And the Kinslaying at Alqualondë was not the last time that Elves would slay Elves, though it was the last time in Aman.
Kin-strife – The great Civil War of Gondor, which raged intermittently from 1432–48 Third Age, nearly destroying the South-kingdom of the Dúnedain and immeasurably weakening its internal resources. Among the immediate effects were the depopulation of whole provinces and the diminished respect in which Gondor was held by her traditional foes. More importantly, the ill-will engendered by the Kin-strife lingered between its factions long afterwards and played a part in the final extinction of the ruling Line of Anárion. And though Gondor was to regain her military strength in later years, she was never again able to rekindle the founding spirit inherited from Númenor.
And yet the origins of the civil war lay far back in the Númenoreans’ own innate sense of their special destiny, and in the great (and justified) pride taken in their ancient lineage. Indeed, the Númenorean Kings were directly descended from the High-elves and from the heroic chieftains of the Edain of the First Age (through their first King, Elros Tar-Minyatur, son of Eärendil the Mariner). So the preservation of this blood-line undiffused by lesser stock became a severely maintained dictum in Númenor. The Kings of Gondor, directly descended from the early Númenorean rulers, but dwelling in the lesser lands of Middle-earth, naturally strove to maintain their incomparable lineage untainted. And although for over a thousand years the blood of Elendil remained unmingled, nevertheless, by the time of the twentieth King, Valacar, the Line of Anárion had been ‘diminished’ in the eyes of many.
Valacar’s father was the great warrior-king Romendacil II, who had overwhelmed a vast horde of Easterlings with the aid of the Men of Rhovanion, welcome allies of Gondor. Partly in token of this, he sent his son to dwell for a while with the nobles of Rhovanion. But Valacar came under the spell of this fair Northern race and eventually married his host’s daughter. From their union came Eldacar (called Vinitharya in the land of his birth). As is told elsewhere,2 this union of the Heir to the Throne and a lady of ‘lesser’ race caused great friction in the South-kingdom. Therefore, by the time Valacar died and Eldacar became King (in 1432 Third Age), there was already open rebellion in many places.
Unfortunately for the King, the growing number of those opposed to him had the support of Gondor’s invincible navy, battle-tested but idle at Pelargir for some time. Indeed, the Captain of the Fleets later emerged as the leader of the rebels; this was CASTAMIR THE USURPER, a cousin of the King, who had easily gained the support of the people of Pelargir and the coastal provinces. Eldacar opposed this confederacy as far as he could, but was forced to take refuge in Osgiliath, where he was later besieged and finally driven out in the year 1437. He then escaped into the North, to take sanctuary in the land of his mother’s people.
As might have been expected, the new ‘King’ proved unwise and arbitrary, cruel and vindictive. It was not long before the very people who had originally supported his faction perceived their error in elevating such a man to the Throne. Indeed, after a mere ten years of Castamir’s rule, Eldacar was able to return to Gondor – with an army which rapidly increased in number each day that he marched south. He met the Usurper at the Crossings of Erui (1447 Third Age). Castamir was then defeated and slain by Eldacar, who thus avenged the death of his elder son Ornendil, put to death by Castamir ten years before. But the Usurper’s own sons and near kin escaped to Pelargir, where the Fleets still remained loyal to the rebels. The following year they departed to Umbar, where they established an independent lordship at permanent feud with Gondor.
To repopulate the devastated areas of his kingdom, Eldacar brought south many of the Northmen who had given him sanctuary. Contrary to the old fears, this did not instantly bring about the dwindling of the ‘Kings-of-Men’. Eldacar himself lived to be 235 years old and was succeeded by his second son Aldamir in 1490.
Kiril – See CIRIL.
Kirinki – Small scarlet-feathered birds of Númenor.
Kirith Ungol – See CIRITH UNGOL.
Kûd-dûkan – In the original – as opposed to translated – speech of Northern Men, this conjoined word meant ‘hole-dweller’. It has been translated from the Red Book as holbytla (pl. holbytlan), of which the diminished form, hobbit, is meant to represent kuduk (apparently the diminished form of kûd-dûkan).
See the Note at the end of Appendix F for a fuller explanation of the system of ‘rendition’ used in translating proper names from the Red Book.
Labadal ‘Hopafoot’ (Sind.) – Túrin’s pet-name for the crippled family retainer SADOR. It was not given in malice and not resented by Sador.
Ladros ‘Fortified-plain’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Eldar and the Edain to the extreme north-eastern region of Dorthonion; a broad, shallow valley which opened on to the northern grassland and provided a natural route of access from the North into the highlands. Ladros was therefore of immense strategic importance to the Eldar, forming as it did a weakness in the wall of the Siege. Accordingly, Angrod and Aegnor, the two youngest sons of Finarfin, who dwelt in Dorthonion, were more than happy to grant this ‘front-line’ region to a House of Men, newly-come to Beleriand: the First House, descendants of Bëor the Old. The first Lord of Ladros was Boromir, grandson of Bëor.
For over a century the Edain held Ladros in alliance with the Eldar, but in the Year of the Sun 455 war again broke out in the North and for the first time the Edain felt the power of Angband. The Lord of Ladros, Bregolas the grandson of Boromir, was slain (together with Angrod and Aegnor of the High-elves) and the Orcs poured into Dorthonion.
Ladybarrow – An approximate translation of the Sindarin phrase Haudh-en-Arwen (‘Mound-of-the-Maiden-Queen’), the Grey-elven name for the burial-barrow or tumulus wherein lay Haleth, first chieftain of the Haladin. It stood in the Forest of Brethil. The name in the tongue of the Haladin was Tûr Haretha (‘Haleth’s Mound’).
Laer – See LAIRË below.
Laer Cú Beleg ‘The Song of the Great Bow’ (Sind.) – The title given by Túrin Turambar to the Lament made by him in memory of his slain friend, the Elf-warrior Beleg Cúthalion of Doriath.
Lairë ‘Summer’ (Q.) – The name of the second of the six Elvish ‘seasons’, and the second of the four observed in Kings’ Reckoning and later systems used by Westron-speaking peoples. The Sindarin form of this word was laer.
Lairelossë ‘Summer-snow-white’ (Q.) – One of the FRAGRANT TREES of Númenor.
Lake Helevorn – See HELEVORN.
Lake Nurnen – See NURN, NURNEN.
Lake-town – The town of ESGAROTH on the Long Lake in the north of Wilderland.
Lalaith ‘Laughter’ (Sind.) – The pet-name given by Húrin and Morwen of Dor-lómin to their first-born daughter, Urwen, the younger sister of Túrin their son; she died in infancy from an evil plague that came out of Angband. Morwen afterwards bore another daughter, Nienor.
Lambë – The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘tongue’; also the title of Tengwa number 27, which represented the value of the sound l.
Lamedon – A province of Gondor which nestled in the protective embrace of the White Mountains, between the river Ringló and the pass of Tarlang’s Neck. Its chief settlement was the small town of Calembel, on a hill overlooking the Fords of Ciril (or Kiril), the principal river of the province.
Lammoth ‘The Great Echo’ (Sind.) – A cold waste which lay to the west of the Ered Lómin, between mountains and sea-coast. As its name implies, it was a region where a single shout or cry awoke tumultuous echoes from the rocky countryside. According to Elvish tradition, these were the ech
oes of the voice of Morgoth, for it was in Lammoth that he was said to have been attacked by Ungoliant, and to have cried for help so loudly that the terrible sound of his voice became imprinted for ever in the stone.
Lamps of the Valar – See ILLUIN.
Lampwrights’ Street – A Westron translation of the Sindarin name Rath Celerdain. It was a busy thoroughfare in the city of Minas Tirith, encircling completely the first level and leading eventually to the Great Gate in the East Wall. The chief inns of Minas Tirith were to be found there.
Land of Mist – A translation of the Quenya name Hisilómë (Sindarin HITHLUM).
Land of Seven Rivers – A translation of the Grey-elves’ name for the country between Gelion and the Blue Mountains: OSSIRIAND. The Noldor knew this land as Lindon.
Land of Shadow – A Third Age epithet for Mordor.
Land of the Dead That Live – A translation of DOR FIRN-I-GUINAR (Sind.).
Land of the Girdle – Doriath. See GIRDLE OF MELIAN.
Land of the Star – Númenor. Although the Kings of that Realm had no crown, they sometimes wore a diadem made of a plain silver band with a single glittering star on the brow. This represented both the Star of Eärendil – which had guided the Edain to their far western island at its founding – and the original name of Númenor itself, Elenna ‘Star-wards’ (Q.).
Land of Willows – NAN-TASARION (Nan-tathren).
Landroval – A Great Eagle of the Misty Mountains; the brother of Gwaihir the Windlord, who, at the time of the War of the Ring, was himself the mightiest and swiftest of all the Eagle-lords.
Langflood – See LANGWELL below.
Langstrand ‘Long-shore’ – A Mannish rendering of the Grey-elven word Anfalas.
Langwell – The name given by the Men of Éothéod to a river that flowed east from the Misty Mountains and in due course became one of the sources of the Anduin. After its junction with the Greylin (another source) it was called the Langflood.
Lanthir Lamath ‘Echoing Cataract’ (Sind.) – The house in Ossiriand of DIOR ELUCHÍL, near a waterfall of the same name.
Lár – The Númenorean league (slightly under three miles).
Largo Baggins – The third son of Balbo Baggins and the greatgrandfather of Frodo.
Lasse-lanta ‘Leaf-fall’ (Q.) – An alternative name for quellë (‘fading’), the fourth season in the Calendar of Imladris; this term was also used in KINGS’ RECKONING. In Elvish usage, this season had 54 days and was especially evocative to the Eldar. The Grey-elven name was narbeleth (‘sun-waning’).
Lassemista ‘Leaf-of-[shadowy]-Silver’ (Q.) – A tree-name in the ancient Elven High-speech, used by the ‘young’ Ent Bregalad when mourning the untimely slaughter of many of his friends: the rowan-trees of Fangorn Forest.
Last Alliance – The name given among Elves and Men to the Confederacy of the two Peoples which waged war against Sauron the Great from 3430–41 Second Age, overthrowing him and laying his first Realm in ruins. But though losses were heavy, and Gil-galad of the Elves and Elendil of the Dúnedain were both killed, the victory thus dearly purchased was, in the end, made fruitless by the survival of Sauron’s Ruling Ring; and so the Dark Lord was able to grow and take shape once more. In a sense, therefore, the War of the Ring was the final act of the Last Alliance – formed a full Age earlier – and its purpose was the completion of the same task.
The Alliance itself, between Elves of Lindon and Dúnedain of Gondor and Arnor, was formed in the year 3430, as a result of war which had broken out a year earlier, when Sauron of Mordor – whom all believed had perished in the ruin of drowned Númenor – unleashed a fierce and sudden attack upon the South-kingdom of the Dúnedain. Fortunately, his own strength had been diminished during the years of his captivity (in Númenor); while the Dúnedain Realms in Exile had been granted over a century in which to take root. Nonetheless the first success was Sauron’s: in 3429 he came over the Pass of Cirith Ungol and took Isildur’s city of Minas Ithil; he burned the White Tree and then pressed forward to Osgiliath. But Isildur escaped the sack of his city and fled down the Anduin to the Sea, spreading the alarm as he went; for all guessed that this was Sauron’s last stroke against Númenor. Most of the folk of the coastal provinces flooded to the aid of Isildur’s brother Anárion, who was defending the bridges of Osgiliath and his own city of Minas Anor, while Isildur himself journeyed by ship to the North, to his father Elendil.
It soon became apparent that the Dúnedain alone were too few to make an end of the Dark Lord. The might of Númenor had nearly achieved it in the past, but that power now lay under the Sea (at Sauron’s contrivance) and allies must needs be sought elsewhere. Accordingly, Elendil turned to Gil-galad, High-elven King of Lindon and an ancient enemy of Sauron’s. One can be sure that Elendil had no need to remind the Elven-king of the aid afforded the Elves of Lindon by the Dúnedain long before (see MINASTIR); indeed, there was an ancient and honourable tradition of friendship and alliance between the Eldar and the Edain which reached back more than an Age of the world and had not altogether been eroded by the later heresies of the Númenorean Kings. So Gil-galad agreed to join with Elendil, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men was forged, and the following year (3431), the combined hosts of Lindon and Arnor began to be mustered in Eriador. Three years later this Army crossed the Misty Mountains into Wilderland and marched south.
Strategically this was a sound move. The Gap between the Misty Mountains and the White could have long been held against them – whereas by taking the eastern route, only the Morannon, the ‘Black Gate’ itself, stood between the Hosts and Sauron’s own land of Mordor. That same year the armies met in a gigantic conflict upon Dagorlad, and Sauron was swept away, and the Last Alliance ‘had the mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aiglos and Narsil, none could withstand.’
Yet the victory was not complete, though many Elves and Men perished in the Battle of Dagorlad. Sauron retreated to his Dark Tower and there withstood a siege of seven years; for the Barad-dûr was too strong to be cast down from without, and Sauron could wait. But in the end (3441) he emerged, and the final combat of the Last Alliance was fought upon the slopes of Orodruin between the Dark Lord and his chief foes: Elendil and Gil-galad. The Elven-king was destroyed, but by his death enabled Elendil to strike down Sauron before he, too, was slain.
With the overthrow of the Dark Lord, the Last Alliance should have achieved its purpose of freeing the inhabitants of Middle-earth from his domination. Yet in the very hour of triumph this was cast away by a single (if excusable) act of wilfulness. Isildur, Elendil’s son (whose brother Anárion had been slain the previous year at the siege of Barad-dûr) stood beside his father during those last moments, and his grief overbore him. He cut the Ruling Ring from Sauron’s hand with his father’s sword Narsil, but although urged to destroy it (in the Cracks of Doom which were nigh at hand), he kept it as a weregild for his father and brother. In this way the ancient essence of Sauron’s power survived his defeat, and the sacrifices of the Last Alliance were rendered in vain; though few saw Isildur’s action or believed the victory anything but complete. Yet within two years the Ring’s evil power had already claimed Isildur’s own life: neither the first nor the last to be lost before the final destruction of the Ring, an Age later, completed the overthrow of its Master.
Last Battle – The Battle which many ancient legends prophesy will be fought at the Ending of the World. See DAGOR DAGORATH.
Last Bridge – The Bridge across the river Mitheithel in Eriador, so-called because it was both the southernmost bridge across the river and the easternmost on the Great East Road.
Last Homely House – The House of Elrond in Rivendell. It was known to Elves as ‘The Last Homely House East of the Sea’.
Last Mountain – A translation of Methedras, ‘Last-peak’ (Sind.); southernmost of the Misty Mountains.
‘The Last Ship’ – The title of a Fourth Age Hobbit-poem found in the Red Book of Westmarch and published as No. 16 in The
Adventures of Tom Bombadil. The significance of this verse is discussed elsewhere (see FÍRIEL).
Last Shore – An Elvish symbolic or poetic reference to the shores of Eldamar in the Uttermost West, beyond the furthest Seas.
Laura Baggins – Bilbo’s grandmother (born Laura Chubb). Her husband was Mungo Baggins of Hobbiton; their son was Bungo who married the famous Belladonna Took.
Laurelin the Golden – The name given by the Eldar of the Undying Lands to the Younger of the TWO TREES of Valinor; its other names were Malinalda and Culúrien. The Elder Tree was named Telperion.
Laurelin, which means ‘Golden-song’ in the Quenya tongue, bore shining golden leaves, the Light from which mingled with the Silver Flowers of the Elder Tree to illuminate the land of the Valar and those parts of Eldamar nearest the Calacirya. The Two Trees were beloved above all else by the dwellers in Valimar and Eldamar. But both were poisoned by Melkor (Morgoth) during the First Age. And although a seedling of Telperion survived (see GALATHILION) there were no known descendants of Laurelin – except the Sun (Anar), which was made, so the Elves say, from the last Leaf of Gold, coaxed from the dying Laurelin by Yavanna Kementári, Maker of the Two Trees.
Laurelindórenan ‘Land-of-the-Valley-of-Singing-Gold’ (Q.) – The full High-elven name for the Golden Wood of Wilderland; in the Third Age this forest was called LOTHLÓRIEN. The origin of this exceedingly ancient name is not altogether clear. One might have had no hesitation in assuming that it was given to the Golden Wood by the Eldar, as they passed westwards during the Great Journey – except that it contains the element Laurelin, which was of course also (and originally) the name of the Golden Tree of Valinor: a word the migrating Eldar would not then have known. The only other possibility is that the name was given to the Golden Wood by Galadriel, when she came there with Celeborn in the early part of the Second Age. Likewise Lothlórien, which contains the name of the Vala Irmo (Lórien), argues a knowledge of Valinorean affairs, and therefore a High-elven origin (although the loth element, meaning ‘blossom’ or ‘flower’, is inconveniently Sindarin in form).
The Complete Tolkien Companion Page 38