The Complete Tolkien Companion

by J. E. A. Tyler

  Minas Ithil was then restored to the Dúnedain, but no King of Gondor ever resided there again. Isildur himself dwelt in Minas Anor for the two short years he lingered in Gondor, and his former capital became no more than an outpost of the Dúnedain. As such it endured the turmoils of the succeeding two thousand years.

  By the end of the second millennium of the Third Age, Gondor had dwindled sadly from its frontier days of glory. Osgiliath, originally the chief city and capital of the whole realm, was partly desolate, and the South-kingdom was now ruled from Minas Anor. In the year 2000 the Nazgûl issued over the high pass of Cirith Ungol and laid siege to the Tower of the Moon; and although for two years their forces were unable to enter the fortified city, even so the siege was too powerful to be broken by Gondor, and no reinforcements were able to get through. In 2002 Minas Ithil fell at last and the Nazgûl themselves then inhabited it, together with many Orcs. Men of Gondor then began to call it Minas Morgul, the ‘Tower of Sorcery’, and Minas Anor was consequently renamed Minas Tirith, the ‘Tower of Guard’.

  Sauron was content with this gain, for by it he had dealt a heavy blow to the Dúnedain, who still revered Isildur’s memory; moreover, he had acquired for his most faithful servants a foothold on the western side of the Mountains of Shadow; and he could afford to wait. The Nazgûl remained quiescent for some years (although in 2050 Eärnur, the last King of the Line of Anárion, was lured to this evil fortress and never returned). Not until the years immediately before the War of the Ring did the Lord of Minas Morgul finally come forth with his hosts to give battle to the Dúnedain. And even these skirmishes – in which Osgiliath was finally ruined and its last bridge broken – were no more than trials of Gondor’s strength, undertaken to keep the Dúnedain off balance until the Dark Lord should unleash the great and final war long prepared.

  This occurred in 3019 Third Age, when a mighty host came down from the mountains and captured West Osgiliath, pouring across the Great River in many boats. With all of the ruined city of Osgiliath in his hands, the Witch-king of Minas Morgul then advanced towards Minas Tirith, capturing the Rammas Echor and the Fields of Pelennor and besieging the last fortress of Gondor. Yet on March 15th, five days after leaving Minas Morgul, the Lord of the Nazgûl was himself destroyed – and the Morgul-host was also utterly overwhelmed – in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Minas Morgul fell once more into the hands of the Dúnedain, but it had been too long an evil place for any Man to dwell there, and by order of the King Elessar the once-beautiful Tower of the Moon was cast down and its foundations removed.

  Minas Morgul ‘Tower of Sorcery’ (Sind.) – The name given in Gondor to the city of MINAS ITHIL from the time it fell to the Nazgûl in 2002 Third Age until its destruction at the end of the Age.

  Minastan – The second son of King Minardil of Gondor and younger brother of King Telemnar, who perished with all his children in the Great Plague of 1636 Third Age. After Telemnar’s death, Minastan’s son Tarondor became Gondor’s twenty-seventh King.

  Minastir (Tar-Minastir) – From 1731–1869 Second Age the eleventh King of Númenor, and one of the greatest warriors in her history. During his reign war broke out at last in Middle-earth between the Elves and Sauron, and news eventually reached Númenor that Sauron’s armies were ravaging Eriador and threatening the borders of the Elven-land of Lindon, then ruled by Gil-galad. Accordingly, because he loved the Eldar even more than he envied their immortality, Minastir despatched a great navy to the aid of the Elven-king in 1700 Second Age. With this reinforcement, Sauron was defeated and Gil-galad was able to contain the invasion and later mount a successful offensive, securing peace in Eriador for many years. This was the first great renewal of the Alliances of the First Age against Morgoth, and far more successful.

  Minas Tirith ‘Tower of Guard’ (Sind.) – In the First Age, the name given by the Elf-king Finrod Felagund to the fortress built by him on the strategic island of Tol Sirion, where he himself dwelt until the founding of Nargothrond, being succeeded there by his brother Orodreth (who also succeeded Finrod as King of Nargothrond). It was captured during the Dagor Bragollach, by Sauron, and was renamed Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the ‘Island of Werewolves’.

  The same name, Minas Tirith, was also given, in the Third Age, to the city of MINAS ANOR in Gondor, after its sister-fortress of Minas Ithil had been captured by the Ringwraiths (2002 Third Age).

  Mindeb – One of the smaller rivers of Beleriand, a tributary of the Sirion. The Mindeb rose in the Crissaegrim and flowed due south for twenty leagues before its confluence with the larger stream. It was accounted the eastern border of the land of Dimbar, and the western of Nan Dungortheb.

  Mindolluin ‘Towering-Bluehead’ (Sind.) – The easternmost of the White Mountains. Upon a spur of this great hill, Men of Gondor built the city of Minas Anor.

  Mindon Eldaliéva ‘[Tall] Tower of the Eldar’ (Q.) – The loftiest of the towers of the city of Tirion the Fair, in Eldamar. It was built by the Vanyar, and is sometimes called the Tower of Ingwë. At its feet lay a great square or public place; and in its topmost chamber there burned a silver lamp, the Flammifer or Beacon of Eldamar. Its height is not known. Also called The Mindon.

  Minhiriath ‘Land-between-the-rivers’ (Sind.) – The southernmost part of ancient Eriador, bounded upon the south by the river Gwathló (Greyflood), on the north by the Baranduin (Brandywine), on the east by the old South Road, and on the west by the Sea. Once thickly forested, in the Second Age Minhiriath was peopled by a woodland folk thought to be descended from the Haladin of the First Age. They later abandoned the region after the onset of the Númenorean logging operations in its forests, and fled to the White Mountains.

  In the Third Age Minhiriath was incorporated into the realm of Arnor, and in the course of time formed the greater part of the lesser state of Cardolan. But Cardolan fell in the wars with Angmar, and the Great Plague of 1636 Third Age completed the devastation begun by the Witch-king. In the year 2912 this unhappy land was again overwhelmed, by great floods which followed the thaws of the Long Winter. It lay desolate throughout the remainder of the Age.

  Minohtar – A nephew of King Ondoher of Gondor, slain in battle with the Wainriders (1944 Third Age).

  Min-Rimmon ‘Towering-Rimmon’ (Sind. + Mannish.) – A beacon-hill which rose on the northern edge of the White Mountains, in the province of Anórien. It was part of a chain of seven such BEACON-HILLS which allowed Gondor to communicate speedily with her ally Rohan in time of need.

  Note: the name Rimmon is in a pre-Númenorean tongue.

  Minuial ‘Star-fading’ (Sind.) – The Grey-elves’ name for the time of day known as TIN DOMË.

  Minyatur ‘The Founder’ (Q.) – The High-elven title taken by Elros brother of Elrond, when he ascended the throne of Númenor as its first King (Year 32 Second Age). See ELROS TAR-MINYATUR.

  Míriel Serindë – A Queen of the Noldor in Eldamar; she was the first wife of the Noldorin High King, Finwë, and the mother of Curufinwë, whom Míriel named Fëanáro (Fëanor), by which name he was known ever after. Her own title Serindë (‘The Seamstress’) reflects the admiration in which she was held by the Noldor for her matchless skill in needlecraft.

  The bearing of such a prodigious child as Fëanor so exhausted her both physically and spiritually – and filled her with such foreboding for the future – that she went into a decline and died: the first of all the Eldar to pass away while dwelling in the Blessed Realm (her husband Finwë was to be the second – though he did not fade and die, but was slain). Finwë afterwards wed again, though not without opposition. His second spouse was a princess of the Vanyar and a kinswoman of Ingwë: Indis the Fair. By her Finwë had two more sons, Fingolfin and Finarfin. But perhaps because of the great love he had borne Míriel, his eldest son was always his favourite.

  Míriel (Tar-Míriel) – The daughter and only child of Tar-Palantír (formerly Ar-Inziladûn), twenty-fourth King of Númenor. According to the Númenorean laws of succession, she should have inherit
ed the Sceptre on her father’s death, but her cousin usurped the Throne in her stead, taking the Númenorean title Ar-Pharazôn (‘the Golden’). And at the same time, perhaps in an attempt to legitimise his reign, he forcibly wedded Míriel; she was then called, by the Númenoreans, Ar-Zimraphêl. She was the last to perish in the Inundation of Númenor – her husband was the first.

  Mirkwood – A rendering of the Grey-elven Taur e-Ndaedelos (literally, ‘Forest of Great Fear’); the name given during the Third Age to the mightiest surviving forest of western Middle-earth, formerly known as GREENWOOD THE GREAT. This renaming occurred at the end of the first millennium, after the raising of the evil tower of Dol Guldur, which then cast a shadow over the forest.

  Mirröanwi ‘Incarnate beings’ (Q.) – The Children of Ilúvatar.

  Mirrormere – A translation of the Khuzdul (Dwarvish) name KHELED-ZRAM.

  Miruvor (Sind., from the older Q. miruvóre) – This High-elven word, believed by the Eldar to be derived from the language of the Valar, meant ‘cordial’, or perhaps ‘nectar’ (in the original Olympian sense). According to a note on the subject,3 the Elves believed that the Valinorean drink came from the honey of the (undying) flowers grown in the Gardens of Yavanna, in Valimar; it was thought that the Valar dispensed this drink at their festivals.

  The ‘Cordial of Imladris’, made by the Eldar of Rivendell, was doubtless prepared with similar skill, though the honeys from which it was distilled were less potent. Nonetheless, it was still an extremely warming and powerful restorative – which proved of great value to the Company of the Ring, trapped in a blizzard upon the heights of Caradhras.4

  Misty Mountains – A rendering of the Grey-elven Hithaeglir (literally, ‘Mist Peaks’); during the Second and Third Ages, the greatest of all mountain-ranges in western Middle-earth, and a mighty barrier separating Eriador and Wilderland. Almost three hundred leagues these mountains ran, from Northern Waste to southernmost peak, in an unbroken chain, shrouded with the ever-present mist which gave them their ancient name. They were considered virtually unscalable, and the few routes across them could not be undertaken without great difficulty. For much of the Third Age (and doubtless the Second), the dangers of such a journey were increased by the presence of many Orcs of the Mountains who infested the High passes. Certainly an aura of evil clung to this great range of peaks: they were said (by the Eldar) to have been reared at the Beginning of Arda, by Melkor, as a barrier against potential foes (he raised the Ered Engrin, the ‘Iron Mountains’ of Angband, in the same epoch, and for the same reason).

  Mithe – The point, in the south-eastern corner of the Shire, where the outflow of the river Shirebourn ran into the Baranduin (Brandy-wine). The landing-stage there was called the Mithe Steps.

  Mitheithel ‘Grey-source’ (Sind.) – The river HOARWELL.

  Mithlond ‘Grey-havens’ (Sind.) – The chief harbours in Middle-earth, during the Second and Third Ages, of the Eldar. See GREY HAVENS.

  Mithrandir ‘Grey-wanderer’ (Sind.) – The name among Elves and Dúnedain for the Wizard known (to Northern Men) as GANDALF THE GREY.

  Mithrellas – An elven-lady of Lórien and (later) Belfalas. See GALADOR.

  Mithril ‘Grey-brilliance’ (Sind.) – The most precious metal known in Middle-earth.

  All folk desired it. It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim. The Elves dearly loved it.’5

  The Eldar were not the only people to desire this valuable metal, which was to be found only in a single great lode beneath the peak of Caradhras, deep in the Mines of Moria (discovered in the early Second Age). The Dwarves themselves valued it beyond price, and it was the desire of the Dwarf-miners of Moria for further supplies of mithril which led to their destruction and disinheritance. In 1980 Third Age, while seeking the mother-lode, far beneath Barazinbar (Caradhras), they disturbed an evil spirit of the Underworld, the Balrog, with consequences appalling for their people. In this way mithril was both the foundation of the Moria-dwarves’ fabulous wealth and the means of their eventual downfall.

  Note: mithril was also known as ‘silver-steel’ (in Bilbo Baggins’ narrative, There and Back Again), as well as ‘true-silver’ and ‘Moria-silver’. The alloy ithildin was a derivative of mithril.

  Mithrim ‘[Home of] The Grey Ones’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Grey-elves of Beleriand to those of their kindred who dwelled in that region of the north which was afterwards named after them, together with its great Lake and the mountains which bordered it on the west. Mithrim was the south-easternmost part of the (larger) land of Hithlum, bordered on south, east and west by mountain ranges (the Ered Wethrin and the Ered Mithrim), and protected from the north by the great lake. Here the returning Noldor led by Fëanor had their first encounter with the race they were afterwards to call ‘Grey-elves’; here they made their first encampment in Middle-earth (Mithrim was thus the most ancient of the High-elven realms in Exile, though not the longest to endure); and here was fought their first battle against Morgoth, the ‘Battle-under-Stars’ in which Fëanor was slain. In the weeks and months following this battle Fingolfin, arriving at last in Middle-earth in despite of Fëanor, also camped beside the great Lake of Mithrim; and later took these lands as his realm. But after Fingolfin’s death, Fingon his heir withdrew from the greater realm and concentrated his power into Mithrim, which then became the vanguard-state of the Eldarin cause. But Fingon and all his people were slain in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and Mithrim was afterwards occupied by Easterlings. It was never regained.

  Mittalmar ‘Inlands’ (Q.) – The central province of Númenor, containing the Arandor (‘Kings’-land’) which itself was the most populous part of the realm.6

  Mode of Beleriand – A Tengwar alphabet (based upon the Fëanorian system). It was developed by the Grey-elves of Beleriand during the First Age, but was maintained, curiously enough, by the High-elves of the Second. In this mode of writing, the older system of diacritic marks (used to denote vowels) was replaced by a less stylised method. Unallocated Tengwar were incorporated as vocalic symbols with the full status of ‘letters’, and the tehtar (‘signs’) were either abbreviated or discarded. The grey-elven inscription on the Doors of Durin was written in this mode. See ALPHABET OF FËANOR.

  Mode of Erebor – See ANGERTHAS MORIA.

  Monendei – An archaic form of the Hobbits’ word for the third day of the week, being actually a translation of Isilya, ‘Moon’s-day’ (Q.), the name for this day in the ancient Númenorean system of Kings’ Reckoning. The week was the first part of this Númenorean calendar to be adopted by other peoples after it was taken to Middle-earth; and the Hobbits were probably using translated forms of the weekdays by the end of the first millennium of the Third Age. By the time of the War of the Ring, Monendei had been shortened to Monday.

  Moon-letters – A form of secret writing created by the Dwarves, who desired privacy in all things. ‘Moon-letters’ were runes which were written with silver pens and which could only be read when held up before the light of the moon. The most cunningly devised moon-letters required the would-be cryptographer to illuminate the letters by a moon of the same phase and season – i.e. on virtually the same day of the year – as when they were originally drawn. Thrór’s map, given to his grandson Thorin Oakenshield by Gandalf the Grey, was inscribed with runes of this type.

  Morannon ‘Black-gate’ (Sind.) – The heavily fortified entrance to the land of Mordor; an impregnable wall which ran from the western foothills of the Ered Lithui (Ashy Mountains) to the northern buttresses of the Ephel Dúath (Mountains of Shadow), barring the pass of Cirith Gorgor and the entrance to the vale of Udûn. Guarded at either side by the two Towers of the Teeth, Narchost and Carchost, the Morannon was in the form of a stone rampart, many feet high.

  In it there was a single gate of iron, and upon its battleme
nt sentinels paced unceasingly. Beneath the hills on either side the rock was bored into a hundred caves and maggot-holes; there a host of Orcs lurked, ready at a signal to issue forth like black ants going to war.7

  Mordor ‘Black-land’ (Sind.) – The Land of Shadow, realm of Sauron the Great throughout two Ages of the World and the heart of all his ancient might, once the most potent in Middle-earth. It was chosen by Sauron early in the Second Age (c. 1000) to serve him as a fortress-land, and its fortunes mirrored his own up to his final overthrow at the end of the War of the Ring (3019 Third Age).

  Even before its adoption by Sauron, Mordor was a bleak and desert land, barren and infertile; its chief merits (from Sauron’s point of view) lay in the enormous natural fortifications which walled it on the north, south and west: the Ered Lithui (‘Ashy Mountains’) and the greater range of the Ephel Dúath, the Mountains of Shadow. One hundred leagues the Black Land measured from northern wall to southern buttress, and one hundred and fifty from west to east (where alone it lay open to the world). In the far northwestern corner the two mountain-chains met, enclosing the deep-shadowed vale of Udûn (‘The Pit’); and in the very centre of the plain of Gorgoroth stood the fire-mountain Orodruin, amid the ruin of untold years of volcanic torment. South of this northern desert stretched the wider plain of Nurn, in the centre of which lay a great Inland Sea.

  Such was Mordor during the early years of the Second Age – and to Sauron, newly arisen and not yet powerful, it must have seemed made especially for his purposes: for in those days his chief foes were stronger than he, and he desired above all a realm which could with little trouble be made secure. Accordingly, he took Mordor and fortified its passes, and upon a huge south-facing spur of the Ered Lithui he raised a mighty fortress, the Barad-dûr, the ‘Dark Tower’, to dominate the plain of Gorgoroth. Orodruin’s fires he learned to harness to his own uses, and in a short time he had made himself master of the Black Land, which he filled with evil folk, bred to his service.