The Complete Tolkien Companion

by J. E. A. Tyler

  Indeed, the existence of the volcano – thought to be a relic of Morgoth’s early destructive activities in Middle-earth6 – was undoubtedly a deciding factor when Sauron originally chose Mordor to be his stronghold (c. 1000 Second Age). To the east of the Mountain, upon a lofty spur of the Ered Lithui, he raised the Dark Tower; and a road he made from the Barad-dûr to the volcano, thrusting straight across the smoking plain to ascend the mountain’s side in a great spiral. In the side of the cone he delved great chambers, the Sammath Naur, ‘Chambers of Fire’, and thereby gained access to the eternal fires which burned at Orodruin’s heart.

  But after his initial domination over the Westlands, during the Accursed Years, Sauron was finally defeated and taken prisoner by Ar-Pharazôn of Númenor in the late Second Age, and in his absence the Fire-mountain became once more dormant. Nonetheless, before the Age had passed he returned to wreak vengeance upon the Dúnedain survivors of Númenor, and then Orodruin erupted once more, and was renamed in Gondor Amon Amarth, ‘Mount Doom’. It was afterwards known by this later name.

  Orofarnë – See ‘O OROFARNË, LASSEMISTA, CARNIMÍRIË!’

  Oromë the Great – The Huntsman of the Valar, one of the seven ‘High Ones’ (Aratar) of Arda, ‘who alone of the Valar came often to Middle-earth in the Elder Days’; the Rider of the horse Nahar, and bearer of the great horn Valaróma; and first master of the Hound Huan. He is called by the Calaquendi Oromë (which may be onomatopoeically derived, meaning ‘blowing of horns’), and by the Grey-elves ARAW.

  During the First Age Oromë came many times to Middle-earth, and pursued the evil creatures of Morgoth to the death – for sport – and so he was the first of all the Valar to encounter the Firstborn Children of Eru. At this time they named him Tauron and Aldaron, for they deemed (rightly) that the Huntsman was also a lover of trees. It was he who bore three of their kings away to Valinor, so that they might see the Light which shone there with their own eyes, and so persuade their people to make the Great Journey; and afterwards Oromë himself led his first stage of the march from the East, as far as Beleriand. After that time he came to Middle-earth only as a member of the Host of the Valar.

  Oromë’s spouse was Vána the sister of Yavanna. His own sister Nessa was the spouse of Tulkas.

  Oromet – A hill of the province of Andúnië in Númenor. Upon this hill stood a tower which gazed into the West; it had been built by Tar-Minastir, who sent a force to the aid of Gil-galad.

  Oropher – One of the Sindarin princes who emigrated eastwards after the Fall of Morgoth to rule forest-realms of their own. He was King in the north of Greenwood the Great until the end of the Second Age, when he led a conjoint force of Wood-elves of his realm and a smaller contingent from Lórien, led by Amdir, to the Battle of Dagorlad. The Wood-elves suffered severely at this great battle and few of them ever returned to the forests. Oropher was slain; his son Thranduil survived and became King of the Woodland Realm in the Third Age.

  Orophin – A Wood-elf of Lothlórien who, together with his brothers Haldir and Rúmil and other Elves, guarded the western borders of that land at the time of the War of the Ring.

  Orrostar ‘Eastlands’ (Q.) – The easternmost cape-province of Númenor. It was the granary of the realm.7

  Orthanc ‘Mount-fang’ [literally ‘Forked Height’] (Sind.) – The Tower of Isengard, built by Men of Gondor shortly after the founding of the Realms in Exile at the end of the Second Age. It stood within the Ring of Angrenost, and was constructed from four pinnacles of hard, glossy black stone, welded into a single tower five hundred feet high. Just below the summit, these pinnacles ‘opened into gaping horns … sharp as the points of spears, keen-edged as knives. Between them was a narrow space … and a floor of polished stone, written with strange signs’.8

  For many years after its completion the fortress of Angrenost with its impregnable Tower remained useful to Gondor; but by the middle years of the Third Age the South-kingdom of the Dúnedain had withdrawn its forces from an area so far north, and for many centuries the Tower remained locked while the Ring of Angrenost fell into disrepair. Yet secreted somewhere within Orthanc still remained one of the palantíri (Seeing-stones) of the South-kingdom, and it was the lure of the Stone which attracted Saruman the Wizard – who, by the closing years of the Age, was actively seeking independent power in Middle-earth. As is told elsewhere (see ISENGARD), in the year 2953 Saruman came to Rohan and made friendly overtures to the King of that land – and to Beren, Ruling Steward of Gondor, desiring that the custodianship of the fortress be given up to him. In need of a strong ally in this important strategic position, Beren gave Saruman the keys of Orthanc, which the Wizard then occupied.

  In this way Saruman gained possession of one of the most powerful fortresses in Middle-earth. After much seeking he discovered the missing Palantír, and armed with this invaluable device he at once began to extend the web of his plots. Little by little he altered and strengthened Isengard, while secretly taking many evil creatures into his service. So it was that when the Ruling Ring of Sauron was once more discovered, Saruman turned the power of Orthanc against the Free Peoples in an attempt to seize the Ring for himself. In this he was unsuccessful: his armies were destroyed, his fortress-walls were torn down by the vengeful Ent-folk and he himself was expelled from the Order of Wizards and from the Tower of Orthanc, which then reverted to its rightful ownership.

  Osgiliath ‘Citadel-of the-Stars’ (Sind.) – The capital and chief city of Gondor from its founding in 3320 Second Age until 1640 Third Age, when it was superseded by the fortress-city of Minas Anor. In the centuries which followed it was gradually deserted and lost all its former eminence, and by the time of the War of the Ring the city was little more than a vast ruin upon either bank of the Great River, whose eastern side was occupied by forces of Sauron.

  Yet at its beginning the Citadel of the Stars had been a proud, vast and populous city, where was kept the chief of the four palantíri (Seeing-stones) of the South-kingdom. It lay on both sides of the Anduin, where the road from Minas Anor to Minas Ithil crossed the river via a great stone bridge. But, like Minas Ithil, Osgiliath had been built at a time when Sauron of Mordor was still widely believed to have perished in the ruin of Númenor; and as a consequence it was unfortified, save for a few out-works, while its many bridges opened the way from the East into the heartlands of Gondor. Accordingly, when Sauron quietly returned to Mordor. and suddenly took Minas Ithil in a surprise attack at the end of the Second Age, Osgiliath lay virtually defenceless before his advance.

  It has been recounted elsewhere (see LAST ALLIANCE) how Anárion son of Elendil defended East Osgiliath with desperate courage while his elder brother Isildur brought aid from the North. Sauron was overthrown in that war, and for many years afterwards the glory of Osgiliath grew with the ascendancy of Gondor itself: for the first thousand years of the Third Age the South-kingdom flourished and extended its bounds, and the Kings ruled from Osgiliath, where the Great River flowed through beneath the broad stone bridge. But in 1432 Third Age a terrible civil war, the ‘Kinstrife’, broke out, and in that war Osgiliath was besieged by the rebels; in 1437 the fugitive King Eldacar was forced to flee into the North, and Osgiliath was severely damaged by fire and sword: the Dome of Stars, beside the Great River, where the Palantír had been kept, was razed and the Stone was lost for ever in the waters of Anduin.

  So began the decline of Osgiliath. Two hundred years later an even greater evil struck Gondor, when a foul pestilence came into the South-kingdom from the East. Osgiliath was sorely afflicted by the Plague, and most of its inhabitants died – save only those who fled north and west to spread the contagion elsewhere. King Telemnar and all his children perished and his nephew removed the royal seat to Minas Anor at the feet of the White Mountains further west. Yet the city lingered on, partly ruinous, for another thousand years of Gondor’s slow decline – until the year 2745, when a new race of soldier-orcs appeared on the marches of Ithilien and swept across the narrow l
and to capture Osgiliath. They were finally driven out, but in that war the city was finally destroyed and its great bridge was broken. The west bank of Anduin then became a frontier of war: fortifications were thrown up and Men of Gondor remained permanently on guard. The far bank was shrouded in shadow and was filled with watchful eyes of another sort. So the situation remained until the War of the Ring, when the ruined city was again attacked – once in June of the year 3018 (when the assault was thrown back by Boromir son of Steward Denethor II), and again in March of the following year, when a great force from Minas Morgul forced the crossings and advanced towards Minas Tirith (Minas Anor). Although this army was decisively defeated at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and Osgiliath was recaptured, the city was never rebuilt and was afterwards allowed to fall peacefully into final ruin.

  Ossë – The Maia of the Sea, the chief servant of Ulmo. His spouse was Uinen. He came into the World at the same time as Ulmo, and ever after lived in the Seas, notably the eastern reaches of Belegaer. Here he came to know the Quendi, of the Telerin kindred, the minstrels of the Elves; this Kindred he loved always, and grieved when the time came for them also to pass into the West. At his prayer they halted their voyage while still in the mouth of the Bay of Eldamar; and for an age longer Ossë retained their companionship. But then for the last time the summons came; and as a final gift the Sea-maia taught the Teleri the craft of shipbuilding, so enabling them to come to the last shores. He was everafter their patron and friend.

  Note: Ossë was known to the Sindar as Gaerys, ‘the Awesome’.

  Ossiriand ‘Land of the seven rivers’ (Sind.) – The name given by the Sindar of Beleriand to all the country between the river Gelion and the Blue Mountains, south of and including the river Ascar, down whose northern shore the Dwarves first came into Beleriand. But Ossiriand was never a land of Dwarves, nor of Men (save one). Long empty, it was given by Thingol of Beleriand to Denethor lord of the Nandor (the Green-elves) who had come at length into Beleriand, last of all the Telerin peoples to make the journey to the West of Middle-earth. Here the people of Denethor afterwards dwelt, though Denethor himself was slain in the First Battle of Beleriand. But at the end of the Age, tumults and inundations overwhelmed most of Beleriand beyond the Ered Luin, and only remnants of Ossiriand and Thargelion (to the North) were left. Ossiriand was then re-named Harlindon, (‘South-Lindon’), and so it remained. (Lindon, ‘Land-of Song’, had been the name originally given by the exiled High-elves to all the Land of the Seven Rivers: a green and secret country into which none of them ever journeyed while the First Age lasted.)

  Ossiriand was sixty leagues long by fifty broad (at its widest). Its northern boundary was the Ascar and its southern the Adurant with its island of Tol Galen, once the home of Beren and Lúthien. The Seven Rivers were Ascar, Thalos, Legolin, Brilthor, Duilwen, Adurant, and the Gelion, into which the first-named six all shed their waters.

  Ost-in-Edhil ‘Fortress-of the-Eldar’ (Sind.) – The name given in tradition to the (fortified) city built by those Noldor led by Celebrimbor who, in 750 Second Age, journeyed to Eregion near the Misty Mountains, to found a realm near the Dwarvish city of Moria. Ost-in-Edhil was the capital city of Eregion, and though its whereabouts have never been disclosed on available maps, it must have stood near Moria Gate. It was captured and razed by forces of Sauron during the War of the Elves and Sauron, in 1697 Second Age.

  Ostoher – From 411–92 Third Age, the seventh King of Gondor. It was this King who rebuilt the city of Minas Anor to make it a suitable summer dwelling of Gondor’s royalty.

  Otho Sackville-Baggins – The son of Longo Baggins and Camellia Sackville, and the first of the short-lived Sackville-Baggins family. Otho is better remembered as the ill-tempered husband of the formidable Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, and as the father of the worthless and unfortunate Lotho (‘Pimple’).

  Outer Ocean – See EKKAIA.

  ‘Outsiders’ – The Shire-hobbits’ term for any folk who suffered the misfortune of having originated elsewhere. To guard against unwarranted intrusion on the part of such ‘Outsiders’, Hobbits maintained the custom of ‘beating the bounds’, thus ensuring that few intruders were able to penetrate the Shire-dwellers’ rustic idyll.

  Overbourn Marshes – A low-lying area south of the Eastfarthing in the Shire, between the rivers Brandywine (Baranduin) and Shire-bourn.

  Over-heaven – The three separate aspects of the Creation were: Over-heaven, Middle-earth and the Underworld. Between Over-heaven and Middle-earth were the Undying Lands of the West, home of the Valar and the Eldar from time immemorial.

  Overhill – One of the three villages of the Westfarthing which clustered close to the Hill of Hobbiton and the Bywater Pool. Overhill lay north of The Hill.

  Overlithe – The name given to Leap Year’s Day in the Shire Calendar. Hobbits celebrated Leap Years by observing four Lithedays (instead of the usual three), of which the third, Overlithe, was an extra day in the calendar and did not normally appear. The four Lithedays were: I Lithe, Mid-year’s day, Overlithe and 2 Lithe.

  Paladin (II) Took – From 1415–34 Shire Reckoning (3015 Third Age-Year 13 Fourth Age), the thirty-first Thain of the Shire, and father of the illustrious PEREGRIN TOOK. Paladin held office during the War of the Ring, at the time of the occupation of the Shire by agents of Saruman; and until the return of the Ring-bearers he was the only clan-leader to offer serious resistance to these ruffians. The Tooks indeed refused all dealing with the invaders, barring their folkland and shooting any who attempted to force entry. Thus, when the time came for a general uprising in the Shire, a sizeable body of armed and experienced Hobbitry was available for military purposes. Paladin then put all the forces he could spare under Pippin’s leadership and sent them to take part in the Battle of Bywater, while he himself cleared the southern part of the Shire with the remainder of his forces. He held office as Thain until the year of his death, being succeeded by Peregrin, his only son.

  Palantír ‘That-which-looks-far-away’ (Q.) – The eight Seeing-stones of Eldamar, made by Fëanor of the Noldor during the Elder Days, seven of which were given by his House to the Lords of Andúnië in Númenor during the Second Age. They were kept as heirlooms until the Fall of Númenor, after which the Seven Stones were brought to Middle-earth in nine ships carrying the Faithful, led by Elendil the Tall.

  Each of the palantíri was in fashion like a globe of crystal, in the heart of which flickered a tiny flame.1 One who gazed into the Stone saw this light expand until the surface of the globe became a mass of spinning colour, into which the mind might cast itself, to be transported whithersoever the gazer wished, unrestricted by time or space.2 The Stones were all in accord with each other, but some were more potent than others and one was the master of them all. After their arrival in Middle-earth they were distributed throughout the Númenorean realms-in-exile, being kept at Annúminas, Amon Sûl and the Tower Hills in Arnor; and at Osgiliath, Orthanc, Minas Ithil and Minas Anor in Gondor. Each Palantír had different characteristics and performed according to the nature of the person who commanded it; but they responded best when the user (or his agent) was of the true descent of Elendil. Using the Seven Stones, the Dúnedain were long able to guard and unite the Realms in Exile; but with the passing of time, many of the palantíri were lost or were taken by enemies of the Dúnedain.

  The Palantír of Osgiliath disappeared when the Dome of Stars was destroyed during the Kin-strife (1437 Third Age); the Stones of Amon Sûl and Annúminas were lost in the waters of the Ice Bay with King Arvedui of Arthedain in 1974; the Stone of Minas Ithil was captured by Sauron in 2002, when the Tower of the Moon was taken by his servants, the Ringwraiths (though this was not known for many years); the Palantír of Orthanc fell into the clutches of the traitor Saruman (c. 3000); and finally, the Stone of Minas Anor (Minas Tirith) fell virtually under the control of Sauron (who used it to break the mind of Denethor II, last Ruling Steward). By the time of the War of the Ring, only the Palantír of the Tower
Hills remained untouched by evil. (Since it ‘looked’ only towards the Far West, it was quite useless to those struggling for power, and it had long been in the keeping of the High-elves.) As for the eighth of the stones, the ‘Master-stone’ or Chief Palantír, this had never left the Undying Lands; it stood in the Tower of Avallónë, in Eressëa, and was in direct accord with the Stone of the Tower Hills, which was the Master-stone of the Seven, though subservient to the Palantír of Eressëa. During the War of the Ring the Ithil-stone, long before taken by Sauron, was destroyed in the Fall of Barad-dûr, and that of Minas Tirith rendered completely unusable (save by a person with an iron will). Only the Orthanc-stone, recovered from Saruman by a strange mischance, remained to the new King of Gondor for use during the Fourth Age; for the Palantír of the Tower Hills was secretly put aboard Master Elrond’s ship by Círdan the Shipwright, and so passed over Sea back to Eressëa at the end of the Third Age.

  Palantír (Tar-Palantír) – See INZILADUN (AR-INZILADUN).

  Palarran ‘Far-wanderer’ (Q.) – The first great ocean-going ship designed and built by Prince Anardil, later King Tar-Aldarion of Númenor. His earlier vessel Eämbar had been a floating palace rather than a ‘blue-water’ argosy.

  Pallando – A name for one of the ‘Blue Wizards’, Istari who came to Middle-earth in the third Age and then passed away into the East. He is said to have been of the Maiar of Oromë.

  Parma – The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘book’; also the title of Tengwa number 2, which represented the value of the sound p in those languages which required it.

  Parmaitë ‘Book-handed’ (Q.) – A name given to Tar-Elendil of Númenor, a great historian and loremaster.