He incorporated all of his knowledge on this fascinating subject in his famous Herblore of the Shire (a work on the subject of comparative botany). Meriadoc discussed the history of the weed, its probable route north from Gondor, where it grew wild, to Bree, and then to the sheltered gardens of the Southfarthing, and – most important – the horticultural coup on the part of one Tobold Hornblower which led to the herb’s fulfilment of its natural role (as the Hobbits saw it).
He traced Old Toby’s singular achievement (the first recorded growing of the true Pipe-weed) to the year 1070 Shire Reckoning. The weed had, of course, been smoked prior to that date but only in Bree. The importance of Tobold’s raising of the herb was the vast improvement in quality brought about by the warmer climate of the Southfarthing (even Bree-dwellers confessed as much); Southfarthing pipe-weed was acknowledged by all to be immeasurably superior in aroma, strength, taste and overall quality. More importantly, it grew abundantly there and was as a consequence plentiful in the Shire (unlike the Bree-strain, which was often adversely affected by the climate of central Eriador).
A more significant aspect in the history of the weed was the role its unofficial export (in 1418–19 Shire Reckoning) played during the War of the Ring. To find large consignments of the best weed in Saruman’s fortress of Isengard may have been a revelation to the Hobbits Meriadoc and Peregrin, but it was no tribute to the Shire-dwellers’ business acumen; nor did it bode well for the internal security of the Shire. It had been through the leaf trade that Saruman had initially acquired a controlling interest in the affairs of Lotho (‘Pimple’) Sackville-Baggins, and through Lotho that Saruman had come to dominate the Shire itself.
Pippin Gamgee – The third son (and fifth child) of Samwise Gamgee, born in Bag End in Shire-year 1429 (Year 8 Fourth Age).
Pippin Took – See PEREGRIN TOOK.
Pool of Bywater – ‘The Water’ was the nearest thing to a major river which passed through the Shire. From the northern part of the Westfarthing it flowed gently through the little land, eventually reaching the Brandywine (Baranduin) a little way north of the Bridge of Stonebows. In this journey (of about thirty leagues) it formed a middling-sized lake (also known, rather confusingly, as ‘The Water’) near Frogmorton, and a rather smaller pool not far from the Threefarthing Stone, close to the villages of Overhill, Hobbiton and, of course, Bywater. This smaller lake was known locally as Bywater Pool.
Pools of Ivrin – See IVRIN.
Poros – A great river of southern Middle-earth; the largest of the Anduin’s eastern tributaries. It arose high in the stony vales of the southern Ephel Dúath (Mountains of Shadow) and descended through a wide valley to join the Great River some forty miles above its Delta. Thus it formed a natural barrier between South Ithilien and the Harad Lands, and was as a consequence often – especially during the late Third Age – a frontier of war. Luckily for the Dúnedain, the river could only be forded with safety at one point, the Crossings of Poros, and it was here that most invasions from Haradwaith were met.
Powers – A translation of the Quenya word VALAR.
The Prancing Pony – The chief inn of the Bree-land – which is to say it was the only tavern of any consequence (the ‘Forsaken Inn’ lay a day’s journey to the East and was little frequented as the lands grew wilder). The Pony occupied a prominent and convenient location within the village of Bree itself and was ideally situated to cater for the needs of travellers. It was an imposing building, built of timber on three storeys after the Mannish fashion, with two wings running back from the road into the hill behind, enclosing a courtyard equipped with stables. The ‘Little Folk’ (Hobbits, of whom there were many in Bree) were provided for by specially fitted chambers, close to the ground with round windows in the approved Hobbit manner. The Innkeepers of The Prancing Pony were the family of Butterbur, and the ale served by this prestigious Bree-family was highly regarded in the district. Nonetheless the inn’s main attraction (for the locals) lay in the entertaining standard of conversation to be found in the public rooms whenever travellers stayed the night (as they frequently did). News from Bree was a Shire synonym for ‘up-to-date’ – and most news had its origins in the rapt, smoke-filled common room of The Prancing Pony.
Primula Baggins – The mother of Frodo Baggins and wife of Drogo. She was tragically drowned, together with her husband, in a boating accident when their son was only twelve. The orphaned Frodo afterwards went to live with his older cousin Bilbo Baggins.
‘Princess Mee’ – One of the verses (No. 4) in the Adventures of Tom Bombadil collection. It was reportedly scribbled by an anonymous hand in a margin of the Red Book and cannot as a consequence be accounted one of the more important poems in the collection.
Proudfoot – A family of Shire-hobbits, related to the Bagginses by marriage.
Prophecy of the North – Another name for the CURSE OF MANDOS.
Puddifoot – A family of Shire-hobbits, closely associated with the village of Stock in the Eastfarthing, and therefore probably of Stoorish descent.
Púkel-men – The name given by the Rohirrim to the ancient graven statues which were to be found at each turn of the winding, precipitous road which climbed from Harrowdale to the Hold of Dunharrow many hundreds of feet above. These images had been carved by the mysterious builders of the Hold, which had been constructed at least an Age before the Riders came to Rohan. Who they had been none could state with certainty, although the forlorn, large-waisted, mournful, man-like creatures depicted in the statuary were not unlike the ‘Wild Men’ of Druadan Forest, which lay beyond the borders of Rohan. What their relationship had been with the stonemasons of the White Mountains during the Accursed Years was never discovered. See also WOSES.
Quarry – A village of the Eastfarthing, situated near the village of Scary in the stone-cutting country of the Shire.
Quellë ‘fading’ (Q.) – The name given by the High-elves to the fourth of the six ‘seasons’ – of fixed length – in the Elvish Calendar. The Númenoreans and the Westron-speaking peoples of Middle-earth used the same word to indicate the period of indefinite length which fell between the ending of autumn (yavië) and the onset of winter (hrivë). Its alternative Quenya name was lasse-lanta (‘leaf-fall’), while to the Grey-elves it was known as firith (or narbeleth, ‘sun-waning’).
Quendi ‘The Speakers’ (Q.) – The High-elven name for all Elvenkind (cf. Quenya ‘the Speech’). The origins of this word are doubtless to be found in the Elves’ age-old desire to communicate with other living things: they were the first ‘speaking-people’ to awake and wander in Middle-earth, and at that time the gift of speech was what set them apart from all other creatures.
Quenta Silmarillion ‘History of the Silmarils’ (Q.) – The title of a prose collection, itself a series of encapsulations and renditions of far older works, assembled and edited over the years by many hands. The Quenta Silmarillion forms the core of the published work known simply as The Silmarillion, though it is preceded in the text by the (still more ancient) Ainulindalë and Valaquenta, and followed by the Akallabêth and by an abbreviated version of the Tale of the Rings of Power. However, it is by far the largest of these five sections of text.
The Quenta Silmarillion is almost entirely in prose form, and divided into chapters arranged in chronological series. These chapters are derived from many different sources, others from single sources, as is made obvious by the many variations in style and tone. The older works from which the Quenta Silmarillion is thought to have been drawn are as follows: the Aldúdenië, or Lament for the Trees; the Narsilion or Song of the Sun and Moon; the Noldolantë or Fall of the Noldor; the Lay of Leithian; and the Narn i Hîn Húrin, or Tale of the Children of Húrin. It is believed that these ancient works were copied out in their entirety and thus rescued for posterity by none other than the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, during his long sojourn in Rivendell as Elrond’s guest. Under the unassuming title Translations from the Elvish the collection was handed down, by various means, to the p
resent day.
Quenya ‘The Speech’ (Q.) – The oldest of all recorded languages. Although it was first written down in Eldamar, after the Great Journey of the Eldar, the Quenya tongue was in fact descended virtually unchanged from the Ancient Speech once spoken by all the Quendi, and this accounts for its name.
Little is now known of the proto-Quenya spoken by the Elves before the separation of the Eldar (West-elves) from the other Silvan races. Certain changes had already begun to take place in its structure even before the vanguard of the Eldar crossed the Great Sea to Eldamar, far back in the Eldar Days. But in the Undying Lands the Eldar were unaffected by the changefulness of mortal lands, and after many years of the world outside they began to record their Ancient Speech in writing, using the Tengwar (Eldarin cursive letters) of Rúmil, and afterwards the Alphabet of Fëanor: a modified form of the same writing-system. Later still, the High-elves brought the Fëanorian alphabet and the (virtually unchanged) Quenya language back to Middle-earth, where both became known to the Grey-elves and to the Edain.
In fashion the Quenya was unlike the Sindarin tongue of the Grey-elves, to which it was of course distantly related. It was a stately and ceremonious language, with polysyllabic word-linkage and a comprehensive formal literature that was considerably more antique than anything the Sindar possessed. The Ancient Speech may be said (by some) to resemble Latin (to which it is quite unrelated), but it was far more inflected than any contemporary Mannish speech, and far more ancient.
But if the introduction of Quenya into the culture of the Grey-elves can be said to have influenced the subsequent development of Sindarin, then the reverse is less true. The High-elves exiled in Middle-earth adopted, for the most part, the language of the Grey-elves with whom they then dwelt, and the Ancient Speech was put aside as a ‘High’ language of ceremony and song. It was therefore consciously preserved in its ancient form, and as a language of pageant it passed to the heirs of the High-elves in Middle-earth: the Edain of Númenor and of the Realms in Exile. But for the most part the later Dúnedain used the Sindarin or the Mannish tongues of their own early history, and little by little the Ancient Speech (and Sindarin) became known only to those who held true to the ways of the Eldar. See also SPOKEN TONGUES.
Quessë – The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘feather’; also the title of the Fëanorian Tengwa number 4, which was used (in Quenya) for the sound kw-.
Quessetéma ‘Quessë-series’ (Q.) – One of the four témar (series) which made up the complete Fëanorian Tengwar alphabet of letters. Quessëtéma was used for the labialised sounds (kw-, gw-, hw- etc), which occurred frequently in the High-elven speech.
Quickbeam – A translation of the Sindarin name Bregalad, adopted as a ‘short’ name by an Ent of Fangorn Forest.
Quick Post – A luxury or emergency messenger-service, used in the Shire for the rapid conveyance of letters (a social service much in demand among Hobbits) from Farthing to Farthing. Its administration was the responsibility of the Mayor of Michel Delving. The mode of transport has not been recorded.
Radagast the Brown – A Wizard of Middle-earth, one of the Order of Istari, who arrived from the Undying Lands about the year 1000 Third Age. His special skills and responsibilities concerned the welfare of beasts and birds, but it was later felt, by some of those who had sent him, that he had become too enamoured of these kelvar and thereby neglected his real mission.1 His home was in Rhosgobel, in the southern vales of the Anduin, near the borders of the forest then known as Mirkwood. Radagast is said to mean ‘tender-of-beasts’ in the Grey-elven tongue. In Quenya he was known as Aiwendil, ‘lover of birds’.
See also WIZARDS.
Radbug – Reportedly the name of one of the Orcs in the garrison of the Tower of Cirith Ungol. According to the account of Samwise Gamgee, this unfortunate Goblin was slain for insubordination by one of his own sergeants, the villainous Shagrat, shortly after the fight between the Tower-orcs and the Morgul-patrol over certain items of booty.
Radhruin – One of the Outlaws of Dorthonion, a companion of Barahir. He was slain in an ambush, together with all his comrades (save Beren son of Barahir).
Ragnor – One of the outlaws of Dorthonion; as preceding entry.
Rainbow Cleft – A translation of the Grey-elven name CIRITH NINNIACH. See also ANNON-IN-GELYDH.
Rainy Stair – A translation of the Grey-elven name DIMROST.
Ramdal ‘Wall’s End’ (Sind.) – The easternmost point of the Andram (Long Wall), a great escarpment which ran south-east from Tauren-Faroth in West Beleriand and separated the populated north of Beleriand from the (largely uninhabited) south. At Ramdal the ground became level and the hills waned, and between here and the lonely height of Amon Ereb stood five leagues of open country. This region was ruled for a while by Amrod and Amras, the two youngest sons of Fëanor, but in later years Ramdal became the second line of defence for more of the Noldor.
Rammas Echor ‘Encircling Walls’ (Sind.) – An outer defence-work of Minas Tirith, constructed by Steward Ecthelion II after the final loss of Ithilien (in 2954 Third Age). It was a great wall, over ten leagues in length, encircling the Fields of Pelennor, the hitherto defenceless townlands of the City. Nonetheless, the defensive value of the Rammas was open to doubt: for at its furthest point it was some four leagues from the City and thus could not be manned in strength, since the main defence of Minas Tirith lay in its city-walls and Great Gate. Moreover, defenders on the out-wall might find themselves cut off from retreat were a breach to be made and the gap stormed in strength. At best, the Rammas could only serve to delay unsupported cavalry forces or foot-soldiers without breaching tools.
See also BATTLE OF THE PELENNOR FIELDS.
Rána ‘The Wayward’ (Q.) – A High-elven name for the Moon. See ISIL.
Ranga – A Númenorean unit of measure, a full pace.
Rangers of Ithilien – A guerrilla force maintained by Gondor in North Ithilien, for the purpose of harassing the enemy and discomfiting his occupation of that land in the years leading up to the War of the Ring. These forces operated from secret bases (see HENNETH ANNÛN) prepared some years before on the orders of a far-seeing Steward, Túrin II. In later years the Rangers of Ithilien were led by Túrin’s great-great-grandson, Faramir, the younger son of Denethor II.
Rangers of the North – At the time of the War of the Ring it was the ironic fate of the Dúnedain of the North that, while their royal Line of Descent had been kept intact throughout the turmoils of three millennia, their Kingdom had been lost and their circumstances so grievously reduced that even their own kin in Gondor were unaware of their very existence.
The long process by which royal ARNOR was first split into three smaller states and then overcome piecemeal is well detailed elsewhere. After the fall of ARTHEDAIN in 1974 Third Age, the then stateless Heirs of Isildur passed into the shadows, emerging only as wandering strangers whose true identity was unsuspected by the inhabitants of Eriador, where they spent most of their days. The long wars launched upon them by Sauron and his servants had greatly reduced the Dúnedain in numbers, but their pride and sense of duty were intact: their task, as they saw it, was the continued protection of the Northlands, at whatever cost to themselves.
The labours they undertook in this worthy purpose were long, hard and yet not without result. Of course the Northlands were still threatened by groups of pillaging Orcs from the Misty Mountains, and the occasional cave-troll in business on his own account; but the hoped-for result was, by and large, attained, and the folk of Eriador were safely guarded, although they knew it not.
It was realised that Eriador could never be kept free from the Enemy if he once suspected that the Dúnedain – whom he had long hated – still survived there. And since Sauron never lacked for spies to serve him, the Rangers took great care to work in secret. The Elves of Rivendell were, of course, privy to the latent hopes and current duties of the Dúnedain Chieftains and their followers; indeed, the Eldar of Rivendell often rode with the Heirs
of Isildur on their missions. But the Bree-dwellers and the Hobbits of the Shire were totally unaware of this long guardianship, and their names for the tough-looking, weatherbeaten Men who occasionally visited The Prancing Pony were anything but complimentary.
The first Chieftain of the Dúnedain was Aranarth, the son of Arvedui Last-king of Arthedain. In the intervening centuries there were a further fourteen before the last Chieftain, Aragorn II: the travel-stained Ranger who was known in Bree simply as ‘Strider’.
Ranugad – In the original (as opposed to translated) Hobbit-speech Ranugad, which meant ‘Stay-at-home’, was the name of Samwise Gamgee’s father; in translations from the Red Book it has been rendered as Hamfast.
Ras Morthil – Another name for the cape of ANDRAST.
Rath Celerdain – See LAMPWRIGHTS’ STREET.
Rath Dínen ‘Street of Silence’ (Sind.) – The central processional avenue of the Hallows of Minas Tirith, where the great men of Gondor were buried.
Rathlóriel ‘Goldenbed’ (Sind.) – The name given to the river ASCAR in Ossiriand after the treasure looted from Doriath by Dwarves had been lost in its waters.
Rauros ‘Roaring-spray’ (Sind.) – In the Third Age, the greatest waterfall of western Middle-earth, a giant cataract whose roar could be distinguished many leagues away. It was located just south of Nen Hithoel, the lake on the Great River which was surrounded by the hills of Emyn Muil. In peaceful periods of the Third Age, the Falls of Rauros and the hills of Amon Hen and Amon Lhâw were places for the nobles of Gondor to visit on summer days, when the sound of the Falls and the golden light on their spray would provide a pleasant setting.
Ravenhill – A small south-western spur of the Lonely Mountain (Erebor), where the Dwarves of that realm had once built a guardhouse and installed a small garrison. For some unaccountable reason, a family of ravens (headed by the wise and famous Carc) chose this place as their nesting-ground, giving the hill its name.
The Complete Tolkien Companion Page 55