Believing Saruman on the point of victory, he rode to Isengard, just in time to be captured by Treebeard and imprisoned (with his master) in the Tower of Orthanc. He later accompanied Saruman when the Wizard was expelled from Orthanc, and journeyed with him to the Shire. But Saruman’s constant contempt and ill-treatment drove Wormtongue mad, and in the hour of the Wizard’s expulsion from the Shire Gríma murdered Saruman in a frenzy of rage and despair. He was killed by the Hobbits as he attempted to flee.
Woses – An ancient race of aboriginal Men, the origins of whom have not been recorded, and whose physical appearance was markedly different to other Men. From available evidence it seems that, in the late First Age, they were known to – and lived among – the Haladin in Brethil, having perhaps even arrived in advance of them: they were said to have come from the far south-east of Middle-earth and to have been persecuted by all other races of Men.7 The name for them among the Haladin was Drûg – said to be a name (orig. Drughu) in their own tongue – though the Eldar called them Drúedain, which indicates their recognition of these creatures as True Men, despite their unlovely (by comparison with the Edain) appearance.
In the early Second Ages, they were found in the region between the river Isen and the westernmost spur of the White Mountains (this region was afterwards called Drúwaith laur, ‘Former pûkel-land’ on maps made during the Third Age). Later they moved eastward into the vales of the White Mountains, driven perhaps by fear of the Númenorean mariners who were even then beginning to make settlements on the coastlands of Middle-earth and, in Minhiriath, cutting down trees by the square mile for ship-building. The Woses continued to live by hunting rather than agriculture or craft, and preserved their elusive and wary way of life for as long as they could. But in those years another race of Men came to the White Mountains, and these incomers drove the ‘púkel-men’ away from the high vales. Fleeing from the Men of the White Mountains, the Woses came by mountain-paths to their last refuge: the ancient Forest of Druadan (as it was later called), at the very eastern end of the Ered Nimrais range. There they vanished into the Wood, and were afterwards hardly ever seen by unfriendly eyes.
Throughout the Third Age the Wild Men of Druadan Forest continued to dwell in the depths of the wood, hunting as they had always done and avoiding all contact with other Men. It seems certain that they suffered at the hands of the Orcs (when the Orcs could catch them), and on this account conceived a great hatred for the gorgûn, as they termed these creatures. They turned their weapons – bows and blowpipes – upon those who hunted them and took care to avoid the sight of all other living creatures; for they were ‘woodcrafty beyond compare’, and they learned the ways of the forest better than any other creature, save Elves. But by the time of the War of the Ring their uneasiness at the worsening taste in the wind which blew from the East led them to make overtures to the Rohirrim, offering aid in return for a peaceful life; this offer of help was gratefully accepted, and led directly to the great victory of the Pelennor Fields (see STONEWAIN VALLEY). After the War King Elessar (Aragorn II) of neighbouring Gondor declared the Wild Men free of the Forest for ever, and he forbade any man to enter it without their leave.
Note: a late source indicates that the stone images of the ‘púkel-men’ that could be seen on the approach to Dunharrow in Rohan had been carved by the Drúedain themselves in earlier ages, as warnings to intruders.8 Presumably those who had collected them up – the builders of Dunharrow – had recognised the latent power still inhabiting these ancient images and employed it in their own works.
Wulf – The son of Freca, a renegade of mixed Dunlendish and Northern blood. After his father had been slain (for insolence) by King Helm Hammerhand of Rohan, Wulf made overtures to the Hillmen of Dunland, and in concert with other enemies of the Mark invaded Rohan in 2758 Third Age. This force was too great for the Rohirrim to withstand, and Helm was driven in retreat to the Horn-burg fortress; Helm’s son Haleth remained to defend Meduseld, and was slain before the doors of the Golden Hall by Wulf. The renegade then entered in and called himself King.
But meanwhile many of the Rohirrim had not been defeated, although they endured a siege of a whole winter (the Long Winter of 2758–59) in the Hornburg and Dunharrow. The latter fortress was occupied by Helm’s sister’s son Fréaláf, and in the spring he made a secret descent from the Hold and captured Meduseld, slaying Wulf with his own hand. With the death of their leader the Dunlendings were easily driven out of the Mark, and as Helm had perished during the winter Fréaláf then became King of Rohan. He was the first of the Second Line.
Yale – A village of the Eastfarthing. It stood between Whitfurrows and the Stock-Tuckborough road.
Yanta – The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘bridge’; also the title of Tengwa number 35, which represented the sound of consonantal y in most languages, e in the Mode of Beleriand.
Yavanna Kementári – One of the great Valier (Valar Queens), the elder sister of Vana and spouse of Aulë the Smith. In the lore of the Elves she is accounted second only in might to Varda (Elbereth). Her powers are directly connected with growth and life, and it is said that she made the first kelvar and olvar (fauna and flora) in Middle-earth (at her prayer the race of Onodrim, or ENTS, was created by Ilúvatar, to protect from harm the trees of Middle-earth which were her especial love). But her most renowned accomplishment was the making of the fabled Two Trees, Telperion and Laurelin. Yavanna (Q.) means ‘Giver of Fruits’; her secondary title Kementári is translated as ‘Queen of the Earth’.
Yavannamirë – One of the FRAGRANT TREES of Númenor.
Yavannië (Q.) – The ninth month of Kings’ Reckoning, equivalent to our September. Unlike the Númenoreans, the Dúnedain of Middle-earth used instead the Sindarin equivalent Ivanneth.
Yávië ‘Autumn’ (Q.) – The name given (by the Elves) to the third of their six seasons, and (by Men) to the third of their four. In the Elvish calendar this season was of fixed length (54 days), but in Kings’ Reckoning was used in an approximate form. Both the Grey-elves and the Dúnedain of Middle-earth (who largely abandoned the Quenya names) used instead the Sindarin equivalent iavas.
Yavierë ‘Autumn-day’ (Q.) – The name given in Gondor to one of the five ‘extra’ days in the Stewards’ Reckoning calendar-system. Yavierë fell between Yavannië (September) and Narquelië (October) and heralded the advent of autumn. It was accordingly a holiday in Gondor.
Year-book of Tuckborough – See YELLOWSKIN.
Year of Lamentation – A name among Elves and Men of the First Age for the Year of the Sun 470: the year of the NIRNAETH ARNOEDIAD.
Years of the Sun – See FIRST AGE.
Years of the Trees – See FIRST AGE.
Yellowskin – The Year-book of Tuckborough, a large bound volume containing the Annals of the Took clan, begun in Tuckborough in about 400 Shire Reckoning (2000 Third Age), long before the building of Great Smials or the passing of the Thainship from the Oldbucks to the Tooks. It was accordingly the most ancient text preserved in the Shire, and many of its dates were incorporated into the Red Book of Westmarch. The Tooks undoubtedly had a certain reputation concerning the accurate compilation of chronologies (see THE TALE OF YEARS).
Yén ‘Long-year’ (Q.) – The ‘true’ Elvish year, equal to 144 coranar (solar years). See also CALENDAR OF IMLADRIS.
Yestarë (Q.) – The name given by both the Elves and the Dúnedain (of Númenor) to the first day of the year, which in all calendar systems was accounted separately from the rest of the months or seasons.
Yôzâyan ‘Land of Gift’ (Adûn.) – The native Númenorean name for their own land.
Yuledays – The first and last days in the Hobbits’ year. The Shire-folk accounted them separate from all the months (like the Lithe midsummer period).
Yulemath – The Bree-name for the Shire-month of Foreyule (December).
Yuletide – An ancient holiday-period or festival celebrated by Northern Men and adopted by the Hobbits during the early years of the T
hird Age. They continued to observe this six-day festival even after they had settled the Shire, much later in the Age, and by the time of the War of the Ring the period had been fixed to fall between 29th Foreyule (December) and 2nd Afteryule (January), with, of course, the two Yuledays in between.
Ywalmë – See NWALMË.
Zaragamba – The original (as opposed to translated) name of the Hobbit-family from the Eastfarthing, hereditary Thains of the Shire, who passed on the office to the Tûk (Took) clan and removed to the strip of land between the Baranduin and the Old Forest. It has been translated from the Red Book as Oldbuck.
Zimraphêl (Ar-Zimraphêl) – The (Adûnaic) royal title assumed (under duress) by Míriel (Tar-Míriel), daughter and rightful heiress of Tar-Palantír, penultimate King of Númenor, after her forcible wedding to her uncle, the usurper of her throne.
Zimrathôn (Ar-Zimrathôn) – From 2962–3033 Second Age, the twenty-first King of Númenor, the second to take his royal title in an Adûnaic (rather than Eldarin) form. His rightful Quenya name was Tar-Hostamir.
Zirak-Zigil – The Dwarvish (Khuzdul) name for the centremost of the three great peaks of Moria, known to Men as the Silvertine and to Elves as Celebdil.
Notes
Foreword to the Third Edition
1. Unfinished Tales 294.
2. Bernard Levin, The Observer.
A
1. Book II Chap 1.
2. Book II Chap. 8. For a fuller account of the meaning of the Hymn, see Notes and Translations to the Song Cycle The Road Goes Ever On.
3. Book III Chap. 4.
4. For a full account of Aldarion’s life, his deeds and his disastrous marriage, see ‘Aldarion and Erendis’ (UT 223–80).
5. Much more, some of it at variance with this account and with itself, is said of Amroth in UT 310–20.
6. MR 305–26.
7. For a fuller description, see UT 215–17.
8. Book II Chap. 4.
9. Silmarillion, 317.
10. Prologue I.
11. Book II Chap. 9.
12. Appendix AI (iv). In some editions the word royalty has been misprinted loyalty.
13. Appendix AI (iv).
14. Ibid.
15. In available translations from the Shire Records there exists an odd discrepancy concerning the dates of the various events which brought an end to Arvedui and the realm of Arthedain. In Appendix AI (iv), King Eärnil II of Gondor is said to have learned about the impending invasion of Angmar in the autumn of 1973 Third Age; yet although he ‘sent his son Eärnur north with a fleet, as swiftly as he could,’ according to ‘The Tale of Years’ (Appendix B) this force did not reach Lindon until 1975, probably in spring. Appendix B also gives 1975 as the year of Arvedui’s death. Yet, if the information in Appendix A I (iii) is also correct, this must mean that the fugitive King remained with the Snow-men of Forochel for just over a year – which is plainly as erroneous an assumption as presuming that Eärnur was over a year at sea. The probable origin of this problem lies in the fact that ‘The Tale of Years’ was compiled (by the Tooks) from a number of varying sources, whereas the (abridged) sections on Arnor and Gondor in the Appendices were originally copied from existing records. At any rate the compilers seem to have misrepresented the events of the year 1974 as occurring in two separate years, 1974 and 1975. In this Companion, therefore, the year 1974 has been taken as the date of Arthedain’s fall, Arvedui’s death, the arrival of Eärnur’s fleet and the subsequent Battle of Fornost, in which Angmar was also thrown down for ever.
16. MR 303–66.
17. Appendix A III.
B
1. LT II 216.
2. Book VI Chap. 3.
3. A greatly expanded version of the events leading up to and including the Battle of the Field of Celebrant may be found in UT 373–414.
4. For a macabre reason for this, see UT 358–59.
5. See UT 460–84 for a more detailed account of the clashes at the Fords of Isen during the War of the Ring.
6. Apart from the ‘Petty-Dwarves’, who had preceded them into Beleriand.
7. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.
8. Book VI Chap. 5.
9. For a much-abbreviated translation see Book I Chap. II; a fuller account, in prose form, can be read in Silmarillion, pp. 162–87.
10. Book II Chap. 1.
11. Ibid.
12. UT 519–20.
13. Hobbit.
14. Appendix A I.
C
1. Book II Chap. 7.
2. Ibid.
3. The deeds and dwelling-places of Celeborn and Galadriel between the Fall of Eregion and their accession to Lórien – and even an approximate date for the latter – are uncertain, since surviving accounts are at variance. The version given in this entry conforms to the belief generally shared before the publication of Unfinished Tales (294–348). For a revised version of the same history, see entry under GALADRIEL.
4. Book II Chap. 6.
D
1. Hobbit.
2. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.
3. PME 314.
4. Appendix III
5. Hobbit.
E
1. UT 243.
2. Book II Chap. 1.
3. Book II Chap. 8.
4. Book II Chap. 7.
5. UT 359.
6. Book II Chap. 8.
7. UT 321–26.
8. Appendix A I (i).
9. Appendix A I (iii).
10. Book II Chap. 1.
F
1. Hobbit.
2. Book I Chap. 2.
3. Prologue.
4. Book III Chap 4.
5. Appendix F I.
6. PME 221.
7. Book IV Chap. 5.
8. Book II Chap. 5.
9. Book VI Chap. 9.
G
1. UT 294–348.
2. Ibid. It is also suggested in this source that Galadriel’s voyage to Middle-earth was made independently of the fleets of Fëanor.
3. His grand-nephew. See LINES OF DESCENT.
4. The Road Goes Ever On, 60.
5. According to one tradition, Celeborn and Galadriel (and not Celebrimbor) actually founded Eregion. Another, not necessarily exclusive, claims that they were present at the time (c. 1700 Second Age) of Sauron’s attack upon Eregion and helped to defend it. See UT 300–305.
6. Although it has long been supposed that Galadriel and Celeborn came to Lórien in the Second Age, according to late sources (UT 314–17) this is not so. Certainly they appear to have taken an interest in Lórien, and to have formed friendly relations with its ruling house, but it was not until the Third Age was well advanced that they actually came to live there as its Lord and Lady. This was connected with the death of Amroth, its last ruling prince.
7. Appendix B.
8. PME 377–82.
9. A glimpse of the glory of Gondolin is revealed in the account of Tuor’s coming there in Year 494 First Age, passing in turn each of its seven enchanted elven-gates. UT 23–74.
10. Book I Chap. 2.
11. For an account of Grimbold’s heroic part in these earlier battles – hitherto unrevealed – see UT 460–84.
12. Book III Chap. 3.
13. Book V Chap. 4.
H
1. Prologue I.
2. A short extract appears in the Prologue.
3. LOTR passim.
4. Appendix F.
5. Book III Chap. 7.
6. For a genealogical table of the early descendants of Elros, see UT 270.
7. MR 330–33.
8. The story of Morgoth’s curse upon Húrin of Dor-lómin is told very fully in two places: ‘The Tale of the Children of Húrin’ (Narn i hîn Hürín) can be found in UT 75–209; for its addendum and exegesis ‘The Wanderings of Húrin’, see WJ 251–310.
9. For a fuller description of this province, see UT 217–18.
10. Ibid.
I
1. UT 516–17.
2. Ibid.
/> 3. The Battle of the Gladden Fields is vividly described in UT 351–69.
4. UT 510.
K
1. Appendix F II.
2. Appendix A I (iv).
L
1. Published as The Silmarillion.
2. Book II Chap. 3.
3. Appendix B.
4. PME 403–05.
5. This includes extra material derived from MR 306.
6. UT 294–348.
7. The only surviving example of a linnod appears in Appendix A I (v).
8. Appendix A I (iii).
9. One legend states that the mellyrn were introduced into Lothlórien by Galadriel herself (UT 311).
10. UT 315.
11. Appendix B.
12. Book I Chap. 2.
M
1. UT 475.
2. See also UT 214–15.
3. The Road Goes Ever On 61.
4. Book II Chap. 3.
5. Book II Chap. 4.
6. See UT 214–15 for a full description of this province.
7. Book IV Chap. 3.
8. Book I Chap. II.
9. Appendix F II.
10. Book II Chap. 4.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Appendix A III.
14. Appendix A II.
15. Book V Chap. 6.
The Complete Tolkien Companion Page 74