Ladros A region to the northeast of Dorthonion.
Lay of Leithian, The See p. 88.
Lonely Isle Tol Eressëa: a large island in the Great Sea near the coasts of Aman; the most easterly of the Undying Lands, where many Elves dwelt.
Lórien The Valar Mandos and Lórien were called brothers, and named the Fanturi: Mandos was Néfantur and Lórien was Olofantur. In the words of the Quenta Lórien was the ‘maker of visions and of dreams; and his gardens in the land of the Gods were the fairest of all places in the world and filled with many spirits of beauty and power.’
Mablung ‘Heavy hand’, Elf of Doriath, chief captain of Thingol; present at the death of Beren in the hunt of Karkaras.
Magic Isles Isles in the Great Sea.
Maglor The second son of Fëanor, a celebrated singer and minstrel.
Maiar See Ainur.
Maidros Eldest son of Fëanor, called ‘the Tall’ (later form Maedhros).
Mandos A Vala of great power. He is the Judge; and he is the keeper of the Houses of the Dead, and the summoner of the spirits of the slain [the Quenta]. See Lórien.
Manwë The chief and most mighty of the Valar, the spouse of Varda.
Melian The Queen of Artanor (Doriath), earlier name Gwendeling; a Maia, who came to Middle-earth from the realm of the Vala Lórien.
Melko The great evil Vala, Morgoth (later form Melkor).
Menegroth See The Thousand Caves.
Miaulë A cat, cook in the kitchen of Tevildo.
Mîm A dwarf, who settled in Nargothrond after the departure of the Dragon and laid a curse on the treasure.
Mindeb A river flowing into Sirion in the region of Doriath.
Mountains of Night The great heights (Dorthonion, ‘Land of Pines’) that came to be called The Forest of Night (Taurfuin, later Taur-na-[-nu-]fuin).
Mountains of Shadow, Shadowy Mountains See Iron Mountains.
Nan The only thing known of Nan seems to be the name of his sword, Glend, named in Lúthien’s ‘lengthening spell’ (See Gilim).
Nan Dumgorthin ‘The land of the dark idols’ where Huan came upon Beren and Lúthien in their flight from Angband. In the alliterative poem the Lay of the Children of Húrin (see p. 78) occur these lines:
in Nan Dungorthin where nameless gods
have shrouded shrines in shadows secret,
more old than Morgoth or the ancient lords
the golden Gods of the guarded West.
Nargothrond The great cavernous city and fortress founded by Felagund on the river Narog in West Beleriand.
Narog River in West Beleriand; See Nargothrond. Often used in the sense ‘realm’, i.e. ‘of Nargothrond’.
Naugladur Lord of the Dwarves of Nogrod.
Nauglamír The Necklace of the Dwarves, in which was set the Silmaril of Beren and Lúthien.
Nessa The sister of Oromë and spouse of Tulkas. See Valier.
Nogrod One of the two great cities of the Dwarves in the Blue Mountains.
Noldoli, later Noldor The second host of the Eldar on the Great Journey, led by Finwë.
Oikeroi A fierce warrior-cat in the service of Tevildo, slain by Huan.
Orodreth Brother of Felagund; King of Nargothrond after the death of Felagund.
Oromë The Vala called the Hunter; led on his horse the hosts of the Eldar on the Great Journey.
Ossiriand ‘The Land of Seven Rivers’, Gelion and its tributaries from the Blue Mountains.
Outer Lands Middle-earth.
Palisor The region of the Great Lands where the Elves awoke.
Rathlorion River in Ossiriand. See Ascar.
Ringil The sword of Fingolfin.
Rivil River rising in the west of Dorthonion and flowing into Sirion at the fens of Serech, north of Tol Sirion.
Sarn Athrad The Ford of Stones, where the river Ascar in Ossiriand was crossed by the road to the cities of the Dwarves in the Blue Mountains.
Serech Great fens where the Rivil flowed into the Sirion; See Rivil.
Shadowy Mountains, Mountains of Shadow See Iron Mountains.
Shadowy Seas A region of the Great Sea of the West.
Sickle of the Gods The constellation of the Great Bear [which Varda set above the North as a threat to Morgoth and an omen of his fall.]
Silmarils The three great jewels filled with the light of the Two Trees of Valinor, made by Fëanor. See pp. 36–7.
Silpion The White Tree of Valinor, from whose flowers there fell a dew of silver light; also called Telperion.
Sirion The great river of Beleriand, rising in the Mountains of Shadow and flowing southward, dividing East from West Beleriand.
Taniquetil The highest Mountain of Aman, the abode of Manwë and Varda.
Taurfuin, Taur-na-fuin, (later -nu-) The Forest of Night; See Mountains of Night.
Tavros Gnomish name of the Vala Oromë: ‘Lord of Forests’; later form Tauros.
Tevildo The Prince of Cats, mightiest of all cats, ‘possessed of an evil spirit’ (see pp. 49, 69); a close companion of Morgoth.
Thangorodrim The mountains above Angband.
Thingol King of Artanor (Doriath); earlier name Tinwelint. [His name was Elwë: he was a leader of the third host of the Eldar, the Teleri, on the Great Journey, but in Beleriand he was known as ‘Greycloak’ (the meaning of Thingol).]
Thirsty Plain See Dor-na-Fauglith.
Thorondor King of Eagles.
Thousand Caves Menegroth: The hidden halls of Tinwelint (Thingol) on the river Esgalduin in Artanor.
Thû The Necromancer, greatest of the servants of Morgoth, dwelling in the Elvish watchtower on Tol Sirion; later name Sauron.
Thuringwethil Name taken by Lúthien in bat-form before Morgoth.
Timbrenting Old English name of Taniquetil.
Tinfang Warble A famous minstrel [Tinfang = Quenya timpinen ‘fluter’.]
Tinúviel ‘Daughter of Twilight’, nightingale: name given to Lúthien by Beren.
Tinwelint King of Artanor; See Thingol, the later name.
Tirion City of the Elves in Aman; See Kôr.
Tol-in-Gaurhoth Isle of Werewolves, the name of Tol Sirion after its capture by Morgoth.
Tol Sirion The island in the river Sirion on which there was an Elvish fortress; See Tol-in-Gaurhoth.
Tulkas The Vala described in the Quenta as ‘the strongest of all the Gods in limb and greatest in all feats of valour and prowess’.
Tuor Cousin of Túrin and father of Eärendil.
Túrin Son of Húrin and Morwen; named Turambar ‘Master of Doom’.
Uinen A Maia (See Ainur). ‘The Lady of the Seas’, ‘whose hair lies spread through all the waters under sky’; named in Lúthien’s ‘lengthening spell’.
Ulmo ‘Lord of Waters’, the great Vala of the Seas.
Umboth-Muilin The Twilight Meres, where Aros, the southern river of Doriath, flowed into Sirion.
Umuiyan An old cat, the doorkeeper of Tevildo.
Ungweliantë The monstrous spider, dwelling in Eruman (See Gilim), who with Morgoth destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor; (later form Ungoliant).
Valar (singular Vala) ‘The Powers’; in early texts referred to as the Gods. They are the great beings who entered the World at the beginning of Time. [In the Lost Tale of the Music of the Ainur Eriol said: ‘I would fain know who be these Valar; are they the Gods?’ He received this reply: ‘So be they, though concerning them Men tell many strange and garbled tales that are far from the truth, and many strange names they call them that you will not hear here.’]
Valier (singular Valië) The ‘Queens of the Valar’; in this book are named only Varda, Vána and Nessa.
Valinor The land of the Valar in Aman.
Valmar, Valimar City of the Valar in Valinor.
Vána The spouse of Oromë. See Valier.
Varda Greatest of the Valier; the spouse of Manwë; maker of the stars [hence her name Elbereth, ‘Queen of the Stars’].
Vëannë The teller of The Tale of Tinúviel.
Wi
ngelot ‘Foamflower’, Eärendel’s ship.
Wizard’s Isle Tol Sirion.
Wood-elves Elves of Artanor.
GLOSSARY
This glossary contains words (including forms and meanings of words differing from modern usage) that seemed to me liable to give difficulty. The content of such a list as this cannot of course be systematic, deriving from some external standard.
an if, 45, 52, 80, 82, etc.
bent open place covered with grass, 144
bid offered, 241
chase hunting ground, 181
clomb old past tense of climb, 202
corse corpse, 193
croft small plot of land, 122
drouth dryness, 125
entreat treat, 60, 65; [modern sense] 61, 83
envermined full of noxious creatures, 186. This word seems not to be otherwise recorded.
fell hide, 72, 101, 146, 153–4, 185–8, etc.
flittermouse bat, 210
forhungered starved, 173
frith wood, woodland, 143
frore very cold, 113
glamoury magic, enchantment, 125
haggard (of hills) wild, 177
haply perhaps, 45, 96, 118
hem and hedge enclose and fence off, 101
howe burial mound, barrow, 234
inane empty, 190
lave wash, 55
leeches physicians, 173, 176
let hinder, 124: their going let ‘hinder their passing’
like please, 88 (in doth it like thee?)
limber supple, 143
march borderland, 178, 195
neb beak, bill, 97, 265–6
nesh soft, tender, 215
opes opens, 198
parlous dangerous, 268
pled old past tense of plead, 170
quook old past tense of quake, 192
rede counsel, 48, 59
rove past tense of rive ‘rend, tear apart, cleave’, 213
ruel-bone ivory, 143
runagate deserter, renegade, 48
scullion kitchen drudge, 51
shores supports, 203
sigaldry sorcery, 125
slot track of an animal, 83–4
spoor the same as slot, 84
sprite spirit, 49
sylphine of the nature of a sylph (a spirit inhabiting the air), 210. This adjective is not recorded.
swath (space left after passage of a mower) track, trace, 127
tarn a small mountain lake, 258
thews bodily strength, 76
thrall a slave, one who is in bondage (thraldom), 20, 47–9, 59, 69, 73, etc.
trammelled hampered, impeded, 151
unkempt uncombed, 51
viol a stringed instrument played with a bow, 158, 176
weft woven fabric, 173
weird fate, 144, 177
weregild (Old English) the price set upon a man in accordance with his rank, 258
whin gorse, 259
wolfhame wolfskin, 185
woof woven fabric, 213
would wished, 184–5, 205
Read More from J.R.R. Tolkien
Visit www.hmhco.com to find more books by J.R.R. Tolkien, or click any of the links below to see a specific title.
THE HOBBIT
LEAF BY NIGGLE
ON FAIRY-STORIES
FARMER GILES OF HAM
THE HOMECOMING OF BEORHTNOTH
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
THE ADVENTURES OF TOM BOMBADIL
THE ROAD GOES EVER ON (WITH DONALD SWANN)
SMITH OF WOOTTON MAJOR
Works published posthumously
SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT, PEARL AND SIR ORFEO*
THE FATHER CHRISTMAS LETTERS
THE SILMARILLION*
PICTURES BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN*
UNFINISHED TALES*
THE LETTERS OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN*
FINN AND HENGEST
MR BLISS
THE MONSTERS AND THE CRITICS & OTHER ESSAYS*
ROVERANDOM
THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN*
THE LEGEND OF SIGURD AND GUDRÚN*
THE FALL OF ARTHUR*
BEOWULF: A TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY*
THE STORY OF KULLERVO
The History of Middle-earth—by Christopher Tolkien
I THE BOOK OF LOST TALES, PART ONE
II THE BOOK OF LOST TALES, PART TWO
III THE LAYS OF BELERIAND
IV THE SHAPING OF MIDDLE-EARTH
V THE LOST ROAD AND OTHER WRITINGS
VI THE RETURN OF THE SHADOW
VII THE TREASON OF ISENGARD
VIII THE WAR OF THE RING
IX SAURON DEFEATED
X MORGOTH’S RING
XI THE WAR OF THE JEWELS
XII THE PEOPLES OF MIDDLE-EARTH
* Edited by Christopher Tolkien
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND EDITOR
J.R.R. Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein. After serving in the First World War, Tolkien embarked upon a distinguished academic career and was recognized as one of the finest philologists in the world. He is, however, best known as the creator of Middle-earth and author of such classic and extraordinary works of fiction as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. His books have been translated into more than sixty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide. He was awarded a CBE, and an honorary doctorate of letters from Oxford University in 1972. He died in 1973 at the age of eighty-one.
Christopher Tolkien, born on November 21, 1924, is the third son of J.R.R. Tolkien. Appointed by Tolkien to be his literary executor, he has devoted himself since his father’s death to the editing and publication of unpublished writings, notably The Silmarillion and the collections entitled Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth. He and his wife, Baillie, have lived in France since 1975.
Beren and Lúthien Page 21