LIST OF NAMES
At the end of the main list that follows here are listed the seven longer additional notes to which a few of the names in the main list are extended. Names that appear in the map of Beleriand are followed by an asterisk.
Ainairos An Elf of Alqualondë.
Ainur See the additional note .
Almaren The isle of Almaren was the first dwelling of the Valar in Arda.
Alqualondë See .
Aman The land in the West beyond the Great Sea in which was Valinor.
Amnon The words of the Prophecy of Amnon, ‘Great is the fall of Gondolin’, uttered by Turgon in the midst of the battle for the city, are cited in two closely similar forms in isolated jottings under this title. Both begin with the words under the title ‘Great is the fall of Gondolin’, and then follow in the one case ‘Turgon shall not fade till the lily of the valley fadeth’ and in the other ‘When the lily of the valley withers then shall Turgon fade’.
The lily of the valley is Gondolin, one of the seven names of the city, the Flower of the Plain. There are references also in notes to the prophecies of Amnon, and to the places of the prophecies; but nowhere, it seems, is there any explanation of who Amnon was or when he uttered these words.
Amon Gwareth ‘The Hill of Watch’, or ‘The Hill of Defence’, a tall and isolated rocky height in the Guarded Plain of Gondolin, on which the city was built.
Anar The Sun.
Ancalagon the black The greatest of Morgoth’s winged dragons, destroyed by Eärendel in the Great Battle.
Androth Caves in the hills of Mithrim where Tuor dwelt with Annael and the Grey-elves, and afterwards as a solitary outlaw.
Anfauglith* Once the great grassy plain of Ard-galen north of Taur-na-Fuin before its desolation by Morgoth.
Angainor The name of the chain, wrought by Aulë, with which Morgoth was twice bound: for he had been forced to wear it when imprisoned by the Valar in a very remote age, and again in his final defeat.
Angband The great dungeon-fortress of Morgoth in the North-west of Middle-earth.
Annael Grey-elf of Mithrim, fosterfather of Tuor.
Annon-in-Gelydh ‘Gate of the Noldor’: the entrance to the subterranean river rising in the lake of Mithrim and leading to the Rainbow Cleft.
Aranwë Elf of Gondolin, father of Voronwë.
Aranwion ‘Son of Aranwë’. See .
Arlisgion A region, translated ‘the place of reeds’, through which Tuor passed on his great southward journey; but the name is not found on any map. It seems impossible to trace the way that Tuor took until he reached the Land of Willows after many days; but it is clear that in this account Arlisgion was somewhere to the north of that land. The only other reference to this place seems to be in the Last Version (p.173), where Voronwë spoke to Tuor of the Lisgardh, ‘the land of reeds at the Mouths of Sirion’. Arlisgion ‘place of reeds’ is clearly the same as Lisgardh ‘land of reeds’; but the geography of this region at this time is very unclear.
Arvalin A desolate region of wide and misty plains between the Pelóri (the Mountains of Valinor) and the sea. Its name, meaning ‘near Valinor’, was later replaced by Avathar, ‘the shadows’. It was here that Morgoth met with Ungoliant, and it was said that the Doom of Mandos was spoken in Arvalin. See .
Aulë He is one of the great Valar, called ‘the Smith’, of might little less than Ulmo. The following is taken from the portrait of him, in the text named Valaquenta:
His lordship is over all the substances of which Arda is made. In the beginning he wrought much in fellowship with Manwë and Ulmo; and the fashioning of all lands was his labour. He is a smith and a master of all crafts, and he delights in works of skill, however small, as much as in the mighty building of old. His are the gems that lie deep in the Earth and the gold that is fair in the hand, no less than the walls of the mountains and the basins of the sea.
Bablon, Ninwi, Trui, Rûm Babylon, Nineveh, Troy, Rome. A note on Bablon reads: ‘Bablon was a city of Men, and more rightly Babylon, but such is the Gnomes’ name as they now shape it, and they got it from aforetime.’
Bad Uthwen See .
Balar, Isle of An island far out in the Bay of Balar. See .
Balcmeg An Orc slain by Tuor.
Balrogs ‘Demons with whips of flame and claws of steel’.
Battle of Unnumbered Tears See the note .
Bauglir A name frequently added to Morgoth; translated ‘The Constrainer’.
Bay of Faërie A great bay in the eastern face of Aman.
Beleg A great archer of Doriath and close friend of Túrin, whom he slew in darkness thinking him a foe.
Belegaer See .
Beleriand* The great north-western region of Middle-earth, extending from the Blue Mountains in the East to include all the inner lands south of Hithlum and the coasts south of Drengist.
Beren Man of the House of Bëor, lover of Lúthien, who cut the Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown. Slain by Carcharoth the wolf of Angband; he alone of mortal Men returned from the dead.
The Blacksword (Mormegil) A name given to Túrin on account of his sword Gurthang (‘Iron of Death’).
The Blessed Realm See .
Bragollach Short form of Dagor Bragollach, ‘The Battle of Sudden Flame’, in which the Siege of Angband was ended.
Bredhil Gnomish name of Varda (also Bridhil).
Brethil* The forest between the rivers Teiglin and Sirion.
Brithiach* The ford over Sirion leading into Dimbar.
Brithombar* The northernmost of the Havens of the Falas.
Bronweg The Gnomish name of Voronwë.
Celegorm Son of Fëanor; called the Fair.
Círdan the Shipwright Lord of the Falas (the western coasts of Beleriand); at the destruction of the Havens in that region by Morgoth after the Battle of Unnumbered Tears Círdan escaped to the Isle of Balar and the region of the Mouths of Sirion, and continued the building of ships. This is the Círdan the Shipwright who appears in The Lord of the Rings as the lord of the Grey Havens at the end of the Third Age.
Cirith Ninniach The ‘Rainbow Cleft’; See .
City of Stone Gondolin; See .
Cleft of Eagles In the southernmost of the Encircling Mountains about Gondolin. Elvish name Cristhorn.
Cranthir Son of Fëanor, called the Dark; changed to Caranthir.
Cris-Ilfing ‘Rainbow Cleft’: the ravine in which flowed the river from Lake Mithrim. Replaced by the name Kirith Helvin, and finally Cirith Ninniach.
Crissaegrim* The mountain-peaks south of Gondolin, where were the eyries of Thorondor, the Lord of the Eagles.
Cristhorn Elvish name of the Cleft of Eagles. Replaced by the name Kirith-thoronath.
Cuiviénen The ‘waters of awakening’ of the Elves in the far distant East of Middle-earth: ‘a dark lake amid mighty rocks, and the stream that feeds that water falls therein down a deep cleft, a pale and slender thread’.
Curufin Son of Fëanor; called the Crafty.
Damrod and Díriel Twin brothers, youngest of the sons of Fëanor; later changed to Amrod and Amras.
Deep-elves A name of the second host of the Elves on the great journey. See , Noldor, and the note .
Dimbar* The land between the rivers Sirion and Mindeb.
Dior The son of Beren and Lúthien and possessor of their Silmaril; known as ‘Thingol’s Heir’. He was the father of Elwing; and was slain by the sons of Fëanor.
Doom of Mandos See note .
The Door of Night See the entry Outer Seas. In the text named Ambarkanta that I have cited there, concerning Ilurambar, the Walls of the World, and Vaiya, the Enfolding Ocean or Outer Sea, it is further said:
In the midst of Valinor is Ando Lómen, the Door of Timeless Night that pierces the Walls and opens upon the Void. For the World is set amid Kúma, the Void, the Night without form or time. But none can pass the chasm and the belt of Vaiya and come to that Door, save the great Valar only. And they made that Door when Melko was overcome and put forth into the Outer Dark, and it is guarded by Eärendel.
Doriath* The great forested region of Beleriand, ruled by Thingol and Melian. The Girdle of Melian gave rise to the later name Doriath (Dor-iâth ‘Land of the Fence’).
Dor-lómin* ‘The Land of Shadows’: region in the south of Hithlum.
Dor-na-Fauglith The great northern grassy plain named Ard-galen; utterly destroyed by Morgoth it was named Dor-na-Fauglith, translated as ‘the land under choking ash’.
Dramborleg Tuor’s axe. A note on this name says: ‘Dramborleg means “Thudder-sharp”, and was the axe of Tuor that smote both a heavy dint as of a club and cleft as a sword’.
Drengist A long firth of the sea penetrating the Echoing Mountains. The river from Mithrim that Tuor followed through the Rainbow Cleft would have brought him to the sea by that route, ‘but he was dismayed by the fury of the strange waters, and he turned aside and went away southward, and so came not to the long shores of the Firth of Drengist’ ().
The Dry River The bed of the river that once flowed out from the Encircling Mountains to join Sirion; forming the entrance to Gondolin.
Duilin Lord of the people of the Swallow in Gondolin.
Dungortheb Shortened form of Nan Dungortheb, ‘the valley of dreadful death’, between Ered Gorgoroth, the Mountains of Terror, and the Girdle of Melian protecting Doriath from the north.
The Dweller in the Deep Ulmo.
Eagle-stream See .
Eärámë ‘Eagle’s Pinion’, Tuor’s ship.
Eärendel (later form Eärendil) ‘Halfelven’: the son of Tuor and Idril Turgon’s daughter; the father of Elrond and Elros. See the note .
Easterlings Name given to Men who followed the Edain into Beleriand; they fought on both sides in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, and were given Hithlum by Morgoth, where they oppressed the remnant of the People of Hador.
Echoing Mountains of Lammoth* The Echoing Mountains (Ered Lómin) formed the ‘west wall’ of Hithlum; Lammoth was the region between those mountains and the sea.
Echoriath See .
Ecthelion Lord of the people of the Fountain in Gondolin.
Edain The Men of the Three Houses of the Elf-friends.
Egalmoth Lord of the people of the Heavenly Arch in Gondolin.
Eglarest* The southern Haven of the Falas.
Eldalië ‘Elven folk’, a name used interchangeably with Eldar.
Eldar In early writings the name Eldar meant the Elves of the great journey from Cuiviénen, which was divided into three hosts: See , , and : on these names See the remarkable passage in The Hobbit given in the note . Subsequently it could be used as distinct from Noldoli, and of the language of the Eldar as opposed to Gnomish (the language of the Noldoli).
Elemmakil Elf of Gondolin, captain of the guard of the outer gate.
Elfinesse An inclusive name for all the lands of the Elves.
Elrond and Elros The sons of Eärendel and Elwing. Elrond elected to belong to the Firstborn; he was the master of Rivendell and keeper of the ring Vilya. Elros was numbered among Men and became the first King of Númenor.
Elwing Daughter of Dior, wedded Eärendel; mother of Elrond and Elros.
Encircling Mountains, ~Hills The mountains encircling the plain of Gondolin. Elvish name Echoriath.
Eöl The ‘dark Elf’ of the forest who ensnared Isfin; father of Maeglin.
Ered Wethrin (earlier form Eredwethion) Mountains of Shadow (‘The walls of Hithlum’). See the note on Iron Mountains, .
Evermind White flower that was continuously in bloom.
The Exiles The rebellious Noldor who returned to Middle-earth from Aman.
Falas* The western coastlands of Beleriand, south of Nevrast.
Falasquil A cove of the sea-coast where Tuor dwelt for a time. This was clearly a small bay, marked without a name on a map made by my father, on the long firth (named Drengist) running east to Hithlum and Dor-lómin. The wood for Eärendel’s ship Wingilot (‘Foam-flower’) was said to have come from Falasquil.
Falathrim The Telerin Elves of the Falas.
Fëanor The eldest son of Finwë; maker of the Silmarils.
Finarfin The third son of Finwë; father of Finrod Felagund and Galadriel. He remained in Aman after the flight of the Noldor.
Finduilas Daughter of Orodreth, King of Nargothrond after Finrod Felagund. Faelivrin was a name given to her; the meaning is ‘the gleam of the sun on the pools of Ivrin’.
Fingolfin The second son of Finwë; father of Fingon and Turgon; High King of the Noldor in Beleriand; slain by Morgoth in single combat at the gates of Angband (described in The Lay of Leithian, Beren and Lúthien pp.190 ff.).
Fingolma Early name of Finwë.
Fingon The elder son of Fingolfin; brother of Turgon; High King of the Noldor after the death of Fingolfin; slain in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears.
Finn Gnomish form of Finwë.
Finrod Felagund Eldest son of Finarfin; founder and King of Nargothrond, whence his name Felagund ‘cave-hewer’. See .
Finwë Leader of the second host (Noldoli) on the great journey from Cuiviénen; father of Fëanor, Fingolfin and Finarfin.
Fionwë Son of Manwë; captain of the host of the Valar in the Great Battle.
The Fountain Name of one of the kindreds of the Gondothlim. See .
Galdor The father of Húrin and Huor; See .
Galdor Lord of the people of the Tree in Gondolin.
Gar Ainion ‘The Place of the Gods’ (Ainur) in Gondolin.
Gate of the Noldor See .
Gates of Summer See .
Gelmir and Arminas Noldorin Elves who came upon Tuor at the Gate of the Noldor when on their way to Nargothrond to warn Orodreth (the second king, following Felagund) of its peril, of which they did not speak to Tuor.
Girdle of Melian See .
Glamhoth Orcs; translated ‘the barbaric host’, ‘hosts of hate’.
Glaurung The most celebrated of all the dragons of Morgoth.
Glingol and Bansil The gold and silver trees at the doors of the King’s palace in Gondolin. Originally these were shoots of old from the Two Trees of Valinor before Melko and Gloomweaver withered them, but later the story was that they were images made by Turgon in Gondolin.
Glithui* A river flowing down from Ered Wethrin, a tributary of Teiglin.
Gloomweaver See .
Glorfalc ‘Golden Cleft’: Tuor’s name for the ravine through which flowed the river that rose in Lake Mithrim.
Glorfindel Lord of the people of the Golden Flower in Gondolin.
Gnomes This was the early translation of the name of the Elves called Noldoli (later Noldor). For explanation of this use of ‘Gnomes’ See and pp.32–3. Their language was Gnomish.
The Golden Flower Name of one of the kindreds of the Gondothlim.
Gondolin* For the name See . For the other names See .
Gondothlim The people of Gondolin; translated ‘the dwellers in stone’. Other names of related form are Gondobar meaning ‘City of Stone’ and Gondothlimbar ‘City of the Dwellers in Stone’. Both these names are included in the Seven Names of the city cited to Tuor by the guard at the gate of Gondolin (p.51). The element gond meant ‘stone’, as in Gondor. Gondolin was interpreted at the time of writing the Lost Tales as ‘Stone of Song’, which was said to mean ‘stone carved and wrought to great beauty.’ A later interpretation was ‘the Hidden Rock’.
Gondothlimbar See .
Gorgoroth Shortened form of Ered Gorgoroth, the Mountains of Terror; See .
Gothmog Lord of Balrogs, captain of the hosts of Melkor; son of Melkor, slain by Ecthelion.
The Great Battle The world-changing battle that finally overthrew Morgoth and brought the First Age of the World to its end. It may also be said to have ended the Elder Days, for ‘in the Fourth Age the earlier Ages were often called the Elder Days; but that name was properly given only to the days before the casting out of Morgoth’ (The Tale of Years, appendix to The Lord of the Rings). That is why Elrond said at the great council in Rivendell: ‘My memory reaches back even to the Elder Days. Eärendil was my sire, who was born in Gondolin before its fall.’
Great Sea* The Great Sea of the West, whose name was Belegaer, extended from the western coasts of Middle-earth to the coasts of Aman.
Great Worm of Angband See .
Grey Annals See .
Grey-elves The Sindar. This name was given to the Eldar who remained in Beleriand and did not go further into the West.
The Grinding Ice In the far north of Arda there was a strait between the ‘western world’ and the coast of Middle-earth, and in one of the accounts of the ‘Grinding Ice’ it is described thus:
Through these narrows the chill waters of the Encircling Sea [See ] and the waves of the Great Sea of the West flow together, and there are vast mists of deathly cold, and the sea-streams are filled with clashing hills of ice and the grinding of ice submerged. This strait was named Helkaraksë.
Guarded Plain Tumladen, the plain of Gondolin.
Gwindor Elf of Nargothrond, lover of Finduilas.
Hador See . The House of Hador was called The Third House of the Edain. His son Galdor was the father of Húrin and Huor.
The Hammer of Wrath Name of one of the kindreds of the Gondothlim.
The Harp Name of one of the kindreds of the Gondothlim.
Haudh-en-Ndengin ‘The Hill of Slain’: a great mound in which were laid all the Elves and Men who died in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears. This was in the desert of Anfauglith.
Heavenly Arch Name of one of the kindreds of the Gondothlim.
Hells of Iron Angband. See the note on Iron Mountains, .
Hendor A servant of Idril who carried Eärendel in the flight from Gondolin.
The Hidden King Turgon.
The Hidden Kingdom Gondolin.
The Hidden People See .
Hill of Watch See .
Hisilómë The Gnomish form of the name Hithlum.
Hísimë The eleventh month, corresponding to November.
Hither Lands Middle-earth.
Hithlum* The great region, translated ‘Land of Mist’, ‘Twilit Mist’, extending northward from the great wall of Ered Wethrin, the Mountains of Shadow; in the south of the region lay Dor-lómin and Mithrim. See .
Huor The brother of Húrin, husband of Rían, and father of Tuor; slain in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears. See the note on and , .
Húrin The father of Túrin Turambar and brother of Huor father of Tuor; See the note and , .
Idril Called Celebrindal ‘Silverfoot’, the daughter of Turgon. Her mother was Elenwë, who perished in the crossing of the Helcaraxë, the Grinding Ice. It is told in a very late note that ‘Turgon had himself come near to death in the bitter waters when he attempted to save her and his daughter Idril, whom the breaking of treacherous ice had cast into the cruel sea. Idril he saved; but the body of Elenwë was covered in fallen ice.’ She was the wife of Tuor and the mother of Eärendel.
Ilfiniol Elvish name of Littleheart.
Ilkorindi, Ilkorins Elves who never dwelt in Kôr in Valinor.
Ilúvatar The Creator. The elements are Ilu ‘the Whole, the Universe’; and atar ‘father’.
Inglor Earlier name for Finrod Felagund.
Ingwë Leader of the Light-elves on the great journey from Cuiviénen. It is told in the Quenta Noldorinwa that ‘he entered into Valinor and sits at the feet of the Powers, and all Elves revere his name, but he has come never back to the Outer Lands.’
Iron Mountains ‘Morgoth’s mountains’ in the far North. But the occurrence of the name in the text of the original Tale derives from an earlier time when Iron Mountains was applied to the range later named Shadowy Mountains (Ered Wethrin): See the note on Iron Mountains . I have emended the text at this point.
Isfin Sister of King Turgon; mother of Maeglin, wife of Eöl.
Ivrin The lake and falls beneath Ered Wethrin where the river Narog rose.
Kôr The hill in Valinor overlooking the Bay of Faërie on which was built the Elvish city of Tûn, later Tirion; also as the name of the city itself. See .
Land of Shadows See .
Land of Willows* The beautiful land where the river Narog flowed into the Sirion, south of Nargothrond. Its Elvish names were Nan-tathrin ‘Willow-vale’ and Tasarinan. In The Two Towers (Book 3, chapter 4), when Treebeard was carrying Merry and Pippin in the forest of Fangorn he chanted to them, and the first words were
In the willow-meads of Tasarinan I walked in the Spring.
Ah! the sight and the smell of the Spring in Nan-tasarion!
Laurelin Name of the Golden Tree of Valinor.
Legolas Greenleaf An Elf of the House of the Tree in Gondolin, gifted with extraordinary night-sight.
Light-elves A name of the first host of the Elves on the great journey from Cuiviénen. See , and the note .
Linaewen The great mere in Nevrast ‘in the midst of the hollow land’.
Lisgardh ‘The land of reeds at the Mouths of Sirion’. See .
Littleheart Elf of Tol Eressëa who told the original tale of The Fall of Gondolin. He is described thus in the Lost Tales: ‘He had a weatherworn face and blue eyes of great merriment, and was very slender and small, nor might one say if he were fifty or ten thousand’; and it is also said that he owed his name to ‘the youth and wonder of his heart’. In the Lost Tales he has many Elvish names, but Ilfiniol is the only one that appears in this book.
Lonely Isle Tol Eressëa: a large island in the Western Ocean, within remote sight of the coasts of Aman. For its early history See .
Lord of Waters See .
Lords of the West The Valar.
Lorgan Easterling chief in Hithlum who enslaved Tuor.
Lórien The Valar Mandos and Lórien were called brothers, and bore the name Fanturi. Mandos was Nefantur and Lórien was Olofantur. Like Mandos, Lórien was the name of his dwelling but was also used as his own name. He was ‘the master of visions and dreams’.
Lothlim ‘People of the Flower’: the name taken by the survivors of Gondolin in their dwellings at the Mouths of Sirion.
Lug An Orc slain by Tuor.
Maglor Son of Fëanor, called the Mighty; a great singer and minstrel.
Maidros Eldest son of Fëanor, called the Tall.
Malduin* A tributary of the Teiglin.
Malkarauki Elvish name for Balrogs.
Mandos The dwelling, by which he himself is always named, of the great Vala Namo. I give here the portrait of Mandos in the brief text Valaquenta:
[Mandos] is the keeper of the Houses of the Dead, and the summoner of the spirits of the slain. He forgets nothing; and he knows all things that shall be, save only those that lie still in the freedom of Ilúvatar. He is the Doomsman of the Valar; but he pronounces his dooms and his judgements only at the bidding of Manwë. Vairë the Weaver is his spouse, who weaves all things that have ever been in Time into her storied webs, and the halls of Mandos that ever widen as the ages pass are clothed with them.
See .
Manwë The chief of the Valar and the spouse of Varda; Lord of the realm of Arda. See .
Meglin (and later Maeglin) Son of Eöl and Isfin sister of King Turgon; he betrayed Gondolin to Morgoth, the most infamous treachery in the history of Middle-earth; slain by Tuor.
Meleth The nurse of Eärendel.
Melian A Maia from the company of the Vala Lórien in Valinor, who came to Middle-earth and became the Queen of Doriath. ‘She put forth her power’ [as told in the Grey Annals, See ] ‘and fenced all that region about with an unseen wall of shadow and bewilderment: the Girdle of Melian, that none thereafter could pass against her will or the will of King Thingol’. See and .
Melko (later form Melkor) ‘He who arises in might’; the name of the great evil Ainu before he became ‘Morgoth’. ‘The mightiest of those Ainur who came into the World was in his beginning Melkor. [He] is counted no longer among the Valar, and his name is not spoken upon Earth.’ (From the text named Valaquenta.)
Menegroth* See .
Meres of Twilight Aelin-uial, a region of great pools and marshes, wrapped in mists, where Aros, flowing out of Doriath, met Sirion.
Mighty of the West The Valar.
Minas of King Finrod The tower (Minas Tirith) built by Finrod Felagund. This was a great watch-tower that he built on Tol Sirion, the isle in the Pass of Sirion that became after its capture by Sauron Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the Isle of Werewolves.
Mithrim* The great lake in the south of Hithlum, and also the region in which it lay and the mountains to the west.
Moeleg The Gnomish form of Melko, which the Gnomes would not speak, calling him Morgoth Bauglir, the Dark Power Terrible.
The Mole A sable Mole was the sign of Meglin and his house.
Morgoth This name (‘the Black Foe’ and other translations) only occurs once in the Lost Tales. It was first given by Fëanor after the rape of the Silmarils. See and .
Mountains of Darkness The Iron Mountains.
Mountains of Shadow* See .
Mountains of Turgon See .
Mountains of Valinor The great range of mountains that were raised by the Valar when they came to Aman. Called also the Pelóri, they extended in a vast crescent from north to south not far from the eastern shores of Aman.
Nan-tathrin* Elvish name of the Land of Willows.
Nargothrond* The great underground fortress city on the river Narog in West Beleriand, founded by Finrod Felagund and destroyed by the dragon Glaurung.
Narog* The river that rose in the lake of Ivrin under Ered Wethrin and flowed into Sirion in the Land of Willows.
Narquelië The tenth month, corresponding to October.
Nessa A ‘Queen of the Valar’, the sister of Vána and spouse of Tulkas.
Nevrast* The region south-west of Dor-lómin where Turgon dwelt before his departure to Gondolin.
Ninniach, Vale of The site of the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, but found only here under this name.
Nirnaeth Arnoediad The Battle of Unnumbered Tears. Often referred to as ‘the Nirnaeth’. See the note .
Noldoli, Noldor The earlier and later forms of the name of the second host of the Elves on the great journey from Cuiviénen. See , .
Nost-na-Lothion ‘The Birth of Flowers’, a festival of spring in Gondolin.
Orcobal A great champion of Orcs, slain by Ecthelion.
Orcs In a note on the word my father wrote: ‘A folk devised and brought into being by Morgoth to make war on Elves and Men; sometimes translated “Goblins”, but they were of nearly human stature.’ See .
Orfalch Echor The great ravine in the Encircling Mountains by which Gondolin was approached.
Oromë Vala, the son of Yavanna, renowned as the greatest of all hunters; he and Yavanna alone of the Valar came at times to Middle-earth in the Elder Days. On Nahar his white horse he led the Elves on the great journey from Cuiviénen.
Ossë He is a Maia, a vassal of Ulmo, and is thus described in the Valaquenta:
He is master of the seas that wash the shores of Middle-earth. He does not go in the deeps, but loves the coasts and the isles, and rejoices in the winds of Manwë; for in storm he delights, and laughs amid the roaring of the waves.
Othrod A lord of Orcs, slain by Tuor.
Outer Lands The lands east of the Great Sea (Middle-earth).
Outer Seas I quote from a passage in a text named Ambarkanta (‘Shape of the World’) of the 1930s, probably later than the Quenta Noldorinwa: ‘About all the world are the Ilurambar, or Walls of the World [‘the final Wall’ in the Prologue, p.24] … They cannot be seen, nor can they be passed, save by the Door of Night. Within these Walls the Earth is globed: above, below, and upon all sides is Vaiya, the Enfolding Ocean [which is the Outer Sea]. But this is more like to sea below the Earth and more like to air above the Earth. In Vaiya below the Earth dwells Ulmo.’
In the Lost Tale of The Coming of the Valar Rúmil, who tells the tale, says: ‘Beyond Valinor I have never seen or heard, save that of a surety there are the dark waters of the Outer Seas, that have no tides, and they are very cool and thin, that no boat can sail upon their bosom or fish swim within their depths, save the enchanted fish of Ulmo and his magic car.’
Outer World, Outer Earth The lands east of the Great Sea (Middle-earth).
Palisor The distant land in the East of Middle-earth where the Elves awoke.
Palúrien A name of Yavanna; both names are often conjoined. Palúrien was replaced later by Kementári; both names bear such meanings as ‘Queen of the Earth’, ‘Lady of the Wide Earth’.
Peleg son of Indor son of Fengel Peleg was the father of Tuor in the first genealogy. (See )
Pelóri See .
Penlod Lord of the peoples of the Pillar and the Tower of Snow in Gondolin.
The Pillar Name of one of the kindreds of the Gondothlim. See .
Prophecy of Mandos See note .
Quendi An early name for all Elves, meaning ‘Those who have voices’; later, the name of the first of the three hosts on the great journey from Cuiviénen. See .
Rían Wife of Huor, mother of Tuor; died in Anfauglith after the death of Huor.
Rog Lord of the people of the Hammer of Wrath in Gondolin.
Salgant Lord of the people of the Harp in Gondolin. Described as ‘a craven’.
Sea-elves A name of the third host of the Elves on the great journey from Cuiviénen. See , and the note .
Silpion The White Tree; See and .
Sindar See .
Sirion* The Great River that rose at Eithel Sirion (‘Sirion’s Well’) and dividing West from East Beleriand flowed into the Great Sea in the Bay of Balar.
Sorontur ‘King of Eagles’. See .
The Stricken Anvil Emblem of the people of the Hammer of Wrath in Gondolin.
Súlimë The third month, corresponding to March.
Súlimo This name, referring to Manwë as a wind-god, is very frequently attached to his name. He is called ‘Lord of the Airs’; but only once does there seem to be a translation specifically of Súlimo: ‘Lord of the Breath of Arda’. Related words are súya ‘breath’ and súle ‘breathe’.
The Swallow Name of one of the kindreds of the Gondothlim.
Swanhaven The chief city of the Teleri (Sea-elves), on the coast north of Kôr. Elvish Alqualondë.
Taniquetil The highest of the Pelóri (the Mountains of Valinor) and the highest mountain of Arda, on which Manwë and Varda had their dwelling (Ilmarin).
Taras A great mountain on the western headland of Nevrast, beyond which was Vinyamar.
Tarnin Austa ‘The Gates of Summer’, a festival in Gondolin.
Taur-na-Fuin* ‘Forest of Night’, previously called Dorthonion ‘Land of Pines’, the great forested highlands to the north of Beleriand.
Teiglin* A tributary of Sirion, rising in Ered Wethrin.
Teleri The third host of the Elves on the great journey from Cuiviénen.
Telperion Name of the White Tree of Valinor.
Thingol A leader of the third host (Teleri) on the great journey from Cuiviénen; his earlier name Tinwelint. He never came to Kôr, but became the King of Doriath in Beleriand.
Thorn Sir Falling stream below Cristhorn.
Thornhoth ‘The people of the Eagles’.
Thorondor ‘King of Eagles’, Gnomish name of Eldarin Sorontur; earlier form Thorndor.
Thousand Caves Menegroth, the hidden halls of Thingol and Melian.
Timbrenting The Old English name of Taniquetil.
The Tower of Snow Name of one of the kindreds of the Gondothlim. See .
The Tree Name of one of the kindreds of the Gondothlim. See .
Trees of Valinor Silpion the White Tree and Laurelin the Golden Tree; See , where they are described, and Glingol and Bansil.
Tulkas Of this Vala, ‘the greatest in strength and deeds of prowess’, it is said in the Valaquenta:
He came last to Arda, to aid the Valar in the first battles with Melkor. He delights in wrestling and in contests of strength; and he rides no steed, for he can outrun all things that go on feet, and he is tireless. He has little heed for either the past or the future, and is of no avail as a counsellor, but is a hardy friend.
Tumladen ‘Valley of smoothness’, the ‘Guarded Plain’ of Gondolin.
Tûn The Elvish city in Valinor; See .
Tunglin ‘The folk of the Harp’: in an early and soon abandoned text of The Fall of Gondolin a name given to the people living in Hithlum after the Battle of Unnumbered Tears. Tuor was of that people (See ).
Tuor Tuor was a descendant (great-grandson) of the renowned Hador Lórindol (‘Hador Goldenhead’). In The Lay of Leithian it is said of Beren:
As fearless Beren was renowned:
when men most hardy upon ground
were reckoned folk would speak his name,
foretelling that his after-fame
would even golden Hador pass …
To Hador was given the lordship of Dor-lómin by Fingolfin, and his successors were the House of Hador. Tuor’s father Huor was slain in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, and his mother, Rían, died of grief. Huor and Húrin were brothers, the sons of Galdor of Dor-lómin, son of Hador; and Húrin was the father of Túrin Turambar; thus Tuor and Túrin were first cousins. But only once did they meet, and they did not know each other as they passed: this is told in The Fall of Gondolin.
Turgon The second son of Fingolfin, founder and king of Gondolin, father of Idril.
Turlin A name briefly preceding Tuor.
Uinen ‘Lady of the Seas’; a Maia, the spouse of Ossë. This is said of her in the text named Valaquenta:
[Her] hair lies spread through all waters under sky. All creatures she loves that live in the salt streams, and all weeds that grow there; to her mariners cry, for she can lay calm upon the waves, restraining the wildness of Ossë.
Uldor the accursed He was a leader among certain Men moving into the West of Middle-earth who treacherously allied themselves with Morgoth in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears.
Ulmo The following text is taken from the portrait of the great Vala, who was ‘next in might to Manwë’, from the text named Valaquenta, an account of each individual Vala.
[Ulmo] kept all Arda in thought, and he has no need of any resting-place. Moreover he does not love to walk upon land, and will seldom clothe himself in a body after the manner of his peers. If [Men or Elves] beheld him they were filled with a great dread; for the arising of the King of the Sea was terrible, as a mounting wave that strides to the land, with dark helm foam-crested and raiment of mail shimmering from silver down into shadows of green. The trumpets of Manwë are loud, but Ulmo’s voice is deep as the deeps of the ocean which he only has seen.
Nonetheless Ulmo loves both Elves and Men, and never abandoned them, not even when they lay under the wrath of the Valar. At times he will come unseen to the shores of Middle-earth, or pass far inland up firths of the sea, and there make music upon his great horns, the Ulumúri, that are wrought of white shell; and those to whom that music comes hear it ever after in their hearts, and longing for the sea never leaves them again. But mostly Ulmo speaks to those who dwell in Middle-earth with voices that are heard only as the music of water. For all seas, lakes, rivers, fountains and springs are in his government; so that the Elves say that the spirit of Ulmo runs in all the veins of the world. Thus news comes to Ulmo, even in the deeps, of all the needs and griefs of Arda.
Ulmonan Ulmo’s halls in the Outer Sea.
Ungoliant The great spider, called Gloomweaver, who dwelt in Arvalin. This is said of Ungoliant in the Quenta Noldorinwa:
There [in Arvalin] secret and unknown dwelt Ungoliant, Gloomweaver, in spider’s form. It is not told whence she is, from the outer darkness, maybe, that lies beyond the Walls of the World [See ].
Valar The ruling powers of Arda; sometimes referred to as ‘the Powers’. In the beginning there were nine Valar, as stated in the Sketch, but Melkor (Morgoth) ceased to be numbered among them.
Valinor The land of the Valar in Aman. See .
Valmar The city of the Valar in Valinor.
Vána A ‘Queen of the Valar’, spouse of Oromë; called ‘the Ever-Young’.
Varda Spouse of Manwë, with whom she dwelt on Taniquetil; greatest of the Queens of the Valar; maker of the stars. In Gnomish her name was Bredhil or Bridhil.
Vinyamar* The house of Turgon in Nevrast under Mount Taras before his departure to Gondolin.
Voronwë Elf of Gondolin, the only mariner to survive from the seven ships sent into the West by Turgon after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, who guided Tuor to the hidden city. The name means ‘steadfast’.
The Way of Escape The tunnel under the Encircling Mountains leading into the plain of Gondolin. Elvish name Bad Uthwen.
The Western Sea(s) See .
The Wing Emblem of Tuor and his followers.
Wingelot ‘Foam-flower’, the ship of Eärendel.
Yavanna After Varda, Yavanna was the greatest of the Queens of the Valar. She was ‘the Giver of Fruits’ (the meaning of her name) and ‘the lover of all things that grow in the earth’. Yavanna brought into being the Trees that gave light to Valinor, growing near the gates of Valmar. See .
Ylmir Gnomish form for Ulmo.