The Complete Tolkien Companion (5 page)

Amon Uilos
– The Sindarin form of the Quenya word
OIOLOSSË
meaning ‘Mount Everwhite', tallest of the Mountains of Valinor. A still older name was
Taniquetil
(Q.) ‘High-white-peak'.

Ampa
– The Quenya word for ‘hook'; more properly the title of the Fëanorean Tengwa number 14, which represented the sound
mp
in Quenya; it was modulated in other tongues to a
v
sound.

Amras
–
See
AMROD AND AMRAS
below.

Amrod and Amras
– The two youngest of the seven sons of Fëanor, twin brothers alike not only in appearance, but in all they thought and did. Born in Eldamar before the poisoning of the Trees and the theft of the Silmarils, they fell into evil when, together with all their brothers and many more of the Noldor besides, they swore the great oath which doomed the House of Fëanor.

Amrod and Amras took leading parts in the early battles of the War of the Jewels; but after the commencement of the Long Peace they removed to East Beleriand, into open country to the east of Doriath. (It is said they were great hunters, and spent most of their time at the chase.) But the Long Peace came to an end, and in the Battle of Sudden Flame the northern Elf-kingdoms were overthrown and the hinterland realm of the twin brothers became a frontier of war; they therefore retreated into the south, with Caranthir their brother, and maintained an insecure foothold there for many years. But as time passed, the position of the Eldar and the Edain in Middle-earth became truly desperate. In these troubled times they turned on each other, and at the forefront of this strife – for possession of the single Silmaril won back from Morgoth – were the surviving sons of Fëanor: Maedhros, Maglor, Amrod and Amras. In an assault upon the Havens of Sirion both twins were slain.

Amroth
‘High-climber' (Sind.) – An Elf-prince of the Woodland realm of Lothlórien, the son of Amdir who was slain at the Battle of Dagorlad. He was of Sindarin origin, but gladly adopted the customs of the Wood-elves of that land and dwelt in a high house on Cerin Amroth. In the middle years of the Third Age, following Sauron's assault on the Elves of Eregion, he decided to take ship over Sea to the West with his beloved, the Elf-maiden Nimrodel (in thus abandoning his people at a time of need he was obeying the desires of Nimrodel, who had pledged that she would wed him only when he brought her to a land of peace). He waited for her long at the havens on the Bay of Belfalas but she never came to him; for she did not complete the crossing of the White Mountains. When a storm broke the moorings of his ship and hurled it far out to sea, Amroth, in his grief and uncertainty, dived into the raging waters in an attempt to reach the shore. In this way he was lost.
5

Anach
–
See
PASS OF ANACH
.

Anadûnê
‘Westernesse' (Adûn.) – One of the names given at its founding to the land of Númenor.

Anar
‘Fire-golden' (Q.) – The Sun. According to the traditions of the Vanyar, the Sun was in origin the last golden fruit of the dying Tree Laurelin, brought forth by the prayers of the Vala Yavanna at the same time as the last silver flower of the Elder Tree, Telperion, which became the Moon. Aulë made great vessels to bear Sun and Moon aloft, and Varda (Elbereth) set them in the sky and fixed their courses. The Noldor believed that the Sun, which they called
Vasa,
‘Heart of Fire', was a sign of the coming of the Second People, Men, and of the eclipse of the Firstborn in Middle-earth. In Sindarin,
Anor.

Anardil
– The birth-name of Tar-Aldarion, the sixth King of Gondor.

Anárion (Tar-Anárion)
– From 1280–1394, the eighth King of Númenor.

Anárion
– The younger son of Elendil the Tall and brother of Isildur. The brothers, both of whom had been born in Númenor before its Fall, ruled as conjoint Kings of Gondor from shortly after its founding (in 3320 Second Age) until Anárion perished in the War of the Last Alliance (3430). The rule subsequently passed to his son Meneldil, from whom all later Kings of Gondor were descended.

As the realm was originally ordered, Anárion was given the fief of Anórien, which he ruled from his high city of Minas Anor. When Sauron suddenly attacked Gondor, in 3429 Second Age, Anárion took command of the Southern Army and successfully confined the Enemy to the further (eastern) shore of the Anduin. Isildur, meanwhile, went to his father in the North where they rallied the Dúnedain and forged the Last Alliance with the Elves. Anárion was slain by a great stone cast from the walls of Barad-dûr.

See also
LINES OF DESCENT
.

Anarríma
‘Net-of-Fire' (Q.) – One of the constellations created by Varda to bring light to Middle-earth for the comfort of the Elves, at the time of their Awakening.

Anarya
‘Sun's-day' (Q.) – The second day of the week in both the Elvish calendars and the Númenorean system of Kings' Reckoning (the system which was eventually used by most of the Westron-speaking peoples of Middle-earth). The Sindarin form
Oranor
was used by the Dúnedain; while the Hobbits (who had early taken their calendar from the Dúnedain) used the translation
Sunnendei,
which later became shortened to
Sunday.

Anborn
– A scout for the Rangers of Ithilien at the time of the War of the Ring; Faramir's deputy.

Anca
– The Quenya or High-elven word for ‘jaws'; also Tengwa number 15, which represented the sound nk in those languages that required it.

Ancalagon the Black
– The greatest of all dragons of Middle-earth, and the leader of the host of winged fire-drakes – the first of their kind ever seen – whom Morgoth unleashed upon the Host of the Valar in the final stage of the Great Battle which ended in his overthrow and casting-out. Ancalagon was slain, so the Elves say, by Eärendil, in battle in the upper airs, and crashed down upon Thangorodrim from a great height, destroying the mountain in his fall.

Ancalimë (Tar-Ancalimë)
– From 1075–1280 Second Age the first (ruling) Queen of Númenor; she was the daughter and only child of Tar-Aldarion; to ensure her succession, her father changed the Númenorean law so that the eldest child of either sex inherited. This caused dissension in the House of Elros.

Ancalimon (Tar-Ancalimon)
– From 2221–2386 Second Age, the fourteenth King of Númenor. During his reign the rift between the Faithful and the majority party known as the King's Men grew wider beyond repair.

Ancient Tongue
– Quenya, the High-elven language.

Ancient World
– References to the ‘Ancient World' in Third Age literature can be taken to indicate the Mortal Lands before the ending of the Second Age.

Andaith
‘Long-mark' (Sind.) – One of the
tehtar,
or ‘signs', used in conjunction with the Fëanorean Tengwar to denote a ‘long' vowel.

Ando
– The Quenya word for ‘gate'; also the name of Tengwa number 5, used for the sound
nd;
in other tongues it more usually represented
d.

Andor
‘Land-of-Gift' (Q.) – The most ancient name for that land subsequently known as
NÚMENOR
, given by the Valar to the Edain, as a reward for their sufferings in the War of the Jewels.

Andram
‘Long-wall' (Sind.) – A great escarpment or range of hills in Beleriand, hundreds of leagues long, which ran in a line roughly west-east, from Nargothrond to Ramdal (‘Wall's-end'), separating north from south and forming a natural second line of defence against Morgoth.

Andrast
‘Long-cape' (Sind.) – The hilly peninsula between the outflows of the rivers Isen and Lefnui. Also called
Ras Morthil.

Andrath
‘Long-climb' (Sind.) – A defile on the Great North Road where it passed between the Barrow-downs and the South Downs.

Andreth
– The daughter of Boromir the great-grandson of Bëor the Old, and the great-aunt of
BEREN ERCHAMION
. In her youth she dwelt for some time in the house of Belemir her cousin, and so came under the benign influence of one of the wise-women of the Edain:
ADANEL
, the wife of Belemir and sister of the great Hador Lórindol of the Third House of the Edain, from whom the younger woman learned much concerning the Third House; and more besides. In time she became a wise-woman in her own right – the Eldar called her
Saelind,
‘Wise-heart'; but she is chiefly remembered as one of the two protagonists – the other was Finrod Felagund – in a debate of great poignancy concerning the respective fates of Elves and Men, which was recorded soon after taking place, shortly after the death of Boron the grandson of Bëor, and is titled
ATHRABETH FINROD AH ANDRETH
. Finrod, struck by the short lives of Men and trying to fathom Ilúvatar's purpose in so ordering things, is confronted by the altogether bleaker view of one of the Daughters of Men; and much else to his disquietude.
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Androg
– One of the outlaw-band whom Túrin joined after fleeing from Dorthonion. It was his hasty arrow which slew Khîm son of the Petty-Dwarf Mîm; and Mîm hated him for it.

Androth
‘Long-delving' (Sind.) – The inhabited caves of the Hills of Mithrim; where Tuor son of Huor of the Edain was fostered by the Sindar, following the death of his father in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears.

Anducal (Tar-Anducal)
– From 2637–57 Second Age, the
soi-disant
Seventeenth King of Númenor. Born Herucalmo, and a descendant of Tar-Atanamir, he usurped the Sceptre on the death of his wife, the Ruling Queen Tar-Vanimeldë: for this reason his ‘reign' was, in later days, discounted.

Anduin
– The Great River. It rose in northern Wilderland and flowed south for many hundreds of miles between Greenwood (Mirkwood) and the Misty Mountains. After passing the south-eastern end of the White Mountains and the western walls of the Ephel Dúath, the river bent west and eventually emptied into the Bay of Belfalas.

The Great River was aptly named, being, after the inundation of Sirion at the end of the First Age, the longest and largest river of the west of Middle-earth. In many instances it formed the border between countries and provinces and, towards the end of the Third Age, much of it became a frontier of war between Sauron and the West. Anduin entered the Sea through a broad delta, the Ethir Anduin, south of Dol Amroth.

Andúnië
‘Sunset' (Q.) – The most westerly city of ancient Númenor, renowned for loyalty to the Eldar and reverence for Eldarin beliefs, culture, and modes of speech. The haven was founded by the Faithful (as Lords of the House of Valandil later termed themselves) in the province later known as Andustar, and lay north of the great Bay of Eldanna. The Lords of Andúnië counted themselves descendants of Valandil (first Lord), through him, of Silmariën, and through her, of Elros Tar-Minyatur, first King of Númenor. The Silver Rod of the Lords of Andúnië survived the Downfall of Númenor and was carried to Middle-earth by Elendil (son of the last Lord, Amardil) to become the symbol of High-kingship in the realms of Númenor-in-Exile: Arnor and Gondor.