Figures in Tolkien's world
Figures in Tolkien's World gives an overview of the people and living beings that existed in the fantasy world Arda , which was devised by JRR Tolkien (1892–1973) . Most of them live on the fictional continent of Middle-earth , the setting of the novels The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954/55). Tolkien was an English writer and linguist, and in his works he created a complex world with detailed history and its own languages, peoples, myths and sagas. This world is inhabited by a wide variety of people , elves , hobbits and other fictional beings. The characters in books and writings that were only published after his death, such as The Silmarillion (1977) and the News from Middle-earth (1980), are also partially described here.
Tolkien is considered to be one of the founders of modern fantasy literature, which he has significantly shaped.
Some of the fictional locations on Arda - especially on the continent of Middle-earth - are so well-known that they are common property of popular culture . In the different languages and scripts in Tolkien's world there are different names and designations for many places.
The following list refers exclusively to the novels and writings of Tolkien. The three-part film adaptations of the novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (see The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings ) present some relationships differently.
If there are deviations between the two German translations of The Lord of the Rings, the spelling of proper names and some other contexts is based on the older one by Margaret Carroux , as this was created in collaboration with Tolkien. The differences to the translation by Wolfgang Krege are indicated in some cases.
Word origin
In Tolkien's world there are several languages he developed himself, such as the two Elven languages Quenya and Sindarin , which are most commonly used. Designations from both languages are available on this page. So all the names of the Valar and Valiër come from Quenya, the "high language", as do those of most of the Maiar who come from the "early ages" of this world, which are described in the Silmarillion. Most of the other names come from Sindarin, the "colloquial language" spoken by the Elves in the Third Age. For clarification, a (S.) for Sindarin or a (Q.) for Quenya is indicated in places where there are deviations.
Eru Ilúvatar
Eru Ilúvatar , "the one, the all-father", is the creator god in JRR Tolkien's fictional world of novels about Middle-earth . The Silmarillion describes its existence before the world in the following words:
“Eru was there, the one who is called Ilúvatar in Arda; and first he created the Ainur, the saints, offspring of his thoughts; and they were with him before anything else was created ... "
In the Ainulindale the creation of the world by Eru is reported, but the Ainur stand by his side and actively intervene. Tolkien chose an unusual path for his creation, because his world arises from the song or the music of the Ainur, to which Eru gives his great theme. This creates “Ea, the world that is”.
Eru is not worshiped in houses of worship, churches or temples in Middle-earth. Only on the submerged island of Númenor was there a place of worship for him on the highest mountain, the Meneltarma. His whereabouts are described as "out of the world", so the inhabitants of Middle-earth cannot call him directly. Only his governor on Middle-earth Manwe is able to address him. This is only necessary in extreme situations, for example when the armies of Númenor attempt to land in Valinor .
Ainur
The Ainur (Q., singular: Ainu ) are the saints created from the spirit of Eru Ilúvatar, who are somewhere between Christian angels and pagan gods . In the earliest versions of mythology, like the pagan gods, they marry one another and have children who are Ainur; Tolkien later moved away from this in favor of a direct creation of all Ainur by Ilúvatar. They sang the Great Music that was the origin of Eas , the world that is . The story of this song is told in the Ainulindale . Ilúvatar allows some of the Ainur to enter this newly created world Ea. For this, like this world, they must take on a physical form. These Ainur are called Valar , which can also be translated as the elect or the administrators. In turn, they have a few helpers who are called Maiar , the beautiful ones. They are also known as the lesser valar.
Valar
The Valar (Q., singular: Vala ), “the powers of the world” are those members of the Ainur who go to the newly created world in order to prepare it for the arrival of the “children of Ilúvatar”, the people and elves. This world is later called Arda, the habitable earth. One can think of the Valar as incarnated (physically visible) gods. If they were described as "gods" in early versions, Tolkien later moved away from this vision and named them from then on as "powers".
- Aratar
Eight of the Valar, the Aratar ("the exalted"), are particularly powerful: Manwe, Varda, Ulmo, Aule, Yavanna, Nienna, Orome and Mandos. They created and govern the elements air, light, water, earth, as well as nature, hope and fate. The legend of these mighty creatures of that world is told in the Valaquenta. They are generally imperceptible, unless they “carry” a visible body, which they do not need. They can also take forms other than human or elvish forms.
The task of the Valar is to give Arda its final form, as it should be according to Ilúvatar's instructions and the sacred song. Melkor, the most powerful of them, however, rebels against these guidelines and tries to shape the world according to his own ideas and to make it his own, without regard for everything and everyone. Therefore, he is soon excluded from the circle of the Valar, who want to prevent this.
Manwe
Manwe Súlimo is called the Lord of the West . He is the noblest and highest of the Valar. Because he understands Ilúvatar's plans best, he becomes its chief administrator. He is the most powerful opponent of Melkor, the Supreme Prince of the Valar, and can be compared to Odin, the father of the gods, or to Zeus . His nickname Súlimo means something like "Lord of the winds" or "Windbringer".
Manwe ruled in Valinor , the "land of the Valar", an area in the far west of Arda, comparable to mythical places that are populated by holy beings, for example Avalon or Valaskjalf . In his timeless halls on the Taniquetil “high white peak”, the highest of all mountains, the “elder king” rules the world together with his queen in the name of Eru.
Manwe is the master of the layers of air and the winds. His wife is Varda, who is also called Elbereth , "the star queen", by the elves of Middle-earth . Manwe's subordinates include the great eagles , which he uses as messengers to get customers from far-off Middle-earth.
Varda
Varda Elentári is the most powerful of the female Valar, who are called Valiër. She is described as a supernatural beauty in whose face the light of Ilúvatar still lives. Light is also their means of power.
Varda is the one most adored and loved by the Elves, for she kindled the stars in whose glow the Elves awoke at Lake Cuiviénen . Her Elvish honorary name Elbereth means "star queen". Another name is Tintalle, "the Entfacherin". Of all Valar, Melkor fears her most, for she once recognized him through all the masks for what he was. That is why just uttering the name Elbereth can hurt the servants of Melkor, as the battle of the hobbits with the Nazgûl at the Weathertop shows.
Ulmo
Ulmo Vaiaro is the lord of waters, lakes and seas. Like water, “his spirit flows through all the veins in the world”. Ulmo is a friend of the elves and humans. In the Council of the Valar, he takes sides for them a few times and thus appears as an opponent of Mandos. He rules over all seas and rivers. Out of love for the "children of Ilúvatar" he is the only Vala who has direct contact with the people and the Elves in Middle-earth during the events of the Silmarillion. He is able to raise islands out of the sea as well as to let them sail across the sea in order to unite two peoples. He lives in a large palace on the seabed in the great outer sea.
Ulmo can be seen as Tolkien's counterpart to Poseidon of antiquity. His most important helpers are the Maiar Osse and Uinen, one of whom is a quick-tempered, stormy being and the other is gentle and calm. The activities of both explain the ambivalent character of the sea.
Ulmo appears relatively often in the Silmarillion . It plays a special role in the story of Tuor's arrival in Gondolin .
Aule
Aule Talka Marda is the master of matter, arts and knowledge. His greatest works are the two lights of the Valar ( Ormal "Goldlicht", the lamp of the south and Illuin "Silberlicht", the lamp of the north), the vessels for the sun and moon. Also his work are the seven fathers of the dwarfs , who are secretly created by him. However, he cannot hide this from Eru Ilúvatar, because that too happens according to his specifications. Since, according to Erus' plan, his own creatures, the first-born elves, are to come to earth first, he lays the dwarfs under the earth to sleep until the time is ripe to awaken them to life.
Aule is similar to the Greek blacksmith Hephaestus , but his work goes beyond making weapons and objects. He forges the shape of the earth itself, as well as that of its mountains and countries, and he also invents new things. He is the patron and master of all craftsmen and designers. Both Sauron and Saruman, as well as Feanor, were once among his apprentices.
Despite his artistry, Aule is humble and does not care about property or domination. His wife is Yavanna, mistress of the earth, creator of animals, plants and also the Ents and protector of all living things that populate the earth. With her he lives in the center of Valinor.
Yavanna
Yavanna Kementári is Aule's partner and Vána's older sister, the forever boy. She is described as tall as a cypress and should always wear green robes. She plants the seeds of all Arda plants. Her greatest work, however, is that she created the two trees of light (Telperion and Laurelin) that illuminate the lands of Valinor for more than 14,000 years. She is very dismayed when Aule creates the dwarves and asks Eru for custodians of all plants (Olvar). Eru then creates the Ents, the tree shepherds, which Yavanna designed through her contribution to the music of the Ainur and who are supposed to prevent the arbitrary violation of nature.
Orome
Orome Tar Aldaron is the great hunter among the Valar. He is the husband of Vána, Yavanna's younger sister, and brother of Nessa, the wife of the Tulkas. His horse Nahar carries him on his hunting rides as far as the far east of Middle-earth. There he often blows the great horn Valaróma on his hunt for Melkor's creatures. He doesn't like going to Valinor, because he loves the wooded, dark lands of Middle-earth.
Orome discovers the newly awakened Elves during one of his rides and leads them to Valinor, which is also called Aman , "the kingdom of blessings".
Irmo (Lórien)
Irmo Olofantur is the lord of dreams and desires and lives in the gardens of Lórien ; he is usually entitled with the name of his place of residence. He and his brother Námo are also called the Feanturi , the “lords of spirits”, because tired spirits and souls find peace and relaxation in the Irmos gardens. He is married to Valie Estë. Irmos sister is Nienna, who laments the suffering of everyone. Maia Olórin, known in Middle-earth as the magician Gandalf , is one of his confidants .
Estë
Estë , the healer, is Irmo's wife and lives with him in Lórien's gardens in Valinor. She has the gift of teaching compassion, patience, and wisdom. She helps those who come to the gardens to recover from their wounds and tiredness (like Míriel after the birth of her son Feanor, although she was unable to heal them). During the day, however, she sleeps by Lake Lórellin in Lórien. She wears gray robes and gives those who suffer soothing sleep.
Namo (Mandos)
Namo Vefantur is the judge of the dead; Namo's wife is Vaire, the weaver, his sister is Nienna. Like his younger brother Irmo, he is often named after his place of residence, Mando . This is located in the northwest of Valinor on the edge of the outer sea. This place corresponds in its function to the ancient realm of the dead, here the dead elves and humans wait for their rebirth (elves) or their journey outside the world (humans).
In his halls, he gathers elves and humans in separate halls when they are killed. Under certain circumstances, the Elves can return to Middle-earth from there and be reborn. Tolkien's statements on this are contradictory. It is not clear whether and how long the souls of the deceased will also stop here; However, unlike the Elves, they do not stay here, but board the ship Mornië and leave the world. When the Valar go to war against Melkor and overpower him in his fortress Utumno, they imprison him for a long time in the underground dungeon of Mandos.
Namo is the judge of fate of the Valar, keeper of the houses of death and only speaks the judgments on Manwe's orders because he understands Ilúvatar's intentions best. He has an indomitable and dispassionate character and carries out his tasks purposefully. Only once in Mandos does Namo allow himself to be guided by his feelings and show compassion: when Lúthien sings in front of him and asks for Beren's return to life.
Nienna
Nienna Qualme-Tári , the Compassionate, also called Fui Nienna or Hescil. Nienna, sister of Mandos and Lórien, is the mistress of compassion and sorrow who weeps for worldly suffering in order to overcome it. Olórin ( Gandalf ) was one of her disciples and she taught him compassion and patience. She is often drawn to the halls of Mandos, where she encourages those waiting there. Her home is in the halls far to the west, through whose windows she looks through the walls of the world. Your season is winter.
Vána
Vána Tári Líre “Queen of Songs”, the eternally young beauty, is also known as Meril-i-Turinqui “Flower Queen ” or Erinti Calaini's “Lady of Spring”. Vána is the mistress of all flowers and birds, which she makes to bloom and sing. She is Orome's wife and Yavanna's younger sister. Your season is the spring "Calainis". She shouted: "I-cal antúlien, i-cal antúlien!" "The light has returned" after a sapling of the destroyed tree Laurelin began to sprout through her tear and produced a golden, shining fruit from which the sun later emerged.
Vaire
Vaire Serinde , is the weaver of fate. She is the wife of Námo (Mandos) the judge of fate of the Valar.
“... that everything that has ever been in time works in its fabrics; and the halls of Mandos, which grow wider and wider as the times go by, are hung with their woven stories. "
Tulkas
Tulkas Poldórea , who is also called Astaldo "the strong one", is married to Nessa, Orome's sister. He is the last of the Valar to come to Arda, above all to use his extraordinary physical strength to support the others in the fight against Melkor. He breaks open the gate of Melkor's Angamando fortress, later known as Angband "Iron Hell".
His favorite occupation is wrestling, fighting and testing his strength. He fights with his bare hands and is faster and stronger than any other creature of Arda. “He's no good in the council,” they say about him, because he has nothing to do with politics and thinking. He is therefore described as courageous but not very intelligent and is said to have a red beard. He's also laughing all the time, even during his fight with Melkor.
Nessa
Nessa Tári-Laisi "Queen of Spring" is the young dancer. She is also called Acairis "the bride", Indis "good soul", Helinyetille "eyes of peace of mind" or Melesta "the lovely one". She is the sister of Orome and the wife of Tulkas, whom she married on the island of Almaren. Nessa enjoys dancing in the green fields of Valinor and is often associated with deer who follow her on her journeys through the wilderness. Their season is also spring. Nessa bears a certain resemblance to the ancient Artemis .
Melkor
Melkor was originally of the same rank as Manwe and yet the most powerful of the Valar until his exile. He turned against the work of Ilúvatar very early on - out of his desire to produce his own creations and to rule over them. As one of the Ainur, he allows discordant sounds to flow into the Great Creation Music (Ainulindale) and thus lays the foundation for the dark sides of Middle-earth. As master of heat and cold, he used his powers, but not to shape the world, but to try to subjugate it. When he did not succeed in doing this through the resistance of the other Valar, he became bitter and from then on tried to destroy or corrupt all the works of the others. Since then he was no longer counted by the Eldar to the Valar and also removed from the list of Aratar. The Elves call him Morgoth "the black enemy of the world", Bauglir "the oppressor" or Tar Morion "the black king". Melkor is also known under the name Yelur "who brings ice cold" or Velco "carrier of fire".
On Arda, he frequently destroyed the works of the other Valar and raised many of the evil beings that elves, dwarves, and humans would confront in the ages that followed. As a result, Melkor lost the ability to create something new, so that he could only imitate and falsify what had previously existed. Many Maiar, Elves and humans are seduced by him or forced into his service through bondage.
At the end of the First Age, after the War of Wrath , Melkor is chained by the Valar and banished to the Timeless Void. In Middle-earth, however, many of his servants and creatures remain, who continue to carry out his will. The Maia Sauron is one of them .
Melkor shows parallels to the fallen angels of Christianity, particularly Lucifer (Satan). He embodies "evil through selfishness" in this world. One prophecy says that Melkor will return at the end of all days and presumably in the Dagor Dagorath will be finally destroyed.
Maiar
The Maiar (Q., singular: Maia ), like the Valar , are beings created by Eru Ilúvatar . They are also known as the lesser valar. Sometimes they are also referred to as servants or children of the Valar. They can be thought of as similar to Christian angels or pagan spirit beings, but they can take on a physical appearance. The Maia are always assigned to a Vala, whom they serve and support.
Maiar of the Silmarillion
- Eonwe "the eagle man" is one of the most powerful of the Maiar. He is the standard bearer and herald of Manwe and led the Valar army in the storming of Melkors fortress at the end of the First Age of Middle-earth . It is said that no one was as good with guns as he was. He is also called Fionwe Úrion "the son of the glowing sun" and is similar to the Greek messenger of the gods Hermes or the Roman Mercurius . Eonwe is referred to in earlier mythology as the first son of Manwe and Varda and is also known under the name Ramandor, "winged brother".
- Ilmare "the heavenly maiden " or "heavenly beauty" is a maid of the star queen Vardas and is considered the most powerful of the female Maiar.
- Falman Osse "the roaring wave maker" is a companion of Ulmos . Subordinate to him are the coastal waters around Middle-earth, which he often piles up into high waves, because his passion is the storm and he laughs amidst the roaring waves. This also shows that Melkor once tried to influence him in his own way.
- Uinen , "the water plant" is a companion of Ulmos, but her sphere of influence is particularly the plants of the sea. She is often accompanied by mermaids and is therefore called Ui Oartista "mistress of the sea creatures". She is the wife of Osse and loves all creatures that live in the salty waters. Uinen is also called upon by the seafarers because she is able to tame the roaring waves of Osse. Therefore the guild of the daring of Númenor named itself after their Uinendili "Uinenfreunde".
- Salmar "the harpist" is also one of Ulmo's companions. He is the singer and poet of the sea and twin brother of Omar Amillo "happy voice". Amillo is the country's poet and singer. These two Maiar were also initially created as the sons of Manwe and Varda. - The name Amillo is mentioned by JRR Tolkien as an Elvish translation for Hilarius, his brother was called Hillary.
- Arias "shone by sunlight" is a female fire spirit. Since the creation of the sun and moon, she has been directing the sun ship across the sky. Before that, she is said to have been a gardener in Valie Vána and watered the glowing trees in Aman.
- Tilion "the shimmering" is the ferryman of the moon. It is also called Uole Cúvion or Uole Rinsilion "floodlight of the moon". With the moon ship he follows the sun ship on an unsteady path as he tries to reach his beloved Arien, who, however, never reciprocates his love.
- Melian (p.) “The gift of love” plays a special role in the history of Middle-earth, because it beguiles the Elven man Elwe Singollo “star beings with the gray cloak” and marries him. Together they found the Kingdom of Doriath "Land of the Fence" in Beleriand , and she chooses a life in physical form by Elwe's side. This is the only known connection between a Maia and an Elf. Melian is the mother of Lúthien Tinúviel . Melian is also a seer who knows about the fate of Húrin and Morwen and their children Túrin Turambar and Nienor and tries to mitigate this, which is influenced by Melkor. She passes on the gift of foresight to the descendants of Lúthien more or less strongly. B. also to Elrond . Melian puts a spell around the kingdom of Doriath, known as Melian's Belt , to protect it from evil forces. This protection can only penetrate who has Melian's permission or who is destined to do so by fate. As long as Melian's belt is in effect, only Beren and Carcharoth manage to penetrate it. Túrin, son of Húrin and Morwen, also comes to Doriath and is taken in by Thingol as a foster son until he runs away from there after a fateful accident. After the murder of Elu Thingol by dwarves from Nogrod, Melian leaves Doriath in deep mourning and returns to Valinor. The ban belt loses its power and the land of Doriath is again open to its enemies, for example the dwarves, who plunder it.
- Mairon "the admirable" or "the beautiful", also Tar Mairon "infallible / excellent king" (King Excellent), as he was called in Númenor, is the name of Sauron before he was seduced by Melkor and abused for his purposes has been. Before that he was subordinate to the Vala Aule, which commands metals and elements. A rarer translation of Mairon is "precious" , which is what the majority of its wearers gave the One Ring he created.
- Gothmog (S.) "Enemy of Hate" is the master of the powerful demons, the so-called Balrogs, of which he belongs. In a discarded version of the Legendarium he is said to have been a son of Melkor and the orc woman Fluithuin "poisonous breath".
- Thuringwethil (S.) "the enigmatic veiled" is a bat woman who is in the service of Melkor. It is not clear whether she can be counted among the Maiar, since she is mostly identified as a "vampire"; Tolkien does not explain the nature of vampires any further.
Balrogs
Balrogs (S.) or Valaraukar (Q.) are "mighty demons", Maiar of lower rank. In the hierarchy within the servants of Melkor, the Balrogs are accorded much power over lower creatures such as orcs and trolls. Tolkien himself describes them in the Silmarillion as follows:
"And in Utumno he [Melkor] gathered his demons around him, those beings who had joined him from the beginning, already in the days of his splendor, and were almost as wicked as himself: in their hearts they were of fire, yet wrapped in a cloak of darkness, and horror preceded them; they had lashes of flames. In later days they were called Balrogs in Middle-earth. "
In the First Age they were among the most feared servants of Melkor. The only Balrog mentioned by name is Gothmog, leader of the Balrogs and commander of Angband. He kills Feanor and Fingon, among others, and is finally destroyed in the battle for Gondolin by the elf captain Ecthelion, who also loses his life in this battle. Most of the Balrogs perish in the battle that leads to the fall of Angband . However, a small group manage to escape by hiding "at the roots of the earth". One of them takes refuge in the deepest abyss of the Nebelgebirge. As the dwarves dig deeper and deeper in the mines of Moria , they wake this Balrog. He slays many of the dwarves, including King Durin VI. They flee and call the Balrog "Durin's Curse". Gandalf the Gray fights with this Balrog as he crosses the mines of Moria with the community of the Ring . He is torn into the abyss by the Balrog, whom he calls Flame of Udun .
The question of whether Balrogs have wings is controversial among Tolkien fans. The main starting point for the discussion are two sentences from The Lord of the Rings .
"The Balrog stopped again and looked at him [Gandalf], and the shadow around him stretched like two huge wings."
"He walked slowly on on the bridge, and suddenly he straightened up to his full size, and his wings stretched from wall to wall [...]."
If one interprets the second passage literally, it is clear that the Balrog has wings. If, on the other hand, one understands it more metaphorically and relates the statement to the first sentence, then the "wings" are shapes of the shadow created by the Balrog.
Sauron
Sauron , "the abominable", is originally a Maia named Mairon who is in the service of Aule . He is seduced by Melkor (Morgoth) , whom he admires and at the same time fears, and becomes one of his most powerful servants, without however possessing the power and temperament of his great example. During Melkor's banishment to the Outer Void at the end of the First Age, Sauron escapes and begins to forge his own schemes in Middle-earth. Sauron's goal is sole rule over Middle-earth . He built the mighty fortress Barad-dûr in the land of Mordor . From the elves he is given the Sindarin name Gorthaur , which means "the cruel" or "terrible breath".
In the Second Age, Sauron ingratiated himself with the Elves as Annatar "Lord of the Gifts". Other names of Sauron are Aulendil "Freund Aules" and Artano "Hochschmied". He learns from the Elves and in turn teaches them to make Rings of Power . Celebrimbor then creates 19 Rings of Power. However, Sauron secretly forges the One Ring , the Master Ring , to which he transfers much of his power. Vigilant elven lords like Círdan, Gil-galad and Galadriel see through him and therefore keep the three rings of the elves hidden from him.
Sauron begins a war against the Elves of Eriador, but finally submits apparently to the powerful people of Númenor. With a trick he succeeds in inciting the king of Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn, against the Valar. In the year 3319 of the second age, Ar-Pharazôn attacks Valinor, the island of the gods, with his entire fleet, whereupon Ilúvatar changes the world. In the associated fall of Númenor, Sauron is able to escape, but forever loses his attractive form in which he succeeded in seducing elves and humans. As a ghost, he travels back to Middle-earth, where he can only give himself a new shape much later.
Sauron returns to Mordor and builds a new army towards the end of the Second Age. He is defeated by the Last Covenant of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth, led by Ereinion Gil-galad, High King of the Elves of Middle-earth, and Elendil , King of the Western Men, in 3441. Elendil's son Isildur cuts off the finger on which the one ring is stuck. With that, Sauron's power is broken and the second age ends. Although Sauron's life force is bound in the ring, Sauron can still begin to build up his power anew as a weakened and disembodied being in long years. First he built the fortress Dol Guldur in the Eryn Lasgalen "Green Forest", which was soon called Taur-nu-fuin "Forest of Fear" or "Dark Forest". Here he learns of the imminent invasion by the members of the White Council and fled again to Mordor without his whereabouts known to them and had his fortress Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower, rebuilt. Soon afterwards he starts looking for the One Ring, because this one has reappeared on the surface of the earth through Bilbo and “calls” for him.
With the destruction of the One Ring in the fire embers of Mount Doom (Orodruin, Amon Amarth), in which it was forged, Sauron's fate is finally sealed, Barad-dûr collapses, Sauron's influence on the "evil" creatures expires, and so do they Power of the three elven rings is disappearing.
Istari
The Istari (Q., singular: Istar ), "Those who know", are referred to by the people of Middle-earth as sorcerers or magicians . They are Maiar , and the first of them to come to Middle-earth is Saruman the White. He is followed by the two blue wizards Pallando and Alatar, of whom it is only recorded that they go to the east of Middle-earth, where their trail is lost. Then comes Radagast the brown and finally Gandalf the gray. Saruman the White, who is the oldest among them and the first to set foot on the shores of Middle-earth, is also their leader for a long time and presides over the White Council.
They appear in human form as older men, but powerful and capable of communicating with animals and birds. They are very wise and can do a lot through mind and hand.
Around the year 1000 D. Z., while Sauron is gradually regaining its strength, they appear in western Middle-earth. They are sent by the Valar to advise and support the peoples of Middle-earth in their fight against Sauron, but they are not permitted to intervene or impose their will on others. The actual number of members of the Heren Istarion "Order of the Magi " is unknown, five are mentioned by name:
- It is reported that Gandalf the Gray always acts prudently and with foresight, which makes him a good advisor. But it is also said that when it appeared there was usually trouble ahead. But that's probably because he always appears where his advice is most needed. He is also considered to be particularly vigilant and is able to hide his real intentions well. Gandalf is said to be the wisest of the Maiar .
- Saruman the White is particularly known for his eloquence, so that he can influence other people according to his wishes through his words and the sound of his voice.
- Radagast the brown (S.) is a friend of animals, but especially birds, which earned him the name Aiwendil "bird friend ".
- Alatar (Q.) probably tries to fight Sauron especially through the use of light, at least his name suggests it, which means "the one who shines".
- Pallando (Q.), on the other hand, probably undertakes long journeys to the east of the world, possibly to find allies there.
Saruman
Saruman or Curunír Glan (p.) "Man of cunning plans" or "the skillful" is originally the chief of the order of wizards and chairman of the White Council . He is very knowledgeable about the Great Rings and has long researched its history. He also knows how to manufacture many technical and chemical products. One example is the substance with which he had a breach in the wall near Helms Klamm. Among his entourage were the goblin people, also known as people with goblin faces, who had arisen from a cross between orcs and humans. These were not Uruk-hai (cross between elf and orc), but human-like, light-skinned half-orcs.
He chooses the Orthanc tower “Hohe Gabelspitze” in Isengart as his place of residence . This is described as a slender tower made of a black and unbreakable stone, which ends at the top in pointed pinnacles, from which Saruman observes the stars at night.
While Saruman is initially the driving force in the fight against Sauron , he is later seduced by the greed for the power of the ring and by Sauron's influence by the Palantír from Orthanc to betray the free peoples of Middle-earth. By allying himself with Sauron, he loses his place on the White Council, and Gandalf, who previously had the closest contact with the leaders of the High Elves, Elrond and Galadriel , now becomes the leader of the resistance against Sauron. During this time Saruman's pride and power grow. So he forges himself a ring and calls himself Saruman the Multicolored . He betrayed Gandalf during the War of the Ring and kept him prisoner on the battlements of Orthanc for some time. He sets up a huge army of Uruk-hai, orcs and the people of Dunland, whom he sends to war against Rohan . His residence Isengart, which has meanwhile been expanded to a fortress, is captured by the Ents and - with the exception of the Orthanc tower - destroyed. He himself is locked in the tower.
After Sauron's defeat and the destruction of the One Ring, Saruman is released. But he remains loyal to evil and brings the Shire under his rule. In the Shire he is commonly called Scharrer (in Krege's translation: Scharker ; in the English original: Sharkey ), apparently a modification of the Orc name sharkù "old man". He comes by the hand of his servant Grima Wormtongue killed. The circumstances of his death (his corpse "blown in the wind" similar to Sauron's spirit after the final fall of Barad-dûr) reveal his nature as Maia .
After Saruman's death, the Orthanc is thoroughly searched. Among the items found are many items of value, such as heirlooms from Eorl and other pieces from burial mounds that Saruman may have appropriated. Among the two most valuable items to be found is a capsule tied to a thin chain. The capsule contains neither a letter nor any other clue, but there is no question that Isildur once wore it around his neck and kept the One Ring in it. The second piece of jewelry is the Elendilmir , the white stone made of Elvish crystal , which is located on a forehead band made of Mithril . He came from Silmarien and Elendil and is the sign of royal rule in the Northern Kingdom.
Gandalf
Gandalf , "Staff Elf", is one of the main characters in the novels The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit . He is a Maia in the form of an old man with a long beard and gray (later white) hair. He wears a legendary Elvish sword called Glamdring ("noise hammer" or "enemy hammer"), which he finds in the trolls' cave while traveling with Bilbo, and a magic wand , which is described as a large walking staff. Among the hobbits , he is best known for his spectacular fireworks, which are very popular at festivals.
In different areas of Middle-earth and among different peoples he is known by many different names:
- Gandalf Graurock , Stormcrow , Láthspell (in Rohan, the latter especially from Grima Wormtongue , because he regards him as a messenger of bad news, with the hobbits simply Gandalf. Later also called Gandalf the White )
- Mithrandir , Gray Pilgrim , gray skirt or just hikers is to be Sindarinname with the Elves and partly in Gondor .
- Tharkûn (among the dwarves, a word from their own language, the Khuzdul, which probably also means staff man or powerful advisor )
- Incánus (in the south, especially by the people from Harad, who don't trust him, it probably means something like whisperer similar to the Rohirrischen Láthspell)
- Olórin is his name in Aman before he is sent to Middle-earth as one of the five Istari , where he is personally chosen by Manwe .
In the year 2941 of the Third Age Gandalf accompanies Bilbo and the 13 dwarfs on their adventure, on which they want to recapture the treasure and mine of the dwarfs in Erebor (Sindarin for "lonely mountain" ) from the dragon Smaug . However, they are not aware of Gandalf's true intention behind this journey. Gandalf fears that the resurgent Sauron could seize Smaugs to attack the "Free Peoples", similar to how Melkor did with the dragons in the First Age.
Gandalf leaves this tour group prematurely because he has something "to do". This matter is also unknown to many, but he is called to a meeting of the White Council, at which the storming of Dol Guldur is decided, where Sauron is still at that time. He does not return from there until the Erebor has been retaken and the dragon is destroyed. Only in the year 3018, after Gollum has been captured by Aragorn and interrogated by Gandalf, does Gandalf realize that the ring that Bilbo found on this trip and passed on to Frodo , who is one of Sauron's rings, on his 111th birthday , and advises to bring it first to Elrond in Rivendell, where it is finally decided to carry the ring to Mordor in order to destroy it there in the fires of the Orod Ruin (Sindarin for "fire mountain"), in the only place where this is possible is, because this is where he was created.
Gandalf the Gray falls into an abyss in the Mines of Moria near the end of the first volume of The Lord of the Rings while fighting a Balrog . Ultimately, Gandalf defeats the Balrog, but has to pay with his life for it. After his death, however, he is sent back by Mandos as "Gandalf the White" to end his fight against Sauron.
As Gandalf the White , he assumes the role assigned to Saruman among the Istari and expels Saruman from the order. From then on, he took on a far more active role in the battle for Middle-earth and appeared as the White Rider in the battle for Rohan and Minas Tirith . He is the driving force in the resistance fight against Sauron.
At the end of the Lord of the Rings, he goes with many Elves and the bearers of the One Ring, Bilbo and Frodo, to the Gray Harbors, the port of the Elves in Lindon, and enters a ship to sail with them to Valinor. He openly wears Narya , the ring of fire, one of the three elven rings that he received from Círdan on his arrival in Middle-earth . With this ship, all three Elven Rings and their bearers leave Middle-earth forever.
The name Gandalf ( Old Norse : Gandálfr) comes from the older Edda and is mentioned in the song of the gods Völuspá and in Gylfaginning from the Snorra Edda . In both sources he is considered a dwarf.
The figure of Gandalf was inspired by the picture Der Berggeist by Josef Madlener . It shows an old man with a long, gray beard, red coat and green hat in a forest scene. Tolkien himself confirmed this source by writing "origin of Gandalf" on a postcard print of the painting.
Radagast
Radagast (S.) the brown is a friend of all animals, especially birds and is therefore often called Aiwendil (Q.) ("bird friend "). He was sent to Middle-earth by the Valar as one of the Istari. At his request, he supports Saruman by letting him use his friends, the birds, for espionage purposes, which Saruman uses for his own purposes. Radagast lives for a long time in Rhosgobel, a very dark place in the southern Mirkwood, and is sent by Saruman as a messenger to Gandalf, so that he comes to him and is arrested there in Orthanc.
Alatar and Pallando
Whether Alatar (Q.) and Pallando (Q.) the Ithryn Luin (S.), the "blue wizards", stay in the east to pursue their goals there, for the sake of which they were sent out, whether they perish or being enslaved by Sauron and his servants is not known. But none of these possibilities can be ruled out, because the Istari, provided with bodies from Middle-earth, like elves and humans, can break away from their goals, do evil and forget about the pursuit of power to realize the good - as well as it happens at Saruman.
JRR Tolkien himself pursued various theories about the deeds of the Blue Wizards. So he suspects in one of his letters that they fail. Another theory is that they found secret cults that will outlast Sauron's fall. In The Peoples of Middle-earth, Tolkien estimates in his last writings that the Ithryn Luin in the east support those tribes and peoples who dare to rebel against Sauron's rule, and thus have great influence on the history of the free peoples who otherwise would have been overrun by the sheer superiority of enemies.
Elves
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The Elves , also called the firstborn (original name Quendi Q. "who speak with voice"), are created by Ilúvatar . They come into the world before humans and have the privilege of immortality , which, however, only relates to decay through natural aging . However, they are "bound to the circles of the world". They are destined to live in Aman , the Immortal Lands . Many departed Middle-earth from the Gray Harbors through the ages to sail for Aman. Elves do not succumb to diseases. When they die, their souls walk in Mando's halls in the far west of the world, where they wait for the end of time and the coming of Ilúvatar.
An important subgroup of the Elves are the Eldar (Q.), the people of the stars who, after their awakening at Cuiviénen in eastern Middle-earth at the beginning of the First Age, join the Great Migration to the west into the Immortal Lands. Opposite them are the Avari , the “reluctant” or the “rejecting” who remain in the east of Middle-earth and who do not play an essential role in Tolkien's work. The Eldar group comprises three tribes, the Vanyar (Q.), the Noldor (Q.) and the Teleri (Q.). Two groups separate from the Teleri on the way: the Nandor east of the Nebelgebirge and the Sindar in Beleriand (S.). Most of the Noldor later return to Middle-earth under the leadership of Feanor (S.).
As feared warriors and talented artists, the Eldar determined the fate of Middle-earth for many centuries. Towards the end of the Third Age, at the time of the War of the Ring, they are less powerful, live in their realms in seclusion and are tired of life in Middle-earth. At the beginning of the Fourth Age, after the end of the War of the Ring, most of them finally sail to Aman, among them the bearers of the three Elven Rings .
Although Tolkien borrowed some of the existing mythological references when creating his elves , his elves can still be recognized as an independent concept. They are more powerful and above all older than in the pre-existing mythology (see elves ) and appear in many ways as superior beings. This concept was later taken up in many fantasy novels and role-playing games, when the term elf or elf was also adopted in various fantasy worlds outside of the Tolkien universe to denote similar beings.
The three peoples of the Eldar
Vanyar
The Vanyar (Q.) “the bright ones” are so called because of their golden hair and their particularly graceful appearance.
The Vanya-Elves are described as particularly pretty, sensitive, artistically and musically gifted and are also called Inwiër (Inwe's people = people of the first), they all went to Aman with him and were made by the Avari, who did not follow Orome's call , also called Oareldi "the vanished" or "those who crossed the sea".
They are the first group of Elves to leave Beleriand for Aman. They are led by Ingwe Ingweron (the first of the first or prince of all firstborns).
The Vanyar are those among the Eldar who see the light of the two trees first and who of the three Elvish peoples are most attached to it. Therefore, Feanor cannot convince them to move out of Valinor (Aman). They are Manwe's favorites .
They go to war only once when, at the end of the First Age under Eonwe, they go out together with the Valar to fight Melkor's wrath against Melkor and defeat it.
Noldor
The Noldor (Q.) "the wise" or "the learned" are particularly known for their skill and their joy in creating - they are the closest of all elves to Aulë and the dwarves. Their first leader and later High King is Finwe, who led them from the Lake of Awakening (Cuivienen) to Aman.
Finwe had a son (Feanor) with his first wife Míriel and later two other sons (Fingolfin and Finarfin) with the Vanyarelbin Indis. When his first-born son was banished to Formenos due to the half-brother dispute between Feanor and Fingolfin, Finwe followed him there. He was the first elf to be killed in the blessed kingdom of Aman, who was slain in the attack by Melkor on Formenos when he wanted to protect the gems of Feanor. Then Feanor becomes leader of the Noldor.
The blood oath made by Feanor and his sons and the brutal robbery on the port of Alqualonde "Swan Harbor", in which many Teleri Elves are slain because they did not want to give them their ships (known as the kinship murder), ultimately leads to the exile of the Noldor through the Valar. This spell, also known as Mando's curse , forbids them to return to Aman forever. Feanor leads his people as they leave Aman to recapture the Silmarilli that Melkor had stolen. After the crossing, the Noldor burn all stolen ships, establish kingdoms in Middle-earth and fight Melkor and his armies for centuries without ever being able to defeat him.
Only at the end of the First Age, after Melkor's exile and the disappearance of the Silmaril , are their oaths granted and allowed to return to Aman. Most of the Noldor then leave Middle-earth. Galadriel remains the only one of the Noldor princes who went into exile and founds an empire in the forest of Lórien .
Teleri
The Teleri (Q.), "the last", are the third and largest group of the Eldar on the hike from Cuiviénen to Valinor (Aman) next to the Vanyar and the Noldor. They are led by Elwe and Olwe after they have returned from Aman with Ingwe and Finwe.
On the long hike, many of the Teleri get lost and disagree. This is how this great crowd breaks up. Some go to the forests of Middle-earth or linger on the coasts. Others stay long on the Anduin River. But many are afraid of this dark place, and Lenwe “the refuser” or “reverser”, a subject of Olwe, leads this, the Nandor, south. Finally, after crossing the Ered Luin "Blue Mountains", Elwe and his Teleri reach the eastern areas of Beleriand and they linger for a while on the Gelion River. Olwe, who comes with them, becomes king of this group after Elwe's disappearance and continues the journey. Elwe meets Maia Melian there and falls in love with her, so that he does not return to his people.
On the coasts of Beleriand , near the mouths of the Sirion, the Teleri wait a long time for Ulmo , whose call to bring them to Aman they missed. During this time they become friends with Osse and Uinen. Osse teaches you a lot about the seas and music. Through him they learn to love the seas.
When Ulmo finally comes to take the Teleri to Aman, Osse is sad and persuades some to stay. The Falathrim, the Elves of the Falas "coastal strip", of which Círdan is the prince , and the closest relatives and friends of Elwe respond to his request.
When the remaining Teleri are brought from Ulmo on an island to the Bay of Eldamar, the Teleri hear the voice of Osse , who follows them, and ask Ulmo to end their journey. Therefore, Ulmo anchors the island off the coast of Aman and the Teleri settle there. Their island is called Tol Eressea "Lonely Island".
The Teleri are the only ones of the Eldar to build ships and sail with them the sea they love. When the Noldor set out to pursue Melkor for Middle-earth, the Teleri refuse to support them. Hence the murder of the Alqualonde genus, in which the Noldor slain many of the Teleri in order to seize the ships needed for the passage to Middle-earth.
Calaquendi
Calaquendi (Q.), "light elves", is the name given to those elves who come to Valinor at the time of the two trees and can still see their light with their own eyes. This includes all of the Vanyar, most of the Noldor, and large parts of the Teleri. They form a counterpart to the Moriquendi (Q.) "Dark Elves " and are also called Amanyar (Q.), which means "Amanelf" or "the blessed".
Finwe
Finwe is the supreme prince of the Noldor in the age of trees . With his first wife Míriel Serinde he fathered his son Feanor. After Míriel's death, he married Indis from the Vanyar, who gave him two sons named Fingolfin and Finarfin. Fingolfin is the father of the High Kings of the Noldor Fingon and Turgon and of Aredhel-ar-Feiniel, the white lady of the Noldor. The younger Finarfin marries Earwen von Alqualonde, a Teleri and relative of Elu Thingol. Their children are Finrod Felagund, Orodreth, Angrod, Aegnor and the youngest and only daughter Galadriel .
Finwe is slain by Melkor (Q.) when he penetrates into the fortress Formenos and steals Feanor's Silmaril.
Feanor
Feanor , born in the Age of Trees, is the eldest son of Finwe and the only child of Finwe and Míriel Serinde. His real name is Curufinwe , "Skilful Finwe", but he is always called by the name his mother gives him: Feanáro (Q.), "Fire Spirit".
Feanor is the older half-brother of Fingolfins and Finarfins. He is the husband of Nerdanel and father of Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin, Amrod and Amras. He is considered the most skillful of the Noldor. He is a pupil of Vala Aule and inventor of the Fanor script . His art is particularly evident in the creation of the Silmaril and the Palantíri . However, his increasing obsession with the Silmarilli, together with the whisperings of Melkor , is also the reason for the Noldor rebellion against the Valar, which ultimately leads to the exile of the Noldor and brings many of them death. Feanor himself falls shortly after the arrival of the Noldor in Middle-earth in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath , "the battle under the stars", in Mithrim, struck down by Gothmog , the lord of the Balrogs . As the only Elf in the history of Tolkien, his body crumbles to ashes due to his inner fire, which makes the reference to his mother's name.
According to a vision of Mandos, Feanor will not leave Mando's halls until the Dagor Dagorath, the last battle, and bring the Silmarilli back and leave them to Yavanna.
Fingolfin
Fingolfin is a prince of the Noldor who was born in Valinor in the Age of Trees. As the son of Finwe and Indis (a Vanya ) he is half brother of Feanor and the older brother of Finarfins. He leads the second band of the Noldor as they leave Valinor. He becomes High King of the Noldor after his son Fingon Maedhros, a son of Feanor, is freed from captivity by the Dark Lord Morgoth, and Maedhros renounces the honor of royal dignity in gratitude. Besides Fingon, Turgon and Aredhel-ar-Feiniel, the white lady of the Noldor, are Fingolfin's children. In addition, Gil-galad, Elrond and Elros are of his lineage.
After the tragedy of the Dagor Bragollach (the fourth battle of the First Age ), in his desperation, he challenges Morgoth to a duel. He inflicts seven wounds on Morgoth, but is eventually thrown down and killed, ramming his sword into Morgoth's foot. The great eagle Thorondor carries his corpse to Gondolin before it can be violated. Fingolfin is buried under a white pyramid by his son Turgon in the Surrounding Mountains.
Turgon
Turgon is a prince of the Noldor who was born in Valinor in the Age of Trees. His wife Elenwe is killed when the Noldor moves out of Valinor while crossing the Helcaraxe. Turgon then becomes a particularly unyielding opponent of Feanor and his sons. They forced the dangerous crossing by leaving part of the Noldor without ships.
Turgon founds a kingdom in Vinyamar "New Home" on the west coast of Beleriand . Thanks to Ulmo's advice, however, he found the hidden valley of Tumladen and founded the city of Gondolin there, which later turned out to be the last refuge of the Elves and the last realm of the Noldor in Beleriand. His daughter Idril Celebrindal falls in love with the Tuor man . From this connection Eearendil emerges and with it Elrond and Elros .
Gondolin is betrayed to Morgoth by Maeglin, who disregarded Turgon's laws, and attacked and destroyed by his army. Turgon dies defending his city.
Turgon owned the Glamdring sword, wielded by Gandalf in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings . How it got into the troll treasure, which was discovered far away after thousands of years by Gandalf and Bilbo , is unclear.
Finrod Felagund
Finrod Felagund is the eldest son of Finarfin and Earwen. He is also called "the loyalty" or "the friend of men". So he follows, against his conviction, out of loyalty to his people, his relative Feanor after his fateful oath back to Middle-earth. Finrod is the first to meet and befriend the people of the Beors des Alten people in Beleriand. Barahir, the later leader of this people, saves Finrod in the "battle of the sudden fire", whereupon the elf prince takes an oath of allegiance and hands him a ring as a sign of his promise, through which Barahir and his descendants can ask for help. This ring later becomes an heirloom of the Kings of Arnor under the name Barahir's Ring and serves at least two more times as a promise of help or a sign of an oath of loyalty. One day Arvedui, the last king of Arnor, gave it to the Snowmen because they had helped him. This was the only way to preserve it, because shortly afterwards Arvedui drowned in the ice bay of Forochel. Another time Aragorn presented him to Arwen for engagement.
In Middle-earth, Finrod erects a tall watchtower on Sirion Island, called Minas Tirith , and founds the kingdom of Nargothrond . He moves into a cave in an inaccessible gorge of the raging river Narog. This is why it is also nicknamed Felagund , which is derived from the dwarf name Felakgundu ("cave grinder ") and means "cave prince " in Sindarin. Finrod only has to keep his oath years later when Beren, Barahir's son, asks him to help find the Silmarilli. He saves Beren's life on the island of Tol Sirion , which at that time was called Tol-in-Gaurhoth ("Island of the Werewolves"). Finrod dies himself in this fight with the werewolf. So Finrod Felagund, the noblest and most beloved of the Finwe family, fulfills his oath to men, and it says:
“They buried Felagund's body [Beren and Lúthien] on the highest hill of his island, which was now clean again; and the green grave where Finrod, Finarfin's son, rested, the most beautiful of all elf princes, remained untouched until the land was changed and broken and sank in devastating seas. But Finrod is walking with Finarfin, his father, under the trees of Eldamar. "
So the Valar not only took him back to Valinor, but granted him a rebirth.
Finrod's name is mentioned, for example, in the Narn i Chîn Húrin and Tolkien dedicated a separate chapter to him, the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth (the debate between Finrod and Andreth), in which he philosophizes with the human woman Andreth about the different fates of the Elves and mortals . Andreth is a “wise woman” who knows about people and their fate. She is the daughter of Belemir, the son of Boron, the grandson of Beor the old man.
Galadriel and Celeborn
Galadriel and Celeborn appear primarily in the Lord of the Rings , but Galadriel is also important for the plot in the Silmarillion . The two are an Elven couple who have lived together since the First Age of Middle-earth. In the Lord of the Rings , the two are finally rulers of Lórien , a wondrous Elven kingdom west of the Anduin River, which is mainly inhabited by forest but also Sindar elves.
The mighty Galadriel comes from one of the highest royal houses of the Elves: She is the daughter of the Noldor Prince Finarfin and therefore a grandchild of Finwe, one of the first high kings of the Elves. Her grandmother is Indis from the Vanyar, her mother is Earwen, the daughter of the Teleri prince Olwe of Alqualonde. She is still born in the Age of Trees and is therefore one of the oldest living elves in Middle-earth in the Lord of the Rings and the only one who went into exile with the Noldor in Middle-earth. Her name Galadriel ( Quenya : Alátariel ) means something like "Maiden with a crown of rays" and refers to her golden hair. She receives the name from Celeborn as a token of his love. Her father calls her Artanis "Noble Maid" and her mother Nerwen calls her "Man-Girl", probably because of her physical and psychological size and strength.
Galadriel is described as a kind of seer. Her power consists in “looking into the heart” of others and in doing so to discover intentions that the other person is not even aware of, but judging what she has seen with compassion and understanding. She is also always characterized by great wisdom and above all foresight - so she mistrusts Feanor, who will later bring great suffering to all Elves, from the beginning and warns the Elves against him. She also distrusts the disguised Sauron when he sneaks into Eregion under the name Annatar. She tries to warn the other Elves about him, but cannot prevent the Rings of Power from being forged according to his instructions. With Saruman , Gandalf and Elrond , she founds the White Council in the Third Age and participates as an important ally in the fight against Sauron.
In the third age she is the bearer of the elven ring Nenya , the ring made of adamant. His power makes the kingdom of Lórien stronger and more beautiful. In the War of the Ring, Galadriel and Celeborn fight and ultimately defeat the enemies in Dol Guldur, Sauron's stronghold in southern Mirkwood .
After the One Ring is destroyed, the Ring of Nenya also loses its power and Galadriel's powers decline. Ultimately, Galadriel goes to the Gray Harbors to leave Middle-earth and sail to the west where she was born. According to tradition, Celeborn does not follow her, but goes to Rivendell at the beginning of the Fourth Age, because he is tired of his realm. It is not known whether he will eventually cross the sea.
Celeborn appears as less powerful and less wise than his wife and therefore appears weaker. His origin is not clearly classified within Tolkien's work. Within the Silmarillion he is a noble from Doriath and a relative of King Thingol . In fact, Tolkien doesn't seem to have been sure about this: According to another tradition or an earlier conception, Celeborn is a wood elf, and Galadriel does not meet him in the First Age, but only in the Second. A third tradition says that Celeborn is a Teleri and that Galadriel met Galadriel in Aman. Christopher Tolkien writes on the Galadriel-Celeborn problem:
“No passage in the history of Middle-earth is richer in problems than the story of Galadriel and Celeborn, and it must be admitted that there are serious contradictions in it“ rooted in the traditions ”; or, to look at the matter from a different point of view, that the role and importance of Galadriel are only slowly emerging and that her history has been subject to continuous transformations. "
Glorfindel
In Tolkien's world there are two elves with the name Glorfindel ("the golden-haired one"): The first is a Noldo who dies with the fall of Gondolin in a fight with a Balrog who attacks the refugees around Tuor and Idril falls. As Elrond's general, the second supports the people of Arthedain by driving out the Witch King of Angmar, the colonel of the Nazgûl . He is a member of the "white council". In the Lord of the Rings , Glorfindel is sent by Elrond to look for Aragorn and the hobbits . He finds her in front of the ford of the Bruinen. His horse Asfaloth carries the injured Frodo , pursued by the Nazgûl, across the ford to Rivendell .
The appearance of two Noldors with the same name seems to be a contradiction in Tolkien's work , because Elven names are actually never assigned twice. So both should be one and the same person. A clue from a letter from Tolkien suggests that it is actually the same person who was sent back to Middle-earth by the Ainur at their own request in the Third Age.
Thingol
Elu Thingol or Elwe Singollo (Q.), "gray coat", is one of the first Elves to wake up at the Lake of Cuiviénen. On the Elves' march to the west, he is brought to Valinor as a messenger from the Teleri . After returning to Middle-earth, he meets the Maia Melian and falls in love with her. With her he founds the kingdom of Doriath in Beleriand , which surrounds Melian with a spell for protection, known as Melian's belt . Thingol and Melian have a daughter, Lúthien Tinúviel.
Thingol is killed by dwarves towards the end of the First Age, who steal his Nauglamír and with it one of the Silmaril .
Although Thingol is a king of the Sindar, a tribe of the Moriquendi (dark elves), he is counted as one of the calaquendi (light elves) because he entered Valinor at the time of the two trees . He is considered one of the most powerful elf lords.
Lúthien Tinúviel
Lúthien Tinúviel ("Magical Daughter of the Darkness of Stars") is the daughter of the Elven King Thingol and Maia Melian. She lives in the First Age of Middle-earth and is of extraordinary beauty and known for her beguiling voice.
She experiences great importance through her participation in the recovery of one of the Silmaril , which she and the human Beren recaptured from the crown of the dark Vala Morgoth . Because of her love for Beren, from whom she is nicknamed Tinúviel "Nightingale" (literally actually evening star or daughter of starlight), she renounces her immortality.
Their only son Dior ("the heir"), the first half-elf, marries Nimloth ("snow flower" or "water lily"), with whom he has a daughter Elwing ("star shine"). This is the mother of Elrond ("star dome" or "star roof", "star vault") and Elros ("star dust").
The story of Lúthien and Beren is detailed in both the verse epic The Lay of Leithian and the Silmarillion . There is some evidence that JRR Tolkien described his wife Edith Mary in the figure of Lúthien and their mutual love in the story of their love for Beren. On the tombstone of the Tolkien couple is Lúthien under their name and Beren under his name .
Celebrimbor
Celebrimbor , "Silver Fist" or "Silver Hand", is the son of Curufin and thus a grandson of Feanor . Celebrimbor himself is almost as obsessed with the arts as the dwarves and soon becomes the first artist in Eregion to have a close relationship with the dwarves of Khazad-dûm, among whom Narvi is his best friend. With Narvis' help he also makes the west gate of Moria , as you can see in The Lord of the Rings: The Companions . The words that Gandalf reads are: “In the Narvi hain echant. Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i thiw hin ”, which translated means:“ I Narvi made them. Celebrimbor von Hulsten drew these letters. “He survived his father and later forged 19 rings of power in Eregion under the guidance of the disguised Sauron , three of them in secret. After forging the one ring that rules all other rings, Sauron wages a war against the free peoples of Middle-earth, in the course of which Eregion is devastated and Celebrimbor is killed. Before he kills Celebrimbor, however, he has him subjected to a torture to find out where the seven rings of the dwarves and the three elven rings are. But he does not learn from Celebrimbor where the three elven rings are hidden, and he has him killed. Because in Celebrimbor's opinion neither the seven nor the nine are as valuable as the three elven rings, which were created by Celebrimbor alone, and not like the other rings with Sauron's help.
The character Celebrimbor appears primarily in the books The Silmarillion and News from Middle-earth .
Gil-galad
Gil-galad , " star of rays", is described in the Silmarillion as the son of Fingon and the grandson of Fingolfin . Its real name is Ereinion "offspring of kings". He gets the name Gil-galad because of his shining armor.
After Turgon's death he becomes the high king of the Noldor who remained in Middle-earth. After the fall of Beleriand, he moved east with Galadriel, Celeborn, Cirdan and the other remaining Eldar and founded the empires of Forlindon and Harlindon. Gil-galad recognized the strengthening of Sauron in the Second Age early on, but could not prevent the conquest of Eregions in 1697. It is only thanks to the help of the Númenórians that Gil-galad succeeds in defending the gray invasions. From him Círdan and Elrond receive the rings Narya and Vilya. After Elendil lands in Middle-earth, both Elves and Humans form the final alliance to defeat Sauron. Gil-galad eventually falls during the siege of Barad-dûr without leaving an heir. There is an Elvish poem about this last High King of the Elves.
“Gil-galad was a prince of the elves, the harp still laments in the song:
his kingdom was surrounded by mountain and sea in shine and without yoke.
His sword was long, his spear was bold, his silver helmet shone from afar;
And his shield of stars reflected a thousandfold images in silver.
But for a long time he rode away, nobody knows where the knight was;
His star sank in gloom in Mordor's dark dungeon. "
Gil-galad's famous spear is called Aeglos .
According to later information from Christopher Tolkien , the representation of Gil-galad's ancestry in the Silmarillion is based on a fleeting idea of Tolkien, while other variants were already further developed. So there were also the variants that Gil-Galad was a descendant of Finarfin or Feanor.
Moriquendi
The Moriquendi (Q.), "dark elves", are those elves who do not come to Valinor at the time of the two trees , but turn back on the great hike or do not even set out - in contrast to Calaquendi (Q.), the "light elves “That went into the light after Aman. They are made up of Telerielben, Noldorel and Avari. The name comes from the time when Middle-earth was in darkness before the creation of the sun and moon. They are also called Úmaneldi (Q.), Úmanyar (Q.) or Alamanyar (Q.), which means "non-Aman elves".
receipt
Evidence , "the mighty", called Cúthalion , "longbow", is captain of the border guard of Doriath , the kingdom of King Thingol . He helps the Haladin to destroy an army of orcs in Brethil around 459 E.Z. and, besides Mablung, is the only Elf from Doriath who fights in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad . He is a good friend of Túrin Turambar and accompanies him on many adventures. Even during the time when Túrin is ostracized, Document always remains his friend and protector. However, Túrin is also his undoing, since this document - after he was freed by him from the captivity of the orcs - accidentally stabs Anglachel with his own sword . Belthroding's slip sheet is buried with him.
Círdan
Círdan the shipbuilder is from the Teleri people . He is probably the oldest elf living in Middle-earth mentioned in Tolkien's works. He comes to Beleriand in the First Age together with the Teleri princes Elwe and Olwe . There he breaks off the long hike to Valinor and instead settles with his people in the coastal region (the Falas) northwest of the Sirion estuary. After the fall of Beleriand, he founded the Gray Harbors on the Gulf of Lhûn, which now forms the far west of Middle-earth. From there, the remaining high elves set out on their journey across the separating sea to Valinor. In the Third Age, besides Rivendell and Lothlórien, the ancient places of refuge are the last places of refuge in which high elves still live. Círdan stayed in Middle-earth during the Fourth Age, helping with his ships and wisdom. Sometime late in the Fourth Age he set sail on the last white ship for Valinor.
For many years Círdan has been the guardian of the great Elven ring Narya , the ring of fire. He hands the ring over to Gandalf when he comes to Middle-earth in the Third Age, because he foresees that a difficult road lies ahead of Gandalf.
Círdan was very tall and, besides Mahtan, he is the only Elf who is described as bearded.
Legolas
Legolas "green leaf", literally "green leaves" is the son of Thranduil, the Elven King of the Mirkwood, and grandson of Oropher. He is the only Elf among the nine Companions who set out from Rivendell to bring the One Ring to Mordor so that it can be destroyed in the fire of Mount Doom. In the course of the War of the Ring, he becomes a close friend of the dwarf Gimli . After Aragorn's death , the two of them leave Middle-earth together by setting off together to travel across the sea to the west - probably the only case in which a dwarf has ever been granted this favor, which is otherwise only reserved for Elves. Also in the tale of Tuor and the fall of Gondolin there is an elf called Legolas or Green Leaf. He belonged to the crowd of elves from the "House of the Tree" and could hear particularly well or see in the dark. He led Tuor and the refugees to the eagle's crevice.
Thranduil
Thranduil is King of the Wood Elves of Mirkwood . He is the son of Oropher, who died in the battle of Dagorlad in 3434 Z. Z., and the father of Legolas. He captures the dwarves around Thorin Oakenshield as they cross his kingdom on their journey to Erebor.
Though ruling over a people of wood elves, Thranduil is a Sindar elf who came from Lindon even before Sauron's fortress Barad-dûr was built.
Half-elves
Half-elves have both Elvish and human ancestors. They are free to choose whether they want to belong to the people of men or to that of the elves. There is little evidence of such connections in the history of Middle-earth. Lúthien Tinúviel and Beren, whose son Dior was the first of all half-elves. Idril Celebrindal and Tuor, Earendil's parents. A connection between Nimrodel's companion and an ancestor of the princes from Dol Amroth, as well as a failed connection between the human woman Andreth and the elven prince Aegnor.
Earendil and Elwing
The half-elf Eearendil the seafarer , also called the "radiant one" and the "blessed one", is the son of Tuor and Idril and husband of Elwing (S.). At the age of seven, Earendil (Q.) escaped the fall of Gondolins with his parents and grew up at the mouth of the Sirion. Later, Eearendil and his wife and Silmaril, won back by Beren and Lúthien, travel to Aman on the ship Vingilot (Q.) and ask the Valar there to help the people of Middle-earth in their hopeless fight against Melkor (Morgoth) . He is the first living person to ever enter Valinor without being punished with death. Because of his descent from both sexes, he is an advocate of both Elves and humans . At his request, the Valar go to war of anger against Morgoth , in the course of which Beleriand sinks into the waters of the sea. With this the First Age ends.
Like his wife Elwing, Eearendil is a half-elf. After their arrival in Aman, Elwing makes the decision for both of them to be counted among the Elves from now on; the decision about her fate is left to her two sons. This means that Elwing and Earendil are prevented from returning to Middle-earth. With his ship Vingilot and the Silmaril on his forehead, Earendil is raised to the sky as a star, where he appears in the evening and in the morning as a sign of hope for all who are beset by evil. Earendil and his ship appear for the first time as a glistening star in the sky in the last battle of the Valar against Morgoth, the eagles rallying around them. In his new role he returns to Middle-earth for the last time to fight in the Great Battle. He slays Ancalagon the Black, the greatest of Morgoth's dragons. Its fall destroys the towers of Thangorodrim, which is given as a major reason for the fall of Beleriand.
The invocation of Earendil ( Aiya Earendil, Elenion Ancalima (Q.) [Heil Earendil, brightest of all stars]) arouses fear and terror in the enemies of the Free Peoples and strengthens the hearts of the Elves and men.
The name means "sea friend" in the language developed by JRR Tolkien Quenya . In fact, according to Tolkien, it is derived from the Anglo-Saxon éarendel and was converted into Elvish by him.
Elrond
The half-elf Elrond " Sterngewölbe ", born 532 E. Z. at the mouths of Sirion as the son of Earendil and Elwing, is one of the central figures in the time of the Lord of the Rings . Like his twin brother Elros (and all half-elves) he is given the choice of whether he wants to be an Elf or a human. He opts for the former - in contrast to his brother, who moves with the people to the island of Númenor and becomes the first king of the Númenórians. In the unrest around Eregion in the Second Age, Elrond withdrew to a valley in the Fog Mountains and founded Rivendell ( Imladris ) there in 1697 . Around this time Gil-galad hands him Vilya, the blue ring, the ring of air, and names him his herald and vice-regent of Eriador .
In 109 of the Third Age he married Galadriel's daughter Celebrían "silver-wreathed". Their children together are Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen . In the middle of the Third Age, Celebrían was attacked, kidnapped and severely tortured by orcs when she and her sons wanted to cross the Misty Mountains on their way to Lothlórien to see their mother. Her sons manage to free her and bring her back to Imladris (Rivendell), where Elrond heals her physical wounds, but she retains emotional damage that he is unable to alleviate, so she leaves a year after the attack to the gray urges and board a ship that sails west.
In his house in Rivendell, Elrond heals Frodo from the stab wound that the Witch King inflicts on him on the Wetterspitze. A short time later he heads the council of Elrond , in which representatives of the humans, dwarves, elves and hobbits decide what should be done with the ring of power.
He sends some Dúnedain from Eriador and his sons Elladan and Elrohir to support Aragorn in the fight on the side of Rohan and Gondor. After the end of the War of the Ring, he and Galadriel, several other Elves, Gandalf , Bilbo and Frodo leave Middle-earth in the direction of Valinor (Aman). He also founded the “White Council” with Galadriel, Gandalf and Saruman. With Saruman and Galadriel he chases the spirit of Sauron out of his fortress Dol Guldur in the south of the Mirkwood in the year 2941 DZ. He also helps Thorin Eichenschild by reading out the secret message in Moonrunes on the map of the Lonely Mountain to him. He also houses Thorin and his band of dwarfs as well as Bilbo Baggins in his house.
Elladan and Elrohir
Elladan "Star Man " and Elrohir " Star Knight " are the sons of Elrond and Celebríans and thus Arwen's brothers. The two half-elves are born in 130 D. Z. and are described as so similar that few can tell them apart. This (as well as the common year of birth) suggests that they are twins. When their mother Celebrían is captured and tortured by the orcs , Elladan and Elrohir set out for the Misty Mountains and free them; Soon afterwards, Celebrían leaves Middle-earth via the Gray Havens and sails to Valinor (Aman). Since then, the two have harbored a deep hatred of all orcs and fight them wherever possible. In the War of the Ring, she and a band of rangers fight alongside Aragorn in the Battle of Pelennor . In the Fourth Age, Elladan and Elrohir remain in Rivendell even though Elrond sails west.
Arwen
Arwen "royal maiden" or "noblewoman", born in the year 241 D. Z., is the daughter of Elrond and Celebríans and the granddaughter of Galadriel . She is also called Undómiel ("Daughter of Dusk"; also translated as "Evening Star").
As a half-elf she can choose between the (immortal) life as an elf and a human, mortal fate. When she falls in love with the mortal Aragorn , heir to the throne of Arnor and Gondor , she chooses the path of her ancestor Lúthien Tinúviel and opts for a mortal life - much to the sadness of her father, who sails with the remaining Elves to the Immortal Lands.
At the end of the War of the Ring, she married Aragorn and gave him a son named Eldarion and several daughters. After Aragorn's death in old age, she went to Lórien , where she died a year later. Her grave is on the Cerin Amroth hill , where she once got engaged to Aragorn.
People
The people interact with the rising of the sun to the world. In contrast to the elves, they are mortal and have a short life even towards the dwarves. Mortality, the fate of leaving the world while the Elves remain bound to Arda until the world ends, is bestowed as a gift by Ilúvatar, although this is not always understood as such by humans. Soon they populate the east of Middle-earth. There, however, they are threatened by evil forces and some tribes flee to the north and west, where they reach the realms of the Noldor and Sindar. They are called Atani or in the Sindarin form Edain , which means "the second people" or the "descendants". Originally, Atan simply means "human".
Unlike the elves, whose existence and fate are tied to Middle-earth and who therefore wait for the end of Arda in Mandos' halls after their death , humans are not tied to Middle-earth. However, the purpose of their existence is not known to either Valar or Elves. With this open solution, Tolkien, himself a devout Christian, evidently wanted to keep his mythology free of contradictions to Christian theology.
Edain
The Elves originally only referred to those members of the three houses of man as Edain who were the first to come to Beleriand. These are the house of Beors the Elder, the ancestors of Barahir and Beren, the house of Haldad, later named House Haleth after his daughter, and the house of Marach, later house of Hador, of the Hador Lórindol, the ancestor of Húrin and Túrin as well as from Huor and Tuor. The word Edain simply means "people" and is later applied to all people. There are a total of nine so-called fathers of men .
Beren
Beren Erchamion "The Daring One-Handed ", also known as Camlost "The Empty Hand", is a famous First Age hero, son of the human hero Barahir and his wife Emeldir. He is the first person who, with Lúthien Tinúviel, wins an elf wife. To do this, at the behest of the bride's father, the Elven King Thingol , he has to fulfill a task that at first seems unsolvable: the procurement of a Silmaril from the Crown of Morgoth , which was no longer counted among the Valar . Beren gathers some companions around him - including the elven ruler Finrod Felagund, who is more devoted to humans than Thingol - and sets off, but is captured by Sauron. Only Lúthien manages to free her lover with the help of Huan, a hunting dog from Valinor, but his companions, including Finrods, perish. Beren and Lúthien move with Huan to Angband and overcome the wolf Carcharoth , who guards the entrance. Then Lúthien beguiles the dark ruler Morgoth with the help of her beauty and sings him to sleep. With the Angrist knife, Beren cuts a Silmaril from the crown of the Dark Lord. During the subsequent escape, Beren is bitten off by Carcharoth the hand in which he is holding the Silmaril. Beren and Lúthien return to Doriath , where Thingol agrees to marry. Beren is fatally wounded a little later while hunting for Carcharoth. As he dies he hands the stone from the belly of the dead wolf to Thingol and thus fulfills his task. Lúthien mourns him so much that she dies a short time later. A sad end to the story would it not be for Mandos , who gives both of them a second chance: He gives them a second life in Middle-earth. So they come back and live happily on the island of Tol Galen. However, both are mortal in their second life.
On the tombstone of JRR Tolkien and his wife Edith are the inscriptions Beren and Lúthien .
Tuor
Tuor was born in Hithlum, north of Beleriand, to Huor and Rían during the First Age . In the Nirnaeth Arnoediad , the battle of the uncounted tears, his father dies. Tuor therefore grows up among the gray elves ( Sindar ) with his foster father Annael . The story of Tuor and the fall of Gondolin describes how he meets Ulmo in Vinyamar , who tells him to go to Turgon in the hidden kingdom of Gondolin . With the help of the Elf Voronwe, he gets there and warns Turgon of the end of his kingdom.
He later marries Turgon's daughter Idril Celebrindal. When the attack on Gondolin, which is completely destroyed, they flee with the few survivors to the mouth of the Sirion. Her son is Eearendil the Navigator, father of Elros and Elrond .
When Tuor felt the age, his longing for the vastness of the sea reappeared and he built the great ship Earráme “Sea Wing ”, which carried him and Idril Celebrindal to Valinor .
Túrin
Túrin Turambar , born in the First Age, is the son of Húrin Thalion, king of Dor-lómin, and his wife Morwen. His father Húrin is captured in the Battle of the Untold Tears ( Nirnaeth Arnoediad ). Because he defies the will of Morgoth , curses this Húrin's family.
When Húrin does not return from Nirnaeth , Morwen sends Túrin to Doriath to see King Thingol to save his life from the Easterlings who soon occupy Dor-lómin. There Túrin is raised and held in honor. After disputes in which an elf living at court is killed, Túrin flees Doriath because he does not expect Thingol to be justified. He becomes the leader of a gang of outlaws and calls himself Neithan "the offended" - the first of many aliases of Túrin. Thingol sends Túrin's friend a receipt to find and retrieve Túrin, but when he finally finds him, Túrin refuses to return. He and his men capture the small dwarf Mîm, move into his caves and clean the area of orcs over the next few years together with evidence. Túrin is now called Gorthol "Dread Helmet " after the dragon helmet of Dor-lómin, an heirloom of his family, which he wears. He is later betrayed by Mîm and captured by orcs . He is rescued by Document and Gwindor, but kills Document, who he believes is an orc. Túrin goes with Gwindor to Nargothrond, where he calls himself Agarwaen, Umarth's son "the blood-stained, son of misfortune". He becomes a great warrior of Nargothrond and a confidante of King Orodreth; Túrin and Orodreth's daughter Finduilas become engaged. Túrin Mormegil is called "Black Sword" by the Elves in Nargothrond , after his sword Gurthang , which has a black blade and which is the newly forged sword Anglachel . He moves Orodreth to openly wage war against Morgoth again; by this unwise advice he seals Nargothrond's fate.
Túrin fights valiantly in the Battle of Tumhalad, but when he returns to the ruined Nargothrond, he falls under the spell of the dragon Glaurung . That is why he does not follow Finduilas who are abducted by orcs (who is therefore killed), but goes to Dor-lómin to look for his mother and sister. When he does not find her there and realizes that he has been deceived, he kills many Easterlings in anger; A relative of Túrin kills herself for fear of their revenge. For several years afterwards, Túrin lived hidden with the people in the forests of Brethil. With bitter irony he calls himself Turambar "Master of Fate". In 500 he married the girl Níniel whom he picked up in the woods. He does not know that this is actually his sister Nienor , whom he has never seen and who has lost her memory through glazing. The following year, Nienor is now pregnant by her brother, Glaurung threatens Brethil, and Túrin kills him. But the wickedness of the dying dragon causes Túrin to slay Brandir, the leader of the people of Brethil. After the dragon's death, Nienor recognizes her husband as her brother and plunges into the Teiglin River. Túrin then throws himself into his own sword, which breaks in the process. The stone of the unfortunate is erected over his grave. With that Morgoth's curse has been fulfilled. At one point in Tolkien's unpublished texts there is a reference that Túrin will kill Morgoth in the final battle at the end of the world, since he suffered the most under him.
In Tolkien's stories, Túrin is actually a "tragic hero" after he tragically slays his own friends several times or drives them to their deaths and marries his own sister. His story shows similarities with that of the Greek Oedipus , but also with Kullervo from Kalevala , from which Tolkien drew a lot of inspiration, and with the Siegfried saga .
Númenórer
The Númenórern include all those who were once blessed by the Valar, who gave them the island of Númenor, which they raised from the depths of the sea. The island lies west of Middle-earth and is therefore also called Westernis. The Númenórians are blessed with a long life. When Sauron incited the Númenórians to war against the Valar and Elves, it led to the downfall of Númenor. The few survivors were those who were loyal to the Valar and were therefore called the “loyal ones” in exile. They founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-earth.
Elros
Elros (Q.) "Star spray" (* 532 E. Z .; † 442 ZZ) is the son of Earendil and Elwing and Elrond's twin brother . He's one of the half-elves . He was born in Arvernien. During the raid on the Sirion estuaries, he is captured by Feanor's sons. Maglor regrets this act and gives the prisoners their freedom again.
As a half-elf he can choose between a human and an elvish life. At the end of the First Age, he decided to be numbered among the people and, under the name of Tar-Minyatur, became the first king of Númenor , whom he ruled for 410 years. During his reign he built the tower and citadel of Armenelos, among other things.
Ar-Pharazôn
Ar-Pharazôn "the shining one" is the last, most powerful and proudest king of the island kingdom of Númenor. In 3255 Z. Z., after Tar-Palantir's death, he took Tar-Palantir's daughter as his wife - against her will and against the law of Númenor - and thus gained power. When Sauron claims the title of King of Men for himself, Ar-Pharazôn gathers Númenor's army and sails with his fleet to Middle-earth to subjugate Sauron. The power of the Númenórians at this time is so great that Sauron can no longer rely on even his strongest servants. Since he cannot defeat the opposing army in battle, he submits and agrees to go to Númenor as a prisoner. There he soon won the trust of the king and his councilors. Under Sauron's influence, Ar-Pharazôn becomes the most powerful tyrant the world has seen since Morgoth . In his madness and his fear of death, he ultimately even turns against the Valar and tries to wrest the secret of immortality from them. He leads a huge army to Aman to fight the Valar. However, when he sets foot on Aman, he brings about the downfall of Númenor. Ar-Pharazôn and his soldiers are buried under collapsing mountains and destroyed. Númenor is devoured by the sea and few escape doom, including Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anárion.
When Ar-Pharazôn marches against Aman , the Valar lay down rule over Arda for the only time in history.
Elendil
Elendil (Q.) "Friend of the Elves", who is also called the Tall One and the Faithful , is a Númenor who comes to Middle-earth after the fall of Númenor and founds the Northern Kingdom of Arnor, while his sons Isildur and Anárion found Gondor in the south. His father is Amandil "friend of Amans", the last lord of Andúnië and leader of the faithful of Númenor, i.e. those who oppose the king's hostile attitude towards the Elves and Valar.
Elendil's power is based on the knowledge and the treasures he can save from Númenor, his friendship with Gil-galad, the last High King of the Noldor of Lindon and his followers, the Dúnedain "Western people" or Elendeli "Elf friends", the already live in Middle-earth or fled with him from Númenor. His capital is Annúminas "Tower of the West", which he built on the bank of the Nenuial " Sunset Lake".
›Et Earello Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn 'Ambar-metta. ‹
“I came to Middle-earth from the Great Sea. I and my heirs want to stay in this place until the end of the world. "
Elendil is also called the Tall One because he is astonishingly tall even among the tall Númenórians (allegedly he measures two meters forty). Despite this giant figure, he is more of a scholar than a warrior. The Akallabêth (The Sunken One), the story of Númenor, is said to be largely his work. He regrets the downfall of Númenor all his life and with the help of his Palantíri he often looks over the sea to the west.
Only in his last years did he gain martial fame. Sauron attacks Gondor , the realm of Elendil's sons, and conquers Minas Ithil (which later becomes Minas Morgul ). Elendil and Gil-galad form the final alliance between elves and men and lead a mighty army south to aid Gondor. They win on the Dagorlad and then march against Barad-dûr , Sauron's dark fortress. After seven years of siege, there is a decisive battle with Sauron. Elendil and Gil-galad are killed, but Sauron is also defeated. Elendil's son Isildur cuts the one ring from his hand with the broken staple of Narsil , Elendil's sword, which breaks under him when he dies .
Elendil is buried on the Mount of Awe. His grave is kept secret by order of Isildur, who passes the instruction and knowledge of the grave on to his successor Meneldil, and from him to the following generations of rulers of Gondor. The tomb is considered the center of the Kingdom of the South. There Cirion gives the Rohirrim the land they call Calenardhon, and Eorl swears the oath of everlasting friendship with the people of Gondor.
Sauron's mouth
Sauron's mouth was one of the black Númenórians. He came from the descendants of the Númenórer in the colonies of the Haradwaith and entered Sauron's service when the dark tower became more powerful again. He had forgotten his name. In the service of Sauron, he became a powerful sorcerer who extended his life considerably through black magic, yet he remained a mortal person and was not a Nazgûl or undead of any other kind. He was considered cruel and cunning and was not due to his ill will and ingenuity only the governor of the tower of Barad-dûr, but was considered the most senior of Sauron's human servants. He probably died in the fall of Sauron or in the following battle.
In the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Version) he dies when Aragorn cuts off his head before the battle at the Black Gate.
Dúnedain
The Dúnedain "people of the west" are the Edain who emigrated to Númenor at the beginning of the Second Age, an island that was given to them by the Valar as a reward for their support in the fight against Melkor. Few of them, however, escape the downfall of Númenor, which they themselves brought about. These are the loyal followers who follow Elendil, the friend of the elves, and the so-called black Númenórer , who later turn away from them and pursue their own goals. The loyal found the two kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor, while the black Númenórer settle in Umbar . The Dúnedain, like the kingdoms, are divided into two groups. The Dúnedain of the north, also known as the Rangers, who at the time of the War of the Ring also included Aragorn and the Dúnedain of Gondor, of which Faramir is captain.
The Dúnedain are not only mentally and physically superior to other people, they also have a much higher life expectancy than the people whose ancestors did not reside on Númenor. However, like these, they can succumb to evil, as the black Númenórians say.
Isildur
Isildur (Q.) is Elendil's son. He escaped from the sinking Númenor in 3319 Z. Z. with his father and brother Anárion. The brothers become the first kings of Gondor. Isildur ruled Minas Ithil until it was conquered by Sauron in 3429 . In the Battle of Dagorlad in 3434 Z. Z. Isildur succeeds in cutting the One Ring from Sauron's finger and defeating him with it. But he falls under the power of the ring and refuses to destroy it. A few years later he is ambushed near the sword fields and is shot by orcs when the ring slips off his finger while trying to escape across the Anduin River, making him visible again.
Anárion
Anárion (Q.) "Son of the Sun" (* 3219 Z. Z.; † 3440 Z. Z.) is a son of Elendil the Long and the brother of Isildur.
After the fall of Númenor , Anárion and Isildur land in the south of Middle-earth, where they found the kingdom of Gondor, which they rule together from Osgiliath . Anárion founds Minas Arnor, later known as Minas Tirith .
Soon Gondor is attacked by Sauron. When Minas Ithil is captured by Sauron's troops, Isildur flees to Arnor. When Minas Ithil is captured , the Palantir kept there is lost and so comes into Sauron's possession.
Anárion remains in his kingdom and successfully defends it against Sauron's attacks until Isildur, Elendil and Gil-galad reach Gondor with the armies of the Last Alliance. Anárion joins the alliance and is killed by a falling stone during the siege of Barad-dûr .
His son Meneldil succeeds him to the throne of Gondor .
Arvedui
Arvedui (* 1864 D. Z .; † 1975 D. Z.) has since 1964 D. Z. the last king of Arthedain . In 1944 D.Z., he claimed the Crown of Gondor . He was married to Fíriel, daughter of Ondohers, king of Gondor. Ondoher and his two sons had also died in battle shortly before. The Gondor Council, however, rejected the claim. At the end of the Third Age, Aragorn, as a descendant of Arvedui and Fíriel, again claimed Gondor.
In Arvedui's reign, the Witch King of Angmar begins again to attack Arnor. The main fortresses of Arnor, the Amon Sûl and Fornost, both of which are the repositories of a palantir , fall. However, Arvedui is able to flee north to the Forodwaith with the Palantiri and is taken in by the Lossoth. Círdan , who learned of his situation from Arvedui's son Aranarth, sends him a ship north. Despite warnings from the Lossoth, Arvedui boarded the ship and went down with it and the two palantiri in the Forochel ice bay.
His son Aranarth did not accept the crown of Arthedain, but became the first chief of the Dunedain.
Aragorn
Aragorn II Elessar (born March 1, 2931 D. Z .; † March 1, 120 B.C.), son of Arathorn II, is a leader of the Dúnedain in Eriador and a descendant of Isildur . He is the heir to the royal dignity of Gondor and Arnor .
When Aragorn was two years old, his father Arathorn was killed by an arrow while fighting orcs. Aragorn and his mother Gilraen come to Rivendell , where Elrond takes on the role of a father to Aragorn. To protect him from the enemy who is looking for Isildur's heir, his true identity is veiled and he is only called Estel "Hope". Only when Aragorn turns 20 does Elrond give him his real name and reveal his destiny to him.
Shortly afterwards, Aragorn meets Elrond's daughter Arwen Undómiel for the first time in Rivendell and falls in love with her. However, Elrond tells Aragorn that he would give Arwen to none other than the king of Arnor and Gondor. Aragorn leaves Rivendell and travels to many parts of Middle-earth to prepare for his difficult task. During this time he becomes a friend of Gandalf . During his dangerous journeys and in his often long absence, he has the Dúnedain guard the Shire .
Under the name Thorongil, Aragorn serves as a general to Ecthelion, governor of Gondor and father of Denethor. With his strategic skill he destroys almost the entire fleet of the Umbar corsairs and thereby earns great fame in Gondor. He leaves the court of Gondor when Denethor comes to power, who seems to have an inkling of who the mysterious general really is.
After learning from Gandalf that the One Ring has been found, he tracks down Gollum when he returns from Mordor. While Gandalf is stopped by Saruman , the community of hobbits around Frodo encounters Aragorn in Bree. He reveals himself to them under the name "Streicher" and leads them through the swamps and over the mountains to Rivendell, where he takes part in Elrond's advice and then sets off south as one of the nine companions with Frodo and the ring. After Gandalf's fall in Moria , he leads the community of the ring until it collapses in Parth Galen. In the following War of the Ring, after the victorious battle on the Pelennor, he took over the supreme command of the Army of the West in the final battle against Sauron .
After the war of the Ring he was crowned King of the reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor under the name Elessar "Elbenstein". He marries Arwen, who gives up her immortality for him. She gives him a son, Eldarion "son of the elves", and several daughters.
His royal name Elessar was prophesied to him by Galadriel. The people of Minas Tirith gave him this name after the battle of Pelennor because of his emerald brooch. As the name of his dynasty he chose Telcontar , which is the Quenya equivalent for strings , his name in Bree.
As part of the reorganization of the new united kingdom of Gondor and Arnor, the Orthanc will also be repossessed, where the Palantir used by Saruman will be kept again in the future. During the search of the tower, numerous valuables stolen by Saruman and Grima are discovered. In a hidden chamber you can also find two objects that Saruman apparently discovered while searching for the One Ring: the capsule in which Isildur once wore the One Ring around her neck, and the Elendilmir , a white stone made of Elvish crystal on one circlet of Mithril , the Isildur as a sign of royalty wore the Northern Kingdom.
Aragorn's sword Andúril is forged from the fragments of the legendary Narsil, Elendil's sword, which breaks under him when he dies at the end of the Second Age, and with whose broken blade Isildur cuts the ring from Sauron's finger.
Aragorn eventually dies of natural causes after reigning the United Kingdom for 120 years. It can rightly be said that in him the nobility of the old Númenórer was strengthened, because he had one of the longest lifespans of all people for thousands of years. He was also very wise and knew about many things in Middle-earth, certainly a result of his long wanderings. He continued to have clairvoyance. During his reign, the kingdom blossomed and grew bigger and stronger than ever before.
Other names:
- Dúnadan (S.) "Man of the West"; because of his descent from the Númenórians.
- Telcontar (Q.) "Streicher", the name he chooses for his dynasty. Tar Elessar Telcontar (Q.) "King Elbenstein, the strider", probably also because it was a long way before he reached his goal.
- Thorongil (S.) " Star Eagle " is an alias he chooses in memory of his father Arathorn (S.) "Royal Eagle" and under which he both King Thengel of Rohan and Ecthelion II, governor of Gondor and at a young age Denethor's father serves.
- Envinyatar (Q.) "the renewer", a name he receives in the houses of healing because he is able to heal people from injuries and the black breath only with the help of his hands and the royal herb Athelas.
People from Gondor
Denethor
Denethor II , son of Ecthelion II, is the 26th stewardess (governor) of Gondor . He lives from 2930 to March 15, 3019 D. Z. In 2976 he married Finduilas, the sister of Prince Imrahil from Dol Amroth, who gave him two sons. These two sons Boromir and Faramir play an important role in the Lord of the Rings .
Denethor is portrayed as bold and brave, but also farsighted and clever. According to Gandalf's statements, almost pure, Númenórian blood flows in his veins - as with his son Faramir, but not with Boromir. Since he took office in 2984, the well-being of Gondor has been close to his heart, but just as much the retention of power for him and his son Boromir, as the next head sitter. But soon afterwards his beloved wife Finduillas dies of an incurable longing for the sea where she was born, but which she is not allowed to visit, as Denethor is concerned for her safety, because the coast is particularly strong from the corsairs at this time afflicted from Umbar. Not least because of this loss, Denethor is a tough and sometimes desperate man at the time of the War of the Ring, who does not tolerate weakness.
He probably learns from the Palantír of Minas Tirith, who is presumably influenced by Sauron , about Aragorn, the heir of Isildur and heir to the throne, whom he had already known years before under the name Thorongil when he served under his father Ecthelion, and his strength and charisma he knows only too well.
Boromir's death, which he first learned about through the broken horn of Gondor , shook him deeply, as he did not trust his younger son Faramir to perform the leadership qualities of his brother and fears that he will not be able to oppose Aragorn, whereby the Reign of their house in Gondor ends.
He would rather die than watch Gondor's defeat or accept the return of a rightful aspirant to the king. Therefore he tries to burn himself and his badly wounded son Faramir at a stake, because submission is never an option for him. While Faramir is being saved, the mad Denethor dies in the fire.
Boromir
Boromir was born in 2978 D. Z. as the eldest son of Denethor II (Truchsess von Gondor) and his wife Finduilas von Dol Amroth. Boromir is described as a proud and tall person who is characterized by courage, strength and skill, especially in combat. After a prophetic dream, which his younger brother Faramir also dreams, he travels to Rivendell to have the dream interpreted.
As the eldest son and heir to the Truchsessen, he wears the horn of Gondor. He accompanies the community of the ring to the Rauros Falls. There there is an argument between him and Frodo Baggins , in which he tries to take the ring by force. He is more and more obsessed with the ring, which he does not see as a danger, but rather as a powerful weapon that must not be destroyed. His act breaks the community. Frodo separates himself from the community by making himself invisible with the ring and fleeing. Boromir realizes his delusion too late. Trying to make up for his mistake, he is killed by a multitude of orc arrows as he unsuccessfully defends Merry and Pippin against an overwhelming force of orcs and Uruk-hai .
Boromir is buried in a boat by the remaining companions Aragorn , Legolas and Gimli, along with his weapons and the Horn of Gondor. His younger brother Faramir later sees the funeral boat drifting south on the Anduin . The horn, broken in two, is washed ashore and brought to his father Denethor, who then falls into deep mourning.
Faramir
Faramir is the second son of Denethor II, Truchsess (governor) of Gondor and Finduilas of Dol Amroth, he lives from the year 2983 DZ to the year 83 BCE. When he is five years old, his mother dies, which means that his father Denethor closes himself off and apparently gives all his love to his older son Boromir. Gandalf (Mithrandir) also finds out about this and then takes care of Faramir for a time and instructs him in the stories and songs of Middle-earth. Denethor does not particularly like this connection as he does not trust Gandalf and thinks that it would soften his son. Therefore, Faramir has to start guarding the palace at the age of ten.
In the War of the Ring, Faramir was first captain of the rangers of Ithilien and was considered to be one of the best human archers of his time. After the death of his beloved older brother Boromir, for whom he mourns deeply, he becomes general of Gondor in his place. When Denethor II learned of Boromir's death, he wished Faramir had died instead, probably also because it was he himself who sent Boromir to Imladris and not Faramir who asked him to go there himself. He sends Faramir into the hopeless battle for Osgiliath, in which he is seriously injured by a poisoned arrow from the southerners (Haradrim).
His father is so dismayed by the apparently fatal wound that Faramir is wounded that he decides to burn himself and Faramir to death. While Faramir is rescued by Gandalf with Beregond and Pippin's help , Denethor dies at his own pyre. Faramir becomes Gondor's new dish, but is neither approachable nor capable of acting. Only when Aragorn secretly comes to the Houses of Healing after the battle on the Pelennor and calls him back to life through the "hands of a king" does he begin to recover.
During his recovery, Faramir meets and falls in love with Éowyn . They married on August 10, 3019 after the War of the Ring had ended. When Aragorn becomes king of Arnor and Gondor, he appoints Faramir as governor of Gondor and prince of Ithilien .
Beregond
Beregond is a member of the Minas Tirith City Guard at the time of the War of the Ring. He is the father of Bergil, a boy with whom Pippin spends some time in Minas Tirith. When Denethor wants to burn himself with his son Faramir, Pippin alerts Beregond. Thereupon he leaves his post and fights his way to the tomb of the governors. He has to kill the guard. He then fights against Denethor's helpers to save Faramir. Eventually Gandalf manages to save Faramir. After his coronation, Aragorn pronounces a judgment on Beregond: Because of his bravery and his love for Faramir, he should not be punished. But he has to resign from the guard of the city to be assigned to the White Company, the guard of the new governor Faramir. As their captain, he is to serve Faramir with honor and peace, for whom he has ventured so much.
Cirion
Cirion is the ruling stewardess in Gondor between 2489 and 2567 DZ and after the battle on the plain of Celebrant 2510 DZ forms the everlasting alliance with Eorl, the leader of the Rohirrim. In fulfillment of this oath, King Theoden led his army to the battle of Pelennor 509 years later. Cirion is considered a clever and wise ruler, as he stabilized his own empire on the northern border by donating the later so-called Riddermark, which were already largely depopulated by the constant wars. However, with this alliance he lays the foundation stone for the constant conflicts between the immigrant Rohirrim and the remnants of the original population, who also lay claim to the area, which ultimately leads to parts of them joining Saruman in his war against the northerners.
People from Thal
Girion
Girion was Prince of Thal and the surrounding lands until 2770 DZ, when the dragon Smaug attacked the Lonely Mountain and previously destroyed the city of Thal. Girion died trying to kill Smaug and save his city. After the attack by the dragon, the survivors left the destroyed city, the majority of them settling in the nearby seaside town of Esgaroth.
Bard
Bard (also called Bard the archer ) grew up as a descendant of Girion, the last king of Thal, in the seaside town of Esgaroth. An accomplished archer, he is a member of the mayor's city guard. He is a thorn in the side of him due to his general popularity as a possible agitator and folk hero. When the dragon Smaug attacked the seaside town in 2941 DZ and destroyed it almost completely, Bard killed him with a black arrow. Then he leads the survivors to Thal and is the leader of the people in the battle of the five armies. After the battle, Bard becomes king of the newly founded kingdom of Thal. After his death in 2977 DZ his son Bain succeeds him to the throne.
Bain
Bain is the son of the dragon slayer Bard and after the death of his father in 2977 DZ becomes the new king of Thal. After his death, his son Brand becomes king of Thal.
Rohirrim
The Rohirrim are a horsemen who live in the land of Rohan, northwest of Gondor . They call themselves Eorlingas ("Sons of Eorl"). Their enemies, the Dunlanders, refer to them as Forgoil (" flat heads ").
The Rohirrim are descendants of the Éothéod and distantly related to the Dúnedain. The area they inhabited originally belonged to the Dunlanders and was once given to the Rohirrim by Gondor in gratitude for their military service against the charioteers. This explains the Dunlanders' thirst for revenge, which Saruman knows how to harness for his own ends. The Rohirrim live in Rohan in small, scattered villages and, in addition to other rural trades, mainly breed horses . Their horses are considered to be the best in all of Middle-earth; even with the black horses of the Black Riders is stolen from Rohan horses.
Most of the Rohirrim are tall, have long blond hair and blue eyes. They do not understand much of the arts, crafts and sciences that are cultivated in Gondor. The Éored (squadrons) are feared their cavalry, the grim alliteration draw chants into battle.
Most of the Rohirrim rule Westron . But among themselves they used an ancient language that is related to Adûnais.
The description of their culture and especially their capital Edoras with the Golden Hall Meduseld is reminiscent of the Anglo-Saxon culture of the 9th and 10th centuries (with an increased importance of the horse) and is particularly similar to the descriptions of the Beowulf saga , in the Beowulfs Hall also the name Meduseld wearing. The Rohirrim language is modeled on the Anglo-Saxon language that was predominant at the time and is almost identical to it.
Eorl "the boy"
Eorl , son of Léod, lived from 2485 D. Z. to 2545 D. Z. and is prince of the northern people who call themselves the Éothéod. In 2510 D. Z. people from the east, the Balchoth, attack the realm of Gondor, while orcs attack from the Misty Mountains at the same time . Gondor's governor, Cirion, asks the Éothéod for help. Eorl immediately gathers his troops and rides into the battle of Celebrant. His cavalry army succeeds in pushing back the orcs and people from the East across the Limklar River. In gratitude and in return for Eorl's oath of unwavering loyalty, Gondor's governor has given Eorl the province of Calenardhon. This land is henceforth referred to in Gondor as Rohan ("horse country"), its inhabitants as Rohirrim . The Éothéod call their newly won realm the Riddermark , and Eorl becomes the first king there. He takes the Altburg in Ostfold as his capital.
He is nicknamed the boy because he had blond hair and red cheeks until his death. He also ascends his father's throne at the age of sixteen. Léod died in a fall from a wild horse and Eorl vows to avenge his father. He finds the horse, calls it Felaróf, and as punishment for the death of his father he takes his freedom. The Mearas , the king's horses, develop from Felaróf . Eorl is buried next to his horse in the first burial mound of the first line.
"Hammerhand" helmet
Helm "Hammerhand" , son of Gram, lives from the year 2691 D. Z. to the year 2759 D. Z. and is the ninth King of the Mark from 2741 D. Z. until his death. In 2758 Rohan was attacked simultaneously by invading Easterlings and Dunlanders from the west. Gondor cannot send help. Rohan is overrun, the population flees into the mountains. Helm is besieged in Edoras, which is ultimately captured. Helm's son Haleth falls while defending the capital, his father flees to Helm's Deep with his son Háma and all of his people who have escaped slavery. A long winter ensues and a famine breaks out in Rohan. Háma, Helm's last son, dies in an attempt to steal food.
The king leaves the castle several times to sneak into the camp of his enemies who are besieging him and kills many of them. Some Dunlanders claim it is invulnerable. However, one night he does not return.
Meanwhile, Fréaláf, the king's nephew, gathered a few men around him. From Dunharg , he attacks Edoras and kills Wulf, the leader of the Dunlanders. The beginning of the snowmelt transforms the Entwassertal into a swamp in which the enemies perish. Gondor, too, is now sending troops to Rohan, and in 2759 D. Z. all enemies have been driven out. Since there are no more direct descendants of Helm, his nephew Fréaláf is made king. With him the second line of kings of the march begins.
Théoden
Théoden , Thengels son, of the family of Eorl, (* 2948; † 3019 D. Z.) is the 17th king of Rohan . His name means "lord of the people" in the Rohirrim language. With his wife Elfhild he has a son, his heir Théodred. After Théoden's sister Théodwyn dies shortly after the violent death of her husband Éomund, Théoden takes their children Éomer and Éowyn into the Golden Hall Meduseld so that they grow up at his court in Edoras .
Towards the end of the Third Age, Théoden is betrayed by his advisor Gríma , who acts on behalf of the sorcerer Saruman . Under this influence he is massively weakened and only listens to Gríma's whisperings. During this time his son Théodred dies in combat with Saruman's troops on the fords of the Isen. Théoden is eventually healed by Gandalf and banishes the traitorous Gríma from his realm.
He then regains his former willpower and leads the Rohirrim to war against Saruman. His army of orcs and Uruk-hai besieges the king and his riders in Helm's Deep , but is defeated. Théoden then comes, out of old loyalty to the alliance, to the aid of the stewardess of Gondor when Sauron's armies besiege the city of Minas Tirith . In front of the city walls, in the battle of the Pelennor, Théoden dies in a fight with the prince of the Nazgûl when his horse Snowman, hit by an arrow, falls and buries him under him. He is laid out in Gondor and buried in Rohan at the side of his ancestors.
Heir to the throne and 18th King of Rohan is his nephew Éomer.
Éomer
Éomer ("horse-famous", from Old English éoh "horse"), son of Éomund and Théodwyn, sister of Théodens, lived from 2991 D. Z. to 63 B.C. Éomund was killed by orcs in 3002 , Théodwyn also died soon after. So their children Éomer and Éowyn are raised in King Théoden's house. At the time of the War of the Ring, Éomer was 3rd Marshal of the Riddermark.
Saruman influences King Théoden with the help of his spy Gríma, an advisor to the king. Only through Gandalf is Gríma's betrayal uncovered and Grima chased away. Théoden then appoints Éomer as the first marshal of the Riddermark, making him his heir and heir to the throne after his son had died in battle shortly before.
Éomer fights in the battle of Helm's Deep and on the Pelennor and goes with Aragorn and the generals of the west as leader of the Horsemen of Rohan in the final battle at the Black Gate of Mordor .
After Théoden's death on the battlefield in front of Minas Tirith, Éomer becomes king of Rohan. He marries Lothíriel from Dol Amroth. Before his death he calls Meriadoc Brandybuck to him again. He eventually dies at the age of 93.
Éowyn
Éowyn ("Joy in horses", from the Old English éoh "horse"; wyn "joy"; * 2995 D. Z.) is the daughter of Éomund, Marshal of the Mark, and King Théoden's sister Théodwyn. When she was a small child, her father was killed in an orc attack and her mother died of mourning for her fallen husband. King Théoden of Rohan takes her and her older brother Éomer to Rohan, where they grow up under his care. As the shieldmaiden of Rohan, she learns to fight alongside the courtly virtues. Gifted with tremendous courage and cleverness, she suffers from being tied to “home and hearth” as a woman. For a long time she nursed the frail king, who increasingly fell into disrepair under the whispers of Gríma.
She meets Aragorn and falls miserably in love with him. But when he tells her that it is only a shadow and thought that she loves, her hope dies. When her uncle Théoden, who is healed by Gandalf, goes to war against Mordor with his men after the battle for Helm's Deep , she disguises herself as a man and calls herself Dernhelm in order to fight. In the great battle for Minas Tirith , she and Merry defeat the witch king of Angmar , the chief of the Nazgûl. It was prophesied to him that he "could not fall at the hand of any man". Then she falls into a death-like sleep, from which she heals Aragorn, which proves his claim to the royal dignity. In Gondor's Houses of Healing , she then meets Faramir , the stewardess of Gondor and later prince of Ithilien, whom she marries after the War of the Ring.
Gríma "snake tongue"
Gríma , Gálmód's son († 3019 D. Z.), is the closest advisor to King Théoden of Rohan. Under Saruman's influence, he weakens his king and prevents him from realizing the impending war and the threat from Saruman's fortress, Isengard . He also recreates Éowyn, the king's niece, and is instrumental in ensuring that her brother Éomer is banished from Meduseld, the Golden Hall of Rohan.
After Théoden is healed by Gandalf, Théoden banishes Gríma, who then fled to Saruman in Isengard. Around the time Frodo is leaving Bag End to leave the Shire, Gríma is intercepted by some Nazgûl under the leadership of the Witch King on the way to Isengard. He saves his life by betraying Saruman to the Nazgûl and from then on is in their service, without the knowledge of Saruman. He becomes a double traitor and contributes to Saruman's downfall. Despite the services rendered for him, Saruman treats him like a slave.
As Saruman after the Ring War of Treebeard is released, Grima follows him and supports him, the hobbits in the Shire to bully. When the hobbits, led by Frodo Baggins, defeat Saruman and expel the country, Gríma stabs Saruman out of hatred and despair and is shot himself by hobbit archers.
Dunlander
The Dunlanders initially settle parts of Gondor and are gradually displaced by its inhabitants. It is likely that those warriors who refused to support Gondor in the war of the Last Alliance and were cursed by Isildur once belonged to this people. This is also called the Army of the Dead , which hid in the Ered Nimrais ("White Mountains"). The people of Dunlad ("West Plain" or "Dunkelland"), an area west of the Hithaeglir (" Fog Mountains") between Glanduin ("Border River ") and Angren / Isen ("Iron") in Enedwaith ("Central Plateau ") joined Saruman on his campaign against Rohan, because he promised them these lands as reward.
Haradrim
The Haradrim ( Westron for "southerners") are wild people from Harad , a large area in southern Middle-earth, described as warlike . In the Second Age, some of the Haradrim Númenor pay tribute, but in the Third Age they are under the influence of Sauron and a constant threat to Gondor's southern borders. Some of the Haradrim are ruled by black Númenórians.
The Haradrim are generally tall and dark-skinned, with black hair and dark eyes. The residents of Fern-Harad are described as black-skinned, with white eyes and red tongues, like half-trolls. They wear scarlet clothes and gold jewelry. Some Haradrim tribes paint their bodies.
In battle they wield curved swords and all sorts of other weapons and are feared because of their war olifants . The hobbits refer to them as "black people", although the tales of the Olifanten are viewed as legend .
The heaviest attacks by the Haradrim on Gondor took place in the years 1014-1050 D. Z. over Umbar. The following are also particularly mentioned:
- 1944: The people of Nah-Harad ally with the chariot drivers (Balchoth) and the residents of Khand (Variags)
- 2885: They are defeated in the battle of the Poros crossing
- 3019: The Haradrim fight in the Battle of Pelennor and Ithilien during the War of the Ring
Easterlings
All inhabitants of the eastern areas of Middle-earth, which are hardly known in the west of the continent - that is, those areas to which Tolkien paid less attention, are referred to as Easterlings . There is little information about the wide eastern area, in which mostly humans and only a few elves and dwarves live. The inhabitants are descendants of those people who did not make contact with the Elves during the Great Migration . The largest eastern countries are Rhûn and Khand. Once ousted by the people of the west, Sauron gives them the chance to take revenge. They place themselves under his military service as mercenaries and thus serve the dark ruler in the battles against the free peoples of Middle-earth.
In the Third Age they appear as warlike attackers before Gondor and support Sauron's army in the battle of the Pelennor . Two peoples of the Easterlings, the chariot drivers and the Balkhoth, are known by name. The chariot drivers use characteristic chariots in battle , after which they are named. The Balchoth (S.) "Cruel Horde" from Rhôvanion are - like all Easterlings - finally defeated in the War of the Ring at the end of the Third Age.
People from Bree
These people live in Bree, the largest place in Bree-land, which is shared by humans and hobbits. They come from the eastern areas in the Second Age, fleeing from Sauron and the Easterlings, and they settle down. In The Lord of the Rings an innkeeper from Bree plays an important role, the somewhat forgetful but lovable barley man Butterblume (or Butterblüm, in the original: Barliman Butterbur ). With considerable delay, he hands Frodo the letter from Gandalf , in which the latter instructs the hobbits not to wait for him, but to move on with Aragorn . Also Saruman has middlemen in Bree, for example, the departure of Merry , Pippin , Sam inform watching Frodo and Aragorn and Saruman about it. Lutz Farnrich is an example of this.
Nazgûl (Ringwraiths)
The Nazgûl (from nazg "ring" and gûl "spirit" in the black language of Mordor; hence also called ring spirits ), as kings of men, wore the nine rings of power that Sauron gave them. As a result, they became almost immortal, but gradually fell under the power of the One Ring and became ghosts and slaves of Sauron. They are called Úlairi ( Quenya ) by the Elves . They are also known as the Black Riders or The Nine .
The weapon of the ringwraiths is above all the paralyzing horror caused by their mere appearance. When in contact with the living, they wear black coats with hoods and black boots to hide their invisibility. They also use bewitched blades as weapons, such as the Morgul blade with which the Witch King injures Frodo on the Weathertop. The sunlight can weaken them. Traditional weapons ricochet off them, but certain blades of Elvish and Númenórian origins can injure or kill them.
Your sensory impressions are severely impaired in daylight. They don't like to be around during the day. Aragorn says of them: “They do not see the world of light as we do […] [O] our figures cast shadows in their minds that are only destroyed by the midday sun; but in the dark they perceive many signs and forms that remain hidden from us. And at any time they smell the blood of living beings, desire and hate it. "
When the Last Alliance defeats Sauron towards the end of the Second Age, the Ringwraiths fail their courage. Their Master is greatly weakened after this defeat and the loss of the One Ring , and the Nazgûl are also in hiding.
Their seat is the city of Minas Morgul, which they conquer in 2002 D. Z. From there they prepare for Sauron's return and reappear for the first time in 2251. As Black Riders you are looking for the Shire .
The two most important Nazgûl are the Witch King, who wears an iron crown, and Khamûl, who has a particularly good sense of smell. The Witch King is killed in the battle of Pelennor by Éowyn, the princess of Rohan, and the hobbit Meriadoc after a stab in the Achilles tendon. Thus the prophecy of the Elf Glorfindel comes true that he will not die at the hand of any man. Khamûl perishes with the other Nazgûl after the destruction of the One Ring on Mount Doom and is the only one of the ring spirits to whom Tolkien himself (in addition to descriptions such as The Captain Saurons, The Shadow of the East or The Black Easterling) has given his own name: Im Lord of the Rings still nameless, he is explicitly called Khamûl in the news from Middle-earth . All other names in circulation are non-canonical inventions of Iron Crown Enterprises , the publisher of the Middle-earth role-playing game system MERS .
Wasa or Drúedain (Drú people)
The Wasa are a small people who lived in the Third Age in the Drúadan Forest on the northern slopes of the White Mountains (between Amon Dîn and Nardol). They are barely taller than four feet, not exactly beautiful and of a hulking build, with round faces, flat noses, dark eyes and wide mouths. They are very strong and only their resounding and contagious laughter gives the certainty that the Drúedain are not orcs (whom they hate profoundly). They speak a peculiar, ancient language, but do not use any characters. They are very skilled at making deceptively lifelike wooden and stone figures of themselves. You have at least basic mathematical knowledge, but calculate in a cumbersome 20-point system. They live in caves and distrust the "people from the stone houses".
The actual name of the Drúedain is Rog (plural: Rogin ), which comes from the Rohirrim language.
They are not particularly popular with their neighboring peoples. They are said to know how to use dark magic and to shoot poison arrows from ambush. The Rohirrim consider the Drúedain to be wild and are sometimes hunted like animals by them. Ghan-Buri-Ghan is one of their leaders. Before the battle on the Pelennor he helps the Rohirrim: He leads them on a hidden path through the mountains and thus avoids encountering the enemy army, which is supposed to prevent them from reaching the city of Minas Tirith . As a thank you, after the end of the War of the Ring, their residential area is guaranteed to be their home forever and they are protected from further pursuits.
Beorn
Beorn is a character from the Hobbit . He is a stocky and very strong person who has the ability to transform himself into a bear. Gandalf explains to Bilbo and the dwarfs that he is a skin changer: "Sometimes he is a mighty black bear, sometimes he is a big, strong, black-haired person with huge arms and a long beard." In battle he behaves like a berserk . Together with his son Grimbeorn, he founded the Beorning people, who are particularly known as good bakers and for their excellent honey cakes .
Tolkien allowed himself some “jokes” with the character of Beorn and its name: The name Beorn comes from Old English - there the word originally simply meant “bear” until the meaning changed to “warrior” a few centuries later. So Beorn's ability to transform into a bear is probably reminiscent of the linguistic development of the word. Another subtlety is the portrayal of Beorn as a vegetarian who feeds mainly on honey. This also has a linguistic background: The old English word béo means “bee”. The similarity of the word to the hero of the Old English poem Beowulf , which Tolkien often studied and read, is unmistakable.
The tardigrade species Beorn leggi was named after this figure.
Dwarfs
When designing his dwarfs, JRR Tolkien relied much more on existing myths and stereotypes than he did with elves . The idea of short, skilled, bearded miners who have a great fascination for gold and precious stones can also be found in other and older literary contexts. Many of Tolkien's dwarf names come as the name Gandalf from the Old Norse tradition, more precisely from the Dvergatal the dwarf narrative in the Völuspá , a part of the older Edda .
Within Tolkien's world, the dwarves of Vala Aule were designed before the Elves and Humans awakened. Aule was impatient and did not want to wait for the races created by Ilúvatar to appear in order to get students for his art. He therefore secretly formed the seven forefathers of the dwarfs, but was unable to give them their own lives and souls. It was only after Ilúvatar realized that Aule was ready to sacrifice his works that he adopted the dwarves as his own children and breathed a will of their own into them. But they were only allowed to see the world after the firstborn, the Elves . Therefore Aule put the dwarfs to sleep underground and only woke them up after the first elves appeared. Dwarfs (Naugrim or Nornwaith) live considerably longer than humans . In addition, they are characterized by their high endurance, so that they tire only slowly despite the burden, arduousness of the path and long marches. It is claimed that dwarfs turn back to stone after they die and that some of their forefathers, especially Durin, are reborn over and over again. Dwarfs have a magnificent beard growth, a small body size - however at least 1.20 m - and a stocky to stocky stature.
Aule thought the dwarves were strong and unyielding so that they could withstand Melkor . Sauron succeeded in seducing them with the rings of power , but he was unable to control their spirits because of their resistance given by Aule . In general, dwarves hardly ever consciously served Melkor or Sauron and always fought them whenever possible, especially when their self-interests were jeopardized, but Tolkien also describes vicious dwarves in The Hobbit who allied with orcs. The fact that interests are safeguarded and the dwarf stubbornness (especially with regard to gold and other treasures) is also the reason for the quarrels that have sometimes arisen between dwarves and other free peoples, especially the elves, as the dwarves did not shy away from them either, sometimes by force to assert their material interests and rights.
While the elves in Middle-earth believed that the dwarves would return to the earth and turn to stone after their death, the dwarves themselves by no means believed this. Rather, they said that Aule, whom they call themselves Mahal, had them gathered in a separate hall in Mandos to serve him in the Last Battle and to help Aule rebuild Arda afterwards. They also reported that the seven dwarven fathers would keep coming to life in their own gender and bearing the same name. Of these fathers, the most famous was Durin, who was the progenitor of the dwarves of Khazad-dûm, who of all dwarves was the most friendly to the Elven people.
Although the dwarves prefer to stay among their own kind, they do lively trade with other races, such as the people of Thal and Esgaroth, and use their trade routes for this. Their real names are, however, like their own language, secret, which is why they never reveal them to members of another people and they are not even noted on their gravestones. The names used publicly in Tolkien's world corresponded in their form to those of the northern people, just as the dwarfs used the language of the neighboring peoples to the outside world.
The only dwarf woman named in The Lord of the Rings is Dís, daughter of Thrain II. Gimli explains that there are few dwarf women, probably no more than a third of the entire population of the dwarfs. Except in great need, they are rarely on the road and are so similar to the dwarf men in terms of a certain degree of beard growth and a lower voice that the rumor arose that there were no dwarf women and that they were made of stone. The reproduction rate among the dwarfs seems to be extremely small due to the small population of female dwarfs and a latent mutual reluctance to bond.
The common weapons of the dwarves are axes and hatchets of all kinds, sometimes carried with a shield. But sometimes swords and other common weapons of war are also used; so used e.g. B. Thorin even has an elven sword that comes from Gondolin. They usually arm themselves with reinforced chain armor and helmets. In addition, large war masks are sometimes used to add additional fear to the enemy. The masks in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad against the dragon Glaurung were also important because they withstood his fire. The dwarves acquired a special overarching importance in ancient times and, hinted at, again after the War of the Ring through the extraction and processing of mithril metal in the mines of Moria. This is the hardest known metal in Middle-earth and is in great demand because, in addition to its resistance, it also has a low mass and is therefore easier to carry.
Durin
Durin was the eldest of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarfs. The dwarves were therefore often referred to as Durin's people . He took up residence in Azanulbizar "Schattenbach Valley ", where later Khazad-dûm " Dwarf Shaft " arose. Durin was also called the Immortal because he lived a very long time and his line never died out until the days of the Fourth Age. In addition, an heir was born five times who looked so similar to his progenitor that he was also called Durin. The last of this series, Durin VI., Was slain by a Balrog in 1980 D. Z. in Khazad-dûm, the mine of Moria . The dwarfs had awakened this when they dug too deep in their greed for mithril ("silver" or "silver"). Durin was celebrated in many songs and poems by the dwarfs. One is entitled “The world was beautiful in Durin's day”. Here is a small excerpt:
“The world was young, the mountains green, when the moon still shone spotless,
neither mountain nor valley, neither river nor land was named in Durin's time.
He gave the things their name and status, drank the first drink from the edge of the spring
and saw the reflection of stars, gold and precious stones in the mirror,
saw a crown flashing on his head and already shading.
...
His grave lies under shadows there in Khazad-dûm in Moria.
The stars glisten miraculously in the mirror
lake, the crown pale, deep is the lake that buries them until Durin rises from sleep. "
That at least suggests that Durin will be resurrected one more time. The mirror lake mentioned in the poem was called Kheled-zâram by the dwarves .
Thorin oak shield
Thorin Eichenschild (English Thorin Oakenshield ), son of Thráin, (* 2746; † 2941 D. Z.) is as Thorin II from 2850 D. Z. until his death king of the dwarves from the House of Durin. He is nicknamed the Oak Shield when he loses his shield in a battle at the gates of Moria and fends off the blows of his enemies with a thick oak club. Thorin is one of the protagonists in The Hobbit , in which he sets out with twelve other dwarves, Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf, to regain the kingdom under the mountain ( Sindarin : Erebor ), which the dragon Smaug stole from the dwarves. Thorin Eichenschild succumbs shortly after the Battle of the Five Armies , when elves , humans and dwarves fight together against orcs and wargs from the Misty Mountains , the wounds he sustained from the battle.
His grave is under the lonely mountain . He is buried with the Arkenstein on his chest, the treasure of his house. On his grave lies the in Gondolin forged sword Orcrist , which he found on his journey to Erebor in a troll cave and shimmers whose blade blue when orcs are close. In this way, the dwarves can no longer be surprised by orcs since then.
Of Thorin's twelve companions on the trip to Erebor, Fili, Kili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Glóin, Balin and Dwalin also come from the Durin family. Its more distant relatives Bombur, Bifur and Bofur are descended from the dwarves of Moria.
Dain II.
Dain II. Eisenfuß (* 2767; † 3019 DZ), son of Nain, cousin Thorin Eichenschilds, was the prince of the Iron Mountains at the time of the story of the "Hobbit". Because he lived next to Mount Erebor and had a large army, Thorin asked the raven Roac to fly to him and send support. Thereupon the dwarf king himself came with five hundred of his best warriors to stand by his cousin. Before there could be a conflict between dwarves, humans and elves, the orcs and the wargs reached the battlefield and the battle of the five armies began. After Thorin fell against Bolg's bodyguard on the battlefield, Dain became king under Mount Erebor.
Glóin
Glóin , a dwarf of Durin's clan, was born in 2783 D. Z. Glóin is the son of Gróin (* 2671 DZ; † 2923 DZ) and father of Gimli (* 2879). After the battle of Anazulbizar, in which the orc king Azog is killed, he accompanies Thrain and Thorin on their wanderings. He later becomes a member of Thorin's group when they set out to slay the dragon Smaug and reclaim the dwarf treasure. After Smaug is killed, Glóin takes up residence in Erebor, where peace is restored. In 2989, Balin went to Moria with his brother Óin and a few other dwarves. When he had not heard from them for 30 years, he and his son Gimli went to Rivendell in 3019 D.Z. to ask Elrond for advice on behalf of the dwarves of Erebor and to take part in his advice. Glóin dies in 15 B.C.
Gimli
Gimli , Glóin's son, (* 2879 D. Z.) spent his youth in the Ered Luin , the "Blue Mountains", in the north-west of Middle-earth. His father Glóin and his brother Óin are among the 13 dwarfs whom Bilbo Baggins joins on the journey to Erebor .
Gimli belongs as the only representative of the dwarves to the community of the ring around the ring bearer Frodo Baggins . Contrary to all dwarf habits, he closes close friendship with the Elf Legolas and is therefore nicknamed Elf Friend .
After Sauron's fall, Gimli takes part of the Erebor Dwarf People to the south and becomes Lord of the Glittering Caves. He and his people are doing great works in Gondor and Rohan. In Minas Tirith they replace the gate that was destroyed by the Witch King with a new one, which they forge from mithril and steel.
Together with Legolas, Gimli left Middle-earth in 120 B.C. to live in Valinor - as the only dwarf who was ever granted this special privilege of the Elves.
Balin
Balin , Fundin's son (* 2763 D. Z .; † 2994 D. Z.), is one of Thorin Eichenschild's companions on his journey to Erebor. In 2989 D. Z. he sets off with a large number of dwarves, including Oín and Ori, to Moria to recapture the old dwarf fortress from the orcs . After initial successes he calls himself Lord of Moria , but is shot by an orc five years after his arrival. The new dwarf colony will later be completely destroyed. Balin's burial chamber and records showing his fate and that of the colony are found by the community of the Ring as they cross Moria on their way south from Rivendell.
Dwalin
Dwalin , Fundin's son and Balin's youngest brother (* 2772 D. Z .; † 92 B.C.), accompanied Thorin Eichenschild on the journey to Erebor. After the Battle of the Five Armies, he settles in Erebor with his share of the treasure. He is also a companion of Thráin with Balin, when the latter tried unsuccessfully in 2841 D. Z. to reclaim the Erebor. After Thráin was kidnapped at the edge of the Mirkwood, the two dwarves return to the Blue Mountains.
Fili
Fíli (* 2859; † 2941 D. Z.) was the older son of the dwarf woman Dís and also the nephew of Thorin Eichenschild. Together with his brother Kíli, he was one of those dwarfs who moved to the Lonely Mountain with Thorin Eichenschild and Bilbo Baggins . There Fíli fought with the other dwarves in the Battle of the Five Armies. When his uncle was fatally wounded during the battle, he and Kíli tried to defend him with his body, but both were killed. Fíli was the second youngest dwarf of the companions of Bilbo Baggins .
Kíli
Kíli (* 2864; † 2941 D. Z.) was the younger son of the dwarf woman Dís and also the nephew of Thorin Eichenschild. Together with his brother Fíli, he was one of those dwarfs who went to the Lonely Mountain with Thorin Eichenschild and Bilbo Baggins . There Kíli fought with the other dwarves in the Battle of the Five Armies. When his uncle was fatally wounded during the battle, he and Fíli tried to defend it with his body, but both were killed. Kíli was the youngest dwarf of the companions of Bilbo Baggins .
Hobbits
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins (in the English original: Bilbo Baggins ; * September 22nd, 2890 D. Z .; 1290 according to the Shire calendar ) is a "respected and respectable" hobbit and lives inconspicuously in Hobbiton - until he "to his own lasting amazement" in April 2941 sets off with Gandalf , Thorin Eichenschild and 12 other dwarves to the lonely mountain Erebor to recapture the dwarf treasure from the dragon Smaug . This leads to a dangerous journey over the Mist Mountains , through the Bleak Forest to Erebor, where the dragon is killed and the battle of the 5 armies is fought , before Bilbo, richly rewarded by the dwarves for his services, returns to his home in Hobbiton returns in the Shire .
On this trip he finds the One Ring that Gollum lost there in a passage deep under the Fog Mountains . He defeats Gollum in a puzzle fight and escapes with the help of the ring. He uses the ring's ability to make its wearer invisible several times during his journey and also wears it in the Shire without knowing its origin and meaning. As a ring bearer, he ages unusually slowly and is considered a bit cranky among hobbits because of his continued cultivated contacts with Gandalf, the dwarves and also elves .
On his "fifty-first" (111th) birthday, Bilbo, on the advice and support of Gandalf, hands over the ring and all of his property to his favorite nephew and adoptive son Frodo Baggins, who celebrates his 33rd birthday and thus coming of age on the same day. Bilbo sets off with three dwarfs on the journey to Rivendell , where he lives a quiet life with Elrond far away from the ring and devotes himself to writing poems and songs.
When Frodo set out with the “Community of the Ring” many years later to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom , Bilbo only had the role of a chronicler.
After the end of the War of the Ring, he accompanies Frodo, Gandalf and many Elves to the Gray Ruins to sail to Valinor (the immortal lands ). At this time he had already reached his 132nd year, making him (apart from Gollum / Sméagol) the oldest hobbit who ever lived in Middle-earth.
Bilbo Baggins is also a central figure in Tolkien's work in that the books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings allegedly represent translations of Bilbo's notes. In the introduction to The Lord of the Rings , Tolkien elaborately describes how and by whom the book was copied several times until it was finally "translated" into English by himself. The records of Elvish mythology and the sagas of the first and second ages were also collected and translated by Bilbo.
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins (in the original: Frodo Baggins ; born September 22, 2968 D. Z.) is the son of Drogo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck. When he was twelve years old, his parents were killed in a boat accident. From then on he lived with his uncle Bilbo Baggins, who later made him his adoptive son and heir. When Bilbo leaves the Shire again on his hundred and eleventh birthday (which is also Frodo's 33rd birthday), he leaves Frodo his property and also entrusts him with his invisible ring, which he found on his drive to Erebor.
Seventeen years later, Frodo learns to his horror from Gandalf that the ring is the One Ring of Sauron . Gandalf explains to him that the ring must be destroyed. A while later, Frodo and his friends Sam , Merry and Pippin set off for Rivendell to keep the ring safe from the ring spirits (the so-called Nazgûl). Frodo is wounded on the right shoulder by the Witch King on the Weathertop while fleeing , but with the help of Aragorn and the Elf Glorfindel reaches Rivendell just in time, where he is healed by Elrond .
Later, according to the decision of the Elrond Council , he and the community of the ring set out for Mordor to throw the ring into the fires of Mount Doom and thus destroy it. He wears a harness made of mithril , which saves his life several times. The armor was given to him by Bilbo, who in turn received it from Thorin Eichenschild. At the Rauros Falls, he separates from the rest of the community after Boromir tried to forcibly take the ring from him. Together with Sam he crossed the Emyn Muil and the Dead Marshes and finally reached Mordor under the guidance of Gollum . Sam and Frodo are eventually betrayed by Gollum, who lures them into the trap of the terrible spider Shelob. After being stung by the spider, the unconscious Frodo is captured by orcs and taken to the tower of Cirith Ungol . From there, Sam rescues him, who believes that Frodo was killed by the spider and has also taken the ring.
The ring becomes more and more of an unbearable burden for Frodo, despite the surprising tenacity of the hobbits, which previously only Gandalf suspected. Despite the unshakable loyalty and help of his companion Sam, the journey is on a knife edge until the ring finally reaches Mount Doom. Finally, Frodo is so influenced by the power of the ring that he is unable to throw the ring into the fire, but claims it for himself. Gollum, himself a former ring bearer who followed the hobbits to the end, relieved him of the decision by greedily biting off his ring finger and in a rapture of joy plunging into the fires of Mount Doom over the recovered ring. In this way the War of the Ring ends with Sauron's annihilation. Frodo and Sam are rescued by the eagles from Mount Doom and taken to the victorious army of the west under the leadership of the future king Aragorn, where they are celebrated as heroes.
Finally Frodo returns to the Shire . There he freed the Shire from Saruman's power with his friends Pippin, Merry and Sam. Two years later, still burdened by his various injuries from his adventures, Frodo and Bilbo are given permission to sail with the Elves and Gandalf from the Gray Havens , the last port of the Elves, to the immortal lands.
Frodo is portrayed by JRR Tolkien as the fictional lead author of the Lord of the Rings ( metafiction ), as he summarizes and writes down Bilbo's notes and his own experiences. Only the last pages of the book should come from Sam's pen.
Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc Brandybock ( Merry ; Original: Brandybuck ; in the hobbit language: Kalimac Brandagamba ) is a hobbit from Bockland and a good friend of Frodo Baggins and Peregrin Tuk. Merry escapes from the Shire to Rivendell together with Frodo, Pippin and Sam and later belongs to the Nine Companions sent by Elrond to destroy the One Ring.
Merry and Pippin are captured by orcs from Isengard when the community of the ring falls apart. They can escape and meet the Ents in the Fangorn Forest ; they accompany them in the attack on Isengard . At this point you are “the stone that sets an avalanche in motion”, because you get the Ents to set out for Isengard and to topple Saruman.
Merry later becomes a squire of Théoden , king of Rohan , and fights with Éowyn in the battle of the Pelennor. There he helps Éowyn, the Witch King of Angmar, leader of the Nazgûl, to kill.
After the War of the Ring, he and Pippin were made councilor of the Northern Kingdom by King Elessar ( Aragorn ) in 14 B.C. and enjoyed an excellent reputation among the hobbits.
Since Merry and Pippin taste the de-potion in the Fangorn and grow considerably through its magic, they are at least 4 ½ feet (~ 1.37 m ) the tallest hobbits in the history of the Shire.
Peregrin Tuk
Peregrin Tuk (called Pippin ; in the original: Took ) is a hobbit from Tukland. He counts Meriadoc Brandybuck and Frodo Baggins among his best friends. He flees to Rivendell with Frodo, Merry and Sam and with the other three becomes a member of the Nine Companions sent by Elrond to destroy the One Ring.
While crossing Moria, Pippin drops a stone into a well out of curiosity and presumably draws the attention of the enemies (orcs, trolls and the Balrog of Moria), by whom the companions are later attacked. He and Merry are captured by orcs when the community of the ring falls apart. They escape when the orcs are attacked and destroyed by riders from Rohan. They meet the Ents in Fangorn and accompany them on their attack on Isengard. You are "the stone that gets an avalanche rolling", because Saruman and his orcs have long been a thorn in the side of the Ents.
Pippin cannot resist the temptation to secretly look into Saruman's palantir, which Grima has thrown out of the Orthanc, and is discovered by Sauron. He rides with Gandalf to Minas Tirith and enters the service of the treasure of Gondor , Denethor II.
Pippin achieved high honors when he became Thain of the Shire and, together with Merry, was appointed councilor of the Northern Kingdom by King Elessar (Aragorn) in 14 B.C. He has a son named Faramir, who later marries Sam's daughter Goldilocks. After Peregrin's and Meriadoc's deaths, their deathbeds are placed next to Aragorn's deathbed.
Pippin's name (Peregrin) was probably inspired by the Latin word peregrinus , which means “stranger” or “foreigner”, but can also refer to a (unsteady) wanderer or traveler.
Samwise Gamgee (Sam)
Samwise "Sam" Gamgee (in the English original: Samwise Gamgee ; in the hobbit language: Banazir Galbasi ) is Frodo's gardener and later his constant companion on the way to Mount Doom. Originally intended by Gandalf as Frodo's companion only on his journey to Rivendell, he is appointed by the council of Elrond as a member of the Nine Companions and follows his master through Moria , Lorien and ultimately (as the only one of the companions) to Mordor . As a humorous, courageous and loyal friend and servant for Frodo, he contributes a great deal to the fulfillment of the task.
Sam feels responsible for Frodo in a special way and takes good care of him. He is the first to distrust Boromir , and he is more than suspicious of Gollum , who accompanies you more or less involuntarily on part of the way as a guide. When Frodo is lured into an ambush by Gollum at Shelob's Lauer, Sam first fights with Gollum and shortly afterwards with Shelob, the giant spider that poisoned its master. Believing that Frodo, stunned by the spider venom, is dead, Sam takes the ring , the little elven sword Stab, and Galadriel's vial to finish the task alone. When he learns that his master is not dead, he rescues him from the captivity of the orcs , gives him back the ring and accompanies him self-sacrificingly to Mount Doom. The orcs consider him a great Elven warrior because of the injuries he inflicted on Shelob.
After the end of the War of the Ring and the liberation of the Shire , he married Rosie Hüttinger (in the original: Rose Cotton - the name Gamgee is also an expression for cotton in the Birmingham dialect of Tolkien's youth ), who has 13 children with him. After Frodo, Bilbo and Gandalf leave Middle-earth, Sam becomes mayor for seven terms and has lived in the Shire for many years. Only after the death of his wife does he leave Middle-earth and, as one (even if only for a short time) of the ring bearer, receives permission to sail to Valinor as well. Apart from Bilbo, Samweis is the only person involved who has voluntarily renounced the possession of the One Ring.
He is portrayed by Tolkien as the third and last of the three authors of the Lord of the Rings, alongside Bilbo and Frodo . He wrote the end of the text, which has been handed down as the Red Book of Westmark and is described by Tolkien as the (fictional) basis for the Lord of the Rings.
As can be seen from a contribution on the Special Extended DVD Edition of the film adaptation, the relationship of the devoted and loyal Sam to Frodo is said to have had its model in the special relationship between English Batmen (German: officer boys ) and their officers, the Tolkien from knew his own war experience well.
Gollum / Sméagol
Gollum (originally: Sméagol ) was born a Hobbit and belongs to the family group of the Hobbit tribe of Staring .
Sméagol's best friend and cousin Déagol finds a beautiful gold ring while fishing in the Anduin River (by the Sword Fields ) , which Sméagol covets at first sight. Since it is his birthday, he asks Déagol to give him the ring. When the latter refuses, Sméagol strangles him and hides his body. Then Sméagol puts the ring on his finger and returns to his village. He soon notices that he is invisible when wearing the ring. But the ring also changes its nature: over time it becomes suspicious, insidious and astute for anything that can hurt others. If Sméagol is visible, he is avoided by his relatives and pushed around, for which he in turn avenges himself with the help of the ring. Since after a while he only makes babbling and chuckling noises, everyone soon calls him Gollum and curses him. Eventually he is rejected by his grandmother, the authority figure of the village.
Sméagol leaves hurt and hurt, lives on raw fish and begins to hate his environment. He can't take anything anymore, he also hates the sun and the moon. He follows a river to its source deep under the foggy mountains and lives there in tunnels and caves, protected from the sun, which he now calls "yellow grimace". It stays there for almost 500 years, because the ring unnaturally extends its life. During this time the ring spoils his soul almost completely and Gollum's body changes visibly. Gollum only calls the ring "his treasure" or his "birthday present" and over time it becomes a split personality. He talks to his "sweetheart", and in his conversations with himself he also describes himself as "my darling".
The hobbit Bilbo Baggins , who was separated from his comrades during a fight with a group of orcs and wandered about in the underground caves of the Misty Mountains, finds the ring that Gollum had lost unnoticed. Shortly afterwards, Bilbo meets Gollum, who has not yet discovered the loss. They start a puzzle contest and Bilbo wins with the question “What do I have in my pocket?”, The answer of which Gollum cannot guess. With the help of the ring, he escapes Gollum and returns to his companions. Gollum rightly suspects, however, that the item in Bilbo's pocket is the ring he lost, his treasure. Shortly before Bilbo can escape, invisible through the ring, he has the opportunity to kill Gollum, but feels pity and instead jumps over him.
Many years later, Gollum - consumed by the longing for "his treasure" - goes in search of Bilbo, of whom he only knows the surname "Baggins" and his homeland, the Shire . He ends up in Mordor , where he is captured, interrogated and tortured in the dark tower of Mordor, Barad-Dur. In this way, the dark ruler Sauron learns that the One Ring has been found again and is located at "Baggins" in the Shire.
Then the hunt for the ring bearer begins. Sauron then sends his Nazgûl to retrieve the ring. Gollum is released again - but believes he escaped due to his own shrewdness. Later, Gollum is found and captured by Aragorn . Gandalf the Gray interrogates him and then hands him over to the Elves of Greenwood for guarding. With the help of the orcs, Gollum is able to flee again and escapes into the mines of Moria . There he meets the community of the ring and secretly pursues them through all of Moria, Lothlórien and later to the Emyn Muil. There he is finally overwhelmed by Frodo and Sam , who have since separated from the community, and swears eternal loyalty to the “Lord of the Treasure” (Frodo). On Frodo's orders, he first leads them to the insurmountable Morannon , the Black Gate of Mordor, and finally via a "secret" route to Mordor. Gollum lures the hobbits into the camp of the giant spider Shelob at the pass of Cirith Ungol, in order to be able to take the ring back after Frodo's death. But Frodo escapes the spider, Gollum has to flee and secretly follows the two hobbits on their further path, driven by the insane need to recapture his treasure. At the clefts of fate in Orodruin , he fights with Frodo to get his treasure back. He bites off Frodo's finger and steals the ring. But then he stumbles and falls into the fire with the ring, which finally destroys it and ends the war of the ring.
Gollum is one of the main characters in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and a typical example of Tolkien's way of describing people. No being is inherently evil, even the diabolical Melkor is a "fallen", originally good figure. And even those who “fall in shadow” deserve grace. Tolkien has Gandalf say the following sentence, "My heart tells me that Gollum still has a role to play, for better or for worse," when he tells Frodo to be gracious to Gollum. Without the pity that Frodo and before Bilbo have for Gollum, the ring would never have been destroyed - after all, Frodo succumbs to the influence of the ring.
The figure of Gollum harbors parallels to the webbed Caliban in Shakespeare's The Tempest and to Grendel in Beowulf , who reflects the title hero as a dark self.
Fredegar Bolger
Fredegar Bolger , called “the fat one”, is one of the few hobbits who know of the existence of the ring. Fredegar is the son of Odovacar Bolger and Rosamunda Tuk and thus a descendant of the Old Tuk . He is a distant cousin of Frodo and Pippin and later, after his marriage to his sister Estella , Meriadoc's brother-in-law.
When Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin set out to take the ring to Rivendell, Fredegar stays behind in Crickloch to delay the news of the departure of the four and to inform Gandalf of their departure when they are expected to arrive. He is terrified by the arrival of the Nazgûl and flees unscathed without meeting Gandalf. Fredegar is asked by Frodo to accompany him and the others into the Old Forest, but the fear of the stories about the forest and his love for the Shire make him stay. Although Merry tries to convince him with the argument that the Old Forest is nothing against meeting the Ringwraiths, he insists on staying, which is why the others finally continue the journey without him.
During Saruman's reign of the Shire, he leads a group of partisans before being captured.
Ents
The Ents are created to protect the plants, especially the trees, from hostile creatures and wake up at the same time as the Elves. Even though Ents have two legs, two arms, and a face, they look very much like trees. Ents have very long lifespans, which can span several ages, and lead very peaceful and slow lives. Only male Ents appear in the Lord of the Rings, since they are said to have lost the Entwives . So there have long been no entings (ent children).
Many Ents become sluggish or unsteady as the ages progress . They begin to take root and rarely move. These Ents are called Huorns. Many can still move and speak. They hate orcs and all tree-cutting beings (including dwarves and humans). On the other hand, there are also trees that become entisch , so to speak , that is, trees that can think, move from place to place and even communicate with the Ents. It is unclear whether these trees that have become entic are also counted among the Huorns.
Treebeard, the oldest Ent and one of the oldest living beings in Middle-earth at the time of the War of the Ring, is the guardian of the Fangorn Forest, which is in the immediate vicinity of Saruman's home, Isengart .
In a note to a letter, Tolkien explained the origins of the Ents. From old English texts he took the name and the idea of the gigantic nature of these beings - the word comes across in the poem The Wanderer in the combination “eald enta geweorc” - “the old works of the giants”. The fact that they are tree-like creatures is inspired by a passage in Shakespeare's Macbeth . There the prophecy is fulfilled that Macbeth will not die until the forest of Birnam moves against him, as the enemy army camouflages itself with branches and leaves of the forest. In Tolkien this sparked “deep disappointment” and “distaste for the wretched mind” with which Shakespeare did not, after all, allow the forest to really advance against Macbeth's fortress. Tolkien, as he writes, “wanted to invent a plot in which the trees would really go to war.” This is exactly what Tolkien did in The Lord of the Rings : Here the Ents appear as warriors against Saruman, his fortress the Orthanc around, occupy and destroy.
Tolkien continues: "And in between a bit of experience crept in, the difference between the" male "and the" female "attitude to wild plants, the difference between love without pretension and horticulture." In a draft letter Tolkien also provides reflections on the origin of the Ents and their role in the stories from the Silmarillion . According to this, they could have their origin in a request from the plant goddess Yavanna , who, when she saw that her husband Aule could create the dwarfs out of stone, asked Eru for permission to create beings made of living matter. Tolkien also outlines their role in the First Age : They supported Beren against the dwarves who plundered the Elven kingdom of Doriath and captured the Silmaril from Thingol's crown "- and that didn't exactly make friendship between the Ents and the Dwarves".
There are several Ents and Entfrauen mentioned by name.
- Fangorn "beard tree", which is also called tree beard, looks very much like a lichen-covered tree.
- Finglas “curl leaf” may be a corkscrew hazel bush or a tree with thin, long leaves.
- Fimbrethil "slender birch" is one of the women.
- Nimbrethil "white birch" is another possible name for an Entfrau.
- Fladrif “ bark skin ” or “flat bark” is one of the tree species with smooth bark, i.e. beech , birch , willow .
- Bregalad "Flinkbaum" is a young Ent who is more agile than others and speaks faster.
Orcs
Melkor enslaved numerous dark elves in the First Age. He tortures them for a long time and breeds the orcs (Sindarin: Orch ) from them . The orcs are filled with hatred of their master, but follow him because they fear him. They have many enemies and are even shunned by their allies.
A long and grim enmity binds the orcs with the elves. The orcs are the only living things that are relentlessly pursued and fought by elves.
There are also long wars between orcs and dwarfs, which culminate in the bitter conflict over the dwarf city of Moria under the Fog Mountains.
Sauron makes extensive use of the orcs who serve him out of fear. Most of them live in Mordor , others in the Fog Mountains , especially in Moria and Isengart . Instead of the black language of Mordor, the orcs speak their own, more simply structured language, which over the ages split into numerous regional dialects, so that orcs of different tribes often communicate in the common language during the war of the ring.
In the War of the Ring, the orcs under Sauron's command and in the service of Mordor appear with a red eye on their shields. Only the orcs under the command of the sorcerer from Minas Morgul use a moon as a symbol. In contrast, the orcs in the service of Saruman wear a white hand as a badge.
Saruman's military strength in his campaign against Rohan is mainly based on the Uruk-hai , which, unlike other orcs, are not weakened by daylight. They are bigger, stronger and more enduring than other orcs and feel superior to them. In Lord of the Rings there is an open dispute between the Uruk-hai from Isengard and the orcs from Mordor, who are still working together in the capture of Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Tuk . The orcs from Mordor are tasked with bringing the prisoners to Barad-dûr , while the Uruk-hai are supposed to bring them to Saruman in Isengard. Because of this difference of opinion, Uruk-hai and the orcs from Mordor fight, some orcs are killed and the Uruk-hai get the upper hand.
Azog
Azog is an orc chief who is mentioned by Tolkien in Appendix A. III to the Lord of the Rings and plays an essential role in triggering the war between the dwarves and orcs from 2790 to 2799. Azog is described by Tolkien as "a great orc with a huge, armored head, yet agile and strong". He has the head of the dwarf king Thrór, who had returned to Moria with the dwarf Nár and went there alone, and thrown at his companion's feet. This action, which is insulting in the opinion of the dwarves, leads nine years later to the battle in the Schattenbach valley in front of the east gate of Moria, in which Azog also kills the dwarf king Nain from the Eisenberg mountains before he is killed by Dain II. Azog is the father of Bolg.
Bolg
Bolg is an orc chief from the Fog Mountains and leader of the orc army in the "Battle of the Five Armies" around the Erebor . Together with orcs and wargs, he kills the dwarfs Thorin Eichenschild and the brothers Fili and Kili. Shortly afterwards, Beorn seized him in the form of a bear and killed him. Bolg is the son of Azog.
Dragons
The dragons , called Urulóki "fire snakes " by the elves , were created by Melkor in the dungeons of Angband for war purposes in the First Age. They are dangerous beings and are considered extremely intelligent, but also irritable, vain and always hungry. In addition, they are always on the lookout for treasure , which, as dragons are used to, they pile on a mountain and guard their lives. They shy away from light and water. Her body is protected by iron-hard scales, only her stomach is unprotected and vulnerable. The first kites cannot fly, but winged kites also appear later. Well-known dragons are Glaurung, Ancalagon the Black, Scatha and Smaug.
Smaug
Smaug belongs to both the Urulóci "fire snakes " and the Rámalóci "winged dragon snakes ". In the year 2770 D. Z. he drives the dwarves out of their dwarf town in the lonely mountain Erebor in the north of Middle-earth. He collects the huge treasure of the dwarves in the great hall of the mountain and jealously guards it from then on. In 2941 D.Z., at Gandalf's insistence, the dwarf Thorin Eichenschild commissions the hobbit Bilbo Baggins , who is touted to him by Gandalf as a master thief, to win back the treasure of Smaug. Bilbo sneaks into the hall, invisible to Smaug with the help of the ring, and takes an object up to the dwarves to show them that he has found the treasure. In the process, Bilbo accidentally discovers the only vulnerable spot on the dragon's underside. When Smaug, who did not escape the robbery, suspects that the people from the nearby city of Esgaroth are behind it, which is also called Seestadt because it lies in the middle of the Long Lake, he attacks this city and completely destroys it. He is hit with an arrow by Bard the archer, who learns about the vulnerable point discovered by Bilbo through a throttle, and falls fatally injured into the lake. Esgaroth will later be rebuilt on the shore of the lake because nobody wants to live in the lake above Smaug's carcass anymore. The story of his death is reminiscent of the Siegfried the Dragon Slayer from the Nibelungenlied .
In a letter to the editor of the British newspaper The Observer , Tolkien commented on the origin of the name that it was the "past tense of the ancient Germanic verb smugan , to push through a hole: a bad philologist's joke ." The genus Smaug of the belt tails is named after the dragon .
Glaze
Glaurung that of Melkor in the First Age in the dungeons of Angband was bred, is in the Silmarillion called the "father of dragons". He was involved in the Dagor Bragollach , the "Battle of the Fire", and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad , the "Battle of Countless Tears", as well as in the conquest of Nargothrond. He put his spell on Húrin's son Túrin and his daughter Nienor on behalf of Morgoth , but Túrin killed him in Doriath while crossing the gorge Cabed-en-Aras "deer jump ". During his first appearance in the Dagor Bragollach, he devastated Ard-galen - a plain that had been overgrown with grass until then, which was then called Anfauglith "suffocating dust". Since Glaurung was still young at that time and his shell was not yet hard, he could be driven back to Angband. About 200 years later he killed many of Angband's besiegers in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad; including the dwarf prince Azaghâl, whom he buried under himself, but who, with the last of his strength, inflicted a severe wound on him, so that he had to withdraw. He was instrumental in the conquest of Nargothrond , where he met Túrin and put his spell on him. Just before Glaurung died in Doriath, he spoke to Nienor, Túrin's sister and lover, and drove her to suicide. When Túrin found out about it, he also committed suicide, throwing himself into his sword Gurthang . Glaurung is gifted with languages and is also called "The Great Worm" or "The Worm of Morgoth".
Other beings
Eagle
The eagles or great eagles appear in various places in Tolkien's world and play an important role.
These giant eagles are mythical, intelligent, and linguistically gifted creatures. They are the noblest and greatest of all birds, created by Manwe before the children of Iluvatar were awakened . They consider themselves to be on par with the Elven Lords. The most famous eagles are Thorondor (King of Eagles), Gwaihir (The Wind Lord), Landroval and Meneldor.
In the First Age, they protect Gondolin from the scouts of Morgoth and watch over Tuor , Idril and the surviving gondolins as they flee the city. In the War of Wrath, they go into battle with Eearendil against the winged dragons .
In the Second Age, for two thousand years, from the days of Elros to the times of Tar-Ancalimon, son of Tar-Atanamir, there is an eagle's nest on the spire of the royal palace in Armenelos , the capital of Númenor. The eagles live on the gifts of the king.
In the Third Age, the Eagles of the Misty Mountains help Gandalf, Bilbo, Thorin Eichenschild and the dwarves. They are indebted to Gandalf for having healed their prince Gwaihir from an arrow wound a long time ago. They also play a key role in the Battle of the Five Armies in 2941 D. Z. and come to the aid of the elves, humans and dwarves against the orcs and wargs. Gwaihir saves Gandalf from his captivity in Isengard and carries him from the battlements of Orthanc. In the War of the Ring, the eagles intervene in the battle of the Morannon and attack the Nazgûl on their winged shadows. After the One Ring is destroyed, Gwaihir, Landroval and Meneldor rescue Frodo and Sam from the burning slopes of Orodruin .
Tom Bombadil
Tom Bombadil , called Iarwain ben-Adar , "the oldest" and "fatherless" by the elves , is one of the greatest mysteries in Tolkien's works. He is an ancient being who lived in Middle-earth before the Elves awoke. His wife is Goldberry, possibly a Maia, the daughter of the water woman, who loves all flowers, but especially water lilies. He appears in the form of a happy man and is said to be a little taller and plump than a hobbit (60–120 cm), but smaller than a person (160–180 cm). An old, shabby hat with a tall hat head and a long blue peacock feather sits on its head. His coat is blue with a green belt and he wears green leather pants and high yellow boots. Tom's face is "red as a ripe apple, but wrinkled with a hundred laugh lines"; he has blue eyes and a long brown beard. Blue is named as his favorite color. Every now and then he comes to Bockland or the eastern quarter of the Shire, where he visits friends such as the farmer Maggot.
In the first part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he saves Merry and Pippin from the clutches of the Old Willow Man, an old tree. He invites them, as well as Frodo and Sam, to his house on a hill near the Willow River. There they are lavishly entertained and sent well prepared for their further journey. When the grave monsters in the barrows threaten the lives of the hobbits, Tom Bombadil saves them a second time and accompanies them to the Great East Road. He owns a pony named Thick Plumpel. Together with his wife Goldberry, who is also known as the “daughter of the river”, he lives in the “Old Forest”, a mysterious place full of malicious trees, which Bombadil controls without any problems. He always appears happy and helpful, mostly jumping around and singing seemingly senseless songs loudly. Another characteristic of Bombadil is that he is completely free from both fear and the need for possession or domination. Because of this, the One Ring has no effect on him.
Bombadil is not only puzzling, but seems to come from "another world". It does not fit into the otherwise neatly categorized world of the Lord of the Rings and cannot, for example, be assigned to any of the peoples invented by Tolkien. Hence his Elvish nickname, the fatherless . In fact, Bombadil was invented independently of Middle-earth material: Inspired by a doll by his son Michael, Tolkien wrote a poem about Tom Bombadil in the early 1930s, which was published in Oxford Magazine in 1934 .
Bombadil was later discussed as the main character of a possible successor to the children's book The Hobbit, published in 1937 . Tolkien understood Bombadil at this point in time as the “spirit of the (disappearing) landscape of Oxford - and Berkshire ”. This suggests that Bombadil deliberately does not fit into Middle-earth mythology and has a fundamentally different origin. Instead, Tolkien seems to have intended to use the character of Tom Bombadil and his girlfriend Goldbeere to describe the peculiarities and beauty of the familiar landscapes.
According to Tolkien's ideas, Bombadil should be a metaphor for “pure (real) natural science”: He is only interested in knowledge, not in what one can possibly do and achieve with it.
According to one hypothesis, Bombadil, who identifies himself as Iarwain Ben Adar , "the oldest and fatherless", was a Maia . Tolkien himself contradicted her, however, and when asked about Bombadil's origins replied:
“And there always have to be a few puzzles, even in a mythical age. Tom Bombadil is one (on purpose). "
In another letter it says:
"I don't think that you have to philosophize about Tom and that he will get better with it."
Tolkien dedicated a small volume of poetry to the character with The Adventures of Tom Bombadil in 1962.
Trolls
Trolls are created by Melkor in an attempt to imitate Ents. They are very big and strong, but simple-minded beings. Their language is primitive; Bilbo Baggins listens to one examplewhen his companionsare caught by the three trolls Bill, Bert and Tomon their journey to Erebor . The strongest trolls are the stone trolls, but they turn to stone in the light of the sun. Some of them have multiple heads. Thecave trolls and mountain trolls bredby Sauron have scales and can therefore tolerate sunlight. The fourth type of troll is known as the Olog-hai, which is used in the War of the Ring. The Olog-sharks are intelligent and tolerate sunlight better than any other species of troll.
Wolf creatures
Huan
Huan is a dog from Valinor that the Noldor Celegorm receives as a gift from Orome . Huan understands the language of everything that has voice. However, he himself is only given three times in his life to speak himself: once each to give Beren and Luthien advice and one last time to say goodbye to Beren. The Leithian Song describes how Huan helped Lúthien and Beren break into the Thangorodrim Keep in order to steal a Silmaril from Morgoth . He defeats the mad wolf Carcharoth , but dies from the serious injuries he sustains in this fight.
Wargs
Wargs are large wolves that Sauron and Saruman use as mounts for orcs, among other things. They are first mentioned in the Hobbit when they ambush Bilbo and the dwarves at the foot of the Misty Mountains . Unlike normal wolves, wargs also have the ability to speak.
In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the community of the Ring on the slopes of Caradhras is attacked by wargs .
The word is derived from the Old Norse vargr , which can mean both “wolf” and “outlaw”.
Werewolves
The werewolves , particularly those found in the Silmarillion , are large, intelligent wolves. Unlike werewolves outside of Tolkien's world, however, they do not transform into humans or vice versa. Werewolves are not wargs . When listing Sauron's servants, Gandalf mentions “wargs and werewolves” ( The Companions : “Many encounters”). Both types are described by the Elvish word "gaur". Tolkien derives this in his fictional etymology from the root “ngwaw” (“howl”) and thus underlines the similarities between these wolf beings. However, there is no explicit specific delimitation.
Draugluin
Draugluin , "Blue Wolf" is the prince and progenitor of the werewolves of Angband . He is killed by Huan on Tol-in-Gaurhoth "Island of Werewolves" when he tries to prevent Luthien from entering the island of Tol Sirion .
Carcharoth
Carcharoth , "throat of fire", strongest of Morgoth's wolves , guardian of Thangorodrim. It is not certain whether Carcharoth was a Maia. When Beren and Lúthien steal a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth and they flee from Thangorodrim, Carcharoth wakes too early from the sleep into which Lúthien had lulled him by her magic song, and in battle he bites Beren's hand in which he holds the stolen Silmaril holds off. Driven into a frenzy by the pain of the Silmaril now in his stomach, the vessel of the pure original light that scorches all dark and evil, he runs off and kills all creatures that meet him. He finds his end through the dog Huan , the companion Beren and Lúthiens, who is also mortally wounded in the fight.
Mûmakil (Olifanten)
Mûmakil , called "Olifanten" by the hobbits , are elephant-like creatures. They are equipped with huge tusks and are much larger than ordinary elephants. They are used by the Haradrim as pack animals and in war. In the War of the Ring, Mûmakil fought both in Ithilien and at the siege of Minas Tirith . The Mûmakil are reminiscent of Hannibal's war elephants on his march against Rome across the Alps.
One of Sam's greatest wishes is to see an Olifanten once in a lifetime whom he only knows from a poem. It is literally translated:
“ Olifant: gray as a mouse, big as a house, snout like a snake, earth shakes with fear, I pull through the grass; Tree breaks like glass. Horns in my mouth I lazily shake my pair of ears. I move there year after year, never lie down. I am named Olifant, tallest in the country, huge and old my figure, if you saw me here, you will never forget. If you didn't see me, you wouldn't believe that I exist either: But as an honest Olifant I will remain known. "
This wish is fulfilled during his trip to Mordor, which he undertakes as Frodo's companion.
Arachnids
Spiders are very common in Middle-earth. In Nan Dungortheb in Beleriand they make life difficult for Beren. In the Bleak Forest, Thorin and his companions are caught by talking giant spiders, and Bilbo frees them from their webs. Contrary to popular rumor that Tolkien used spiders in his stories because he was bitten by one himself when he was young, more likely because his son was afraid of them.
Only two particularly large spider creatures are known by name: Ungoliant and Shelob (Shelob).
Ungoliant
Ungoliant is a being who descends from the Outer Void to Arda in the First Age. There she takes the form of a huge, female spider and concludes a pact with Melkor , which promises her that in return for her services, she will satisfy her almost infinite hunger. Melkor uses the Ungoliant's ability to devour light and to weave a veil of darkness around him to unnoticed destroy the two trees ( Telperion and Laurelin ) of the Valar and bring the Silmaril under his power. However, when Ungoliant demands her reward and Melkor denies her the Silmarilli, she attacks him and almost defeats him. He only escapes because he can call his Balrogs for help with a deafening scream . Ungoliant takes refuge in the Nan Dungortheb valley . There it mates with other spider-like beings and produces numerous offspring, including Shelob . The exact fate of Ungoliant is uncertain, but it is suggested that she eventually devours herself in her infinite hunger.
Shelob
Shelob (in the original: Shelob) is a subsidiary Ungoliants , presumably from the breeding of spiders Nan Dungortheb. Shelob escapes the fall of Beleriand and their brood spreads in Ephel Dúath and Mirkwood . Shelob has a large nest in Cirith Ungol , feeds there on humans, orcs and elves for many years, and serves Sauron as a safe guard to prevent anyone from entering Mordor in this way.
Around 3000 D. Z. she catches Gollum , but releases him again - on the condition that he get her food. In 3019 Gollum leads Frodo and Sam to Shelob's Lauer on the way to Mount Doom , in the hope that Shelob would kill Frodo so that he could steal the One Ring . Shelob stuns Frodo, but is blinded by Sam with Galadriel's vial and seriously wounded with a sword stab . Nothing is known about the further fate of Shelob.
Tolkien put the name Shelob together from the words She and Lob , which means "female spider". For the German translation, the German word Kanker (Spinnentier, Weberknecht) was used and rounded off with the ending A in order to do justice to the feminine model of the original.
See also
literature
- Primary literature
- JRR Tolkien: Letters. Published by Humphrey Carpenter . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-608-93650-5 .
- JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings. Translated from English by Wolfgang Krege . 3 volumes, Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2000.
- JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings. Appendices and registers. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2000.
- JRR Tolkien: The Book of Lost Stories. Edited and annotated by Christopher Tolkien . 11th edition. 2 volumes. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-608-93061-2 .
- JRR Tolkien: The Silmarillion. Edited by Christopher Tolkien. Translated from English by Wolfgang Krege . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2002.
- Secondary literature
- Humphrey Carpenter : JRR Tolkien. A biography . 2nd Edition. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-608-93431-6 .
- Tom Shippey : JRR Tolkien. Author of the Century . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-608-93432-4 .
- Robert Foster: The Great Middle-earth Lexicon. Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-404-20453-3 .
Web links
- List of characters in Tolkien's world (sorted by races)
- List of characters in Tolkien's world (English; sorted alphabetically, but can also be sorted by works or races; target articles linked to an interactive family tree)
- Encyclopedia of Arda (English-language, very extensive reference work)
- Selection of the most important characters and overview of the races in Tolkien's world
- Middle-earth portal (including a small dictionary of people )
- Family tree of elves and humans
- Family trees of the hobbits
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Silmarillion : The Music of the Ainur. P. 13.
- ↑ The Silmarillion : From the Valar. P. 27.
- ↑ The Silmarillion : The Awakening of the Elves and Melkor's Captivity. P. 59.
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: The Companions. 2nd book, The Bridge of Khazad-dûm. in translation by Margaret Carroux:
- ↑ The Silmarillion : From the Maiar. P. 35, (there he is called Olórin).
- ↑ Robert Foster: The Great Middle Earth Lexicon. Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-404-20453-3 , p. 323 and p. 700.
- ^ City of Memmingen: Josef Madlener on memmingen.de
- ↑ JRR Tolkien (author) and Christopher Tolkien (eds.): The Silmarillion. 3rd edition, Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-608-95131-8 , p. 281.
- ↑ JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings. - Appendices - The Northern Kingdom and the Dúnedain.
- ↑ The Sillmarillion : From Beren and Lúthien. P. 236.
- ↑ There are also voices who interpret his role in The Lord of the Rings differently, for example Marnie argues in an essay that Celeborn is on a par with Galadriel.
- ↑ News from Middle-earth. 2, IV - The story of Galadriel and Celeborn and of Amroth, King of Lórien. P. 307.
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings : A Knife in the Dark. P. 215.
- ^ Vinyar Tengwar Issue # 41, July 2000, The Shibboleth of Fëanor. P. 9.
- ^ Damien Casey: The Gift of Iluvatar: Tolkien's Theological Vision. In: Australian E-Journal of Theology. tape 2 , no. 1 , February 2, 2004 ( aejt.com.au [PDF]).
- ↑ JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings. Book Six, Chapter Five: Aragorn's Coronation.
- ↑ Robert Foster: The Great Middle Earth Lexicon. Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-404-20453-3 , p. 594.
- ↑ Robert Foster: Grima. In: The Great Middle Earth Lexicon. Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-404-20453-3 , p. 304.
- ↑ The source for the figure's linguistic background was: Beorn on glyphweb.com
- ↑ The Silmarillion : From Aule and Yavanna. P. 55.
- ↑ JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-608-10851-4 , The Companions ( books.google.de ).
- ↑ JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings. Attachments. 5th edition, Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-608-95149-0 . P. 57 ff. Appendix A, III. Durin's people.
- ↑ JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings. Attachments. 5th edition, Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-608-95149-0 . P. 69. Appendix A, III. Durin's people.
- ↑ John Garth: Sam Gamgee and Tolkien's batmen 2014 ( johngarth.wordpress.com ).
- ↑ Robert Foster: The Great Middle Earth Lexicon. Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-404-20453-3 , p. 294.
- ↑ a b c J. RR Tolkien to WH Auden , June 7, 1955. In: Tolkien, Briefe , No. 163, pp. 278–286, here p. 279.
- ↑ The Wanderer. 87. For this linguistic inspiration see also Tom Shippey, JRR Tolkien. Author of the Century. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2002, p. 132 f.
- ^ William Shakespeare: Macbeth. English / German, translated and edited by Barbara Rojahn-Deyk, Reclam, Stuttgart 1996 (RUB 9870), p. 110/111 (act 4, scene 1; prophecy by the witches); 150/151 (act 5, scene 4; camouflaging the attackers with branches from the Birnam forest).
- ↑ JRR Tolkien to Eileen Elgar, September 1963. In: Tolkien, Briefe , No. 246, pp. 425–437, here pp. 436 f.
- ↑ JRR Tolkien: News from Middle-earth. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-423-20845-7 , p. 422/430.
- ↑ Robert Foster : The Great Middle Earth Lexicon. Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-404-20453-3 , p. 81.
- ↑ Robert Foster : The Great Middle Earth Lexicon. Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-404-20453-3 , p. 108.
- ↑ Ulrike Killer (Ed.): The Tolkien Reading Book . Klett-Cotta and dtv, 2012, ISBN 978-3-423-21414-8 , About the name and origin of his strange hero, p. 116 (new edition).
- ↑ a b c Tolkien, Briefe , No. 153, pp. 248-259, here p. 254 (draft from September 1954).
- ↑ Humphrey Carpenter : JRR Tolkien. A biography. 2nd edition, Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2001, p. 186; Tolkien, letters. P. 254.
- ^ Carpenter: JRR Tolkien. Pp. 210-212, and Tolkien, letters. No. 19, pp. 37-39, cited at p. 39 (to Stanley Unwin , December 16, 1937).
- ↑ JRR Tolkien: The Little Hobbit . 12th edition. dtv, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-423-08559-2 , Out of the frying pan, into the fire, p. 116, 117 (English: The Hobbit or There and Back Again . Translated by Walter Scherf).
- ↑ Tom Shippey: JRR Tolkien, Author of the Century. Klett-Cotta, 2002, ISBN 3-608-93432-4 .
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: Book 4, Chapter 3 - The Black Gate is Locked or The Adventures of Tom Bombadil - From the German version by Margaret Carroux.
- ↑ In a letter to his son Christopher (Letters, No. 70; p. 110) Tolkien writes: “ Do you think Shelob [ Shelob ] is a good name for a monstrous spider creature? Of course that's just "She + lob" (= spider), but written together it looks quite disgusting. "