A Dictionary of Tolkien Page 6

  Dáin I

  Dwarf king of Grey Mountains. Dáin I was born in the year 2440 of the Third Age of the Sun, and became king of the Grey Mountains in the year 2585. Shortly after, Dragons invaded the gold- rich Dwarf-realm and Dáin I – along with his son Fror – was slain by a Cold Drake while making a last valiant stand at the gates to his own halls.

  Dáin II

  Dwarf king of Erebor. Called Dáin Ironfoot, he was born in 2767 of the Third Age of the Sun in the Iron Hills. In his youth he established a name as a great warrior by slaying Azog, the Orc king of Moria, during the Battle of Azanulbizar in 2799. Six years later, he became Lord of the Iron Hills. In 2941, Dáin II led his army into the Battle of Five Armies and was one of the victorious commanders. After Thorin Oakenshield died of wounds sustained during the battle, Dáin Ironfoot was named his rightful heir, and became the King under the Mountain. He ruled there until the War of the Ring in 3019, when he was slain during the Battle of Dale.

  Dale

  One of the many settlements of Northmen west of Mirkwood in Rhovanion was the ancient city-kingdom of Dale, just south of the Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. Like all Northmen, the inhabitants of Dale were related to the Edain of the First Age, and although it is not known when Dale was founded, it is believed to have been of very ancient origin. As a city, however, it ceased to exist after the year 2770 of the Third Age, when the terrible winged dragon, Smaug the Golden, burned it to the ground and seized all its treasures. Vengeance for this deed came in the year 2941, when Smaug was slain by a descendant of the kings of Dale, called Bard the Bowman.

  In the years that followed, Bard rebuilt Dale and became the first in its new line of kings. With the restoration of its treasures and those of the Dwarf Kingdom under the Mountain at Erebor, Dale became prosperous once again. Danger came when Easterling barbarians attacked Dale and drove its inhabitants to find refuge with their allies, the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain.

  After the fall of Sauron’s empire in Mordor, the allied forces of Dwarves and Men broke the siege of Erebor and drove the Easterlings from Dale and all its lands to the south and east. After the war, and well into the Fourth Age, Dale appears to have been a prosperous and independent kingdom allied with the Reunited Kingdom of the Dúnedain.

  Dark Elves

  Those numbered among the Dark Elves were all the Elven-folk who never beheld the ennobling Light of the Trees of the Valar. These were the Avari – the Silvan Elves of the East and those of Mirkwood and Lothlórien – and the Eldar who never completed the Great Journey to the Undying Lands – the Nandor, the Laiquendi (Green-elves), the Falathrim and also of the Sindar (Grey-elves) – who inhabited Beleriand until the end of the First Age of the Sun, when all the Elf-realms of that place were lost in the sea.

  The Dark Elves, or “Moriquendi” in the Elven tongue, were counted a lesser people than the High Elves of Eldamar, who were the Vanyar, Noldor and Teleri. Yet by the reckoning of Men these Dark Elves were magical and brilliant beings. For they were immune to pestilence and aged not with the passage of time. They were wiser, stronger and fairer than Men and their eyes always shone with the light of the Stars. In the first years of the Sun, it was these Elves who taught all Men speech and many other arts and skills, that they might live in Middle-earth and raise themselves above the station of beasts of the wilderness.

  The Nandor and the Laiquendi both were said to have learned powers of woodlore greater than any other living creatures. The Falathrim were the first shipbuilders of Middle-earth and the finest mariners. The Sindar, who were ruled by a High Eldar king and a Maia queen, built the fairest kingdom on Middle-earth and performed noble deeds counted great even by the measure of the High Elves.

  In the Second Age of the Sun, after the sinking of Beleriand new Elf-realms were created by the High Elves of Middle-earth and many Silvan Elves came to them out of the East and the North. Of these new realms, those of Lindon, Rivendell, Mirkwood and Lothlórien survived until the Fourth Age. But, as the “Red Book of Westmarch” tells, the High Elves in the Fourth Age took the white Elven ships to the Undying Lands. And though Dark Elves long remained in Middle-earth, all their realms faded and they became a wandering folk of ever diminishing power.

  Dead Marshes

  Northwest of the Mountains of Mordor, between the wetlands of the Anduin River below the Rauros Falls and the Dagorlad battle plain, was a haunted and desolate place called the Dead Marshes. Through three thousand years of the Third Age, the wetlands of the Dead Marshes spread eastward and swallowed up that part of the battle plain which contained many of the graves of Men and Elves who died during the Battle of Dagorlad at the end of the Second Age. In the Third Age, after the Battle of Camp in 1944, much of the Wainrider army was driven into the Dead Marshes and perished. It was through these marshes that the Hobbit Frodo Baggins – with Samwise Gamgee and Sméagol Gollum – was forced to travel on his quest during the War of the Ring, and it was here that they found the horrible phantoms of the Mere of Dead Faces, where animated spirits of long-dead warriors appeared in its swampy, haunted pools.

  Dead Men of Dunharrow

  In Mortal Lands of Arda there were many spirits who, because of some righteous curse or evil act of sorcery, were bound to Arda longer than was their right. The Barrow-wights and the mighty Ringwraiths were such beings; other unquiet souls inhabited the Dead Marshes, where floods disturbed the graves of Men and Elves who had fallen at the Battle of Dagorlad near the Black Gate of the evil land of Mordor.

  The “Red Book of Westmarch” also tells of those known as the Dead Men of Dunharrow, who haunted the labyrinths of the ancient citadel of Rohan. These were once Men of the White Mountains who in the Second Age of the Sun had sworn allegiance to the king of the Dúnedain but, in time of war, broke that oath and betrayed him to the Dark Lord Sauron. Thereafter, all the warriors of the Men of the White Mountains were cursed as oath-breakers and became wandering ghosts who could find no rest.

  For all the years of the Third Age of the Sun these Men haunted the Paths of the Dead above the mighty hold of the Dunharrow, and all who entered the corridors were driven mad with fear and were lost. But in the last years of that Age one who could command them came from the northern wilderness. He was Aragorn, son of Arathorn, the rightful heir of the king of the Dúnedain. He summoned the Dead to fulfil the oath they had broken long ago. And indeed they appeared, pale riders on pale Horses, yet they proved to be a mighty battalion of mighty Men. They rode with Aragorn to Pelargir and made war on the Corsairs of Umbar on land and sea, and they slew them and made them flee in terror. Thus the Dead Men of Dunharrow gave victory to Aragorn – the heir to the Dúnedain kings – and were redeemed by this act. Their souls were released and, before the eyes of the great living Men, the vast form of a great pale army faded as mist in a wind at dawn.

  Deep Elves

  Of all the Elves the most famous in the songs of Men are the Noldor, who are called Deep Elves because of their great knowledge of the crafts taught them in the Undying Lands by Aulë, the Smith of the Valar and Maker of Mountains.

  In Eldamar, these Elves greatly loved to build with stone and they delved deep into the mountains for it. They were first to find the bright Earth-gems and they were first to devise the Elf-gems that were brighter still.

  The Deep Elves were well known to Men, for alone of the Calaquendi they returned to Middle-earth after the coming of Men and performed great deeds, for both good and evil. These Elves wrought the Great Jewels – the Silmarils – and also made the Rings of Power. The greatest wars ever known to Men were fought over these works.

  Denethor I

  Dúnedain lord of Gondor. Denethor I became the Tenth Ruling Steward of Gondor in 2435 of the Third Age. During Denethor I’s rule, Sauron spawned that evil race of super-Orc known as the Uruk-hai, and in the year 2475 they overran Ithilien and sacked Osgiliath. Denethor’s son, Boromir, resolutely led an army against Sauron’s Uruks and was able to retake Osgiliath. Unfortunately, in the struggl
e the city was almost entirely destroyed and its stone bridge broken. Denethor I died in the year 2477.

  Denethor II

  Dúnedain lord of Gondor. Denethor II, son of Ecthelion II, ruled Gondor from 2984 until the War of the Ring in 3019. He was the twenty-sixth and last Ruling Steward of Gondor. In 2976 he married Finduilas, the fair daughter of the Prince of Dol Amroth. Finduilas gave birth to two sons, Boromir and Faramir, but died after only a dozen years of marriage. Although once a noble and wise man, after Finduilas’ death, Denethor II became an increasingly solitary and secretive ruler. Knowing that the final confrontation with Sauron would come during his time, he trusted few others and excluded both Aragorn and Gandalf as counsellors. Bravely and rather unwisely, he often looked into the Palantír (or “Seeing Stone”) in the White Tower. Although he undoubtedly gained knowledge that helped him prepare Gondor for the oncoming war, the stone caused him to age and finally had a corrupting influence on him. When his eldest son, Boromir, died in the Ring Quest, and Faramir lay in a coma brought on by the Black Breath of a Ringwraith, Denethor’s iron will was at last broken. In mad despair he attempted to take both his own life and that of Faramir. Gandalf was able to intercede and prevent Faramir from being burnt alive, but he was unable to stop the grief-crazed Denethor from immolating himself.

  Dior

  Elven king of Doriath. Son of Beren and Lúthien, grandson of King Thingol and Queen Melian, Dior had the blood of three races in his veins: Edain, Eldar and Maiar. Born and raised in Ossiriand in Beleriand around 470 of the First Age, he married the beautiful Sindar princess, Nimloth, and she gave birth to three children: Elréd, Elurín and Elwing. In 505 Dior became king of Doriath after Thingol’s murder and the sacking of Menegroth by the Dwarves of Nogrod. Upon the death of Beren and Lúthien, Dior inherited the Nauglamír, the necklace that contained one of the Silmarils. It was the necklace which was the cause of the treachery of the Dwarves. Soon after, the Noldor sons of Féanor, who considered the Silmaril their birth-right, attacked Menegroth. In the ensuing battle both Dior and Nimloth were killed.

  Dol Amroth

  The tower, port and city of Dol Amroth was one of the five great cities of Gondor. It was the largest city in the fief of Belfalas. It was ruled by the princes of Dol Amroth, whose banners were blue and marked with a white ship and a silver swan. Dol Amroth was built by the legendary Elf-king Amroth, the star-crossed lover of the Elven princess, Nimrodel. Until Amroth’s death in 1981 of the Third Age, the Elves of Lothlórien sailed out of Dol Amroth to the Undying Lands in their magical white ships.

  Dol Guldur

  During the Third Age of the Sun, when the vast forest of Greenwood the Great slowly became such a dark and haunted place that it was renamed Mirkwood, an evil fortress was built in its southwestern part. This was Dol Guldur, the “hill of sorcery”, and for a thousand years an evil power called the Necromancer lived there with legions of Orcs and many evil and haunting spirits. In the year 2063, the Wizard Gandalf entered Dol Guldur, but found its mysterious commanding demon had vanished. However, by the twenty-fifth century it had returned with much increased powers. It was not until the year 2850, when Gandalf again went to Dol Guldur, that he learned that Sauron the Ring Lord was the Necromancer. Sauron ruled from his hidden realm until 2941, when he found refuge in his mighty Dark Tower in Mordor. However, in 2951, three of Sauron’s most terrible servants, the Nazgûl Ringwraiths, took command of Dol Guldur and used it as a base for campaigns of terror against the free peoples of the north. In the War of the Ring, the evil armies of Dol Guldur attacked both Lothlórien and the Woodland Realm, but were finally annihilated by the Elves of those realms. The walls of Dol Guldur were knocked down, and its pits and dungeons opened and cleansed of all evil.

  Dori

  Dwarf of Thorin and Company. Dori set out on the Quest of the Lonely Mountain in the year 2941 of the Third Age. The expedition eventually led to the slaying of Smaug the Dragon and the re-establishment of the Dwarf Kingdom under the Mountain. After the Quest, Dori swore allegiance to King Dáin Ironfoot and settled down in Erebor.

  Doriath

  In the Second Age of Starlight, the Grey Elf King Thingol and his Queen, Melian the Maia, founded the Sindar kingdom of Doriath in the great woodlands of Beleriand. Through four ages of stars, the Grey Elf lands of Doriath and the royal court in the Thousand Caves of Menegroth grew ever more prosperous and were the most beautiful and powerful on Middle-earth. However, during the First Age of the Sun, the lands of Beleriand proved to be the primary battleground between the Noldor Elves and Morgoth the Dark Enemy in the disastrous War of the Jewels. Wishing to keep the Grey Elves out of this conflict, Queen Melian the Maia wove a powerful spell of protection about the woodland kingdom of Doriath that prevented any evil being from entering and Doriath became known as the Hidden Kingdom. In this way, for the greater part of the First Age of the Sun, the Grey Elves of Doriath were safe from the ravages which eventually destroyed all the kingdoms of Beleriand. However, the Sindar were also caught up in the conflict when one of the Silmaril jewels came into King Thingol’s possession. For the sake of this jewel, the Dwarves of Nogrod betrayed their allies and slew Thingol. With the death of Thingol, Melian left Middle-earth and her spell of protection fell away, and Doriath was invaded by Dwarves. The Sindar in Doriath rallied for a time under the rule of Thingol’s grandson, King Dior, but the cursed possession of the Silmaril resulted in his death at the hands of the Noldor Elves. After Dior’s death and the second sacking of Menegroth, the Grey Elves deserted the ruined realm of Doriath. When the War of Wrath ended the First Age of the Sun, Doriath, with all the other lands of Beleriand, sank beneath the sea.

  Dorwinions

  On the western shore of the Inland Sea of Rhûn there lived the Dorwinions. Of all Northmen, the Dorwinions were the most easterly, and they were far-famed as makers of the finest and strangest of wines. By trading with many of the people of Middle-earth the Dorwinions became prosperous, for even the fine sensibilities of the Elves were nourished by their wines.

  Dragons

  The “Quenta Silmarillion” tells how, in the First Age of the Sun, Morgoth the Dark Enemy hid himself in the Pits of Angband and wrought his masterpieces of evil from flame and sorcery. The dark jewels of Morgoth’s genius were the Great Worms called Dragons. He made three kinds: great serpents that slithered, those that walked on legs and those that flew with wings like the Bat. Of each kind there were two types: the Cold-drakes, who fought with fang and claw, and the miraculous Urulóki Fire-drakes, who destroyed with breath of flame. All Dragons were the embodiment of the chief evils of Men, Elves and Dwarves, and so were great in their destruction of those races.

  The Dragons were in themselves vast armouries that worked towards Morgoth’s aims. The reptiles were of massive size and power and were protected by scales of impenetrable iron. Tooth and nail were like javelin and rapier, and their tails could crush the shield-wall of any army. The winged Dragons swept the land below them with hurricane winds, and the Fire-drakes breathed scarlet and green flames that licked the Earth and destroyed all in their path.

  Beyond strength of arms, Dragons carried other more subtle powers. Their eyesight was keener than the hawk’s and anything that they sighted could not escape them. They had hearing that would catch the sound of the slightest breath of the most silent enemy, and a sense of smell that allowed them to name any creature by the least odour of its flesh.

  Their intelligence was renowned, as was their love of setting and solving riddles. Dragons were ancient serpents, and so were creatures of immense cleverness and knowledge but not of wisdom, for their intelligence had the flaws of vanity, gluttony, greed, deceit and wrath.

  Being created chiefly of the elements of fire and sorcery, the Dragons shunned water and preferred darkness to the light of day. Dragon-blood was black and deadly poison, and the vapours of their worm-stench were of burning sulphur and slime. Their bodies glowed always with a hard, gem-like flame. Their laughter was deeper
than well-shafts and made the very mountains quake. The eyes of the Dragon emitted rays of ruby light or in anger flashed red lightning. Their cruel reptilian voices were harsh whispers and, combined with the intensity of the serpent eye, invoked the Dragon-spell that bound unwary foes and made them wish to surrender to the beast’s awesome will.

  First of the Fire-drakes, the Urulóki, created by Morgoth in Angband, was Glaurung, Father of Dragons. After only a century of brooding and growing in the caverns, Glaurung in fiery wrath burst out form Angband’s gates and came into a startled World. Though he was not of the winged race that would later arise, Glaurung was the greatest terror of his time and begat a legion of lesser Fire-drakes and Cold-drakes. He burned and savaged the land of the Elves in Hithlum and Dorthonion before being driven back by Fingon, prince of Hithlum. Morgoth, however, was displeased with Glaurung for his impulsiveness, for he had planned that the Dragon should grow to full power before revealing him to an unsuspecting World. To Glaurung this attack was but mere adolescent adventure – a youthful testing of power. Terrible though it was to Elves, his strength was barely developed and his scale-armour was still tender to the assault of weapons. So Morgoth held Glaurung within Angband for another two centuries before he let the Urulóki loose. This was the beginning of the Fourth Battle in the Wars of Beleriand. It became known as the Battle of the Sudden Flame when Glaurung, the Great Worm, in full power led Morgoth’s forces into battle against the High Elves of Beleriand. His great size and scorching fire cleared a path into the armies of the foe, and with Morgoth’s demons, the Balrogs, and black legions of innumerable Orcs he broke the Siege of Angband and brought despair and desolation to the Elves.

  In the Fifth Battle, called the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, Glaurung caused even more terrible destruction, as by now he had (in the mysterious way of Dragons) fathered a brood of lesser Fire-drakes and Cold-drakes to follow him in war. So a great army of Elves and Men fell before this onslaught, and none could withstand the Dragon-flame, except the Dwarves of Belegost, who had come to fight the common foe.