The Complete Tolkien Companion (108 page)

Yavannamirë
– One of the
FRAGRANT TREES
of Númenor.

Yavannië
(Q.) – The ninth month of Kings' Reckoning, equivalent to our September. Unlike the Númenoreans, the Dúnedain of Middle-earth used instead the Sindarin equivalent
Ivanneth.

Yávië
‘Autumn' (Q.) – The name given (by the Elves) to the third of their six seasons, and (by Men) to the third of their four. In the Elvish calendar this season was of fixed length (54 days), but in Kings' Reckoning was used in an approximate form. Both the Grey-elves and the Dúnedain of Middle-earth (who largely abandoned the Quenya names) used instead the Sindarin equivalent
iavas.

Yavierë
‘Autumn-day' (Q.) – The name given in Gondor to one of the five ‘extra' days in the Stewards' Reckoning calendar-system. Yavierë fell between Yavannië (September) and Narquelië (October) and heralded the advent of autumn. It was accordingly a holiday in Gondor.

Year-book of Tuckborough
–
See
YELLOWSKIN
.

Year of Lamentation
– A name among Elves and Men of the First Age for the Year of the Sun 470: the year of the
NIRNAETH ARNOEDIAD
.

Years of the Sun
–
See
FIRST AGE
.

Years of the Trees
–
See
FIRST AGE
.

Yellowskin
– The Year-book of Tuckborough, a large bound volume containing the Annals of the Took clan, begun in Tuckborough in about 400 Shire Reckoning (2000 Third Age), long before the building of Great Smials or the passing of the Thainship from the Oldbucks to the Tooks. It was accordingly the most ancient text preserved in the Shire, and many of its dates were incorporated into the Red Book of Westmarch. The Tooks undoubtedly had a certain reputation concerning the accurate compilation of chronologies (
see
THE TALE OF YEARS
).

Yén
‘Long-year' (Q.) – The ‘true' Elvish year, equal to 144
coranar
(solar years).
See also
CALENDAR OF IMLADRIS
.

Yestarë
(Q.) – The name given by both the Elves and the Dúnedain (of Númenor) to the first day of the year, which in all calendar systems was accounted separately from the rest of the months or seasons.

Yôzâyan
‘Land of Gift' (Adûn.) – The native Númenorean name for their own land.

Yuledays
– The first and last days in the Hobbits' year. The Shire-folk accounted them separate from all the months (like the
Lithe
midsummer period).

Yulemath
– The Bree-name for the Shire-month of
Foreyule
(December).

Yuletide
– An ancient holiday-period or festival celebrated by Northern Men and adopted by the Hobbits during the early years of the Third Age. They continued to observe this six-day festival even after they had settled the Shire, much later in the Age, and by the time of the War of the Ring the period had been fixed to fall between 29th Foreyule (December) and 2nd Afteryule (January), with, of course, the two Yuledays in between.

Ywalmë
– See
NWALMË
.

Zaragamba
– The original (as opposed to translated) name of the Hobbit-family from the Eastfarthing, hereditary Thains of the Shire, who passed on the office to the Tûk (Took) clan and removed to the strip of land between the Baranduin and the Old Forest. It has been translated from the Red Book as
Oldbuck.

Zimraphêl (Ar-Zimraphêl)
– The (Adûnaic) royal title assumed (under duress) by Míriel (Tar-Míriel), daughter and rightful heiress of Tar-Palantír, penultimate King of Númenor, after her forcible wedding to her uncle, the usurper of her throne.

Zimrathôn (Ar-Zimrathôn)
– From 2962–3033 Second Age, the twenty-first King of Númenor, the second to take his royal title in an Adûnaic (rather than Eldarin) form. His rightful Quenya name was
Tar-Hostamir.

Zirak-Zigil
– The Dwarvish (Khuzdul) name for the centremost of the three great peaks of Moria, known to Men as the Silvertine and to Elves as Celebdil.

Notes

Foreword to the Third Edition

1
.
Unfinished Tales
294.

2
. Bernard Levin,
The Observer.

A

1
. Book II Chap 1.

2
. Book II Chap. 8. For a fuller account of the meaning of the Hymn, see Notes and Translations to the Song Cycle
The Road Goes Ever On.

3
. Book III Chap. 4.

4
. For a full account of Aldarion's life, his deeds and his disastrous marriage, see ‘Aldarion and Erendis' (
UT
223–80).

5
. Much more, some of it at variance with this account and with itself, is said of Amroth in
UT
310–20.

6
.
MR
305–26.

7
. For a fuller description, see
UT
215–17.

8
. Book II Chap. 4.

9
.
Silmarillion,
317.

10
. Prologue I.

11
. Book II Chap. 9.

12
. Appendix AI (iv). In some editions the word
royalty
has been misprinted
loyalty.

13
. Appendix AI (iv).

14
. Ibid.

15
. In available translations from the Shire Records there exists an odd discrepancy concerning the dates of the various events which brought an end to Arvedui and the realm of Arthedain. In Appendix AI (iv), King Eärnil II of Gondor is said to have learned about the impending invasion of Angmar in the autumn of 1973 Third Age; yet although he ‘sent his son Eärnur north with a fleet, as swiftly as he could,' according to ‘The Tale of Years' (Appendix B) this force did not reach Lindon until 1975, probably in spring. Appendix B also gives 1975 as the year of Arvedui's death. Yet, if the information in Appendix A I (iii) is also correct, this must mean that the fugitive King remained with the Snow-men of Forochel for just over a year – which is plainly as erroneous an assumption as presuming that Eärnur was over a year at sea. The probable origin of this problem lies in the fact that ‘The Tale of Years' was compiled (by the Tooks) from a number of varying sources, whereas the (abridged) sections on Arnor and Gondor in the Appendices were originally copied from existing records. At any rate the compilers seem to have misrepresented the events of the year 1974 as occurring in two separate years, 1974 and 1975. In this
Companion,
therefore, the year 1974 has been taken as the date of Arthedain's fall, Arvedui's death, the arrival of Eärnur's fleet and the subsequent Battle of Fornost, in which Angmar was also thrown down for ever.

16
.
MR
303–66.

17
. Appendix A III.

B

1
.
LT II
216.

2
. Book VI Chap. 3.

3
. A greatly expanded version of the events leading up to and including the Battle of the Field of Celebrant may be found in
UT
373–414.

4
. For a macabre reason for this, see
UT
358–59.

5
. See
UT
460–84 for a more detailed account of the clashes at the Fords of Isen during the War of the Ring.

6
. Apart from the ‘Petty-Dwarves', who had preceded them into Beleriand.

7
.
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

8
. Book VI Chap. 5.

9
. For a much-abbreviated translation see Book I Chap. II; a fuller account, in prose form, can be read in
Silmarillion,
pp. 162–87.

10
. Book II Chap. 1.

11
. Ibid.

12
.
UT
519–20.

13
.
Hobbit.

14
. Appendix A I.

C

1
. Book II Chap. 7.

2
. Ibid.

3
. The deeds and dwelling-places of Celeborn and Galadriel between the Fall of Eregion and their accession to Lórien – and even an approximate date for the latter – are uncertain, since surviving accounts are at variance. The version given in this entry conforms to the belief generally shared before the publication of
Unfinished Tales
(294–348). For a revised version of the same history, see entry under
GALADRIEL
.

4
. Book II Chap. 6.

D

1
.
Hobbit.

2
.
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

3
.
PME
314.

4
. Appendix III

5
.
Hobbit.

E

1
.
UT
243.

2
. Book II Chap. 1.

3
. Book II Chap. 8.

4
. Book II Chap. 7.

5
.
UT
359.

6
. Book II Chap. 8.

7
.
UT
321–26.

8
. Appendix A I (i).

9
. Appendix A I (iii).

10
. Book II Chap. 1.

F

1
.
Hobbit.

2
. Book I Chap. 2.

3
. Prologue.

4
. Book III Chap 4.

5
. Appendix F I.

6
.
PME
221.

7
. Book IV Chap. 5.

8
. Book II Chap. 5.

9
. Book VI Chap. 9.

G

1
.
UT
294–348.

2
. Ibid. It is also suggested in this source that Galadriel's voyage to Middle-earth was made independently of the fleets of Fëanor.

3
. His grand-nephew. See
LINES OF DESCENT
.

4
.
The Road Goes Ever On,
60.

5
. According to one tradition, Celeborn and Galadriel (and not Celebrimbor) actually founded Eregion. Another, not necessarily exclusive, claims that they were present at the time (
c.
1700 Second Age) of Sauron's attack upon Eregion and helped to defend it. See
UT
300–305.

6
. Although it has long been supposed that Galadriel and Celeborn came to Lórien in the Second Age, according to late sources (
UT
314–17) this is not so. Certainly they appear to have taken an interest in Lórien, and to have formed friendly relations with its ruling house, but it was not until the Third Age was well advanced that they actually came to live there as its Lord and Lady. This was connected with the death of Amroth, its last ruling prince.

7
. Appendix B.

8
.
PME
377–82.

9
. A glimpse of the glory of Gondolin is revealed in the account of Tuor's coming there in Year 494 First Age, passing in turn each of its seven enchanted elven-gates.
UT
23–74.

10
. Book I Chap. 2.

11
. For an account of Grimbold's heroic part in these earlier battles – hitherto unrevealed – see
UT
460–84.

12
. Book III Chap. 3.

13
. Book V Chap. 4.

H

1
. Prologue I.

2
. A short extract appears in the Prologue.

3
.
LOTR
passim.

4
. Appendix F.

5
. Book III Chap. 7.

6
. For a genealogical table of the early descendants of Elros, see
UT
270.

7
.
MR
330–33.

8
. The story of Morgoth's curse upon Húrin of Dor-lómin is told very fully in two places: ‘The Tale of the Children of Húrin' (
Narn i hîn Hürín
) can be found in
UT
75–209; for its addendum and exegesis ‘The Wanderings of Húrin', see
WJ
251–310.

9
. For a fuller description of this province, see
UT
217–18.

10
. Ibid.

I

1
.
UT
516–17.

2
. Ibid.

3
. The Battle of the Gladden Fields is vividly described in
UT
351–69.

4
.
UT
510.

K

1
. Appendix F II.