The Complete Tolkien Companion (16 page)

Black Shadow
– The name given in Gondor to the sickness which emanated from the Ringwraiths.
See
BLACK BREATH
.

Black Speech
– This unpleasant tongue developed out of Sauron's desire, early in the Accursed Years, to devise a single language for use by all his servants. But the minds of not all his creatures were able to grasp such a concept and, after Sauron's first overthrow at the end of the Second Age, this ancient tongue was forgotten by all but the Ringwraiths.

Few specimens are extant: it is not a language scholars willingly record. The most famous example is the Ring-inscription.

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul

ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul

The word
nazg
(‘ring') can also be found in the ancient name
Nazgûl
‘Ringwraiths'; and the element
burzum
(‘darkness') can similarly be seen in the Orcs' name for the Barad-dûr:
Lugbúrz
(‘dark-tower'). Sauron revived the use of this language on his second arising in the Third Age, but only he and his most immediate lieutenants used it in its original form. Other versions were greatly debased.

Black Sword (of Nargothrond)
– A translation of
Mormegil
(Sind.); the admiring title bestowed upon the warrior Túrin Turambar by folk of West Beleriand during the years in which he fought for the elven-city of Nargothrond. Túrin was so-called because of the sword
GURTHANG
he bore.

Black Years
– An epithet for the
ACCURSED YEARS
; the period from the middle of the Second Age to the dawning of the Third, when Sauron of Mordor enslaved much of western Middle-earth. The Black Years ended with his first overthrow (3441 Second Age). Also called by the Elves ‘the Days of Flight'.

Bladorthin
– As the Dwarves of Erebor recorded, Bladorthin was a ruler or king of Elves who ordered a sheaf of new spears from the smiths of Erebor in the days before the coming of the Dragon. Unfortunately he died before delivery of the weapons and his heirs did not choose to honour the agreement. The spears were therefore kept in hoard by the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain.

Blanco
–
See
MARCHO AND BLANCO
.

Blessed Realm
– An Elvish term for the Undying Lands or Uttermost West. The oldest recorded name for Valinor was
Aman.

Blooting
– The Bree word for the eleventh month of the year, roughly corresponding to our November. The Shire word was
Blotmath
(pronounced ‘Blommath').

Blotmath
–
See
BLOOTING
above.

Blue Mountains
– A translation of
Ered Luin
(Sind.). This high, windy range marked the westernmost boundary of Eriador and the easternmost of Beleriand. The Ered Luin were first crossed by the Eldar, passing West on their way to the Sea far back in the First Age. But the Elder Days ended in a cataclysm which drowned the lands and shook the mountains to their foundations; and the Ered Luin were then divided into two separate ranges by a gulf of the inrushing Sea. Icy colds gripped the northern chain. During the Third Age few folk dwelt in these inhospitable mountains, save a handful of Dwarves who maintained settlements in the eastern foothills. Also called
Ered Lindon,
the ‘Mountains of Lindon', by the Noldor.

Blue Wizards
–
See
ITHRYN LUIN
.

Boar of Everholt
– In the latter days of King Walda of Rohan, the great Boar of the Firienwood (on the borders of Gondor and Rohan) was accounted a worthy and daunting prey for any huntsman. But Walda was slain by Orcs and his son Folca vowed to pursue no wild beast while there remained a single goblin alive in Rohan. When the last den had been exterminated, Folca rode away to hunt the Boar of Everholt. He slew the beast but died later of the tusk-wounds it gave him.

Bob
– A Hobbit of Bree; the ostler in charge of the stables at
The Prancing Pony
inn.

Boffin
–
See
BOPHÎN
.

Bofur
–
See
BIFUR, BOFUR AND BOMBUR
.

Bolg
– An Orc-captain, the son of
AZOG
and leader of the Goblin force at the Battle of Five Armies, where this large and savage Orc was slain by (the even larger and more savage) Beorn.

Bolger
– A prosperous Hobbit-family with pretensions to aristocratic status: nearly all their children were given prestigious names.

See also
FREDEGAR BOLGER
.

Bombadil
–
See
TOM BOMBADIL
.

‘Bombadil Goes Boating'
– A piece of whimsical Bucklandish verse, dealing with a river-expedition undertaken by the semi-legendary (to Hobbits) figure of Tom Bombadil.

Bombur
– An immensely fat Dwarf who, with his kinsmen Bifur and Bofur, accompanied Thorin Oakenshield on the Quest of the Dragon of Erebor. After the successful conclusion of that expedition, and the prosperity that followed, Bombur grew so enormously that he became unable to walk; and it took six stout young Dwarves to carry him from couch to table, and back again.

Book of Mazarbul
– A diary or chronicle kept by the Dwarves of Balin's expedition to Moria (2989–94 Third Age). The latter entries, recording the death of Balin and the entrapment of the colony, were written by the Dwarf Óri, an old comrade of Balin's and one of the original thirteen Dwarves of Thorin Oakenshield's company. Though damaged, this book somehow survived the destruction of the Moria-expedition.

Book of the Kings
– This volume comprises the main history of Gondor and Númenor, with some reference to the Line of Isildur in Arnor. From it was derived much of the information concerning Gondor's history that is found in the Red Book.
14

Bophîn
– In original as opposed to translated Westron (the Common Speech of the Westlands), the name
Bophîn
is the proper form of the Hobbit surname translated as
Boffin.
Its original meaning is unknown.

Bór
– An Easterling chieftain who, together with his people, came across the Blue Mountains into Beleriand in the year following the Battle of Sudden Flame. His sons were Borlad, Borlach and Borthand. Unlike the clan of Ulfang the Black, Bór's people remained faithful to the Eldar, with whom they took service. Bór's fate is unknown; his sons died bravely at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

Borgil
‘War-star' (Sind.) – A red star, probably the planet Mars.

Borin
– A Dwarf of the House of Durin and one of Gimli's ancestors. He was born in the Grey Mountains. But when the Dragons made war upon his people, Borin accompanied King Thrór back to Erebor.

Borlach
– One of the sons of
BOR
.

Borlad
– The eldest son of
BOR
.

Boromir
– A chieftain of the First House of the Edain; first Lord of Ladros in Dorthonion, held in fief from the Elves of Finarfin's house. He was the great-grandson of Bëor the Old and grandsire of Barahir.

Boromir
‘War-jewel' – From 2477–89 Third Age, the eleventh Ruling Steward of Gondor, and one of its greatest Captains. It was he who defeated the first incursions into Ithilien of the race of uruks, black Mordor-orcs of great strength. Boromir drove them out after much fighting, but not before the ancient city of Osgiliath was finally destroyed and its bridge broken. Boromir himself received a Morgul-wound in the war which shortened his life: he died twelve years after his father Denethor I.

Note:
Boromir of the Nine Walkers was named after this great warrior.

Boromir of the Nine Walkers
– It was a sign of the decline of Gondor, and of the increasing need of her peoples for captains of war rather than men of learning that, towards the end of the Third Age, many among the ruling families esteemed the craft of arms higher than all other skills. Such a man was King Eärnur, last King of Gondor – and so also was Boromir, elder son of Steward Denethor II, brother of Faramir, and Captain of the Armies of Gondor until his departure to seek the counsel of Elrond during the War of the Ring (3019 Third Age).

Boromir delighted chiefly in battle and in trials of arms. He was a brave and honourable warrior, the champion of his people, and much esteemed for these qualities in Gondor. As the elder son of Denethor II, Boromir was heir to the Stewardship of the Tower and so, when both he and his brother both received the same prophetic dream, he would allow none but himself to journey north to Imladris (Rivendell), to unravel the hard words it contained. After an arduous and perilous journey of many months, he succeeded in finding the House of Elrond, where he took part in the great Council, and later became part of the Fellowship of the Ring. He died bravely on the journey south, defending the Hobbits from Orcs.

Boron
– The grandson of Bëor the Old (of the First House of the Edain) and father of Boromir of Ladros.

Borondir (the Stirrupless)
– The name of the heroic horseman of Gondor who made the great ride through many perils to reach the Éothéod and bring Steward Cirion's plea for military aid against the
BALCHOTH
. The aid arrived in time, and the Balchoth were overthrown. Borondir, who despite his fatigue had ridden back with the Northmen as guide, was killed in this battle defending the Steward. His deeds were later cast into song as
Rochon Methestal,
the ‘Rider of the Last Hope'.

See also
BATTLE OF THE FIELD OF CELEBRANT
.

Borthand
– One of the sons of
BOR
the Easterling.

Bough of Return
– A custom among the Númenoreans of the early exploratory period (600–1200 Second Age) was for the wife of the captain to tie a bough of the green tree
oiolairë
(‘Ever-summer') to bless the ship and bring her safely back to Númenor.

Bounders
– Border-watchers of the Shire, a volunteer force employed to ‘beat the bounds' and prevent incursions by undesirables. Their numbers varied according to need.

Bowman ‘Nick' Cotton
– Third son of Tolman Cotton, Hobbit of the Shire; brother of Rose Cotton (later Rose Gamgee).

Bracegirdle
– A prosperous family of Hobbits of the Shire, a branch of which lived in Hardbottle village.

Braldagamba
– In original (as opposed to translated) Westron, this (postulated) word would mean ‘heady-buck' – a possible pun in the Hobbit style on the (jocular) name for the river Baranduin:
Braldahîm
(‘heady-ale'). Such a jest would, of course, make play on the similarity of this name with that of the clan which had colonised the strip of land on the river's eastern bank, Brandagamba (Brandybuck).

Bralda-hîm
‘Heady-ale' – In original Hobbit Westron (
see
BRALDAGAMBA
above), a popular term for the river Baranduin, translated from the Red Book as ‘Brandywine'. Both names contain the same punning reference to the hue of the river's waters and its resemblance to the colour of strong drink.

Brand
– From 3007–19 Third Age, the third King of Dale restored, son of Bain son of Bard the Bowman. Assailed by Easterlings of Sauron's rule during the War of the Ring, Brand fell at the Second Battle of Dale, defending the gates of Erebor. He was succeeded by his son Bard II.

Brandagamba
‘March-buck' – An original Westron name (translated from the Red Book as ‘Brandybuck').

Branda-nîn
‘Border-water' – The genuine Hobbit Westron name for the river
Baranduin,
which served the Shire-folk as an eastward frontier.

Brandir the Lame
– One of the Edain of the Second House, the Haladin. In the terrible years following the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Brandir inherited the leadership of his people, who still dwelt in the Forest of Brethil, on the death of his father Handir. Being a man of defensive inclination, he fortified Amon Obel with a stockade and palisade of wood (the Ephel Brandir); and forbade open acts against Morgoth's forces, for he hoped to ride out the storm by lying hid in the forest. His plans were upset by the arrival in the midst of the Haladin of the great warrior Túrin son of Húrin, whom at first the Haladin did not recognise. Brandir tended Túrin with his own hands. It was not long afterwards that Nienor the sister of Túrin, spell-enslaved by the Dragon Glaurung so that she did not even know her own name, came also among the Woodmen of Brethil; and Túrin, who had last seen her as a little girl and knew her not, fell in love with her, and she with him; but Brandir the Lame also loved Niniel, as she was then called.

Soon afterwards the Dragon again came to that region of Beleriand. Túrin, who had by now wedded ‘Niniel', went out against the Dragon; but Brandir, who wished, as told above, to avoid trouble and war, would not aid him in this quest; so Dorlas and Hunthor alone of the Haladin went with Túrin, and Brandir was shamed before his people. In the fight with the Dragon Túrin was victorious but Glaurung, in his death-throes, struck him down, so that he was left for dead. Brandir, who did not know that Glaurung was also mortally stricken, believed that all was lost and Turambar dead; and he still loved Niniel. He attempted to escape with her but she became fey, and rushed towards the place of battle. There she had her last encounter with the dying Dragon: the spell the Worm had laid on her was lifted, and, realising for the first time that she was carrying her own brother's incestuous child, she cast herself into the waters of Teiglin and perished; while Brandir watched, helpless to prevent her.