The Complete Tolkien Companion (33 page)

Entwade
– The fords across the river Entwash between the Easternnet and Westemnet of Rohan.

Entwash
– The name in the tongue of Rohan for the large, meandering river which flowed from sources in Fangorn Forest, across the plains of Rohan, to meet the Anduin in a broad, low-lying delta north of the province of Anórien. Its Sindarin name was
Onodló.

Entwash Vale
– The fens of the lower Entwash, including the delta.

Entwood
– The name in Rohan for Fangorn Forest.

Envinyatar
‘The Renewer' (Q.) – A secondary title assumed by King Elessar (Aragorn II) of Gondor.

Enyd
– The
ENTS
.

Éofor
– The third son of Brego the second King of Rohan; forefather of Éomer.

Éohérë
‘Muster' – The full assembly of Riders of the Mark.

Eöl
– One of the greatest smiths of the Elder Days; a Dark-elf – the only one of the Avari to be mentioned in records – the spouse of Aredhel of the Noldor and father of Maeglin the Traitor. Of all the individual histories of Elves and Men of the First Age, his is among the most tragic.

Eöl dwelled alone in the dark woods of Nan Elmoth; he was of a solitary disposition and did not care overmuch for other Elves of any race. He was in fact closer to the Dwarves. From them he learned much of smithying, but after a while surpassed even his masters and came to acknowledge no lordship in the matter of craft. It is told how the Noldorin princess Aredhel came to be wandering in Eöl's woods, and how he captured her, and took her forcibly to wife, and made her dwell with him in his gloomy retreat; and how a son, Maeglin, was born to them. But when Maeglin was still young, his mother took him and fled from Nan Elmoth, back to Gondolin where her brother Turgon still reigned over his Noldorin people. Eöl followed them, and so came also to Gondolin. Before Turgon's throne, in the Tower of the King, the last act of the drama was played out. Greeted at first in kindly fashion by Turgon, Eöl spurned the king's friendship and defied his law. Then he attempted to slay his son Maeglin, but in error slew instead his wife, Aredhel Ar-Feiniel. He was executed for this crime by being cast over a precipice.

But two at least of his works lived on, and played a part in the events of that age. The black sword Anglachel, made by Eöl from meteoric iron, came to Beleg Strongbow, and after him to the renowned warrior of the Edain, Túrin Turambar. And Eöl's son Maeglin dwelt everafter in Gondolin, and became one of its lords, and in the end betrayed it to destruction.

Éomer Éadig
– From 3019 Third Age to 63 Fourth Age, the eighteenth King of Rohan, and the close friend and ally of King Elessar (Aragorn II) of Gondor and Arnor.

Éomer's father was Éomund, the Chief Marshal of the Mark during the early part of King Théoden's reign. Éomund married Théodwyn, youngest sister of the King, who bore him two children: Éomer and Éowyn. But Éomund was slain by Orcs in 3002 and, shortly afterwards, Théodwyn died – to the great sorrow of the King, whose own wife had died in childbirth many years before. Therefore Théoden took Éomund's children into his house, treating them as his own son and daughter. And after the King's only son Théodred was slain in the opening campaign of the War of the Ring, Éomer, already Third Marshal of the Mark, became Théoden's heir.

He rode with Théoden's host to the defence of the Westfold Vale and the Battle of the Hornburg, where he and Aragorn fought so fiercely in league that none dared to stand against them. From the Hornburg, he accompanied the King on his last ride down to Gondor; and, when Théoden fell in battle during the great charge of the Rohirrim, Éomer was named King of the Mark. He and his men fought at Aragorn's side throughout the remainder of the War of the Ring.

In 3021 Third Age Éomer wedded Lothíriel, daughter of Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth; their son, Elfwine the Fair, succeeded him.

Éomund
– The chief Captain of the Hosts of Éothéod under Eorl the Young. Also the name of the Chief Marshal of the Mark during the early reign of King Théoden of Rohan; the father of Éowyn and Éomer, eighteenth King. Éomund was responsible for the safety of the east marches of Rohan, where Orc-raiders were a constant threat to the prized horses of the Mark. In 3002 Third Age, his rashness and famed hatred of Orcs finally cost him his life, when he unwisely pursued a small raiding party into ambush.

Eonwë
– One of the
MAIAR
, the Herald of Manwë.

Éored
– The name given in the tongue of the Rohirrim to the standard Rohan military unit: the cavalry squadron. Each of these bodies of mounted Riders was commanded by a noble, or by one of Marshal's rank; each was recruited and furnished by the lord's own household and mounted, armed and equipped according to the style of fighting employed by the Rohirrim. These squadrons varied in size, according to the duration of the muster and the size of the household, and were the chief unit of military strength, for the Men of Rohan did not usually fight on their feet. In centuries of living their horse-life they had polished their equestrian skills until they had become the most formidable cavalry anywhere in the west of Middle-earth – and thus of great assistance to the (largely foot-bound) forces of their ally Gondor.

Their tactics were those of both light and heavy cavalry: reconnaissance, envelopment, attack and pursuit. They were armed with ash-wood spears, swords, and bows for long-distance work, and knew the craft of chain-mail manufacture, so they were not only well-armed and -mounted, but well-armoured also. Their method of attack was, firstly, to thin the enemy ranks with arrow fire, then to surround – or at least outflank – the enemy, and, finally, to charge home in a body, using their lance-points on the first encounters and afterwards drawing swords for the close work. Unless they were greatly outnumbered, or at some other disadvantage, there was no cavalry in the west of Middle-earth which could stand against them. Although the
éored
was the basic unit, the Rohirrim often fought in larger armies, comprising many squadrons and formed into wings or columns under the command of senior Marshals. Six thousand men of the Mark – a full
éoherë
or Muster of Rohan – charged behind Théoden at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, but Théoden himself reckoned he might have assembled, if he had chosen, an expeditionary force of 10,000 – in later terms, the equivalent of a cavalry corps.

Eorl the Young
– The last Lord of Éothéod (from 2501–10 Third Age) and the first King of Rohan (2510–45). Eorl was first called ‘the Young' by his Men because his father Léod died while the son was still a mere stripling; Léod was attempting to tame a wild horse when it threw him and his head struck a rock. Instead of killing the horse, as was expected, Eorl captured him, named him Felaróf and rode him till his life's end.

In the year 2510 Eorl's people received tidings that Gondor was in danger; straightaway he led his Riders to war, and his aid saved Gondor's Northern Army from defeat at the hands of the Balchoth. In return, Cirion, twelfth Ruling Steward of Gondor, gave to Eorl and his people the wide province of Calenardhon, which Eorl renamed
Riddermark,
the Mark of the Riders. Cirion in his turn received the Oath of Eorl, pledging the Riders' continued allegiance to Gondor. Thirty-five years later, Eorl, still almost as fresh-faced and tow-haired as in his youth, was slain by Easterlings in a new assault upon Rohan. His son Brego succeeded him and drove away the enemy. Eorl was laid to rest – together with Felaróf – in the first of many mounds to be built in the Barrowfield at Edoras.

Eorlingas
– ‘The Eorlings', the Sons of Eorl. An honorific title assumed by the warriors of Rohan.

Éothain
– The second-in-command of the
éored
of Westfold Vale at the time of the War of the Ring. This
éored
was led by Éomer, then Third Marshal of the Mark.

Éothéod
– From 1977–2510 Third Age, the northern homeland of the Horse-lords, before they moved south to the country which became known as Rohan. The lands of Éothéod lay between the Misty Mountains, the Ered Mithrin (Grey Mountains), and northwestern Mirkwood. Prior to their settlement of this region, the Riders had dwelt in the vales of Anduin, between the Great East Road and the Gladden Fields; and before that, in the wide plains of Rhovanion south of Greenwood. But after the final destruction of Angmar, this virile and expanding people, feeling a need for new territory, migrated north.

Éowyn
– In the songs and lays made by minstrels of Rohan concerning the War of the Rings and the part played in it by the Rohirrim, great honour was given to a woman: the ‘Lady of the Shield-arm', who, defending her fallen Lord, slew the Chief Nazgûl and brought his power to nothing (as had been indeed foretold many years before). This was the Lady Éowyn, sister of Éomer and later the wife of Prince Faramir of Gondor. She was the daughter of Éomund, Marshal of the Mark, and Théodwyn, sister of King Théoden; but after their early deaths, both she and her brother were taken into the King's House and raised as his son and daughter. Éowyn grew tall and fair, with a graceful step – and a skill with horse and blade to match any Rider of the Mark. As proud and brave as her brother, she found it increasingly difficult merely to wait upon the King in his decline; and she brooded much upon what she saw as the fall of Rohan into mean dishonour. Moreover she fell hopelessly in love with Aragorn of the Dúnedain; a love that, she soon realised, could never be requited.

Thus Éowyn determined to find honourable death as a ‘shield-maiden' on the field of battle. Disguised as an ordinary Rider of the Mark, she rode with the King's host to the Fields of the Pelennor – and to her own supreme act of heroism. Even so, the evil hurt she took from the Nazgûl whom she slew seemed likely to bring her the end she had desired. But Éowyn was eventually cured in the Houses of Healing, where she met Faramir, Steward of the Realm; and at last she renounced all thoughts of battle and death. She and Faramir plighted their troth after the final victory of the West. They later dwelt together in Emyn Arnen where she was known as the ‘White Lady'.

Epessë
‘After-name' (Q.) – A secondary or informal name bestowed on one of the Eldar, as opposed to the
essë
or given name.

Ephel Dúath
– The ‘Dark Outer-fences' of Mordor, known to Men of Gondor as the Mountains of Shadow. In the Third Age this range of jagged peaks and dolorous vales was the second greatest in Middle-earth. The Ephel Dúath formed an impassable western and southern wall around the land of Mordor. The main range marched southerly from the Black Gate, parallel with the Great River (and in some cases only twenty miles from it), far into the lands of the Harad. Thirty leagues south of the river Poros, it bent abruptly east, stretching for a further two hundred leagues before turning northeast again and dwindling into a low, sullen line of hills.

Ephel Brandir
‘Brandir's Fence' (Sind.) – The name given by the Woodmen of the Forest of Brethil (the Haladin) to the stockaded settlement built by them at the instigation of their chieftain,
BRANDIR THE LAME
, on the crown of the hill Amon Obel.

Eradan
– From 2080–2116 Third Age, the second Ruling Steward of Gondor.

Erchamion
‘The Empty-handed' (Sind.) –
See
BEREN ERCHAMION
.

Erebor
– The Lonely Mountain; the chief ancestral Halls of Durin's folk in the later Third Age, following their flight from Moria. Erebor was founded in 1999 Third Age by Thráin I, son of Náin I who was slain by the Balrog in Moria.

As its name implies, the Mountain stood apart from other ranges, and was a notable landmark in the flat plain east of Northern Mirkwood. It was easily defended (except against Dragons) and was exceedingly rich in rare ores. Yet shortly after its founding, Erebor was curiously abandoned by the majority of Durin's folk, who passed into the North and established a second colony amid the Grey Mountains. But this colony eventually came to naught and, in 2590 Thrór son of Dáin I led Durin's Folk back to the Lonely Mountain, which then began to prosper greatly. However in the year 2770 Smaug the Golden, hearing of the new-forged wealth of Erebor, sacked the Mountain, occupying the Great Hall and driving the Dwarves into exile and (relative) penury. For two centuries the Dragon was unchallenged until, in 2941, the unlikely combination of thirteen Dwarves and one Hobbit led to the unexpected demise of the Worm and the return of the King under the Mountain.

In the War of the Ring, Erebor was again attacked, by Easter-lings of Sauron's rule, but the combined forces of Dwarves of Erebor and Men of Dale successfully withstood a siege there until news came north of Sauron's overthrow. The heartened defenders, led by Thorin II Stonehelm and Bard II of Dale, sallied forth and drove away the enemy. Ever after the Kingdom under the Mountain was in alliance with and under the protection of Gondor.

Erech
–
See
STONE OF ERECH
.

Ered Engrin
– The
IRON MOUNTAINS
.

Ered Gorgoroth
– The
MOUNTAINS OF TERROR
.

Ered Lindon
– A name given by some of the High-elves to the Ered Luin, the Blue Mountains. This was of course because they first espied these mountains from the land of Lindon, then in eastern Beleriand.

Ered Lithui
– The ‘Ashy Mountains' which provided Mordor with a northern rampart. The range ran east from the Morannon (parallel with the southern range of the Ephel Dúath) into the wide and desolate lands of southern Rhûn. Upon a south-westerly spur projecting from the inner wall stood the Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower.