The Complete Tolkien Companion (9 page)

Artanis
‘Noble Woman' (Q.) – The name given to the Elf-princess
GALADRIEL
by her father Finarfin.

Artano
‘High-smith' (Q.) – A name adopted by Sauron in the early years of the Second Age, when he put on a fair form and walked among Elves and Men.

Arthad
– One of the twelve faithful comrades of Barahir of the Edain, who dwelled with him in Dorthonion after its capture by Morgoth during the War of the Great Jewels, and who shared his adventures and sufferings. He was later slain, as a result of the betrayal of the outlaws by one of their number, Gorlim the Unhappy.

Arthedain
– The meaning of the name, ‘The-Kingdom-of-the-[Dún]Edain', indicates the lineage of this realm, last of the Númenorean North-kingdoms to perish and State-apparent to the lordship of ancient
ARNOR
. Being divided into three on the death of Eärendur, tenth King, Arnor did not survive beyond the ninth century of the Third Age; yet the smaller realm of Arthedain lingered on, often in desperate straits, for a further thousand years. This was no doubt due to the fact that the Line of Isildur was strictly maintained there.

The primary act of Arthedain's first King, Amlaith, eldest son of Eärendur, was to remove the capital from Elendil's city of Annúminas to the more strategic site of Fornost Erain (Norbury of the Kings) on the North Downs. As the senior kingdom of the three, Arthedain kept possession of two of the three Seeing-stones (
palantíri
) of the North: the Stones of Emyn Beraid (Tower Hills) and of Annúminas. For many years Arthedain was at peace – apart from disputes with Rhudaur and, less often, Cardolan. But with the establishment of the evil realm of Angmar (
c.
1300 Third Age), this last Kingdom of the Dúnedain of the North became gravely imperilled.

In wars that lasted over seven hundred years, Arthedain, sometimes in alliance with Cardolan, fought bitterly against encroachment by Angmar and Rhudaur. After Cardolan was ravaged in 1409 the Kings at Fornost fought on, often with aid from Elvenfolk of Lindon and Rivendell, until the final disaster in 1974 – when the Witch-king of Angmar captured Fornost and drove King Arvedui north to perish in the icy wastes of Forochel. With him died the last Númenorean Kingdom in the North of Middle-earth.

Arthórien
– A wooded region between the rivers Aros and Celon in East Beleriand, peopled only by Nandor (Green-elves).

Arvedui
‘Last-king' (Sind.) – From 1964–74 Third Age, the fifteenth and, as his name signifies, last King of Arthedain, longest surviving successor state to the old realm of Arnor. At his birth the following words were spoken of him by the royal counsellor: ‘Arvedui you shall call him, for he will be the last in Arthedain. Though a choice will come to the Dúnedain, and if they take the one that seems less hopeful, then your son will change his name and become king of a great realm.'
13
(
See
MALBETH THE SEER
.) On the death of King Ondoher of Gondor, together with his sons Artamir and Faramir (in 1944 Third Age), Arvedui claimed the crown of Gondor. By this time a man of full age though not yet King of Arthedain, Arvedui made this claim as the husband of the only surviving child of Ondoher (Fíriel, whom he had married four years previously)
and
as the Heir of Elendil, whose son, Isildur, said Arvedui, ‘did not relinquish his royalty in Gondor, nor intend that the realm of Elendil should be divided for ever.'
14
But Gondor made no reply, and the Crown was granted to a victorious general instead.

In 1974 Third Age, in the tenth year of Arvedui's reign, the power of the neighbouring Witch-realm of Angmar arose again and, before the winter was over, the Witch-king descended once more upon Arthedain and captured Fornost. Together with a handful of loyal guards, Arvedui escaped in the nick of time into the far North, seeking aid from the snow-dwellers of the great ice-bay of Forochel. In the spring Círdan the Shipwright, hearing of the King's plight, sent a ship north to rescue him. But the winter was not quite yet ended, and the Elf-ship bearing Arvedui was driven back into the pack-ice by a wild storm which rose unlooked-for in the night. So perished Arvedui Last-king, and with him the Kingdom of Arthedain.
15

Arvegil
– From 1670–1743 Third Age, the eleventh King of Arthedain.

Arveleg I
– From 1356–1409 Third Age, the eighth King of Arthedain, son of Argeleb I. When his father was slain by invading forces of Angmar and Rhudaur in 1356, Arveleg rallied the Dúnedain and, aided by an Elf-host from Lindon, drove away the invaders from the fortified line of Weather Hills. For fifty years Arveleg maintained the eastern ramparts against Angmar, falling in the invasion of 1409, in a final unsuccessful defence of
AMON SÛL
. Angmar was later driven back by forces from Lindon and Rivendell.

Arveleg II
– From 1743–1813 Third Age, the twelfth King of Arthedain.

Arvernien
– The southernmost part of West Beleriand, a hilly region of fair woods (
see
NIMBRETHIL
), bordered on the east by the Mouths of Sirion, and on the west and south by the Great Sea and the Bay of Balar. Its south-western promontory was Cape Balar. Here Eärendil the Mariner built the ship Vingilot, of birch-wood from the forests of Arvernien.

Arwen Evenstar
– The daughter of Elrond Halfelven and Celebrían, daughter of Galadriel. She was born in the year 241 Third Age in Rivendell; and so great was her loveliness that in her, it was said, the likeness of
LÚTHIEN TINÚVIEL
had returned to earth. To the children of Elrond was appointed the Choice of the Half-elven: to become of mortal kind and die in Middle-earth, or to take ship into the West with Elrond when the time came for the Three Rings to pass away. For many years Arwen Undómiel (‘Evenstar') dwelt among her mother's kin, in Lothlórien, to the east of the Misty Mountains. It was here that she fell in love with Aragorn II of the Dúnedain, and so made her Choice. Thus the Doom of Lúthien was indeed shared by Arwen Evenstar.

Ascar
‘Rushing' (Sind.) – The northernmost of the six tributaries of the Gelion, in Ossiriand. It was afterwards called
Rathlóriel
(‘Golden-bed'), because of the treasure of Doriath that was lost in its waters.

Asëa aranion
‘King's-leaf' (Q.) – A healing plant known in Gondor as ‘kingsfoil' and in the north as
athelas
(Sind.).

Asfaloth
– The swift white steed of
GLORFINDEL
, Noldorin Elf of Rivendell.

Asgon
– A Man of Dor-lómin; he aided the escape from that land of Túrin after the slaying of Brodda the cruel Easterling.

Ash[y] Mountains
– The
Ered Lithui,
northern rampart of Mordor, which ran east from the Black Gate into the southlands of Rhûn. Upon a spur which jutted south from the inner wall stood Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower of Sauron.

Asta
‘month' (Q.) – The name given by Númenorean loremasters to the new unit of calendar-computation devised by them early in the Second Age and subsequently incorporated into the Kings' Reckoning system – which was eventually adopted by many of the people living in the Westlands of Middle-earth during the last half of the Third Age.

The
asta
was equal to one-twelfth of the solar year, which the Númenoreans divided into ten
astar
of 30 days each and two of 31. In both the later Stewards' Reckoning and the New Reckoning of the Fourth Age, all the
astar
had 30 days; however, in all three reckoning-systems there were also 3 to 5 additional days which did not fall into any
asta.

Astaldo
‘Valiant' (Q.) – A title of the Vala
TULKAS
.

Astron
– In the Shire Reckoning, the fourth month of the year, roughly equivalent to our April. In Bree this month was known as
Chithing.

Atalantë
‘The Downfallen' (Q.) – The High-elven equivalent of the Adûnaic word
Akallabêth,
applied to the land of Númenor after its inundation.

Note:
the close resemblance between this Quenya word and the name
Atlantis
– particularly noteworthy because both are names of vanished, inundated civilisations – may be considered a fit subject for comment. For if the linguistic and historical identification of Atalantë with Atlantis is sustainable, then the Fall of Númenor – and, by cross-dating, all other events spoken of in this
Companion
– can actually be dated in modern historical terms.

The Atlantis myth comes down to us from the Athenian, Plato; who had it (he said) from the writings of an earlier Greek sage, Solon – who had reportedly heard the story in Egypt, during his travels in the sixth century BC. In the Egyptian's story, as reported by Solon, the fall of Atlantis was dated positively to a period 9,000 years earlier. Therefore, if the connection is accepted between
Atalantë
and
Atlantis,
and if the other details of the story are likewise taken at face value, the fall of Atlantis/Númenor took place in, or can be computed to, the ending of the last ice age, approximately 11,000 BC, nowadays thought to have witnessed world inundations on a massive scale.

See also
AVALLÓNË
.

Atanamir (Tar-Atanamir)
‘Jewel-of-Men' (Q.) – From 2029–2291 Second Age, the thirteenth King of Númenor. During Atanamir's reign the exploitation of the coastlands and forests of Middle-earth grew still more relentless. Moreover he was one of the first openly to protest the Ban of the Valar, which was held by Númenoreans to deny Men the Gift (or Doom) of immortality. As a result, messengers were sent from the West to Númenor, to soothe their spirits and explain the Ban of the Valar. But Atanamir was not soothed. Númenor later split into factions, a situation which eventually brought about civil war – and the final fall of the Land of the Star. He was one of those few Númenorean rulers who clung to the Sceptre until death took them.

Atanatar I
– From 667–748 Third Age, the tenth King of Gondor.

Atanatar II Alcarin (‘The Glorious')
– From 1149–1226 Third Age, the sixteenth King of Gondor. When he inherited the realm from his father Hyarmendacil I, Gondor was at the peak of her might. The succession of the four imperial ‘Ship-kings', culminating in the mighty Hyarmendacil, had scattered the enemies of the Dúnedain, and no foe dared to contest the will of the Men of the West. Atanatar II, unlike his renowned forbears, did little to maintain the power that had passed to him, preferring to squander the tremendous wealth of Gondor in idle pursuits and ostentatious luxury.

The commencement of Gondor's slow decline can thus be attributed to Alcarin, though in his day such an eventuality seemed unthinkable. During his reign the Crown of Gondor, once a simple Númenorean war-helm, was replaced by a jewelled crown of mithril and other precious metals. Such was Atanatar Alcarin's concept of kingship.

Atanatári
‘Fathers-of-Men' (Q.) – One of the oldest Elvish names for Men, and used only of the first of the Edain to enter Beleriand. It was a title of ceremony rather than a figure of speech.

Atandil
‘Friend-of-Men' (Q.) – A title awarded to Finrod Felagund.

Atani
–
See
EDAIN
.

Atendëa
– The leap-year in the Númenorean calendar (Kings' Reckoning). The name means ‘double-middle', so called because the extra day was allowed for by doubling Mid-year's Day (
loëndë
).

Athelas
– A plant of great healing virtue brought to Middle-earth, it is said, by the Númenoreans of the Second Age. It grew sparsely in the North and only in places where the Men of Westernesse had passed. The plant was certainly known in Númenor, where the Valinorean name
asëa aranion
was used; but in Gondor, where this ‘kingsfoil' grew abundantly, its healing properties were unknown and the leaves were esteemed only for their refreshing scent.

‘Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth'
– Also titled
Of Death and the Children of Eru, and the Marring of Men;
a prose narrative of a debate said to have taken place shortly before the Dagor Bragollach, between
ANDRETH
of the First House of the Edain and Finrod son of Finwë of the Noldor. It has been written down many times and in many forms, but fundamentally takes the form of a debate concerning the respective fates of Elves and Men, which comes about as a result of Finrod's grief and wonderment at the short lives of Men. It soon becomes clear that Andreth is articulating a well of bitterness which fills her people concerning their short lives (and uncertain fate) compared with those of the Eldar; and as the debate continues, she also reveals another motive for her sorrow: her own love for one of the High-elves, none other than Aegnor brother of Finrod, which, she knows, can never be returned. Meanwhile Finrod, deeply moved, attempts to reassure her – and perhaps, to some extent, himself – on all these points; but his success is only partial and when the debate draws to a close a residue of uncertainty concerning these matters remains.
16

Aulë the Smith
– One of the great Valar; the Lord of all material things, or of things made by craft; oldest and greatest of loremasters and the most skilful of all artisans; the Maker of the Dwarves. Aulë was the Spouse of Yavanna Kementári, the Vala who made all things that grow or have ever grown upon the earth, and together they did much to shape the face of the world in its Beginning.