Race: Man
Culture: Northmen

He lived with his animals (horses, dogs and ponies among others) in a wooden house between the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood, to the east of the Anduin.

Beorn was of immense size and strength for a man, and retained his size and strength in bear-form. He had brown hair and a thick black beard and broad shoulders.

Beorn often left his home, for hours or days at a time, for purposes not completely known. It is possible he could have left to drive out or eliminate enemies and other threats from the surrounding lands, and/or to find edible vegetation from further away. Beorn could be nocturnal as well, as he seemed to leave at night in bear-form. His origins lay in the distant past, and Gandalf the Grey suspected he and his people had originally come from the mountains.

Beorn named the Carrock and created the steps that led from its base to the flat top.

In The Hobbit, Beorn received Gandalf, Bilbo Baggins, and the thirteen Dwarves and aided them in their quest to reclaim the Dwarves' kingdom beneath Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. He was convinced of their trustworthiness after confirming their tale of encountering the Goblins of the Misty Mountains, and Gandalf's slaying of their leader, the Great Goblin.

Later, hearing of a vast host of Goblins on the move, Beorn arrived at the Lonely Mountain in time to strike the decisive blow in the Battle of Five Armies, slaying the new Goblin leader, Bolg, and his bodyguards; without direction, the Goblin army scattered and were easy pickings for the other armies of Men, Elves, Dwarves, and Eagles.

In the years between the Battle of Five Armies and the War of the Ring, Beorn became a leader of Men, including other shape-shifters, and woodsmen. His people were known as the Beornings, and they helped defend Thranduil's kingdom at northern Mirkwood. He died some time before the War of the Ring itself began, and was succeeded by his son Grimbeorn the Old.

Characteristics:

   Beorn was a skilled woodworker and builder, especially within his property, as he was also adroit with hand tools. He was very protective of his trained animals, who were of high intelligence. He was usually suspicious and distrustful of strangers, so Gandalf had to trick him into giving his party shelter (which he received in good humour). He was also fearless and intimidating, and a fearsome enemy (after capturing and interrogating a goblin and a warg hunting for Gandalf's party, he mounted the goblin's head on a pike and skinned the warg).

Beorn lived on simple diet of bread, honey and clotted cream.

Appearances

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

Tolkien invented Tom Bombadil in honour of his children's Dutch doll, and wrote light-hearted children's poems about him, imagining him as a nature-spirit evocative of the English countryside, which in Tolkien's time had begun to disappear.

Tolkien's 1934 poem "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" depicts Bombadil as a "merry fellow" living in a dingle close to the Withywindle river, where he wanders, exploring nature at his leisure. Several of the dingle's mysterious residents, including the River-spirit Goldberry (also known as the "River-woman's daughter"), the malevolent tree-spirit Old Man Willow, the Badger-folk and a Barrow-wight all attempt to capture Bombadil for their own ends, but quail at the power of Tom's voice, which defeats their enchantments and commands them to return to their natural existence. At the end of the poem, Bombadil captures Goldberry, and the two are married. Throughout the poem, Bombadil is unconcerned by the attempts to capture him and brushes them off with an inherent power in his words.

The later poem "Bombadil Goes Boating" anchors Bombadil in Middle-earth, featuring a journey down the Withywindle to the Brandywine river, where Hobbits ("Little Folk I know there") live at Hays-End. Bombadil is challenged by various river-residents on his journey, including birds, otters and hobbits, but cows them all with his voice, ending his journey at the farm of Farmer Maggot, where he drinks ale and dances with the family. At the end of the poem, the cowed birds and otters work together to bring Bombadil's boat home. The poem includes a reference to the Norse lay of Ótr, when Bombadil threatens to give the hide of a disrespectful otter to the Barrow-wights, who he says will cover it with gold apart from a single whisker. The poem mentions a number of Middle-earth locations, including Hays-End, Bree and the Tower Hills, and hints at the events of the end of the Third Age, speaking of "Tall Watchers by the Ford, Shadows on the Marches".

The poems were published in the collections The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and later in Tales from the Perilous Realm.

Within The Lord of the Rings, Tom Bombadil is a mysterious figure who functions as a deus ex machina. He and his wife Goldberry, the "Daughter of the River," still live in their house on the Withywindle, and some of the characters and situations from the original poem are recycled directly into story-elements for The Lord of the Rings. In the book, he is described as "Master of wood, water and hill," and nearly always speaks or sings in stress-timed metre: 7-beat lines broken into groups of 4 and 3. He appears in three chapters, "The Old Forest," "In the House of Tom Bombadil," and "Fog on the Barrow-Downs." He is also mentioned briefly in the chapter "The Council of Elrond" and at the end of the story in "Homeward Bound" and "The Grey Havens". Behind Bombadil's simple façade are hints of great knowledge and power, though limited to his own domain.

The Lord of the Rings

Tom first appears within the story after Merry and Pippin are trapped by Old Man Willow and Frodo cries for help. Tom commands Old Man Willow to release them, singing him to sleep, and shelters the hobbits in his house for a couple of nights. Here it is revealed that the One Ring has no power over Bombadil. He can see Frodo even when the hobbit wears the Ring, and Tom (an immortal) does not turn invisible when he wears the Ring himself. He even tosses the Ring in the air and makes it disappear, but then produces it from his other hand and returns it to Frodo. While this demonstrates he has unique and mysterious power over the Ring, the idea of giving him the Ring for safekeeping is rejected within Book Two's second chapter, "The Council of Elrond." Gandalf says, rather, that "the Ring has no power over him", and believes that Tom would simply not find the Ring to be very important and so might simply misplace it.

Frodo spends two nights in Tom Bombadil's house, each night dreaming a different dream. The first night he dreams of fearful things. The second night he dreams of a grey rain-curtain turning all to silver glass and rolling back, and white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.

Before sending the hobbits on their way, Tom teaches them a rhyme to summon him if they fall into danger inside his borders again. This proves fortunate, as the four encounter Barrow-wights during "Fog on the Barrow-downs," the eighth chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring. After saving them from the Barrow-wights, Tom gives each hobbit a long dagger taken from the treasure in the barrows. As the hobbits leave the Old Forest, he refuses to pass the borders of his own land, but before he goes he directs them to The Prancing Pony Inn at Bree.

Towards the end of The Return of the King, when Frodo and Gandalf take their leave, Gandalf mentions that he wants to have a long talk with Bombadil, calling him a "moss-gatherer." Gandalf also says, in response to Frodo's query of how well Bombadil is getting along, that Bombadil is "as well as ever" and "quite untroubled". Gandalf also states that Bombadil is "not much interested in anything that we have done and seen", save their visits to the Ents. At the very end of The Lord of the Rings, as Frodo sails off on the High Sea and passes on into the West and leaves Middle-earth, he has what seems to him the very experience that appeared to him in the house of Bombadil in the second night of his dream.

Characteristics

Tom Bombadil is a spry fellow, with a quick, playful wit. He speaks in a rhyming whimsical way: "Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo!/ Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!" He has a jolly, carefree attitude, and very little seems to concern him. He certainly does not seem to share the same concerns as everybody else about the One Ring, even though he seems to know at least as much as the hobbits about its connections and possible consequences. Indeed, this aspect of his personality seems quite perplexing: the discussions of those at the council of Elrond at Rivendell, and especially those of Gandalf, seem to indicate that Bombadil would not be immune to the actions of a rejuvenated Sauron; however, he seems to be wholly unconcerned with this fact and immune to the power of the Ring. In fact, the closest thing to an adversary Bombadil has, in the loosest sense of that word, is possibly Old Man Willow, who occupies and holds dominion over the trees in miles of Tom's "country"; although Bombadil does seem to demonstrate at least some control over him.

Tom Bombadil's origins in the cosmology of Middle-earth were left vague by Tolkien. He calls himself the "Eldest" and the "Master". He claims to remember "the first raindrop and the first acorn", and "knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless — before the Dark Lord came from Outside." He does not neatly fit into the categories of beings Tolkien created. Speculative ideas about his true nature range from one of the Ainur, angelic beings (as the only beings on the earth before "the Dark Lord came in from Outside" were the Ainur, who shaped the earth), or God, who is called Eru Ilúvatar and "the One" in Tolkien's legendarium (the latter in The Lord of the Rings). This is reinforced when Frodo asks Goldberry just who Tom Bombadil is, and she responds by simply saying "He is." Tolkien himself did not elaborate much further, but when a reader confronted him with the theory that Bombadil was "the One", Tolkien said that he was not.^[1]

At the Council of Elrond, Tom Bombadil is referred to by Galdor as being unable to deal with a siege by Sauron "unless such power is in the earth itself", implying that the character is a manifestation of Middle-earth's inherent properties. This connection explains Bombadil's seeming obliviousness to the transient concerns of mortals, as evidenced in Gandalf's concern that Tom would not understand the importance of the ring, and hence lose it, if it were entrusted to him. The idea that Tom's songs are always "stronger", as he proclaims in his rhyme, as well as his title of Master, further suggest Bombadil is the warden of nearly invincible aspects of the planet itself.

Also in the Fellowship of The Ring, in his house, Tom Bombadil tries on the One Ring, which has no effect on him or the ring. He plays with it, and puts it back. Bombadil later claims to be older than the hills, and was the first creature on Middle Earth. For this reason, later in the Council of Elrond, the council admit that Bombadil is immune to the powers of the Ring, and if employed as a ring bearer, would either lose interest or discard it.

In reference to Bombadil, Tolkien himself said that some things should remain mysterious in any narrative, hidden even to its inventor. Tom Bombadil is not the only being whose nature is unexplained, however. While passing the Caradhras in Book II of The Fellowship of the Ring Gandalf mentions beings more ancient even than Sauron. In Book III of The Two Towers, when describing his fall in the pits of Moria, he also mentions dark creatures who gnaw the world. In addition, Tolkien placed the fate of the Entwives in this enigmatic category, as well as the Cats of Queen Berúthiel.

A parallel to the conception of Bombadil may be found in C. S. Lewis's book The Discarded Image, in which he observes that, while in most respects the medieval conception of the universe is rigidly stratified, with angels, planets, humans and animals all occupying their proper ranks, the fairy beings of folklore appeared to flit through irresponsibly and not have any allotted place, and there was no agreed theory on their origin. In the same way, Bombadil does not fit anywhere into the scheme of the universe set out in the Silmarillion.

   If anyone else has any questions about a character or place in Middle Earth please send us a private message or leave us a comment.

~Natalie and Samantha~

Denethor married Finduilas of Dol Amroth in TA 2976. He loved her deeply, and she bore him two sons, Boromir and Faramir. Finduilas died five years after Faramir was born, partly because of the darkening Shadow of Mordor which filled her with horror. Denethor became grim and silent after her death. He favored his elder son, Boromir, who was like Denethor in spirit and personality, but not in looks. Faramir looked like his father, but became enamored of Gandalf, which caused Denethor to hate the wizard even more.

Denethor was devastated when he heard the news that Boromir, whom he had sent to seek for Imladris, had been killed. Denethor looked into the palantir of Minas Tirith, believing that he had strength to match wills with Sauron, and thus became ensnared by the Dark Lord. Sauron showed Denethor visions only of the might of the armies of Mordor, and Denethor became convinced that the war was hopeless.

After Faramir was seriously wounded in battle, Denethor ordered his servants to carry Faramir to the Tombs, where all his ancestors were buried. There Denethor wished to burn to death both himself and his son, rather than face the seemingly inevitable defeat in battle. Faramir was saved by the loyalty of his soldier, Beregond, but Denethor leapt onto the pyre and was consumed in the flames.

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     Minas Tirith was located in the region of Anorien in northern Gondor. The City was at the foot of Mount Mindolluin, the easternmost of the White Mountains, on the west bank of the Anduin across the river from Mordor. A rocky spur joined Mount Mindolluin to the Hill of Guard, upon which the City was built.

The City of Minas Tirith consisted of seven circular levels, each higher than the next. The top level was 700 feet above the ground. Each level was enclosed by a strong stone wall. The main wall on the first level - called the City Wall or Othram - was especially high and thick. It was considered unbreachable and its hard, smooth surface was similar to that of Orthanc. The City Wall was described as "dark" (RotK, p. 96) and thus it may not have been made of white stone like the other walls of the City were.

The Great Gate on the first level faced eastward, but the other gates were not aligned with it in order to make the capture of the City more difficult for an attacker. The gates on the second through sixth levels faced alternately southeast and northeast, while the gate of the seventh level faced eastward. Each gate had its own passwords. The main roadway zigzagged from gate to gate up to the seventh level. There were a number of other streets and lanes in each level as well.

On the front or eastern side of the Hill of Guard, a bastion of stone rose from behind the Great Gate up to the seventh level. This stone outcropping bisected the second through sixth levels, and arched tunnels were carved into it to allow the main roadway to pass through. A sloping tunnel was bored into the stone to reach the seventh gate. On the seventh level the top of the stone outcropping formed a battlement. At the far end of the battlement there was an opening in the wall and a stone seat where people could look down at the Great Gate and out over the Pelennor Fields.

There were many great houses and courts in Minas Tirith as well as towers from which bells chimed the hours of the day. In the treasuries and archives of the City were many books and scrolls containing ancient lore and wisdom.

On the first level of the City there was a wide courtyard beyond the Great Gate. The Old Guesthouse was also located on the first level in the Lampwrights' Street.

The Hallows were on the back or western side of the fifth level upon the rocky spur that joined the Hill of Guard to Mount Mindolluin. The rulers of Gondor were entombed there in the House of the Kings and the House of the Stewards in the Silent Street. The Hallows could only be reached by a winding road that led down from Fen Hollen - the Closed Door - on the sixth level.

The Houses of Healing were on the sixth level of Minas Tirith on the southeastern side. The gardens around the Houses of Healing were unique in the City. Also on the sixth level near the gate leading to the Citadel there were stables and the lodgings of errand riders.

The Citadel stood atop the seventh level of Minas Tirith. It was a strong, walled fortress where the ruler of Gondor had his court. Around the walls of the Citadel were seven towers and in the center was the Tower of Ecthelion, a white tower standing 300 feet tall. From the Tower Hall the Kings and later the Stewards ruled. The King's House was located behind the tower to the west. On the north side of the tower was the Great Hall of Feasts. In front of the tower to the east was the Court of the Fountain, paved with white stones. Beside the fountain in the courtyard stood the White Tree of Gondor.

Outside the walls of Minas Tirith were the rich farmlands of the Pelennor Fields where crops were grown and herds were kept. There were some homesteads in the Pelennor Fields, though most people lived in the City. An outer wall called the Rammas Echor enclosed the Pelennor Fields and the City, running from Mount Mindolluin to the banks of the Anduin and then back to the mountain. At its farthest point, in the northeast, the Rammas Echor was 12 miles from Minas Tirith. At its closest point, in the southeast, the wall was only 3 miles from the City.

Two main roads led to Minas Tirith. The South Road came to the city from the southern lands of Gondor. The Great West Road came from Rohan, and beyond the Gap of Rohan it joined the North-South Road to Eriador where the Kingdom of Arnor was located. Ships and boats came to Minas Tirith along the Anduin and docked at the Harlond below the southeastern part of the Rammas Echor. A bridge spanned the Anduin in Osgiliath, a city located on both sides of the river east of Minas Tirith.

   This is a map of the white city...

When Gondor was founded in 3320 of the Second Age, Osgiliath was its chief city. Elendil's sons Isildur and Anarion ruled jointly from Osgiliath, but they also established their own strongholds on either side of the Anduin. Isildur built Minas Ithil - the Tower of the Moon - on the eastern side, and Anarion built Minas Anor - the Tower of the Sun - on the western side.

In 3429 of the Second Age, Sauron attacked Gondor. Minas Ithil was captured and Isildur went north seeking aid while Anarion defended Osgiliath and Minas Anor. Anarion's forces were able to drive Sauron back to Mordor until the Last Alliance of Men and Elves arrived. Anarion was slain during the War of the Last Alliance in 3440 and the war ended with Sauron's defeat the next year.

Isildur planted a seedling of the White Tree in Minas Anor in memory of his brother in the year 2 of the Third Age. Ostoher, the seventh King of Gondor, rebuilt and expanded Minas Anor starting in the year 420. Afterwards it became customary for the Kings of Gondor to dwell in Minas Anor in the summer months, though Osgiliath remained their primary seat.

Osgiliath was damaged during the civil war of the Kin-strife in 1437, and after the Great Plague of 1636 the city was partially deserted. In 1640, King Tarondor permanently relocated the King's court to Minas Anor and it became the chief city of Gondor. The White Tower was built in the Citadel of Minas Anor in 1900 by King Calimehtar and the palantir known as the Anor-stone was housed there.

In 2002, the Nazgul captured Minas Ithil and it was renamed Minas Morgul - the Tower of Black Sorcery. Afterwards, Minas Anor was renamed Minas Tirith - the Tower of Guard - because of the City's constant vigilance against the threat across the river. The Rammas Echor surrounding Minas Tirith and its outlying lands may have been built around this time as an added defense against attack.

In 2050, King Earnur went to Minas Morgul in response to a challenge from the Lord of the Nazgul and never returned. He left no heir, so from that time on the Stewards ruled Gondor in the absence of a King. The Stewards sat in a black chair at the foot of the royal dais in the Tower Hall of Minas Tirith. In place of the royal standard bearing the emblem of the White Tree and Seven Stars, a plain white banner flew from the top of the Tower.

The White Tower was rebuilt in 2698 by the Steward Ecthelion I and it came to be called the Tower of Ecthelion. In 2872, after the death of the Steward Belecthor II, the White Tree withered and died. It was left standing in the Court of the Fountain, for no seedling could be found.

By the end of the Third Age, the population of Minas Tirith had declined and the City began to fall into decay. But Minas Tirith remained the chief city of Gondor and it was on the frontline of defense against the threat of Mordor. Sauron had returned to Mordor in 2942 and in 2951 he declared himself openly and began to increase his strength and forces.

On March 13, 3019, Sauron's forces crossed the Anduin. The Rammas Echor was breached and the Pelennor Fields were overrun. The Enemy forces led by the Lord of the Nazgul laid siege to Minas Tirith. Catapults launched missiles over the City Wall that burst into flames and fires began to burn in the first level. The severed heads of fallen soldiers of Gondor were also catapulted over the wall. Soon the first level was deserted by all but a few defenders.

Just before dawn on March 15, the Great Gate of Minas Tirith was shattered by the huge battering ram called Grond. The Lord of the Nazgul rode through the gate and was confronted by Gandalf the White. Until that time, no enemy had ever entered the gates of the City. Then dawn came and horns sounded across the Pelennor Fields. The Riders of Rohan had come to the aid of Minas Tirith.

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields lasted from dawn until dusk. The Rohirrim and the Men of Gondor fought against the Enemy forces of Orcs and Men, including Easterlings and Haradrim mounted on Oliphaunts. During the battle, King Theoden of Rohan was slain and the Lord of the Nazgul was defeated by Eowyn and Merry Brandybuck. In the Hallows of Minas Tirith, Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, succumbed to despair and burned himself alive, nearly taking his son Faramir with him.

As the tide of the battle was turning against the defenders, Aragorn arrived with reinforcements in the ships of the Corsairs, and he unfurled the banner bearing the White Tree and Seven Stars of the Kings of Gondor. The Enemy forces were all slain or driven into the river, and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields was won.

Aragorn did not yet enter Minas Tirith as King, though he went to the Houses of Healing to tend to the wounded. On March 18, Aragorn led the Host of the West from Minas Tirith and they marched to the Black Gate of Mordor. There, on March 25, they engaged the Enemy forces in the Battle of the Morannon until the Ring was destroyed and the realm of Sauron fell. Watching from the walls of Minas Tirith, Eowyn and Faramir saw the Shadow depart and the people of the City sang for joy.

Aragorn came to the gates of Minas Tirith on May 1 and was crowned King. The banner of the Stewards was taken down from the Tower of Ecthelion and the standard of the King was raised in its place. On June 25, Aragorn found a sapling of the White Tree on Mount Mindolluin and it was planted in the Court of the Fountain and soon it blossomed with white flowers. Arwen came to Minas Tirith and she married Aragorn on Mid-year's Day.

The Great Gate was replaced by Gimli and the Dwarves of the Glittering Caves. Gimli also offered the services of the Dwarves in improving the stonework and the layout of the City's streets, while Legolas said that the Elves would plant gardens and trees in Minas Tirith. The population of the City increased and the people prospered under the reign of Aragorn, King Elessar.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a Hobbit-hole, and that means comfort." –The Hobbit, Chapter 1, "An Unexpected Party"

Full name: Aragorn II
Name meaning: Royal ---- (Sindarin Elvish)
Aliases: Estel, Elessar, Elfstone, Strider, Telcontar, Isildur's Heir, the Renewer, Longshanks, Thorongil, the Dúnadan, and Wing-foot. Called Trotter in Tolkien's early writings.
Date of birth: March 1st, TA 2931
Date of death: March 1st, FO 120
Race: Human
Parents: Arathorn II (father) and Gilraen (mother)
Siblings: None
Spouse: Arwen Undomiel
Children: A son, Eldarion, and several daughters
Hair color: Dark, flecked with grey
Eye color: Grey in the books; blue in the movies
Played in the movies by: Viggo Mortensen

History: Aragorn was the heir to the throne of Gondor, one of the lands of Men. His father, Arathorn, died when Aragorn was two years old, and his mother took him to Rivendell, where he was raised by Elrond Halfelven. Elrond gave Aragorn the name Estel (meaning "hope"), and concealed from Aragorn his lineage. When Aragorn was twenty, Elrond told him his true name and ancestry, and gave him the Ring of Barahir and the shards of the sword Narsil, heirlooms of Aragorn's house. The next day, while walking at sunset, Aragorn met and immediately fell in love with Elrond's daughter, Arwen. Elrond perceived Aragorn's love and told him that Aragorn was not permitted to marry any woman, let alone Arwen, until he was found worthy, so Aragorn went into the wild to prove himself. At twenty-five, Aragorn met Gandalf and assisted him through many perils. Twenty-four years later, Aragorn entered Lothlorien, where Queen Galadriel clothed him as an Elf-lord. Arwen was also at Rivendell at that time, and at the moment when she looked on him after their long parting, her choice was made. They plighted their troth on the hill of Cerin Amroth, but when Elrond learned of his daughter's choice, he forbade Arwen to be the bride of any man less than the king of both Gondor and Arnor (two kingdoms of Men), and Aragorn went forth again to danger and toil.

After the Warof the Ring, Aragorn married Arwen and ruled as king under the name foretold for him: Elessar. He lived in bliss for many years, but in FO 120, he knew that his days were drawing to an end. He had the gift of a lifespan thrice that of most Men of Middle-earth, but he also had the grace to return his gift. Aragorn died on March 1st of that year.

History of Bree:
   Bree was a very ancient settlement of men in Eriador, long established by the time of the

Bree was said to have been founded and populated by men who did not reach Beleriand in the first age, remaining east of the mountains in Eriador. The men of Bree were not closely related to the Edain, stemming instead from the same stock as the Dunlendings.

By the time of the War of the Ring Bree was the westernmost settlement of men in Middle-earth, and there was no other settlement of men within a hundred leagues of the Shire. A day's ride east along the road lay The Forsaken Inn, according to Aragorn, although nothing more is known of it.

Full name: Ugluk
Name meaning: Unknown, but probably Orkish
Aliases: None
Date of birth: Unknown
Date of death: February 29th, TA 3019
Race: Uruk-hai
Parents: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown
Spouse: Unknown
Children: Unknown
Hair color: Unknown
Eye color: Unknown
Played in the movies by: Nathaniel Lees

History: Ugluk was one of Saruman's orc hybrids, the Uruk-hai. When Saruman had news of the Fellowship of the Ring's whereabouts, he sent a party of orcs, including Ugluk, to capture any hobbits they could find. Ugluk succeeded in capturing Merry and Pippin, and his group of orcs started traveling back to Isengard. The group wasn't only made up of Saruman's orcs, though: there were some orcs from Mordor, and some from the Mines of Moria. The Mordor orcs wished to take the hobbits to Sauron, the Moria orcs wished to kill the hobbits in revenge for the Fellowship's killing many Moria orcs, and some orcs from each party were hungry for fresh meat and would gladly have eaten Merry and Pippin. Ugluk chopped off a few of the orcs' heads in answer, which quelled the quarrels for a bit. This was not an act of kindness towards the hobbits: Saruman's orders had been to bring the hobbits back alive and unspoiled. On the night of February 29th, TA 3019, the orcs were attacked by the Riders of Rohan, led by Éomer, the Third Marshall of the Mark. The Rohirrim killed all the orcs, and Éomer himself slew Ugluk.

Full name: Lurtz
Name meaning: Unknown
Aliases: None
Date of birth: c. TA 3018
Date of death: February 26th, TA 3019
Race: Uruk-hai
Parents: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown
Spouse: Unknown
Children: Unknown
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Yellow
Played in the movies by: Lawrence Makoare

History: MOVIE ONLY CHARACTER - Lurtz was Saruman's greatest achievement in breeding Uruk-hai. He was the biggest, strongest, and cruelest of all his fellow orcs. Saruman appointed him captain of the Uruk-hai and sent him to find the halflings, bring them back alive and unspoiled, and kill the halflings' companions. Lurtz succeeded in finding the Fellowship, and his minions captured Merry and Pippin. Lurtz also found Boromir, who tried in vain to protect the hobbits. Lurtz shot three arrows at Boromir, and would have shot a fourth, but Aragorn came to Boromir's defense and beheaded Lurtz after an intense battle.

Full name: Saruman
Name meaning: Crafty Man (Old English)
Aliases: Saruman the White, Saruman the Wise, Saruman of many colors, the White Hand, Curunir, Curumo, and Sharkey
Date of birth: Unknown
Date of death: November 3rd, TA 3019
Race: Maia
Parents: None
Siblings: None
Spouse: None
Children: None
Hair color: White
Eye color: Dark in the books; brown in the movies
Played in the movies by: Christopher Lee

History: Saruman was the chief of the Istari, and when he arrived in Middle-earth from Valinor, almost everyone considered him the wisest of the five wizards. He was appointed to the head of the White Council even though Galadriel would have chosen Gandalf. Saruman never forgot this, and held it against both Galadriel and Gandalf. Saruman offered to guard the fortress Isengard as a service to the stewards of Gondor. The Steward in office, Beren, readily agreed, as Saruman had not shown himself to be untrustworthy. Saruman took up his abode there, and used Orthanc as his headquarters for some of his study into the lore of the Rings of Power. This was his field of expertise, and his relationship with Gandalf did not improve when Gandalf doubted some of his assumptions. Saruman definitely did not intend to become evil in the beginning, but his study of the Rings and of Sauron led to that end. He looked into the palantir, or seeing-stone, of Orthanc, trusting his own strength, and thereby was ensnared by Sauron, who also possessed a palantir. Saruman began to create his own miniature Mordor, ripping down trees, forging weapons, and breeding orcs. He also sent a spy, Grima, into Rohan to weaken the King. He fancied all of this to be quite original; he turned a blind eye to the fact that he was mimicking Sauron. All this time, Saruman kept his intentions hidden from the White Council. His secret ambition was to find the One Ring so that he himself could wield it, and the best disguise for his true goal was to hold with the theory that the Ring had slid down the river into the sea, and now lay at the bottom of the ocean. Saruman also counselled that they should not invade Dol Guldur and drive its master out. Again, Gandalf didn't completely hold with either of these ideas, and again, Saruman hated Gandalf even more for it.

After the Battle of Helm's Deep.....

Treebeard, now guardian of Orthanc, had a weakness for seeing living things imprisoned, and Saruman still had the knowledge to speak to Treebeard in the exact way to make Treebeard pity him. Saruman's words had their desired effect, and Treebeard released Saruman and Grima, thinking there was no harm left in them. Saruman, though, certainly still had the power to do much harm, especially to innocent creatures. He took control of the Shire under the name Sharkey, recruiting many vile mercenaries to subdue to the hobbits. When Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry returned to the Shire, the hobbits created an uprising against the men, fought the Battle of Bywater, and won with hardly any bloodshed. The hobbits visited Saruman at Bag End; Saruman sneered at them and tried to stab Frodo on his way out. Frodo's hidden mail shirt snapped the blade, and Frodo insisted that Saruman be allowed to live. But something inside Grima, a kicked and beaten slave now, snapped: he jumped on Saruman, slit his throat, and ran away. He fell dead some paces later with several hobbit arrows in his back.

In the early days of Gondor at the end of the Second Age, the Men of Gondor built the Tower of Orthanc of unbreakable stone, and they smoothed and shaped the walls of the Ring of Isengard from the living rock of the mountain. The stronghold was established to guard the Gap between the Misty Mountains and the White Mountains, which was a vulnerable point in Gondor's western defenses. Isengard guarded the northern side of the Gap, while the stronghold of Aglarond - later called Helm's Deep - guarded the southern side of the Gap.

For a time, Isengard was inhabited by lords of Gondor who were the wardens of the western borders. Men of learning also lived in Isengard and studied the stars from the pinnacle of Orthanc. The palantir called the Orthanc-stone was kept in the Tower and was used to communicate with other parts of the realm. Orthanc was considered one of the three Towers of Gondor, along with Minas Anor and Minas Ithil.

Over time, however, the watch on the western border of Gondor decreased. The population of Calenardhon - the western region of Gondor near Isengard - diminished during the Great Plague of 1636. Many of the remaining inhabitants moved eastward. The main threat to Gondor came from enemies in the East, and thus the bulk of the defenses were focused in that direction.

Isengard was left in the care of local hereditary chieftains. The chieftains were Men of Gondor, but their subjects who dwelled in and around Isengard had become mixed with the Dunlendings who had begun to migrate from west of the Misty Mountains.

In 2510, Calenardhon was overrun by Easterlings and Orcs. Isengard was besieged during the invasion. The enemy forces were defeated at the Battle of the Field of Celebrant by the Eotheod, who had been led from the North by Eorl the Young. Cirion, the Steward of Gondor, gave the Eotheod the land of Calenardhon as a reward, and it became known as Rohan.

Isengard remained a stronghold of Gondor, though it was now separated from the rest of Gondor by the land of Rohan. The chieftain and his people continued to dwell in the Ring of Isengard, but the Tower of Orthanc was locked and the Keys were taken toMinas Tirith. Contact with Minas Tirith decreased and finally ceased, and Isengard became an isolated outpost.

During the reigns of King Brego and King Aldor of Rohan, the Dunlendings were driven out of Rohan. The Dunlendings grew to hate the Rohirrim and they became an enemy of Rohan.

The line of Gondorian chieftains at Isengard ended, and command of the stronghold was taken over by a local family who were of mixed blood and were friendly with the Dunlendings. After the death of King Aldor, the Dunlendings once again began to migrate through the Gap of Rohan. They were helped by the inhabitants of Isengard and settled in the mountains nearby.

In 2710, the Dunlendings took over Isengard. Most of the inhabitants of Isengard welcomed them, and those who remained loyal to Gondor were killed. The Dunlendings then began to raid the herds of horses in the Westfold, prompting King Deor of Rohan to lead a force to stop them. Deor defeated the raiders but was surprised to find that Isengard had been captured. The Rohirrim could not retake the stronghold. Deor sent a message to Egalmoth, the Steward of Gondor, but he was unable to send help. Isengard remained in the possession of the Dunlendings until the Long Winter of 2758-59, when they were starved out and surrendered to King Frealaf of Rohan.

In 2759, Saruman the White - the Chief of the Order of Wizards and head of the White Council - offered to take up residence in Isengard. Since Gondor was no longer able to maintain an adequate garrison at Isengard, the Steward Beren agreed and gave Saruman the Keys of Orthanc. The Rohirrim were also happy to have a powerful Wizard guarding a strategic point on their border with Dunland. For his part, Saruman was attracted by the strength of Isengard's position and defenses, and he also wanted access to the palantir in the Tower of Orthanc.

Saruman was entrusted with Isengard as a warden of the Steward of Gondor, but the Wizard had plans to expand his power. In 2953, he claimed Isengard as his own and isolated himself within its walls. Saruman began to fortify the stronghold and to assemble an army consisting of Orcs, Men of Dunland, and some creatures that appeared to be a mixture of both.

Saruman's army was housed in chambers built into the inner wall of the Ring of Isengard, and he kept wolves in dens beneath the wall. He destroyed the beautiful gardens and orchards of Isengard, and he built an underground network of workshops and forges to supply his army with weapons of war. Saruman intended to use his position of strength in Isengard in order to conquer Rohan as a first step toward his goal of ruling the world of Men.

On July 10, 3018, Gandalf the Grey came to Isengard, lured by a message from Saruman. When Gandalf refused to join forces with Saruman, Saruman imprisoned Gandalf atop the pinnacle of Orthanc. Gandalf was trapped on the small roof exposed to the elements until he was rescued by Gwaihir the Windlord on September 18.

In 3019, Saruman launched his attack on Rohan. At the First Battle of the Fords of Isen on February 25, a force from Isengard killed Theodred, the son of King Theoden. On March 2, Saruman began to unleash his full force from Isengard. During the day and early evening, a company of Saruman's best fighters to broke the defenses of the Rohirrim at the Second Battle of the Fords of Isen. Then at midnight, an army of over 10,000 Orcs, wolves, and Men came forth from Isengard, taking over an hour to pass through the gates. The army marched to Helm's Deep to besiege the Rohirrim, but they were ultimately defeated.

As soon as the gates were closed behind the departing army, Treebeard and the Ents attacked Isengard. The Ents ripped the gates from their hinges and began to tear down the great wall encompassing the Ring of Isengard. Most of the southern wall was destroyed, leaving only the archway where the gates had hung and the adjacent guardroom. A great crack was made in the northern part of the wall as well.

Saruman locked himself inside Orthanc. The Ents could not get a grip on the smooth, hard surface of the Tower and they were unable damage it beyond a few scratches and chips. Saruman attacked the Ents with liquid fire and fumes from vents and shafts in the grounds of Isengard. The Ents responded by gathering the waters of the River Isen and diverting them through the gap in the northern wall so that the Ring of Isengard was flooded. Water poured down into the shafts and doused the fires of Saruman's furnaces and forges.

The Hobbits Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took, who had accompanied the Ents, explored the grounds of Isengard. They discovered several store-rooms filled with provisions including barrels of Longbottom Leaf - a type of pipe-weed from the Shire, where Saruman had secret contacts.

On March 5, Gandalf and King Theoden arrived at Isengard to parley with Saruman. Saruman refused to give in, and Gandalf broke his staff and cast him from the Order of Wizards. As Gandalf and the others were leaving, Saruman's servant Grima Wormtongue threw the palantir down from Orthanc.

Saruman and Grima remained imprisoned in Orthanc under the guard of Treebeard and the Ents. The Ents formed a lake around Orthanc to prevent Saruman from escaping through a tunnel. They tore down the remainder of the Ring of Isengard and cleared away the rubble. The Ents then planted gardens and trees, and the grounds around the Tower were renamed the Treegarth of Orthanc.

Saruman used his powerful Voice to obtain his freedom from Treebeard, who disliked keeping any living thing captive. Saruman and Grima left Orthanc on August 15. Saruman took over the Shire but he was killed by Grima who in turn was slain by Hobbit archers.

Aragorn, King Elessar of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor came to Orthanc on August 22. Aragorn gave the Ents permission to inhabit the valley and asked them to keep watch over Orthanc. Treebeard gave the Keys of Orthanc to Aragorn, and the Tower of Orthanc was once again under the authority of the King. Aragorn ordered the restoration of Orthanc, and many treasures stolen by Saruman were discovered including the Elendilmir. The Orthanc-stone was returned to its place in the Tower, and Aragorn came to Orthanc from time to time and used the palantir to survey his realm.

*The name Isengard means "iron fortress" in the language of Rohan. The word ísen means "iron" in Old English, and geard means "enclosure" or "enclosed place."

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Orthanc by Alan Lee

Geography:

Isengard was located in the deep valley of Nan Curunir, the Wizard's Vale, at the roots of Methedras, the last peak of the Misty Mountains. The Wizard's Vale opened to the south onto the Gap of Rohan, between the Misty Mountains and the White Mountains. The land of Rohan was on the eastern side of the Gap, and the forest of Fangorn lay to the northeast. West of the Gap was the region called Dunland.

The River Isen flowed through the Wizard's Vale. A paved road ran along the western bank of the river and then curved toward Isengard, which was about 16 miles into the valley on the western side.

The great circular wall of the Ring of Isengard came out of the arm of the mountain itself and was made of hard, black stone. The wall was in part a natural formation, but had been smoothed and shaped by the Men of Gondor. The diameter of the Ring was one mile across.

There was a single entrance on the south side of the Ring of Isengard. It was an arched tunnel bored through the rock wall, with great gates at either end. The gates were made of iron and had hinges of steel with posts driven into the sides of the tunnel. The gates swung easily and noiselessly on their hinges when opened; when closed, they were locked with bars.

Inside the tunnel on the left side there was a staircase leading to a guardroom. The guardroom was a large, dark, stone chamber with a fireplace and windows looking out into the tunnel. Beyond the guardroom was a store-room filled with provisions. Another staircase led from the store-room to the top of the wall over the gates.

Around the inner side of the Ring of Isengard, there were numerous other rooms and halls carved into the great wall. During Saruman's time, thousands of workers, slaves, and soldiers were quartered there, and wolves were kept in dens beneath the walls.

Within the Ring of Isengard was a large circular plain. The ground dipped slightly to form a shallow bowl, at the center of which stood the Tower of Orthanc. Orthanc was made of hard, gleaming black stone. The Tower was man-made but appeared like a great spur of rock thrusting out of the plain.

The Tower was composed of four, many-sided columns of rock joined together that rose to a height of 500 feet and then forked into four sharp pinnacles. Between the pinnacles was a small roof of polished stone carved with astronomical signs where a person could stand and watch the stars. This platform could be reached by a single staircase of many thousand steps inside the Tower.

The only door into Orthanc was on the eastern side, in the angle of two of the stone columns. The Keys of Orthanc were used to lock this door. A flight of 27 stone steps led up to the door. Above the door was a balcony with an iron railing, and a shuttered window opened onto the balcony. There were many more tall windows around the Tower of Orthanc, even in the four pinnacles.

In the early days of Isengard, there were gardens and groves of trees on the plain around Orthanc. Tree-lined paths led through the gardens and to the Tower. Streams came down from the mountainside onto the plain and converged to form a small lake.

In Saruman's time, the gardens were destroyed and the trees were cut down. The paths were paved and lined with pillars linked by chains. Deep shafts were dug into the plain leading to an underground network of treasuries, store-rooms, armories, and smithies where hammers pounded and wheels turned. Forges and furnaces worked day and night, sending smoke up through the shafts onto the plain.