The Complete Tolkien Companion (70 page)

Narsilion
‘Song-of-the-Sun-and-Moon' (Q.) – The name given by the Eldar to an ancient poem or rhyme (made most probably in Eldamar) which deals with the creation of the Moon and Sun.

Narvi
– The Dwarf stonewright who made the Doors of Durin: the West-gate of Moria which opened into the vast underground city from the neighbouring Elvish land of Eregion. His name was recorded upon the Doors by the Elven-smith Celebrimbor, his friend.

Narvinyë
(Q.) – The first month of the Kings' Reckoning, originated in Númenor in the early Second Age and eventually used in one form or another by most of the Westron-speaking folk of Middle-earth. After the year 2060 Third Age, the system was modified and the name was changed to Stewards' Reckoning, although Narvinyë itself was unaffected. Following the conclusion of the War of the Ring, the calendar was adjusted again and the year was calculated to begin in spring rather than mid-winter. Narvinyë thus became the tenth month of the New Reckoning; however, it still had 30 days and was roughly the equivalent of our January.

Although most of the peoples of Middle-earth who used the Dúnedain calendars preserved the original (High-elven) names for the months and days of the week, the Dúnedain themselves used the Sindarin (or Grey-elven) forms of these names. They therefore spoke of Narvinyë as
Narwain.

Narwain
–
See
previous entry.

Narya The Great
– The Ring of Fire, one of the Three Rings of the Elven-kings made by Celebrimbor in Eregion in the late sixteenth century of the Second Age. This Ring, adorned with its single red stone, was originally given to Círdan the Shipwright, who kept it until the arrival of the Istari (Wizards) from the West (
c.
1000 Third Age). Then, welcoming Mithrandir (Gandalf) at the Grey Havens, he gave Narya to the Wizard, to assist him in the long labours that lay ahead.

Nauglamir
‘Jewel of the Dwarves' (Sind.) – A rich and beautiful necklace of fine gold-work, set with many-coloured jewels, made for King Finrod Felagund by Dwarves of the Blue Mountains at the time of the founding of Nargothrond. It was left behind by Finrod when he journeyed north with Beren of the Edain, never to return, and afterwards formed a part of the immense pillage of Nargothrond, gathered together in one vast heap by the Dragon Glaurung – the destroyer of the city. From this grim fate it was rescued by Húrin of the Edain, who took the Necklace with him to Doriath and gave it to Thingol Greycloak. He then had the Silmaril which he possessed mounted in the Nauglamir – and so brought his own doom upon his head. For the Dwarves who undertook this work also desired the Silmaril. When Thingol rebuked them, they murdered him. The Necklace and Silmaril were afterwards recovered from them, and eventually passed west over Sea, with Eärendil.

Naugrim
‘Stunted People' (Sind.) – The
DWARVES
.

Nazgûl
‘Ring-wraith' (Black Speech) –
See
RINGWRAITHS
.

Near Harad
– The northernmost region of the (undisputed) lands of Harad. It was bounded on the west by the Harad Road and on the east by the lands of Khand; to the north it stretched as far as the Mountains of Shadow, the southern boundary of Mordor.

Necklace of the Dwarves
– The
NAUGLAMIR
.

Necromancer
– Shortly after the passing of the first millennium of the Third Age, the Wise became aware that an evil force was coalescing in Southern Mirkwood, at a stronghold later called Dol Guldur. For many years this Power was known to the inhabitants of the Anduin Vale simply as ‘The Necromancer'. Undisturbed for centuries, the sorcerer of Dol Guldur quietly hatched his plots and worked his evil, well content that his enemies remained unaware of his true identity.

Needlehole
– A village of the Westfarthing of the Shire. It straddled The Water, to the north of Rushock Bog.

Neithan
‘The Wronged' (Sind.) – The first of the
noms-de-guerre
assumed by Túrin Turambar, shortly after he fled from Doriath with the death of Saeros on his hands.

Neldoreth
‘Beech-forest' (Sind.; Q.
Taur-na-Neldor
) – The name given by the Grey-elves of Doriath to the smaller and more northerly of the two forests which comprised the kingdom of Doriath, in central Beleriand. (The name
Neldoreth
is derived from
neldeorn,
‘three-trunked-tree', a word which refers to the greatest of all the beeches of Neldoreth,
Hírilorn,
which of course had three stems or trunks.) Neldoreth was bordered on the south and east by the river Esgalduin, on the west by the Mindeb and the Sirion, and in the north by the dreadful valley of Nan Dungortheb. It was twenty-five leagues wide at its widest point. As the name suggests, it was comprised almost entirely of beech-trees of great height, though hemlock and
niphredil
also grew there.

Nellas
– An Elf of Doriath and friend of Túrin; she spoke for Túrin's part in the enquiry into the death of Saeros.

Nénar
– One of the stars kindled by Varda (Elbereth) to bring light to Middle-earth at the Awakening, in Cuiviénen, of the Elves.

Nen Girith
‘Shuddering Water' (Sind.) – A later name for Dimrost, the ‘Rainy Stair': the place where the Celebros stream joined the river Teiglin, to the west of the Forest of Brethil. It was so renamed because of the shaking fit which overtook Nienor, the sister of Túrin, when she first came near that place.

Nen Hithoel
– This ‘Lake-of-Many-Mists' (Sind.) was formed by the river Anduin after it rushed through the narrow Gates of Argonath. It was a long, pale, oval lake surrounded by the hills of the Emyn Muil, and at its southern end rose three hills which held especial associations for Men of Gondor: Amon Hen (‘the Hill of the Eye') on the west bank, Amon Lhâw (‘the Hill of the Ear') on the east, and in between, the tall island of Tol Brandir. After sweeping past these landmarks, the Great River poured in a mighty torrent over the falls of Rauros.

Nenimë (Q.)
– When the Númenoreans first divided the year into twelve months, early in the Second Age, Nenimë was the (Quenya) name that they gave to the second month, which had 30 days and was roughly equivalent to February. Their calendar system, called Kings' Reckoning, was later preserved by the Dúnedain of Middle-earth and eventually adopted by most of the other peoples who used the Common Speech; but it retained the original names of the months and days of the week. The Dúnedain themselves used the Sindarin forms of these names, which in the case of Nenimë was
Ninui.

Nen Lalaith
‘Laughing Brook' (Sind.) – The name given by Húrin and his family to the small stream which ran past their home in Dor-lómin; Húrin's daughter Urwen (Lalaith) was named after this stream.

Nenning
– A river of West Beleriand. It rose south of Nevrast, and flowed due south for forty leagues before finding the Sea at the Haven of Eglarest.

Nenuial
– The name of this northern lake was derived from two separate Sindarin elements:
nen,
meaning ‘lake' or ‘large-water', and
aduial,
the Grey-elven equivalent of the High-elven word for twilight,
Undomë
(‘Star-opening').
Nenuial
therefore means ‘Lake Twilight' or ‘Lake Evendim'.

The lake was situated in the north of Eriador, near the seat of the ancient Kingdom of Arnor, founded by Elendil the Tall before the ending of the Second Age. It lay open only to the east, being sheltered by the Hills of Evendim from the winds which blew from the north and west; and in shape it was like the Mirrormere in faraway Dimrill Dale, being a spearhead thrust south-west into the hills. On its southern shore stood Elendil's fair city of Annúminas, capital of Arnor until the heirs of Elendil abandoned the Hills of Evendim and fortified themselves further east. In the Fourth Age Annúminas was rebuilt and the Kings of Gondor and Arnor again dwelt there beside Nenuial's deep blue waters.

Nenya
– The Ring of Waters, sometimes called the Ring of Adamant after the stone set in it; one of the Three Rings of the Elven-kings made by Celebrimbor in Eregion during the late sixteenth century of the Second Age. Nenya was the only one of the Three to remain with its original owner, for Celebrimbor himself gave it to the Lady Galadriel; and though it was necessarily kept hidden throughout the Second Age, Nenya was later used by her to heal those parts of Middle-earth where her writ still ran. Nenya was made from mithril and set in it was a diamond; it shone like a star.

Nerdanel
– A princess of the Noldor of Eldamar; she was the daughter of the great smith Mahtan of Tirion, and the wife of Fëanor. Her sons were Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Curufin, Caranthir, Amrod and Amras. Nerdanel was wiser than her husband, but gradually they drew apart as jealousy and fear grew within him; and she had no part in his rebellion, being among those of the Noldor who remained in Tirion under the rule of Finarfin.

Nerwen
‘Man-maiden' (Q.) – The secondary name (
epessë
) given to Galadriel in Eldamar by her mother Eärwen.

Nessa
– One of the Queens of the Valar (the Valier); she was the sister of Oromë the Hunter, the patroness of deer, and the wife of Tulkas the Strong, youngest and mightiest of the Valar, whom she wedded at the Feast of the Spring of Arda, in Almaren, where the Valar then dwelt.

Nessamelda
‘Beloved of Nessa' (Q.) – One of the
FRAGRANT TREES
of Númenor.

Nevrast
‘Hither Shores' (Sind.) – In ancient days, the name given by the Grey elves of Beleriand to the entire coastline of north-western Middle-earth; the coast of Aman, across the Western Seas, was termed, by them,
Haerast,
‘Further Shores'. However, in later days with the expanding of the nomenclature of the Elves, the word
Nevrast
came to be applied more specifically to the enclosed seaward lands south of the Firth of Drengist, with the mere of Linaewen amidmost. This region became the first dwelling of Turgon of the Noldor, who after the Second Battle of Beleriand made a home for himself and his kin on the slopes of Mount Taras, in the halls of Vinyamar.

Nevrast was never thickly populated, and after Turgon removed to Gondolin it became once more an empty land. It fell under the domination of Morgoth after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and the collapse of the kingdoms of Dor-lómin and Mithrim, which had formerly protected Nevrast and the Falas from the danger to north and east.

New Age
– Each Age of Middle-earth was naturally called the New Age by those during whose lives it began. As the Red Book of West-march – from which all of the presently available records of Middle-earth have been translated – was mostly set down during the years immediately before, during and after the passing of the Third Age, the New Age referred to in these writings is the Fourth Age. The Hobbits, who are credited with setting down most of the information in the Red Book, had their own calendar, which was unaffected by the change of Age; therefore, in their own accounts, Fourth Age 1 remained 1422 Shire Reckoning.

Newbury
– A village in the Buckland, not far from Crickhollow.

New Reckoning
– Early in the Second Age the Edain of Númenor – who were accomplished mariners and therefore dependent on stellar and solar observation – devised a calendar system called
KINGS' RECKONING
, which was brought to Middle-earth at the end of the Age. There, in the Númenorean realms-in-exile, Arnor and Gondor, this system survived unchanged until the latter part of the Third Age when, following the death of the last King of Gondor, a series of minor modifications were made by the first Ruling Steward. This revised system became known as Stewards' Reckoning, and like its forerunner, the basic features of this calendar were gradually adopted by other folk of Middle-earth who used the Common Speech (or Westron).

At the very end of the Third Age, after the restoration of the Kingship, this system was changed again – to the New Reckoning, and in this form it presumably endured during the Fourth Age. In many ways the new system was a return to Kings' Reckoning, the major difference being that whereas Kings' Reckoning had followed the Mannish custom of commencing the year in mid-winter, the New Reckoning returned to the Elvish practice of beginning it in spring. Thus, while the names and order of the months remained the same, they now began with
Viressë
(the equivalent of April), rather than with
Narvinyë
(January).

As in Stewards' Reckoning, each month had 30 days and there were five extra days not belonging to any month: three
enderi
(‘middle-days') plus
yestarë
(the first day of the year) and
mettarë
(the last day). In leap years the feast-day known as
Cormarë
(‘Ringday') was doubled. Cormarë was the birthday of Frodo Baggins, the Ring-bearer. Further to honour the success of the Ring-bearers and celebrate the final Downfall of Sauron, the first day of the new year,
yestarë,
was made to fall on the old equivalent of March 25th, the date when the Ruling Ring was finally destroyed. (Thus each month now began some five days later than in the old system.)

The New Reckoning was adopted in all the lands of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor save in the Shire; and, like Kings' and Stewards' Reckoning, it may well have been picked up by the other Westron-speaking peoples of Middle-earth. It was inaugurated in the middle of the year 3019 Third Age; the Fourth Age began two years later, on the anniversary of Sauron's fall.