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Orthanc
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, Isengard () is a large fortress in Nan Curunír, the Wizard's Vale, in the western part of Middle-earth. In the fantasy world, the name of the fortress is described as a translation of Angrenost, a word in Tolkien's elvish language, Sindarin, a compound of two Old English words: and , meaning "enclosure of iron". In ''The Lord of the Rings'', Orthanc, the tower at the centre of Isengard, is the home of the Wizard Saruman. He had been ensnared by the Dark Lord Sauron through the tower's ''palantír'', a far-seeing crystal ball able to communicate with others like it. Saruman had bred Orcs in Isengard, in imitation of Sauron's forces, to be ready for war with Rohan. The Orcs cut down many trees in the forest of the Ents, who retaliate by destroying Isengard while the army of Orcs is away attacking Rohan at Helm's Deep. However, the Ents are unable to harm the tower of Orthanc. Saruman, isolated in the tower, is visited by members of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palantír
A palantír (; ) is one of several indestructible crystal balls from J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy, epic-fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. The word comes from Quenya 'far', and 'watch over'. ''The Lost Road and Other Writings'', part 3, "The Etymologies (Tolkien), Etymologies" s.v. PAL, TIR. Tar-Palantir was the name of the 24th ruler of Númenor, so named for being 'far-sighted'. The palantírs were used for communication and to see events in other parts of Arda (Middle-earth), Arda, or in the past. The palantírs were made by the Elves in Middle-earth, Elves of Valinor in the First Age, as told in ''The Silmarillion''. By the time of ''The Lord of the Rings'' at the end of the Third Age, a few palantírs remained in use. They are used in some climactic scenes by major characters: Sauron, Saruman, Denethor the Steward of Gondor, and two members of the Company of the Ring: Aragorn and Peregrin Took, Pippin. A major theme of palantír usage is that while the stones ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lord Of The Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, ''The Lord of the Rings'' is one of the List of best-selling books, best-selling books ever written, with over 150 million copies sold. The title refers to the story's main antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who History of Arda#Second Age, in an earlier age created the One Ring, allowing him to rule the other Rings of Power given to Men in Middle-earth, men, Dwarves in Middle-earth, dwarves, and Elves in Middle-earth, elves, in his campaign to conquer all of Middle-earth. From homely beginnings in the Shire, a hobbit land reminiscent of the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, following Quests in Middle-earth, the quest to destroy the One Ring, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saruman
Saruman, also called Saruman the White, later Saruman of Many Colours, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is the leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, the main antagonist of the novel. He comes to desire Sauron's power for himself, so he betrays the Istari and tries to take over Middle-earth by force from his base at Isengard. His schemes feature prominently in the second volume, ''The Two Towers''; he appears briefly at the end of the third volume, ''The Return of the King''. His earlier history is summarised in the posthumously published '' The Silmarillion'' and '' Unfinished Tales''. Saruman is one of several characters in the book who illustrate the corruption of power. His desire for knowledge and order leads to his fall, and he rejects the chance of redemption when it is offered. The name ''Saruman'' () means "man of skill or cunning" in the M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gandalf
Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Wizards (Middle-earth), wizard, one of the Istari order, and the leader of the Company of the Ring. Tolkien took the name "Gandalf" from the Old Norse Dvergatal, "Catalogue of Dwarves" (''Dvergatal'') in the ''Völuspá''. As a wizard and the bearer of one of the Three Rings, Gandalf has great power, but works mostly by encouraging and persuading. He sets out as Gandalf the Grey, possessing great knowledge and travelling continually. Gandalf is focused on the mission to counter the Dark Lord Sauron by destroying the One Ring. He is associated with fire; his ring of power is Narya, the Ring of Fire. As such, he delights in fireworks to entertain the hobbits of the Shire, while in great need he uses fire as a weapon. As one of the Maiar, he is an immortal spirit from Valinor, but his physical body can be killed. In ''The Hobbit'', Gandalf assists the 13 dwarves and the h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ents
Ents are giant humanoids in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth who closely resemble trees; their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest. Their name is derived from an Old English word for "giant". The Ents appear in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as ancient shepherds of the forest and allies of the free peoples of Middle-earth during the War of the Ring. The Ent who figures most prominently in the book is Treebeard, who is called the oldest creature in Middle-earth. At that time, there are no young Ents (Entings) because the Entwives (female Ents) were lost. Akin to Ents are Huorns, whom Treebeard describes as a transitional form of trees which become animated or, conversely, as Ents who grow more "treelike" over time. Tolkien stated that he was disappointed by Shakespeare's handling of the coming of "Great Birnam Wood to High Dunsinane hill"; he wanted a setting in which the trees would actually go to war. Commentators have seen this as wish-fulfilment, as he dislike ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rohan (Middle-earth)
Rohan is a fictional kingdom of Men (Middle-earth), Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy setting of Middle-earth. Known for its horsemen, the Rohirrim, Rohan provides its ally Gondor with cavalry. Its territory is mainly grassland. The Rohirrim call their land the Mark or the Riddermark, names recalling that of the historical kingdom of Mercia, the region of Western England where Tolkien lived. Tolkien grounded Rohan in elements inspired by Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon tradition, poetry, and linguistics, specifically in its Mercian dialect, in everything but its use of horses. Tolkien used Old English for the kingdom's language and names, Pseudotranslation in The Lord of the Rings, pretending that this was in translation of Rohirric. Meduseld, the hall of King Théoden, is modelled on Heorot, the great hall in ''Beowulf''. Within the plot of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Rohan plays a critical role in the action—first against the Wizard (Middle-Earth), wizard Saruman in the Battle of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hell And Middle-earth
Scholars have seen multiple resemblances between the medieval Christian conception of hell and evil places in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. These include the industrial hells of Saruman's Isengard with its underground furnaces and labouring Orcs; the dark tunnels of Moria; Sauron's evil land of Mordor; and Morgoth's subterranean fortress of Angband. The gates to some of these realms, like the guarded West Door of Moria, and the Black Gate to Mordor, too, carry echoes of the gates of hell. Some of the journeys down into the dark places of Middle-earth, too, have been likened to the katabasis of Ancient Greece, a descent into the underworld, as when Lúthien and Beren descend into Angband, or when Lúthien goes to the Halls of Mandos to plead with him to allow Beren to return to life, paralleling the classical Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. These journeys into hellish places may also recall the medieval theme of the Harrowing of Hell, a story in which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evil In Middle-earth
Evil is ever-present in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional realm of Middle-earth. Tolkien is ambiguous on the philosophical question of whether evil is the absence of good, the Boethian position, or whether it is a force seemingly as powerful as good, and forever opposed to it, the Manichaean view. The major evil characters have varied origins. The first is Melkor, the most powerful of the immortal and angelic Valar; he chooses discord over harmony, and becomes the first dark lord Morgoth. His lieutenant, Sauron, is an immortal Maiar, Maia; he becomes Middle-earth's dark lord after Morgoth is banished from the world. Melkor has been compared to Satan in the Book of Genesis, and to John Milton's fallen angel in ''Paradise Lost''. Others, such as Gollum, Denethor, and Saruman – respectively, a Hobbit, a Men in Middle-earth, Man, and a Wizards in Middle-earth, Wizard – are corrupted or deceived into evil, and die fiery deaths like those of evil beings in Norse sagas. Context: Tol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helm's Deep
The Battle of Helm's Deep, also called the Battle of the Hornburg, is a fictional battle in J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...'s ''The Lord of the Rings'' that saw the total destruction of the forces of the Wizard (Middle-Earth), Wizard Saruman by the army of Rohan (Middle-earth), Rohan, assisted by a forest of tree-like Huorns. Helm's Deep was a valley in the north-western Ered Nimrais, White Mountains of Middle-earth. Helm's Deep, with its fortress the Hornburg, becomes the refuge of some of the army of Rohan, the Rohirrim, under King Théoden, from assault by the forces of Saruman. Although Théoden says that "the Hornburg has never fallen to assault," in the battle a massive army of Uruk-hai and Dunlendings sent by Saruman almost overwhelms th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isildur
Isildur () is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, the elder son of Elendil, descended from Elros, the founder of the island Kingdom of Númenor. He fled with his father when the island was drowned, becoming in his turn King of Arnor and Gondor. He cut the Ring from Sauron's hand, but instead of destroying it, was influenced by its power and claimed it for his own. He was killed by orcs, and the Ring betrayed him by slipping off his finger just before his death. The Ring then became lost in the River Anduin. This set the stage for the Ring to pass to Gollum and then to Bilbo, as told in ''The Hobbit''; that in turn provided the central theme, the quest to destroy the Ring, for ''The Lord of the Rings''. Tolkien began a time-travel story, '' The Lost Road'', in which a father and a son were to reappear time and again in human families throughout history. One of the appearances was to be in Númenor just before its fall, with the father as Elendil and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wizard (Middle-earth)
The Wizards or Istari in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction were powerful angelic beings, Maiar in Middle-earth, Maiar, who took the physical form and some of the limitations of Man (Middle-earth), Men to intervene in the affairs of Middle-earth in the Third Age, after catastrophically violent direct interventions by the Valar, and indeed by the one god Eru Ilúvatar, in the earlier ages. Two Wizards, Gandalf the Grey and Saruman the White, largely represent the order, though a third Wizard, Radagast the Brown, appears briefly. Two Blue Wizards are mentioned in passing. Saruman is installed as the head of the White Council, but falls to the temptation of power. He imitates and is to an extent the double of the Dark Lord Sauron, only to become his unwitting servant. Gandalf ceaselessly assists the Company of the Ring in their quest to destroy One Ring, the Ring and defeat Sauron. He forms the double of Saruman, as Saruman falls and is destroyed, while Gandalf rises and takes Saruman's pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
