Maia handmaiden of Varda. Ilmare is the greatest of the Maiar maiden spirits, and most loved by the Elves. As the handmaid of Varda, the Queen of the Heavens, she is guardian spirit of the stars.

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Atop the Taniquetil, the highest mountain in the Undying Lands, stands Ilmarin, the 'mansion of the high air', the home of King and Queen of the Valar: Manwe the Lord of the Air and Varda the Lady of the Stars. Here, those servants and messengers called the Great Eagles come and go upon command. Within the vast domed halls of Ilma-rin, in Olympian splendour, Manwe and Varda sit upon burnished thrones from which they can look down upon all the lands of Arda.

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Dunedain prince of Dol Amroth. Of mixed Dunedian and Elvish blood, during the War of the Ring, Prince Imrahil was a champion of the Battle of Pelennor Fields, and temporarily took over the rule of the White Tower of Gondor after Denethor II's death. As one of the Captains of the West, he fought before the Black Gates of Mordor. His daughter the Princess Lothiriel married Eomer, the King of Rohan.

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Elven king of Eldamar. Ingwe was the High King of the Vanyar Elves, the first kindred to undertake the Great Journey to the Undying Lands. They were the first to settle in Eldamar, although they were later joined by the Noldor and Teleri. Of all the Elves, the Vanyar were most loved by Manwe, and so Ingwe finally led his people into Valinor where they settled at the foot of the sacred mountain of Taniqueril.

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After the Dragon invasions forced the Dwarves out of the gold-rich Grey Mountains, a part of those people led by Gror travelled eastward in Rhovanion and settled in the Iron Hills in 2590 of the third Age. The Dwarves of the Iron Hills fought in the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, and indeed, at the gates of Moria in the final Battle of Azanulbizar in 2799 their arrival at the last moment proved the decisive blow, crushing the Orc legions. In 2941 an army of the Dwarves from the Iron Hills led by Dain came to the aid of Thorin Oakenshield in a successful defence of the Kingdom under the Mountain at Erebor after the death of Smaug. In this Battle of the Five Armies Thorin was killed. Dain, his kinsman, became King of Erebor and many of his people came to repopulate the Kingdom under the Mountain.

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During the Ages of the Lamps Melkor went into the north of Middle-earth and raised up a mighty range of high mountains covered in snow and ice. These mountains were the Iron Mountains. The Iron Mountains were the first defences of Melkor's fortress kingdom of Urumno which was built in the eastern parts.

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The strategic fortress of Isengard lay at the southern end of the Misty Mountains, near the source of the River Isen and was in a commanding position above the Gap of Rohan and the Fords of Isen. It was through this gap that the main North-South Road made its way between the Misty Mountains and the White Mountains. The fortress was built by Gondor near the beginning of the Third Age. The fortress's main defence was a large natural ring-wall of stone enclosing a flat plain. This ring-wall accounted for the fortress name of Isengard, meaning 'iron-fence', on which were built huge gates and additional defences. In the centre of the fortress stood the tower of Isengard built of four pillars of unbreakable black stone. The tower was over five hundred feet tall and was called Orthanc., the 'forked tower'. because of its pronged spire.

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Dunedain king of Gondor. In 3319 of the Second Age, the Numenorean prince Isildur, his brother Anarion, his father Elendil and their followers, escaped the Downfall of Numenor. In Middle-earth, Isildur and Anarion built Pelargir, Minas Ithil, Minas Anor and Osgiliath in the south, and ruled jointly as kings of Gondor. As Lord of Ithilien, Isildur lived in Minas Ithil until 3429 when Sauron seized the city. He fled to his father's northern kingdom of Arnor, leaving his brother to defend the rest of Gondor. He returned in 3434 with the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, which destroyed Sauron's army at the Battle of Dagorlad. Both his father and brother had died in the conflict. In 3441, Isildur finally overcame Sauron by cutting the One Ring from his hand. After this victory, Isildur succumbed to the power of the One Ring by refusing to destroy it. Two years later, Isildur was ambushed by a horde of Orcs in the Gladden Fields. He attempted to escape by using the One Ring's power of invisibility to hide him as he swam across the river. However, the One Ring slipped from his finger in the water, and the Orcs killed him.

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After a thousand years had passed in the Third Age of the Sun, an Elven-ship came out of the Western Sea and sailed to the Grey Havens. On that ship were five aged Men with long white beards and great cloaks. They were cloaks of various colours, and each Man wore a tall pointed hat, high black boots, and carried a long staff. These were the Istari, whom Men called Wizards; their hats and staffs were their signs of office. They were an order and a brotherhood sent to Middle-earth from the Undying Lands, for it was perceived that a great evil was growing in Mortal Lands.

Though the Istari came secretly and in humble form, in the beginning, before their arrival in Middle-earth, they were mighty spirits. They were Maiar, spirits older than the World itself, and of that first race that came from the mind of Iluvatar in the Timeless Halls.

Although five Istari are said to have come to Middle-earth, two play no part in the histories of the Westlands that have come to Men, for the others were said to hae to to the far east of Middle-earth. These two were the Ithryn Luin, 'The Blue Wizards', and though it is known that they were called Alatar and Pallando in the Undying Lands and were chosen by the Vala Orome the Horsemen, nothing else is known of their lives and deeds. The other Istari were Gandalf the Grey, Radagast the Brown and Saruman the White.

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