Before Elves and Men entered the World all things were called either Kelvar or Olvar. Kelvar were animals and living things that moved and Olvar were living things that grew and were rooted to the Earth. Kelvar were granted swiftness of foot and subtlety of mind with which they might elude destruction, while the Olvar were granted powerful guardian spirits.

Back to 'K' Index

Nazgul or Ringwraith. Khamul was an Easterling king who came under Sauron's infuluence during the Second Age of the Sun and was given one of the Nine Rings of Mortal Men. Sometimes called the Black Easterling or Shadow of the East, Khamul was second only to the Witch-king in rank among the Nazgul.

Back to 'K' Index

To the southeast of Mordor lay a barbarous land called Khand which during the Third Age had allied itself with Sauron the Ring Lord. although little is told of this land, its people were known to be fierce warriors called the Variags who with the Easterlings and the Haradrim had long been under the evil influence of Sauron and often came at his bidding to make war on the land of Gondor.

Back to 'K' Index

In the mountain heart, Aule the Smith made the race that called itself Khazad. These people, who Men and Elves called Dwarves, were strong and proud, but they were also a stunted unlovely race. Yet Dwarves were the most gifted masons and carvers of stone the World had ever seen, and their great halls and delvings beneath the mountains were counted amongst the greatest wonders of Middle-earth. The most far-famed of their dwellings was the kingdom of Khazad-dum, which in the Third Age of the Sun was called Moria.

Back to 'K' Index

The most ancient and famous of all Dwarf kingdoms was Khazad-dum, meaning 'dwarf mansion', the ancestral home of Durin the Deathless, the first of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves. Durin began the delving of Khazad-dum after discovering natural caves in the eastern side of the Misty Mountains, above the beautiful valley of Azanulbizar.

Back to 'K' Index

Dwarf of Thorin and Company. Kili embarked on the Quest of the Lonely Mountain in 2941 of the Third Age, which resulted in the death of Smaug the Dragon and the re-establishment of the Dwarf-kingdom under the Mountain. As the son of Thorin's sister, Dis, Kili was fiercely loyal to his uncle. Both Kili and his brother Fili were killed in the Battle of the Five Armies while defending Thorin Oakenshield.

Back to 'K' Index

Of the animals of forest and field, there were many that Orome, the Horseman of the Valar, brought to Middle-earth. One breed of these animals was called the Kine of Araw by the Men of Gondor (Araw being the Sindarin name for Orome). These Kine were the legendary wild white oxen that lived near the Inland Sea of Rhun. Their long horns were much prized. In Gondor one such ox horn was made into a silver-mounted hunting horn by the first of the Ruling Stewards, Vorondil the Hunter; this was the heirloom called the Horn of the Stewards, which was destroyed in the War of the Ring.

Back to 'K' Index

From the lost land of the Numenoreans, a herb was brought to Middle-earth that for a long while was used as a simple folk-cure for mild pains of the head and body. In the Grey-elven tongue it was named Athelas, but Men called it Kingsfoil, for their legends told of its magical healing powers in the hands of Numenorean kings.

Back to 'K' Index

In the lands of Numenor lived a small bird about the size of a wren, but covered in brilliant scarlet plumage and gifted with a beautiful piping voice. This bird was called the Kirinki.

Back to 'K' Index

According to the most ancient tales, Melkor, that most evil of powers, in his kingdom of Utumno in Middle-earth bred many terrible creatures for which there are no names in the Time of Darkness before Varda rekindled the Stars. In the following Ages these creatuers were a bane on land and in dark waters to those who lived peacefully in the World.

The 'Red Book of Westmarch' tells that when a fiery Balrog was loosed in the Dwarf-kingdom of Moria, another being came out from the dark waters that lay below the great mountains. This was a great Kraken, many tentacled and huge with slimy sheen. It was luminous and green and an inky stench came from its foul bulk.

Back to 'K' Index

In each of the lands of Middle-earth the Halfling people, who were called Hobbits by Men, bore different names according to the language of the various peoples. In the land of the Rohan the Hobbits were named Kud-dukan, which means 'hole-dwellers'. From this root word it is thought that the Hobbitish term Kuduk became commonly used both by Hobbits of the Shire and by the Men of Bree in the latter part of the Third Age of the Sun.

Back to 'K' Index