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Horse of Valar. The gigantic white Horse of Orome, the Huntsman of Valar. Nahar is the first Horse in creation and the progenitor of all horses. Orome rode Nahar often into the forest lands of Middle-earth through the Ages of Darkness and Starlight. On one such journey, Orome and Nahar discovered the Elves by the Waters of Awakening.
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Among the Elves to undertake the Great Journey in search of the Undying Lands there were Three Kindred. The third largest kindred were the Teleri, and because these people were so numerous their passage was slowest and those unable or unwilling to complete the Journey were in greater numbers than the other two kindred. The first division recorded in that Journey came when the Teleri halted before the Great River Anduin and looking beyond saw the Misty Mountains. This mighty barrier terrified the Elves, and so, rather than risk crossing the mountains, Lenwe, a lord of the Teleri, led his people away. They went southwards down the Great River Anduin and lived in places unknown to others of their kin; they were named the Nandor, 'those who turn back'.
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The largest kingdom of Noldor Elves in Beleriand during the First Age was that controlled by Finrod from his fortress city of Nargothrond. This was a powerful underground fortress carved in the caverns of the Narog River and from it Finrod ruled most of West Beleriand. Modelled on the Thousand Caves of Menegroth, the vast complexes of this fortress-palace were expanded by the Noldor and the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains from the original delvings of the Petty-Dwarves who had once lived there. Although involved in many skirmishes and battles with Morgoth's forces, Nargothrond remained undiscovered and secure until late in the fifth century when they went often and openly to war. This proved their undoing, for in 496 they fought the Battle of Tumhalad against Glaurung the Dragon and a massive army and were destroyed. Glaurung then entered Nargothrond before its stone bridge could be destroyed. Everyone inside were slaughtered or enslaved and for five years Glaurung ruled its caverns before he himself was slain. Briefly afterwards Mim, the last of the Petty-Dwarves returned to the caverns that were once the home of his ancestors, but when he too was slain the ancient halls were empty forever after.
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During the Ages of Starlight before the kingdom of Grey-elves had grown to its full power, a race of Dwarves who were long bearded and armed with steel weapons came over the Blue Mountains into Beleriand. The Grey-elves thought these people deformed and unlovely, and named them Naugrim, the 'stunted people'. The Naugrim came not to fight but to trade and barter, and by this traffic both races thrived. Though the Naugrim lived in prosperous peace with the Elves, there was only an uneasy alliance and no great friendship between them.
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In the twenty-third century of the Second Age of the Sun, in Middle-earth there arose nine mighty wraiths who in the Black Speech of Orcs were named the Nazgul, which is 'Ringwraiths'. Of all the evil servants and generals of Sauron the Ring Lord, the Nazgul proved to be the greatest. It is believed that the Nazgul were once powerful kings and sorcerers among Men and they were each given a Ring of Power by Sauron. These Rings were nine of the magical nineteen Rings that Celebrimbor and the Elves-smiths of Eregion forged for Sauron. For many centuries these Men used the Rings to fulfil their own desires, yet all were ruled by the One Ring that Sauron made. Though these chosen Men lived by the power of the Rings far beyond the span of ordinary mortals, their forms faded. By the twenty-third century they were wraiths entirely, and thralls that thought only of how they might serve Sauron the Ring Lord.
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In the foul Midgewater Marshes in southern Eriador there lived vast numbers of blood-sucking insects. Among them were some noisy creatures akin to crickets tat were named Neekerbreekers by the Hobbits. Travellers to the Midgewater Marshes were driven all but made by the awful repetitious din of the creatures' 'neek-breek, breek-neek'.
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Among the most loved of the trees growing in Middle-earth were those that Elves called Neldoreth but Men knew as Beech. According to the tales of lost Beleriand, the great halls of Menegroth, the Thousand Caves, had carved pillars like the Beech trees that grew within the vast Taur-na-Neldor, the Forest of Neldoreth, which was thought to be the fairest forest in Beleriand.
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Vala called 'the Dancer'. Nessa is the sister of Orome the Huntsman, and the spouse of Tulkas the Wrestler. A spirit of the woodlands, the deer are sacred to the beautiful Nessa, who is light-footed, agile and a wonderful dancer.
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One of the many fragrant evergreen trees that was brought from Tol Eressea to the land of the Numenor by the Sea Elves in the Second Age of the Sun was the Nessamelda. This was the 'tree of Nessa', the dancing Vala goddess of the woodlands, the sister of Orome the Huntsman and was most numerous in that part of the Numenor called Nisimaldar, land of the 'Fragrant Trees'.
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Vala called 'the Weeper'. Nienna's chief concern is mourning, which is the meaning of her name. She is the sister of Lorien and Mandos. She lives alone n the west of Valinor where her mansions look out on the sea and the Walls of Night. Her tears have the power to heal and fill others with hope and the spirit to endure.
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In lost Beleriand there grew many fair white birch trees, which were called Nimbrethil in the tongue of the Grey-elves. 'Vingilot', the mighty ship that Earendil the Mariner saled over Belegaer, the Western Sea, to the Undying Lands, was built with timber from those huge trees.
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Elven maid of Lothlorien. During the second millennium of the Third Age of the Sun, Nimrodel and her lover Amroth became betrothed in Lothlorien. However, the pair were seperated at the time of the rising of the monstrous demon, the fiery Balrog of Moria in 1980. Nimrodel, meaning 'White Lady', lost her way through the White Mountains and was never seen again.
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At the end of the Second Age of the Starlight, the fairest child that ever entered the World was born to Melian the Maia and Thingol, king of the Sindar . She was born in the woodlands of Neldoreth in Beleriand and was named Luthien. to the woodland at that time came the white flower Niphredil to greet fair Luthien.
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The ancient tales of the lost realm of Beleriand tell of a race whom the Grey-elves called Noegyth Nibin. They were small people - smaller even than the Dwarves, from whom they descended. Men called them Petty-Dwarves and in the First Age of the Sun Mim, the last of this dwindling race, was bloodily slain by Hurin.
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One of the two great kingdoms of Dwarves in the Blue Mountains was Nogrod, the 'Dwarf-dwelling'. The Dwarves of Nogrod, just like those of nearby Belegost, were skilled smiths and craftsmen who prospered in their trade with the Elves of Beleriand, and fought valiantly against Orcs and Dragons during the First Age. Most famous of the smiths of Nogrod in the making of weapons was Telchar, who forged Narsil, the sword of Elendil which cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, and Angrist, the knife Beren used to cut a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown.
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| Noldor |
Mightiest of the Elves who inhabited Middle-earth were the Noldor, and most far-famed in the songs and tales that have come to the ears of Men. For these were the Elves who wrought the Great Jewels called the Silmarils, as well as the Rings of Power. The mightiest wars that were ever known to Elves and Men were fought over these great works. Of the Eldar who came to the Undying Lands, the Noldor were the Second Kindred. The name Noldor means 'knowledge', which, above all the Elves, they strove hardest to possess.
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| Nomin |
When Men entered the lands of Beleriand in the First Age of the Sun, they saw for the first time the Elves of Finrod Felagund, lord of the Noldor. These Men were amazed at the beauty and knowledge of these Elves, whom they named Nomin, which means 'wise'. |
| Nori |
Dwarf of Thorin and Company. Nori embarked on the Quest of Erebor in the year 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. Nori settled in Erebor for the rest of his life.
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| Northmen |
In the Third Age of the Sun many Men who were descended from the Edain of the First Age inhabited the northern Vales of Anduin. These Men were of many tribes and kingdoms and they were called the Northmen of Rhovanion. Though no single lord governed these Northmen, they were constant enemies of Sauron and all his servants. For through all Rhovanion these proud Men often fought Orcs, Easterlings and Wolves of the Dark Lord, and at times they even dared to join battle with the great and ancient Dragons that came out of the Northern Waste.
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| Numenor |
After the First Age of the Sun, there was a remnant of that race of Men called Edain who allied themselves with the Elves in the War of the Jewels against Morgoth. As a reward for their bravery, the Valar raised a great island in the midst of the Western Sea, so these people, called the Dunedain, might have a land of their own. This was Numenor - 'Westernesse' in the language of the Men of Middle-earth - founded in the year 32 of the Second Age and the mightiest kingdom of Men in all of Arda. The Men of Numenor were given a life span many times that of other mortals, along with greater powers of mind and body that had previously been only granted to Elves.
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| Numenoreans |
When the First Age of the Sun was ended and the power of Morgoth was broken, there remained but a remnant of the race of Men called the Edain, who were the allies of the Elves in the terrible Wars of Beleriand. After the Great Battle, the Valar took pity on the Edain who had suffered so grievously and whose lands had been lost, and the Valar created a great island for them in the Western Sea, between Middle-earth and the Undying Lands. With this land they were given a gift of long life and greater powers of mind and body and many skills and much knowledge that had only previously been granted to Elves. These people were much changed and were now called the Numenoreans for their land was Numenor or Westernesse. It was also named Andar, 'land of gift', and Elenna, 'land of star', and Mar-nu-Falmar on Atalante. First of the kings of Numenor was Elros Half-elven, the brother of Elrond who later ruled Rivendell. Elros chose to become mortal, yet his rule lasted 400 years.
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| Nurn |
The southern part of Sauron's evil realm of Mordor was known as Nurn. While Sauron ruled, this was a land filled with the slaves of the Ring Lord who joylessly worked its vast croplands to provide food for Mordor's armies. Through the fields of Nurn ran four main rivers which drained into the inland sea of Nurnen. Little is told of this place or its people, but after the War of the Ring, King Elessar freed the slaves and turned the croplands of Nurn over to them for their own.
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