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| Wainriders |
Out of the lands of Rhun in the nineteenth century of the Third Age of the Sun and Easterling people came to make war on the Men of Gondor. They were numerous well-armed folk with great Horse-drawn wains and war chariots. By the western Men they were named Wainriders and for a hundred years they made war on the Men of Gondor.
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| Wandlimb |
Entwife of Treebeard. Wandlimb the Lightfooted was a female Ent, or 'Entwife', who was beloved of Treebeard of the Fangorn Forest. Wandlimb most resembled a Birch tree and consequently her Elvish name was Fimbrethil or 'thin birch'.
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| Wargs |
In the Third Age of the Sun in Rhovanion, there lived an evil breed of Wolves that made an alliance with the mountain Orcs. These Wolves were named Wargs and often when they set off for war they went with the Orcs called Wolf-riders, who mounted the Wargs like Horses.
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| Watchers |
In the west wall of Mordor there was a narrow passage named Cirith Ungol, where the Great Spider Shelob lived in the Third Age of the Sun. There was also an Orc watchtower with a great wall that held the road should any bypass Shelob, the fearful guardian. In the tower's wall were two tall gate-posts that seemd to have no gate, but a gate there was, and though it was invisible it proved very strong. The massive gate-posts were named the Watchers and each was a stone figure seated on a throne. They were triple faced and triple bodied, their heads were like vultures' and they had vultures' claws. They were filled with malice and their black eyes glittered with a fearful will, for spirits dwelt within these stone figures. They were aware of enemies visible and invisible and they barred the gateway with their hatred. For though an army might attempt to force that gate, it could not pass by the strength of arms; only by a will greater than the Watchers' malice could a passage be forced. If such a will could be summoned, then the Watchers would raise the alarm from their six vultured heads. They would emit a high shriek and a long cry that brought Orkish soldiery upon the intruders.
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| Weather Hills |
In Eriador, just north of the Great East-West Road between Bree and the Trollshaws, are the Weather Hills. This range of hills running northward from its main peak of Weathertop, just above the road, once formed the boundary between Arnor's fiefs of Arthedain and Rhudaur. Although heavily fortified and defended by the Dunedain during their war with the Witch-king of Angmar, they were overrun by the fifteenth century. By the time of the War of the Ring, the Weather Hills were largely uninhabited.
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| Werewolves |
In the First Age of the Sun, there came to Beleriand a race of tortured spirits who were servants of Melkor. Whether they were Maiar spirits who were shorn of their earthly forms by the Valar, or evil beings of another kind, is not known. It is certain that these evil spirits entered the forms of Wolves by sorcery. They were a fearsom race and their eyes glowed with dreadful wrath. They spoke and understood both the Black Speech of the Orcs and the fair speech of the Elves.
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| Wereworms |
In the tales of the Hobbit folk there lived in the Last Desert, in the East of Middle-earth, a race that was named the Wereworms. Though no tale of the Third Age of the Sun tells of these beings, the Wereworms were likened to Dragons and serpents. To Hobbits they were perhaps but memories of those creatures that stalked the Earth during the Wars of Beleriand in the First Age.
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| West Elves |
In the age of the Awakening of the Elves, a great Messenger came out of the West. He was the Vala Orome and he beckoned the elves to a Land of Eternal Light. Some chose to make the Journey to the West and were called West Elves or Eldar.
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| Westmansweed |
In Middle-earth a herb came into use that the Hobbits discovered gave great pleasure if slowly burned and the smoke inhaled. This was the herb nicotiana, which in the Western tongue was called Westmansweed, but most commonly was simply named Pipe-weed. Its use spread from the Shire lands of the Hobbits widely over Middle-earth and was enjoyed, for better or worse by Men and Dwarves.
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| White Horn Mountains |
The great range of snow-capped mountains that formed the backbone of Gondor was the White Horn Mountains. Sometimes called by their Elvish name Ered Nimrais, or simply the White Mountains, this mountain chain was at least six hundred miiles long and ran westward from the Anduin River almost to the sea.
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| White Tower |
King Calimehtar of Gondor rebuilt the fortress-city of Minas Tirith and on its citadel, the topmost of its seven defensive ring walls, built a shining White Tower. It was rebuilt and improved in 2698 by the Steward Ecthelion I. The royal court was found here in its great hall and the palantir ('Seeing Stone') was kept in a chamber under the Tower's dome.
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| Wild Men |
Long before the coming of the kings of Gondor, a primitive race of woodland hunters dwelt in the Druadan Forest. They were the Woses, whome others called the Wild Men, and they were a tribal people armed with bows and blow-pipes. They were wiser in the ways of the forest than any race of Men in Arda.
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| Willows |
In the Ages of the Lamps, when the Great Forests of Arda were made, ancient Willow trees appeared within the forests. The Willow spirits were strong and loved swamp-lands and slow river courses. They lived quietly for a long time and cared neither for the new-come race of Men, nor the older races of Dwarves and Orcs who hewed and burned wood. Some among them grew sentient and limb-lithe; they were numbered amongst those named Huorns and their will was bent on destroying all enemies of the forests.
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| Wilwarin |
During the Spring of Arda, which was in the years of the Lamps, the Valar brought forth forests and many creatures that had no voice, yet were beautiful to behold. Among them was the Wilwarin, which in later times Men called the Butterfly.
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| Window of the Sunset |
A cavern refuge of the Rangers of Ithilien which was hidden behind the curtain wall of a spectacular waterfall in north Ithilien. Its waters flowed into the River Anduin near the Field of Cormallen and just south of Cair Andros. Called Henneth Annun, meaing Window of the Sunset or Window of the West, it was built by Turin of Gondor in 2901. During the war of the Ring it was often used by Faramir and his Rangers. The Ringbearer, Frodo Baggins, was given shelter here during the Quest of the Ring.
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| Winged Beasts |
In the time of the War of the Ring it is told how those undead spirits called the Nazgul were carried aloft by Winged Beasts. Swifter than the wind were these creatures that had beak and claw of bird, neck of serpent and wing of Bat. It is said they were fed on Orkish meats and grew beyond the size of any other winged creature of the Third Age.
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| Witch-king |
Nazgul lord of the Ringwraiths. The Witch-king was originally a sorceror king of the Second Age who was given the first of the Nine Rings by the Lord of the Rings. He became the Lord of the Nazgul, or Ringwraiths.
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| Witches |
In Middle-earth there were beings of many races who wielded sorcerous powers. Among the late-come race of Men, those who gave themselves over to sorcerous powers were known as Witches. The most powerful Witches were the Ringwraiths. For these were the Men who were given Nine Rings of Power by Sauron and who brought so much terror into the World.
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| Withywindle |
A small river called the Withywindle flowed through the Old Forest which lay just east of the Shire lands of the Hobbits.
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| Wizards |
Those whom common Men named Wizards were chosen spirits from the Maiar of Valinor. Elves called them Istari, and under that name the greater part of their deeds in Middle-earth is recorded.
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| Wolf-riders |
The 'Red Book of Westmarch' records how some among the Orcs of Rhovanion came into the Battle of Five Armies mounted on the backs of the Wolves that were called Wargs. These Orcs were named Wolf-riders by the Elves, Dwarves and Men and they formed the cavalry of the Orc legions.
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| Wolfhounds |
Chief among the creatures that came from the realms of Melkor the Dark Enemy, were the Wolves and Werewolves. In defence the Elves of Beleriand bred hunting hounds with which they might destroy these evil beings. These were the Wolfhounds. The mightiest of these Wolfhounds was one named Huan, who was not born in the Mortal Lands. He was bred by Orome, Huntsman of the Valar, who had given him to the Noldor prince Celegorm in the Undying Lands. The Valarian Wolfhound was an ageless beast that never tired or slept. He was immortal in the manner of Elves and of massive size. By decree of the Valar Huan spoke only three times with words, though he could always understand the speech of Elves and Men. He could not be slain by sorcery nor could spells bewitch him.
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| Wolves |
Before the Sun shone, in the Pits of Utumno in Middle-earth many evil beasts were bred that stalked the World with evil Orcs. Chief of the beasts that allied with the Orcs were the Wolves, which first came into the Westlands in the years of the Stars. Some of great size served as mounts of Melkor's servants and they were a source of great terror.
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| Wood-elves |
In most of the woodlands of Middle-earth, east of the Misty Mountains that had not been wholly consumed by the evils of Morgoth and Sauron, lived the remnant of the Avari, the people who had refused the Great Journey to the West. These people, who were called Wood-elves or more often Silvan Elves, had dwindled with the rising of Morgoth's power in the East. To survive, they became wise in the ways of the sheltering forests and hid themselves from their enemies. They were wise in wood-lore and their eyes were bright as all Elves' with starlight. They were not a powerful people like their High Eldar kindred, but they were greater than Man or any race that followed them.
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| Woodmen |
In the Third Age of the Sun there lived in Mirkwood a people who were called the Woodmen of Mirkwood and who descended from the Northmen. In alliance with the Beornings and the Elves of the Woodland Realm, they fought the evil that had come in that Age to Dol Guldur in the south of Mirkwood. From that place came Orcs, Spiders and Wolves in legion, and the battle to cleanse that great forest was long and dreadful.
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| Worms |
The most powerful creatures that Morgoth ever bred in Arda were the Great Worms that came out of the Pits of Angband in the First Age of the Sun. Morgoth armed these creatures with scales of iron, mighty teeth and claws, and great powers of flame and sorcery. Men and Elves called these ancient Worms of Morgoth Dragons and they were among the most fearful of beings in all the histories of Middle-earth.
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| Wormtongue |
Northmen of Rohan. during the time of the War of the Ring, Grima Wormtongue was the deformed chief counsellor of King Theoden of Rohan. Secretly, he was the servant and spy of Saruman, who steadily undermined the old king and enfeebled him with the Wizard's evil spells. After Gandalf cured Theoden, Wormtongue fled to Isengard.
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| Woses |
In the War of the Ring a strange primitive folk named the Woses came to the aid of the Rohirrim and Dunedain in breaking the Siege of Gondor. These wild woodland people lived in the ancient Forest of Druadan, which was in Anorien, below the White Mountains. The Men of Gondor called the Woses the Wildmen of Druadan and believed that they were descended from the even more ancient Pukelmen.
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