Arthedain » Races

Master of Laketown

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 06:46:49 +0000

The Master of Lake-Town was the original leader of Laketown when Bilbo Baggins and his companions arrived. He is described as being greedy, but not undeserving of his position in terms of intelligence and charisma. Contrary to popular opinion, he was not a rival or enemy of Bard the Bowman, but rather a close companion of Bard’s, and he even allowed Bard to remain in Esgaroth while the Lakemen recovered from their ordeal with Smaug.

History

The Master of Laketown ruled from 2920 of the Third Age of Sun to 2941 of the Third Age of Sun, and he would have been approximately thirty years old when he began leadership. This would make him fifty years old at the time of the Battle of the Five Armies and The Quest of Erebor, as these events both occurred in the year 2941. The Master’s rule in Lake Town was rather amicable, and therefore under his dominion the Men of the Long Lake traded peaceably with the Elves of Mirkwood, creating a steady trade that was kept until 2941, when Thorin and his friends came to wrest dominion of Erebor and its riches from Smaug, who had arrived 120 years before the Master’s rule, in the year 2770.

When the dwarves arrived, the Master of Laketown greeted them generously, but only to keep public spirits up. After the destruction of Esgaroth and the slaying of the dragon by Bard, he was given money for the rebuilding of Laketown by Dain II Ironfoot, the ruler of the Lonely Mountain. He is therefore described as weak, because he is easily overcome by the lust of the treasure Smaug held, and by the dragon-spell. He flees into the wild with the gold, and is eventually abandoned in the waste and perishes there of starvation.

Legacy

Master of Lake-town is also the title given to the elected leader of Esgaroth – elected by the merchants of the town. The Master of the town when Bilbo and Thorin’s Company arrived in The Hobbit was portrayed as capable, but more than a little greedy and cowardly. His name was never given, although he earned the unpopular title “money bags” later. He was one of the few people in the town who did not eagerly welcome Bilbo and the Dwarves, fearing reprisal from the Wood Elf King. When Lake-town was destroyed by Smaug, the Master was largely held accountable, especially since he was one of the first to flee. Bard the Bowman, who had slain the dragon, was the hero of the people but he refused to seize control, insisting on working with the Master who did all he could to shift the blame onto the Dwarves.

The Master did not fight in the Battle of Five Armies, instead, he stayed behind to direct the rebuilding of the town. Afterwards Bard gave much gold to the Master for the people of the town, but the Master fell under “dragon sickness” and kept the gold for himself, fleeing Long Lake only to die of starvation in the wastes. It was afterwards stated by Balin that a new Master had been elected who was more wise

Yrch

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:01:41 +0000

The Sindarin name for the race known to Men as Orcs. ‘Yrch’is the plural form; the singular is ‘orch’.

Yavanna

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:01:28 +0000

Beginning in the Years of the Lamps during the Spring of Arda, she planted and caused to grow the first growing things of the world (trees and plants) which she had long prepared. At first, just as every other thing in the world that the Valar nurtured and cared for these things prospered and throve for a time. Melkor however had his own plans and they involved taking the world from his brethren and ruling it for himself. From his great fortress of Utumno in the far north, he sent forth his poisons into the veins of the world blighting the Spring of Arda. Then the things of Yavanna fell sick and rotted and soon after Melkor assaulted and destroyed the Two Lamps, breaking the world.

Afterwards, the Valar relocated to the continent of Aman where they created the Two Trees; the only light in the whole world. Middle-earth was left in darkness and the living things that survived were put into a great sleep by Yavanna until the rise of the Sun and the Moon many thousands of years later. After Eru allowed Aulë’s creations, the Dwarves, to survive, Yavanna feared that they would cut down all the trees in Middle-earth. Eru answered her plea by creating Ents to protect the trees.

Called the ‘Giver of Fruits’, Yavanna was the Vala whose province was all growing things upon the earth. She was the spouse of Aulë the Smith.

Worms

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00:43 +0000

A name for the race of Dragons, and especially those wingless kinds (such as Glaurung himself) who crawled on the ground.

Worm of Morgoth

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00:40 +0000

A title and name of Glaurung, Father of Dragons.

See the entry for Glaurung for the complete article.

Wolf-Sauron

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00:30 +0000

“There befell the battle of Huan and Wolf- Sauron, and the howls and baying echoed in the hills, and the watchers on the walls of Ered Wethrin across the valley heard it afar and were dismayed.” - Quenta Silmarillion

The name given to the dreadful wolf-shape that Sauron took when he went from Tol-in-Gaurhoth to do battle with Huan, the Hound of Valinor.

According to prophecy, Huan would not die until he had encountered the greatest of all wolves, so Sauron contrived to take on that role and defeat the hound. He failed: the greatest of all wolves was not Wolf-Sauron, but Carcharoth of Angband, and through Lúthien’s magic and Huan’s valour Sauron was defeated. Surrendering his tower on Tol-in-Gaurhoth, he fled in the form of a vampire into the woods of Dorthonion, and was not seen again for many years.

Wizards

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00:25 +0000

A name for the order of the Maiar more properly called Istari, who came to Middle-earth after the first millennium of the Third Age to aid the Free Peoples against the return and rise of Sauron.

See entry for Istari for in-depth information regarding the Wizards.

William Huggins

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00:06 +0000

“He wouldn’t make above a mouthful … not when he was skinned and boned.”
William Huggins’opinion of Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit 2, Roast Mutton

With Tom and Bert, one of the three trolls encountered by Bilbo and the Dwarves on their eastward journey to the Lonely Mountain. He seems to have been the leader of the troll-band – at least, it was he who led them to the woodlands of Trollshaws, according to his companions. It was William’s pocket that Bilbo tried to pick as his first act of ‘burglary’, an attempt that brought the entire expedition close to disaster. Luckily, Gandalf was able to trick William and his two companions into arguing together until sunrise, whereupon they all turned to stone.

The name ‘William Huggins’seems a very remarkable and unlikely one for a troll. It seems to be a translation by Tolkien of the troll’s ‘real’name, as with the Hobbits, Dwarves, Rohirrim and so on, and the fact that it is recognisably English suggests that his original name was from a Mannish language. What William’s name actually was, though, is a mystery. (By a curious coincidence, there was a real historical figure named William Huggins, a pioneering astronomer of the mid-nineteenth century, though it seems extremely unlikely that Tolkien’s foul-mouthed troll would be based on this noted scientist!)

White

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:59:31 +0000

Title apparently used to denote the head of the Wizards in Middle-earth, originally borne by Saruman, but taken up instead by Gandalf after his return. kinglistWrapper”> I Saruman The original White Wizard, and the acknowledged head of the Istari from the time they arrived in Middle-earth in around the year III 1000. He was known as ‘the White’until the beginning of the War of the Ring more than two thousand years later, but he ultimately abandoned the title in favour of ‘Saruman of Many Colours’. II Gandalf A little under seven months after Saruman’s giving up the title ‘White’, Gandalf the Grey fought the Battle of the Peak against the Balrog known as Durin’s Bane. Gandalf defeated his foe, but his spirit passed out of his body. Nonetheless, he was sent back, and he returned to life as Gandalf the White. From this time he became the most powerful of the Istari, and when he next met Saruman, Gandalf broke the staff of his old leader and cast him out of the Order of Wizards.

This title was also given to Aredhel the sister of Turgon, for her habit of dressing in whites and silvers, and also to Celebdil, the snow-capped mountain above Khazad-dûm where Durin’s Tower was built.

Were-worms

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:59:10 +0000

“Tell me what you want done, and I will try it, if I have to walk from here to the East of East and fight the wild Were-worms in the Last Desert.” - Bilbo Baggins, in The Hobbit 1: An Unexpected Party

Creatures of an unknown kind, possibly mythical and presumably related to dragons, that were said to dwell in the Last Desert.

Tolkien only ever mentions were-worms once, in the quote given above, so we know almost nothing about them. We cannot even be certain that they actually existed – the Hobbits had a rich folklore peopled with fantastic beings, and were-worms quite possibly fall into that category.

If they did exist, the name ‘were-worm’suggests a shapeshifting creature like a werewolf – a being that could take the form of either a Man or of a Dragon. Any discussion of the form or habits of the were-worms, though, must remain in the realms of speculation.