J. Tolkien - The Silmarillion

Magor Son of Malach Aradan; leader of the Men of the following of Marach who entered West Beleriand.

Mahal The name given to Aulë by the Dwarves.

Máhanaxar The Ring of Doom outside the gates of Valmar, in which were set the thrones of the Valar where they sat in council.

Mahtan A great smith of the Noldor, father of Nerdanel the wife of Fëanor.

Maiar Ainur of lesser degree than the Valar (singular Maia ).

Malach Son of Marach; given the Elvish name Aradan .

Malduin A tributary of the Teiglin; the name probably means ‘Yellow River’.

Malinalda ‘Tree of Gold’, a name of Laurelin.

Mandos The place of the dwelling in Aman of the Vala properly called Námo, the Judge, though this name was seldom used, and he himself was usually referred to as Mandos. Named as Vala. Named as the place of his dwelling (including Halls of Mandos ; also Halls of Awaiting, Houses of the Dead ). With reference to the Doom of the Noldor and the Curse of Mandos.

Manwë The chief of the Valar, called also Súlimo, the Elder King, the Ruler of Arda .

Marach Leader of the third host of Men to enter Beleriand, ancestor of Hador Lórindol.

March of Maedhros The open lands to the north of the head-waters of the river Gelion, held by Maedhros and his brothers against attack on East Beleriand; also called the eastern March .

Mardil Called the Faithful; the first Ruling Steward of Gondor.

Mar-nu-Falmar ‘The Land under the Waves’, name of Númenor after the Downfall.

Melian A Maia, who left Valinor and came to Middle-earth; afterwards the Queen of King Thingol in Doriath, about which she set a girdle of enchantment, the Girdle of Melian; mother of Lúthien, and foremother of Elrond and Elros.

Melkor The Quenya name for the great rebellious Vala, the beginning of evil, in his origin the mightiest of the Ainur; afterwards named Morgoth, Bauglir, the Dark Lord, the Enemy , etc. The meaning of Melkor was ‘He who arises in Might’; the Sindarin form was Belegûr , but it was never used, save in a deliberately altered form Belegurth ‘Great Death’. Passim (after the rape of the Silmarils usually called Morgoth ).

MenAtani, Children of Ilúvatar, Easterlings .

Menegroth ‘The Thousand Caves’, the hidden halls of Thingol and Melian on the river Esgalduin in Doriath.

Meneldil Son of Anárion, King of Gondor.

Menelmacar ‘Swordsman of the Sky’, the constellation Orion.

Meneltarma ‘Pillar of Heaven’, the mountain in the midst of Númenor, upon whose summit was the Hallow of Eru Ilúvatar.

Meres of Twilight See Aelin-uial .

Mereth Aderthad The ‘Feast of Reuniting’ held by Fingolfin near the Pools of Ivrin.

Mickleburg Translation of Belegost : ‘great fortress’.

Middle-earth The lands to the east of the Great Sea; also called the Hither Lands, the Outer Lands, the Great Lands , and Endor. Passim .

Mîm The Petty-dwarf, in whose house ( Bar-en-Danwedh ) on Amon Rûdh Túrin dwelt with the outlaw band, and by whom their lair was betrayed to the Orcs; slain by Húrin in Nargothrond.

Minas Anor ‘Tower of the Sun’ (also simply Anor ), afterwards called Minas Tirith; the city of Anárion, at the feet of Mount Mindolluin.

Minas Ithil ‘Tower of the Moon’, afterwards called Minas Morgul; the city of Isildur, built on a shoulder of the Ephel Dúath.

Minas Morgul ‘Tower of Sorcery’ (also simply Morgul ), name of Minas Ithil after its capture by the Ringwraiths.

Minastir See Tar-Minastir .

Minas Tirith (1) ‘Tower of Watch’, built by Finrod Felagund on Tol Sirion; see Tol-in-Gaurhoth .

Minas Tirith (2) Later name of Minas Anor. Called the City of Gondor .

Mindeb A tributary of Sirion, between Dimbar and the Forest of Neldoreth.

Mindolluin ‘Towering Blue-head’, the great mountain behind Minas Anor.

Mindon Eldaliéva ‘Lofty Tower of the Eldalië’, the tower of Ingwë in the city of Tirion; also simply the Mindon .

Míriel (1) The first wife of Finwë, mother of Fëanor; died after Fëanor’s birth. Called Serindë ‘the Broideress’.

Míriel (2) Daughter of Tar-Palantir, forced into marriage by Ar-Pharazôn, and as his queen named Ar-Zimraphel ; also called Tar-Míriel .

Mirkwood See Greenwood the Great .

Misty Mountains See Hithaeglir .

Mithlond ‘The Grey Havens’, harbours of the Elves on the Gulf of Lhûn; also referred to as the Havens .

Mithrandir ‘The Grey Pilgrim’, Elvish name of Gandalf (Olórin), one of the Istari (Wizards).

Mithrim The name of the great lake in the east of Hithlum, and also of the region about it and of the mountains to the west, separating Mithrim from Dor-lómin. The name was originally that of the Sindarin Elves who dwelt there.

Mordor ‘The Black Land’, also called the Land of Shadow ; Sauron’s realm east of the mountains of the Ephel Dúath.

Morgoth ‘The Black Enemy’, name of Melkor, first given to him by Fëanor after the rape of the Silmarils and thereafter passim . See Melkor .

Morgul See Minas Morgul .

Moria ‘The Black Chasm’, later name for Khazad-dûm (Hadhodrond).

Moriquendi ‘Elves of the Darkness’; see Dark Elves .

Mormegil ‘The Black Sword’, name given to Túrin as captain of the host of Nargothrond; see Gurthang .

Morwen Daughter of Baragund (nephew of Barahir, the father of Beren); wife of Húrin and mother of Túrin and Nienor; called Eledhwen (translated in the text as ‘Elfsheen’) and the Lady of Dor-lómin .

Mountain of Fire See Orodruin .

Mountains : of Aman, of Defence , see Pelóri ; of the East , see Orocarni ; of Iron , see Ered Engrin ; of Mist , see Hithaeglir ; of Mithrim , see Mithrim ; of Shadow , see Ered Wethrin and Ephel Dúath ; of Terror , see Ered Gorgoroth .

Mount Doom See Amon Amarth .

Music of the Ainur See Ainulindalë .

Nahar The horse of the Vala Oromë, said by the Eldar to be so named on account of his voice.

Námo A Vala, one of the Aratar; usually named Mandos , the place of his dwelling. Námo means ‘Ordainer, Judge’.

Nandor Said to mean ‘Those who turn back’: the Nandor were those Elves from the host of the Teleri who refused to cross the Misty Mountains on the westward journey from Cuiviénen, but of whom a part, led by Denethor, came long afterwards over the Blue Mountains and dwelt in Ossiriand (the Green-elves).

Nan Dungortheb Also Dungortheb ; translated in the text as ‘Valley of Dreadful Death’. The valley between the precipices of Ered Gorgoroth and the Girdle of Melian.

Nan Elmoth The forest east of the river Celon where Elwë (Thingol) was enchanted by Melian and lost; afterwards the dwelling-place of Eöl.

Nan-tathren ‘Willow-vale’, translated as ‘the Land of Willows’, where the river Narog flowed into Sirion. In Treebeard’s song in The Two Towers III 4 Quenya forms of the name are used: in the willow-meads of Tasarinan ; Nan-tasarion .