The Silmarillion Characters

The leader of the first men to travel into Beleriand, Bëor becomes Finrod’s close companion. He settles his people in Estolad before following Finrod to Nargothrond, where he lives as Finrod’s vassal until his death. His people become known as the House of Bëor.

Varda is the Queen of the Valar and the creator of the stars. She’s married to Manwë and revered by the elves. Melkor fears and hates her more than any of the other Valar since she controls light, which he’s unable to manipulate.

Aulë is the Vala responsible for rock, stone, and the other substances that compose Arda. Married to Yavanna, he’s the world’s first craftsman and the creator of the dwarves.

Known as the Giver of Fruits, Yavanna is the Vala responsible for creating and tending the plants and growing things of Arda. She creates the Two Trees of Valinor and is married to Aulë.

Married to Vairë, Mandos rules the Houses of the Dead and pronounces Ilúvatar’s judgement in matters of fate. He announces the Doom of the Noldor as they depart Valinor for Middle-earth. He’s moved to pity only once, when Lúthien sings to him, and he returns her lover Beren.

Married to Vána, Oromë is the Vala responsible for the hunt. He loves Middle-earth and hunts Melkor’s monsters there during the Years of the Trees. He is the Vala that discovers the elves and later leads them to Valinor.

Tulkas the Valiant is physically the strongest Vala and descends to Arda to fight Melkor. Married to Nessa, he enjoys contests of strength and remains one of Melkor’s most outspoken opponents in the First Age.

Irmo is the Vala who creates dreams and visions. He’s the husband of Estë and the brother of Mandos and Nienna.

Known as the Weaver, Vairë is the Vala who weaves the story of Arda that hangs in the halls of her husband Mandos.

Nienna is the Vala responsible for grief, pity, and hope. She mourns for the suffering of Arda that Melkor causes and often visits the Houses of the Dead to comfort the spirits there.

Nessa is the Vala known for her swiftness and her affinity for deer. She marries Tulkas in the Spring of Arda and dances for the Valar just before Melkor’s attack on Almaren.

The wife of Irmo, Estë is a gentle and grey-robed Vala. She is a healer of pain and weariness and provides rest for the people of Valinor.

Married to Oromë, Vána is the Vala with power over youth. Flowers grow and birds sing wherever she goes.

Eönwë is the herald of Manwë and one of the Chiefs of the Maiar. He greets Eärendil when he arrives in Valinor and guards the Silmarils after Melkor’s defeat during the Wars of Beleriand.

Ossë and his wife Uinen are the Maiar that are best known to elves and men. As a servant of Ulmo, he teaches music, lore, and ship-building to the elves.

Elros is the Half-elven son of Eärendil and Elwing, fostered by Maglor. Unlike his brother Elrond, who chooses the immortality of the elves, Elros chooses to be mortal and becomes the first king of Númenor. He builds cities and rules for over 400 years.

The estranged son of Curufin, Celebrimbor is a skilled jewel-smith who creates several lesser Rings of Power under Sauron’s instruction and the three elven Rings of Power alone. He’s killed in Eregion during the conflict between Sauron and the elves after the creation of the One Ring.

Frodo is the Halfling who travels to Mordor with his servant during the War of the Ring and throws the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom, destroying it and incapacitating Sauron.

Aragorn is the heir of Isildur who is very similar to Elendil. He carries Elendil’s reforged sword to battle against Sauron’s forces and becomes King of Gondor and Arnor.

Huor is the grandson of Hador and the younger brother of Húrin. He dies in the fifth battle of the Wars of Beleriand while covering Turgon’s retreat. He wife Rían gives birth to their son Tuor after his death.

Orodreth, one of Finarfin’s sons, becomes the King of Nargothrond after Finrod and exiles Celegorm and Curufin. He dies in battle when Glaurung conquers Nargothrond.

Tilion is a Maia and a hunter of Oromë who volunteers to guide the moon in its path across the sky. He fends off an attack from Melkor’s shadow spirits and faithfully follows Arien, who guides the sun, though his pace isn’t consistent.

Arien is the Maia who guides the sun across the sky. As a fire spirit, she can withstand the heat of Laurelin’s light and cared for the Tree before its destruction.

Glorfindel is one of the captains of Gondolin and the lord of a noble house. He fights a Balrog that attacks the survivors of Gondolin as they flee the city, and both he and the Balrog fall from the mountain to their deaths.

Amras is the twin brother of Amrod and the youngest son of Fëanor. Though not active in the war against Melkor, Amras is present at each of the kinslayings incited by his brothers. He dies during the Third Kinslaying while attacking the remnants of Doriath for Elwing’s Silmaril.

The son of Finarfin, Angrod is one of the few Noldor elves allowed into Doriath. His presence there leads Thingol to ban the use of Quenya, the elvish language, in Beleriand. He and his brother Aegnor are killed in the fourth battle of the Wars of Beleriand.

Aegnor is one of the sons of the Noldor elf Finarfin. He and his brother Angrod follow Fëanor and their friend Fingon to Middle-earth, and later both die in the fourth battle of the Wars of Beleriand.

As Tar-Palantir’s only child, Tar-Míriel should have become the queen of Númenor. However, her cousin Ar-Pharazôn marries her unwillingly and steals her throne. During Númenor’s destruction, Tar-Míriel is swept away by the wave as she attempts to reach the top of Ilúvatar’s Sacred Mountain.

Voronwë is an elf from Gondolin and a messenger on one of the ships sent by Turgon to seek aid from Valinor that never reaches its destination. The Vala Ulmo saves him from drowning so he can lead Tuor to Gondolin.

Adûnakhôr is the twentieth king of Númenor and the first king not to choose a royal name in Quenya. Instead, he chooses a name meaning “Lord of the West,” appropriating the title from Manwë.

Rían is the wife of Huor and the mother of Tuor. After Huor’s death in the fifth battle of the Wars of Beleriand, she leaves Tuor in the care of the elves of Mithrim and dies of grief on the mass grave from the battle.

Míriel is the first wife of Finwë and the mother of Fëanor. She loses all her strength during Fëanor’s birth and travels to Lórien to rest. Once there, her spirit leaves her body and goes to the Houses of the Dead.

Daeron is a Sindarin elf and Thingol’s minstrel in Doriath. He’s in love with Lúthien and betrays her meetings with Beren to Thingol out of jealousy. After her disappearance, Daeron wanders Middle-earth looking for her.

Hador is a descendant of Malach and a servant of Fingolfin, who gives him the fiefdom of Dor-lómin. He forms a noble house of men called the house of Hador and dies defending Fingolfin in the fourth battle of the Wars of Beleriand.

Nerdanel is a skilled sculptor and the wife of Fëanor. Though she’s as stubborn as her husband, she’s more patient than him and able to calm his temper. When Fëanor is banished from Tirion, they become estranged.

The Manhearted wife of Barahir and mother of Beren, Emeldir leads the women and children of the House of Bëor out of Dorthonion when it becomes overrun by orcs.

Halmir is the lord of the House of Haleth during the fourth battle of the Wars of Beleriand. When orcs invade Brethil, Thingol sends Beleg and a group of elves to help Halmir fight them.

Haldad, the father of Haleth, is part of a group of leaderless men called the Haladin. When orcs attack, he takes charge and builds a stockade. He’s killed leading an attack against the orcs.

Ulfang is a man and a servant of Melkor who joins Maedhros’s union to delay his army’s arrival at Angband. Later, when Maedhros’s army arrives at the battlefield, Ulfang’s men turn and attack it from the rear.

Though he’s the thirteenth king of Númenor, Tar-Atanamir is the first king of Númenor to cling to power and rule for life rather than passing the throne on to his son during his lifetime. His reign is the beginning of Númenor’s decline in virtue.

Dorlas is one of the woodmen of Brethil who witness Finduilas’s death. When Glaurung appears on the edge of the forest, Dorlas promises to help Túrin kill him, but runs into the woods in fear, where he’s murdered by Brandir after Níniel’s suicide.

Draugluin is the first werewolf and the servant of Sauron. He’s killed by Huan during Beren’s quest for the Silmaril, and Beren uses his pelt to sneak into Angband unnoticed.

Denethor, the son of Lenwë, leads the Nandor elves into Beleriand. He allies with Thingol to fight orcs and is killed during the first battle of the Wars of Beleriand.

Gothmog is the Lord of Balrogs and the captain of Angband. He mortally wounds Fëanor and kills Fingon during the Wars of Beleriand. He’s killed during the fall of Gondolin.

Galdor is the son of Hador and the father of Húrin and Huor. He’s killed during an orc invasion in Hithlum seven years before the fifth battle of the Wars of Beleriand.

With an affinity for plants and animals, Ragadast is the third wizard to arrive in Middle-earth as Sauron’s power grows in Dol Guldur.

Olwë is one of the two kings of the Teleri elves. He leads his people to Tol Eressëa and Valinor after the disappearance of his brother Elwë in Beleriand.

Lenwë leads a group of elves known as the Nandor who break off from the Teleri on the journey to Valinor and settle near the River Anduin.

Eärnur is the last king of Gondor before the Stewards rule in his name. A Ringwraith challenges him to single combat, then kidnaps him. He’s never seen again.

Meneldil is the son of Anárion and becomes the third king of Gondor after the War of the Last Alliance.

Valandil becomes the king of Arnor after the War of the Last Alliance when his three older brothers and his father Isildur are killed by orcs.

Gimilkhâd leads a group of men who oppose his elder brother King Tar-Palantir’s policies and adherence to ancient tradition in Númenor.

Boromir is the grandson of Bëor. The elves of Beleriand appoint him the leader of the House of Bëor and give him the land of Ladros to rule.

Ingwë is one of the three elf ambassadors who initially travel to Valinor. He’s the king of the Vanyar and the High King of the elves in Valinor.

Eluréd is one of the two sons of Dior. He and his brother Elruín are abandoned to die in the forest when the sons of Fëanor invade Doriath.

Elurín is one of the sons of Dior. When the sons of Fëanor invade Doriath, Celegorm’s servants leave him and his brother Eluréd in the forest to die.

Related to Brandir, Hunthor is one of the men of Brethil. He volunteers to help Túrin kill Glaurung and is killed in the attempt by a falling stone.

Indis is Finwë’s second wife and the mother of Fingolfin and Finarfin. Fëanor dislikes her and his half-brothers.

Nimloth is Dior’s wife and Celeborn’s relative. She’s killed when the sons of Fëanor attack Doriath to take Dior’s Silmaril.

Celeborn is a kinsman of Thingol who marries Galadriel. She stays in Doriath to be close to him rather than following Finrod to Nargothrond.

Malach is a man who serves Fingolfin and learns to speak Sindarin. He’s the ancestor of the House of Hador.

Bregolas is the lord of the House of Bëor, killed during the fourth battle of the Wars of Beleriand.

Thranduil is the elven King of Mirkwood. His people try to defend the forest as Sauron’s evil invades it.

Bereg is a man who vehemently argues against men aiding elves in the war against Melkor. He leads a thousand of Bëor’s people south out of Beleriand.

Rúmil is the Loremaster of the Noldor elves who invents writing.

One of the two Chiefs of the Maiar, Ilmarë is the handmaid of Varda.

Thuringwethil is the vampire messenger of Sauron. When Beren and Lúthien sneak into Angband, Lúthien disguises herself as Thuringwethil.

Ancalagon is the greatest of Melkor’s dragons. Eärendil kills him during the Great Battle and throws him down onto the towers of Thangorodrim, destroying them.