Aragorn: LOTR3 (Viggo Mortensen). Man of mystery... and many names. Soooooo many names: Strider, Elfstone, Elessar, Estel, Wingfoot, Longshanks, Thorongil, heir of Isildur, and "the Dúnedan." Loves Arwen, although we try not to think about that too much.
Argonath: FOTR. Two ginormous statues of Isildur and Anárion on the river Anduin that guard the entry to the northern border of Gondor.
Arwen: LOTR3 (Liv Tyler). Also Arwen Evenstar, Arwen Undómiel. Elrond's daughter, Aragorn's best girl. Role in the books: To sit home and sew Aragorn a banner. Scene you still won't see in TTT: Arwen fighting at Helm's Deep.
Asfaloth: Arwen's horse. In the books, Glorfindel brings him to the Ford to save Frodo (Frodo rides by himself). Great source of controversy as fans awaited the first film.
Balrog: Scary bastage who throws down with Gandalf in Moria; defeated on the peak of Zirakzigil.
Barad-dûr: LOTR3. Sauron's tower; one of the Two Towers.
Barahir, Ring of: Aragorn's ring. Not one of the Rings. Part of the Beren and Luthien story; Encyclo-pedia of Arda can explain it better than we can.
Bilbo Baggins: FOTR, ROTK (Ian Holm). The most famous hobbit (see The Hobbit). Won the Ring from Gollum in a riddle contest; very reluctantly bequeathed it to Frodo.
Bill the Pony: FOTR. Sam's beloved traveling companion (and fan favorite) who gets about 3.4 seconds of screentime in the movie.
Boromir: FOTR (Sean Bean). Faramir's brother, Denethor's favorite son. Tries to take the Ring from Frodo, only to finally figure out why he shouldn't--right before he dies. (Sniffle.)
Brego: TTT/ROTK. Aragorn gets him in Rohan; used to belong to Theodred, Theoden's son. GEEK ALERT: Has a different name in the book--"Hasufel." Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go find a new and different name for someone's horse, but you know, whatever floats your boat.
Caras Galadhon: FOTR, TTT? Pretty elfy treehouse city; home to Galadriel. See also Lorien.
Celeborn: FOTR, TTT?, ROTK? (Marton Csokas). Pronounced "Keleborn." Galadriel's husband, Arwen's grandfather. And... really, that's about it.
Dead Marshes: Really icky swamp Gollum takes Frodo and Sam though, filled with the lights of the dead..
Denethor: ROTK (John Noble). Steward of Gondor, father of Boromir and Faramir. Not real thrilled about Aragorn showing up.
Dunlendings: Wild men of Dunland who hate the Rohirrim, presumably because the Rohirrim have better hygiene.
Dwarves: Stubborn, proud, quick-tempered. Likes: Metalwork, stonecraft, mining, mountains. Dislikes: Elves, Orcs.
Easterlings: Foes of the "Free Peoples," men from "the East." No, seriously.
Edoras: Main city of Rohan. See also Meduseld.
Elendil: FOTR (Peter McKenzie). King of Gondor, father of Isildur. Died fighting Sauron; also favorite battle cry of Aragorn. See also Narsil.
Elrond: LOTR3 (Hugo Weaving). Arwen's father, Galadriel's son-in-law. Still ticked that Isildur didn't destroy the Ring like he told him to. Wears Vilya. Bonus fact: Aragorn is descended from his brother Elros. Whether that's nifty or icky is your call.
Elves: LOTR3. The eldest race. Immortal, although they can die of grief or wounds. GEEK ALERT: There are actually several kinds--Legolas is Silvan, while Arwen is part Sindar and part Noldor. Yeah, they lost us at that point, too.
Ents: TTT. Also Onodrim, Shepherds of the Trees. Giant, loquacious, walking trees. Hoom!
Éomer: TTT, ROTK (Karl Urban). Éowyn's brother, Théoden's nephew. Wormtongue has it in for him, and vice versa.
Eorlingas: The people of Rohan (same as "Rohirrim"). You'll see it on the soundtrack in "Forth Eorlingas."
Éowyn: TTT, ROTK (Miranda Otto). Éomer's sister, Theoden's niece, the "White Lady of Rohan." In love with Aragorn; has the disadvantage of not being Arwen.
Evenstar: LOTR3. Tolkien may be more forward-thinking than you'd guess: rather than give Arwen an engagement ring, Aragorn gets this jewel from her.
Eye of Sauron: Sauron's current disembodied state, ever-vigilant.
Fangorn: TTT. Deep forest on the border of Rohan, named for the Ent that lives there ("Fangorn" means "Treebeard.")
Faramir: TTT, ROTK (David Wenham). Boromir's brother, Denethor's son. As far as Denethor's concerned, has the disadvantage of not being Boromir. Posted with rangers in Ithilien.
Frodo Baggins: LOTR3 (Elijah Wood). Bilbo's "nephew" who apparently is actually a distant cousin (stop confusing us!). Unusually interested in adventure for a hobbit.
Galadriel: LOTR3 (Cate Blanchett). Arwen's grandmother, married to Celeborn. "Lady of Light" and "Lady of the Golden Wood," Lothlórien, although some say she's an evil sorceress. Right before Gimli beats the hell out of them, of course. Wears Nenya.
Gandalf the Grey: FOTR (Ian McKellen). Likes: hobbits, smoking, fireworks. Dislikes: fools of Tooks, balrogs. Other names: Grey Pilgrim, Grey Wanderer, Gandalf Greyhame, Stormcrow, Incánus, Mithrandir, Olórin, Tharkûn. Carries Glamdring, Narya.
Gandalf the White: TTT, ROTK (Ian McKellen). Gandalf's new identity once he's "resurrected" after fighting the Balrog.
Gil-Galad: FOTR (Mark Ferguson). Brieftly seen in FOTR prologue; Elven king who dies fighting Sauron.
Gilraen: FOTR (Ext. DVD). Aragorn's mother; he's seen at her grave on the DVD.
Gimli: LOTR3 (John Rhys-Davies). Dwarf, son of Glóin from The Hobbit. Develops a soft spot for Elves, particularly Legolas and Galadriel (he's also called "Lockbearer" after asking for a strand of her hair).
Glamdring: LOTR3. Gandalf's sword from The Hobbit that he fights the Balrog with. Question (GEEK ALERT!): if both Glamdring and Sting are Elven swords, why doesn't Glamdring glow, too?
Glittering Caves: Also Caves of Aglarond. Caves of Helm's Deep where Éowyn and the people of Rohan hole up during battle.
Goblin: Synonymous with Orc, but mostly used in The Hobbit.
Gollum: LOTR3 (voiced by Andy Serkis). Formerly known as Sméagol. Likes: Precioussss, fisssssh. Dislikes: nassty hobbitses that put other people's things in their pocketses.
Grishnákh: TTT. The orc primarily holding Merry and Pippin captive as the Uruk raiders march back to Orthanc.
Haldir: FOTR, TTT (Craig Parker). Lórien Elf who brings the Fellowship to Galadriel. In the movies, fights at Helm's Deep.
Helm's Deep: TTT. Location of the Hornburg, and site of a massive battle against the Uruk-hai and the Dunlendings.
Hobbits: Also halflings. Short, with hairy, oversized feet; can be quick, stealthy, and calm under pressure; live in well-decorated "holes." Likes: food, tobacco, food, parties, gifts, ale, food. Dislikes: adventure and travel.
Hornburg: Mountain refuge of the Rohirrim. See also Helm's Deep.
Isildur: FOTR (Harry Sinclair). Son of Elendil who hacked the Ring off Sauron's hand... and then refused to destroy it. Stupidhead.
Ithilien: Area of Gondor on the border of Mordor. Faramir is posted there.
Legolas: LOTR3 (Orlando Bloom). Also Legolas Greenleaf. Member of the Fellowship, following Aragorn after the gang splits up. Has odd-couple friendship with Gimli. Bonus fact: he's the son of Elven king Thranduil from The Hobbit.
Lórien: FOTR, TTT?. Also Lothlórien. Galadriel's realm, famous for gigantic mallorn trees. See also Caras Galadhon.
Lurtz: FOTR (Lawrence Makoare). Uruk-hai invented for the film so that Boromir's death could be somewhat avenged and give viewers a little closure, considering that the movie basically had no ending.
Meduseld: TTT. The Golden Hall of Edoras in Rohan.
Merry: LOTR3 (Dominic Monaghan). Meriadoc Brandybuck. Friend of Frodo, attached at the hip to Pippin. Definitely the brains of the operation from that standpoint.
Mithril: LOTR3. Looks like silver, endures like steel, costlier than gold. Dwarves mine it; saves Frodo's butt in Moria.
Mordor: LOTR3. "Where the shadows lie." Sauron's 'hood. Also home to Mount Doom, Frodo and Sam's destination.
Moria: FOTR. Also Khazad-dûm (Gandalf fights the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm.) Once-great realm of the dwarves before invasion by orcs.
Mumak: TTT. Also oliphaunt. One's a mumak; two are mumakil. So what are they? Elephants from hell (hellephants?).
Narsil: LOTR3. Elendil's broken sword, which Isildur used to cut the Ring off Sauron's hand. Called Andúril once it's reforged and given to Aragorn.
Nazgûl: LOTR3. Plural and singular: Black Riders, The Nine, Nine Riders, Nine Servants, Winged Shadows, Ringwraiths--the nine men to whom Sauron gave rings. Really, really have it in for Frodo. See also Witch-king.
Narya: Gandalf's ring, the Ring of Fire (see his "I am the Servant of the Secret Flame!" line to the Balrog in FOTR).
Nenya: Galadriel's ring, the Ring of Water. Appears in the FOTR Ext. DVD.
Oliphaunt: See Mumak.
Orc: LOTR3. Basically, a goblin; supposedly tortured and corrupted Elves. Most can't stand the light. See also Uruk-hai.
Orthanc: LOTR3. Saruman's tower; one of the Two Towers.
Palantír: "Seeing stone." Kind of the Magic 8-ball of Middle Earth. There used to be a whole set that could be used to communicate back and forth. Extremely dangerous now that Sauron has one.
Phial of Galadriel: FOTR (Ext. DVD), TTT?, ROTK. Given to Frodo by Galadriel. Contains starlight.
Pippin: LOTR3 (Billy Boyd). Peregrin Took. Friend of Frodo, attached at the hip to Merry. The youngest of the four hobbits, and the most clumsy and/or careless.
Rangers: 1. Wandering men of the North (Aragorn/Strider is one). 2. Soldiers of Gondor in Ithilien (Faramir is one).
Rings: LOTR3. There are 20: Three for Elves (see Vilya, Nenya, Narya), nine for men (see Nazgûl, Ringwraith, Witch-king), seven for dwarves. And then Sauron made the One Ring "to rule them all," the sneaky bastage. The dwarf rings were lost, destroyed, or captured by Sauron; the nine men are now the nine Ringwraiths; and Galadriel, Elrond, and Gandalf have the remaining three. Owners of the One Ring: Sauron, Isildur, Smeagol/Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo.
Ringwraith: See Nazgul.
Rohan: TTT. Kingdom north of Gondor, full of green plains and known for its horses. Ruled by Théoden. See also Rohirrim, Éowyn, Éomer.
Rohirrim: The people of Rohan.
Sam: LOTR3 (Sean Astin). Samwise Gamgee. Gentle gardener who dotes on "Mr. Frodo"; many view them as the original Ambiguously Gay Duo. Dreamed of seeing elves; on the DVD, Galadriel gives him elven rope.
Saruman: LOTR3? (Christopher Lee). Also Saruman the White. Head of the wizards, now gone bad. So bad, he's even planning to betray Sauron (good luck with that).
Sauron: LOTR3 (Sala Baker). In a nutshell: The Big Bad. He put his life-essence (or something like that) into the One Ring, so he'll always be around until it's destroyed. Currently hanging around Barad-dur in the form of a giant flaming eye.
Shadowfax: One of Théoden's horses. Answers only to Gandalf (awwwww).
Sméagol: See Gollum.
Sting: LOTR3. Bilbo's short Elven sword from The Hobbit that he passes on to Frodo. Glows blue when orcs are near.
Théoden: TTT, ROTK (Bernard Hill). King of Rohan, uncle of Éowyn and Éomer. Unfortunately ill- advised by Wormtongue.
Théodred: Théoden's son, complete with conveniently similar name for easy recall. It's not too much of a spoiler to note that Théodred--well, he's not in the movie very long. See also Brego.
Treebeard: TTT (voice by John Rhys-Davies). Also Fangorn; Fangorn Forest is named for him. Ent. Can't say anything in five words that he wouldn't rather say in fifty. Extremely unhasty (hoom!).
Troll: FOTR. Also cave troll. Dispatched by the combined efforts of the Fellowship in FOTR. Question: Who made him the loincloth? Update: His mama, apparently. See the extended DVD for Peter Jackson's hilariously tragic view of the troll's home life ("He's got a mother too. She's turned down the bed for him, she's got a glass of warm milk for him--but he's never coming home now.")
Uruk-Hai: LOTR3. Orc 2.0, bio-engineered by Saruman to withstand the daylight, ostensibly to serve Sauron, but actually for Saruman's planned coup. Lurtz is one of them.
Vilya: Elrond's ring, the Ring of Air.
Warg: TTT. Nasty combination of "a wolf, a bear, and a"--well, it sounds like FX guru Randy Cook says "lox" in the "Creatures" video, but you get the picture. In the movie, orcs ride them.
Wormtongue: TTT, ROTK? (Brad Dourif). Gríma Wormtongue, secret henchman of Saruman who has Théoden's ear, sapping his strength. Also: hot for Éowyn.
Witch-king of Angmar: FOTR (Brent McIntyre), ROTK (Lawrence Makoare). Basically, the baddest Ringwraith. Important fact to keep in mind: Legend says the Witch-king can be killed by no man.
Zirakzigil: The peak on which Gandalf fights the Balrog.
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