Definitions by andy

Viveka 

A character in Joe Dever and John Grant's Legends of Lone Wolf series, who is a mercenary warrior/assassin and an ally of Lone Wolf. She is one of the party who free Lone Wolf from Helgedad when he is kidnapped in Legends 5: The Claws of Helgedad, although she was assumed dead at the end of book 3.

She appears briefly in the original gamebook series, as one of the passengers on a coach from Ragadorn to Gorn Cove.

Viveka appears to die after falling overboard on a ship, but she reappears safe and well at the Kai Monastery ruins.

She is one of the many not-quite-girlfriends Lone Wolf has in the Legends novels, and like most of them, she seems to just appear and disappear at random.

Viveka by Andy April 25, 2004

uruloki 

Dragons, in the language of the elves.

The term appears in Tolkien's Silmarillion.

Glaurung was the first of the uruloki, and Ancalagon the greatest.

The uruloki included not only the winged dragons but also the wingless fire- and cold-drakes.

uruloki by Andy April 25, 2004

Vanyar 

In JRR Tolkien's Silmarillion, the Vanyar or High-Elves are a clan of elves who remain in Valinor when the Noldor return to Middle-Earth. They are described as the most beautiful of the Elves and the closest to the Valar.

The Vanyar return to Middle Earth only once, when they join the Valar in the battle which finally defeats Morgoth.

Vanyar by Andy April 25, 2004

eldar 

1) In the work of JRR Tolkien, this is an elvish word used to refer to elves. More specifically, it refers to elves who made the journey west in the First Age, and their descendants (as opposed to the "dark elves" or Avari). All the major elven characters in Tolkien's novels are eldar.

2) In the Warhammer 40,000 (Games Workshop)universe, the Eldar are a race of aliens who live on Craft-worlds. Broadly good in alignment, they are divided into different units of bizarrely coloured guilds and crafts. Basically, futuristic elves. They dress in slim, streamlined armour with pointed helmets, and have many special units relying on otherworldly technologies and magic - including some which look remarkably like Star Wars speeder bikes, others which resemble floating disks, and giant godlike beings known as Avatars.

Eldar sounds a bit like a cross between "elder" and "elf".

eldar by Andy April 25, 2004

Ice Barbarians 

A group of human warriors appearing in Lone Wolf 3 and World of Lone Wolf 5. Perhaps the most objectionable of the portrayals modelled loosely on actual groups, since the Ice Barbarians are warlike, vicious and xenophobic, and are ruled by a tyrannical monarch, the Brumalmarc. They are therefore very different from real-world peoples such as the Inuit and Aleut who seem to provide a model for their dress and culture.

Ice Barbarians appear to be nomadic, living in the icy wilderness of Kalte and attacking interlopers. They fight in small bands, with each warrior accompanied by a small child carried on their back. Both warrior and child are armed with bows, and the warriors travel swiftly across the ice by using ski-like snowshoes.

Despite their warlike inclinations, the Ice Barbarians presumably trade with the Sommlending, since otherwise the city of Ljuk would have no function.

Lone Wolf 3 is one of the freest of the gamebook series in terms of the routes a player can follow in order to complete the book. Encounters with the Ice Barbarians occur on some routes and can develop in several ways.

Ice Barbarians by Andy April 25, 2004

Teleri 

The "sea-elves", in the work of Tolkien. One of the three clans of elves who crossed the sea (under the leadership of Olwe), although the elves led by Cirdan, who remained in a region of Beleriand known as the Falas, are also counted among the Teleri. (The Sindar, who are of the same clan, appear to be considered separate because they did not reach the sea).

Closest to Ulmo among the Valar, the Teleri dwell in coastal towns whether in Valinor or Middle-Earth. They play a minor role in the Silmarillion; their main dwelling-places in Beleriand were the cities of Vinyamar and Eglarest in the Falas. In Lord of the Rings, the elves dwelling in Lindon and the Grey Havens, including the still-resident Cirdan, are Teleri.

The Teleri are great ship-builders, although their greatest ships were stolen by Feanor and the Noldor in the Kinslaying. These ships were later burnt by Feanor at Loscar, in a gesture of hostility towards Fingolfin, whom he had left in the lands near Valinor.

Teleri by Andy April 25, 2004

Sindar 

1) In Tolkien's works, the Sindar are the "grey elves". They were originally part of the Teleri, one of the three clans who went west, but they followed Elwe, who found the Maia Melian in the woods of Doriath and who remained in Middle-Earth. The Sindar were the only elves in Middle-Earth until the Noldor returned, and were relatives of the Teleri killed in the Kinslaying; their relations with the Noldor were therefore strained.

2) In Suikoden, a long-lost race who (according to Richmond the private eye) came down from the north, crossed the whole of the world - leaving ruins wherever they went - and then mysteriously disappeared. The ruins are monster-infested but also contain powerful and dangerous magic treasures. The Sindar also left behind ancient texts which appear in Suikoden II as valuable antiques. Several characters, such as Lorelai and Killey, are seeking the Sindar.

In both cases, the Sindar are an elusive and mysterious people.

Sindar by Andy April 25, 2004