A Nehalin or Witch of the Ethir-Folk
A Witch was a female magic-user. The rare male equivalent is sometimes referred to as warlock or witcher.
The terms "witch" and "hag" (or "hagling") also were used as slurs, and many "hags" actually had nothing to do with real magic at all, though many men, especially in Rohan, Gondor and southern Eriador, had prejudices against women who worked in professions of healing, dabbled in elvish or Númenorean lore, or even only held positions of uncommon political power.
Although “witch” and “hag” were used mostly in a derogatory sense, some Eriadorians and Elves distinguished between White Witches (Q. Curuni, S. Curuwen, G. Curus), as users of nature-magic, and Black Witches (Q. Felusi), who used Morgûl-magic. Generally in northern Eriador and Rhovanion, especially among the Hill-men, Witch was seen as a more neutral or even positive term.
In Middle-earth the term Witch could refer to:
- A female Black Magician
- Orcish Dushi
- The Gurach of the Dunlendings
- A Hobbit hagling
- A Hûriga or Asdriag Witch-priestess
- A Curuni or Curus, an elven Enchantress
- Eriadorian Wood-witches or Wise-women
- Dunnish Mhaig
- Modrog of the Donaen
- Nehalin or witch-doctors of the Ethir-Folk
- Noitënyt of the Snowmen
- Wegech of the Hillmen
- the Wicca of the Northrons
- Willowhags
- the Witches of Angmar
Witches of Note[]
- Athelwyn
- Beruthiel
- Iweriadd Gwynn
- Galadriel
- Hannei
- Lobelia Sackville-Baggins
- Mîrgaimur
- the Old Woman of the Mountain
- Peath
- Saviga
- Tudgech hyn Bodnod
Main overview: Domain of the Lidless Eye Portal
Notes[]
- In Rolemaster a Witch is a playable Profession, a hybrid spell user of both channeling and Essence. Similar classes are Warlock, Macabre, Maleficant.
- Witch is derived from Anglo-Saxon "(H)wicce", one "who twists or binds". Witch was originally used as both male and female form, "male witch" was derived from "Wicca", of which no formal equivalent exists in modern English, to reflect it modern certain fantasy literature has coined the neologism "witcher" (equivalent in pronunciation to "wicca"). In modern practice the term "Warlock" was introduced for a male witch though it originally was an archaic Scottish-English word for an "oathbreaker" or apostate, regardless of gender.
- In earlier drafts for The Lord of the Rings J.R.R.Tolkien used "Wicca" as the Rohirric translation or equivalent of Wizard regarding Gandalf and the Heren Istarion.
Editorial Note: This entry contains speculative or fan-based material — such as fanon, fanfiction, or theory constructs — that may not be directly supported by canonical texts. Interpretations offered here are part of the NNCA’s speculative corpus and should not be mistaken for primary Tolkien sources.