Arnor

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General information
Other namesKingdom of the North, The Lost Realm, The North-kingdom, The North-realm, The Northern Kingdom
LocationMost of Eriador
CapitalAnnúminas, later Fornost Erain
Major townsLond Daer, Tharbad, Bree, Hobbiton
RegionsArthedain, Cardolan, Rhudaur
People
PopulationPrimarily Men (many Hobbits in the Shire and Bree-land)
LanguageWestron, Sindarin, Quenya, Hobbitish
GovernanceKing of Arnor/High King
Counsellors
History
Preceded byNúmenor
FoundedS.A. 3320
IndependenceT.A. 2
DissolutionT.A. 861
Last remnant destroyedT.A. 1974
Re-founded1 May, T.A. 3019
Followed byReunited Kingdom
GalleryImages of Arnor

Arnor, or the North-kingdom, was one of the two Kingdoms of the Dúnedain (the other being Gondor in the south) in the land of Eriador in Middle-earth. It was the original seat of the High King who ruled over both Arnor and Gondor.

History

Second Age

Palace Complex at Annúminas by Steven White, Jr.

Foundation

During the Downfall of Númenor, Elendil and his people sailed through the Gulf of Lune and up the Lune river, and befriended the High King of the Noldor Gil-galad. After passing up the River Lhûn and into Eriador, he established the realm of Arnor.[1]

The native Men of Eriador accepted the rule of Arnor and helped to people and maintain the many places that the Númenóreans built.[1] The Men of Bree also became subjects of Arnor.[2]

Elendil established the city of Annúminas as his capital. Besides the chief cities like Annúminas and Fornost, the Men of Arnor concentrated around the courses of the Lhûn and the Baranduin, Cardolan, the hills of Rhudaur, and built towers on Amon Sûl. Gil-galad and his people built the Emyn Beraid for Elendil.[1]

Despite its precedence over it as the seat of the High King, Arnor was never as powerful and populous as Gondor.[3]

War of the Last Alliance

Isildur in Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring

In S.A. 3430, Arnor joined forces with Gil-galad in a great alliance opposing Sauron, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. When Elendil led his people against Sauron, the Dúnedain and the other Men of Eriador marched together to the South.[1] In conjunction with southern forces from Gondor, they confronted Sauron's armies in the War of the Last Alliance. This great war lasted several years, that reached Dagorlad and Mordor itself far in the south, culminating to the Siege of Barad-dûr. Both Elendil and his son Anárion were slain in this conflict, but Isildur cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger and prevailed.

Third Age

Decline

Isildur (who was also King of Gondor) was the elder son of Elendil and would inherit the High Kingship and throne of Arnor but, he never reached his new realm; he was killed in T.A. 2 in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, as did his three eldest sons.

Isildur's fourth and youngest son, Valandil, who had remained at Rivendell due to his youth, became his heir (T.A. 10). The Men of Arnor had suffered heavy casualties in the War, and the subsequent Disaster; there were too few to maintain the places Elendil had built and Arnor became depopulated. Arnor never fully recovered from the devastating loss.[1]

Because nor Valandil nor his subsequent heirs claimed the throne of Gondor, the realms were split; Arnor's rulers were occasionaly styled "High King of Arnor", whereas in the south the ruler was 'just' King. Arnor's capital was Annúminas on Lake Evendim, but by T.A. 861 Fornost Erain had taken its place. No longer a site of such importance, Annúminas became depopulated and was slowly abandoned.

After the death of its tenth king, Eärendur, in T.A. 861, Arnor was shaken by civil war between his three sons. The eldest, Amlaith, claimed Kingship over all Arnor but was reduced to only ruling the region of Arthedain as his kingdom, while the other sons founded the breakaway kingdoms of Cardolan and Rhudaur.[4]

Conflicts with Angmar

Main article: Angmar War
Eliot Gould - The Witch King

There was often strife between the three kingdoms, usually over control of the Weather Hills and the palantír of Amon Sûl. Seeing the disunion in Arnor, Arnor's greatest enemy in the north by the middle of the Third Age (c. T.A. 1300) was Angmar, ruled by the Witch King of Angmar.[5]

Years later, Arnor was refounded de jure by the seventh King of Arthedain, Argeleb I, when Cardolan placed itself under the suzerainty of Arthedain as the line of Isildur had failed in the other kingdoms. This claim was resisted in Rhudaur.[5]

Although the northern parts of Arthedain were little affected, Arnor was heavily affected by the Great Plague; the joint garrison (of Arnor and Gondor) at Tharbad ceased to exist[6] and the last of the Dúnedain of Cardolan died on the Barrow-downs.[5]

In spite of the North-kingdom variously and periodically allying with Cardolan, Lindon, Imladris, and Lothlórien, the forces of Angmar proved too powerful as it systematically destroyed the remnants of Arnor. It was only in T.A. 1974 that the Witch-king invaded Arthedain and captured Fornost Erain, thus ending the dominion of the North-kingdom. Although the Host of the West destroyed Angmar in the following year, the people of Arnor had become too diminished to restore their kingdom.[5][7]

The Shire was a fertile and well-tilled part of Arnor, but deserted during the waning days of the Kingdom when it was known as the splinter-realm of Arthedain; it had been the hunting grounds of the King of Arnor. The Hobbits (who lived in Dunland and parts of depopulated Cardolan and Rhudaur) got official permission from King Argeleb II at Fornost to settle the lands. This was finally done in T.A. 1601 by Bree-hobbits led by the brothers Marcho and Blanco. By 30 years later, almost all of the Hobbits of Middle-earth could be found in the Shire. The Shire-hobbits considered themselves as subjects of the King, at least nominally, considering the isolation of their country. Nevertheless, the Hobbits sent some support troops to the great battles Arnor fought against Angmar. After the fall of Arnor, the Shire remained a minor but independent political unit and the title of Thain was established to fill the absence of a Kingship.[5]

Chieftains of the Dúnedain

Main article: Chieftains of the Dúnedain

Aranarth, son of Arvedui Last-king, perceived that the Northern Dúnedain had become too few to reestablish the North-kingdom. Instead of calling himself a king or prince, he assumed the title Chieftain. Through them the royal line of Arnor was maintained successfully for a thousand years until the refounding of Arnor on 1 May, T.A. 3019. Thus, the Dúnedain of Arnor were reduced to a few Rangers wandering secretly in the wild.[1][5]

War of the Ring

Main article: War of the Ring

Although the North-kingdom had been destroyed for a thousand years by the time the War of the Ring broke out, northern forces did participate in the War. Aragorn II, the Chieftain of the Dúnedain at the time, was a Ranger of the North, and there were several of them operating during the conflict.

There was also a battle fought in the Shire, between Saruman's Ruffians and Hobbit militia forces. This was the last battle fought in the War of the Ring, and resulted in the death of Saruman and the death or capture of his followers. This became known as the Battle of Bywater, and represents the Hobbit contribution to the War.[8]

Later history

The Last Steward of Gondor by Rowena Morrill

Aragorn II was crowned by Gandalf as King Elessar, and refounded Arnor as part of the greater Reunited Kingdom. The Reunited Kingdom included all the lands of Arnor in the North; the Shire was an exception to this because Aragorn made a law that Men should not enter it, a law that he observed himself. He rebuilt Annúminas and when he went north, would rule from there.[5] He also had the ruins of Fornost Erain rebuilt and made into a great city once again.[9]

Politics

The Númenórean King of Arnor governed the realm and its people with the frame of ancient law, of which he was administrator (and interpreter) but not the maker.[10]

After his accession, Aragorn also established a council in Arnor, because in Fo.A. 13, he chose three Counsellors of the North-kingdom from the people of the Shire and Buckland. These Counsellors were those appointed to the positions of the Thain and Mayor of the Shire, and the Master of Buckland.[11]

Geography

Regions

Arnor, at its greatest extent, included all of Eriador, except the regions beyond the Lune, and the lands east of Greyflood and Loudwater.[5] Arnor also claimed the coasts as far north as the icy Bay of Forochel as part of its dominion.[2]

Cities, Fortresses, and Watchtowers

The Palantíri

Main article: Palantíri

There were seven palantíri in total. The northern kingdom possessed three:[1]

Etymology

Arnor was the colloquial name for the North Kingdom. The North Kingdom, as the land was called at its conception, was also known as Turmen Follondiéva in Quenya and Arthor na Forlonnas in Sindarin. These names quickly fell out of use, in favour of Arnor: the Land of the King, so called for the kingship of Elendil, and to seal its precedence over the southern realm. In full, poetic Sindarin, it was called Arannor, which mirrored its Quenya name, Arandórë.[12] Though technically Arandórë would have a Sindarin form Ardor, Tolkien chose Arnor because it sounded better. This linguistic change was ascribed to a later, Mannish development of Sindarin.[13][14] The form Arnanórë is also seen.[13]

Portrayal in adaptations

2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition)

Peter Jackson's movies do not mention the long history of how Arnor and Gondor diverged, nor do they mention Arnor by name. The one passing reference to it is in a scene from the Extended Edition, when Aragorn reveals to Éowyn that he is actually eighty-seven years old. She realises that he must be one of the Dúnedain, a descendant of Númenor blessed with long life, but says that she thought his race had passed into legend. Aragorn acknowledges that he is one of the Dúnedain, and explains that there are not many of his people left, because "the Northern kingdom was destroyed long ago".

2012: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:

The kingdom of Arnor is mentioned indirectly by Galadriel in the White Council scene, and so does the war with Angmar and it's aftermath too.

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
  2. 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age", "Of Men"
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "X. Of Dwarves and Men", "The Atani and their Languages"
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Third Age"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur"
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Appendix D: The Port of Lond Daer"
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion"
  8. The Lord of the Rings, The Scouring of the Shire, pp. 992-996.
  9. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "Homeward Bound"
  10. J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 244, (undated, written circa 1963)
  11. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "Later Events Concerning the Members of the Fellowship of the Ring"
  12. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), p. 28
  13. 13.0 13.1 J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 347, (dated 17 December 1972)
  14. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 17