Arnor

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Arnor
File:Tu002.jpg
General information
LocationEriador
CapitalAnnúminas
People
LanguageWestron
GalleryImages of Arnor

Arnor, or the Northern Kingdom, was a kingdom of the Dúnedain in the land of Eriador in Middle-earth. It was the original seat of the High King of Arnor who ruled over both Arnor and Gondor.

History

Early History

Arnor was founded at the end of the Second Age (S.A. 3320) by Elendil, whose sons founded Gondor at the same time. The history of the two kingdoms is intertwined; both kingdoms are known as the Realms of the Dúnedain in exile.

Before the foundation of Arnor there was already a sizable Númenórean population living there, a result of the slow emigration of Númenóreans which had started under Tar-Meneldur and Tar-Aldarion. Before the arrival of the Dúnedain Arnor was home to Middle Men of Edain stock, and the early colonists soon interbred with the indigenous population. Arnor was originally favored over the more southern regions (Gondor) because the Elves under Gil-galad lived near it across the river Lhûn.Template:Ref However, in later days after the Númenóreans fell under Sauron's shadow they settled more to the south. This led to a situation where Elendil arrived in an area populated by people who, unlike his own Númenóreans, were mainly still friends with the Elves, and unlike Gondor to the south in Arnor much knowledge of the Elder Days was preserved.

File:Ann18.jpg
Palace Complex at Annúminas by Steven White, Jr.


The Palantíri

The Palantíri or 'seeing stones' were spherical stones that could communicate with each other and give visual impressions to a skilled remote user. These stones were divided originally between Elendil and his two sons. They were usually heavily guarded and under the control of the kings. There were seven of these stones in total, with three of them assigned to the northern kingdom, with the other four going to Gondor. They were:

  • the Elostirion-stone, in the tower of Elostirion, and was used to communicate with the master stone in Tol Eressëa of the Elves, along the Straight Road. It could not contact the other Middle-Earth stones.
  • the Amon Sûl-stone, in the watchtower of Amon Sûl. A large stone, it was often used to contact its corresponding large stone in Gondor, at the great dome in Osgiliath.

War of the Last Alliance

File:Peter Jackson's Isildur2.jpg
Isildur in Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring


At the end of the Second Age, Arnor allied itself with Noldorin High King Gil-galad in a great alliance opposing Sauron, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. In conjunction with southern forces from Gondor, they confronted Sauron's armies in the War of the Last Alliance. This war was fought over a period of several years on the Dagorlad plain and in Mordor itself, at 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. Elrond, Gil-galad's herald, urged Isildur to cast it into Mt. Doom and destroy it, but Isildur refused, and the Ring survived. Arnor suffered heavy casualties in the war, and some parts of the land were partially depopulated.

Arnor's second king Isildur (also King of Gondor) was killed in T.A. 2 by Orcs in the disastrous Battle of the Gladden Fields. His three eldest sons were killed with him, but the fourth and youngest, Valandil, who had remained at Rivendell due to his young age became king of Arnor (T.A 2). Isildur also lost the One Ring at this time, when it slipped off his finger as he tried to escape pursuing Orcs. It was later found by Gollum over 2,000 years later in the River Anduin.

Because Valandil and his heirs did not claim the throne of Gondor the realms were split, but Arnor's ruler kept the title High King, whereas in the south the ruler was 'just' King.

Decline and Breakup

Arnor
Tengwar, Sindarin mode

Arnor's capital was Annúminas on Lake Evendim, but by T.A. 861 Fornost Erain had become the capital instead as 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 the three sons of Eärendur. The eldest son, 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.

Arnor was refounded de jure by Arthedain's king Argeleb I, when Cardolan placed itself under the suzerainty of Arthedain. However, even Arthedain was eventually destroyed. The people of Arnor were mostly wiped out by the continuing wars, but the Hobbits survived in the Shire, Men survived in Bree and probably other villages, and the Dúnedain of Arnor created new homes in the Angle south of Rivendell, where some of them became known as the Rangers of the North.Template:Ref

Conflict with Angmar

The Witch King by Eliot Gould

Arnor's greatest enemy in the north by the middle of the Third Age was Angmar, ruled by the Witch King of Angmar. During the reign of Malvegil (c. T.A. 1300), this new power arose beyond the Ettenmoors. This land became populated with the Orcs and men of Sauron, and began attacking Rhudaur and Cardolan. Eventually this Witch-king was identified as in fact the chief of Sauron's Ringwraiths. Years later, Argeleb son of Malvegil, the King of Arthedain, reasserted control over Cardolan, and fortified a line along the Weather Hills. Despite this action, Argeleb fell in battle with Angmar and its ally, Rhudaur. His son Arveleg, however, counterattacked in conjunction with Cardolan and drove the enemy back. He held this frontier in force for quite some years successfully.

Weathertop from BFME2

Then in T.A. 1409, Angmar crossed the Hoarwell river into Cardolan and attacked again. This time, Weathertop was captured and Arveleg fell in battle. While Amon Sûl fell, the palantír was recovered and taken to Fornost. While Cardolan was laid waste, Angmar was eventually stopped by Elven forces from Lindon and Rivendell, where Elrond countered them.

The Fall of Arthedain

In T.A. 1974, the final chapter in Arthedain's history began. The Witch-king attacked during the winter. The capital of Fornost fell, and the remaining Arnorian forces were driven over the Lune river. King Arvedui was compelled to flee to Forochel, and ask aid of the Snowmen there. His son, Aranarth, journeyed to Círdan at the Havens to inform him of Arthedain's fall. Círdan responded by sending a ship north to rescue Arvedui. When the Snowmen saw the ship arrive, they were uncomfortable and nervous about the escape plan. Their chief replied to Arvedui:

"Do not mount on this sea-monster! If they have them, let the seamen bring us food and other things that we need, and you may stay here till the Witch-king goes home. For in summer his power wanes; but now his breath is deadly, and his cold arm is long."
The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, p. 1018

It turned out that the Snowmen were right. A storm blew in that night and drove the ice towards the shore, and the ship was crushed and sank, with great loss of life, including King Arvedui. He unfortunately fulfilled Malbeth the Seer's prophecy about him at his birth that he would be the 'Last king' of Arthedain. So the North-kingdom ended, but the Hobbits survived in the Shire. They eventually chose a Thain from among themselves to replace the King, and the first of these was Bucca of the Marish, in T.A. 1979.

Angmar Vanquished

Envoys from Arthedain had journeyed to Gondor to ask assistance from the southern Dúnedain in fighting the Witch-king's forces. Gondor, however, was preoccupied with its own threats from the Easterlings, and so could not respond immediately.

Chieftains of the Dúnedain

War of the Ring

The Kingdom of Arnor had been fallen for a thousand years by the time the War of the Ring broke out, but northern forces did participate in the War. Aragorn II was a Dúnedain Ranger of the North, and there were several hundred of them operating at this time. Some of this group accompanied Aragorn through the Paths of the Dead and during the attack on Umbar which captured the Corsair fleet.

Restoration and the Reunited Kingdom

The Last Steward of Gondor by Rowena Morrill

Aragorn II as King Elessar refounded the Kingdom of Arnor as part of the Reunited Kingdom, and again made Annúminas his capital city.

Aragorn and Arwen by John Alvin

He was wed to the elven princess Arwen, who became Queen Evenstar of Arnor and Gondor. After the fall of Sauron Arnor was safe again for human population, and although it remained less populated than Gondor to the south, in time Arnor became a more densely populated region again, even if it had dwindled in size due to the independence of the Shire.

Regions of Arnor


Cities, Fortresses and Watchtowers

Languages

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 favor 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, ArandórëTemplate:Ref. 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.Template:Ref.

References

  1. Template:Note The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A.
  2. Template:Note The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age.
  3. Template:Note The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A.

See also