Pelargir

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Pelargir
City
File:Pelargir overview.jpg
General Information
Other namesGarth of Royal Ships
LocationSouthern Gondor, on the Anduin
TypeCity
DescriptionPort city
RegionsGondor
Reunited Kingdom
People and History
InhabitantsGondorians
EventsKin-strife, War of the Ring
GalleryImages of Pelargir
"At Pelargir the Heir of Isildur will have need of you."
Aragorn[1]

Pelargir was a great city on the river Anduin, and the main harbour of Gondor.

History

Pelargir was built in S.A. 2350 as a haven of the Faithful.[2] The King's Men established havens farther South.[3] It became an even greater haven in the days of the Ship-kings. Tarannon Falastur built a great house there, with its roots in the water which he so dearly loved. His wife, Berúthiel, did not, however, and preferred to live in Osgiliath with her cats.[4] Tarannon's nephew Eärnil I, who succeeded him, rebuilt Pelargir and built a great navy to conquer Umbar.[5]

Castamir was highly loved in the shore regions of the land, and when he usurped the throne, he purposed to move the throne from Osgiliath to Pelargir.[5] Though he did not do so, he did move his base there. After turning the tide in the Kin-strife at the Battle of the Crossings of Erui, Eldacar eventually drove Castamir out of Pelargir in T.A. 1447.[6] Castamir's great-grandsons Angamaitë and Sangahyando eventually retook Pelargir in 1634, and slew king Minardil.[5][6]

Like his namesake, the great general Eärnil took up residence in Pelargir. His Army of the South was stationed there during the long war with the Balchoth. News of the Disaster of the Morannon reached him on 9 July 1944, and he set out to battle. He returned victorious, and with the King and his sons slain, the general (of royal blood) was crowned King Eärnil II.[7]

During the War of the Ring, Pelargir was overrun by Corsairs once again. Their fleet of some fifty great ships and many more smaller vessels laid in dock, ready to sail to Harlond. It was not to be: Aragorn and the Dead Men of Dunharrow struck fear into the men of Umbar, and they fled or dove into the river Anduin. After manning the Black Ships with his own troops, Aragorn released the spell that had haunted the Dead Men since the day of Isildur.[1]

Etymology

Pelargir is Sindarin for "Garth of (the) Royal Ships".[8][9] Christopher Tolkien has noted that the first element derives from the Elvish element/root pel- ("go round, encircle");[10] the two other elements appear to be ar(a) ("royal, noble") + cîr ("ships").[11]

Inspiration

Writing in a letter about an impending trip in 1955, Tolkien identified Pelargir as Venice.[12]

Portrayal in adaptations

1980: The Return of the King (1980 film):

Pelargir appears on a map when Gandalf explains the coming of the Black Ships.

2006: The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth:

Pelargir is one of the settings in which skirmishes can be fought.

References