#gondor and the heirs of anarion

[tenth-sentence]

But in Gondor south of the mountains things were less evil, and before spring came Beregond son of Beren had overcome the invaders.

"The Lord of the Rings: Appendices - Appendix A" - J.R.R. Tolkien

[whats-in-a-sentence]

There were thirty-one kings in Gondor after Anárion who was slain before the Barad-dûr.

"The Lord of the Rings: Appendices - Appendix A" - J.R.R. Tolkien

[mirra-kan]

In the 1050 of the Third Age Gondor was at the height of its power and "defeated the Men of the Harad, and their kings were compelled to acknowledge the overlordship of Gondor…the kings of the Harad did homage to Gondor, and their sons lived as hostages in the court of its King."

RotK, Appendix A, I, iv, Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion

✔ Close-up of Haradrim Prince -> click here

[morgulscribe]

After the fall of Angmar, did the Witch-king return to a Nazgul-less Mordor, or did he meet up with the other Nazgul there?

There are some confusing and potentially contradicting statements concerning the Nazgûl in the Appendixes of Lord of the Rings.

In the Tale of Years found in Appendix B, it is written, "1980 - The Witch-king comes to Mordor and there gathers the Nazgûl" (368). This would imply that there were no Nazgûl in Mordor at the time the Witch-king got there, and he had to summon the other eight from the four corners of Middle-earth.

However, in "Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion," there is a description of various events which happened in 1856, with a footnote stating, "At this time it is thought that the Ringwraiths re-entered Mordor" (329). This would imply that the eight other Nazgûl were dwelling in Mordor when the Witch-king arrived there in 1980, thus contradicting the entry from the Tale of Years.

I do notice that Tolkien included some weasel words in the statement, "At this time it is thought that the Ringwraiths re-entered Mordor." If it is "thought" that the Nazgûl reentered Mordor in 1856, then it can be assumed that this is not a definite fact, and that the scribe who wrote this text is making an assumption. Remember, Tolkien's writings are meant to be considered translations of ancient texts, so sometimes the narrator is not always reliable, or something is lost in translation. Perhaps the scribe who wrote The Tale of Years was in disagreement with the scribe who wrote "Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion."

With this in mind, it is theoretically possible no Nazgul were in Mordor when the Witch-king arrived there, or possibly a few Nazgûl were there, and he had to summon the rest. For that matter, it could even be possible that there were Nazgûl in Mordor prior to 1856.

[thelordofgifs]

You know what?

I wasn't asking for any of this Eldacar business, I tried to avoid the polls, I hid in my corner of the internet, but for some reason, here we are and I did vote Eldacar. I only read the in-post propaganda, but the habit of supporting a stranger is not one I would easily adapt. Hence, I will submerge myself in Eldacar research and hopefully emerge knowing him as I know my own heartbeat. Whether I shall write a fic about him, I do not know. I know only that I long to understand this stranger, and that must suffice for now.

Welcome, anon!!! I hope you come out of your research adoring Eldacar an unhealthy amount - it isn't difficult! In case you want some signposts for your journey, you can find most Eldacar material in Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings (The Realms in Exile: Gondor and the heirs of Anarion). Then if you want to dive even deeper, there's some notes on the earlier drafts of Appendix A in The Peoples of Middle-earth! Or here's a link to my comprehensive Eldacar propaganda compilation. Enjoy <3

[k-she-rambles]

A hopefully simplified explainer of Strider's heritage/why the ~vibe~ between Aragorn and Boromir bc i did NOT get some of it as a kid

(Gets kind of repetitive and Elrond says it all much prettier though!):

• Elendil and his two sons and their followers to Middle Earth after the creator sank atlantis Numenor. (to be fair they kinda deserved it)

• They established the new main kingdom of Arnor in the north of the continent of Middle Earth (where Aragorn and the hobbits are from!)

• quickly expanded with the secondary/vassal kingdom of Gondor in the south.

• the movement of people from northwest to southeast is mainly what threw me off as a kid. Yay US colonialism! (which went northeast to southwest)

• Elendil was High King, ruling from Arnor

• Elendil's younger son Anarion ruled Gondor

• Elendil's elder son Isildur was heir to Arnor & High Kingship.

• When Elendil and Anarion were both killed in the Last Alliance against Sauron, that left Isildur as High King/king of Arnor & his nephew king of Gondor.

• high kingship dissolves with Isildur's early death, and Arnor and Gondor are separate kingdoms

• Isildur keeping the ring was the worm at the root of the kingdom of Arnor, and slowly Gondor became the more powerful of the two kingdoms

• At some point an Arnorian king married a Gondorian princess, but that doesn't make Aragorn in the line for the Gondorian throne according to Gondor's laws --Gondor's & Arnor's cultures have diverged, and Gondor practices male primogeniture only

• the Gondorian kings die without heirs and they're SOL. Gondor is ruled by the line of the last king's stewards now --Boromir is the eldest son of the current Steward, Denethor.

• Eventually the nation of Arnor dissolved, leaving only it's people, the now semi-nomadic Dúnadain

• Aragorn traces his lineage back directly to Isildur & Elendil the high kings

But. Aragorn does have a direct claim to the high kingship, if the two kingdoms were united again. And Boromir can't say "That doesn't count!" about Elendil.

• this is part of why the jockeying and very polite bitching about who really protects middle earth & Boromir going doubt.jpg at Aragorn coming to Minas Tirith as a hero and potentially a political player

• Gondor needs hope. It needs heroes! But Aragorn better not have any Ideas about kingship.

• but by saying Elendil's sword Narsil will be reforged and that he will come to Minas Tirith, Aragorn is kind of heavily implying that he is planning to come to Minas Tirith as "the heir of Elendil" not as "I'm king of Arnor & how can I help," even though he straight up says he loves his country best.

Aragorn is king of Arnor, or would be if Arnor still existed; he is Chieftain of the Dunadain, king of the remaining people of Arnor.

And again, a hero with the weight of history behind him is something Gondor really really needs right now, and if Aragorn can deliver...

• But Aragorn is a king (Boromir is not), who is real damn tired of his people's contributions being brushed off because people think they don't exist anymore. And so he's very free with the "mad respect to you guys but you'd better respect my people defending the North without a pretty fortress to sleep in, too"

[ao3feed-tolkien]

Berúthiel's Tenth Spy

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/u90t5hI

by Anerea

Art created for Scribbles and Drabbles 2022 "Berúthiel loathed cats, but they became attracted to her for precisely that reason. They followed her around, and eventually she took advantage of their company by enslaving them. In total she had ten cats, nine black and one white. Berúthiel trained the cats to go on errands during the night and to spy on her enemies, to discover the dark secrets of Men of Gondor that they wished most to keep hidden. She sent the white cat to spy on the black ones." ~ from Tolkien Gateway: J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "The Realms in Exile", "The Southern Line: Heirs of Anarion", Kings of Gondor, entry for Tarannon Falastur

Words: 6, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 18 of SilmArt

Fandoms: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Berúthiel (Tolkien), Berúthiel's Cats (Tolkien), Berúthiel's White Cat (Tolkien)

Additional Tags: Art

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/u90t5hI

[aragornsrockcollection]

Elrond caring for every single one of Elros’s descendants like they were his nieces and nephews, zero generations removed.

Except for the ones he fostered who were his sons or daughters.

The ones he never met? Well, he’s putting together some very important records for posterity. So obviously he needs as much up to date information on what’s going on in Numenor as he can get, up to and including gossip about the royal family going around fishing towns.

Elrond compiling histories of the men of Numenor like family scrapbooks, and worrying about kids who only vaguely know he exists. Agonizing over sending birthday presents that they’ll actually like (this is very hit or miss, and he defaults to books). Kings and queens of Numenor who just think the elves send very odd diplomatic gifts, and to most of the nobility for some reason.

Accidentally becoming a lore master because people don’t understand what’s going on and assume he wants that level of intelligence about every culture on middle earth, and he writes it all down because he DOES love learning and not want knowledge to be lost.

Killing it as a herald because what heralds mostly do in times of peace, besides work as ambassadors, is look after geneologies and the symbols of different houses, and he has so much practice, because he doesn’t want to LOSE a niece!

The King’s Men’s specific rejection of elves absolutely breaking his heart. Holding out hope for them even as they do worse and worse things, constantly trying to reach them and fix the division created between men and elves.

The devastation he felt when Numenor sank. Sure that his family had been wiped out again.

Elendil coming ashore, heartbroken over thinking he lost his sons in the storm, and being utterly confused by this elf who, yeah, he expected would be an ally, but he didn’t expect to greet him like a long lost son, and cry with him over Isildur and Anarion and all of Numenor. Silver lining he can see his family way more often now.

Elrond who never stopped calling himself Peredhil because he may have chosen the fate of elves but he never stopped being half a man, and his brother’s people are his people too.

Elrond mourning every single member of his very extended family, whether they died of old age or before their time, and never hardening his heart despite all the sorrow (because how many elves get to celebrate so many children?)

Celebrian being a little concerned over this at first, until she visits her fiancé after the war of the last alliance and meets Valendil as a child who just lost his grandfather, uncle, father and 3 older brothers, after which she is like “I just met the heir of Isildur but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.”

Elrond having two copies of all his records on his brother’s house made. He leaves one copy on middle earth, shipping it to Gondor where it is an incredibly important historical document, but takes the originals when he sails.

So when Elrond gets to Valinor he can take thousands of years worth of letters written in his family’s handwriting, small portraits most of which he comissioned himself, flowers he was gifted by toddlers playing in his garden pressed between pages and pages of every little detail he could gather on the story of these people’s lives-

-and give it to Elwing, who will never get to meet any of them, but now has as much as he can give her of them.

Elrond having the biggest heart in existence.

That is all.

[lesbiansforboromir]

"Yet even so it was Gondor that brought about its own decay, falling by degrees into dotage, and thinking that the Enemy was asleep, who was only banished not destroyed. 

 'Death was ever present, because the Numenoreans still, as they had in their old kingdom, and so lost it, hungered after endless life unchanging. Kings made tombs more splendid than houses of the living, and counted old names in the rolls of their descent dearer than the names of sons. 

  Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry; in secret chambers withered men compounded strong elixirs, or in high cold towers asked questions of the stars. And the last king of the line of Anarion had no heir." 

Faramir's explanation for Gondor's ‘decline’ is... incoherent.. what the hell are you on about m’love?

The way this reads is so completely misleading when looking at the actual history and reasons for Gondor's receding borders and the loss of the watch on Mordor. Faramir puts the onus on Gondorian Kings wanting to live longer and not having kids... babe? Did you forget... the plague? Gondor WAS watching for activity in Mordor. For 1640 years! And then there was a plague so devastating that it turned the country’s most populous city into a near ghost town. It took 200 years for Gondor to recover, and even then it never truly reached the population levels it had maintained before. Osgiliath was never the same! And by then Mordor had taken the fortresses at the Morannon! 

There is absolutely no mention of Kings or Stewards who were desperately seeking to extend their life in Gondor’s history. Where are these tombs more splendid than the houses of the living? All the Kings not buried in Osgiliath are buried in the Silent Street... There is no mention of achingly elaborate tombs anywhere! 

There WERE however some Kings who did not marry or have children! ... Two, there were just two of them... out of thirty three. Narmacil I was Atanatar's son and reigned in the HEIGHT of Gondor's wealth. He essentially allowed his nephew Minalcar to run the country whilst he had a great time writing poetry and kissing men. And Minalcar did a really good job! He fought wars, he made alliances, he built the Argonath and when it actually came around to his time to be King, he had a nice and peaceful reign! And when his son Valacar wanted to marry a Northern Princess? Even though the worry in Gondor was that that would ‘weaken’ the King’s line and reduce their lifespan? He supported him! Gave his blessing! 

The other King who never married or had any children was Earnur! You all remember Earnur? Oh sure, he desperately wanted to extend HIS life past its natural limits! Fighting in two wars and then riding off into an obvious trap just because he'd been challenged really gives me a whole 'old man in his dotage fears death' vibe. And that was the ‘last king of the line of Anarion who had no heir’. You know WHY he was the last king? Because the King before his father Earnil II (King Ondoher) and his two sons had died! In a massive fuckall war with the Balchoth that nearly saw Gondor destroyed! PRINCE Faramir was TOLD to stay behind! But he was so anxious for his family and so wished to not simply sit and wait for death that he HID amongst the ranks of the Eotheod and went to war anyway!! AND DIED!! Asking questions of the stars??? Making strange elixirs?? Mused uselessly on heraldry??? WHEN? FARAMIR?? Was Ondoher daydreaming about stars and heraldry as he was cut down by a chariot??? Was Artamir brewing potions mid-battle?? WHAT are you talking about!!!

Where are these men fearing death who brought Gondor into it's decline that Faramir is talking about? Is he lying? No, I actually believe Faramir when he says he would not even snare an orc in a falsehood. The things Faramir says are things he believes. But then how, when he is so well known for his loremastership, can he be so misleading and plain wrong about something so basic to Gondorian history? Well I have a suggestion but it means Faramir’s at least a little homophobic so bear with me and I promise this is relevant.

So, obviously, the ups and downs of Gondor society in terms of queer liberation would be complex and rely upon a diverse number of factors. However, I’d say that, if you looked at an overall trend, it goes up in times of peace and takes a hit during times of strife. The basic reasoning for this is that one of the fundamentals of Gondorian society is the concept of doom and fate. This can give both correct and erroneous impressions of cause and effect throughout history. Gondorians tend to believe everything happens for a reason. And due to the (sometimes quiet but always present) elf-and-faithful-numenorean-ruled thinkers, who push ideas of proper marriage, celebacy, romance-superiority and other cis-het-normative agendas, the ‘reason’ that bad things happen is often blamed on the queer liberation of the times. The populace is open to being given reasons for bad things happening and Academia in Gondor is very much elf-revering, so it is often respected scholars who are pushing that narrative. 

HOWEVER, the queerness is rarely what is actually remembered or recorded in history, the wording of records are often bound up in the faithful numenorean rhetoric of ‘heretical kings’ and ‘they fell into the trap of king’s men ideology’ and so on and so forth. Scholars might understand what this means at the time, but it gets muddled further down the road and even academics in the future have trouble finding the intended emphasis. So! By the time we reach 3018 TA, the academic community as a whole has reached a general consensus that ‘the old sins of our past’ are to blame and that, whilst queerness was a part of it, it was more a symptom than a direct cause. 

So! The thought process I’m proposing for Faramir should be easy to guess at now, but I’m going to go more specific for the sake of... me uwu. 

GONDOR has not known peace for the last 500 years, not since Steward Denethor the first’s reign wherein the so called ‘watchful peace’ ended and Sauron returned to Mordor. NOW, before Denethor, his uncle Dior was the Steward and, as you’ve probably guessed, he had no children and nor did he marry. I would suggest that Dior lived through one of the most tolerant and open portions of Gondor’s history. I think he not only was open about his choice not to marry, but he also had a socially accepted partner and lived with him all his life with only a small, vocal minority voicing their objections. 

But then Sauron returned! And it was brutal, bloody and horrific. And that vocal minority saw an opportunity to use Dior’s life as a method to push Gondor once again into it’s regular crisis of conscience, faith and purpose. ‘We betrayed our founder’s’ and ‘We should have been ruled by Dior’s son but because of his weakness against his ill-fate we are doomed, he abandoned his duty! A pitiful fate but pitiful for us as well!’ And so on and so forth, there are reems of academic works written about it.

Now, this doesn’t have an immediate crushing effect on queer rights that one might fear. Denethor I loved his uncle dearly and would not hear a bad word about him, as did Boromir I! And Cirion? Cirion was almost more alternative than Dior. He sold off portions of land when the Stewards had been told to keep them IN TRUST for the king’s return. He made enduring and reciprocal alliances with the Eotheod ‘middle men’, he was very much anti-traditionalist! However, it was after his reign that Gondor truly felt the backlash of all this, spurred on by Cirion’s very alternative views, actions and methods. Because whilst he may have been an effective and charismatic Steward, Cirion had not found so much time to be a good father. And Hallas had been fifteen when his father had left him behind and ridden to war. He had a frightening and lonely childhood and was very open to the idea that his father was wrong, had gone too far, that things should be ‘brought back to normal’. Stability being key and all. The vocal minority had his ear. 

And since then, whilst opinion has still fluctuated, the constant unrest and simmering crisis of Gondor’s day to day has made progress against such concepts difficult and slow going. And it’s informed the opinion of history too, a lot more academic writing has compared Dior to Narmacil I (the first unwed and unmarried King) and has tried to find parallels between them and Earnur. Any explicit discussion of queerness has been relegated to Sindarin scripts (the language only really understood by academics and the upper classes), but the underlying tone is there HENCE! 

“falling by degrees into dotage, and thinking that the Enemy was asleep“ = Dior ‘abandoned his duty’ and Narmacil I ‘was indolent’.

“the Numenoreans still [-] hungered after endless life unchanging.” = A melding of heretical beliefs that occurred over centuries into one monolith that applied longing for endless life automatically.

“Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry; [-] compounded strong elixirs, [-] asked questions of the stars.” = This is all both reaching back to heretical practices in Numenor, whilst also harkening back to the periods of time in which Dior and Narmacil lived, peaceful times where more introspective and experimental pursuits could be indulged. 

SO! This is where Faramir’s erroneous and misleading opinions come from. And why he is at least a little homophobic. There, I told you all I’d get there. 

[lotrobsession]

The birthday, and death of Aragorn

March 1, 2931 Birth of Aragorn II (Elessar) (not from the appendices) “And it happened that when Arathorn and Gilraen had been married only one year… “ (Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 420 RotK)

March 1, 1541 The passing of King Elessar (not FROM the appendices—but IN the appendices) “‘Lady Undómiel,’ said Aragorn, ‘the hour is indeed hard, yet it was made even in that day when we met under the white birches in the garden of Elrond where none now walk.’” (Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 428 RotK)

Aragorn’s Vital Statistics:

Date of Birth: March 1, 2931 Date of Death: March 1, 120, Fourth Age Residences: Rivendell; various; later Minas Tirith & Annuminas Parents: Arathorn II and Gilraen Siblings: None Spouse: Arwen Undomiel Children: 1 son - Eldarion - and daughters Hair & Eye Color: Dark hair & grey eyes Height: 6 feet, 6 inches Sword: Anduril Horses: Roheryn and Hasufel Galadriel's gifts: Sheath and Elfstone Emblem: White Tree with Seven Stars & a Crown on a black field

Aragorn was born on March 1, 2931, and just two years later he became the sixteenth Chieftain of the Dunedain when his father Arathorn II was killed by Orcs. Aragorn's mother Gilraen took him to live in Rivendell, home of Elrond. Elrond accepted the child as a foster-son and gave him the name Estel, meaning "Hope." Aragorn was not told his true name and heritage until 2951, when he was twenty years old and Elrond perceived that he had grown to manhood. Elrond then gave Aragorn two of the heirlooms of the House of Isildur: the Ring of Barahir and the shards of Narsil.

Aragorn was a direct descendant of Isildur, son of Elendil. The Heirs of Isildur were the Kings of Arnor until that kingdom was divided in three in the year 861 of the Third Age. The line was then continued first by the Kings of Arthedain and then, when that kingdom was decimated by war and plague, by the Chieftains of the Dunedain. Aragorn was also descended from Anarion - whose heirs ruled Gondor - through Firiel, the daughter of King Ondoher of Gondor, who married Arvedui, Last King of Arthedain.

In the year 120 of the Fourth Age, at the age of 210, King Elessar knew that his days were at an end and he went to the House of the Kings in the Silent Street. He said farewell to his son Eldarion and his daughters and he gave Eldarion his Crown and Sceptre. Arwen remained at Aragorn's side until he died.

Then a great beauty was revealed in him, so that all who after came there looked on him in wonder; for they saw that the grace of his youth, and the valour of his manhood, and the wisdom and majesty of his age were blended together. And long there he lay, an image of the Kings of Men in glory undimmed before the breaking of the world. Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings: "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen," p. 344

It is said that the beds of Merry and Pippin were set beside the bed of the great king. After the death of the king, Legolas built a grey ship in Ithilien, and sailed down Anduin and so over the Sea; and with him, it is said, went Gimli. With the passing of that ship came an end in Middle-earth to the Fellowship of the Ring.

[tenth-sentence]

At first they had quiet, for those were the days of the Watchful Peace, during which Sauron withdrew before the power of the White Council and the Ringwraiths remained hidden in Morgul Vale.

"The Lord of the Rings: Appendices - Appendix A" - J.R.R. Tolkien

[triplecryingphoenix]

Some advice to my past self, who wasn’t sure if they should read the Silmarillion, because it seemed written and constructed differently to lotr and might not be enjoyable:

You are reading The Lord Of the Rings, Appendix A, I Numenorean Kings, (iv) Gondor and the heirs of Anarion for fun. The Silmarillion will suit you fine. 

[timewandererus]

The Kings of Gondor

I claimed that I can name all the Kings of Gondor by rote. Such a bold claim demands proof. So, here:

Meneldil-Usurped Valandil’s suzerainty and ensured the Kings of Gondor could rule without Arnor’s interference. Judge him as you will but Gondor thrived under the rule of his descendants.

Cemendur-Literally did nothing at all.

Earendil-Had a famous name and an uneventful rule

Anardil-The same as his grandfather. See Cemendur.

Ostoher-Expanded Minas Anor. Not much, but better than his father. Minas Anor’s expansion would be useful in a millennium or so.

Romendacil I=Defeated the first invasion of Easterlings. Bravo, Tarostar.

Turambar-Avenged his father and dealt the Easterlings a second defeat. They remained cowed for close to a millennium.

Atanatar-Rejoiced in his father’s victory. Did nothing else of note.

Siriondil-Did absolutely nothing of note.

Tarannon-Started an epic shipbuilding program. Probably to compensate for his lack of heirs and his horrible marriage.

Earnil I-Continued his uncle’s naval expansion and conquered Umbar. Perished shortly after along with his entire armada in a very suspicious storm.

Ciryandil-Continued his father and great-uncle’s work and defended Umbar to his death.

Hyarmendacil I-Fulfilled his father, grandfather and great-uncle’s grand ambitions by defeating the Umbarians and Haradrim once and for all, earning his place as the greatest King of Gondor.

Atanatar II-Enjoyed the fruits of his father’s great labors. Called himself the “Glorious”.

Narmacil I-The most lazy and spoiled King in Gondor’s entire history. Lived in complete luxury and decadence and handed the tasks of ruling to his nephew. Lived like a literal King without any of the responsibilities or cares.

Calmacil-Lived the same life as his childless brother. Ruled for a handful of years after his brother’s death. Dude had a pretty luxurious life.

Romendacil II-The true heir to Hyarmendacil’s strategic genius and leadership. Carried the torch for his lazy father and uncle. Defeated the Easterlings after they stirred from their long past defeat at the hands of Turambar.

Valacar-Married a woman of the North-Princess Vidumavi-for love. One of the bravest Kings of Gondor. Defied the worst racism of the Dunedain. Kudos, King.

Eldacar-The first King to be of “mixed” blood. Was usurped by his chief Admiral and lost his firstborn son to the Kin-Strife. Took it all back a decade later and slew the foul Usurper for his crimes.

Castamir-Racist, usurping tyrant. Shortest reign of all the Kings of Gondor, save one. And not short enough it was.

Aldamir-Ruled Gondor after his father reclaimed the crown. Didn’t do much other than rebuild.

Hyarmendacil II-Defeated the Haradrim after their long defeat at the hands of Hyarmendacil I.

Minardil-Fell victim to a surprise attack by the Usurper’s grandsons. Bad luck, I guess.

Telemnar-Fell victim to the Great Plague. Must have inherited his dad’s bad luck.

Tarondor-Took the throne after his uncle died from the Plague. Managed to save Gondor from collapse. Relocated to Minas Anor, Ostoher’s renovations from a millennium ago finally proving useful.

Telumehtar-The first King of Gondor to take to the sea since Hyarmendacil-Castamir does not count!-and destroyed all of the Usurper’s heirs, taking Umbar back for Gondor. A much-belated vengeance for his great-great-uncle.

Narmacil II-Fought a third invasion of Easterlings. Defeated them, but died on the field of battle. Those Easterlings are a pretty resilient foe. That’s the second King of Gondor they’ve killed.....I hope they don’t get anymore.

Calimehtar-Avenged his dad, following in the proud tradition of Turambar and both Romendacil’s. Defeated the Wainriders with the help of the brave Northmen.

Ondoher-Rode to battle to fight a second invasion of Wainriders. Those guys just don’t give up. His luck was even worse than his grandfathers and both his sons died with him in Battle.

Earnil II-The great-great-grandson of Telumehtar. Literally the only choice left for a successor in the Line of Anarion after Ondoher and his idiot sons got themselves killed at the Morannon. The Heirs of Anarion are getting pretty scarce. Earnil had a lot more battle-savvy than his predecessor. He avenged Ondoher and saved Gondor from ruin. Let’s hope his son is half the man he is.

Earnur-The Last-King of Gondor in the Line of Anarion and by far the most foolish. He inherited his father’s skill on the battlefield and none of his strategic brilliance. After taking the crown, he was tricked into an ambush by the Lord of the Nazgul and slain after long torment. Thus ends the Kings of Gondor through Anarion’s Line.

[morgulscribe]

fell men... who wandered homeless and masterless after his fall

Doing some maintenance updates to Book 1 of The Circles. Back in 2005, Angmar and I missed the note that said that in TA 1856, eight Nazgul may have returned to Mordor (this isn’t found in the Tale of Years, but rather in the section called “Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion”). Later on, we tried to amend this by having two Nazgul - Khamul and Zagbolg - dwelling in Mordor at the time of the fall of the kingdom of Angmar. Then the Witch-king arrives, and summons the other six Nazgul. Technically a little different from the Appendixes, but oh well. It is AU, after all.

***

Though denied his kingdom in the North, the Witch-king was still strong. He gathered up the survivors of Angmar - the remnants of his defeated army and the civilians who would go - and traveled east on a long and arduous route north of the Grey Mountains, going due east until they passed the Iron Hills. Then they traveled south through Rhûn, and at last five years later, those who had been strong and brave enough to endure the journey entered Mordor through the eastern passages by way of Nurn.

The Witch-king was not the first Nazgûl to come to Mordor, however. Over a century before, Khamûl had returned to the land which had once been the realm of his Master. Much had changed over the long years since the War of the Last Alliance. Most of the Gondorian watch towers which had once surrounded Mordor had fallen into ruin after the devastation of the Great Plague, and only Minas Ithil remained as the last great bulwark of the West. In the regions of Lithlad and Nurn, tribal warlords battled each other for dominance, waging violent campaigns which streaked the countryside with blood. This period of turmoil swiftly came to an end, however, with the arrival of the Shadow of the East. Soon Khamûl became the Lord of Nurn, with Zagbolg serving as his grand vizier, and all of the tribal chieftains bowed before his throne.

When the Witch-king and his host of homeless refugees arrived at the eastern border of Nurn, Khamûl was less than pleased. He had served no master other than himself since the fall of Sauron, and he was not about to let this beggar king from the Sunken Isle command him. Leading a great force of men, he rode out to greet the arrival of the Angmarim with sword and spear. The peace of over a hundred years came to an abrupt end, and Nurn was torn apart once more by the ensuing Nurniag-Angmarim Conflict. War swept over the land, with the forces of the Witch-king driving those of Khamûl ever westward until at last they reached the City of Rul. Holing himself up in that ancient settlement, Khamûl attempted to wait out the forces of the Angmarim, but the Witch-king used his sorcery to blight the city with a terrible storm of ice and snow. The people of Nurn, being unfamiliar with such strange weather, were so terrified that they begged Khamûl to surrender, and so ended the Siege of Rul. The Witch-king showed great mercy to his defeated foe and allowed Khamûl to continue ruling Nurn as his vassal. He needed the Black Easterling as his ally, not his enemy.

The Witch-king lingered in Mordor for twenty more years, making plans and preparations for a campaign against Gondor. He sent summons out to his brothers and invited them to join him in gaining revenge upon his old enemy. If he were successful, and he was confident that he would be, the Nazgûl would gain a realm of their own.

[aannucci]

And in this moment, the power and majesty of Aragorn son of Arathorn, heir of Elendil the Tall, is revealed. This was another one of those passages in LOTR that snuck up on me and filled me with emotion. At this point in the story, Aragorn is well into his 90s, and all of the labors of his adult life that he took up in his early 20s were coming to a head. All would be won or lost in very near future. #tolkien #lordoftherings #aragorn #numenor #theargonath #gondor #arnor #isildur #anarion #elessar https://www.instagram.com/p/CE8DM57hduqyUgB2x7CsxKMRsAFyHGVcXCWO6M0/?igshid=oy86un3uevtj