Gondor
The southern Dúnedain had not suffered as many casualties in the War as the northern, and their indigenous population seems to have been more numerous. From the original core along the Anduin, Gondor spread to its greatest extent, including all the lands west to the Greyflood/Sirannon; north along Anduin to the Field of Celebrant; east to the Sea of Rhû;n; and (excluding Mordor) south to the River Harnen and along the coast to Umbar. Haradwaith was a conquered tributary. The area under direct rule was probably about 716,425 square miles, with Harad possibly adding another 486,775. Additionally, the Men of the Vales of Anduin acknowledged Gondor’s authority, and friendship was cultivated with the Northmen in Rhovanion.15
West of the Anduin, the increase of Gondor’s size seems to have resulted from natural accretion, although the hold in some of the remote lands was very tenuous—the Dunlendings certainly never were assimilated.16 They lived in the land of Enedwaith, and “In the days of the Kings it was part of the realm of Gondor, but it was of little concern to them.”17 East of the Anduin, the history was entirely different. Ithilien was penned between lands that were either uninhabited or unfriendly. Against these the Dúnedain retaliated in self-defense and/or conquered for gain. After the victory of the Last Alliance, Mordor was desolate and its passes embattled—the Morannon, Durthang, Cirith Ungol—but still war never ceased on Gondor’s borders.18 The first mention of a specific invasion was in T.A. 490, when Easterlings from Rhûn crossed through Dagorlad. They were not finally defeated until about 550.19 In these battles Gondor was assisted by a prince of Rhovanion (which at that time seems only to have referred to an area east of Greenwood).20 In 830, Gondor’s emphasis changed from defense on land to offense at sea. The first action was the extension of the realm south along the coasts east of Ethir Anduin21—apparently resulting in the possession of South Gondor. In 933, the great haven of Umbar was besieged and won; but it rose above a sea of enemies who battled the walled haven for 117 years. At last, in 1050, the king led great forces overland and routed the Haradrim.22
KINGDOMS OF THE DÚNEDAIN
Battles
T.A. 1200–1634
IN 1050, SAURON REAPPEARED, establishing an abode at Dol Guldur. As Gondor was at its greatest power, Sauron chose to strike first in the north. He sent Angmar, chief of the Nazgûl, to the land north of the Ettenmoors, where he ordered a realm on both sides of the mountains. By 1350 the royal lines in both Rhudaur and Cardolan had failed, and Rhudaur was ripe for seizure of power by evil Hillmen. When the King of Arthedain sought to reunite the realm of Arnor under his crown, Rhudaur resisted, and there was battle along their common border at the Weather Hills. In 1356, Arthedain fortified the highlands, and later set guard on the frontier of Cardolan. For fifty years they held back the evil, and Rivendell was also besieged.
In 1409, Angmar mustered a great force. Weathertop was surrounded and fell, and the Tower of Amon Sül destroyed. Taking the palantír, the Dúnedain retreated, and Rhudaur was overrun by Angmar. From there the land of Cardolan was assaulted, and its people were forced back among the burial fields of Tyrn Gorthad, the Barrow-downs. The Arthedain returned to Fornost, and with the help of Círdan, managed to drive the enemy from the North Downs. When help came in the rear from Lôrien and Rivendell, attacks lessened.1
While the North Kingdom struggled for survival, Gondor was becoming entangled in both internal and external strife. Sometime after Gondor had reached its widest borders, they ceded the lands south of Mirkwood to the people of Rhovanion as a buffer against the Easterlings. In 1248, after the Easterlings once more initiated skirmishes, a great force from Gondor destroyed not only the enemy armies, but even all the camps and settlements east of the Sea of Rhûn. Afterward, the west shore of Anduin was fortified, and the Argonath sculpted, as a warning against entering Gondor;2 but the friendship with the Northmen was strengthened, and the twentieth king even wed a princess of Rhovanion.
As some of the people were unwilling to accept the half-Dûnedain Eldacar as lord, the Kinstrife began. Eldacar was besieged in Osgiliath in 1437, and escaped from the burning city to the north. After only ten years Castamir, the usurper was hated and the Dúnedain rallied around the rightful king. Eldamir marched south and won the battle at Erui. Castamir fell, but his men retreated to Pelargir and escaped, becoming the Corsairs of Umbar.3
Allied with the men of Harad, the Corsairs were constantly at war on both land and sea: In 1551, Hyar-mendacil II significantly defeated the men of Harad; in 1634, the Corsairs devastated Pelargir and killed the king; in 1810, Gondor retook Umbar and destroyed Castamir’s descendants.4
The Great Plague
THE READER VIEWING THIS MAP must realize that disease does not lessen or stop at a finite line, such as implied by a pattern on a map. It gradually grows less away from the epidemic center, following the concentrations of people. Tolkien gave no specific date, no list of casualties, but he did stress the importance of the resulting depopulation.
In 1636, only a year after the king had been killed in the Corsairs’ raid on Pelargir, an evil east wind carried the seeds of further disaster into Gondor. The new king and all his children succumbed to a ravaging disease.5 They were certainly not alone. The disease had affected the Easterlings and the land of Rhovanion first, and “When the Plague passed it is said that more than half of the folk of Rhovanion had perished.”6 From Osgiliath the plague rapidly spread through Gondor and much of the western lands.7 Minhiriath, the southern portion of Cardolan, was hard hit. All the remnant of the Dúnedain hidden among the Barrow-downs also died, and evil spirits from Angmar and Rhudaur were free to enter there. Farther north Arthedain was only marginally affected, so its people were able to continue defending Fornost.8 The folk of the Shire were heavily afflicted.9
Outside Rhovanion, Osgiliath had the highest casualties. Many fled from the city to the countryside and never returned, and the capital was moved to Minas Anor. So many died that the troops stationed at remote camps must have been recalled and the forts overlooking Mordor were unmanned. Such weakness could have left Gondor wide open to attack, but her enemies (possibly both the Easterlings and the Southrons) had also suffered.10 For almost two centuries Gondor did little but try slowly to regain its strength.
Upper: BATTLES Lower: THE GREAT PLAGUE
Wainriders and Angmar
T.A. 1851–1975
LITTLE HISTORY WAS REPORTED during the two centuries following the Plague. While Gondor slowly recuperated, Arthedain (less affected by the epidemic) continued in its struggle against Angmar. Then new onslaughts began.
The South Kingdom
In 1851 a new group of Easterlings appeared in the west—numerous and well-armed—and became known as the Wainriders. In 1856 they attacked. Southern and eastern Rhovanion fell, and its people were enslaved; and Gondor lost at Dagorlad and withdrew to the Anduin. For the next forty-three years the Wainriders ruled the east, but in 1899 Rhovanion revolted, while Gondor attacked in the west. This time the Wainriders were defeated and were forced to withdraw. Peace returned for forty-five years.1
In 1944, the eastern people allied with Khand and Near Harad, launching a massive two-front attack. The northern battle was fought before the Morannon, and the easterners won the day. As the enemy advanced into North Ithilien, the Dúnedain were in full retreat. The southern assault by the alliance was less successful. The South Army of Gondor was victorious, then marched north and surprised the revelling easterners. The Battle of the Camp became a complete rout, and the Wainriders fled.2
The North Kingdom
les with the Wainriders prevented Gondor from providing any assistance for many years after. Then, in 1973, Arthedain perceived that Angmar was preparing a final great stroke. Messages were sent begging assistance. Gondor readied a great fleet, led by the king’s son Eärnur, but by the time the fleet arrived in mid-1975, Arthedain was lost.4
Angmar had come against Fornost during the winter of 1974, when the Dúnedain were at the end of their resources. There were few reinforcements, other than some archers from the Shire;5 and few defenders ever escaped the city. Most of those who did, including the king’s sons, went west across the River Lune and eventually reached Círdan. Arvedui, the “Last-king,” continued the fight from the North Downs, but finally abandoned the struggle.6 On horseback he evaded his pursuers and raced north and west until he reached a deserted Dwarf-mine in the far north of the Blue Mountains. With little food and inadequate clothing for that northern clime, he was forced to seek assistance. Near the mountains, on the western shores of the Ice Bay, he found a camp of Lossoth, the Snowmen of Forochel. At first reluctant, they agreed to succor him until spring. In March a great ship, sent by Círdan, appeared in the Bay. Against the warning of the Lossoth, Arvedui boarded the ship and cast off; but a storm arose, the vessel foundered, and all hands drowned.7
Sometime later that same year, Gondor’s fleet finally arrived. With the great numbers of the southern Dúnedain came mounted men of Rhovanion. Added to the remnant of the people of Arthedain, the folk Círdan summoned from Lindon, and a contingent from the Shire, a sizable army marched north to the Hills of Evendim.8
Angmar did not wait within the walls of Fornost but went west across the plain to meet the onslaught. Seeing this, the cavalry was sent north into the hills to wait in ambush. The main host had engaged in combat and were already driving the enemy from the field when the cavalry attacked from the north. Angmar’s forces, caught between the two striking arms, were obliterated. Out from the affray rode the Witch-King, and Eärnur galloped after him; but when Angmar turned, Eärnur’s horse shied away. Then Glorfindel attacked—the same who with the Hobbits faced the Nazgûl centuries later at the Ford. Angmar fled into the shadows of dusk and vanished from the north.9 So Arthedain was freed; yet the North Kingdom was no more, for its people were destroyed. Those few who remained became wandering rangers.10
CONDOR VERSUS WAINRIDERS Top, 1856, 1899, 1944 Right: BATTLE OF THE CAMP (1944) ARTHEDAIN VERSUS ANGMAR Center Left: FALL OF FORNOST (1974) Lower: DEFEAT OF ANGMAR (1973)
Deepening Difficulties
T.A. 2000–2940
IN THE MILLENNIUM following the end of the North Kingdom, troubles increased until virtually all the known lands were affected in some way. Much of the evil was due directly or indirectly to Sauron. In spite of the loss of the One Ring, his strength and influence grew until even the weather was affected. At times the forces of good were able to counter Sauron’s advances, but always those that had been defeated were soon replaced. Gondor was attacked and reattacked: in 2060 and again in 2475, from Mordor; in 2510, from the Brown Lands; in 2758, from Umbar; and in 2885, from Harad. Interspersed with the assaults on Gondor were Orc-raids into Eriador, Rohan, and Wilderland; plunderings by dragons; and two horribly long, cold winters.1 All the lands seem to have become a chessboard on which the black was supplied with limitless pawns and an infinite variety of moves.
The Last of Gondor’s Kings (2000–2050)
After Angmar escaped the battle in the plain of Evendim, he made his way back to Mordor and once again readied a force. In 2000, twenty-five years after the fall of Arnor, he marched through the Pass of Cirith Ungol and besieged Minas Ithil, which fell two years later.2 The city was occupied by the Nazgûl and renamed Minas Morgul, Tower of Sorcery.3 From his new abode Angmar began his campaign in the south. He sent forth no warlike hosts. Instead, in 2043 and again in 2050, he challenged Eärnur to single combat; and the king went east to fight the duel. When Eärnur did not return, there was no heir and the stewards ruled.4
The Watchful Peace and Its End (2060–2480)
Gandalf, whom the Elves called Mithrandir, was the first to perceive that the growing evil power in Dol Guldur was Sauron himself.5 In 2063 Mithrandir went to the Dark Lord’s fortress, and Sauron retreated east—but it may only have been a feint. The next four centuries were called The Watchful Peace, because the evil was less; but evil had certainly not vanished. Ores continued to spread. The Dwarves were driven from Moria. Most important, Sauron used the opportunity to gain additional support from Men in the east.6
In 2460 Sauron returned to Dol Guldur with his new allies, and once more his thralls were under direct control. His first assault was fifteen years later, in 2475. Uruks from Minas Morgul marched through Ithilien and attacked Osgiliath. Reinforcements must have been rushed from Minas Anor and other nearby areas, for the partially deserted city certainly could not have withstood the onslaught on its own. Boromir I defeated the enemy and drove them back to the mountains; yet Osgiliath fell into final ruin. In the fighting the great bridge was broken and the last citizens fled—as did many of the inhabitants of Ithilien. Yet the defeat had once more restrained the forces sent by the Nazgûl. The Uruks continued guerrilla warfare in Ithilien, but there were no more major battles at Osgiliath for over half a century.7 The cumulative drain of all the harrying attacks from many sides—east from Mordor and south from Umbar—reduced Gondor’s striking arm until the country could do little more than defend its own borders. At times it even had difficulty with that.8 To further disrupt assistance, Ores spread through most of the Misty Mountains, blocking passage and harrying those few peoples who dared to remain near the mountains.
The Balchoth and the Rohirrim (2510)
The next major onslaught came in the north. After the defeat of the Wainriders, when many of the Northmen had left Rhovanion and settled among the folk of Gondor, a new group of Easterlings had taken the lands east of Mirkwood. They were called the Balchoth, and their allegiance was given to Sauron. At first they passed through Mirkwood and raided the Vale of Anduin, until the lands south of the Gladden were deserted. Then they prepared for an assault against Gondor itself.9
On numerous rafts the Balchoth crossed Anduin, passing from the Brown Lands to the Wold. At first there must have been little resistance in the sparsely populated plains of Calenardhon, until the bulk of the troops arrived. The North Army probably counterattacked earliest, and in their fervor had already driven into the Wold and were cut off from the later companies. The Balchoth forced further separation by pushing them north across the Limlight. By chance or command, a band of Ores descended from the mountains and blocked further retreat, and the Dúnedain were backed against the river. In such an hour the Éothéod arrived. Although a summons had been sent to Gondor’s allies before the attack, it had taken long to reach the horsemen in the far north. In haste the host of Eorl had galloped down the east side of Anduin, crossed the river at the Undeeps, and broken on the rear of the attacking Balchoth—unexpected by friend or foe.10 Not only did they rout the attackers, but they crossed back into northern Gondor and scattered all the Balchoth in Calenardhon as well.
Upper Left: BEFORE AND AFTER THE WATCHFUL PEACE Upper Right: FORCES TO FIELD OF CELEBRANT Lower: BATTLE OF CELEBRANT
In reward Gondor gave the Éotheod all the depopulated land of Calenardhon between the Isen and the Anduin. They held the territory as a separate realm, under their own kings. Gondor’s lands once again were shrunken.11
The Days of Dearth (2758–2760)
During the 250 years following the coming of the Rohirrim, once more there was a respite. In 2545 more Easterlings invaded the Wold, but were driven back by the Horse-lords.12 Except for the increase of dragons plundering northern Dwarf-mines, no other difficulties were specifically listed until 2740. At that time Ores began new invasions of Eriador—even as far west as the Shire, where in 2747 they were driven out by Bullroarer Took, at the Battle of Greenfields.13
The nearly fatal year was 2758. War and we
ather combined almost finished the westerners from Eriador to Gondor. The Corsairs of Umbar allied with the men of Harad and sent three great fleets to assault the coast of Gondor all the way from the Isen to the Anduin. Many of the invaders established beachheads and cut their way inland. All Gondor was alive with war.
Rohan could not come to Gondor’s assistance, because of difficulties of its own. From its founding Rohan had been opposed by the Dunlendings, who viewed the Northmen as trespassers. Almost immediately, skirmishes began along the Isen—the boundary between Rohan and Dunland. In 2710 some Dunlendings had managed to capture and hold Isengard. A dispute between King Helm and a large landholder of the Dunlendings increased grievances.14 When Easterlings crossed into Anduin at the same time the fleets were assailing Gondor, the Dunlendings took advantage of the situation. Allied with some of the Southrons who had landed at the Isen and the Lefnui, they attacked Rohan from the west. Helm’s army was defeated at the Crossings of Isen. The Riders of the Mark who escaped the conflicts were forced to retreat into the mountain valleys. The fortress at Aglarond and the ancient hold of Dunharrow were probably filled, while the leader of the Dunlendings sat enthroned in Edoras.15