Gondor

Gondor is a fictional country from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.

History

Gondor is a Dúnedain kingdom founded by Isildur and Anárion, the sons of Elendil, after the Downfall of Númenor. Its sister kingdom was Arnor in the north, which was founded by Elendil himself. Gondor was located to the west of Mordor, on the Bay of Belfalas. Its name means "Land of Stone", from Sindarin gond (stone) + (n)dor (land), most likely given to it because of the Ered Nimrais and other mountain chains in the land. A hypothetical Quenya equivalent was Ondonórë. Gondor and Arnor were known as the Realms of the Dúnedain in Exile.

Early history

Before the Downfall of Númenor, Gondor was home to many Númenórean colonists, who either mixed blood with the indigenous Middle Men if they were friendly, or dispersed them into Ras Morthil and other nearby lands. Gondor, at a latitude comparable to Venice, was a more temperate region than Arnor to the north. Some people speculate that the region which became Gondor already had a larger population than Eriador before the ships of Elendil's sons arrived. At the time of Númenor's Downfall, there was a well-established city, Pelargir, situated along the Anduin river near the coast.

The Elendili from Númenor proper were given a warm reception upon their arrival by those that had already colonized Middle-earth. The colonists north of Anduin accepted Elendil's claim to kingship over them. Further south of the Great River, however, the newly exiled Númenóreans did not recognize Elendil's claim.

Gondor was being founded after Númenor's population had already split between the Elendili and King's Men, and all of the more southern colonies (such as Umbar) remained enemies of the Elendili.

The Exiles built several large stone cities and citadels, and at each was placed a palantír. Minas Anor, Tower of the Sun, (later renamed Minas Tirith, Tower of the Guard), city of Anárion. Minas Ithil (Tower of the Moon) against the Ephel Duath (Mountains of Shadow), on the border of Mordor, city of Isildur, where the White Tree was planted. Osgiliath (Citadel of the Stars) on both banks of the Anduin, the capital of Gondor, and home of the chief palantír stone. Also, Angrenost, with its great tower Orthanc, near the Fords of Isen, at the end of the Hithaeglir (Misty Mountains), and Aglarond, set in a valley in the Ered Nimrais (White Mountains), which was known later to the Rohirrim as Helm's Deep. Aglarond was nothing more than a fortress that protected the gateway of the "Glittering Caves" to which the fortress gave its original name, and it had no palantír.

At the end of the Second Age, Sauron returned to Mordor and launched a war against Gondor. He captured Minas Ithil and burned the White Tree, but Isildur escaped with his family and fled to Arnor while his brother Anárion defended Gondor. Gondor joined the Last Alliance of Men and Elves along with several other nations with the resolve to defeat Sauron once and for all. Although the Alliance proved victorious and overthrew Sauron, he eventually returned in the Third Age to plague both Gondor and Arnor from afar.

Gondor prospers

In the wake of Sauron's defeat, Gondor assumed responsibility for maintaining a watch over Mordor. Both Elendil and Anárion had been slain in the war, so Isildur conferred rule of Gondor upon Anárion's son Meneldil and then marched north to assume direct rule over Arnor. However, Isildur and his three eldest sons were slain by Orcs near the Gladden Fields and his youngest son Valandil never attempted to reclaim Isildur's place in Gondor's monarchy. This lapse in continuity for the Line of Isildur eventually destabilized Gondor politically and proved disastrous for Arnor.

Nonetheless, Gondor enjoyed peace for several years until the first Easterling invasion in 492 forced the kingdom to wage a defensive war. Subsequently, Gondor conquered many lands to the east of Anduin.

Gondor's Golden Age

Gondor's power reached its Golden Age under the four "Ship-kings":

Tarannon Falastur r. 840–913. First of the Ship-Kings, died childless Eärnil I r. 913–936. Nephew of Tarannon Ciryandil r. 936–1015 Hyarmendacil I (Ciryaher) r. 1015–1149. Last of the Ship-Kings.

By the year 1050, Gondorian kings had extended their rule westward and north along the coasts of Middle-earth to the Gwathló river and south to the Black Númenórean haven of Umbar. In a final great war, Gondor overcame Umbar and reached the height of its glory and power. From that time onward, Gondor's kings either attempted nothing new or found themselves on the defensive. The kingdom gradually declined in wealth, power, prestige, size, and population over the next 2000 years.

In the reign of the powerful king Hyarmendacil I (c. 12th century T.A.) Gondor reached the height of its power. During Hyarmendacil's reign Gondor's borders reached their furthest extent. The Kingdom extended east to the Sea of Rhûn, south to the nearest lands of the Haradrim, as far north as Mirkwood and west towards the borders of Arnor.

Such was Gondor's wealth during the period that men from other lands would say in envy: "In Gondor precious stones are but pebbles for the children to play with." Gondor would also enjoy several centuries of peace due to its military might.

The decline of Gondor

After Hyarmendacil's reign decadence spread under the kings of Gondor and a long period of decline began (although Gondor experienced several revivals). Three great calamities struck Gondor during the second millennium of the Third Age, which are held to be the chief reasons for its decline: the Kin-strife, the Great Plague, and the invasion of the Wainriders (a tribe of Easterlings).

The Kin-strife

In the 15th century a great civil war named the Kin-strife tore the nation apart. The current King Eldacar was of mixed blood: his mother was of the Northmen. Popular displeasure at this led to the overthrow of King Eldacar by Castamir (afterwards known as Castamir the Usurper), the admiral of all of Gondor's naval forces who possessed some royal blood. Eldacar's elder son was slain, and Eldacar fled north.

During his ten year rule Castamir proved to be very cruel, and because of his love of his old fleet he lavished attention on the coastal regions while the interior provinces were ignored. Eldacar then returned with an army of his Northman kinsmen, and they were joined by armies of Gondor from interior provinces such as Anórien.

Osgiliath was devastated during this conflict, its great bridge destroyed and its palantír lost. Eldacar slew Castamir and reclaimed his throne, but Castamir's sons and their forces were besieged in Pelargir, the great port of Gondor. They eventually retreated to Umbar, where they joined with the Corsairs, and troubled Gondor for many years, until their descendants died out.

The Great Plague

In the year 1636, the Great Plague struck and the White Tree died. The Plague swept through most of Middle-earth, reaching the successor states of Arnor and the Hobbits of the Shire in the North.

King Tarondor found a sapling of the White Tree, and moved the capital from Osgiliath to Minas Anor, the City of Anárion. During this time, Gondor was so depopulated that the fortifications guarding against the re-entry of evil into Mordor were abandoned. It is believed that had the Haradrim or Easterlings been capable of attacking Gondor at this time, it would have fallen. However, the Plague left Gondor's enemies in no better condition than Gondor itself, and neither side was capable of mounting new offensives.

The invasion of the Wainriders

By the 1800s, a new threat appeared as the Wainrider invasions devastated Gondor and the lands of the Northmen. The conflict lasted for well over a century. In 1944, the Wainriders destroyed the Northern Army of Gondor led by King Ondoher, but survivors linked up with the victorious Southern Army of Gondor, led by a general named Eärnil, and they destroyed the Wainriders as they celebrated their victory during the Battle of the Camp.

The line of the kings fails

Reunification rejected

Upon King Ondoher's death in 1944 T.A., Gondor faced a constitutional crisis. Arvedui, King of Arthedain, Ondoher's son-in-law, claimed the throne of Gondor as the Heir of Isildur and as the husband of Firiel. Arvedui's claim invoked an ancient Númenórean law of accession, which stated the eldest (remaining) child should succeed the king. However, led by the Steward Pelendur, the council of Gondor rejected Arvedui's claim on the grounds that neither Arnor nor Gondor had followed the Númenórean succession law and because Isildur had conferred rule of Gondor solely to the Line of Anárion.

Gondor ultimately passed the crown to the victorious general Eärnil, a descendant of the male Line of Anárion. This dispute set forth two important precedents in Gondorian law which influenced future decisions: first, that no one could take the throne as an Heir of Isildur and secondly that only a legitimate Heir of Anárion (a descendant of the male Line of Anárion) could claim the throne.

Eärnil based his claim on his descent from King Telumehtar Umbardacil. His claim was also greatly bolstered by the popularity he had gained as the victorious general who saved Gondor from the Wainriders after winning the southern theatre of the war. Arvedui then claimed the throne as the Heir of Elendil, due to the fact that Isildur had been Elendil's elder son. To this claim, Gondor made no reply. Eärnil was crowned as Eärnil II but Arvedui's descendants never forgot that his second claim had gone unanswered.

The last King of Gondor until the end of the Third Age

During the Battle of Fornost, Eärnil II's son Eärnur led Gondor's forces to victory over the Witch-king of Angmar, who was actually the Lord of the Nazgûl. Although Eärnur wished to fight him, Eärnur's horse was terrified and fled the battle against his wishes. By the time he mastered his horse and return, the Witch-king had fled. Glorfindel the Elf then prophesied to him that it was better that he not fight the Lord of the Nazgûl because not by the hand of man will he fall.

Eärnur later ascended to the throne, ruling from Minas Anor (Tower of the Sun). During this time, the Ringwraiths captured Minas Anor's sister city, Minas Ithil (Tower of the Moon), renaming it Minas Morgul (Tower of Sorcery) and taking it as their lair. Minas Anor was renamed Minas Tirith (Tower of Guard) as a result. The Lord of the Nazgûl repeatedly sent messengers to Minas Tirith challenging Eärnur to single combat, taunting him that he had fled out of cowardice from facing him during the Battle of Fornost. Eventually, King Eärnur was overcome by wrath and rode with a small company of knights to Minas Morgul, to accept the challenge. They were never heard from again.

Due to suspicions by the Kings of Gondor in the wake of the Kin-strife, many men from the Royal House had either foresworn their heritage and taken wives of non-Númenórean blood, or else had fled into exile. Upon Eärnur's departure, no one could be found who had an equal or stronger claim to the throne than would have any son of Eärnur (who left no children). The rule of Gondor was left to the Stewards of Gondor because there were fears of a civil war if a person who did not have the support of most Dúnedain of Gondor was crowned King.

The Stewards of Gondor

The Ruling Stewards

The realm was governed by a long line of hereditary Stewards after the disappearance of Eärnur, son of Eärnil, since there was no proof that the last king was dead, and no claimant had enough support to be accepted as his successor. The Line of Anárion was held to have failed, and Gondor was not willing to risk to another Kin-strife, which would surely have destroyed it.

Each succeeding Ruling Steward thus swore an oath to yield rule of Gondor back to the King, if he should ever return, but as the generations passed into centuries, the oath became (in the eyes of the Stewards) more a formality than anything else.

Although some people in Gondor remembered Arvedui's second claim had gone unanswered, by this time the Line of Isildur had gone into hiding in Eriador, for Arnor had been destroyed. The line of Stewards ruled with the authority of the Kings but never presumed to take the title for themselves. During the War of the Ring, the Ruling Steward of Gondor was Denethor II, and his two sons were Boromir and the younger Faramir.

Cirion and Eorl

In 2510 T.A. when Steward Cirion ruled over Gondor, the nation faced one of its greatest perils: an Easterling tribe named the Balchoth (Balc + Hoth) invaded Gondor with mass force. Gondor's army marched to fight the Balchoth but were cut off from Minas Tirith and pushed back in the direction of the Limlight.

Messengers were sent to get help from the Éothéod, a tribe which lived in the northern vales of the Anduin, but nobody expected the messengers to reach their destination. When certain peril came upon Gondor, however, the Éothéod turned the tide of the Battle of the Field of Celebrant. After the victory the Éothéod were awarded the fields of Calenardhon north of the Ered Nimrais from the Gap of Rohan at the southern end of the Hithaeglir, Fangorn forest, rivers Limlight to river Anduin, western Emyn Muil and the Mering Stream, where they established the kingdom of Rohan with Eorl the Young as their first king. A permanent alliance between Gondor and Rohan was established by the oath Eorl swore to Cirion.

War of the Ring

In 3019, during the War of the Ring Gondor faced an all out attack on its capital Minas Tirith in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Although nearly defeated, the Rohirrim once again turned the tide of battle, and helped win the war.

After the second and final defeat of Sauron the Kingship was restored with the Return of the King and Aragorn II became king of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. (See Reunited Kingdom for further history of the lands of old Gondor). Aragorn claimed the throne as the Heir of both Isildur and Anarion due to his descent from Arvedui and Fíriel, the daugther of Ondoher. This in turn allowed him to stake his claim as the heir of Elendil as well as both his sons. He bore as a token of his right to kingship the reforged sword of Elendil, Narsil, which he now called Anduril, 'Flame of the West'.

Faramir, last heir of the Ruling Stewards, was to retain the office of steward (though not ruling), and was made Prince of Ithilien, which had been reconquered from the forces of Mordor.

Gondor as it appeared during the events of the War of the Ring (circa Third Age 3019) has been compared to the Byzantine Empire, for numerous reasons. Both the Byzantine Empire and Gondor were echoes of the old greatness of the earlier Roman Empire and the island kingdom of Númenor. However, they were still strong in their own right. Also, during a period of relative barbarity surrounding them, both Byzantium and Gondor were a bastion of civilization against the inrushing tide of darkness.

Judging from the size of Gondor's armies, the population of the country at the time of the War of the Ring was probably no more than 200,000.

Regions of Gondor

Gondor was divided between several nearly autonomous regions. These were the following:

Ithilien across the Anduin
Anórien in Calenardhon,
Lossarnach
Lebennin of the Five Streams,
Belfalas and
Dor-en-Ernil, ruled by the Prince of Dol Amroth,
Lamedon north of the Ringló, and
Anfalas or Langstrand in the south-west.

The long cape of Andrast was not populated. The various fiefdoms are ruled by feudal lords. In the Fourth Age, the two highest ranking nobles of Gondor are the Prince of Ithilien and the Prince of Dol Amroth.

Additionally, Gondor held or had held the following regions at certain points in its history:

Harondor or South Gondor which was contested between Gondor and Harad,
Calenardhon which was given to the Éothéod in 2510 T.A. and became Rohan,
Enedwaith, never really populated by Gondor and soon abandoned, with the exception of the town of Tharbad which was held jointly by Gondor and Arnor.
Eastern Lands between Greenwood the Great and the Sea of Rhûn.
Umbar, which was held by Gondor from the time of Eärnil I until the Kin-strife.
Rhovanion, which was never fully under the control of Gondor but under Gondor's influence at certain times during the Third Age.

Cities and notable places of Gondor

Cities, townships and other notable places in Gondor included:

Cair Andros, an island in the Anduin overrun by orcs during the War of the Ring
Calembel
Dol Amroth, city on Belfalas
Erech, a notable hill, or hilltop in the upper Morthond Vale, possibly once the site of a fortress of Gondor, but desolate by the end of the Third Age
Ethring
Linhir
Minas Tirith (originally Minas Anor), City of the Kings
Osgiliath, city and former capital of Gondor on the river Anduin, largely destroyed and abandoned by the end of the Third Age, but King Elessar possibly rebuilt the city
Pelargir, the great southern harbour, believed to be where Isildur and Anárion first came to Gondor. Almost captured by Corsairs during the War of the Ring
Tarnost

Additionally, Gondor had held the following locations at certain points in its history:

the outposts of Amon Hen and Amon Lhaw on Emyn Muil probably had small garrisons
Angrenost, the fortress of Isengard, later granted to Saruman, destroyed by the Ents during the War of the Ring
Aglarond, Fortress of Gondor, located within Helm's Deep
the fortress of Gondor guarding the pass of Cirith Ungol
Durthang, the largest fortress in Mordor, built to guard the Ephel Dúath
Minas Ithil, conquered by Mordor and renamed Minas Morgul
Tharbad to the north, held by both Gondor and Arnor but abandoned as Gondor retreated through Enedwaith and later ruined
Umbar, the far southern harbour which was lost and reclaimed several times

External Links

Complete Chronology of Arnor and Gondor

Fictional countries | Realms of Middle-earth

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