Arnor
Encyclopedia
Arnor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien
's writings. Arnor, or the Northern Kingdom, was a kingdom of the Dúnedain
in the land of Eriador
in Middle-earth. The name probably means "Land of the King", from Sindarin
Ara- (high, kingly) + (n)dor (land). Arnor is the territory of Middle-earth associated with the High Kings of the line of Elendil
, the kingship of which was restored at the crowning of Elessar
(Aragorn
) after the War of the Ring
at the start of the Fourth Age
.
At its greatest, Arnor encompassed almost the whole region of Eriador between Bruinen, Gwathló
and Lhûn, and the region which would later be known as the Shire
. Arnor's population was composed by Dúnedain in western-central regions and mixed or indigenous (and reluctant as citizens) peoples. Its capital was Annúminas near Lake Nenuial.
by Elendil
, whose sons Isildur and Anárion
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 especially Tar-Aldarion
. Most of them lived in the harbour of Vinyalondë, later called Lond Daer. 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 favoured over the more southern regions (Gondor) because the Elves
under Gil-galad
lived in nearby Lindon
. But in later days, when the Númenóreans fell under Sauron
's shadow, they settled more to the south in port cities such as Umbar
. Thus, Elendil arrived in an area populated by people who, unlike his contemporaries in Númenor itself, were mainly still friends with the Elves, and who, unlike those in Gondor to the south, retained knowledge of the Elder Days
. In the war of the Last Alliance, Arnor lost much of its manpower and the army of Arnor came home a ghost of its former self.
Arnor's second king, Isildur
(also the King of Gondor, where he had ruled jointly with his brother), was killed in by Orcs
, in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. His three eldest sons were killed with him. Only his youngest son, Valandil, survived; having been a child at the start of the war, he had remained behind in Rivendell. In , after several years of interregnum, Valandil thus became the third king of Arnor.
For several centuries, Arnor's rulers styled themselves High King, following the precedent of Elendil, who ruled Arnor directly while holding suzerainty
over Gondor; the rulers of Gondor, by contrast, were merely styled King. Nevertheless, Valandil and his successors never made any serious attempt to assert their overlordship; after the death of Isildur, the two realms developed as equal and independent states.
, and from the Blue Mountains to the Mountains of Shadow. But in reality Arnor's strength had been severely depleted by the war and the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, and the northern Dúnedain never really recovered from their losses. The first few centuries of the Third Age were relatively uneventful, but it seems that Arnor's population gradually began to dwindle even in this early period.
This division hastened the decline of the Northern Dúnedain. The three kingdoms had frequent border skirmishes over boundary disputes, but the relationship of Arthedain and Cardolan remained relatively peaceful. Rhudaur, by contrast, was unfriendly towards the two other successor states, and fought a bitter conflict with Cardolan over the tower of Amon Sûl and its palantír.
Around , an evil power, the Witch-king, arose in the mountains north-east of Arnor, where he founded Angmar
. It was later revealed he was the leader of the Nazgûl
, who were dispersed after the first overthrow of Sauron in at the hands of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, but survived nonetheless.
In theory Arthedain became Arnor with the end of Cardolan and Rhudaur, but this Kingdom was a poor imitation of the large and powerful realm of Arnor before 861. Arthedain was finally destroyed in , when the Witch-king captured Fornost. The next year, in the pyrrhic Battle of Fornost, a coalition of Elves, forces of Gondor and the remainder of Arnor's armies destroyed Angmar and freed Fornost. The population of Arnor were mostly wiped out by the wars, but the Hobbit
s 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
. With the help of the Elves, those people remained hidden from the rest of Middle-earth, and became an isolated, wandering people.
as King Elessar refounded the Kingdom of Arnor as part of the Reunited Kingdom
, and again made Annúminas his capital city. 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 area again, even if it had dwindled in size due to the independence of the Shire
.
The kingdom's capital was at Fornost, and Bree
was one of its important towns. Annúminas was in the territory of Arthedain, but mostly abandoned and falling into ruin.
Around T.A. 1300 the kingdom of Angmar
appeared at Arthedain's north-eastern border. Its King was the chief of the Ringwraiths, the Witch-king, although this was not known to the Dúnedain
. Rhudaur, aided by Angmar, attacked in T.A. 1356. Argeleb I died in this conflict. When this new threat came Cardolan placed itself under the suzerainty of Arthedain, which then began to call itself Arnor again. Cardolan repeatedly sent aid to Arthedain when needed but by T.A. 1409 Cardolan and Rhudaur were conquered by Angmar and Arthedain only survived with the help of Elvish reinforcements from Lórien and the Havens.
After 1409 Angmar's power was temporarily broken and the North Kingdom enjoyed relative peace although its population continued to decline. Indeed the decline was so severe that in 1601 Argeleb II (r. 1589–1670) granted a large portion of Arthedain's best farmland to Hobbit migrants, as these lands had become deserted. Arthedain was not badly affected by the Great Plague and it can be guessed that warfare with Angmar resumed in earnest sometime after 1800, with mention being made of a victory gained in 1851 by King Araval (r. 1813–1891), although sources for the Kingdom's history are sketchy until the beginning of the 20th century of the Third Age. Arthedain spent its last decades in desperate conflict with Angmar, but lacked the manpower and resources to win the war. In T.A. 1940, Arthedain, then under Araval's son Araphant (r. 1891–1964), formed an alliance with Gondor, but in the end neither Kingdom was able to provide military assistance to the other; the Witch-king began to attack Arthedain even more vigorously, while Gondor barely survived a massive Wainrider invasion (T.A. 1944) which left it unable to send substantial armies abroad for years. Araphant and his successor Arvedui
held out against Angmar as long as they could. In T.A. 1973, Arvedui saw the writing on the wall, and appealed to Gondor for help; the King of Gondor, Eärnil II
(r. 1945–2043), sent a fleet north under his son Eärnur. But it was too late. Early in T.A. 1974, the Witch-king captured Fornost and overran Arthedain, and the King's sons and most of the other Dúnedain fled across the Lune. Arvedui himself fled northwards and perished in a shipwreck early in T.A. 1975, taking with him the palantíri of Annúminas and Amon Sûl. Eärnur's fleet reached Lindon after Arvedui's death. The combined might of Gondor, Lindon and Rivendell, together with soldiers from the former North-kingdom, routed Angmar's army at the Battle of Fornost.
Though the military threat of Angmar had been removed, the North-kingdom was ended. The long wars and a series of natural disasters had taken their toll on the population of Eriador, and the Dúnedain especially were few in number and unable to maintain a nation. In T.A. 1976, Aranarth, Arvedui's oldest son, took the title of Chieftain of the Dúnedain. He and his descendants led the Rangers of the North; Aragorn II
was the sixteenth Chieftain until he restored the Kingdom of Arnor in T.A. 3019. The Kingdom of Arthedain had included the Shire
; in T.A. 1979, the Hobbits there chose a Thain
to represent the royal authority.
The name Arthedain appears to be dialect Sindarin
for "Realm of the Edain".
(Greyflood) to the east and south. Its northern border was the Great East Road.
After it became a kingdom, Cardolan also claimed the Arthedain-controlled Weather Hills, which contained the fortress of Amon Sûl (Weathertop) and its valuable palantír
. For this reason the Weather Hills were claimed by all three kingdoms — Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur. This territorial dispute continued until Rhudaur became a vassal of Angmar
after the line of the Dúnedain kings failed there.
In T.A. 1050, the branch of Hobbit
s known as the Harfoots crossed the Misty Mountains
, and settled in the South Downs
in the west of Cardolan. They were joined about a century later by the Fallohides.
When the kingdom of Angmar arose in northern Eriador
, Cardolan became the most important ally of Arthedain. It had to fight the combined armies of both Angmar and Rhudaur. In 1356 Argeleb I of Arthedain was slain in battle with Rhudaur, now allied with Angmar. For a while Cardolan and Arthedain held back Angmar, and in its last years the people became entrenched in their capital region, Tyrn Gorthad, but in 1409 a large Army from Angmar broke into Cardolan and devastated the country. Arthedain could provide little aid, as it was itself under attack. The last King of Cardolan died in this conflict, and Cardolan was shattered. While Arthedain recovered something of her power, Cardolan did not and the region of the Barrow-downs entered hobbit legend as a place of mystery and danger.
In 1636 the Great Plague claimed the life of the King of Gondor, and withered the White Tree. The plague spread north along the Great Road that joined the two kingdoms, and the population of Minhiriath was decimated. About this time the plague also wiped out the Dúnedain hiding in the Barrow-downs and evil spirits came to dwell there. What few folk survived could offer little aid to Arthedain in 1974, when Angmar overwhelmed the last of the kingdoms of Arnor. Until the end of the Third Age, the Dúnedain of Cardolan were only a memory, their tombs and barrows haunted by evil wights sent from Angmar; for the Rangers that wandered over the lands were descended from the people of Arthedain. The only major settlements in old Cardolan were likely to be found along the North-South Road close to Tharbad, until 2912, when terrible floods devastated the lowlands and destroyed Tharbad.
The name Cardolan appears to be dialect Sindarin
for "Red Hill Country".
for "Eastern Forests", and indeed Rhudaur was the most easterly of the three regions in Eriador, stretching from the Weather Hills with Weathertop
(Amon Sûl) to the river Bruinen (Loudwater). It shared a long border with Cardolan along the Great East Road, and with Arthedain along the line of the Weather Hills.
South of the Road, the land lying between the Bruinen and Mitheithel (Hoarwell) rivers was also considered part of Rhudaur. It was called the Angle, and it is here that the first Stoor Hobbit
s came into Eriador
around T.A. 1150. However, due to the increasing hostility of Angmar
these Stoors fled the region around T.A. 1356, with some of them moving west to the Shire
, and others moving back to Wilderland.
Rhudaur's Dúnedain
population was always small, and was always only a small proportion of its people. From the start of its existence as a separate kingdom, Rhudaur was unfriendly towards the two other successor states, and waged a long war with Cardolan over the tower of Amon Sûl and the palantír
associated with the tower.
Over time, the more numerous Hillmen came to dominate the population of Rhudaur, and one of their leaders, allied with Angmar, seized power from the Dúnedain during the 14th century. In T.A. 1356, forces of Rhudaur and Angmar slew the High King Argeleb I in battle; the Stoors who had dwelt in Rhudaur's south, fearing Angmar, fled south into Dunland, or east over the mountains into the Vale of Anduin
. Angmar annexed and terminated Rhudaur in T.A. 1409, at which point the last Dúnedain were killed or fled the region.
The Great Plague of T.A. 1636 devastated Eriador. This stemmed the tide for 300 years, because Rhudaur and Angmar were not spared. But the most telling blow was struck in the year T.A. 1975. Arthedain and Cardolan had fallen to the combined hosts of Rhudaur and the Witch-king the previous year, but these hosts were themselves wiped out by a combined army of Gondor and Lindon. The Witch-king fled to the North, and the Hillmen vanished from the histories of Middle-earth. As far south as the Great East Road, Rhudaur became a troll-country; travellers along the Road generally hurried along their way and avoided the Trollshaws.
There is evidence that after the fall of Angmar at the Battle of Fornost the Angle became home to the remainder of the Dúnedain, and the Rangers of the North
established several villages there, where their people lived until the resurrection of the northern Kingdom under King Elessar
at the end of the Third Age. But northern Rhudaur remained wild and dangerous for the rest of that Age: Arador was slain there by hill-trolls in T.A. 2930, and his son Arathorn II fell in battle with Orcs in T.A. 2933. And in T.A. 2941, trolls captured the company of Thorin
at the start of The Hobbit
.
'Northern-fortress of the Kings' from for(n) (north) + ost (fortress); "Norbury of the Kings" in Westron
) was a city of Eriador
in the north of Middle-earth
. It was located at the south end of the North Downs, about 100 Númenórean
miles north of Bree
; after Fornost Erain was abandoned, the site became known as Deadmen's Dike, visited only by Rangers. At the time when The Lord of the Rings is set, Fornost had been abandoned for "nearly a thousand years, and even the ruins of Kings' Norbury were covered with grass".
It is not known when Fornost was founded or when the kings of Arnor moved there from Annúminas, but it is known that the kings moved to Fornost some time around T.A.
861, when King Eärendur died, and Arnor was divided into three kingdoms with Fornost the capital of the greatest kingdom, Arthedain.
Fornost was first attacked by the forces of the Witch-king in 1409, when the border defence system collapsed with the storming of the Forts of the Weather Hills. However, the City was successfully defended by the young King Araphor and disaster was averted.
In T.A. 1974, Arthedain was overrun by the forces of Angmar
; they captured Fornost, and King Arvedui
fled into the northern wastes and was lost in the Ice Bay of Forochel. In the following year, a fleet from Gondor
led by Eärnur landed at Mithlond, fought the Witch-king of Angmar
in the plains west of Fornost, and defeated him and his armies, although the Witch-king himself escaped.
Fornost fell into ruin following the end of Arthedain and came to be known as Deadmen's Dike. Gandalf
indicated to Barliman Butterbur
that Fornost would probably be rebuilt by King Elessar
.
, the seizing of Minas Ithil by the forces of Sauron, and the absence of a White Tree, as points of stylistic comparison to Gondor, with its fortresses and heavily populated capital city, its possession of a White Tree, and its well-equipped military and armaments.
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's writings. Arnor, or the Northern Kingdom, was a kingdom of the Dúnedain
Dúnedain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Dúnedain were a race of Men descended from the Númenóreans who survived the sinking of their island kingdom and came to Eriador in Middle-earth, led by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion...
in the land of Eriador
Eriador
Eriador is a large region in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. In the Second Age, and possibly much earlier, it was largely forested, but the Dúnedain felled most of the forests to build ships. Much of it was encompassed in the early Third Age by the kingdom of Arnor, which...
in Middle-earth. The name probably means "Land of the King", from Sindarin
Sindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
Ara- (high, kingly) + (n)dor (land). Arnor is the territory of Middle-earth associated with the High Kings of the line of Elendil
Elendil
Elendil is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
, the kingship of which was restored at the crowning of Elessar
Elessar
Elessar could mean one of the following:* Aragorn, a character in the fantasy world of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth* the Elfstone, a jewel, also from the fantasy world of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth...
(Aragorn
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
) after the War of the Ring
War of the Ring
In the fictional high fantasy-world of J. R. R. Tolkien, the War of the Ring was fought between Sauron and the free peoples of Middle-earth for control of the One Ring and dominion over the continent. The War of the Ring took place at the end of the Third Age. Together with the Quest of Mount Doom,...
at the start of the Fourth Age
Fourth Age
In the fictional world of middle earth "'the fourth age'" and the ages that preceded it, are time periods from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth, described in his fantasy writings...
.
At its greatest, Arnor encompassed almost the whole region of Eriador between Bruinen, Gwathló
Gwathló
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the river Gwathló or Greyflood is a river in middle Eriador.The Sindarin name Gwathló was adapted from the name Gwathir, given to the river by the Númenóreans in the Second Age...
and Lhûn, and the region which would later be known as the Shire
Shire (Middle-earth)
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...
. Arnor's population was composed by Dúnedain in western-central regions and mixed or indigenous (and reluctant as citizens) peoples. Its capital was Annúminas near Lake Nenuial.
History
Arnor was founded at the end of the Second AgeSecond Age
The Second Age is a time period from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. Tolkien intended for the history of Middle-earth to be considered fictionally as a precursor to the history of the real Earth....
by Elendil
Elendil
Elendil is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
, whose sons Isildur and Anárion
Anárion
Anárion is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. His name is derived from Anar, which means "Sun" in Tolkien's invented language of Quenya...
founded Gondor
Gondor
Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth by the end of the Third Age. The third volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, is concerned with the events in Gondor during the War of the Ring and with...
at the same time. The history of the two kingdoms is intertwined; both kingdoms are known as the Realms of the Dúnedain
Dúnedain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Dúnedain were a race of Men descended from the Númenóreans who survived the sinking of their island kingdom and came to Eriador in Middle-earth, led by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion...
in Exile.
Before the foundation of Arnor there was already a sizable Númenórean
Númenor
Númenor is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. It was a huge island located in the Sundering Seas to the west of Middle-earth, the main setting of Tolkien's writings, and was known to be the greatest realm of Men...
population living there, a result of the slow emigration of Númenóreans which had started under Tar-Meneldur and especially Tar-Aldarion
Tar-Aldarion
Tar-Aldarion is a character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium.He was the sixth King of Númenor, succeeding his father, Tar-Meneldur. He was a great mariner, and during his time Númenor started to invest more in its navy and strengthened its presence overseas in Middle-earth. He wedded Erendis in...
. Most of them lived in the harbour of Vinyalondë, later called Lond Daer. Before the arrival of the Dúnedain Arnor was home to Middle Men of Edain
Edain
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Edain were men who made their way into Beleriand in the First Age, and were friendly to the Elves....
stock, and the early colonists soon interbred with the indigenous population. Arnor was originally favoured over the more southern regions (Gondor) because the Elves
Elf (Middle-earth)
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Elves are one of the races that inhabit a fictional Earth, often called Middle-earth, and set in the remote past. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, but their complex history is described more fully in The Silmarillion...
under Gil-galad
Gil-galad
Ereinion Gil-galad is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, and featured in The Silmarillion.- Character overview :...
lived in nearby Lindon
Lindon (Middle-earth)
Lindon is the land beyond the Ered Luin, the Blue Mountains, in the northwest of Middle-earth in the fictional universe of J. R. R. Tolkien. It is the westernmost land of the continent. The Gulf of Lune divides it into Forlindon and Harlindon...
. But in later days, when the Númenóreans fell under Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
's shadow, they settled more to the south in port cities such as Umbar
Umbar
Umbar is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. It was a great haven and seaport to the far south of Gondor in Middle-earth.'Umbar' was a name—of unknown meaning—given to the area by its original inhabitants...
. Thus, Elendil arrived in an area populated by people who, unlike his contemporaries in Númenor itself, were mainly still friends with the Elves, and who, unlike those in Gondor to the south, retained knowledge of the Elder Days
Elder Days
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Elder Days are the first Ages of Middle-earth.During the Second and Third Age, the term referred to the First Age and before, but in the Fourth Age the term began to be applied to all three ages which came before: a time before the dominance of Men and the...
. In the war of the Last Alliance, Arnor lost much of its manpower and the army of Arnor came home a ghost of its former self.
Arnor's second king, Isildur
Isildur
Isildur is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in the author's books The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales....
(also the King of Gondor, where he had ruled jointly with his brother), was killed in by Orcs
Orc (Middle-earth)
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, Orcs or Orks are a race of creatures who are used as soldiers and henchmen by both the greater and lesser villains of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings — Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman...
, in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. His three eldest sons were killed with him. Only his youngest son, Valandil, survived; having been a child at the start of the war, he had remained behind in Rivendell. In , after several years of interregnum, Valandil thus became the third king of Arnor.
For several centuries, Arnor's rulers styled themselves High King, following the precedent of Elendil, who ruled Arnor directly while holding suzerainty
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
over Gondor; the rulers of Gondor, by contrast, were merely styled King. Nevertheless, Valandil and his successors never made any serious attempt to assert their overlordship; after the death of Isildur, the two realms developed as equal and independent states.
Decline
With the victory of the War of the Last Alliance, Arnor's power was apparently at its zenith. The King of Arnor held the overlordship of all the land from the Bay of Forochel to the River Poros on the southern borders of IthilienIthilien
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, Ithilien is a region and fiefdom of Gondor.Ithilien, or "Moon-land," is the easternmost province of Gondor, the only part of Gondor across the Great River Anduin lying between the river and the Mountains of Shadow , subdivided by the stream of...
, and from the Blue Mountains to the Mountains of Shadow. But in reality Arnor's strength had been severely depleted by the war and the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, and the northern Dúnedain never really recovered from their losses. The first few centuries of the Third Age were relatively uneventful, but it seems that Arnor's population gradually began to dwindle even in this early period.
Civil war and successor states
After the death of its tenth king, Eärendur, in , Arnor was shaken by civil war between his three sons. 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 kingdoms of Cardolan and Rhudaur. The former capital, Annúminas, became depopulated and fell into ruin.This division hastened the decline of the Northern Dúnedain. The three kingdoms had frequent border skirmishes over boundary disputes, but the relationship of Arthedain and Cardolan remained relatively peaceful. Rhudaur, by contrast, was unfriendly towards the two other successor states, and fought a bitter conflict with Cardolan over the tower of Amon Sûl and its palantír.
Around , an evil power, the Witch-king, arose in the mountains north-east of Arnor, where he founded Angmar
Angmar
Angmar is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's continent of Middle-earth.-Synopsis:Angmar was founded in in the far north of the Misty Mountains by the evil Lord of the Ringwraiths, who became known as the "Witch-king of Angmar"...
. It was later revealed he was the leader of the Nazgûl
Nazgûl
The Nazgûl are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium...
, who were dispersed after the first overthrow of Sauron in at the hands of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, but survived nonetheless.
Fall
The last Kings of Rhudaur were not of Númenórean blood, but were descended of Men in the service of Angmar. Under their rule the land became a vassal of Angmar, and thus enemies of Cardolan and Arthedain. Angmar annexed and terminated the kingdom in . By this time the Dúnedain were gone from the region, as well as most of the other inhabitants. Constant battle with Angmar began to wear down the forces of Arthedain, while Cardolan as a political entity came to an end shortly after 1409.In theory Arthedain became Arnor with the end of Cardolan and Rhudaur, but this Kingdom was a poor imitation of the large and powerful realm of Arnor before 861. Arthedain was finally destroyed in , when the Witch-king captured Fornost. The next year, in the pyrrhic Battle of Fornost, a coalition of Elves, forces of Gondor and the remainder of Arnor's armies destroyed Angmar and freed Fornost. The population of Arnor were mostly wiped out by the wars, but the Hobbit
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
s survived in the Shire, men survived in Bree
Bree (Middle-earth)
Bree is a fictional village in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, east of the Shire and south of Fornost Erain. It is thought to have been inspired by the Buckinghamshire village of Brill, which Tolkien visited regularly in his early years at Oxford...
and probably other villages, and the Dúnedain of Arnor created new homes in the Angle south of Rivendell
Rivendell
Rivendell is an Elven outpost in Middle-earth, a fictional realm created by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was established and ruled by Elrond in the Second Age of Middle-earth...
, where some of them became known as the Rangers of the North
Rangers of the North
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Rangers of the North, also known as the Dúnedain of the North, were the descendants of the Dúnedain from the lost kingdom of Arnor...
. With the help of the Elves, those people remained hidden from the rest of Middle-earth, and became an isolated, wandering people.
Reunited Kingdom
AragornAragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
as King Elessar refounded the Kingdom of Arnor as part of the Reunited Kingdom
Reunited Kingdom
The Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor is a fictional realm from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.When Aragorn became King of Gondor at the end of the War of the Ring, he was also the descendant of the Kings of Arnor, and by right he was crowned High King of both Arnor and Gondor and Reunited the...
, and again made Annúminas his capital city. 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 area again, even if it had dwindled in size due to the independence of the Shire
Shire (Middle-earth)
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...
.
Arthedain
Arthedain was bounded upon the north by Forochel and the west by the Lune; upon the east by the Weather Hills and the south by the Baranduin. Cardolan and Rhudaur lay to the south and east.The kingdom's capital was at Fornost, and Bree
Bree (Middle-earth)
Bree is a fictional village in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, east of the Shire and south of Fornost Erain. It is thought to have been inspired by the Buckinghamshire village of Brill, which Tolkien visited regularly in his early years at Oxford...
was one of its important towns. Annúminas was in the territory of Arthedain, but mostly abandoned and falling into ruin.
Around T.A. 1300 the kingdom of Angmar
Angmar
Angmar is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's continent of Middle-earth.-Synopsis:Angmar was founded in in the far north of the Misty Mountains by the evil Lord of the Ringwraiths, who became known as the "Witch-king of Angmar"...
appeared at Arthedain's north-eastern border. Its King was the chief of the Ringwraiths, the Witch-king, although this was not known to the Dúnedain
Dúnedain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Dúnedain were a race of Men descended from the Númenóreans who survived the sinking of their island kingdom and came to Eriador in Middle-earth, led by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion...
. Rhudaur, aided by Angmar, attacked in T.A. 1356. Argeleb I died in this conflict. When this new threat came Cardolan placed itself under the suzerainty of Arthedain, which then began to call itself Arnor again. Cardolan repeatedly sent aid to Arthedain when needed but by T.A. 1409 Cardolan and Rhudaur were conquered by Angmar and Arthedain only survived with the help of Elvish reinforcements from Lórien and the Havens.
After 1409 Angmar's power was temporarily broken and the North Kingdom enjoyed relative peace although its population continued to decline. Indeed the decline was so severe that in 1601 Argeleb II (r. 1589–1670) granted a large portion of Arthedain's best farmland to Hobbit migrants, as these lands had become deserted. Arthedain was not badly affected by the Great Plague and it can be guessed that warfare with Angmar resumed in earnest sometime after 1800, with mention being made of a victory gained in 1851 by King Araval (r. 1813–1891), although sources for the Kingdom's history are sketchy until the beginning of the 20th century of the Third Age. Arthedain spent its last decades in desperate conflict with Angmar, but lacked the manpower and resources to win the war. In T.A. 1940, Arthedain, then under Araval's son Araphant (r. 1891–1964), formed an alliance with Gondor, but in the end neither Kingdom was able to provide military assistance to the other; the Witch-king began to attack Arthedain even more vigorously, while Gondor barely survived a massive Wainrider invasion (T.A. 1944) which left it unable to send substantial armies abroad for years. Araphant and his successor Arvedui
Arvedui
Arvedui is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium.Arvedui was the son of King Araphant of Arthedain. He was born in T.A. 1864 and came to the throne in 1964 at the death of his father...
held out against Angmar as long as they could. In T.A. 1973, Arvedui saw the writing on the wall, and appealed to Gondor for help; the King of Gondor, Eärnil II
Eärnil II
Eärnil II is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth. He was born in T.A. 1883. In 1945 Third Age he was elected as the thirty-second King of Gondor after his predecessor, King Ondoher, was slain in battle. In the previous year a two-pronged attack had been launched...
(r. 1945–2043), sent a fleet north under his son Eärnur. But it was too late. Early in T.A. 1974, the Witch-king captured Fornost and overran Arthedain, and the King's sons and most of the other Dúnedain fled across the Lune. Arvedui himself fled northwards and perished in a shipwreck early in T.A. 1975, taking with him the palantíri of Annúminas and Amon Sûl. Eärnur's fleet reached Lindon after Arvedui's death. The combined might of Gondor, Lindon and Rivendell, together with soldiers from the former North-kingdom, routed Angmar's army at the Battle of Fornost.
Though the military threat of Angmar had been removed, the North-kingdom was ended. The long wars and a series of natural disasters had taken their toll on the population of Eriador, and the Dúnedain especially were few in number and unable to maintain a nation. In T.A. 1976, Aranarth, Arvedui's oldest son, took the title of Chieftain of the Dúnedain. He and his descendants led the Rangers of the North; Aragorn II
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
was the sixteenth Chieftain until he restored the Kingdom of Arnor in T.A. 3019. The Kingdom of Arthedain had included the Shire
Shire (Middle-earth)
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...
; in T.A. 1979, the Hobbits there chose a Thain
Thain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Thain was the traditional military leader of the Hobbits of the Shire. The Hobbits first chose a Thain to "hold the authority of the king" when Arvedui, last King of Arnor, was lost and the kingship in the North discontinued. The...
to represent the royal authority.
The name Arthedain appears to be dialect Sindarin
Sindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
for "Realm of the Edain".
Cardolan
The borders of Cardolan extended from the river Baranduin (Brandywine) to the west, the river Mitheithel (Hoarwell) to the east and the river GwathlóGwathló
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the river Gwathló or Greyflood is a river in middle Eriador.The Sindarin name Gwathló was adapted from the name Gwathir, given to the river by the Númenóreans in the Second Age...
(Greyflood) to the east and south. Its northern border was the Great East Road.
After it became a kingdom, Cardolan also claimed the Arthedain-controlled Weather Hills, which contained the fortress of Amon Sûl (Weathertop) and its valuable palantír
Palantír
A palantír is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír A palantír (pl. palantíri) is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír A palantír (pl. palantíri) is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír...
. For this reason the Weather Hills were claimed by all three kingdoms — Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur. This territorial dispute continued until Rhudaur became a vassal of Angmar
Angmar
Angmar is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's continent of Middle-earth.-Synopsis:Angmar was founded in in the far north of the Misty Mountains by the evil Lord of the Ringwraiths, who became known as the "Witch-king of Angmar"...
after the line of the Dúnedain kings failed there.
In T.A. 1050, the branch of Hobbit
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
s known as the Harfoots crossed the Misty Mountains
Misty Mountains
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth, the Misty Mountains is a mountain range, running for 795 miles from north to south, between Eriador and the valley of the Great River, Anduin, and...
, and settled in the South Downs
Shire (Middle-earth)
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...
in the west of Cardolan. They were joined about a century later by the Fallohides.
When the kingdom of Angmar arose in northern Eriador
Eriador
Eriador is a large region in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. In the Second Age, and possibly much earlier, it was largely forested, but the Dúnedain felled most of the forests to build ships. Much of it was encompassed in the early Third Age by the kingdom of Arnor, which...
, Cardolan became the most important ally of Arthedain. It had to fight the combined armies of both Angmar and Rhudaur. In 1356 Argeleb I of Arthedain was slain in battle with Rhudaur, now allied with Angmar. For a while Cardolan and Arthedain held back Angmar, and in its last years the people became entrenched in their capital region, Tyrn Gorthad, but in 1409 a large Army from Angmar broke into Cardolan and devastated the country. Arthedain could provide little aid, as it was itself under attack. The last King of Cardolan died in this conflict, and Cardolan was shattered. While Arthedain recovered something of her power, Cardolan did not and the region of the Barrow-downs entered hobbit legend as a place of mystery and danger.
In 1636 the Great Plague claimed the life of the King of Gondor, and withered the White Tree. The plague spread north along the Great Road that joined the two kingdoms, and the population of Minhiriath was decimated. About this time the plague also wiped out the Dúnedain hiding in the Barrow-downs and evil spirits came to dwell there. What few folk survived could offer little aid to Arthedain in 1974, when Angmar overwhelmed the last of the kingdoms of Arnor. Until the end of the Third Age, the Dúnedain of Cardolan were only a memory, their tombs and barrows haunted by evil wights sent from Angmar; for the Rangers that wandered over the lands were descended from the people of Arthedain. The only major settlements in old Cardolan were likely to be found along the North-South Road close to Tharbad, until 2912, when terrible floods devastated the lowlands and destroyed Tharbad.
The name Cardolan appears to be dialect Sindarin
Sindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
for "Red Hill Country".
Rhudaur
The name Rhudaur appears to be dialect SindarinSindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
for "Eastern Forests", and indeed Rhudaur was the most easterly of the three regions in Eriador, stretching from the Weather Hills with Weathertop
Weathertop
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, Weathertop is a hill in the Eriador region of Middle-earth, the southernmost and highest summit of the Weather Hills...
(Amon Sûl) to the river Bruinen (Loudwater). It shared a long border with Cardolan along the Great East Road, and with Arthedain along the line of the Weather Hills.
South of the Road, the land lying between the Bruinen and Mitheithel (Hoarwell) rivers was also considered part of Rhudaur. It was called the Angle, and it is here that the first Stoor Hobbit
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
s came into Eriador
Eriador
Eriador is a large region in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. In the Second Age, and possibly much earlier, it was largely forested, but the Dúnedain felled most of the forests to build ships. Much of it was encompassed in the early Third Age by the kingdom of Arnor, which...
around T.A. 1150. However, due to the increasing hostility of Angmar
Angmar
Angmar is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's continent of Middle-earth.-Synopsis:Angmar was founded in in the far north of the Misty Mountains by the evil Lord of the Ringwraiths, who became known as the "Witch-king of Angmar"...
these Stoors fled the region around T.A. 1356, with some of them moving west to the Shire
Shire (Middle-earth)
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...
, and others moving back to Wilderland.
Rhudaur's Dúnedain
Dúnedain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Dúnedain were a race of Men descended from the Númenóreans who survived the sinking of their island kingdom and came to Eriador in Middle-earth, led by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion...
population was always small, and was always only a small proportion of its people. From the start of its existence as a separate kingdom, Rhudaur was unfriendly towards the two other successor states, and waged a long war with Cardolan over the tower of Amon Sûl and the palantír
Palantír
A palantír is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír A palantír (pl. palantíri) is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír A palantír (pl. palantíri) is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír...
associated with the tower.
Over time, the more numerous Hillmen came to dominate the population of Rhudaur, and one of their leaders, allied with Angmar, seized power from the Dúnedain during the 14th century. In T.A. 1356, forces of Rhudaur and Angmar slew the High King Argeleb I in battle; the Stoors who had dwelt in Rhudaur's south, fearing Angmar, fled south into Dunland, or east over the mountains into the Vale of Anduin
Anduin
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, Anduin is the Sindarin name for the Great River of Wilderland, the longest river in the Third Age . The ancestors of the Rohirrim called it Langflood. It flowed from its source in the Grey and Misty Mountains to the Mouths of Anduin in the Great Sea...
. Angmar annexed and terminated Rhudaur in T.A. 1409, at which point the last Dúnedain were killed or fled the region.
The Great Plague of T.A. 1636 devastated Eriador. This stemmed the tide for 300 years, because Rhudaur and Angmar were not spared. But the most telling blow was struck in the year T.A. 1975. Arthedain and Cardolan had fallen to the combined hosts of Rhudaur and the Witch-king the previous year, but these hosts were themselves wiped out by a combined army of Gondor and Lindon. The Witch-king fled to the North, and the Hillmen vanished from the histories of Middle-earth. As far south as the Great East Road, Rhudaur became a troll-country; travellers along the Road generally hurried along their way and avoided the Trollshaws.
There is evidence that after the fall of Angmar at the Battle of Fornost the Angle became home to the remainder of the Dúnedain, and the Rangers of the North
Rangers of the North
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Rangers of the North, also known as the Dúnedain of the North, were the descendants of the Dúnedain from the lost kingdom of Arnor...
established several villages there, where their people lived until the resurrection of the northern Kingdom under King Elessar
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
at the end of the Third Age. But northern Rhudaur remained wild and dangerous for the rest of that Age: Arador was slain there by hill-trolls in T.A. 2930, and his son Arathorn II fell in battle with Orcs in T.A. 2933. And in T.A. 2941, trolls captured the company of Thorin
Thorin Oakenshield
Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, King Under the Mountain is a major character in The Hobbit and is mentioned in passing in The Lord of the Rings...
at the start of The Hobbit
The Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
.
Fornost
Fornost Erain (SindarinSindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
'Northern-fortress of the Kings' from for(n) (north) + ost (fortress); "Norbury of the Kings" in Westron
Westron
Westron, or the Common Speech, is a fictional language in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien.Westron is the closest thing to a lingua franca in Middle-earth, at least at the time during which The Lord of the Rings is set. "Westron" is an invented English word, derived from West...
) was a city of Eriador
Eriador
Eriador is a large region in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. In the Second Age, and possibly much earlier, it was largely forested, but the Dúnedain felled most of the forests to build ships. Much of it was encompassed in the early Third Age by the kingdom of Arnor, which...
in the north of Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
. It was located at the south end of the North Downs, about 100 Númenórean
Númenor
Númenor is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. It was a huge island located in the Sundering Seas to the west of Middle-earth, the main setting of Tolkien's writings, and was known to be the greatest realm of Men...
miles north of Bree
Bree (Middle-earth)
Bree is a fictional village in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, east of the Shire and south of Fornost Erain. It is thought to have been inspired by the Buckinghamshire village of Brill, which Tolkien visited regularly in his early years at Oxford...
; after Fornost Erain was abandoned, the site became known as Deadmen's Dike, visited only by Rangers. At the time when The Lord of the Rings is set, Fornost had been abandoned for "nearly a thousand years, and even the ruins of Kings' Norbury were covered with grass".
It is not known when Fornost was founded or when the kings of Arnor moved there from Annúminas, but it is known that the kings moved to Fornost some time around T.A.
Third Age
The Third Age is a time period from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. The history of Middle-earth is to be taken fictionally as a history of the real Earth....
861, when King Eärendur died, and Arnor was divided into three kingdoms with Fornost the capital of the greatest kingdom, Arthedain.
Fornost was first attacked by the forces of the Witch-king in 1409, when the border defence system collapsed with the storming of the Forts of the Weather Hills. However, the City was successfully defended by the young King Araphor and disaster was averted.
In T.A. 1974, Arthedain was overrun by the forces of Angmar
Angmar
Angmar is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's continent of Middle-earth.-Synopsis:Angmar was founded in in the far north of the Misty Mountains by the evil Lord of the Ringwraiths, who became known as the "Witch-king of Angmar"...
; they captured Fornost, and King Arvedui
Arvedui
Arvedui is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium.Arvedui was the son of King Araphant of Arthedain. He was born in T.A. 1864 and came to the throne in 1964 at the death of his father...
fled into the northern wastes and was lost in the Ice Bay of Forochel. In the following year, a fleet from Gondor
Gondor
Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth by the end of the Third Age. The third volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, is concerned with the events in Gondor during the War of the Ring and with...
led by Eärnur landed at Mithlond, fought the Witch-king of Angmar
Witch-king of Angmar
The Witch-king of Angmar, also known as the Lord of the Nazgûl and the Black Captain among other names, is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. In Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, he is the chief of the Nazgûl , the chief servants...
in the plains west of Fornost, and defeated him and his armies, although the Witch-king himself escaped.
Fornost fell into ruin following the end of Arthedain and came to be known as Deadmen's Dike. Gandalf
Gandalf
Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
indicated to Barliman Butterbur
Barliman Butterbur
Barliman Butterbur is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings.Butterbur was the owner of the Inn of the Prancing Pony in Bree. He was a fat, bald Man, but as Bree was inhabited by both "Big Folk" and "Little Folk", i.e. hobbits, he had two hobbit employees:...
that Fornost would probably be rebuilt by King Elessar
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
.
Literary Significance
Some stylistic analyses consider the ultimate importance of Arnor is to stand as a literary device contrasting the southern kingdom of Gondor. Arguing that Arnor and Gondor are representative of the classical dichotomy of light and dark, blessed and forsaken, good and evil - these analyses reference the abandonment by the heirs of ValandilValandil
Valandil is a name used for two people in the Middle-earth legendarium of J. R. R. Tolkien:*Valandil of Andúnië from the Second Age*Valandil of Arnor from the early Third Age...
, the seizing of Minas Ithil by the forces of Sauron, and the absence of a White Tree, as points of stylistic comparison to Gondor, with its fortresses and heavily populated capital city, its possession of a White Tree, and its well-equipped military and armaments.