Q: Why Did Elendil Wait for Gil-galad at Weathertop?
ANSWER: In the chapter “A Knife in the Dark”, Aragorn leads Frodo and his Hobbit companions to the hill of Amon Sûl (Weathertop), where they find a path running along the foot of the Weather hills and signs of old fortifications. Merry wonders aloud if the fortifications are like the barrows of Tyrn Gorthad (the Barrow-downs). Aragorn replies:
‘No. There is no barrow on Weathertop, nor on any of these hills,’ answered Strider. ‘The Men of the West did not live here; though in their latter days they defended the hills for a while against the evil that came out of Angmar. This path was made to serve the forts along the walls. But long before, in the first days of the North Kingdom, they built a great watch-tower on Weathertop, Amon Sûl they called it. It was burned and broken, and nothing remains of it now but a tumbled ring, like a rough crown on the old hill’s head. Yet once it was tall and fair. It is told that Elendil stood there watching for the coming of Gil-galad out of the West, in the days of the Last Alliance.’
Something of this tradition is also shared in “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age”, which is nearly contemporary with the primary narrative of The Lord of the Rings:
Elendil was cast up by the waves in the land of Lindon, and he was befriended by Gil-galad. Thence he passed up the River Lhûn, and beyond Ered Luin he established his realm, and his people dwelt in many places in Eriador about the courses of the Lhûn and the Baranduin; but his chief city was at Annúminas beside the water of Lake Nenuial. At Fornost upon the North Downs also the Númenóreans dwelt, and in Cardolan, and in the hills of Rhudaur; and towers they raised upon Emyn Beraid and upon Amon Sûl; and there remain many barrows and ruined works in those places, but the towers of Emyn Beraid still look towards the sea.
Even in this early time frame, a special significance was assigned to Amon Sul, for it was the home of one of the Palantíri of Arnor:
Three Elendil took, and his sons each two. Those of Elendil were set in towers upon Emyn Beraid, and upon Amon Sûl, and in the city of Annúminas. But those of his sons were at Minas Ithil and Minas Anor, and at Orthanc and in Osgiliath. Now these Stones had this virtue that those who looked therein might perceive in them things far off, whether in place or in time. For the most part they revealed only things near to another kindred Stone, for the Stones each called to each; but those who possessed great strength of will and of mind might learn to direct their gaze whither they would. Thus the Númenóreans were aware of many things that their enemies wished to conceal, and little escaped their vigilance in the days of their might.
It is said that the towers of Emyn Beraid were not built indeed by the Exiles of Númenor, but were raised by Gil-galad for Elendil, his friend; and the Seeing Stone of Emyn Beraid was set in Elostirion, the tallest of the towers. Thither Elendil would repair, and thence he would gaze out over the sundering seas, when the yearning of exile was upon him; and it is believed that thus he would at whiles see far away even the Tower of Avallónë upon Eressëa, where the Masterstone abode, and yet abides. These stones were gifts of the Eldar to Amandil, father of Elendil, for the comfort of the Faithful of Númenor in their dark days, when the Elves might come no longer to that land under the shadow of Sauron. They were called the Palantíri, those that watch from afar; but all those that were brought to Middle-earth long ago were lost.
It was probably because of the Palantír of Amon Sûl that Elendil summoned his army and waited for Gil-galad at the hill. This was the most important of the Seeing Stones in the north, according to the essay on the Palantíri in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth:
The “lore of the Stones” is now forgotten, and can only be partly recovered by conjecture and from things recorded about them. They were perfect spheres, appearing when at rest to be made of solid glass or crystal deep black in hue. At smallest they were about a foot in diameter, but some, certainly the Stones of Osgiliath and Amon Sûl, were much larger and could not be lifted by one man. Originally they were placed in sites suitable to their sizes and intended uses, standing on low round tables of black marble in a central cup or depression, in which they could at need be revolved by hand. They were very heavy but perfectly smooth, and would suffer no damage if by accident or malice they were unseated and rolled off their tables. They were indeed unbreakable by any violence then controlled by men though some believed that great heat, such as that of Orodruin, might shatter them, and surmised that this had been the fate of the Ithil-stone in the fall of Barad-dûr.
The fullest account of the history of the stone at Amon Sûl is found in a note attached to this essay:
16 The case was different in Arnor. Lawful possession of the Stones belonged to the King (who normally used the Stone of Annúminas); but the Kingdom became divided and the high-kingship was in dispute. The Kings of Arthedain, who were plainly those with the just claim, maintained a special warden at Amon Sûl, whose Stone was held to be the chief of the Northern palantíri, being the largest and most powerful and the one through which communication with Gondor was mainly conducted. After the destruction of Amon Sûl by Angmar in 1409 both Stones were placed at Fornost, where the King of Arthedain dwelt. These were lost in the shipwreck of Arvedui, and no deputy was left with any authority direct or inherited to use the Stones. One only remained in the North, the Elendil Stone on Emyn Beraid, but this was one of special properties, and not employable in communications. Hereditary right to use it would no doubt still reside in the “heir of Isildur,” the recognized chieftain of the Dunedain, and descendant of Arvedui. But it is not known whether any of them, including Aragorn, ever looked into it, desiring to gaze into the lost West. This Stone and its tower were maintained and guarded by Círdan and the Elves of Lindon. [Author’s note.] – It is told in Appendix A (I, iii) to The Lord of the Rings that the palantír of Emyn Beraid “was unlike the others and not in accord with them; it looked only to the Sea. Elendil set it there so that he could look back with ‘straight sight’ and see Eressëa in the vanished West; but the bent seas below covered Númenor for ever.” Elendil’s vision of Eressëa in “the palantír of Emyn Beraid is told of also in Of the Rings of Power (The Silmarillion p. 292); “it is believed that thus he would at whiles see far away even the Tower of Avallónë upon Eressëa, where the Master-stone abode, and yet abides.” It is notable that in the present account there is no reference to this Master-stone.
Although the Amon Sûl stone could not be used to communicate with the western stone at Emyn Beraid, Elendil would have been able to monitor the mustering of his forces and Gil-galad’s, as well as remain in contact with Anarion in Gondor. What became of the Ithil stone when Sauron attacked Gondor at the end of the Second Age? Tolkien neglects to inform his readers of that detail. In the essay “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age” he only writes:
When therefore Sauron saw his time he came with great force against the new realm of Gondor, and he took Minas Ithil, and he destroyed the White Tree of Isildur that grew there. But Isildur escaped, and taking with him a seedling of the Tree he went with his wife and his sons by ship down the River, and they sailed from the mouths of Anduin seeking Elendil. Meanwhile Anárion held Osgiliath against the Enemy, and for that time drove him back to the mountains; but Sauron gathered his strength again, and Anárion knew that unless help should come his kingdom would not long stand.
Since the Ithil stone was only seized more than 2,000 years later when the city fell to the Nazgul, it follows that Isildur must have taken the stone with him when he fled. But did he leave the stone in Osgiliath or did he take it with him? The reader is free to infer either possibility (or others, such as Isildur leaving the stone in Pelargir to aid in a defense of the coasts against any possible assaults by sea).
For my part I think Tolkien would have imagined Isildur taking the Ithil stone with him. He could have used the stone to communicate with Elendil and perhaps to assist Gil-galad in such communication. One would have to assume, however, either that Isildur marched with Gil-galad from Lindon to Amon Sûl or that Isildur appointed a warden to remain with the Eldar of Lindon. Just as reasonable, however, is the option that Isildur could have taken the stone ahead to Imladris and there used it to communicate with Elendil (and Gil-galad).
Regardless of what happened with the Ithil stone during the War of the Last Alliance, the land around Amon Sûl would have been the best place to marshal the forces of Arnor. Elendil would have needed to keep the army encamped close to the road and the hill was already fortified with the tower. It made the perfect command post for the High King of Arnor and Gondor.
See Also
A History of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, Part 1
Why Did Gil-galad and Elendil March through the Vales of Anduin?
Where Did the People of Arnor Come From?
Where Did the Second Age Númenoreans Live in Eriador?
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I think the Palantirs are a “dangerous device”, like the Eagles, which Tolkien would have had to hedge about with limitations if he had ever developed the story. Isildur sails from Gondor “seeking Elendil”, which sounds as if he isn’t even sure where to find him. The phrase does however have a certain mythical resonance, invoking the theme of “Atonement with the Father” (cf. Joseph Campbell, ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’); hinting at Isildur’s possibly conflicted personality.
Isildur’s voyage seems pivotal in some way, but we do not know how. If his driving need is to win Elendil’s approval, and maybe forgiveness for the loss of Minas Ithil, he would probably head straight for Annuminas, most likely by way of the Gwathlo and Tharbad. The simplest interpretation is that he makes a first hand report on the situation. Elendil and Gil-galad “[take] counsel together” (‘Of The Rings of Power’) and form the Alliance. Elendil and Isildur muster their forces at Amon Sul and wait for Gil-galad to join them (for up to a year according to ‘The Tale of Years’, S.A.3430 to 3431).
The situation is fraught with doomy overtones, leading as it does to the deaths of all three. On this theme, Elrond’s sigh at the splendour of the banners could be an echo of the delirium with which the outbreak of war was greeted across Europe in 1914.
Patrick: “…On this theme, Elrond’s sigh at the splendour of the banners could be an echo of the delirium with which the outbreak of war was greeted across Europe in 1914.”
Michael: Emerson, Lake, & Palmer’s “Lucky Man” comes to mind when you single out that imagery.