Q: Why Is Arnor Important to Middle-earth?
ANSWER: Arnor was the kingdom founded by Elendil, last leader of the Faithful Numenoreans who opposed the rebellious King of Numenor, Ar-Pharazôn. When Elendil’s four ships were driven from the destruction of Numenor to the northern havens of Lindon, Gil-galad High King of the Elves of the West befriended Elendil and his people, granting them much land in Eriador. Elendil took all the land from the Lhun river eastward to the Misty Mountains and south to the Gwathlo and Bruinen rivers to be his kingdom.
This realm, Arnor (the Royal Land or the Royal People), was the senior of two kingdoms that Elendil and his sons (Isildur and Anarion) founded in Middle-earth. While Elendil’s ships were driven to the Elvish realm of Lindon in the north, Isildur and Anarion with their five ships where driven by the storms of Numenor’s destruction to the great port of Pelargir, southernmost of the havens of the Faithful Numenoreans in Middle-earth. All lands colonized by the Numnenoreans to the south of Pelargir were held by rebellious Numenoreans who had called themselves Kings Men. Subsequently these rebellious Numenoreans were called by the Faithful Black Numenoreans.
Isildur and Anarion named their kingdom Gondor, the Land of stone, because it stood in the southern Vales of Anduin between the Ered Nimrais and the Ephel Duath, just west of Sauron’s realm of Mordor.
Elendil’s kingdom had the greater population and being close to three habitations of the High Elves (Gil-galad’s kingdom of Lindon, Cirdan’s Grey Havens, and Elrond’s refuge of Imladris) had the advantage of benefitting from close interaction with the Eldar of Middle-earth. Elendil’s capital was the city of Annuminas (“Tower of the West”) in the Hills of Evendim near the Lhun river. Elendil’s people were settled across Eriador and there were several other cities, including Fornost Erain, Bree, and Tharbad. Lond Daer Ened, an ancient harbor of the Numenoreans, might still have been in use at this time.
To Arnor Elendil brought three of the Seven Palantiri, the Stones of Seeing which were gifts from the Eldar of Tol Eressea to Elendil’s father Amandil. Elendil set one stone in a tower Gil-galad built for him near the shores of the Sea. Another stone was kept at Annuminas. A third stone was kept at Amon Sul (“Weathertop”), a hill in central Arnor with a commanding view of the ancient great road that crossed Eriador from east to west. The Numenoreans used the Palantiri to communicate between their realms. The four stones of Gondor were kept at Orthanc near the southern end of the Misty Mountains, in Osgiliath upon the Anduin river, in Minas Ithil in the Ephel Duath, and in Minas Anor in the Ered Nimrais.
When Sauron’s forces attacked Gondor from Mordor Elendil and Gil-galad formed a Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Gil-galad marched east from Lindon with an army. He joined Elendil at Amon Sul and from there they led their forces east along the Great Road to Imladris. There for three years they gathered allies and trained and equipped their armies. When they were finally prepared Elendil and Gil-galad led their armies over the Misty Mountains and down along the Anduin river to the Dagorlad, a great plain just north of Mordor. Fighting their way into Mordor the allies laid seige to Sauron’s fortress, Barad-dur, and ultimately defeated him.
Elendil and Gil-galad died at the end of the war when Sauron came out to fight them directly. But Elendil’s son Isildur took Narsil, Elendil’s sword, and cut the One Ring from Sauron’s finger. This Isildur meant to take north with him as an heirloom for the High Kings of Arnor. However, Isildur was slain along with most of his bodyguard when they were ambushed near the Gladden Fields in the northern Vales of Anduin.
The rule of Arnor and the High Kingship passed to Isildur’s youngest son Valandil, who was at that time being fostered in Imladris. Because of the losses they suffered in the war, the High Elves were greatly diminished. It seems likely that many survivors fled Middle-earth in the early Third Age. Arnor, too, had suffered great losses in the war. Tolkien writes that after Valandil died Elendil’s city of Annuminas was deserted and the High Kings moved their seat to Fornost Erain.
In the south the descendants of Anarion, Isildur’s brother, reigned as Kings of Gondor. Although Arnor declined in strength and power Gondor flourished, conquering neighboring lands and drawing many people into its rule. Gondor even defeated several Black Numenorean refuges, including the haven of Umbar. But as Gondor became more powerful the High Kings of Arnor lost their influence in Middle-earth.
After the death of the 10th High King, Eärendur, Arnor was divided into three realms: Arthedai, Rhudaur, and Cardolan. The Kings of Arthedain were descended from Amlaith of Fornost, the eldest of the last High King’s sons. Through Amlaith the Line of Isildur (and ultimately the heritage of Elendil) was preserved even as the royal families of Rhudaur, Cardolan, and Gondor (and its breakway province of Umbar) died out.
Sauron sent the chief of his servants, the Lord of the Nazgul, north to establish a kingdom to oppose Arnor. From the Witch-realm of Angmar the Lord of the Nazgul slowly destroyed the northern Dunadan kingdoms one by one. But whereas Sauron was able to bring about an end to the Line of Anarion in the south, the Line of Isildur survived even after Arthedain was completely and utterly destroyed.
Aranarth, son of Arvedui the last King of Arthedain, took the title of Chieftain of the Dunedain of the North rather than attempt to resurrect the Kingdom of Arthedain. His father, Arvedui, had attempted to claim the throne of Gondor in the name of his wife, Firiel, was the daughter of King Ondoher, who had died in battle with both his sons. After the Council of Gondor rejected Arvedui’s claim in favor of a descendant of Anarion who was succeeded by only one heir, only the descendants of Aranarth could hope to restore the rule of Elendil’s house in either Arnor or Gondor.
Gondor continued on under the Ruling Stewards, descendants of the Mardil Voronwë, who held the throne in abeyance awaiting the return of the king, Eänil, who rode off to face a challenge from the Lord of the Nazgul, never to be heard from again. The Stewards, having rejected the claims of the Line of Isildur, deemed that no heir to the throne of Gondor could ever again be found, but they refused to claim the kingdom for themselves.
Aranarth’s descendants lived in secret places in Eriador. Assisted by Elrond and the Elves of Rivendell and the Grey Havens they watched over Eriador, where Angmar had been destroyed by an alliance of Elves, Dwarves, and Gondorian soldiers. Believing the Numenorean kings had been destroyed in both the north and the south, Sauron left Eriador alone. His attempts to find and kill any last heirs of Isildur proved unsuccessful in bringing an end to the House of Elendil.
The High Kingship of Arnor had been placed in abeyance by Amlaith of Fornost, just as the Kingship of Arthedain had been placed in abeyance by Aranarth. The Heirs of Isildur were fostered in Rivendell and when deemed ready they took up leadership over the Rangers of the North, a body of special soldiers drawn from the ranks of the dwindling Dunedain of Arnor who guarded the roads and fords and helped ensure the safety of the small enclaves of Men and Hobbits at Bree, the Shire, and the Buckland.
Elrond held the Sceptre of Annuminas and the Diadem of Elendil in trust for the Heirs of Elendil. He could not appoint a new king but any of the heirs could, by his deeds, find a way to re-establish the rule of the House of Elendil over the Faithful Numenoreans of Arnor and Gondor and the other peoples of those lands. However, it required many generations before the right heir (Aragorn II) was born at a time when he could achieve these things.
Gondor, too, had to become weary of its own circumstances. Although the Stewards were wise and good rulers, they eventually succumbed to the faults of pride and gradually paved the way for wistfulness among the people of Gondor. When Aragorn was ready to reach for the crown of Gondor, Gondor was ready to receive him.
As Chieftain of the Dunedain of the North Aragorn’s right to rule the former lands of Arnor was unquestionable. But in order to restore Arnor he would need the strength and resources of Gondor, and to use Gondor for Arnor’s benefit Aragorn would have to be Gondor’s king. Through historical precedent Gondor had established that any claimant to the throne must be a member of a male Line that had not forfeited its right of Kingship, a victorious captain in war who had led Gondorian forces, and a man of pure Numenorean descent.
Arvedui had claimed the throne of Gondor as Isildur’s Heir. The Council of Gondor rejected his claim on the grounds that Isildur had conferred sole rule of the southern realm to his nephew Meneldil, and that therefore the Heirs of Isildur no longer had the right to rule in Gondor. Tolkien notes there were some families in Gondor who disagreed with this finding, but the judgement of the council was deemed final under Numenorean law.
Aragorn thus had to present his claim not as the Heir of Isildur but as the Heir of Elendil. Aragorn’s lineage as Heir of Isildur provided sufficient proof of his right to inherit Elendil’s High Kingship. Also, because he was Isildur’s Heir Aragorn was able to command the Dead Men of Dunharrow to fight against Sauron’s forces on Gondor’s behalf. Leading a small troop of Rangers of Eriador into Gondor, Aragorn defeated an enemy force that was attacking the coastlands. Freed of that threat, Gondor’s southern forces took Aragorn as their commander. He subsequently led them in an assault on the armies Sauron had sent to besiege and capture Minas Tirith.
By commanding forces from both Arnor and Gondor in battle, and by displaying the tokens of Elendil’s house in approach to Minas Tirith, Aragorn established his right to claim the throne of Gondor. And it was as Elendil’s Heir that Faramir, the Last Ruling Steward of Gondor, presented Aragorn to the people of Gondor. Hence, Gondor’s council did not have to consider the claim of an Heir of Isildur because Aragorn’s claim as Heir of Elendil superseded his (legally rejected) rights as Isildur’s Heir.
Arnor was the refuge that ensured the House of Elendil would survive all the perils and follies that brought down Elendil’s descendants in the kingdoms of Rhudaur, Cardolan, Gondor, and Umbar. Arnor also preserved the royal authority of the House of Elendil, which Gondor though it survived throughout the Third Age could not do. Neither Isildur nor any of his heirs ever conferred the High Kingship upon a king of Gondor, and hence the Stewards did not possess the authority to restore Arnor’s realm or transfer its rights to another line.
It can also be argued that the authority of Arnor’s kings was preserved in the institutions of the Shire, whose families elected a Thain to hold that authority in the name of the King. When the Oldbucks colonized the Buckland outside the Shire they only take the title “Master of Buckland” to assert their control over the land but not to usurp any regnal powers and duties. The Masters of Buckland thus displayed loyalty to the ancient authority of the High Kings of Arnor even though they, like the Stewards of Gondor, had no reason to believe that the High Kingship would ever be restored. Equally important is the fact that the Bree-folk (Men and Hobbits) never sought to name their own kings or establish their own laws and institutions. The Bree-landers retained the institutions established by the High Kings as much as served the needs of their little villages.
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