Tolkien General Discussion II

[knight of meh]

i attack Rohan all the time .. mostly because they suck i can do it better

also beastie i think you will like this

*user discretion is advised the spoiler contains bad language some users may find offensive *

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[CatoTheYounger]

Regarding the creators going with the movie models i think it was a sound idea. They are still basicly grounded in Tolkiens vision but changed a bit for the movies by a collection of artist. The two formost being the top two Tolkien artist John Howe and Alan Lee who have spent a lifetime doing Middle Earth artwork.

The changes were often not that great just enough to give some obvious distinction. Giving plate armor to Gondor was to completely seperate them from the other cultures but the overall look and design of the unifroms and banners were the same. Some of the idea's were just commen sense like having more rich and detailed armor for the second age and more practical for the third. The look of Minias Tirith and Osgiliath were spot on. The design of Sauron and the With King were well imagined,

If their are slight differences at times it matters little because so much thought was put into the concept by some of the best fantasy artist in the world to bring Tolkiens world to the screen that its hard to carp at some difference of vision.

This mod looks very much like the Middle Earth i have read about several times and i think the movies were a nice model to base this mod's look on. They always can add some more different looks when the Lore might require an adjustment. MOD's are a continual creative process.

Osgiliath West/East is some brilliant work and Minas Tirith is everything a fan can ask for. The more custom settlements the better.

[Macilrille]

I disagree with that statement.

The ruins of Osgiliath does not look like ruins actually do after a thousand years of slow disintegration- not in the slightest. Those fine archways would be the first to go, they are too delicate to remain standing for long unsupported. Weight and gravity would simply pull them down. This can be seen in thousands of places all over Europe, and you do not even have to travel to see it cause there are pictures and films of a lot of it. Compare if you will the look of Osgiliath with Roman ruins; they look very- very different. The supposed ruins in LoTR look more like the fantasies of some 19th century gothic artist than the real thing.

And, let me quote:

At least, somebody's got artillery already and is using it, it would seem — poor old Saruman with his blasting powder is so far behind the times! Because we go from the semicanonical sequences at the caves, to the utterly uncanonical sequence at Osgiliath. Did somebody accidentally splice in a chunk of A Bridge Too Far? Because that's what it looks and feels like. Shattered stone buildings blowing up all around groups of street fighters? Where does this come from? It can't be justified by an appeal to the books, or even the Appendices. Unlike the Elves at Helm's Deep, it can't be attributed to the remains of a bad directorial decision partially corrected. It doesn't make sense in terms of Middle-earth warfare — if someone has catapults, we ought to see them, because it just looks like church-towers being hit by mortar fire in a WWII movie.
I had to laugh at the line, "Osgiliath burns!" —What is there in Osgiliath, a city canonically destroyed and abandoned generations before in civil strife, to burn? And then there's the pointless and totally-unsuspendable scene of the Winged Messenger given the golden opportunity to grab Frodo and the Ring and not doing so.
A good movie — war movie or not — does not depend for its suspense and action on the characters consistently making irrational and incomprehensible decisions.

(From "Broken Promises", which can be found here and vividly expresses my vague thoughts and pain over LOTR.)

Let us look then at Minas Tirith, the ancient city of the Númenorans, The White City, The City of the Tower of Guard, the great stone city of Mundburg, once the City of the Sun. In the books a large city, probably the largest still in Middle-Earth, and a grand city, a city built by the Númenorians and defended still by their dwindling descendants thousands of years after. Like Byzantium in the 15th century, but many times grander and nobler.

But wait... it is apparently made from sugar the way it crumbles under the bombardment from the evil horde, and the size of it- the size... look at pictures of Crac de Chevaliers a single fortress (if very large) and compare it to Minas Tirith of PJ. Does it look much larger? Not really. So the ancient city of the Númenorians was no larger than the major fortress the crusaders built in Outremer? And for a supposed city of the ancients it is tiny. Rome at the time of Augustus had a million inhabitants- a million, Alexandria 600.000. And to my eyes at least, it looks wrong. The stonework, the too-narrow streets, the lack of beauty...


And let us not go into how PJ turned the noblest of mortals, men called to a higher destiny, the most learned amongst Men, people who possess the mysteries and secrets of the ancients, and who has been fighting for their survival for generations, into incompetent, panicking and idiotic mobs with no sense of strategy, logistics and politics. No let us not go there at all, suffice it to say that if the Gondorians would have been as incompetent as they are depicted here, it would have been wiped out before the Last Alliance could have been formed. All Sauron had to send was five old ladies with broomsticks.

As fot the armour, it is impractical, unrealistic and apparently made by the same material as Stormtrooper armour in Star Wars, something less dense and solid than paper.

Looking at the above, you have to wonder if Lee and Howe had much say at all or were merely called in to lend credence to PJ-FW's delusions. Their artwork is usually not that bad, and Howe is supposedly a re-enactor...

[Macilrille]

I have a question about the lore in concerns to a future Gondor campaign. I have a very small base of the lore, haven't read the books, just saw the movies and read all I could from the quotes and info in the games files. Okay here is my question: Gondor at one point, either in the first second or earlier in the third age, encompassed the lands currently ruled by Rohan correct?

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II

CIRION AND EORL AND THE FRIENDSHIP OF CONDOR AND ROHAN

(i)The Northmen and the Wainriders
The Chronicle of Cirion and Eorl 1 begins only with the first meeting of Cirion, Steward of Gondor, and Eorl, Lord of the Éothéod, after the Battle of the Field of Celebrant was over and he invaders of Gondor destroyed. But there were lays and legends of the great ride of the Rohirrim from the North both in Rohan and in Gondor, from which accounts that appear in later Chronicles, 2 together with much other matter concerning the Éothéod, were taken. These are here drawn together briefly in chronicle form.
The Éothéod were first known by that name in the days of King Calimehtar of Gondor (who died in the year 1936 of the Third Age), at which time they were a small people living in the Vales of Anduin between the Carrock and the Gladden Fields, for the most part on the west side of the river. They were a remnant of the Northmen, who had formerly been a numerous and powerful confederation of peoples living in the wide plains between Mirkwood and the River Running, great breeders of horses and riders renowned for their skill and endurance, though their settled homes were in the eaves of the Forest, and especially in the East Bight, which had largely been made by their felling of trees. 3
These Northmen were descendants of the same race of Men as those who in the First Age passed into the West of Middle-earth and became the allies of the Eldar in their wars with Morgoth. 4 They were therefore from afar off kinsmen of the Dúnedain or Númenóreans, and there was great friendship be*tween them and the people of Gondor. They were in fact a bulwark of Gondor, keeping its northern and eastern frontiers from invasion; though that was not fully realised by the Kings until the bulwark was weakened and at last destroyed. The waning of the Northmen of Rhovanion began with the Great Plague, which appeared there in the winter of the year 1635 and soon spread to Gondor. In Gondor the mortality was great especially among those who dwelt in cities. It was greater in Rhovanion, for though its people lived mostly in the open and had no great cities, the Plague came with a cold winter when horses and men were driven into shelter and their low wooden houses and stables were thronged; moreover they were little skilled in the arts of healing and medicine, of which much was still known in Gondor, preserved from the wisdom of Númenor. When the Plague passed it is said that more than half of the foil of Rhovanion had perished, and of their horses also.
They were slow to recover; but their weakness was not tested for a long time. No doubt the people further east had been equally afflicted, so that the enemies of Gondor came chiefly from the south or over sea. But when the invasions of the Wainriders began and involved Gondor in wars that lasted for almost a hundred years, the Northmen bore the brunt of the first assaults. King Narmacil II took a great army north into the plains south of Mirkwood, and gathered all that he could of the scattered remnants of the Northmen; but he was defeated, and himself fell in battle. The remnant of his army retreated over the Dagorlad into Ithilien, and Gondor abandoned all lands east of the Anduin save Ithilien. 5
As for the Northmen, a few, it is said, fled over the Celduin (River Running) and were merged with the folk of Dale under Erebor (with whom they were akin), some took refuge in Gon*dor, and others were gathered by Marhwini son of Marhari (who fell in the rearguard action after the Battle of the Plains). 6 Passing north between Mirkwood and Anduin they settled in the Vales of Anduin, where they were joined by many fugitives who came through the Forest. This was the beginning of the Éothéod, 7 though nothing was known of it in Gondor for many years. Most of the Northmen were reduced to servitude, and all their former lands were occupied by the Wainriders. 8
But at length, King Calimehtar, son of Narmacil II, being free from other dangers, 9 determined to avenge the defeat of the Battle of the Plains. Messengers came to him from Marhwini warning him that the Wainriders were plotting to raid Calenardhon over the Undeeps; 10 but they said also that a revolt of the Northmen who had been enslaved was being prepared and would burst into flame if the Wainriders became involved in war. Calimehtar therefore, as soon as he could, led an army out of Ithilien, taking care that its approach should be well known to the enemy. The Wainriders came down with all the strength that they could spare, and Calimehtar gave way before them, drawing them away from their homes. At length battle was joined upon the Dagorlad, and the result was long in doubt. But at its height horsemen that Calimehtar had sent over the Undeeps (left unguarded by the enemy) joined with a great éored11led by Marhwini assailed the Wainriders in flank and rear. The victory of Gondor was overwhelming - though not in the event decisive. When the enemy broke and were soon in disordered flight north towards their homes Calimehtar, wisely for his part, did not pursue them. They had left well nigh a third of their host dead to rot upon the Dagorlad among the bones of other and nobler battles of the past. But the horsemen of Marhwini harried the fugitives and inflicted great loss upon them in their long rout over the plains, until they were within far sight of Mirkwood. There they left them, taunting them: "Fly east not north, folk of Sauron! See, the homes you stole are in flames!" For there was a great smoke going up.
The revolt planned and assisted by Marhwini had indeed broken out; desperate outlaws coming out of the Forest had roused the slaves, and together had succeeded in burning many of the dwellings of the Wainriders, and their storehouses, and their fortified camps of wagons. But most of them had perished in the attempt; for they were ill-armed, and the enemy had not left their homes undefended: their youths and old men were aided by the younger women, who in that people were also gained in arms and fought fiercely in defence of their homes and their children. Thus in the end Marhwini was obliged to retire again to his land beside the Anduin, and the Northmen of his race never again returned to their former homes. Calimehtar withdrew to Gondor, which enjoyed for a time (from 1899 to 1944) a respite from war before the great assault in which the line of its kings came near to its end.
Nonetheless the alliance of Calimehtar and Marhwini had not been in vain. If the strength of the Wainriders of Rhovanion had not been broken, that assault would have come sooner and in greater force, and the realm of Gondor might have been destroyed. But the greatest effect of the alliance lay far in the future which none could then foresee: the two great rides of the Rohirrim to the salvation of Gondor, the coming of Eorl to the Field of Celebrant, and the horns of King Théoden upon the Pelennor but for which the return of the King would have been in vain. 12
In the meanwhile the Wainriders licked their wounds, and plotted their revenge. Beyond the reach of the arms of Gondor in lands east of the Seat of Rhûn from which no tidings came to its Kings, their kinsfolk spread and multiplied, and they were eager for conquests and booty and filled with hatred of Gondor which stood in their way. It was long, however, before they moved. On the one hand they feared the might of Gondor, and knowing nothing of what passed west of Anduin they believed that its realm was larger and more populous than it was in truth at that time. On the other hand the eastern Wainriders had been spreading southward, beyond Mordor, and were in conflict with the peoples of Khand and their neighbours further south. Even*tually a peace and alliance was agreed between these enemies of Gondor, and an attack was prepared that should be made at the same time from north and south.
Little or nothing, of course, was known of these designs an movements in Gondor. What is here said was deduced from the events long afterwards by historians, to whom it was also clear that the hatred of Gondor, and the alliance of its enemies in concerted action (for which they themselves had neither the will nor the wisdom) was due to the machinations of Sauron. Forthwini, son of Marhwini, indeed warned King Ondoher (who succeeded his father Calimehtar in the year 1936) that the Wainriders of Rhovanion were recovering from their weakness and fear, and that he suspected that they were receiving new strength from the East, for he was much troubled by raids into the south of his land that came both up the river and through the Narrows of the Forest. 13 But Gondor could do no more at that time than gather and train as great an army as it could find or afford. Thus when the assault came at last it did not find Gondor unprepared, though its strength was less than it needed.
Ondoher was aware that his southern enemies were prepar*ing for war, and he had the wisdom to divide his forces into a northern army and a southern. The latter was the smaller, for the danger from that quarter was held to be less. 14 It was under the command of Eärnil, a member of the Royal House, being a descendant of King Telumehtar, father of Narmacil II. His base was at Pelargir. The northern army was commanded by King Ondoher himself. This had always been the custom of Gondor, that the King, if he willed, should command his army in a major battle, provided that an heir with undisputed claim to the throne was left behind. Ondoher came of a warlike line, and was loved and esteemed by his army, and he had two sons, both of age to bear arms: Artamir the elder, and Faramir some three years younger.
News of the oncoming of the enemy reached Pelargir on the ninth day of Cermië in the year 1944. Eärnil had already made his dispositions: he had crossed the Anduin with half his force, and leaving by design the Fords of the Poros undefended had encamped some forty miles north in South Ithilien. King Ondoher had purposed to lead his host north through Ithilien and deploy it on the Dagorlad, a field of ill omen for the enemies of Gondor. (At that time the forts upon the line of the Anduin north of Sarn Gebir that had been built by Narmacil I were still in repair and manned by sufficient soldiers from Calenardhon to prevent any attempt of an enemy to cross the river at the Undeeps.) But the news of the northern assault did not reach Ondoher until the morning of the twelfth day of Cermië, by which time the enemy was already drawing near, whereas the army of Gondor had been moving more slowly than it would if Ondoher had received earlier warning, and its vanguard had not yet reached the Gates of Mordor. The main force was leading with the King and his Guards, followed by the soldiers of the Right Wing and the Left Wing which would take up their places when they passed out of Ithilien and approached the Dagorlad. There they expected the assault to come from the North or North-east, as it had before in the Battle of the Plains and in the victory of Calimehtar on the Dagorlad.
But it was not so. The Wainriders had mustered a great host by the southern shores of the inland Sea of Rhûn, strengthened by men of their kinsfolk in Rhovanion and from their new allies in Khand. When all was ready they set out for Gondor from the East, moving with all the speed they could along the line of the Ered Lithui, where their approach was not observed until too late. So it came to pass that the head of the army of Gondor had only drawn level with the Gates of Mordor (the Morannon) when a great dust borne on a wind from the East announced the oncoming of the enemy vanguard. 15 This was composed not only of the war-chariots of the Wainriders but also of a force of cavalry far greater than any that had been expected. Ondoher had only time to turn and face the assault with his right flank close to the Morannon, and to send word to Minohtar, Captain of the Right Wing behind, to cover his left flank as swiftly as he could, when the chariots and horsemen crashed into his disordered line. Of the confusion of the disaster that followed few clear reports were ever brought to Gondor.
Ondoher was utterly unprepared to meet a charge of horse men and chariots in great weight. With his Guard and his banner he had hastily taken up a position on a low knoll, but this was of no avail. 16 The main charge was buried against his banner, and it was captured, his Guard was almost annihilated, an he himself was slain and his son Artamir at his side. The bodies were never recovered. The assault of the enemy passed over them and about both sides of the knoll, driving deep into the disordered ranks of Gondor, hurling them back in confusion upon those behind, and scattering and pursuing many others westward into the Dead Marshes.
Minohtar took command. He was a man both valiant an warwise. The first fury of the onslaught was spent, with far less loss and greater success than the enemy had looked for. The cavalry and chariots now withdrew, for the main host of the Wainriders was approaching. In such time as he had Minohtar raising his own banner, rallied the remaining men of the Centre and those of his own command that were at hand. He at once sent messengers to Adrahil of Dol Amroth, 17 the Captain of the Left Wing, commanding him to withdraw with all the speed he could both his own command and those at the rear of the Right Wing who had not yet been engaged. With these forces he was to take up a defensive position between Cair Andros (which was manned) and the mountains of Ephel Dúath, where owing to the great eastward loop of the Anduin the land was at its narrowest, to cover as long as he could the approaches to Minas Tirith. Minohtar himself, to allow time for this retreat, would form a rearguard and attempt to stem the advance of the main host of the Wainriders. Adrahil should at once send messengers to find Eärnil, if they could, and inform him of the disaster of the Morannon and of the position of the retreating Northern Army.
When the main host of the Wainriders advanced to the attack it was then two hours after noon, and Minohtar had withdrawn his line to the head of the great North Road of Ithilien, half a mile beyond the point where it turned east to the Watch-towers of the Morannon. The first triumph of the Wainriders was now the beginning of their undoing. Ignorant of the numbers and ordering of the defending army they had launched their first onslaught too soon, before the greater part of that army had time out of the narrow land of Ithilien, and the charge of their chariots and cavalry had met with a success far swifter and more overwhelming than they had expected. Their main onslaught as then too long delayed, and they could no longer use their greater numbers with full effect according to the tactics they had intended, being accustomed to warfare in open lands. It may well be supposed that elated by the fall of the King and the rout of a large part of the opposing Centre, they believed that they had already overthrown the defending army, and that their own main army had little more to do than advance to the invasion and occupation of Gondor. If that were so, they were deceived.
The Wainriders came on in little order, still exultant and singing songs of victory, seeing as yet no signs of any defenders to oppose them, until they found that the road into Gondor tamed south into a narrow land of trees under the shadow of the dark Ephel Dúath, where an army could march, or ride, in good order only down a great highway. Before them it ran on through a deep cutting...

Here the text abruptly breaks off, and the notes and jottings for its continuation are for the mostpart illegible. It is possible to make out, however, that men of the Éothéod fought with Ondoher; and also that Ondoher's second son Faramir was ordered to remain in Minas Tirith as regent, for it was not permitted by the law that both his sons should go into battle at the same time (a similar observation is made earlier in the narrative, p.305). But Faramir did not do so; be went to the war in disguise, and was slain. The writing is here almost impossible to decipher, but it seems that Faramir joined the Éothéod and was caught with a party of them as they retreated to*wards the Dead Marshes. The leader of the Éothéod (whose name is indecipherable after the first elementMarh-)came to their rescue, but Faramir died in his arms, and it was only when he searched his body that he found tokens that showed that he was the Prince. The leader of the Éothéod then went to join Minohtar at the head of the North Road in Ithilien, who at that very moment was giving an order for a message to be taken to the Prince in Minas Tirith, who was now the King. It was then that the leader of the Éothéod gave him the news that the Prince had gone disguised to the battle, and had been slain.
The presence of the Éothéod and the part played by their leader may explain the inclusion in this narrative, ostensibly to be an ac*count of the beginnings of the friendship of Gondor and the Rohirrim, of this elaborate story of the battle between the army of Gondor and the Wainriders.
The concluding passage of the fully-written text gives the impression that the host of the Wainriders were about to receive a check to their exaltation and elation as they came down the highway into the deep cutting; but the notes at the end show that they were not long held up by the rearguard defence of Minohtar. "The Wainriders poured relentlessly into Ithilien," and "late on the thirteenth day of Cermië they overwhelmed Minohtar," who was slain by an arrow. He is here said to have been King Ondoher's sister-son. "His men carried him out of the fray, and all that remained of the rearguard fled southwards to find Adrahil." The chief commander of the Wainriders then called a halt to the advance, and held a feast. Nothing more can be made out; but the brief account in Appendix A to The Lord of the Rings tells how Eärnil came up from the south and routed them:

In 1944 King Ondoher and both his sons, Artamir and Faramir, fell in battle north of the Morannon, and the enemy poured into Ithilien. But Eärnil, Captain of the Southern Army, won a great victory in South Ithilien and destroyed the army of Harad that had crossed the River Poros. Hastening north, he gathered to him all that he could of the retreating Northern Army and came up against the main camp of the Wainriders, while they were feasting and revelling, believing that Gondor was overthrown and that nothing remained but to take the spoil. Eärnil stormed the camp and set fire to the wains, and drove the enemy in a great rout out of Ithilien. A great part of those who fled before him perished in the Dead Marshes.
In the Tale of Years the victory of Eärnil is called the Battle of the Camp. After the deaths of Ondoher and both his sons at the Morannon Arvedui, last king of the northern realm, laid claim to the crown of Gondor; but his claim was rejected, and in the year following the Battle of the Camp Eärnil became King. His son was Eärnur, who died in Minas Morgul after accepting the challenge of the Lord of the Nazgûl, and was the last of the Kings of the southern realm.

(ii)
The Ride of Eorl
While the Éothéod still dwelt in their former home 18 they were well-known to Gondor as a people of good trust, from whom they received news of all that passed in that region. They were a remnant of the Northmen, who were held to be akin in ages past to the Dúnedain, and in the days of the great Kings had been their allies and contributed much of their blood to the people of Gondor. It was thus of great concern to Gondor when the Éothéod removed into the far North, in the days of Eärnil II, last but the of the Kings of the southern realm. 19 The new land of the Éothéod lay north of Mirkwood, between the Misty Mountains westward and the Forest River eastward. Southward it extended to the confluence of the two short rivers that they named Greylin and Langwell. Greylin flowed down from Ered Mithrin, the Grey Mountains, but Langwell came from the Misty Mountains, and this name it bore because it was the source of Anduin, which from its junction with Grey*lin they called Langflood. 20
Messengers still passed between Gondor and the Éothéod after their departure; but it was some four hundred and fifty of our miles between the confluence of Greylin and Langwell (where was their only fortifiedburg) and the inflow of Limlight into Anduin, in a direct line as a bird might fly, and much more for those who journeyed on earth; and in like manner some eight hundred miles to Minas Tirith.
The Chronicle of Cirion and Eorl reports no events before the Battle of the Field of Celebrant; but from other sources they may be made out to have been of this sort.
The wide lands south of Mirkwood, from the Brown Lands to the Sea of Rhûn, which offered no obstacle to invaders from the East until they came to Anduin, were a chief source of con*cern and unease to the rulers of Gondor. But during the Watch*ful Peace 21 the forts along the Anduin, especially on the west shore of the Undeeps, had been unmanned and neglected. 22 After that time Condor was assailed both by Orcs out of Mordor (which had long been unguarded) and by the Corsairs of Umbar, and had neither men nor opportunity for manning the line of Anduin north of the Emyn Muil.
Cirion became Steward of Gondor in the year 2489. The menace from the North was ever in his mind, and he gave much thought to ways that might be devised against the threat of in*vasion from that quarter, as the strength of Gondor diminished. He put a few men into the old forts to keep watch on the Undeeps, and sent scouts and spies into the lands between Mirkwood and Dagorlad. He was thus soon aware that new and dangerous enemies coming out of the east were steadily drifting in from beyond the Sea of Rhûn. They were slaying or driving north up the River Running and into the Forest the remnant of the Northmen, friends of Gondor that still dwelt east of Mirkwood. 23 But he could do nothing to aid them, and it became more and more dangerous to gather news; too many of his scouts never returned.
It was thus not until the winter of the year 2509 was past that Cirion became aware that a great movement against Gondor was being prepared: hosts of men were mustering all along the southern eaves of Mirkwood. They were only rudely armed, and had no great number of horses for riding, using horses mainly for draught, since they had many large wains, as had the Wainriders (to whom they were no doubt akin) that assail Gondor in the last days of the Kings. But what they lacked in gear of war they made up in numbers, so far as could be guessed.
In this peril Cirion's thought turned at last in desperation to the Éothéod, and he determined to send messengers to them. But they would have to go through Calenardhon and over the Undeeps, and then through lands already watched and patrolled by the Balchoth 24 before they could reach the Vales of Anduin. This would mean a ride of some four hundred and fifty miles to the Undeeps, and more than five hundred thence to the Éothéod, and from the Undeeps they would be forced to go warily and mostly by night until they had passed the shadow of Day Guldur. Cirion had little hope that any of them would get through. He called for volunteers, and choosing six riders of great courage and endurance be sent them out in pairs with a day's interval between them. Each bore a message learned by heart, and also a small stone incised with the seal for the Stewards, 25 that he should deliver to the Lord of the Éothéod in person, if he succeeded in reaching that land. The message was addressed to Eorl son of Léod, for Cirion knew that he had succeeded his father some years before, when he was but youth of sixteen, and though now no more than five and twenty was praised in all such tidings as reached Gondor as a man of great courage and wise beyond his years. Yet Cirion had but faint hope that even if the message were received it would be answered. He had no claim on the Éothéod beyond their ancient friendship with Gondor to bring them from so far away with any strength that would avail. The tidings that the Balchoth were destroying the last of their kin in the South, if they did no know it already, might give weight to his appeal, if the Éothéod themselves were not threatened by any attack. Cirion said not more, 26 and ordered what strength he bad to meet the storm. He gathered as great a force as he could, and taking command of it himself made ready as swiftly as might be to lead it north to Calenardhon. Hallas his son he left in command at Minas Tirith.
The first pair of messengers left on the tenth day of Súlimë; and in the event it was one of these, alone of all the six, who got through to the Éothéod. He was Borondir, a great rider of a family that claimed descent from a captain of the Northmen in the service of the Kings of old. 27 Of the others no tidings were ever heard, save of Borondir's companion. He was slain by arrows in ambush as they passed near Dol Guldur, from which Borondir escaped by fortune and the speed of his horse. He was pursued as far north as the Gladden Fields, and often waylaid by men that came out of the Forest and forced him to ride far out of the direct way. He came at last to the Éothéod after fifteen days, for the last two without food; and he was so spent that he could scarce speak his message to Eorl.
It was then the twenty-fifth day of Súlimë. Eorl took counsel with himself in silence; but not for long. Soon he rose, and he said: "I will come. If the Mundburg falls, whither shall we flee from the Darkness?" Then he took Borondir's hand in token of the promise.
Eorl at once summoned his council of Elders, and began to prepare for the great riding. But this took many days, for the lost had to be gathered and mustered, and thought taken for the ordering of the people and the defence of the land. At that time the Éothéod were at peace and had no fear of war: though it might prove otherwise when it became known that their lord had ridden away to battle far off in the South. Nonetheless Eorl saw well that nothing less than his full strength would serve, and he must risk all or draw back and break his promise.
At last the whole host was assembled; and only a few hundreds were left behind to support the men unfitted for such desperate venture by youth or age. It was then the sixth day of the month of Víressë. On that day in silence the great éohere set out, leaving fear behind, and taking with them small hope; for they knew not what lay before them, either on the road or at its end. It is said that Eorl led forth some seven thousand fully-armed riders and some hundreds of horsed archers. At his right hand rode Borondir, to serve as guide so far as he might, since he had lately passed through the lands. But this great host was not threatened or assailed during its long journey down the Vales of Anduin. Such folk of good or evil kind as saw it approach fled out of its path for fear of its might and splendour. As it drew southward and passed by southern Mirkwood (below the great East Bight), which was now infested by the Balchoth, still there was no sign of men, in force or in scouting parties, to bar their road or to spy upon their coming. In part this was due to events unknown to them, which had come to pass since Borondir set out; but other powers also were at work. For when at last the host drew near to Dol Guldur, Eorl turned away westward for fear of the dark shadow and cloud that flowed out from it, and then he rode on within sight of Anduin. Many of the riders turned their eyes thither, half in fear and half in hope to glimpse from afar the shimmer of the Dwimordene, the perilous land that in legends of their people was said to shine like gold in the springtime. But now it seemed shrouded in a gleaming mist and to their dismay the mist passed over the river and flowedover the land before them.
Eorl did not halt. "Ride on!" he commanded. "There is no other way to take. After so long a road shall we be held back from battle by a river-mist?"
As they drew nearer they saw that the white mist was driving back the glooms of Dol Guldur, and soon they passed into it, riding slowly at first and warily; but under its canopy all things were lit with a clear and shadowless light, while to left and right they were guarded as it were by white walls of secrecy.
"The Lady of the Golden Wood is on our side, it seems ,” said Borondir.
"Maybe," said Eorl. "But at least I will trust the wisdom of Felaróf. 28 He scents no evil. His heart is high, and his weariness is healed: he strains to be given his head. So be it! For never have I had more need of secrecy and speed."
Then Felaróf sprang forward, and all the host behind followed like a great wind, but in a strange silence, as if their hooves did not beat upon the ground. So they rode on, as fresh and eager as on the morning of their setting-out, during that day and the next; but at dawn of the third day they rose from their rest, and suddenly the mist was gone, and they saw that they were far out in the open lands. On their right the Anduin lay near, but they had almost passed its great eastward loop, 29 and the Undeeps were in sight. It was the morning of the fifteenth day of Víressë, and they had come there at a speed beyond hope. 30

Here the text ends, with a note that a description of the Battle of the Field of Celebrant was to follow. In Appendix A (II) to The Lord of the Rings there is a summary account of the war:

A great host of wild men from the North-east swept over Rhovanion and coming down out of the Brown-lands crossed the Anduin on rafts. At the same time by chance or design the Orcs (who at that time before their war with the Dwarves were in at strength) made a descent from the Mountains. The invaders overran Calenardhon, and Cirion, Steward of Gondor, it north for help…

When Eorl and his Riders came to the Field of Celebrant

the Northern Army of Gondor was in peril. Defeated in the Wold and cut off from the south, it had been driven across the Limlight, and was then suddenly assailed by the Orc-host that pressed it towards the Anduin. All hope was lost when, unlooked for, the Riders came out of the North and broke upon the rear of the enemy. Then the fortunes of battle were reversed, and the enemy was driven with slaughter over Limlight. Eorl led his men in pursuit, and so great was the fear that went before the horsemen of the North that the invaders of the Wold were also thrown into panic, and the Riders hunted them over the plains of Calenardhon.

A similar, briefer, account is given elsewhere in Appendix A (I, iv). From neither is the course of the battle perhaps perfectly clear, but it seems certain that the Riders, having passed over the Undeeps, then crossed the Limlight (see note 27, pp. 327-28) and fell upon the rear of the enemy at the Field of Celebrant; and that "the enemy was driven with slaughter over Limlight" means that the Balchoth were driven back southwards into the Wold..

(iii)
Cirion and Eorl

The story is preceded by a note on the Halifirien, westernmost of the beacons of Gondor along the line of Ered Nimrais.

The Halifirien 31 was the highest of the beacons, and like Eilenach, the next in height, appeared to stand up alone out of a great wood; for behind it there was a deep cleft, the dark Firien-dale, in the long northward spur of Ered Nimrais, of which it was the highest point. Out of the cleft it rose like a sheer wall, but its outer slopes, especially northwards, were long and no*where steep, and trees grew upon them almost to its summit. As they descended the trees became ever more dense, especially along the Mering Stream (which rose in the cleft) and northwards out into the plain through which the Stream flowed into the Entwash. The great West Road passed through a long cutting in the wood, to avoid the wet land beyond its northern eaves; but this road had been made in ancient days, 32 and after the departure of Isildur no tree was ever felled in the Firien Wood, except only by the Beacon-wardens whose task it was to keep open the great road and the path towards the summit of the hill. This path turned from the Road near to its entrance into the Wood, and wound its way up to the end of the trees, beyond which there was an ancient stairway of stone leading to the Beacon-site, a wide circle levelled by those who had made the stair. The Beacon-wardens were the only inhabitants of the Wood, save wild beasts; they housed in lodges in the trees near the summit, but they did not stay long, unless held there by foul weather, and they came and went in turns of duty. For the most part they were glad to return home. Not because of the peril of the wild beasts, nor did any evil shadow out of dark day slime upon the Wood; but beneath the sounds of the winds, the cries of birds and beasts, or at times the noise of horsemen riding in haste upon the Road, there lay a silence, and a man would find himself speaking to his comrades in a whisper, as if he expected to hear the echo of a great voice that called from far away and long ago.
The name Halifirien meant in the language of the Rohirrim "holy mountain." 33 Before their coming it was known in Sindarin as Amon Anwar, "Hill of Awe;" for what reason was not known in Gondor, except only (as later appeared) to the ruling King or Steward. For the few men who ever ventured to leave the Road and wander under the trees the Wood itself seemed reason enough: in the Common Speech it was called "the Whis*pering Wood." In the great days of Gondor no beacon was built on the Hill while the palantiri still maintained communication between Osgiliath and the three towers of the realm 34 without need of messages or signals. In later days little aid could be expected from the North as the people of Calenardhon de*clined, nor was armed force sent thither as Minas Tirith became more and more hard put to it to hold the line of the Anduin and guard its southern coast. In Anórien many people still dwelt and had the task of guarding the northern approaches, either out of Calenardhon or across the Anduin at Cair Andros. For commu*nication with them the three oldest beacons (Amon Dîn. Eilenach, and Min-Rimmon) were built and maintained, 35 but though the line of the Mering Stream was fortified (between the impass*able marshes of its confluence with the Entwash and the bridge where the Road passed westward out of the Firien Wood) it was not permitted that any fort or beacon should be set upon Amon Anwar.
In the days of Cirion the Steward there came a great assault by the Balchoth, who allied with Orcs crossed the Anduin into the Wold and began the conquest of Calenardhon. From this deadly peril, which would have brought ruin upon Gondor, the coming of Eorl the Young and the Rohirrim rescued the realm.
When the war was over men wondered in what way the Steward would honour Eorl and reward him, and expected that a great feast would be held in Minas Tirith at which this would be revealed. But Cirion was a man who kept his own counsel. As the diminished army of Gondor made its way south he was accompanied by Eorl and an éored 36 of the Riders of the North. When they came to the Mering Stream Cirion turned to Eorl and said, to men's wonder:
"Farewell now, Eorl, son of Léod. I will return to my home, where much needs to be set in order. Calenardhon I commit to your care for this time, if you are not in haste to return to your own realm. In three months' time I will meet you here again, and then we will take counsel together."
"I will come," Eorl answered; and so they parted.
As soon as Cirion came to Minas Tirith he summoned some of his most trusted servants. "Go now to the Whispering Wood," he said. "There you must re-open the ancient path to Amon Anwar. It is long overgrown; but the entrance is still marked by a standing stone beside the Road, at that point where the northern region of the Wood closes in upon it. The path turns this way and that, but at each turn there is a standing stone. Following these you will come at length to the end of the trees and find a stone stair that leads on upwards. I charge yon to go no further. Do this work as swiftly as you may and then return to me. Fell no trees; only clear a way by which a few men on foot can easily pass upwards. Leave the entrance by the Road still shrouded, so that none that use the Road may be tempted to use the path before I come there myself. Tell no one whither you go or what you have done. If any ask, say only that the Lord Steward wishes for a place to be made ready for his meeting with the Lord of the Riders."
In due time Cirion set out with Hallas his son and the Lord of Dol Amroth, and two others of his Council and he met Eorl at the crossing of the Mering Stream. With Eorl were three ofhis chief captains. "Let us go now to the place that I have pre*pared," said Cirion. Then they left a guard of Riders at the bridge and turned back into the tree-shadowed Road, and came to the standing stone. There they left their horses and another strong guard of soldiers of Gondor; and Cirion standing by the stone turned to his companions and said: "I go now to the Hill of Awe. Follow me, if you will. With me shall come an esquire, and another with Eorl, to bear our arms; all others shall go unarmed as witnesses of our words and deeds in the high place. The path has been made ready, though none have used it since I came here with my father."
Then Cirion led Eorl into the trees and the others followed in order; and after they had passed the first of the inner stones their voices were stilled and they walked warily as if unwilling to make any sound. So they came at last to the upper slopes of the Hill and passed through a belt of white birches and saw the stone stair going up to the summit. After the shadow of the Wood the sun seemed hot and bright, for it was the month of Úrimë; yet the crown of the Hill was green, as if the year were still in Lótessë.
At the foot of the stair there was a small shelf or cove made in the hillside with low turf-banks. There the company sat for a while, until Cirion rose and from his esquire took the white wand of office and the white mantle of the Stewards of Gondor. Then standing on the first step of the stair he broke the silence, saying in a low but clear voice:
"I will now declare what I have resolved, with the authority of the Stewards of the Kings, to offer to Eorl son of Léod, Lord of the Éothéod, in recognition of the valour of his people and of the help beyond hope that he brought to Gondor in time of dire need. To Eorl I will give in free gift all the great land of Calenardhon from Anduin to Isen. There, if he will, he shall be kind, and his heirs after him, and his people shall dwell in freedom while the authority of the Stewards endures, until the Great King returns. 37 No bond shall be laid upon them other than their own laws and will, save in this only: they shall live in perpetual friendship with Gondor and its enemies shall be their enemies while both realms endure. But the same bond shall be laid also on the people of Gondor."
Then Eorl stood up, but remained for some time silent. For he was amazed by the great generosity of the gift and the noble terms in which it had been offered; and he saw the wisdom of Cirion both on his own behalf as ruler of Gondor, seeking to protect what remained of his realm, and as a friend of the Éothéod of whose needs he was aware. For they were now grown to a people too numerous for their land in the North and longed to return south to their former home, but they were restrained by the fear of Dol Guldur. But in Calenardhon they would have room beyond hope, and yet be far from the shadows of Mirkwood.
Yet beyond wisdom and policy both Cirion and Eorl were moved at that time by the great friendship that bound their peo*ple together, and by the love that was between them as true men. On the part of Cirion the love was that of a wise father, old in the cares of the world, for a son in the strength and hope of his youth; while in Cirion Eorl saw the highest and noblest man of the world that he knew, and the wisest, on whom sat the majesty of the Kings of Men of long ago.
At last, when Eorl had swiftly passed all these things through his thought, he spoke, saying: "Lord Steward of the Great King, the gift that you offer I accept for myself and for my people. It far exceeds any reward that our deeds could have earned, if they had not themselves been a free gift of friendship. But now I will seal that friendship with an oath that shall not be forgot*ten."
"Then let us go now to the high place," said Cirion, "and before these witnesses take such oaths as seem fitting."
Then Cirion went up the stair with Eorl and the others followed; and when they came to the summit they saw there a wide oval place of level turf, unfenced, but at its eastern end there stood a low mound on which grew the white flowers of alfirin, 38and the westering sun touched them with gold. Then the Lord of Dol Amroth, chief of those in the company of Cirion, went towards the mound and saw, lying on the grass before it and yet unmarred by weed or weather, a black stone; and on the stone three letters were engraved. Then he said to Cirion: "Is this then a tomb? But what great man of old lies here?"
"Have you not read the letters?" said Cirion.
"I have," said the Prince, 39 "and therefore I wonder; for the letters are lambe, amdo, lambe, but there is no tomb for Elendil, nor has any man since his day dared to use that name." 40
"Nonetheless this is his tomb," said Cirion; "and from it comes the awe that dwells on this hill and in the woods below. From Isildur who raised it to Meneldil who succeeded him, and so down all the line of the Kings and down the line of the Stewards even to myself, this tomb has been kept a secret by Isildur's command. For he said: 'Here is the mid-point of the Kingdom of the South, 41 and here shall the memorial of Elendil the Faithful abide in the keeping of the Valar, while the Kingdom endures. This hill shall be a hallow, and let no man disturb its peace and silence, unless he be an heir of Elendil.' I have brought you here, so that the oaths here taken may seem of deepest solemnity to ourselves and to our heirs upon either side."
Then all those present stood a while in silence with bowed heads, until Cirion said to Eorl: "If you are ready, take now your oath in such manner as seems to you fitting according to the customs of your people."
Eorl then stood forth, and taking his spear from his esquire he set it upright in the ground. Then he drew his sword and cast it up shining in the sun, and catching it again he stepped forward and laid the blade upon the mound, but with his hand still about the hilts. He spoke then in a great voice the Oath of Eorl. This he said in the tongue of the Éothéod, which in the Common Speech is interpreted: 42

Hear now all peoples who bow not to the Shadow in the East, by the gift of the Lord of the Mundburg we will come to dwell in the land that he names Calenardhon, and therefore I vow in my own name and on behalf of the Éothéod of the North that between us and the Great People of the West there shall be friendship for ever: their enemies shall be our enemies, their need shall be our need, and whatsoever evil, or threat, or assault may come upon them we will aid them to the utmost end of our strength. This vow shall descend to my heirs, all such as may come after me in our new land, and let them keep it in faith unbroken, lest the Shadow fall upon them and they become accursed.

Then Eorl sheathed his sword and bowed and went back to his captains.
Cirion then made answer. Standing to his full height he laid his hand upon the tomb and in his right hand held up the white wand of the Stewards, and spoke words that filled those who heard them with awe. For as he stood up the sun went down in flame in the West and his white robe seemed to be on fire; and after he had vowed that Gondor should be bound by a like bond of friendship and aid in all need, he lifted up his voice and said in Quenya:

Vanda sina termaruva Elenna-nóreo alcar enyalien ar Elendil Vorondo voronwë. Nai tiruvantes i hárar mahalmassen mi Númen ar i Eru i or ilyë mahalmar eä tennoio. 43

And again he said the Common Speech:

This oath shall stand in memory of the glory of the Land of the Star, and of the faith of Elendil the Faithful, in the keep*ing of those who sit upon the thrones of the West and of the One who is above all thrones for ever.

Such an oath had not been heard in Middle-earth since Elen*dil himself had sworn alliance with Gil-galad King of the Eldar. 44
When all was done and shadows of evening were falling Cir*ion and Eorl with their company went down again in silence through the darkling Wood, and came back to the camp by the Mering Stream where tents had been prepared for them. After they had eaten Cirion and Eorl, with the Prince of Dol Amroth and Éomund the chief captain of the host of the Éothéod, sat together and defined the boundaries of the authority of the King of the Éothéod and the Steward of Gondor.
The bounds of the realm of Eorl were to be: in the West the river Angren from its junction with the Adorn and thence northwards to the outer fences of Agrenost, and thence west*wards and northwards along the eaves of Fangorn Forest to the river Limlight; and that river was its northern boundary, for the land beyond had never been claimed by Gondor. 45 In the east its bounds were the Anduin and west-cliff of the Emyn Muil down to the marshes of the Mouths of Onodló, and beyond that river the stream of the Glanhír that flowed through the Wood of Anwar to join the Onodló; and in the south its bounds were the Ered Nimrais as far as the end of their northward arm, but all those vales and inlets that opened northwards were to belong to the Éothéod, as well as the land south of the Hithaeglir that lay between the rivers Angren and Adorn. 46
In all these regions Gondor still retained under its own com*mand only the fortress of Angrenost, within which was the third Tower of Gondor, the impregnable Orthanc where was held the fourth of thepalantíri of the southern realm. In the days of Cirion Angrenost was still manned by a guard of Gondorians, but these had become a small settled people, ruled by an hereditary Captain, and the keys of Orthanc were in the keeping of the Steward of Condor. The "outer fences" named in the de*scription of the bounds of the realm of Eorl were a wall and dyke running some two miles south of the gates of Angrenost, between the hills in which the Misty Mountains ended; beyond them were the tilled lands of the people of the fortress.
It was agreed also that the Great Road which had formerly run through Anórien and Calenardhon to Athrad Angren (the Fords of Isen), 47 and thence northwards on its way to Arnor, should be open to all travellers of either people without hin*drance in time of peace, and its maintenance should from the Mering Stream to the Fords of Isen be in the care of the Éothéod.
By this pact only a small part of the Wood of Anwar, west of the Mering Stream, was included in the realm of Eorl; but Cirion declared that the Hill of Anwar was now a hallowed place of both peoples, and the Eorlings and the Stewards should hence*forward share its guard and maintenance. In later days, how*ever as the Rohirrim grew in power and numbers, while Gondor declined and was ever threatened from the East and by sea, the wardens of Anwar were provided entirely by the people of Eastfold, and the Wood became by custom part of the royal domain of the Kings of the Mark. The Hill they named the Halifirien, and the Wood the Firienholt. 48
In later times the day of the Oath-taking was reckoned as the first day of the new kingdom, when Eorl took the title of King of the Mark of the Riders. But in the event it was some while before the Rohirrim took possession of the land, and during his life Eorl was known as Lord of the Éothéod and King of Calen*ardhon. The term Mark signified a borderland, especially one serving as a defence of the inner lands of a realm. The Sindarin names Rohan for the Mark and Rohirrim for the people were devised first by Hallas, son and successor of Cirion, but were often used not only in Gondor but by the Éothéod themselves. 49
The day after the Oath-taking Cirion and Eorl embraced and took their leave unwillingly. For Eorl said: "Lord Steward, I have much to do in haste. This land is now rid of enemies; but they are not destroyed at the root, and beyond Anduin and under the eaves of Mirkwood we know not yet what peril lurks. I sent yestereve three messengers north, riders brave and skilled, in the hope that one at least will reach my home before me. For I must now return myself, and with some strength; my land was left with few men, those too young and those too old; and if they are to make so great a journey our women and children, with such goods as we cannot spare, must be guarded, and only the Lord of the Éothéod himself will they follow. I will leave behind me all the strength that I can spare, well nigh half of the host that is now in Calenardhon. Some companies of horsed archers there shall be, to go where need calls, if any bands of the enemy still lurk in the land; but the main force shall remain in the North-east to guard above all the place where the Balchoth made a crossing of the Anduin out of the Brown Lands; for there is still the greatest danger, and there also is my chief hope, if I return, of leading my people into their new land with as little grief and loss as may be. If I return, I say: but be assured that I shall return, for the keeping of my oath, unless disaster befall us and I perish with my people on the long road. For that must be on the east side of Anduin ever under the threat of Mirkwood, and at last must pass through the vale that is haunted by the shadow of the hill that you name Dol Guldur. On the west side there is no road for horsemen, nor for a great host of people and wains, even were not the Mountains infested by Orcs; and none can pass, few or many, through the Dwimordene where dwells the White Lady and weaves nets that no mortal can pass. 50 By the east road will I come, as I came to Celebrant; and may those whom we called in witness of our oaths have us in their keeping. Let us part now in hope! Have I your leave?"
"Indeed you have my leave," said Cirion, "since I see now that it cannot be otherwise. I perceive that in our peril I have given too little thought to the dangers that yon have faced and the wonder of your coming beyond hope over the long leagues from the North. The reward that I offered in joy and fullness of heart at our deliverance now seems little. But I believe that the words of my oath, which I had not forethought ere I spoke them, were not put into my mouth in vain. We will part then in hope."
After the manner of the Chronicles no doubt much of what is here put into the mouths of Eorl and Cirion at their parting was said and considered in the debate of the night before; but it is certain that Cirion said at parting his words concerning the in*spiration of his oath, for he was a man of little pride and of great courage and generosity of heart, the noblest of the Stew*ards of Gondor.

(iv)
The Tradition of Isildur
It is said that when Isildur returned from the War of the Last Alliance he remained for a time in Gondor, ordering the realm and instructing Meneldil his nephew, before he himself departed to take up the kingship of Arnor. With Meneldil and a company of trusted friends he made a journey about the borders of all the lands to which Gondor laid claim; and as they were returning from the northern bound to Anórien they came to the high hill that was then called Eilenaer but was afterwards called Amon Anwar, "Hill of Awe." 51 That was near to the centre of the lands of Gondor. They made a path through the dense woods of its northward slopes, and so came to its summit, which was green and treeless. There they made a level space, and at its eastward end they raised a mound; within the mound Isildur laid a casket that he bore with him. Then he said: "This is a tomb and memo*rial of Elendil the Faithful. Here it shall stand at the mid-point of the Kingdom of the South in the keeping of the Valar, while the Kingdom endures; and this place shall be a hallow that none shall profane. Let no man disturb its silence and peace, unless he be an heir of Elendil."
They made a stone stair from the fringe of the woods up to the crown of the hill; and Isildur said: "Up this stair let no man climb, save the King, and those that he brings with him, if he bids them follow him." Then all those present were sworn to secrecy; but Isildur gave this counsel to Meneldil, that the King should visit the hallow from time to time, and especially when he felt the need of wisdom in days of danger or distress; and thither also he should bring his heir, when he was full-grown to manhood, and tell him of the making of the hallow, and reveal to him the secrets of the realm and other matters that he should know.
Meneldil followed Isildur's counsel, and all the Kings that came after him, until Rómendacil I (the fifth after Meneldil). In his time Gondor was first assailed by Easterlings; 52 and lest the tradition should be broken because of war or sudden death or other misfortune, he caused the "Tradition of Isildur" to be set down in a sealed scroll, together with other things that a new King should know; and this scroll was delivered by the Steward to the King before his crowning. 53 This delivery was from then onwards always performed, though the custom of visiting the hallow of Amon Anwar with his heir was maintained by nearly all the Kings of Gondor.
When the days of the Kings came to an end and Gondor was ruled by the Stewards descended from Húrin, the steward of King Minardil, it was held that all the rights and duties of the Kings were theirs "until the Great King returns." But in the matter of the "Tradition of Isildur" they alone were the judges, since it was known only to them. They judged that by the words "an heir of Elendil" Isildur had meant one of the royal line descended from Elendil who had inherited the throne: but that he did not foresee the rule of the Stewards. If then Mardil had exercised the authority of the King in his absence, 54 the heirs of Mardil who had inherited the Stewardship had the same right and duty until a King returned; each Steward therefore had the right to visit the hallow when he would and to admit to it those who came with him, as he thought fit. As for the words "while the Kingdom endures," they said that Gondor remained a "kingdom," ruled by a vice-regent, and that the words must therefore be held to mean "as long as the state of Gondor endures."
Nonetheless, the Stewards, partly from awe, and partly from the cares of the kingdom, went very seldom to the hallow on the Hill of Anwar, except when they took their heir to the hill-top, according to the custom of the Kings. Sometimes it remained for several years unvisited, and as Isildur had prayed it was in the keeping of the Valar; for though the woods might grow tan*gled and be avoided by men because of the silence, so that the upward path was lost, still when the way was re-opened the hallow was found unweathered and unprofaned, ever-green and at peace under the sky, until the Kingdom of Gondor was changed.
For it came to pass that Cirion, the twelfth of the Ruling Stewards, was faced by a new and great danger: invaders threat*ened the conquest of all the lands of Gondor north of the White Mountains, and if that were to happen the downfall and destruc*tion of the whole kingdom must soon follow. As is known in the histories, this peril was averted only by the aid of the Rohirrim; and to them Cirion with great wisdom granted all the northern lands, save Anórien, to be under their own rule and king, though in perpetual alliance with Gondor. There were no longer sufficient men in the realm to people the northward region, nor even to maintain in force the line of forts along the Anduin that had guarded its eastward boundary. Cirion gave long thought to this matter before he granted Calenardhon to the Horsemen of the North; and he judged that its cession must change wholly the "Tradition of Isildur" with regard to the hallow of Amon Anwar. To that place he brought the Lord of the Rohirrim, and there by the mound of Elendil he with the greatest solemnity took the Oath of Eorl, and was answered by the Oath of Cirion, confirming for ever the alliance of the Kingdoms of the Rohirrim and of Gondor. But when this was done, and Eorl had returned to the North to bring back all his people to their new dwelling, Cirion removed the tomb of Elendil. For he judged that the "Tradition of Isildur" was now made void. The hallow was no longer "at the midpoint of the Kingdom of the South," but on the borders of another realm; and moreover the words "while the Kingdom endures" referred to the Kingdom as it was when Isildur spoke, after surveying its bounds and defining them. It was true that other parts of the Kingdom had been lost since that day: Minas Ithil was in the hands of the Nazgûl, and Ithilien was desolate; but Gondor had not relinguished its claim to them. Calenardhon it had resigned for ever under oath. Thecasket therefore that Isildur had set within the mound Cirion removed to the Hallows of Minas Tirith; but the green mound remained as the memorial of a memorial. Nonetheless, even when it had become the site of a great beacon, the Hill of Anwar was still a place of reverence to Gondor and to the Rohirrim, who named it in their own tongue Halifirien, the Holy Mount.

NOTES

1 No writing is extant with this title, but no doubt the narrative given in the third section ("Cirion and Eorl," p.313) represents a part of it.
2 Such as the Book of the Kings. [Author's note.] - This work was referred to in the opening passage of Appendix A to The Lord of the Rings, as being (with The Book of the Stewards and the Akallabêth) among the records of Gondor that were opened to Frodo and Peregrin by King Elessar; but in the revised edition the reference was removed.
3 The East Bight, not named elsewhere, was the great indentation in the eastern border of Mirkwood seen in the map to The Lord of the Rings.
4 The Northmen appear to have been most nearly akin to the third and greatest of the peoples of the Elf-friends, ruled by the House of Hador. [Author's note.]
5 The escape of the army of Gondor from total destruction was in part due to the courage and loyalty of the horsemen of the North*men under Marhari (a descendant of Vidugavia "King of Rhovanion") who acted as rearguard. But the forces of Gondor had inflicted such losses on the Wainriders that they had not strength enough to press their invasion, until reinforced from the East, and were content for the time to compete their conquest of Rhovanion. [Author's note.] - It is told in Appendix A (I, iv) to The Lord of the Rings that Vidugavia, who called himself King of Rhovanion, was the most powerful of the princes of the Northmen; he was shown favour by Rómendacil II King of Gondor (died 1366), whom he had aided in war against the Easterlings, and the marriage of Rómendacil's son Valacar to Vidugavia's daughter Vidumavi led to the destructive Kin-strife in Gondor in the fifteenth century.
6 It is an interesting fact, not referred to I believe in any of my father's writings, that the names of the early kings and princes of the Northmen and the Éothéod are Gothic in form, not Old En*glish (Anglo-Saxon) as in the case of Léod, Eorl, and the later Rohirrim.Vidugavia is Latinized in spelling, representing Gothic Widugauja ("wood-dweller"), a recorded Gothic name, and simi*larly Vidumavi Gothic Widumawi ("wood-maiden"). Marhwini and Marhari contain the Gothic word marh "horse," corresponding to Old English mearh, pluralmearas, the word used in The Lord of the Rings for the horses of Rohan; wini "friend" corresponds to Old English winë, seen in the names of several of the Kings of the Mark. Since, as is explained in Appendix F (II), the language of Rohan was "made to resemble ancient English," the names of the ancestors of the Rohirrim are cast into the forms of the earliest recorded Germanic language.
7 As was the form of the name in later days. [Author's note.] - This is Old English, "horse-people;" see note 36.
8 The foregoing narrative does not contradict the accounts in Appen*dix A (I, iv and II) to The Lord of the Rings, though it is much briefer. Nothing is said here of the war fought against the Easterlings in the thirteen century by Minalcar (who took the name of Rómendacil II), the absorption of many Northmen into the armies of Condor by that king, or of the marriage of his son Valacar to a princess of the Northmen and the Kin-strife of Gondor that resulted from it; but it adds certain features which are not mentioned in The Lord of the Rings: that the waning of the Northmen of Rhovanion was due to the Great Plague; that the battle in which King Narmacil II was slain in the year 1856, said in Appendix A to have been "beyond Anduin," was in the wide lands south of Mirkwood, and was known as the Battle of the Plains; and that his great army was saved from annihilation by the Wainriders through the rearguard defence of Marhari, descendant of Vidugavia. It is also made clearer here that it was after the Battle of the Plains that the Éothéod, a remnant of the Northmen, became a distinct people, dwelling in the Vales of Anduin between the Carrock and the Gladden Fields.
9 His grandfather Telumehtar had captured Umbar and broken the power of the Corsairs, and the peoples of Harad were at this period engaged in wars and feuds of their own. [Author's note.] - Thetaking of Umbar by Telumehtar Umbardacil was in the year 1810.
10 The great westward bends of the Anduin east of Fangorn Forest; see the first citation given in Appendix C to "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn," p.272.
11 On the word éored see note 36.
12 This story is very much fuller than the summary account in Appendix A (I, iv) to The Lord of the Rings: "Calimehtar, son of Narmacil II, helped by a revolt in Rhovanion, avenged his father with a great victory over the Easterlings upon Dagorlad in 1899, and for a while the peril was averted."
13 The Narrows of the Forest must refer to the narrow "waist" of Mirkwood in the south, caused by the indentation of the East Bight (see note 3).
14 Justly. For an attack proceeding from Near Harad - unless it had assistance from Umbar, which was not at that time available - could more easily be resisted and contained. It could not cross the Anduin, and as it went north passed into a narrowing land between the river and the mountains. [Author's note.]
15 An isolated note associated with the text remarks that at this period the Morannon was still in the control of Gondor, and the two Watchtowers east and west of it (the Towers of the Teeth) were still manned. The road through Ithilien was still in full repair as far asthe Morannon; and there it met a road going north towards the Dagorlad, and another going east along the line of Ered Lithui. [Neither of these roads is marked on the maps to the Lord of the Rings.] The eastward road extended to a point north of the site of Barad-dûr; it had never been completed further, and what had been made was now long neglected. Nonetheless its first fifty miles, which had once been fully constructed, greatly speeded the Wainriders' approach.
16 Historians surmised that it was the same hill as that upon which King Elessar made his stand in the last battle against Sauron with which the Third Age ended. But if so it was still only a natural upswelling that offered little obstacle to horsemen and had not yet been piled up by the labour of Orcs. [Author's note.] - The passages in The Return of the King (V 10) here referred to tell that "Aragorn now set the host in such array as could best be contrived, and they were drawn up on two great hills of blasted stone and earth that Orcs had piled in years of labour," and that Aragorn with Gandalf stood on the one while the banners of Rohan and Dol Amroth were raised on the other.
17 On the presence of Adrahil of Dol Amroth see note 39.
18 Their former home: in the Vales of Anduin between the Carrock and the Gladden Fields, see p.302.
19 The cause of the northward migration of the Éothéod is given in Appendix A (II) to The Lord of the Rings: "[The forefathers of Eorl] loved best the plains, and delighted in horses and all feats of horsemanship, but there were many men in the middle vales of Anduin in those days, and moreover the shadow of Dol Guldur was lengthening; when therefore they heard of the overthrow of the Witch-king [in the year 1975], they sought more room in the North, and drove away the remnants of the people of Angmar on the east side of the Mountains. But in the days of Léod, father of Eorl, they had grown to be a numerous people and were again somewhat straitened in the land of their home." The leader of the migration of the Éothéod was named Frumgar; and in the Tale of Years its date is given as 1977.
20 These rivers, unnamed, are marked on the map to The Lord of the Rings. The Greylin is there shown as having two tributary brandies.
21 The Watchful Peace lasted from the years 2063 to 2460, when Sauron was absent from Dol Guldur.
22 For the forts along the Anduin see p.305, and for the Undeeps p.273.
23 From an earlier passage in this text (p.303) one gains the impres*sion that there were no Northmen left in the lands east of Mirkwood after the victory of Calimehtar over the Wainriders on the Dagorlad in the year 1899.
24 So these people were then called in Gondor: a mixed word of popu*lar speech, from Westron balc "horrible" and Sindarin hoth "horde," applied to such peoples as the Orcs. [Author's note.] - See the entry hoth in the Appendix to The Silmarillion.
25 The letters R • ND • R surmounted by three stars, signifying arandur (king's servant), steward. [Author's note.]
26 He did not speak of the thought that he had also in mind: that the Éothéod were, as he had learned, restless, finding their northern lands too narrow and infertile to support their numbers, which had much increased. [Author's note.]
27 His name was long remembered in the song of Rochon Methestel (Rider of the Last Hope) as Borondir Udalraph (Borondir the Stirrupless), for he rode back with the éoherë at the right hand of Eorl, and was the first to cross the Limlight and cleave a path to the aid of Cirion. He fell at last on the Field of Celebrant defending his lord, to the great grief of Condor and the Éothéod, and was afterwards laid in tomb in the Hallows of Minas Tirith. [Author's note.]
28 Eorl's horse. In Appendix A (II) to The Lord of the Rings it is told that Eorl's father Léod, who was a tamer of wild horses, was thrown by Felaróf when he dared to mount him, and so he met his death. Afterwards Eorl demanded of the horse that he surrender his freedom till his life's end in wergild for his father; and Felaróf submitted, though he would allow no man but Eorl to mount him. He understood all that men said, and was as long-lived as they, as were his descendants, andmearas, "who would bear no one but the King of the Mark or his sons, until the time of Shadowfax." Felarófis a word of the Anglo-Saxon poetic vocabulary, though not in fact recorded in the extant poetry; "very valiant, very strong."
29 Between the inflow of the Limlight and the Undeeps. [Author's note.] - The seems certainly in contradiction to the first citation given in Appendix C to "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn," p.273, where "the North and South Undeeps" and "the two westward bends" of the Anduin, into the northmost of which the Limlight flowed in.
30 In nine days they had covered more than five hundred miles in a direct line, probably more than six hundred as they rode. Though there were no great natural obstacles on the east side of Anduin, much of the land was now desolate, and roads or horse-paths running southward were lost or little used; only for short periods were they able to ride at speed, and they needed also to husband their own strength and their horses," since they expected battle as soon as they reached the Undeeps. [Author's note.]
31 The Halifirien is twice mentioned in The Lord of the Rings. In The Return of the King, I l, when Pippin, riding with Gandalf on Shadowfax to Minas Tirith, cried out that he saw fires, Gandalf replied "The beacons of Gondor are alight, calling for aid. War is kindled. See, there is fire on Amon Dîn, and flame on Eilenach; and then they go speeding west: Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon, Calenhad, and the Halifirien on the borders of Rohan." In I 3 the Riders of Rohan on their way to Minas Tirith passed through the Fenmarch "where to their right great oakwoods climbed on the skirts of the hills under the shades of dark Halifirien by the borders of Gondor." See the large-scale map of Gondor and Rohan in The Lord of the Rings.
32 It was the great Númenórean road linking the Two Kingdoms, crossing the Isen at the Fords of Isen and the Greyflood at Tharbad and then on northwards to Fornost; elsewhere called the North-South Road. See p.277.
33 This is a modernized spelling for Anglo-Saxon hálig-firgen; simi*larly Firien-dale for firgen-dæl, Firien Wood for firgen-wudu. [Au*thor's note.] - The g in the Anglo-Saxon wordfirgen "mountain" came to be pronounced as a modern y.
34 Minas Ithil, Minas Anor, and Orthanc.
35 It is said elsewhere, in a note on the names of the beacons, that "the full beacon system, that was still operating in the War of the Ring, can have been no older than the settlement of the Rohirrim in Calenardhon some five hundred years before; for its principal function was to warn the Rohirrim that Gondor was in danger, or (more rarely) the reverse."
36 According to a note on the ordering of the Rohirrim, the éored"had no precisely fixed number, but in Rohan it was only applied to Riders, fully trained for war: men serving for a term, or in some cases permanently, in the King's Host. Any considerable body of such men, riding as a unit in exercise or on service, was called an éored. But after the recovery of the Rohirrim and the reorganiza*tion of their forces in the days of King Folcwine, a hundred years before the War of the Ring, a 'full éored' in battle order was reck*oned to contain not less than 120 men (including the Captain), and to be one hundredth part of the Full Muster of the Riders of the Mark, not including those of the King's Household. [The éoredwith which Éomer pursued the Orcs,The Two Towers III 2, had 120 Riders: Legolas counted 105 when they were far away, and Éomer said that fifteen men had been lost in battle with the Orcs.] No such host, of course, had ever ridden all together to war beyond the Mark; but Théoden's claim that he might, in this great peril, have led out an expedition of ten thousand Riders (The Return of the King V 3) was no doubt justified. The Rohirrim had increased since the days of Folcwine, and before the attacks of Saruman a Full Muster would probably have produced many more than twelve thousand Riders, so that Rohan would not have been denuded en*tirely of trained defenders. In the event, owing to losses in the western war, the hastiness of the Muster, and the threat from North and East, Théoden only led out a host of some six thousand spears, though this was still the greatest riding of the Rohirrim that was recorded since the coming of Eorl."
The full muster of the cavalry was called éoherë (see note 49). These words, and also Éothéod, are of course Anglo-Saxon in form, since the true language of Rohan is everywhere thus trans*lated (see note 6 above): they contain as their first element eoh "horse." Éored, éorod is a recorded Anglo-Saxon word, its second element derived from rád"riding;" in éoherë the second element is herë "host, army." Éothéod has théod "people" or "land," and is used both of the Riders themselves and of their country. (Anglo-Saxon eorlin the name Eorl the Young is a wholly unrelated word.)
37 This was always said in the days of the Stewards, in any solemn pronouncement, though by the time of Cirion (the twelfth Ruling Steward) it had become a formula that few believed would ever come to pass. [Author's note.]
38 alfirin: the simbelmynë of the Kings' mounds below Edoras, and the uilos that Tuor saw in the great ravine of Gondolin in the Elder Days; see p.59, note 27. Alfirin is named, but apparently of a different flower, in a verse that Legolas sang in Minas Tirith (The Return of the King V 9): "The golden bells are shaken of mallos and alfirin / In the green fields of Lebennin."
39 The Lord of Dol Amroth had this title. It was given to his ancestors by Elendil, with whom they had kinship. They were a family of the Faithful who had sailed from Númenor before the Downfall and had settled in the land of Belfalas, between the mouths of Ringló and Gilrain, with a stronghold upon the high promontory of Dol Amroth (named after the last King of Lórien). [Author's note.] - Elsewhere it is said (p.260) that according to the tradition of their house the first Lord of Dol Amroth was Galador (c. Third Age2004-2129), the son of Imrazór the Númenórean, who dwell Belfalas, and the Elven-lady Mithrellas, one of the companions of Nimrodel. The note just cited seems to suggest that this family of the Faithful settled in Belfalas with a stronghold on Dol Amroth before the Downfall of Númenor; and if that is so, the two statements can only be reconciled on the supposition that the line of the Princes, and indeed the place of their dwelling, went back more than two thousand years before Galador's day, and that Galador was called the first Lord of Dol Amroth because it was not until his time (after the drowning of Amroth in the year 1981) that Dol Amroth was so named. A further difficulty is the presence of Adrahil of Dol Amroth (clearly an ancestor of Adrahil the father Imrahil, Lord of Dol Amroth at the time of the War of the Ring) as a commander of the forces of Gondor in the battle against the Wainriders in the year 1944 (pp.306-7); but it may be supposed that this earlier Adrahil was not called "of Dol Amroth" at that time.
While not impossible, these explanations to save consistency seem to me to be less likely that than of two distinct and independent "traditions" of the origins of the Lords of Dol Amroth.
40 The letters were (L • ND • L): Elendil's name without vowelmarks, which he used as a badge, and a device upon his seal [Author's note.]
41 Amon Anwar was in fact the high place nearest to the centre of a line from the inflow of the Limlight down to the southern cape of Tol Falas; and the distance from it to the Fords of Isen was equal to its distance from Minas Tirith. [Author's note.]
42 Though imperfectly; for it was in ancient terms and made in the forms of verse and high speech that were used by the Rohirrim, in which Eorl had great skill. [Author's note.] - There seems not to be any other version of the Oath of Eorl extant apart from that in the Common Speech given in the text.
43 Vanda: an oath, pledge, solemn promise, ter-maruva: ter "through," mar- "abide, be settled or fixed;" future tense. Elenna·nóreo: genitive case, dependent on alcar, ofElenna-nóre "the land named Starwards." alcar: "glory." enyalien: en- "again," yal- "sum*mon," in infinitive (or gerundial) form en-yalië, here in dative "for the re-calling," but governing a direct object, alcar: thus "to recall or 'commemorate' the glory." Vorondo: genitive of voronda "stead*fast in allegiance, in keeping oath or promise, faithful;" adjectives used as a "title" or frequently used attribute of a name are placed after the name, and as is usual in Quenya in the case of two declin*able names in apposition only the last is declined. [Another reading gives the adjective as vórimo genitive of vórima, with the same meaning as voronda.] voronwë: "steadfastness, loyalty, faithful*ness," the object ofenyalien.
Nai: "be it that, may it be that;" Nai tiruvantes: "be it that they will guard it," i.e. "may they guard it" (-nte, inflexion of 3 plural where no subject is previously mentioned), ihárar. "they who are sitting upon." mahalmassen: locative plural of mahalma "throne." mi: "in the." Númen: "West." i Eru i: "the One who." eä: "is." tennoio: tenna "up to, as far as,"oio "an endless period;" tennoio "for ever." [Author's notes.]
44 And was not used again until King Elessar returned and renewed the bond in that same place with the King of the Rohirrim, Éomer the eighteenth descended from Eorl. It had been held lawful only for the King of Númenor to call Eru to witness, and then only on the most grave and solemn occasions. The line of the Kings had tome to an end in Ar-Pharazôn who perished in the Downfall; but Elendil Voronda was descended from Tar-Elendil the fourth King, and was held to be the rightful lord of the Faithful, who had taken no part in the rebellion of the Kings and had been preserved from destruction. Cirion was the Steward of the Kings descended from Elendil, and so far as Gondor was concerned had as regent all their-powers - until the King should come again. Nonetheless his oath astounded those who heard it, and filled them with awe, and was alone (over and above the venerable tomb) sufficient to hallow the place where it was spoken. [Author's note.] - Elendil's name Vor*onda, "the Faithful," which appears also in Cirion's Oath, was in this note first written Voronwë, which in the Oath is a noun, meaning "faithfulness, steadfastness." But in Appendix A (I, ii) toThe Lord of the Rings Mardil, the first Ruling Steward of Gondor, is called "Mardil Voronwë 'the Steadfast;'" and in the First Age Elf of Gondolin who guided Tuor from Vinyamar was named Voronwë, which in the Index toThe Silmarillion I likewise translated "the Steadfast."
45 See the first citation in Appendix C to "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn," p.272-3.
46 These names are given in Sindarin according to the usage of Gondor; but many of them were named anew by the Éothéod, being alterations of the older names to fit their own tongue, or translations of them, or names of their own making. In the narrative of The Lord of the Rings the names in the language of the Rohirrim are mostly used. Thus Angren=Isen; Angrenost==Isengard; Fangorn (which is also used) =Entwood; Onodló=Entwash; Glanhír=Mering Stream (both mean "boundary stream"). [Author'snote.] - The name of the river Limlight is perplexed. There are two versions of the text and note at this point, from one of which it seems that the Sindarin name was Limlich, adapted in the language of Rohan as Limliht ("modernized" as Limlight). In the other (later) version, Limlich is emended, puzzlingly, to Limliht in the text, so that this becomes the Sindarin form. Elsewhere (p.294) the Sindarin name of this river is given as Limlaith. In view of this uncertainty I have given Limlight in the text. Whatever the original Sindarin name may have been, it is at least clear that the Rohan form was an alteration of it and not a translation, and that its meaning was not known (although in a note written much earlier than any of the foregoing the name Limlight is said to be a partial translation of Elvish Limlint "swift-light"). The Sindarin names of the Entwash and the Mering Stream are only found here; with Onodló compareOnodrim, Eynd, the Ents (The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "Of Other Races").
47 Athrad Angren: see p.277, where the Sindarin name for the Fords of Isen is given as Ethraid Engrin. It seems then that both singular and plural forms of the name of the Ford(s) existed.
48 Elsewhere the wood is always called the Firien Wood (a shortening for Halifirien Wood). Firienholt - a word recorded in Anglo-Saxon poetry (firgenholt) - means the same: "mountain wood." See note 33.
49 Their proper form was Rochand and Rochír-rim, and they were spelt as Rochand, or Rochan, and Rochirrim in the records of Gondor. They contain Sindarin roch "horse," translating the éo- in Éothéod and in many personal names of the Rohirrim [see note 36]. In Rochand the Sindarin ending -nd (-and, -end, -ond) was added; it was commonly used in the names of regions or countries, but the -d was usually dropped in speech, especially in long names, such as Calenardhon, Ithilien, Lamedon, etc. Rochirrim was mo*delled onéohere, the term used by the Éothéod for the full muster of their cavalry in time of war; it was made from roch + Sindarin hír"lord, master" (entirely unconnected with [the Anglo-Saxon word] herë). In the names of people Sindarin rim "great number, host" (Quenya rimbë) was commonly used to form collective plurals, as in Eledhrim (Edhelrim) "all Elves,"Onodrim "the Ent-folk," Nogothrim "all Dwarves, the Dwarf-people." The language of the Ro*hirrim contained the sound here represented by ch (a back spirant as ch in Welsh), and, though it was infrequent in the middle of words between vowels, it presented them with no difficulty. But the Common Speech did not possess it, and in pronouncing Sindarin (in which it was very frequent) the people of Gondor, unless learned, represented it by h in the middle of words and by feat the end of them (where it was most forcibly pronounced in correct Sindarin). Thus arose the names Rohan and Rohirrim as used in The Lord of the Rings. [Author's note.]
50 Eorl appears to have been unconvinced by the token of the White Lady's goodwill; see p.312.
51 Eilenaer was a name of pre-Númenórean origin, evidently related toEilenach [Author's note.] - According to a note on the beacons, Eilenach was "probably an alien name: not Sindarin, Númenórean, or Common Speech… Both Eilenach and Eilenaer were notable features. Eilenach was the highest point of the Drúadan Forest. It could be seen far to the West, and its function in the days of the beacons was to transmit the warning of Amon Dîn; but it was not suitable for a large beacon-fire, there being little space on its sharp summit. Hence the name Nardol "Fire-hilltop" of the next beacon westward; it was on the end of a high ridge, originally part of the Drúadan Forest, but long deprived of trees by masons and quarriers who came up the Stonewain Valley. Nardol was manned by a guard, who also protected the quarries; it was well-stored with fuel and at need a great blaze could be lit, visible on a clear night even as far as the last beacon (Halifirien) some hundred and twenty miles to the westward."
In the same note it is stated that "Amon Dîn 'the silent hill' was perhaps the oldest, with the original function of a fortified outpost of Minas Tirith, from which its beacon could be seen, to keep watch over the passage into North Ithilien from Dagorlad and any attempt by enemies to cross the Anduin at or near Cair Andros. Why it was given this name is not recorded. Probably because it was distinctive, a rocky and barren hill standing out and isolated from the heavily wooded hills of the Drúadan Forest (Tawar-in-Drúedain), little visited by men, beasts or birds."
52 According to Appendix A (I, iv) to The Lord of the Rings it was in the days of Ostoher, the fourth king after Meneldil, that Gondor was first attacked by wild men out of the East; "but Tarostar, his son, defeated them and drove them out, and took the name Rómendacil 'East-victor.'"
53 It was also Rómendacil I who established the office of Steward (Arandur "king's servant"), but he was chosen by the King as a man of high trust and wisdom, usually advanced in years since he was not permitted to go to war or to leave the realm. He was never a member of the Royal House. [Author's note.]
54 Mardil was the first of the Ruling Stewards of Gondor. He was the Steward to Eärnur the last King, who disappeared in Minas Morgul in the year 2050. "It was believed in Gondor that the faithless enemy had trapped the King, and that he had died in torment in Minas Morgul; but since there were no witnesses of his death, Mardil the Good Steward ruled Gondor in his name for many years (The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A (I, iv)).

This is from Unfinished Tales, now you should immediately leave the computer, go to your local library or bookstore and get your hands on Tolkien's books and start reading. You may find that they start off slowly, but stick to it. I promise you, I swear by all that is holy to anyone, that you will have the read and probably the experience of a lifetime. Tolkien was an excellent writer, he wrote with beauty, subtlety and drama. I have read the LoTR 300+ times yet i still discover new facets. His world is so rich, detailed, realistic yet magical, and ... (I lack words even in my native Danish)... just go read them. To have only seen the film is like only ever having seen pictures of a sunset,only having seen a rose made from plastic or never felt the touch of a woman (to put it politely, I am talking of Country Matters).

Tolkien ranks with Homer, Shakespeare and the old Icelanders amongst the greatest of writers of epics. I very strongly encourage you to read them.

[Feanaro Curufinwe]

Regarding the creators going with the movie models i think it was a sound idea. They are still basicly grounded in Tolkiens vision but changed a bit for the movies by a collection of artist. The two formost being the top two Tolkien artist John Howe and Alan Lee who have spent a lifetime doing Middle Earth artwork.

The changes were often not that great just enough to give some obvious distinction. Giving plate armor to Gondor was to completely seperate them from the other cultures but the overall look and design of the unifroms and banners were the same. Some of the idea's were just commen sense like having more rich and detailed armor for the second age and more practical for the third. The look of Minias Tirith and Osgiliath were spot on. The design of Sauron and the With King were well imagined,

If their are slight differences at times it matters little because so much thought was put into the concept by some of the best fantasy artist in the world to bring Tolkiens world to the screen that its hard to carp at some difference of vision.

This mod looks very much like the Middle Earth i have read about several times and i think the movies were a nice model to base this mod's look on. They always can add some more different looks when the Lore might require an adjustment. MOD's are a continual creative process.

Osgiliath West/East is some brilliant work and Minas Tirith is everything a fan can ask for. The more custom settlements the better.

Why should Gondor have plate armour to separate from other cultures? If anything, the armour of the Rohirrim should be similar to Gondor's. It is definitely possible that Rohan imported it's best armour from Gondor considering Theoden's statement to the Three Hunters.

[Macilrille]

Rather, knowing Tolkien's vast knowledge of Anglo-Saxon and Norse culture, given as gifts in the time-honoured manner of Germanic society; confirming alliances with gifts of jewellery, horses, weapons and armour- and princesses. It is likely that Gondor would send Rohan's King weapons and armour as gifts both to support him, but also to confirm the alliance. He would then hand it out to his followers as rewards for their service and confirming their allegiance with him- likely at feasts in the Golden Hall just like in Heorot of Anglo-Saxon & Norse legend.

[knight of meh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch

read Mac

Arches are built to hold up weight , the reason roman ones didn't last very long after they had gone is because people stole the stone!

[riuk881]

That being said, this is your game, and you can do bloody well whatever you want

I like to sort of roleplay in my games so I like to have some justification for war, perhaps the enemy will take some of Gondors land and rohan will take it from them but not give it back to me. or maybe by the time the enemy is defeated I'll be content with my campaign and start another one as Dale.

ETA: Extra kudos for the Monty Python quote. Been meaning to say that since I first saw your posts in the forum

Thanks! the coconut scene is my favorite of the whole movie.

Edit: Knight that picture was hilarious!

[Macilrille]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch

read Mac

Arches are built to hold up weight , the reason roman ones didn't last very long after they had gone is because people stole the stone!

I am a medieval, Roman and military historian, and an old-school carpenter, I know very well how and why they were built- I have even built some, but you fail to notice the one single point about them, they are in balance, as soon as one stone goes, they collapse. And stones will go. You find nowhere anything like those in the films anywhere.

[knight of meh]

you would know better than me do abbey's , church arches count? because i know of quite a few near me Ireland , Wales that are ruined and still have standing arches ..

i ask because before i post pics i don't want to open myself up to thats a different type of arch argument

[Macilrille]

Oh of course they do, and of course they still stand. But as soon as weather erode or somebody steals or an enemy takes out one stone, the arch collapses, which is my point. We see arches standing in LoTR that are ignoring physical laws; half-arches, etc.

Sorry that my ancestors ruined those religious buildings ;-) Or was it Henry the 8th?

[knight of meh]

yeah i see the point .. the only half arches that could survive would be those flimsy decorative ones that are basically pieces of stone stuck to a wall

to my understanding your people looted the wealth and carried away several monks from the celtic influenced areas , they then declined

then Henry took the wealth / land again years later from the catholic places especially abbeys , priors etc that had land anything that isn't really large was finished off by Cromwell

[Ngugi]

Nerds.

[Flinn]

Nerds.

[conon394]

If anything, the armour of the Rohirrim should be similar to Gondor's. It is definitely possible that Rohan imported it's best armour from Gondor considering Theoden's statement to the Three Hunters.

Sorry Macilrille - FC is correct above - in the UT JRRT makes it clear Rohan buys Gondor for armor and thus has better than what Saruman can churn out. It also kind of calls into question the whole Germanic/Viking look of a lot Rohan in the movies. Overall buying stuff from Gondor and stable regualr army says a more industrial look to equipment. But PJ wanted vikings on horses who never discover hair washing or fashion.

[Arindur]

Did the blue wizards have a greater power level than Radagast or Gandalf?

[Ngugi]

Sorry Macilrille - FC is correct above - in the UT JRRT makes it clear Rohan buys Gondor for armor and thus has better than what Saruman can churn out. It also kind of calls into question the whole Germanic/Viking look of a lot Rohan in the movies. Overall buying stuff from Gondor and stable regualr army says a more industrial look to equipment. But PJ wanted vikings on horses who never discover hair washing or fashion.

Think one has to be careful with teh word 'better' as while the Gondorian apperently was mroe practical we are not given reason to assume the Isengardian mails could not take a punch about as well.

11 They were without body-armour, having only among them a few hauberks gained by theft or in loot. The Rohirrim had the advantage in being supplied by the metal-workers of Gondor. In Isengard as yet only the heavy and clumsy mail of the Orcs was made, by them for their own uses. [Author's note.]
- UT;

However it may be put into question to what degree it was a common property of rohirrim - or the army - or just for the lords/commanders with their best and closest warriors.
The kings have such, the only time it's refered to;

'You choose well,' said Théoden; 'and I give him now gladly. Yet it is a great gift. There is none like to Shadowfax. In him one of the mighty steeds of old has returned. None such shall return again. And to you my other guests I will offer such things as may be found in my armoury. Swords you do not need, but there are helms and coats of mail of cunning work, gifts to my fathers out of Gondor. Choose from these ere we go, and may they serve you well!'

- TTT; The King of the Golden Hall

Beside the descriptions in LotR we have this one:

The Rohirrim were not 'mediaeval', in our sense. The styles of the Bay eux Tapestry (made in England) fit them well enough, if one remembers that the kind of tennis-nets [the] soldiers seem to have on are only a clumsy conventional sign for chainmail of small rings.

- Letter 211

Now what's that then? Apperently;

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The tapestry:


Meaning alike:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Which is same as the Viking armours of the time; and association's to Beowulf concerning Edoras and other details of the rohirrim don't put the choice of the film to shame in a technical/property aspect (hair hygiene I will not go into haha)

EDIT: Though I should note I as always opoose the notion that things should be considered 'copy paste' from our reality into Tolkien's creation hehe

Did the blue wizards have a greater power level than Radagast or Gandalf?

There exist no way to measure them, just a vague distinction with Radagast as clearly the weakest. We may assume that the two others may been more potent than radagast but it would be a mere guess.

[Macilrille]

I would like to add that nowhere does Tolkien write that the Rohirrim buys armour from Gondor. Only that Gondor supplies Rohan.

This is where our knowledge of his inspiration for the Rohirrim comes in to allow an analogue study.

I shall try for brewity, but this is the subject I know most about.

In Germanic societies from we first learn of them in Tacitus' writings and well into the 13th century medieval descendants, armies are organised by magnates calling on their families and friends/allies to gather with their armed followers- armed followers that are in essence professional warriors, forming into armies. Our re-enactment has shown that with the same basic training, such small warbands can easily form into a well-disciplined army as coordinated as can be expected for pre-modern times; all it takes is the same basic training and a week or so of training together in the large group. The worst hindrance for coordination being the lack of communication further than a few metres away (on a battlefioeld you often have to run up to a guy and shout into his ear to be heard).

These alliances/networks were held together by pledges of alliance given symbolically at feasts in exchange for gifts; the gifts usually being armour, wepons, gold, horses, and land, and sometimes a marriage to cement it.

This entire system became formalised in the 14-15th century and its lawyers set down the rules for it, we know it as "Feudalism", but what these lawyers formulated was very different from the reality of the past they claimed to describe and formalise (see Susan Reynold's "Fiefs and Vassals" for more). What the original sources tell us is the system described briefly by me above.

A system that Tolkien knew very well, for he knew the original sources and drew on them for inspiration (this is undoubted, he even wrote a continuation of The Battle of Maeldon). And it suits Rohan as well as the relationship between Rohan and the high men of Gondor very well. Like the Romans with their allied Germanic tribes, the Gondorians would reward the Rohir lords with gifts of arms and armour for them and their followers, thus renewing the alliance from The Oath of Eorl, and ensuring that Rohan's technological level was higher than its neighbours'.

I think Ngugi covered the rest.

Edit, some of those pics are from Hastings, boring, scripted battle where we improvise to make it more entertaining. I have fought against some of the horsemen, I recognise them :-D

[Loki_999]

Did the blue wizards have a greater power level than Radagast or Gandalf?

Sorry, can't resist...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

While its not explicitly stated, based of the little that is said, and that it is assumed that the Blue wizards failed in their missions (meaning either weaker in power or will or wisdom, or just perhaps went over to the enemy), and that its kind of indicated that on the surface Saruman was was the most powerful (but Gandalf perhaps the most wise and/or subtle - as indicated by Galadriel's opinion of him and Cirdan (?) entrusting Gandalf with the Ring of Fire), and as Nuggi said Radagast was indicated to be weak.... so i'd guess that the Blues were behind Saruman and Gandalf and perhaps more or less powerful than Radagast.

Just my speculation though.

[riuk881]

So in the game Gondor and Eriador/arnor are dunedain culture but rohan is northmen culture. did Gondors people travel from the eriador region at some point or did gondor once hold that area? and I know that the lands of rohan were once controlled by gondor but given as a gift after the battle of the field of Celebrant so why is it a different culture?