Wonders of the First Age
Menegroth
Probably the greatest city ever to exist in Middle-earth was the ancient Sindarin stronghold of Menegroth. THE SILMARILLION tells us that Thingol and his people originally lived in the open woods of Neldoreth and Region. It was not until the third age of Melkor's captivity in Valinor that Melian warned Thingol that Middle-earth would soon again be troubled by Melkor's evil.
Thingol had by this time welcomed the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost to his domain, and he was engaged in some trade with them. So he turned to the Dwarves of Belegost and asked them to help him build a great fortress. THE SILMARILLION says:
...They gave it willingly, for they were unwearied in those days and eager for new works...Therefore the Naugrim laboured long and gladly for Thingol, and devised for him mansions after the fashion of their own people, delved deep into the earth. Where the Esgalduin flowed down, and parted Neldoreth from Region, there rose in the midst of the forest a rocky hill, and the river ran at its feet. There they made the gates of the hall of Thingol, and they built a bridge of stone over the river, by which alone the gates could be entered. Beyond the gates wide passages ran down to high halls and chambers far below that were hewn into the living stone, so many and so great that that dwelling was named Menegroth, the Thousand Caves.
There is no mention of any city like this Over Sea in Aman. Tuna upon Tirion rose high, and Alqualondë was set in a natural harbor. Even Avallonë, built many centuries later, was nothing like Menegroth. The city was unique to Middle-earth's cultures and history, an inspiration for the later city of Nargothrond and the halls of Thranduil in northern Mirkwood, but neither of these habitations approached the majesty and beauty of Menegroth.
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THE SILMARILLION lacks the words to adequately describe the vision Tolkien must have held of the city. He writes only:
...Elves and Dwarves together, each with their own skill, there wrought out the visions of Melian, images of the wonder and beauty of Valinor beyond the Sea. The pillars of Menegroth were hewn in the likeness of the beeches of Oromë, stock, bough, and leaf, and they were lit with lanterns of gold. The nightingales sang there as in the gardens of Lorien; and there were fountains of silver, and basins of marble, and floors of many-coloured stones. Carven figures of beasts and birds there ran upon the walls, or climbed upon the pillars, or peered among the branches entwined with many flowers. And as the years passed Melian and her maidens filled the halls with woven hangings wherein could be read the deeds of the Valar, and many things that had befallen in Arda since its beginning, and shadows of things that were yet to be. That was the fairest dwelling of any king that has ever been east of the Sea.
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But Menegroth was never wholly finished. In time Thingol built armories for his warriors, and after Morgoth had destroyed the realms of the Noldor Thingol set aside chambers for the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost when their strong companies visited the city.
Menegroth itself was not completely underground. The lands near the hill were apparently heavily used by the Elves. The great tree Hirilorn stood in a garden on the north side of the river.
Thingol had a house built for Luthien in the branches of the tree, but he and Melian also had sat beneath the overhanging boughs. Turin came to them in this garden when he decided to leave Menegroth. When Saeros waylaid Turin, the man was on the northern road, seeking to return to the marches. No one heard their fight, but Turin chased Saeros back toward the river, and then many Elves did hear them (and came running to see what was amiss).
The greatest hall of Menegroth must have been Thingol's court, of which we see only glimpses in the stories. Beleg brought the Elf-maiden Nellas into Menegroth to testify on Turin's behalf in the death of Saeros, and "she was afraid, both for the great pillared hall and the roof of stone, and for the company of many eyes that watched her."
Beren, a generation before, had been brought into that same great hall by Luthien, and there confronted Thingol and Melian on their thrones. On both occasions the hall was filled with many of Doriath's mightiest lords and warriors. The King of the Sindar in all his power must have seemed stronger than any Noldorin king in Middle-earth.
But the time came at last when Menegroth was destroyed. The city was weakened in the feud between Thingol and the Dwarves of Nogrod, who slew him in the chambers he had set aside for them. The Dwarves fought their way out of the city but only two ever returned to Nogrod.
And then a Dwarf-army marched on Doriath, and Menegroth was taken and sacked. Its treasuries were robbed and many of its people slain.
Luthien prepares her escape from Hirilorn
Copyright © Anke Eissmann. Used by permission.
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Dior, Thingol's grandson, attempted to restore Menegroth to something of its former glory, but the Sindar under Dior were much weaker (and fewer) than the Sindar under Thingol and Melian.
Melian had fled to Valinor in the wake of Thingol's death, and her power no longer protected or enriched the kingdom. Many of the great lords and captains had been slain, including Beleg Cuthalion and Mablung.
It was thus possible for the sons of Fëanor to gather an army of Noldor and take the city in mid-winter, the last winter of Doriath's long existence. The Sindar who survived the battle fled south, abandoning their lands and taking with them a few memories of the greatest of cities. There was never another city like Menegroth in Middle-earth, and probably not in Aman either.
Gondolin
After Menegroth the most famous city of Beleriand was Gondolin. Gondolin's fame, perhaps, arose only after its destruction, for while he lived Turgon did all that he could to protect the secret location of his beloved city. Only when Gondolin was destroyed could the Eldar begin to share its secrets, and the memories of Gondolin like those of Menegroth could do it little justice.
Some hints about Gondolin were preserved in other stories, as when Thorondor carried Luthien and Beren south from Angband, and Luthien "saw far below, as a white light starting from a green jewel, the radiance of Gondolin the fair where Turgon dwelt." Hurin and Huor saw the city but they did not reveal what they knew of it.
Tolkien's vision of Gondolin changed through the years, but in some ways it persisted as a vibrant dream. He never abandoned the idea that it was built on a great hill in the circular valley of Tumladen; that there were many high towers, great fountains, houses built all around, and fields of crops spreading across the valley to feed the city.
The Eldar (Noldor and Sindar) of Gondolin followed eleven great lords in the earliest story of Gondolin, though in THE SILMARILLION we find only two named: Ecthelion and Glorfindel.
In "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin" we meet Elemmakil, friend of Voronwë the mariner.
Egalmoth was said to be one of the lords of Gondolin, and his name was included in the story of Tuor almost until the end (edited out by Christopher Tolkien for a technical reason).
The entrance to Gondolin lay through a dried river bed that flowed under the mountains at one time. There were seven gates constructed there by the Eldar: The Gate of Wood, The Gate of Stone, The Gate of Bronze, The Gate of Writhen Iron, The Gate of Silver, The Gate of Gold, and
The Gate of Steel. The first six gates were built when Gondolin itself was built, but Maeglin, Turgon's nephew, built the Gate of Steel after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.
Turgon's people were skilled in many ways, and they adorned the gates and the city with images of the Two Trees of Valinor, Telperion and Laurelin, and of many flowers and creatures (including a graven image of Thorondor on the fourth gate). Gondolin must have been a shining, glittering jewel in many ways, adorned with gold, silver, pearl, marble, and even copper that was
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ranged like torches along the wall."
Although not permitted to leave except by special permission of the king, Gondolin's people ranged through the hills and valleys around the city in their work. Maeglin especially opened many mines and ranged through the mountains (and so was caught in the end by Melkor's servants).
Although the plain of Tumladen is described as flat, Gondolin itself seems to have had
"mounds...of mallorns, birches, and evergreen trees." There was a high wall around the city, and the Eldar would gather on it at times to celebrate great festivals. It was during one such festival, the Gates of Summer, when Melkor's forces stormed the city.
Some of the towers of Gondolin were destroyed in the fighting, and many of the great houses and the trees were ruined by fire. The majority of the inhabitants were slaughtered as they tried to escape, or defending themselves. But many were captured and taken into captivity, while nearly a thousand escaped by Idril's secret path which led into the mountains.
Gondolin must nonetheless have been the strongest of the realms of the Noldor. Melkor sent many dragons and the Balrogs against Turgon, and despite the ease with which he surprised them, more of Turgon's people escaped than did of Fingolfin's, Finrod's, or perhaps even Maedhros' people.
Khazad-dum
We never get to see Khazad-dum in its heyday. By the time Tolkien brings the reader to the great mansions of the ancient Dwarves, the halls are empty, except for Orcs. Gimli's deep voice must have echoed through the empty tunnels and chambers as he sang for his companions an old Dwarven folk-song:
The world was young, the mountains green, No stain yet on the Moon was seen, No words were laid on stream or stone, When Durin woke and walked alone.
He named the nameless hills and dells;
He drank from yet untasted wells;
He stooped and looked in Mirrormere, And saw a crown of stars appear, As gems upon a silver thread, Above the shadow of his head.
How long ago was this episode? How old was Durin before he found a wife (as he plainly must have, since he originally walked alone)? How long was it before he found the Mirrormere and the entrance to the mighty caverns that he made his home?
We can infer a few points about ancient Dwarven history from what is told of their dealings with the Elves. For instance, we know that the Dwarves first entered Beleriand during the second age of Melkor's captivity in Valinor. According to THE WAR OF THE JEWELS, this was Year of Essays On Middle-earth
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the Trees 1250, which was 200 years after the awakening of the Elves (a period equal in length to about 1900 Years of the Sun).
The Dwarven cities of Nogrod and Belegost, the two cities in the Ered Luin, were not founded by Dwarves of Durin's Line, but instead were the homes of other Dwarves. They were most likely the ancestral homes of the Firebeards and the Broadbeams, the two kindreds of the Dwarves who awoke in the northern Ered Luin.
Khazad-dum engaged in trade with Nogrod and Belegost. Tales of Khazad-dum reached Beleriand, though it is only briefly mentioned in THE SILMARILLION as being the greatest of Dwarven cities. The ancient Dwarf-road that passed through the forest of Greenwood (later Mirkwood) and through Eriador apparently carried traffic from Khazad-dum to other Dwarven cities in the east.
And yet Khazad-dum was far to the south of the High Pass where the ancient road crossed the mountains. This seems a little strange. One can only imagine the Dwarves had built a road north along the foot-hills of the Misty Mountains to reach the high pass. Or perhaps they followed the Silverlode down to Anduin and crossed the river by raft or boat. And wondering this, one cannot fail to ask whether Durin's folk were friendly with the Nandorin Elves who lived in the Vales of
Anduin.
We know something of the life the Dwarves led in the First Age. They were, of course, miners and stone-masons of exquisite and almost unrivaled skill. They smelted metals such as gold, silver, iron, and probably copper and tin. They worked with crystal, unearthed gems of many types, and even learned to make instruments such as trumpets and harps.
The city itself conducted trade mostly with the east. There was no West-gate until around the year 750 of the Second Age. Dwarven merchants must also have trekked into the distant north.
The road passing through the forest ran to the Celduin and probably crossed the river by a bridge just as it crossed Anduin by a bridge. From the crossing point on Celduin the road turned northeast and ran toward the Emyn Engrin, and from there ran eastwards to the other Dwarven realms of the Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks, and Stonefoots.
THE PEOPLES OF MIDDLE-EARTH tells us that Dwarves did indeed live well to the east of Celduin, and that there was a city or gathering place for all the Dwarves at Mount Gundabad, where they held enclaves. The lands of Durin's folk were selected for this honor because he was the eldest of the Dwarves and Gundabad was the place where he awoke.
How numerous could Durin's folk have been in the First Age? We can only guess. But the time from the awakening of the Elves in Cuiviënen to the end of the First Age of the Sun was equivalent to approximately 4900 Years of the Sun. Yet there was no mention of the Elves encountering the Dwarves during the Great Journey. On the other hand, the Noegyth Nibin (the Petty-Dwarves) claimed to have settled in Beleriand before the Elves arrived.
The Dwarves must have awoken soon after the Elves did, but their numbers were few and increased only slowly. When they made contact with Durin some members of each tribe joined Parma Endorion
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him in Khazad-dum. As the years passed a few outcasts wandered west into Beleriand. The Vanyar and Noldor entered Beleriand in Year of the Trees 1115, about 622 Years of the Sun after the awakening of the Elves. The Teleri arrived in Year of the Trees 1128, or about 124
Years of the Sun after the Vanyar and Noldor.
The Noegyth Nibin could have entered Beleriand before the Vanyar and Noldor. But they could also have entered after them and before the Sindar. Nonetheless, it is clear there had to be Dwarves in Beleriand by Year of the Trees 1128, about 747 Years of the Sun after the awakening of the Elves. If the Dwarves awoke within 10 Years of the Trees after the Elves, they would have had the equivalent of a few centuries in Years of the Sun in which to find each other and to cast out the Noegyth Nibin.
Since Nogrod and Belegost were not founded until Year of the Trees 1250 (almost 2,000 Years of the Sun after the awakening of the Elves), it seems evident the Firebeards and Broadbeams must all have wandered east soon after they awoke. Perhaps all the Dwarves came together in Khazad-dum with Durin first, and there built the first Dwarven city. When their numbers became large enough, the six "younger" kings (descendants of the original fathers) could have led their peoples away from Khazad-dum to establish new ancestral homes for their peoples.
This could explain why the Eldar encountered no Dwarves on their journey. The only Dwarves who would have left Khazad-dum by this time would have been the Noegyth Nibin.
So, what does this get us? Room to estimate a maximum probable population for Khazad-dum at the end of the First Age of the Sun (some 3900 Years of the Sun after Durin might have awoken). This would allow 45 - 48 generations for the Dwarves of Durin's Line to increase their numbers. By the time the Second Age started, there could have been upwards of 100,000
Dwarves living in Khazad-dum and more than 120,000 in most of each of the other Dwarven cities (not including Nogrod and Belegost, which had by then suffered grievous losses in the wars with Morgoth and the Elves).
Early in the Second Age Durin's folk were joined by most if not all of the Dwarves of Belegost, and many of the Dwarves of Nogrod. The population of Khazad-dum could have swelled to 500,000 or more by the end of the Second Age (but this estimate presupposes some changes in Dwarven birth rates -- signaling the onset of the decline of the Dwarven race).
Population estimates aside, we know that Khazad-dum grew slowly through the long centuries.
The Dwarves added hall after hall and gradually extended their mines northward, especially after the discovery of Mithril sometime in the 7th or 8th centuries of the Second Age. The west-gate was built during this time, after the Noldor of Eregion established their great friendship with the Dwarves of Khazad-dum (who undoubtedly were influenced by tales of the friendship between the Noldor and the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost).
Tolkien wrote that Durin was reborn in his descendants six times. We know that Durin III was King of Khazad-dum when the Rings of Power were made, and he led an army against Sauron in the War of the Elves and Sauron. So it must have been Durin II who was king when Narvi and Celebrimbor built the west-gate. The king at the end of the Second Age may have been Durin IV.
He marched with the Host of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.
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Khazad-dum continued to flourish in the Third Age even though the Eldar were in decline. The west-gate may have been re-opened to allow trade with Arnor and, later, the peoples of Dunland.
When the realm of Angmar arose in the distant north and Amroth of Lorien sent armies over the mountains to help the Dunedain, it may be the Dwarves gave aid to the Elves, or even permitted
Amroth's warriors to pass through Khazad-dum.
But in time the Dwarves awoke a Balrog with their tunneling. It must have tried to drive them away at first, for they spent a year fighting it. Two Dwarven kings of Durin's Line perished before the city was abandoned in Third Age 1981. How many battles did the Dwarves fight with the Balrog and, perhaps, other creatures they found in the subterranean depths? Durin VI was slain in 1980 and his son Nain I was killed the next year, the Year of Flight. The Dwarves were destroyed or driven off and their ancient mansions were left deserted but for the Balrog and other creatures which Gandalf described as "nameless things" which even Sauron didn't know, for
"they are older than he."
The Balrog assumed control of Khazad-dum, but some 500 or 600 years later Sauron sent Orcs and Trolls to inhabit the city, possibly with the Balrog's consent. From that time forward Khazad-dum was a stronghold and haven for the Orcs and it was known only by its ancient Elvish name, Moria, "Black Pit". The Orcish army of Moria was destroyed at the Battle of Nanduhirion in 2799, but the Dwarves lacked the numbers after their 7-year war with the Orcs to retake the city (and probably could not have done so had their entire army attacked Moria in the first place).
The breeding Orcs were left behind and Moria's evil creatures recovered their numbers slowly, but they may not have ever again equaled the great numbers that the Dwarves encountered in 2799. Many of the Orcs of the Misty Mountains perished 142 years later at the Battle of Five Armies, and when Balin's colony was established in 2989 (a mere 47 years later) there were few Orcs left to guard the citadel. They must have retreated to deeper caverns until the Balrog drove them to attack the Dwarves, perhaps with reinforcements from other Orcish strongholds.
From 2994 to 3018 Khazad-dum was undisturbed until Gollum entered the fortress to escape Sauron's spies and the Elves of Mirkwood and Lorien. The Orcs either let him be or did not know he was there. But they were soon after roused by the Company of the Ring. The Balrog must have sensed the One Ring when it came into the eastern halls, if not sooner. The Orcs pursued the Company into Lorien but were destroyed or driven off, and Gandalf was able to defeat the Balrog in a single combat that lasted 11 days. In the course of the battle part of the mountain and Khazad-dum were destroyed.
Sometime in the Fourth Age (probably by the year 200) the Dwarves of Durin's Line returned to Khazad-dum, most likely to spend the last of their generations there. Durin VII was the last king to bear that name and perhaps the last of his proud and ancient Line. Or perhaps not. In THE
PEOPLES OF MIDDLE-EARTH Christopher Tolkien points out that the life of Durin VII is poorly documented, but that he apparently had descendants.
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Wonders of the Second Age
The Statues of Dunharrow
One of the most amazing passages in THE LORD OF THE RINGS occurs in the chapter titled
"The Muster of Rohan". Tolkien introduces one of his numerous enigmas by allowing the reader to follow Merry's progress through Rohan toward the refuge of Dunharrow (OE Dun-harug,
'hill-
sanctuary'). This scene contains one of the few glimpses we are provided of the Rohirrim in their homelands other than as Riders at war. But Tolkien uses the images to draw the reader's attention away from the Rohirrim toward this great mountain where Theoden has commanded Eowyn to assemble the Muster of Rohan:
The road now led eastward straight across the valley, which was at that point little more than half a mile in width. Flats and meads of rough grass, grey now in the falling night, lay all about, but in front on the far side of the dale Merry saw a frowning wall, a last outlier of the great roots of the Starkhorn, cloven by the river in ages past.
Merry's attention is briefly diverted to the army of Riders, but since he cannot see much in the gloom he is brought back to the road before him:
...While he was peering from side to side the king's party came up under the looming cliff on the eastern side of the valley; and there suddenly the path began to climb, and Merry looked up in amazement. He was on a road the like of which he had never seen before, a great work of men's hands in years beyond the reach of song. Upwards it wound, coiling like a snake, boring its way across the sheer slope of rock. Steep as a stair, it looped backwards and forwards as it climbed.
Up it horses could walk, and wains could be slowly hauled; but no enemy could come that way, except out of the air, if it was defended from above. At each turn of the road there were great standing stones that had been carved in the likeness of men, huge and clumsy-limbed, squatting cross-legged with their stumpy arms folded on fat bellies. Some in the wearing of the years had lost all features save the dark holes of their eyes that still stared sadly at the passers-by. The Riders hardly glanced at them. The Pukel-men they called them, and heeded them little: no power or terror was left in them; but Merry gazed at them with wonder and a feeling almost of pity, as they loomed up mournfully in the dusk.
After a while he looked back and found that he had already climbed some hundreds of feet above the valley, but still far below he could dimly see a winding line of Riders crossing the ford and filing along the road towards the camp prepared for them. Only the king and his guard were going up into the Hold.
At last the king's company came to a sharp brink, and the climbing road passed into a cutting between walls of rock, and so went up a short slope and out on to a wide upland. The Firienfield men called it, a green mountain-field of grass and heath, high above the deep-delved courses of the Snowbourn, laid upon the lap of the great mountains behind: the Starkhorn southwards, and northwards the saw-toothed mass of Irensaga, between when there faced the riders, the grim black wall of the Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain rising out of steep slopes of somber pines.
Dividing the upland into two there marched a double line of unshaped standing stones that dwindled into the dusk and vanished in the trees. Those who dared to follow that road came Page 88
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to the black Dimholt under Dwimorberg, and the menace of the pillar of stone, and the yawning shadow of the forbidden door.
Such was the dark Dunharrow, the work of long-forgotten men. Their name was lost and no song or legend remembered it. For what purpose they had made this place, as a town or secret temple or a tomb of kings, none could say. Here they laboured in the Dark Years, before ever a ship came to the western shores, or Gondor of the Dunedain was built; and now they had vanished, and only the old Pukel-men were left, still sitting at the turnings of the road.
Merry stared at the lines of marching stones: they were worn and black; some were leaning, some were fallen, some cracked or broken; they looked like rows of old and hungry teeth. He wondered what they could be, and he hoped that the king was not going to follow them into the darkness beyond. Then he saw that there were clusters of tents and booths on either side of the stony way;
but these were not set near the trees, and seemed rather to huddle away from them towards the brink of the cliff. The greater number were on the right, where the Firienfield was wider; and on the left there was a smaller camp, in the midst of which stood a tall pavilion....
We can follow the path Merry did not take by looking at Aragorn's passage through Dunharrow in "The Passing of The Grey Company":
The list was still grey as they rode, for the sun had not yet climbed over the black ridges of the Haunted Mountain before them. A dread fell on them, even as they passed between the lines of ancient stones and so came to the Dimholt. There under the gloom of black trees that not even Legolas could long endure they found a hollow place opening at the mountains' root, and right in their path stood a single mighty stone like a finger of doom.
'My blood runs chill,' said Gimli, but the others were silent, and his voice fell dead on the dank fir-needles at his feet. The horses would not pass the threatening stone, until the riders dismounted and led them about. And so they came at last deep into the glen; and there stood a sheer wall of rock, and in the wall the Dark Door gaped before them like the mouth of night.
Signs and figures were carved above its wide arch too dim to read, and fear flowed from it like a grey vapour.
Dunharrow has been supposed by some to be a construction of the Druedain, who are described in UNFINISHED TALES, and by others to be a construction of the men who drove the Druedain from the White Mountains, the men who later inhabited Enedwaith and Minhiriath.
These were the Gwathuirrim, ancestors of the Dunlendings, the Men of Bree, and many of Gondor's folk as well. But the truth more probably lies in the area of a succession of inhabitants and builders.
The Pukel-men were undoubtedly carved by early Druedain, perhaps even in the First Age of the
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road, it must be that they were intended to guard the way to a stronghold of the Druedain. Such protection would have been required only if there were enemies or potential enemies living to the north of Ered Nimrais. And yet Tolkien writes that Dunharrow was built "before ever a ship came to the western shores", a reference (probably) to the return of the Dunedain to Middle-earth, although it could also refer to the great fleet of Valinor.
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shores of the Gwathlo (this would be the 9th Century, less than 300 years after Vëantur's arrival in Lindon). It is therefore possible that a single enclave of Druedain continued to survive in the Ered Nimrais after the Dunlending tribes drove other Druedain out of the mountains.
But the Druedain of Dunharrow could not have held out forever even in that great refuge. They must have perished (slain or starved to death), or fled at last to join their kin either in the west (Druwaith Iaur on the point of Andrast), the north (the marshes along the shores of Enedwaith), or the east (Druadan Forest in Anorien). There is evidence that Gwathuirrim dwelt in Dunharrow, and probably they were members of the tribe that later became known as the Dead.
The standing stones Merry and Aragorn see, which are not carved, seem to represent a less-developed stone-craft. Yet we know from the stories about the early Druedain that they were always skilled with stone, so they probably did not make these menhir-like monuments. Instead, those were probably placed by the Gwathuirrim.
The writing above the Dark Door also implies that someone other than the Druedain had a hand in the making of Dunharrow. It may be that the Gwathuirrim tribe had the ability to write, and they carved something above the door. Or it may be that a Numenorean hand had something to do with the carvings that Aragorn and his companions could no longer read. The latter seems less likely than that the Gwathuirrim made the carvings, but Theoden seems to describe a man of Numenorean descent when he tells Merry the legend of the Dark Door:
...It is said that when the Eorlingas came out of the North in time of need, Brego and his son Baldor climbed the Stair of the Hold and so came before the Door. On the threshold sat an old man, aged and withered as stone. Indeed for stone they took him, for he moved not, and he said no word, until they sought to pass him by and enter. And then a voice came out of him, as it were out of the ground, and to their amaze it spoke in the western tongue: the way is shut.
So we are left with many questions and enigmas. The ancient legacy of Dunharrow was already buried in forgotten wars and peoples by the time the Rohirrim settled in the region. One can only wonder what powerful tragedies unfolded there, and what days of glory or delight the Druedain, Gwathuirrim, and perhaps others had experienced there in past ages.
Wonders of the Third Age
The Argonath
One of the most impressive and majestic passages in THE LORD OF THE RINGS occurs when the Company of the Ring passes down Anduin. They have been on the river several days and come at last to "stony vales amid high moors" (as Celeborn described the region). The Page 90
approach passes by gradually climbing cliffs which creep down to the river's edge, almost as if to dip their feet in the water so as to share in its glorious adventure and urge it onward to its destiny. Tolkien writes:
The rain, however, did not last long. Slowly the sky above grew lighter, and then suddenly the clouds broke, and their draggled fringes trailed away northward up the River. The fogs and mists were gone. Before the travelers lay a wide ravine, with great rocky sides to which clung, upon
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shelves and in narrow crevices, a few thrawn trees. The channel grew narrower and the River swifter. Now they were speeding along with little hope of stopping or turning, whatever they might meet ahead. Over them was a lane of pale-blue sky, around them the dark overshadowed River, and before them black, shutting out the sun, the hills of Emyn Muil, in which no opening could be seen.
Frodo peering forward saw in the distance two great rocks approaching: like great pinnacles or pillars of stone they seemed. Tall and sheer and ominous they stood upon either side of the stream. A narrow gap appeared between them, and the River swept the boats towards it.
So much passes by in these two paragraphs. The landscape has changed and become forbidding, almost threatening. The travelers are set upon a path of virtually no return. They have entered a region where a great power once set its hand upon the world, and the power of Gondor at one time had extended this far north. We are led with the travelers down this awesome path toward a goal which would intimidate any unwary observer, but which invites home Aragorn, the Heir of Isildur:
'Behold the Argonath, the Pillars of the Kings!' cried Aragorn. 'We shall pass them soon. Keep the boats in line, and as far apart as you can! Hold the middle of the stream!'
In a subtle way Tolkien seems to be revealing something to us of Aragorn's true majesty and authority. He is a Ranger and a warrior, but also is the son of kings coming to claim his own, to defend his kindred in the south against Sauron's armies. At the very boundary of Gondor's ancient realm Aragorn assumes an authority Boromir the son of the Ruling Steward never tries to express.
This is the actual moment of Aragorn's entry into Gondor as something more than an adventurer or traveler. He leaves no doubt as to whom he thinks he is, whereas Frodo and the hobbits are overawed and stunned by their first perception of the power and majesty of the Dunedain in
Middle-earth:
As Frodo was borne towards them the great pillars rose like towers to meet him. Giants they seemed to him, vast grey figures silent but threatening. Then he saw that they were indeed shaped and fashioned: the craft and power of old had wrought upon them, and still they preserved through the suns and rains of forgotten years the mighty likenesses in which they had been hewn.
Upon great pedestals founded in the deep waters stood two great kings of stone: still with Page 91
blurred eyes and crannied brows they frowned upon the North. The left hand of each was raised palm outwards in a gesture of warning; in each right hand there was an axe; upon each head there was a crumbling helm and crown. Great power and majesty they still wore, the silent wardens of a long-vanished kingdom. Awe and fear fell upon Frodo, and he cowered down, shutting his eyes and not daring to look up as the boat drew near. Even Boromir bowed his head as the boats whirled by, frail and fleeing as little leaves, under the enduring shadow of the sentinels of Numenore. So they passed into the dark chasm of the Gates.
Sheer rose the dreadful cliffs to unguessed heights on either side. Far off was the dim sky. The black waters roared and echoed, and a wind screamed over them. Frodo crouching over his knees heard Sam in front muttering and groaning: 'What a place! What a horrible place! Just let me get out of this boat, and I'll never wet my toes in a puddle again, let alone a river!'
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Perhaps Sam is expressing the feelings of all the hobbits at this point, and giving the reader a moment to pause and consider what his own reaction should be. The splendor and terror of the Argonath is poorly conveyed by the written word, although Tolkien has something more to say of these great works of the ancient Gondorians in one of his letters, written in October, 1958, to Rhona Beare:
The Numenoreans of Gondor were proud, peculiar, and archaic, and I think are best pictured in (say) Egyptian terms. In many ways they resembled 'Egyptians' -- the love of, and power to construct, the gigantic and massive. And in their great interest in ancestry and tombs....I think the crown of Gondor (the S. Kingdom) was very tall, like that of Egypt, but with wings attached, not set straight back but at an angle.
The Egyptians did in fact create such huge, imposing statues. The statue of Rameses II at Karnak stands today and another sculpture, a massive bust of Rameses, was recovered from Abu Simpel.
The immense size of these works, though he never saw them in person, seems to have made a great impression on Tolkien, who had access to much information about ancient Egypt at Oxford if he desired it.
Like the Egyptians the Numenoreans of Gondor built "other works marvellous and strong...in the days of their power, at the Argonath, and at Aglarond, and at Erech; and in the circle of Angrenost, which men called Isengard, they made the Pinnacle of Orthanc of unbreakable stone.”
The Argonath were not originally created by Isildur and Anarion, but rather were constructed by Minalcar (regent 1240 - 1304) soon after his war against the Easterlings in 1248. Tolkien writes that Minalcar "fortified the west shore of Anduin as far as the inflow of the Limlight, and forbade any stranger to pass down the River beyond the Emyn Muil." This seems a bit harsh, but the "strangers" seem not to have been men of Edainic blood. Rather, we learn in THE
PEOPLES
OF MIDDLE-EARTH that other men had long settled in the vales of Anduin: The vague tradition preserved by the Hobbits of the Shire was that they had dwelt once in lands by a Great River, but long ago had left them, and found their way through or round high Page 92
mountains, when they no longer felt at ease in their homes because of the multiplication of the Big Folk and of a shadow of fear that had fallen on the Forest. This evidently reflects the troubles of Gondor in the earlier part of the Third Age. The increase in Men was not the normal increase of those with whom they had lived in friendship, but the steady increase of invaders from the
East, further south held in check by Gondor, but in the North beyond the bounds of the Kingdom harassing the older 'Atanic' inhabitants, and even in places occupying the Forest and coming through it into the Anduin valley....
The first hobbits entered Eriador around 1050, and it was not for another 200 years that Gondor would deal with the Easterlings, driving them back into Rhun. The implication thus is that even
Minalcar could not completely eradicate the Easterlings between Anduin and Rhunaer. It appears that some must have survived in southern Mirkwood near Dol Guldur, which was not powerful enough to threaten Gondor but nonetheless could harbor some strength of Easterlings who might travel down the River. The fortifications of the west-bank of Anduin thus make sense, although
Tolkien had originally envisioned some troubles with the Northmen themselves still living in the Vales of Anduin.
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But positioned south of the Anduin forts as they were, the Argonath could not have been intended to hold back travelers. Rather, they symbolized the great power any strangers from the north would be rousing to anger should they pass so far southward without an invitation or permission. While the west-bank forts were manned the opportunity to procure such permission was easily available.
Hence, it should be no wonder that when Aragorn himself passes between the Argonath he does not feel the fear and awe that the others exude. Although the power of ancient Gondor had passed its memory had not, and that power was a part of his heritage. The Argonath were thus a part of his heritage, and he passed them "proud and erect...his hood...cast back, and his dark hair...blowing in the wind, a light...in his eyes: a king returning from exile to his own land."
The Bridge of Osgiliath
We know very little about this great bridge, but it seems to have been quite huge, a typical
'Numenorean' work of Gondor. When Isildur and Anarion established the Kingdom of Gondor they built three cities: Minas Anor, Minas Ithil, and Osgiliath. Osgiliath was the chief city of the realm, "and the Numenoreans built there a great bridge, upon which there were towers and houses of stone wonderful to behold, and tall ships came up out of the sea to the quays of the city."
These "towers and houses of stone" are not described by Tolkien, and he seldom names them.
But a few references can be found in the texts. In UNFINISHED TALES Meneldil says farewell to Isildur and his sons at the East gate of the Bridge. One almost gets the impression that at this time the entire city of Osgiliath must be contained on the bridge, but perhaps not. Isildur and Anarion had their thrones "set side by side in the Great Hall of Osgiliath." The placement and structure of the hall are not given, but it may be a part of the House of the Kings (see below), Page 93
and perhaps one of the chief structures of the Bridge.
The Tower of the Stone was destroyed in the Kin-strife, and so the master Palantir which required more than one man to move was lost in the swift, deep waters of Anduin. Gandalf referred to the Dome of Stars at Osgiliath, where the stone rested, and presumably this was that portion of the tower where the Palantir was kept, implying perhaps that the tower was quite large. When Isildur left Gondor UNFINISHED TALES says there were few horses available in Osgiliath, but there is no mention of whether stables existed on the Bridge itself. It would seem, though, that if great towers and houses stood there, then the inhabitants may also have quartered their animals there, such as they had with them.
In the days of Tarannon Falastur, his queen, Beruthiel, lived in the King's House in Osgiliath.
The house is not stated to have been on the bridge, but it contained "gardens...filled with tormented sculptures beneath cypresses and yews." It would be interesting indeed if the Bridge of Osgiliath were so large that it could contain a palace with gardens large enough to hold trees.
The attack on Osgiliath from Minas Morgul in 2475 resulted in the final destruction of the great Bridge. The city had long since been only a shadow of itself. Many of its people died in the Great Plague of 1636, and King Tarondor had removed the seat of the Kings to Minas Anor in Parma Endorion
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the aftermath. The Stewards maintained garrisons in Osgiliath to hold the bridge, but after 2475
it became less necessary to defend the city than it was to defend the bridges and fords.
There can be no doubt that Osgiliath experienced a period of growth at least in the early centuries of Gondor's existence, and the city even if confined to the Bridge originally must have flowed out onto both shores of Anduin. The river was quite wide, perhaps a mile wide, at the city's location, and the Bridge would have contained many houses and towers. Its population should have numbered in the thousands, and perhaps fleets of ships sailed under it as far north as
Cair Andros. Of all the works of the Numenoreans in Middle-earth, the Bridge of Osgiliath must have been the greatest.
The Twin Fortresses of Aglarond and Angrenost
There has been much debate concerning the purpose and origins of these two fortresses. At best we know that they were built by men of Numenorean race and that they figured prominently in the wars of the later Third Age. There is little enough written about the fortresses. In "Of The Rings Of Power And The Third Age" Tolkien says:
...The chief city of [Gondor] was Osgiliath, through the midst of which the Great River flowed; and the Numenoreans built there a great bridge, upon which there were towers and houses of stone wonderful to behold, and tall ships came up out of the sea to the quays of the city. Other strong places they built also upon either hand: Minas Ithil, the Tower of the Rising Moon, eastward upon a shoulder of the Mountains of Shadow as a threat to Mordor; and to the westward
Minas Anor, the Tower of the Setting Sun, at the feet of Mount Mindolluin, as a shield against the wild men of the dales. In Minas Ithil was the house of Isildur, and in Minas Anor the house of Anarion, but they shared the realm between them and their thrones were set side by side in the Page 94
Great Hall of Osgiliath. These were the chief dwellings of the Numenoreans in Gondor, but other works marvellous and strong they built in the land in the days of their power, at the Argonath, and at Aglarond, and at Erech; and in the circle of Angrenost, which Men called Isengard, they made the Pinnacle of Orthanc of unbreakable stone.
"The days of their power" could mean quite a few things. The Numenoreans assembled their greatest armies, Elrond tells us, during the days of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. And yet Gondor reached the peak of its power during the days of Atanatar Alcarin, who lived more than 1,000 years after the overthrow of Sauron by the Last Alliance. It's unlikely that Tolkien envisioned the "days of their power" extending past the Gondorians' retreat from Mordor in 1636. The Great Plague so devastated their realm that they were no longer able to maintain the watch upon Sauron's realm afterward. And yet, Gondor weakened itself during the Kin-strife, which occurred some 200 years previously.
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We know that Tarannon Falastur extended Gondor's control westward along the coasts of Middle-earth. He must have conquered the Anfalas, probably Andrast, and perhaps even Enedwaith. Angrenost and Aglarond would have provided him with valuable bases in that time, but they could also have been built to help control the Gap of Calenardhon. So it's probable that the fortresses were not built any later than circa TA 913 (the end of Falastur's reign). After his day the Ship-kings were concerned with taking Umbar and other parts of the Harad, so it's unlikely they would have needed any fortresses in the northern lands. In fact, since Falastur was himself the first of the Ship-kings, we may guess that he conducted his conquests from the Sea rather than by land.
So then what strategic value would either Angrenost or Aglarond have held for the Numenoreans
"in the days of their power?" From Gondor's founding until the overthrow of Sauron Mordor was indeed a threat to the western lands, but Appendix A in THE LORD OF THE RINGS says that Elendil and his sons believed "that Sauron also had perished" in the ruin of Numenor, so the threat they would have perceived was not one of Sauron's return, but rather of the presence of those of his servants who had survived his death in Numenor.
However, if Angrenost and Aglarond were intended to defend Calenardhon against Mordor they were poorly positioned to do so. An enemy army could cross the entire province before reaching the fortresses. Anduin would have been a better place to defend the region against attacks from the east, and in the Third Age the river was indeed fortified for just such a purpose.
It's hardly likely that the Gondorians possessed a military lore superior to that of the Numenoreans.
Yet Calenardhon was a part of early Gondor. We know this from the survey of the realm Isildur is said to have made in The Tradition Of Isildur, given in the chapter "Cirion and Eorl" in UNFINISHED TALES:
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 Page 95
returning from the northern bound to Anorien they came to the high hill that was then called Eilenaer but was afterwards called Amon Anwar 'Hill of Awe'. That was near to the centre of the lands of
Gondor....
Isildur must have been in Calenardhon if he returned to Anorien from the north. We also know that Sauron had at one time positioned an army in the lands east of Calenardhon, for he is said to have burned the Entwives out of those regions, creating the Brown Lands, in an effort to slow the advance of the Host of Gil-galad and Elendil. Could Anarion have built the fortresses at that time? It seems unlikely, as they still would have served no purpose and the construction would have required many men and much time, of which Anarion is said to have had too few to withstand Sauron in any event.
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It seems logical that the Gwathuirim of Enedwaith were the reason for the construction of these fortresses. These people were related to the Men of Dunharrow, the "wild men of the dales" in the lands to the south, and to other men who had accepted Elendil's rule in Arnor. For whatever reason Enedwaith was not incorporated into either Arnor or Gondor and its peoples, hostile to the
Numenoreans for centuries, were probably enemies of both realms.
Thus, it would be logical for Isildur and Anarion to have built the fortresses during the first century their realm existed. The presence of a Numenorean force in Aglarond would have helped defend Calenardhon against the Men of Dunharrow (although it could only have represented a threat to them from the flank), and perhaps was one reason that Isildur was able to conclude a peace with them. When they broke their oath to march with Gondor in war, the fortress would have helped convince them not to attack the Numenoreans from the rear.
But what was so wondrous about these two fortresses? The fortifications themselves were not extensive. Angrenost had its circle but the great wall of Aglarond was built late in the Third Age by the Rohirrim. Orthanc was a wonder in its construction, being tall and so well built that even the earth-crumbling power of the Ents could not harm it. Isildur and Anarion (or their heirs) placed a Palantir in Orthanc, using the fortress to watch over the northern bounds of their realm.
Aglarond really only had the glittering caves to mark it as something special. But it is perhaps significant that Gondor (and Rohan) never mined the caves despite the obviously rich mineral deposits there. The natural beauty of the caverns may not have been a shrine, but nonetheless must have inspired a sense of awe akin to that which Gimli and Legolas expressed when they saw the caverns for the first time. The Numenoreans may indeed have appreciated the special beauty of the caverns and elected never to alter them for fear of destroying one of the great wonders of Middle-earth.
Taken together, Angrenost and Aglarond represented a vivid memory of the power of Numenor.
Even at the end of the Third Age they provided visitors with a majestic and sensational view even though the great power which raised them had long since retreated south beyond the White Mountains.
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