Wikipedia

Gondor

(Redirected fromDol Amroth)
Not to be confused withGondarorGondour.

Gondoris a fictional kingdom inJ. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm ofMenin the west ofMiddle-earthat the end of theThird Age.The third volume ofThe Lord of the Rings,The Return of the King,is largely concerned with the events in Gondor during theWar of the Ringand with the restoration of the realm afterward. The history of the kingdom is outlined in the appendices of the book.

Gondor
J. R. R. Tolkien'slegendariumlocation
Coat of arms bearing the white tree,
Nimloth the fair[T 1]
First appearanceThe Lord of the Rings
In-universe information
Other name(s)The South-kingdom
TypeSouthern Númenórean realm in exile
RulerKings of Gondor; Stewards of Gondor
LocationNorthwest Middle-earth
CapitalOsgiliath, then Minas Tirith
FounderIsildurand Anárion

Gondor was founded by the brothersIsildurand Anárion, exiles from the downfallen island kingdom ofNúmenor.Along with Arnor in the north, Gondor, the South-kingdom, served as a last stronghold of theMen of the West.After an early period of growth, Gondor gradually declined as the Third Age progressed, being continually weakened by internal strife and conflict with the allies of the Dark LordSauron.By the time of the War of the Ring, the throne of Gondor is empty, though its principalities and fiefdoms still pay deference to the absent king by showing their loyalty to the Stewards of Gondor. The kingdom's ascendancy is restored only with Sauron's final defeat and the crowning ofAragornas king.

Based upon early conceptions, the history and geography of Gondor were developed in stages as Tolkien extendedhis legendariumwhile writingThe Lord of the Rings.Critics have noted the contrast between the cultured but lifeless Stewards of Gondor, and the simple but vigorous leaders of the Kingdom ofRohan,modelled on Tolkien's favouredAnglo-Saxons.Scholars have noted parallels between Gondor and theNormans,Ancient Rome,theVikings,theGoths,theLangobards,and theByzantine Empire.

Literature

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In-fiction etymology

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Tolkien intended the nameGondorto beSindarinfor "Stone-land".[T 2][T 3]This is echoed in the text ofThe Lord of the Ringsby the name for Gondor among theRohirrim,Stoningland.[T 4]Tolkien's early writings suggest that this was a reference to the highly developed masonry of Gondorians in contrast to their rustic neighbours.[T 5]This view is supported by theDrúedainterms for Gondorians andMinas Tirith—Stonehouse-folk and Stone-city.[T 6]Tolkien denied that the nameGondorhad been inspired by the ancient Ethiopian citadel ofGondar,stating that the rootOndwent back to an account he had read as a child mentioningond( "stone" ) as one of only two words known of thepre-Celticlanguages of Britain.[T 7]Gondor is also called the South-kingdom or Southern Realm, and together with Arnor as the Númenórean Realms in Exile. ResearchersWayne G. HammondandChristina Scullhave proposed aQuenyatranslation ofGondor:Ondonórë.[1] The Men of Gondor are nicknamed "Tarks" (from Quenyatarkil"High Man", Númenórean)[T 8]by theorcsof Mordor.[T 9]

Fictional geography

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Further information:Geography of Middle-earth

Country

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Sketch map of Gondor in the Third Age, bordered byRohanandMordor

Gondor's geography is illustrated inthe mapsforThe Lord of the Ringsmade byChristopher Tolkienon the basis of his father's sketches, and geographical accounts inThe Rivers and Beacon-Hills of Gondor,Cirion and Eorl,andThe Lord of the Rings.Gondor lies in the west ofMiddle-earth,on the northern shores of Anfalas[T 10][T 11]and the Bay of Belfalas[T 12]with the great port of Pelargir near the river Anduin's delta in the fertile[T 13]and populous[T 11]region of Lebennin,[T 14]stretching up to the White Mountains (Sindarin:Ered Nimrais,"Mountains of White Horns" ). Near the mouths of Anduin was the island of Tolfalas.[T 15]

To the north-west of Gondor lies Arnor; to the north, Gondor is bordered byWilderlandandRohan;to the north-east, by Rhûn; to the east, across the great river Anduin and the province of Ithilien, byMordor;to the south, by the deserts of northernHarad.To the west lies the Great Sea.[2]

The wide land to the west of Rohan was Enedwaith; in some of Tolkien's writings it is part of Gondor, in others not.[T 16][T 17][T 18][T 19] The hot and dry region of South Gondor, or Harondor was by the time of the War of the Ring "a debatable and desert land", contested by the men of Harad.[T 14]

The region of Lamedon and the uplands of the prosperous Morthond, with the desolate Hill of Erech,[T 20]lay to the south of the White Mountains, while the populous[T 4]valleys of Lossarnach were just south of Minas Tirith. The city's port was also a few miles south at Harlond, where the great riverAnduinmade its closest approach to Minas Tirith. Ringló Vale lay between Lamedon and Lebennin.[T 21]

The region of Calenardhon lay to the north of the White Mountains; it was granted independence as the kingdom ofRohan.[T 19]To the northeast, the river Anduin enters the hills of the Emyn Muil and passes the Sarn Gebir, dangerous straits, above a large river-lake, Nen Hithoel. Its entrance was once the northern border of Gondor, and is marked by the Gates of Argonath, an enormous pair of kingly statues, as a warning to trespassers. At the southern end of the lake are the hills of Amon Hen (the Hill of Seeing) and Amon Lhaw (the Hill of Hearing) on the west and east shores; below Amon Hen is the lawn of Parth Galen, where the Fellowship disembarked and was then broken, with the capture of Merry and Pippin, and the death of Boromir. Between the two hills is a rocky islet, Tol Brandir, which partly dams the river; just below it is an enormous waterfall, the Falls of Rauros, over which Boromir's funeral-boat is sent. Further down the river are the hills of Emyn Arnen.[T 22]

Capital, Minas Tirith

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Main article:Minas Tirith

The lifeless White Tree of Gondor has been compared to theDry Treeof medieval legend.[3]Medieval manuscript illustration of the Dry Tree (centre) with thePhoenix,flanked by theTrees of the Sun and the Moon.Both the Dry Tree and the Phoenix are symbols ofresurrectionand new life.Rouen1444–1445[4]

The capital of Gondor at the end of the Third Age, Minas Tirith (Sindarin: "Tower of Guard"[5]), lay at the eastern end of the White Mountains, built around a shoulder of Mount Mindolluin.[T 23]The city had seven walls: each held a gate, and each gate faced a different direction from the next.[T 24]The city was surrounded by thePelennor,an area of farmlands ringed by a wall.[T 11]Inside the seventh wall was the Citadel, topped by the White Tower. Behind the tower, reached from the sixth level, was asaddleleading to the necropolis of the Kings and Stewards, with a street of tombs, Rath Dínen.[a]

Within the Court of the Fountain stood theWhite Tree,the symbol of Gondor. It was dry throughout the centuries that Gondor was ruled by the Stewards; Aragorn brought a sapling of the White Tree into the city on his return as King.[6]John Garthwrites that the White Tree has been likened to theDry Treeof the 14th centuryTravels of Sir John Mandeville.[7][3]The tale runs that the Dry Tree had been dry since thecrucifixion of Christ,but that it would flower afresh when "a prince of the west side of the world should sing a mass beneath it".[3][4]

Tolkien's map-notes for the illustratorPauline Baynesindicate that the city had thelatitudeofRavenna,anItaliancity on theAdriatic Sea,though it lay "900 miles east of Hobbiton more nearBelgrade".[8][9][b]TheWarning beacons of Gondorwere atop a line of foothills running back west from Minas Tirith towards Rohan.[T 25]

Dol Amroth

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Dol Amroth (Sindarin: "the Hill of Amroth"[11]) was a fortress-city on a peninsula jutting westward into the Bay of Belfalas, on Gondor's southern shore. It is also the name of the port city, one of the five great cities of Gondor, and the seat of theprincipalityof the same name, founded by prince Galador.[T 26]The whimsical poem "The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon"inThe Adventures of Tom Bombadiltells how the Man in the Moon fell one night into "the windy Bay of Bel"; his fall is marked by the tolling of a bell in the Seaward Tower (Tirith Aear) of Dol Amroth, and he recovers at an inn in the city.[T 27]

Flag of the Prince of Dol Amroth

Its ruler, the Prince of Dol Amroth, is subject to the sovereignty of Gondor.[T 28]The principality's boundaries are not explicitly defined, though the Prince ruled Belfalas as a fief, as well as an area to the east on the map labelled Dor-en-Ernil ( "The Land of the Prince" ).[T 12]Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth inThe Return of the King,was linked by marriage both to theStewards of Gondorand to the Kings of Rohan.[12]He was the brother of Lady Finduilas and uncle to her sonsBoromirandFaramir;[T 29]a kinsman ofThéoden;[T 30]and the father ofÉomer's wife Lothíriel.[12][T 31]Imrahil played a major part in the defence ofMinas Tirith;the soldiers whom Imrahil led to Minas Tirith formed the largest contingent from the hinterland to the defence of the city.[13][T 32]They marched under a banner "silver upon blue",[T 1]bearing "a white ship like a swan upon blue water".[T 33]

Some like Finduilas are of Númenórean descent,[14]and still speak the Elvish language.[T 2]Tolkien wrote about the city's protective sea-walls and described Belfalas as a "great fief".[T 20]Prince Imrahil's castle is by the sea; Tolkien described him as "of high blood, and his folk also, tall men and proud with sea-grey eyes".[T 34]Local tradition claimed that the line's forefather, Imrazôr the Númenórean had married an Elf, though the line remained mortal.[T 24][15][16]

Fictional history

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Pre-Númenórean

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Thefirst peoplein the region were theDrúedain,a hunter-gatherer group ofMenwho arrive in theFirst Age.They were pushed aside by later settlers and came to live in the pine-woods of the Druadan Forest[T 6]by the north-easternWhite Mountains.[T 35] The next people settled in theWhite Mountains,and became known as the Men of the Mountains. They built a subterranean complex at Dunharrow, later known as the Paths of the Dead, which extended through the mountain-range from north to south.[T 13]They became subject toSauronin the Dark Years. Fragments of pre-Númenórean languages survive in later ages in place-names such asErech,Arnach,andUmbar.[T 36]

Númenórean kingdom

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Further information:Númenor

The shorelands of Gondor were widely colonized by theNúmenóreansfrom the middle of theSecond Age,especially by Elf-friends loyal toElendil.[T 37]His sonsIsildurand Anárion landed in Gondor after the drowning of Númenor, and co-founded the Kingdom of Gondor. Isildur brought with him a seedling of Nimloth (Sindarin:nim,"white" andloth,"blossom"[17]) the Fair, the white tree from Númenor. This tree and its descendants came to be called the White Tree of Gondor, and appears on the kingdom'scoat of arms.Elendil, who founded the Kingdom of Arnor to the north, was held to be theHigh Kingof all the lands of theDúnedain.[T 17]Isildur established the city ofMinas Ithil(Sindarin: "Tower of the Moon" ) while Anárion established the city of Minas Anor (Sindarin: "Tower of the Sun" ).[T 17]

Sauron survived the destruction of Númenor and secretly returned to his realm of Mordor, soon launching a war against the Númenórean kingdoms. He captured Minas Ithil, but Isildur escaped by ship to Arnor; meanwhile, Anárion was able to defend Osgiliath.[T 37]Elendil and theElven-kingGil-galadformed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and together with Isildur and Anárion, they besieged and defeated Mordor.[T 37]Sauron was overthrown; but theOne Ringthat Isildur took from him was not destroyed, and thus Sauron continued to exist.[T 38]

Both Elendil and Anárion were killed in the war, so Isildur conferred rule of Gondor upon Anárion's son Meneldil, retainingsuzeraintyover Gondor as High King of the Dúnedain. Isildur and his three elder sons were ambushed and killed byOrcsin the Gladden Fields. Isildur's remaining son Valandil did not attempt to claim his father's place as Gondor's monarch; the kingdom was ruled solely by Meneldil and his descendants until their line died out.[T 38]

Third Age, under the Stewards

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Seal of the Stewards of Gondor[c]

During the early years of theThird Age,Gondor was victorious and wealthy, and kept a careful watch on Mordor, but the peace ended with Easterling invasions.[T 40]Gondor established a powerful navy and captured the southern port of Umbar from theBlack Númenóreans,[T 40]becoming rich.[T 17] As time went by, Gondor neglected the watch onMordor.A civil war gave Umbar the opportunity to declare independence.[T 40]The kings ofHaradgrew stronger, leading to fighting in the south.[T 41]With a GreatPlaguethe population began a steep decline.[T 40]The capital was moved from Osgiliath to the less affected Minas Anor, and evil creatures returned to the mountains bordering Mordor. There was war with the Wainriders, a confederation of Easterling tribes, and Gondor lost its line of kings.[T 42]TheRingwraithscaptured and occupied Minas Ithil[T 37]which becameMinas Morgul,"the Tower of Black Sorcery".[T 43][T 37][T 17]At this time Minas Anor was renamed to Minas Tirith, in constant watch of its now defiled twin city. Without kings, Gondor was ruled by stewards for many generations, father to son; despite their exercise of power and hereditary status, they were never accepted as kings, nor did they sit on the high throne.[T 44][d]After attacks by evil forces, the province of Ithilien[T 11]and the city of Osgiliath were abandoned.[T 17][T 40]In the War of the Ring, the forces of Gondor, led byAragornunder the alias Thorongil, attacked Umbar and destroyed the Corsair fleet, allowingDenethor IIto devote his attention to Mordor.[T 39][19]

War of the Ring and restoration

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Further information:Battle of the Pelennor FieldsandHeraldry of Middle-earth § Men
Battle of the Pelennor Fields

Denethor sent his sonBoromirtoRivendellfor advice as war loomed. There, Boromir attended theCouncil of Elrond,saw theOne Ring,and suggested it be used as a weapon to save Gondor. Elrond rebuked him, explaining the danger of such use, and instead, the hobbitFrodowas made ring-bearer, and aFellowship,including Boromir, was sent on a quest to destroy the Ring.[T 45] Growing in strength,Sauronattacked Osgiliath, forcing the defenders to leave, destroying the last bridge across the Anduin behind them.Minas Tiriththen faced direct land attack fromMordor,combined with naval attack by the Corsairs of Umbar. ThehobbitsFrodo andSamtravelled through Ithilien, and were captured byFaramir,Boromir's brother, who held them at the hidden cave of Henneth Annûn, but aided them to continue their quest.[T 44]Aragornsummoned the Dead of Dunharrow to destroy the forces fromUmbar,freeing men from the southern provinces of Gondor such as Dol Amroth[T 11][T 12]to come to the aid of Minas Tirith.

During theBattle of the Pelennor Fields,the Great Gate was breached bySauron's forces led by theWitch-king of Angmar.He spoke "words of power" as thebattering ramnamedGrondattacked the Great Gate; it burst asunder as if "stricken by some blasting spell", with "a flash of searing lightning, and the doors tumbled in riven fragments to the ground".[T 24]The Witch-king rode through the Gate whereGandalfawaited him, but left shortly afterwards to meet the Riders of Rohan in battle. Gondor, with the support ofRohirrimas cavalry, repelled the invasion by Mordor. Following the death ofDenethorand the incapacity of Faramir, Prince Imrahil became the effective lord of Gondor.[20]

When Imrahil declined to send the entirety of Gondor's army against Mordor, Aragorn led a smaller army to theBlack Gateof Mordor to distract Sauron from Frodo's quest.[20]Sauron encircled the army at theBattle of the Morannon,but the hobbits succeeded, defeating Sauron and bringing the war and the Third Age to an end. The Great Gate was rebuilt withmithriland steel byGimliand Dwarves from theLonely Mountain.Aragorn's coronation was held on the Gateway, where he was pronounced King Elessar of both Gondor and Arnor, the sister kingdom in the north.[T 46][T 41][T 47][T 48]

Concept and creation

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Writing

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Tolkien's original thoughts about the later ages of Middle-earth are outlined in his first, mid-1930s, sketches for the legend ofNúmenor;these already contain a semblance of Gondor.[T 49]The appendices toThe Lord of the Ringswere brought to a finished state in 1953–54, but a decade later, during preparations for the release of the Second Edition, Tolkien elaborated the events that had led to Gondor's civil war, introducing the regency of Rómendacil II.[T 50]The final development of the history and geography of Gondor took place around 1970, in the last years of Tolkien's life, when he invented justifications for the place-names and wrote full narratives for the stories of Isildur's death and of the battles with the Wainriders and the Balchoth (published inUnfinished Tales).[T 51]

In-universe

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Tolkien describes an early population ofelvesin the Dol Amroth region, writing many accounts of its early history. In one version, a haven and a small settlement were founded in theFirst Ageby seafaringSindarfrom the west havens ofBeleriandwho fled in three small ships when the power ofMorgothoverwhelmed theEldar;the Sindar were joined later by Silvan Elves who came down Anduin seeking the sea.[T 52]Another account states that the haven was established in theSecond Ageby Sindarin Elves from Lindon, who learned the craft of shipbuilding at the Grey Havens and then settled at the mouth of theMorthond.[T 52]Other accounts say that Silvan Elves accompaniedGaladrielfromLothlóriento this region after the defeat ofSauronatEriadorin the middle of the Second Age,[T 52]or that Amroth ruled among the Nandorin Elves here in the Second Age.[T 53]Elves continued to live there well into the Third Age, until the last ship departed from Edhellond for theUndying Lands.Amroth, King of Lothlórien from the beginning of the Third Age,[T 52]left his realm behind in search of his beloved Nimrodel, a Nandorin who had fled from thehorrorunleashed by theDwarvesinMoria.He waited for her at Edhellond, for their final voyage together into the West. But Nimrodel, who lovedMiddle-earthas much as she did Amroth, failed to join him. When the ship was blown prematurely out to sea, he jumped overboard in a futile attempt to reach the shore to search for her, and drowned in the bay.[T 52]Mithrellas, a Silvan Elf and one of the companions of Nimrodel, is said to have become the foremother of the line of the Princes of Dol Amroth.[T 52][21]

According to an alternate account about the line of the Princes of Dol Amroth cited inUnfinished Tales,they were descendants of a family of the Faithful fromNúmenorwho had ruled over the land ofBelfalassince theSecond Age,beforeNúmenor was destroyed.This family ofNúmenóreanswere akin to theLords of Andúnië,and thus related toElendiland descended from the House of Elros. After theDownfall of Númenor,they were created the "Prince of Belfalas" byElendil.[T 19]Unfinished Talesprovides an account of "Adrahil of Dol Amroth" who fought under King Ondoher of Gondor against theWainriders.[T 42]

Tom Shippey's comparison of Gondor and its neighbour, Rohan[22]
Situation Gondor Rohan
Leader's behaviour
on meeting trespassers		 Faramir,son ofRuling StewardDenethor
courteous, urbane, civilised		 Éomer,nephew of KingThéoden
"compulsively truculent"
Ruler's palace Great Hall ofMinas Tirith
large, solemn, colourless		 Mead hallofMeduseld,
simple, lively, colourful
State "A kind ofRome",
subtle, selfish, calculating		 Anglo-Saxon,
vigorous
Bold colourful Rohan, modelled on theAnglo-Saxons(here in an 11th-century illustration), "the bit that Tolkien knew best",[22]is contrasted by critics with the solemn but colourless Gondor.

The criticTom Shippeycompares Tolkien's characterisation of Gondor with that of Rohan. He notes that men from the two countries meet or behave in contrasting ways several times inThe Lord of the Rings:when Éomer and his Riders of Rohan twice meet Aragorn's party in the Mark, and when Faramir and his men imprison Frodo and Sam at Henneth Annun in Ithilien. Shippey notes that while Éomer is "compulsively truculent", Faramir is courteous, urbane, civilised: the people of Gondor are self-assured, and their culture is higher than that of Rohan. The same is seen, Shippey argues, in the comparison between themead hallofMeduseldin Rohan, and the great hall of Minas Tirith in Gondor. Meduseld is simple, but brought to life by tapestries, a colourful stone floor, and the vivid picture of the rider, his bright hair streaming in the wind, blowing his horn. The Steward Denethor's hall is large and solemn, but dead, colourless, in cold stone. Rohan is, Shippey suggests, the "bit that Tolkien knew best",[23]Anglo-Saxon, full of vigour; Gondor is "a kind of Rome", over-subtle, selfish, calculating.[23]

The criticJane Chance Nitzschecontrasts the "good and bad Germanic lordsThéodenand Denethor ", noting that their names are almost anagrams. She writes that both men receive the allegiance of a hobbit, but very differently: Denethor, Steward of Gondor, undervaluesPippinbecause he is small, and binds him with a formal oath, whereas Théoden, King of Rohan, treatsMerrywith love, which the hobbit responds to.[24]

In his analysis of the historical lore of Númenor, Michael N. Stanton said close affinities are demonstrated between Elves and the descendants of Men of the West, not only in terms of blood heritage but also in "moral probity and nobility of demeanor", which gradually weakened over time due to "time, forgetfulness, and, in no small part, the machinations of Sauron".[25]The cultural ties between the Men of Gondor and Elves are reflected in the names of certain characters: for instance, Finduilas of Dol Amroth (the wife of Denethor and the sister of Prince Imrahil) shares her name with anElf princess of the First Age.[26]

Leslie A. Donovan, inA Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien,compares the siege of Gondor with the alliance of Elves and Men in their fight against Morgoth and other co-operative ventures inThe Silmarillion,making the point that none of these would have succeeded without collaboration; further that one such success comes from another shared effort, as when the Rohirrim were only able to come to the aid of Gondor because of the joint efforts of Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn; and that they in turn collaborated with the oathbreakers from the Paths of the Dead.[27]

Influences

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Further information:Tolkien and the classical worldandTolkien and the medieval

Sandra Ballif Straubhaar,a scholar of Germanic studies, notes inThe J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopediathat readers have debated the real-world prototypes of Gondor. She writes that like theNormans,their founders the Númenóreans arrived "from across the sea", and that Prince Imrahil's armour with a "burnishedvambrace"recalls late-medievalplate armour.Against this theory, she notes Tolkien's direction of readers to Egypt and Byzantium. Recalling that Tolkien located Minas Tirith at the latitude of Florence, she states that "the most striking similarities" are withancient Rome.She identifies several parallels:Aeneas,fromTroy,and Elendil, from Númenor, both survive the destruction of their home countries; the brothersRomulus and Remusfound Rome, while the brothers Isildur and Anárion found the Númenórean kingdoms in Middle-earth; and both Gondor and Rome experienced centuries of "decadence and decline".[19]

Dimitra Fimi,a scholar of fantasy and children's literature, draws a parallel between the seafaring Númenóreans and theVikingsof the Norse world, noting that inThe Lost Road and Other Writings,Tolkien describes theirship-burials,[T 54]matching those inBeowulfand theProse Edda.[28]She notes that Boromir is given a boat-funeral inThe Two Towers.[T 55][28]Fimi further compares the helmet and crown of Gondor with the romanticised "headgear of theValkyries",despite Tolkien's denial of a connection withWagner'sRingcycle,noting the "likeness of the wings of a sea-bird"[T 43]in his description of Aragorn's coronation, and his drawing of the crown in an unused dust jacket design.[T 56][28]

Miryam Librán-Moreno's comparison of Gondor with the Byzantine Empire[29]
Situation Gondor Byzantine Empire
Older state echoed Elendil's unified kingdom of Gondor and Arnor Roman Empire
Weaker sister kingdom Arnor,the Northern kingdom Western Roman Empire
Powerful enemies
to East and South		 Easterlings,
Haradrim,
Mordor		 Persians,
Arabs,
Turks
Finalsiegefrom the East Survives Falls

The classical scholar Miryam Librán-Moreno writes that Tolkien drew heavily on the general history of theGoths,Langobardsand theByzantine Empire,and their mutual struggle. Historical names from these peoples were used in drafts or the final concept of the internal history of Gondor, such as Vidumavi, wife of king Valacar (inGothic).[29]The Byzantine Empire and Gondor were both, in Librán-Moreno's view, only echoes of older states (theRoman Empireand the unified kingdom of Elendil), yet each proved to be stronger than their sister-kingdoms (theWestern Roman Empireand Arnor, respectively). Both realms were threatened by powerful eastern and southern enemies: the Byzantines by thePersiansand the Muslim armies of theArabsand theTurks,as well as the Langobards and Goths; Gondor by the Easterlings, the Haradrim, and the hordes of Sauron. Both realms were in decline at the time of a final, all-out siege from the East; however, Minas Tirith survived the siege whereasConstantinople did not.[29]In a 1951 letter, Tolkien himself wrote about "the Byzantine City of Minas Tirith."[30]

Tolkien visited theMalvern HillswithC. S. Lewis,[31][32]and recorded excerpts fromThe HobbitandThe Lord of the Ringsin Malvern in 1952, at George Sayer's home.[33]Sayer wrote that Tolkien relived the book as they walked, comparing the Malvern Hills to the White Mountains of Gondor.[32]

Adaptations

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Film

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Black-saileddromundships of theCorsairs of Umbarat Harlond, the port ofMinas Tirith,as depicted with a domed building inPeter Jackson'sThe Lord of the Ringsfilm trilogy

Gondor, as it appeared inPeter Jackson'sfilm adaptation ofThe Lord of the Rings,has been compared to the Byzantine Empire.[35]The production team noted this in DVD commentary, explaining their decision to include Byzantine domes into Minas Tirith's architecture and to have civilians wear Byzantine-styled clothing.[36]However, the appearance and structure of the city was based upon the inhabitedtidal islandandabbeyofMont Saint-Michel,France.[37]In the films, the towers of the city, designed by the artistAlan Lee,are equipped withtrebuchets.[38]The film criticRoger Ebertcalled the films' interpretation of Minas Tirith a "spectacular achievement", and compared it to theEmerald CityfromThe Wizard of Oz.He praised the filmmakers' ability to blend digital and real sets.[39]

Games

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The setting of Minas Tirith has appeared in video game adaptations ofThe Lord of the Rings,such as the 2003 video gameThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kingwhere it is directly modelled on Jackson's film adaptation.[40]

Several locations in Gondor were featured in the 1982role-playing gameMiddle-earth Role Playinggame and its expansions.[41]

Notes

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  1. ^Map #40 in Barbara Strachey'sJourneys of Frodois a plan of Minas Tirith.Fonstad 1991,pp. 138–139 shows a different plan of the city. The only maps by Tolkien are sketches.
  2. ^The Tolkien scholar Judy Ann Ford writes that there is also an architectural connection with Ravenna in Pippin's description of the great hall of Denethor, which in her view suggests a Germanic myth of a restored Roman Empire.[10]
  3. ^The seal of the stewards consisted of the three letters: R.ND.R (standing forArandur,king's servant), surmounted by three stars.[T 39]
  4. ^Boromir asks his father Denethor how many centuries it would take for a steward to become a king. Denethor replies "Few years, maybe, in other places of less royalty. In Gondor ten thousand years would not suffice."[T 44]Shippey reads this as a reproach toShakespeare'sMacbeth,noting that in Scotland, and in Britain, a Stewart/Steward likeJames I of England(James VI of Scotland) could metamorphose into a king.[18]

References

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Primary

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  1. ^abTolkien 1955book 6, ch. 4 "The Field of Cormallen": "a great standard was spread in the breeze, and there a white tree flowered upon a sable field beneath a shining crown and seven glittering stars"
  2. ^abTolkien 1955Appendix F, "Of Men"
  3. ^Tolkien 1987entries GOND-, NDOR-
  4. ^abTolkien 1955book 5 ch. 6 "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"
  5. ^Tolkien 1988ch. 22 "New Uncertainties and New Projections"
  6. ^abTolkien 1955book 5 ch. 5 "The Ride of the Rohirrim"
  7. ^Carpenter 2023,#324 to Graham Tayar 4–5 June 1971
  8. ^Tolkien, J. R. R.;Gilson, Christopher (editing, annotations)."Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings".Parma Eldalamberon(17): 101.{{cite journal}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^Tolkien 1955,"The Tower of Cirith Ungol"
  10. ^Tolkien 1987entries ÁNAD-, PHÁLAS-, TOL2-
  11. ^abcdeTolkien 1955book 5 ch. 1 "Minas Tirith"
  12. ^abcTolkien 1980part 2 ch. 4 "History of Galadriel and Celeborn": "Amroth and Nimrodel"
  13. ^abTolkien 1955book 5 ch. 9 "The Last Debate"
  14. ^abTolkien 1980map of the West of Middle-earth
  15. ^Tolkien 1996ch. 6 "The Tale of Years of the Second Age"
  16. ^Tolkien 1996ch. 10 "Of Dwarves and Men", and notes 66, 76
  17. ^abcdefTolkien 1955Appendix A, I (iv)
  18. ^Tolkien 1980part 2 ch. 4 "History of Galadriel and Celeborn"; Appendices C and D
  19. ^abcTolkien 1980"The Battles of the Fords of Isen", Appendix (ii)
  20. ^abTolkien 1955book 1 ch. 2 "The Passing of the Grey Company"
  21. ^Tolkien 1955map of Gondor
  22. ^Fonstad 1991,pp. 83–89
  23. ^Tolkien 1955,book 5 ch. 8 "The Houses of Healing"
  24. ^abcTolkien 1955,book 5, ch. 4 "The Siege of Gondor"
  25. ^Tolkien, J. R. R.;Hostetter, Carl F.;Tolkien, Christopher(2001)."The Rivers and Beacon - hills of Gondor".EPDF.
  26. ^Tolkien 1980,"Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan".
  27. ^The Adventures of Tom Bombadil,Introduction and Poem 6
  28. ^Carpenter 2023,#244 to a reader, draft, c. 1963
  29. ^Tolkien 1955,Appendix A, "The Stewards"
  30. ^Tolkien 1980,"Disaster of the Gladden Fields".
  31. ^Tolkien 1955,Appendix A, "The House of Eorl"
  32. ^Tolkien 1955,"Minas Tirith"
  33. ^Tolkien 1955,book 5 ch. 8 "The Houses of Healing
  34. ^Tolkien 1955,"Minas Tirith"
  35. ^Tolkien 1955book 6 ch. 6 "Many Partings"
  36. ^Tolkien 1955Appendix F part 1
  37. ^abcdeTolkien 1977"Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
  38. ^abTolkien 1980part 3 ch. 1 "Disaster of the Gladden Fields"
  39. ^abTolkien 1980part 3 ch. 2 "Cirion and Eorl", note 25
  40. ^abcdeTolkien 1955Appendix B "The Third Age"
  41. ^abTolkien 1996ch. 7 "The Heirs of Elendil"
  42. ^abTolkien 1980part 3 ch. 2 "Cirion and Eorl", (i)
  43. ^abTolkien 1955book 5 ch. 8 "The Houses of Healing"; book 6 ch. 5 "The Steward and the King"
  44. ^abcTolkien 1954book 4, ch. 5 "The Window on the West"
  45. ^Tolkien 1954abook 2 ch. 2 "The Council of Elrond"
  46. ^Tolkien 1955Appendix A, II
  47. ^Tolkien 1996ch. 8 "The Tale of Years of the Third Age"
  48. ^Carpenter 2023,#256 to Colin Bailey 13 March 1964, #338 to Father Douglas Carter, 6? June 1972
  49. ^Tolkien 1987ch. 2 "The Fall of Númenor"
  50. ^Tolkien 1996ch. 9 "The Making of Appendix A". Lettercin names is used for originalk
  51. ^Tolkien 1996ch. 13 "Last Writings"
  52. ^abcdefTolkien 1980,part 2 ch. 4 "History of Galadriel and Celeborn"
  53. ^Tolkien 1980,"Aldarion and Erendis".
  54. ^Tolkien 1987ch. 2 "The Fall of Númenor"
  55. ^Tolkien 1954book 3, ch. 1 "The Departure of Boromir"
  56. ^The Winged Crown of Gondor.Bodleian Library,Oxford, MS. Tolkien Drawings 90, fol. 30.

Secondary

edit
  1. ^Hammond & Scull 2005,"The Great River", p. 347
  2. ^Fonstad 1991,p. 191
  3. ^abcGarth, John(2020).The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-earth.Frances Lincoln Publishers&Princeton University Press.p. 41.ISBN978-0-7112-4127-5.
  4. ^abDrieshen, Clark (31 January 2020)."The Trees of the Sun and the Moon".British Library.Retrieved24 February2021.
  5. ^Noel, Ruth S. (1974).The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth.Houghton Mifflin.p. 170.ISBN0-395-29129-1.
  6. ^Vaccaro, Christopher T. (August 2004). "'And one white tree': the cosmological cross and the arbor vitae in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Silmarillion"".Mallorn(42): 23–28.JSTOR45320503.
  7. ^Gasse, Rosanne (2013)."The Dry Tree Legend in Medieval Literature".In Gusick, Barbara I. (ed.).Fifteenth-Century Studies 38.Camden House.pp. 65–96.ISBN978-1-57113-558-2.Mandevillealso includes a prophecy that when the Prince of the West conquers the Holy Land for Christianity, this tree will become green again, rather akin to the White Tree of Arnor [sic] in the Peter Jackson film version ofThe Lord of the Rings,if not in Tolkien's original novel, which sprouts new green leaves when Aragorn first arrives in Gondor at [sic, i.e. after] the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
  8. ^Flood, Alison (23 October 2015)."Tolkien's annotated map of Middle-earth discovered inside copy of Lord of the Rings".The Guardian.
  9. ^"Tolkien annotated map of Middle-earth acquired by Bodleian library".Exeter College, Oxford.9 May 2016.Retrieved9 April2020.
  10. ^Ford, Judy Ann (2005). "The White City: The Lord of the Rings as an Early Medieval Myth of the Restoration of the Roman Empire".Tolkien Studies.2(1): 53–73.doi:10.1353/tks.2005.0016.ISSN1547-3163.S2CID170501240.
  11. ^Foster, Robert (1978).A Guide to Middle-earth.Ballantine Books.p. 60.ISBN978-0345275479.
  12. ^abViars, Karen (2015)."Constructing Lothiriel: Rewriting and Rescuing the Women of Middle-Earth From the Margin".Mythlore.33.article 6.
  13. ^Honegger, Thomas(2017)."Riders, Chivalry, and Knighthood in Tolkien".Journal of Tolkien Research.4.article 3.
  14. ^Davis, Alex (2013) [2006]. "Boromir". InMichael D.C. Drout(ed.).The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia.Routledge.pp. 412–413.ISBN978-0-415-86511-1.
  15. ^Hammond & Scull 2005,"The Great River", pp. 683–684
  16. ^Armstrong, Helen (2013) [2006]. "Arwen". In Michael D.C. Drout (ed.).The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia.Routledge.pp. 38–39.ISBN978-0-415-86511-1.
  17. ^ref>Foster, Robert (1978).The Complete Guide to Middle-earth.Ballantine Books.p. 186.ISBN978-0-345-44976-4.
  18. ^Shippey 2005,p. 206.
  19. ^abcStraubhaar 2007,pp. 248–249.
  20. ^abO'Connor, David (2017)."For What May We Hope? An Appreciation of Peter Simpson's Political Illiberalism".The American Journal of Jurisprudence.62(1): 111–117.doi:10.1093/ajj/aux014.
  21. ^De Rosario Martínez, Helios (22 November 2005)."Light and Tree A Survey Through the External History of Sindarin".Elvish Linguistic Fellowship.
  22. ^abShippey 2005,pp. 146–149.
  23. ^abShippey 2005,pp. 146–149 "Whether one thinks of them as Anglo-Saxons or as Goths, they represent the bit that Tolkien knew best"
  24. ^Nitzsche 1980,pp. 119–122.
  25. ^Stanton, Michael (2015).Hobbits, Elves and Wizards: The Wonders and Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings".St. Martin's Publishing Group.p. Pt 143.ISBN978-1-2500-8664-8.
  26. ^Day, David (1993).Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia.Simon & Schuster.p. 248.ISBN978-0-6848-3979-0.
  27. ^Donovan, Leslie A. (2020) [2014]. "Middle-earth Mythology: An Overview". InLee, Stuart D.(ed.).A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien.Wiley. p. 100.ISBN978-1119656029.
  28. ^abcdFimi 2007,pp. 84–99.
  29. ^abcLibrán-Moreno, Miryam (2011)."'Byzantium, New Rome!' Goths, Langobards and Byzantium inThe Lord of the Rings".InFisher, Jason(ed.).Tolkien and the Study of his Sources.McFarland & Company.pp. 84–116.ISBN978-0-7864-6482-1.
  30. ^abHammond & Scull 2005,p. 570
  31. ^abDuriez 1992,p. 253
  32. ^abSayer 1979
  33. ^Carpenter 1977
  34. ^"Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King: 2003".Movie Locations.Retrieved22 February2021.Ben Ohau Station, in the Mackenzie Basin, in the Southern Alps,... provided the 'Pelennor Fields', and the foothills of the 'White Mountains', for the climactic battle scenes
  35. ^Puig, Claudia (24 February 2004)."With third film, 'Rings' saga becomes a classic".USA Today.In the third installment, for example, Minas Tirith, a seven-tiered city of kings, looks European, Byzantine and fantastical at the same time.
  36. ^The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(special extended DVD ed.). December 2004.
  37. ^Morrison, Geoffrey (27 June 2014)."The real-life Minas Tirith from 'Lord of the Rings': A tour of Mont Saint-Michel".CNET.
  38. ^Russell, Gary (2004).The Art of The Lord of the Rings.Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.pp.103–105.ISBN0-618-51083-4.
  39. ^Ebert, Roger(17 December 2003)."Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King".Chicago Sun-Times.Archived fromthe originalon 11 December 2011.Retrieved15 November2021.
  40. ^Dobson, Nina (28 October 2003)."The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Designer Diary #6".GameSpot.Retrieved15 November2014.
  41. ^"Assassins of Dol Amroth".RPGnet.Skotos.Retrieved11 August2012.

Sources

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