History Text

[Vardamir117]

• [x] Angmar
• [x] Arnor
• [x] Dol Guldur
• [x] Eregion
• [x] Gondor
• [x] Harad
• [x] Isengard
• [x] Lindon
• [x] Lothlorien
• [x] Minas Morgul
• [x] Mirkwood
• [x] Mordor
• [x] Numenor
• [x] Rhovanion
• [x] Rhun
• [x] Rivendell
• [x] Rohan
• [x] Umbar

WIP files: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uofoict1gqmva61/AABab1CmwXpuEpaU44tfk7Mca?dl=0

[Vardamir117]

Angmar.txt

[pulkit24]

Thanks but I want to use the history pages as civ guides as well. Things like the civ's overall gameplay theme, unique units and other special techs. Example for Angmar, the end goal is an offensive civ that can strongly besiege opponents, conquers lots of bases rapidly in late game and operates small but well-fortified bases.

Perhaps we can condense the history to one paragraph and add subsequent paragraphs for these items?

[Vardamir117]

The history bits could probably be condensed that far, particularly for realms where the lore is pretty thin in the first place. Would there be space for a fuller version somewhere, though? Perhaps after the civ descriptions or in a different section. It's up to you of course, but I think some in-depth history would be nice for people who aren't too familiar with the Legendarium.

[Vardamir117]

How did you want this handled?

[pulkit24]

Alright lets do it your way. Civ sections are all history just the way your Angmar is written. I'll use the other generic sections for play tips and such. I have space there.

Please make sure your history text is in your words, and where it's copied verbatim, you cite the sources at the bottom!

[Vardamir117]

Rhûn (FA 1 On)

Rhûn is not a realm, but a vast region, largely unknown to the West. Far into its reaches was the awakening of Men and Elves in the long past, and many of both kindreds stayed rather than journey westward. But chiefly, Rhûn refers to the lands immediately east of Rhovanion, the region surrounding the Sea of Rhûn. The Easterlings of that region are remembered most for their many invasions of the West, but some of the lands in the East are more peaceful, such as the fine vineyards of Dorwinion that traded with the Woodland Realm of Thranduil.

Rhûn was a stronghold of Sauron when he arose in the Second Age, and from it came Khamûl, the Nazgûl second in might only to the Witch-king. Rhûn was left in turmoil when Sauron was overthrown and it was not until year 490 of the Third Age that the Easterlings appear in the records of Gondor. King Ostoher was advanced in years, so it fell upon his son Tarostar to defeat the threat. Ten years later, the Easterlings had been driven back, and he took the name Rómendacil, East-victor.

But that was the beginning of a long grudge that Rhûn held against the realm of Anárion, and the Easterlings returned in 541 to avenge themselves, killing Rómendacil. Their victory was short-lived, however, as his son Turambar defeated them in turn and proceeded to conquer significant territory in the East. Rhûn chafed under the imposed rule, but Gondor was too strong and was left alone for centuries.

It was in the reign of Narmacil I that the Easterlings began to return in force, finding the princes of Rhovanion between them and Gondor. Many settlements and camps were made in increasingly westward lands, and the some of the men of Rhovanion started to join forces with the Easterlings. But when a large army came from the East in 1248, it was met and destroyed by a coalition of Gondor and the princes, along with all the settled Easterlings. Gondor improved their relations with Rhovanion and there were no more alliances with Rhûn: though many Easterlings continued to move westward, Rhovanion repelled them with such zeal that Gondor scarcely heard rumor of the battles.

The Great Plague originated in Rhûn before passing to the West, and its effects were dire. For nearly two hundred years the land was quiet. In that time, emissaries of Sauron from Dol Guldur entered the land, hoping to find warriors they could stir up against the weakened West. They found the Wainriders, fierce nomads that travelled in wagons and fought in chariots. The Wainriders fell upon Rhovanion in 1851 with terrible fury and captured it. Gondor held at the Anduin while the Wainriders grew rich on their new conquests.

Calimehtar of Gondor later drove back the first group of the Wainriders, but the Easterlings continued to wax stronger and expanded to the south, overunning Khand and parts of Harad. Aided by agents of Dol Guldur, they allied with the Haradrim and readied a huge attack upon hated Gondor from both the north and south. King Ondoher met the northern army, but was slain and his forces destroyed at the Black Gate. The Wainriders threw a great celebration for their victory, but were caught in their revelries by the Gondor's southern army that had repelled the attack from Harad. The Wainriders were utterly broken in the Battle of the Camp, and Rhûn once again was quiet as its many chieftans avoided the wrath of the West.

In 2063 the Wise turned greater attention to Dol Guldur, and Sauron fled to the East. There he reforged his ancient alliances, binding the peoples of Rhûn to his will and the dark worship of Morgoth. Though no tales came back to the Westlands, the Blue Wizards and Saruman had long ago entered the East. It may be that they opposed Sauron's designs, or that they were twisted by his dark influences. The Blue Wizards never returned, and the White Wizard never spoke of the matter when he did.

Sauron returned to Dol Guldur in 2460, but his emissaries remained in constant contact with the East. By 2509, the Balchoth arrived at his urging. Though they were related to the Wainriders and also travelled in great wains, they lacked the many horses and fine weapons of their kin. But they were numerous and aided by the orcs, and overran much of Rhovanion and Southern Mirkwood. The next year, they assembled a great host to assail Gondor. The Steward Cirion met them in the fields of Celebrant and was nearly crushed; it was only the valor of Eorl, scion of Northmen that turned the battle against the Balchoth.

The Easterlings attacked again in 2545 and slew Eorl, but they were never again a great power in the West until Sauron openly declared himself again. They came from far off lands for war, even a race not seen before: broad, bearded as Dwarves, and armed with axes. For the Easterlings fell deeply under Sauron's sway and took part in many of his campaigns, from the capture of Osgiliath to the Battle of Dale. Many were at the Battle of the Black Gate when the Ring was destroyed, and even as the power of Mordor withered some stood and fought the victorious host of the West. But it was a hollow stand, a hopeless fight against a hated enemy. They were utterly defeated and the Kingdoms of Elessar Telcontar and Éomer Éadig humbled the East for long years after the War of the Ring.

[pulkit24]

Nice article! What is "FA 1 On"?

[Vardamir117]

The duration of Easterling civilization, from First Age 1 on. Pretty much everyone but Harad's will be much more specific.

[Vardamir117]

Dol Guldur (c. TA 1050 to 2941, 2951-3019)

No one knows the exact year a darkness first came into the forest of Greenwood, but by 1050 of the Third Age it was clear some evil power dwelt in the great woodland, and men began to call it Mirkwood. Some fifty years later, the Wise had found that the Shadow had occupied the deserted elven stronghold of Amon Lanc, far in the south of the forest. Though the nature of the threat was not known, it was clearly something far more dangerous than an orc chieftan, and the Wise feared it to be one of the Nazgûl. In truth, the power that became known as the Necromancer was Sauron himself, recovering from his defeat at the end of the Second Age.

However dire their suspicions, none were willing to challenge the growing power in the rechristened Dol Guldur, the Hill of Sorcery. The Silvan elves had relocated to the far north of the forest, and the various Northmen never settled too close to the stronghold. As the Necromancer's power waxed stronger, the forest grew dense and dark, and even the wildlife became twisted and unwholesome: deer, moths, squirrels, bats, and butterflies as dark as pitch could be seen even far away from Dol Guldur, and many fell creatures grew to monstrous sizes within the gloomy woodlands. Most terrible of all were the giant spiders, immigrants of the mountains of Mordor that fled their loathsome mother Shelob. The spiders earned the especial hate of the Wood-elves, and they were hunted without mercy when they encroached upon the realm of Thranduil.

When Dol Guldur had grown strong, the Wise began to fear the truth, that a greater power than the Ringwraiths inhabited it. Certainly it was not their chief, who had appeared in Angmar and taken Minas Morgul from Gondor. In 2063, Gandalf journeyed to Dol Guldur to see if their fears that the Necromancer was Sauron were true, but the Dark Lord fled from his approach far into Rhûn.

The Watchful Peace lasted for four hundred years, and while Sauron corrupted the Easterlings and the Nazgûl were quiet in Morgul Vale the West was free of strife. But it was not to last. Sauron returned once again in 2460, with renewed strength. Orcs were sent from Dol Guldur to Moria twenty years later, and the ancient dwarven halls were long held by Sauron's cruel folk. Though the Dark Lord dared not test his strength in attacks from his forest stronghold, he stirred up men of the East and South and orcs wherever they dwelt to trouble the West. Ever more gloom and clouds issued forth from the dread fortress, though Galadriel would oppose them with an enchanted mist. Through such a mist rode Eorl to the fields of Celebrant.

Sauron's will was also bent on recovering the rings of power, and the last of the Seven came into his hands when the exiled Thráin of Erebor wandered too close to the forest in 2845. Five years later, Gandalf again journeyed to Dol Guldur, secretly this time, to confirm his long-held suspicions of the identity of the Necromancer and learned that Sauron was collecting the rings. Gandalf urged an attack on the stronghold, but was overruled by Saruman. For the White Wizard now lusted after the One Ring for himself, and hoped that it would reveal itself to return to its master.

The power of the Necromancer grew ever stronger, and it came to pass in 2939 that Saruman found that his agents searching for the Ring at the site of Isildur's death were not alone, that Sauron had learnt of its fate and had grown strong indeed. When the White Council met again in 2941 an expedition was launched against the dark hill, and by Saruman's devices was Sauron was driven out.

But the respite for Greenwood was a short one, for Sauron had fled to Mordor which the Nazgûl had long prepared for his return and gathered yet more strength. Ten years later, Dol Guldur was reoccupied by Nazgûl under Khamûl, the second greatest of the Ringwraiths. In Lórien it was said that the power of Dol Guldur grew sevenfold under the Black Easterling. From it were launched assaults on both the realm of Thranduil and Lórien during the War of the Ring, though the only victory was the escape of Gollum. Celeborn marched upon the fortress after Sauron's defeat and captured it, and Galadriel cleansed its dungeons and the forest. The lands once inhabited by darkness and fear became East Lórien, a fair country of the dwindling elves.

[Vardamir117]

Rhovanion (c. TA 1240 to 1856)

Properly, Rhovanion refers to a region east of Greenwood, but it often means the much larger Wilderland as a whole. This land was home to the Northmen, a race believed to be kin of the Edain, though they had not partipated in the wars against Morgoth. Rhovanion was Sauron's for much of the Second Age, but Gil-galad liberated it after Ar-Pharazôn took the Dark Lord to Númenor. Some of these Northmen brought news of the disaster at Gladden Fields to Thranduil, and many gathered to defeat the last battalion of the great orcs of Barad-dûr's first rise that had slain Isildur's company.

In the early years of Gondor, the Northmen were hostile and rode against its kings on many occasions. The arrival of the Easterlings in TA 490 shifted Gondor's priorities, and a bond of friendship began to form between the Northmen and the Númenórean exiles. Around the year 1000, the Northmen were formally given lands east and south of Greenwood. The Northmen made several realms that prospered and multiplied under their respective princes, though there was strife between them. Two centuries later, the Easterlings began to return, and some of the princes made alliances with the men of Rhûn.

When the Easterlings arrived in greater numbers, Minalcar, the regent of Narmacil I, went in force against the invaders in 1248. He was aided by many Northmen, particularly Vidugavia, who called himself the King of Rhovanion and was the most powerful of the princes. On his return, Minalcar (now known as Rómendacil II, East-victor) sought to strengthen relations with the Northmen; many were recruited into his army and given high rank. His son Valacar was sent as an emissary to the court of Vidugavia and grew to love the North and its horse-riding people. Valacar married Vidumavi, the daughter of Vidugavia, and eventually their son Eldacar, born Vinitharya, became the king of Gondor.

Though there was great friendship between the two peoples, many in Osgiliath feared the blood of Númenor was being diminished and were not willing to accept a half-northern king. War broke out after Eldacar ascended to the throne in 1432, and he was forced to flee to Rhovanion. Eldacar gathered his mother's kinsmen and loyal Gondorians for a decade before reclaiming the throne from the usurper Castamir. Many of the Northmen moved to Gondor after the war and mingled with the Edain.

Rhovanion prospered for many years despite many battles with Rhûn. But in the winter of 1635 came the Great Plague, which devastated the land of the Northmen: more than half of the people and horses of the land perished once it had passed. The Kingdom never truly recovered, and was ill-prepared to defend when the Wainriders came in force in 1851. The Wainriders killed their king and enslaved their people. Marhari, a man of the royal line gathered what forces he could to aid Narmacil of Gondor when he came to aid the folk of Rhovanion. However, both were slain in the Battle of the Plain, and the Wainriders were left to despoil Rhovanion. Marhari's son Marhwini led what survivors he could to the Vales of the Anduin far to the North. Others fled for their kin in Dale.

In 1899, Marhwini's scouts saw stirrings as the Wainriders prepared for another invasion of Gondor. He reached out to the last free men of Rhovanion and helped prepare a revolt to start when the invaders left for war, then sent messengers to Calimehtar. Gondor met the Easterlings in Dagorlad, and with the help of Marhwini they were driven back to their smoking dwellings in Rhovanion where the revolt was underway. Thus were the Wainriders driven from the Westlands for a time, though the destruction they wrought meant Marhwini returned to the North. There the remnant of Rhovanion became the Éothéod. Though ties with Gondor waned in time, the Éothéod assisted in the final defeat of the Wainriders in 1944 and fought against Angmar in 1975.

In 1999, Thráin I established the Kingdom under the Mountain. Dale prospered greatly with the new Dwarven kingdom, though it was somewhat dimished when Thorin I left for the Grey Mountains in 2210. The Dwarves were less friendly to the Éothéod, for their lord Fram slew the dragon Scatha and refused the dwarves a share of the wyrm's treasure hoard when they claimed it.

By 2509, the Éothéod was long sundered from Gondor. When the Balchoth arrived from the East, the Cirion of Gondor had little hope of their aid, but he sent riders to recall their ancient friendship nonetheless, and to tell their lord Eorl of the final ruin of Rhovanion by the Balchoth, that the last remnants of the Northmen that dwelt in Vidugavia's lands were driven away by the Easterlings. It was Borondir, a Gondorian with some Northern ancestry who brought the news to Eorl and guided the Northern host back to crush the Balchoth. Cirion granted Eorl new lands in gratitude, the fief of Calenardhon that became known as Rohan.

The Dwarves returned to Erebor in 2590 under Thrór and once again Dale befriended them and prospered. From the River Running to the Redwater, the Northmen of Dale held sway, driving back the Easterlings that troubled them. But the wealth of Erebor attracted the great dragon Smaug in 2770. The wyrm drove the dwarves from their mountain kingdom, burned Dale to the ground, and hunted the finest soldiers of Girion Lord of Dale. The survivng longbeards were forced into unhappy exile, while the remaining men of Dale eked out a wary existence on the Lake-town of Esgaroth, perilously close to the Desolation of Smaug.

Long did the dragon hold the land, but a company under Thorin Oakenshield entered the mountain and awakened the wyrm from his long slumber. Smaug ravaged Esgaroth, but Bard the Bowman slew the beast with a Black Arrow ere the ruin was complete. The matter of the dragon's hoard once again threatened to cause a rift between the Northmen and Dwarves, but they were joined in friendship when the goblins of the North also came in force to claim the treasure. Dale and Erebor rose once more after the Battle of Five Armies was won, and grew strong and rich. Though Sauron attacked in the War of the Ring, He could not overcome the doughty kingdoms and they prospered for long years afterward.

[Vardamir117]

Rohan (TA 2510 On)

The men of Rohan trace back their ancestry to the Éothéod, a remnant of the Kingdom of Rhovanion that fled the wrath of Eastern invaders. Though Rhovanion was a close friend of Gondor, the Éothéod had relocated far to the north after the destruction of Angmar, to the Vales of the Anduin by the foothills of the Grey Mountains, and contact between the peoples slowly withered.

It took a grave threat to Gondor in the form of a new tribe from the East, the Balchoth, for the steward Cirion to recall the old friendship. With little hope, he sent six riders to their lord Eorl and gathered his own forces to meet the Balchoth in Gondor's depeopled province of Calenardhon.

When Eorl heard the news he resolved to aid with all his strength, lest Gondor fall and leave no bastion against the darkness. Nearly eight thousand riders he gathered to ride more than three hundred leagues, and none dared contest his passage. He reached the Fields of Celebrant near the end of hope for Gondor, and unlooked for fell upon the Balchoth and orcs with terrible wrath.

After the battle, Cirion brought Eorl and the lords of Gondor to Amon Anwar, the Tomb of Elendil, and there made a sacred Oath of alliance, granting to the Éothéod the land of Calenardhon in perpetuity. Eorl named the realm the Riddermark, but in Gondor it was called Rochand and later Rohan, the Horse-country. Eorl established his throne in Aldburg, though his son Brego moved to Edoras and built the great Golden Hall of Meduseld.

The early trials of the new land were chiefly due to the Dunlendings, men from across the western mountains who had thrown off the suzerainty of Gondor and began settle in Calenardhon as the power of Westernesse waned. The Rohirrim drove the Dunlendings back in the reign of Aldor the Old, but there remained long enmity between the two people. The Dunlendings returned in greater strength, and even seized the nearly abandoned fortress of Isengard in 2710. Open war arose in the time of Helm Hammerhand, for when Gondor was assailed by corsairs and Rohan by eastern invaders, the son of an estranged royal cousin of Dunlendish blood led a great host of Dunlendings from the west. Edoras was taken and the sons of Helm slain, while the king himself was forced to retreat to the fortress of the Hornburg to weather the Long Winter and his besiegers. The fortress came to be called Helm's Deep for his valor, for he would sound a great horn and sally forth unarmed in the snow, slaying many men with his fists. Though he froze one night, it was said that his shade still stalked the land to terrorize the foes of Rohan. The Dunlendings were driven out with the aid of Gondor by his sister's son Fréaláf, who began Rohan's second line of kings. Fréaláf even liberated Isengard from the Dunlendings after its stores were depleted by the Long Winter. The White Wizard Saruman returned from the East early in his reign, and was welcomed by Fréaláf and the Steward Beren as an ally and the new warden of Isengard.

Early in the reign of King Brytta, orcs fled south from their defeat at Moria, hoping to seek refuge in the White Mountains. The goblins troubled Rohan for many years, even slaying King Walda. His son, the great hunter Folca, vowed never to hunt a beast again until the orcs were driven out and his father avenged. In 2864 the last orc-den was burned and he set his hounds upon the Boar of Everholt. The king and the mighty beast were both slain in the hunt, but Rohan prospered under the peace that Folca won. When the Haradrim invaded Gondor in 2885, Rohan was able to amass many men to aid against the Southrons. There the twin sons of King Folcwine were slain, and the friendship of the two lands was set once more in blood.

With the death of his brothers, the throne soon fell to Fengel, by all accounts a king few loved. For he cared little of the realm, but much of riches and feasts, and often was at odds with his marshalls and his son Thengel. Thengel left to dwell in Gondor as soon as he was able and stayed there many years, serving under the steward Turgon. He married late, to Morwen of Lossarnach, and his first three children were born in Gondor. Unwillingly he returned to Rohan when his father died, but he ruled well, though the Wizard Saruman declared himself the lord of Isengard and began to trouble Rohan secretly.

Rohan came to the attention of Mordor in the reign of his son Théoden, when emissaries came offering to buy the great horses of the Riddermark for the Black Land. When they were refused, instead of emissaries Sauron sent orcs across the Anduin and took the steeds by force. These raids slew Éomund, the Third Marshall and husband of Théodwyn, beloved sister of the king. When Théodwyn fell mortally ill soon afterwards, their children Éomer and Éowyn were taken to Edoras and raised by the king as his own. Orcs raids continued not only from Mordor, but also from the Misty Mountains, stirred up by Sauron, and the Uruk armies being raised in Isengard.

It was in 3014 when Théoden fell ill that Gríma, an agent of Saruman gained much influence over the realm. Gríma set the other counselors of the king against one another, discrediting many truly loyal to the Mark. Two only he failed to drive away: the heir Théodred and Éomer the king's sister-son. Even so, Théoden came to rely deeply on Gríma, who was named Wormtongue by those that percieved his designs. As the king drew sicker, perhaps through the ministrations of Wormtongue, the realm grew weaker, with the raids of orcs and Dunlendings going unanswered as Gríma counseled that men guard Edoras rather than ride out to meet the foes.

Saruman openly declared overlordship of Rohan in 3018 and began fighting in earnest. In February of 3019, he attacked the Fords of Isen with the aim of slaying Théodred. Though he may have taken the crossing had he not pressed against the prince's guard beyond all else, Théodred was slain and Théoden nearly undone in grief. Éomer was imprisoned at the behest of Wormtongue when he returned from destroying a far-ranging orc-host of Isengard. But when all hope seemed lost, the wizard Gandalf returned to Edoras and broke the bonds Gríma had laid upon the king, and opened his eyes to the perils of Saruman. The host of Edoas set forth in haste, but Saruman's armies took the fords before they could be reinforced. To the Hornburg, to Helm's Deep went the king, and at that bulwark the forces met in battle. There, aided by the wrath of the trees of Fangorn, Isengard's armies were utterly vanquished, even while the Ents destroyed the great armories and pits of Isengard.

But Mordor soon stirred in great force, and when the Red Arrow came from Gondor, Rohan called a proper mustering of Riders to fight the Shadow in the East. The Rohirrim joined the great battle of Minas Tirith and fell deeds were done ere it was won. There was Théoden slain by the Lord of the Nazgûl, slain by the shield maiden Éowyn in turn, and Éomer began the third line of kings. While the Ents guarded their home, also to the Black Gate went the Eorlingas, and at the end of all hope were victorious when the power of Sauron was broken. King Éomer reigned long after that, longer than any save Aldor the Old, in peace in his own realm. But he was a fast friend of King Elessar, and renewed the Oath of Eorl. The hosts of Rohan fought alongside those of Gondor and Arnor for long years in their wars in the East and South.

[Vardamir117]

Isengard (TA 2759 to 3019)

The fortress of Angrenost, or Isengard in the tongue of Rohan, began as a distant part of ancient Gondor, the northernmost of its great outposts. Where the Misty Mountains come to an end, the Dúnedain wrought a mighty wall enclosing a circle of green valley a mile across, with only a single gate and tunnel through the rocky fortification. In the center of the ring was the tower of Orthanc, a black pillar of fused stone more than five hundred feet high, wrought smooth and nigh unbreakable. The tower stored a palantír, one of the seeing stones that could reveal the land from afar and commune with the other palantíri, and served as the link between Gondor and Arnor in the early years of the Third Age.

As the kingdoms of the Dúnedain waned, so did the import of Isengard, though even when the province of Calenardhon where it lay became depopulated by the Great Plague, it continued to be manned. Eventually, the Warden of Isengard was bade to return to Minas Tirith with the Keys of Orthanc, though some of the garrison remained in the Ring of Isengard under a hereditary captain. These men were joined by the garrison of Aglarond when Calenardhon was ceded to Eorl and became Rohan, as Isengard remained a fief of Gondor.

The men of Isengard remained aloof from Rohan, where it began to be said their lord practised dark magics. As the Stewards of Gondor turned their eyes ever more eastward, it was the Dunlendings who had the most contact with the secretive Isengarders, and they even began to take wives from among the wild men. Many of the garrison did not protest when the Dunlendings seized control of Isengard, and those who did were easily slain. Thus it came to pass that the enemies of the Rohirrim commanded the Gap of Rohan and the Fords of Isen.

Though the Kings of Rohan attempted to recapture Isengard, the walls were strong and the Dunlendings at their greatest. Years later, one of the armies Wulf marched against Helm Hammerhand was from Isengard. But the fortress suffered during the Long Winter, and Fréaláf Hildeson successfully sieged it once the Dunlendings were driven from Rohan. Thus it was with great joy that Fréaláf welcomed the Wizard Saruman the White when he appeared at his coronation in the year 2759, and urged Beren the Steward of Gondor give him the Keys of Orthanc, so that the men of the West might have a strong and fast friend guarding the strategic location.

For some time Saruman continued to wander throughout Middle-Earth: long would he speak with the Ent Treebeard, and many secrets of Fangorn Forest did he learn. To many other lands he would would travel, and there he would see the good that was done by Gandalf the Grey Pilgrim. But this sight turned to resentment: for while Saruman considered himself the greatest of the wizards, Gandalf proved to be his equal, if not more. Círdan saw this quality when the wizards first arrived in Middle-Earth, and gave Gandalf his ring of power. Galadriel saw the same and wished Gandalf to head the White Council, and only chose Saruman after the Grey Pilgrim refused. For these things Saruman begrudged Gandalf, and began to desire the same influence that the Grey Pilgrim accrued over his many wanderings and councils of the people of Middle-Earth. But Saruman began to seek it by opposing the Enemy through the methods he had made long study of: Sauron's ways.

In 2851, Gandalf reported to the White Council that the Necromancer of Dol Guldur, long feared to be one of the Nazgûl, was none other than Sauron himself, and urged that the enemy be driven out. But Saruman overruled him with his eloquent voice, for the White Wizard delighted in gainsaying the plans of the Grey, and by now he desired the One Ring and hoped that it may reveal itself if its master could search for it. To that end, Saruman sent his agents to Gladden fields, where Isildur perished long ago. Though they did not find the prize Saruman wished, the final resting-place of Isildur was found: and from it the chain he held the ring on and the Elendilmir, the jewel that adorned his head. Both were secretly borne to Orthanc, to be found long years later by King Elessar.

But Saruman underestimated the reach and knowledge of the Necromancer. In 2939, he found his agents were not alone in Gladden, and he feared the might of Sauron. When the White Council met two years later, Saruman laid aside his jealousy of Gandalf and agreed to an attack upon Dol Guldur. There Saruman's studies of the Enemy revealed their merit, for it was the devices of the White Wizard that drove the Dark Lord out.

In 2953, the White Council met for the last time to discuss the threat arising once more from Mordor, whither Sauron had fled to the prepaparations of the Ringwraiths. There Saruman reassured the Council with false news that the Ring had passed to the sea. Afterwards, he withdrew to Isengard and began to fortify it, forseeing the tumult to come. He began to befriend the Dunlendings, stirring them up against Rohan and recruiting them as agents and guards. Many of his spies he set upon Gandalf, and as he learned the extent of the Grey Pilgrim's interest in the Shire, he sent more agents around it to watch the land and began business dealings with it in secret.

But Saruman himself remained cloistered in Orthanc, where he delved ever deeper into the arts of Sauron. Sometime around 2990, he began to breed orcs. But he sought stronger servants, and uncovered a terrible evil of Morgoth: the blending of men and orcs to form monstrous races stronger than goblins and able to bear the sun. And as the years passed by without a clear sign of the Ruling Ring, he set his knowledge to the creation of his own rings, and had wrought his first essay of the craft by the War of the Ring. Near the year 3000, he dared to use the palantír of Orthanc. And in its use he encountered Sauron, who held the palantír Minas Ithil, and he made an alliance with the Dark Lord.

As the strength of Isengard grew, Saruman focused ever more on the end of Rohan. And for that his greatest ally was Gríma son Gálmód, councilor to the King Théoden. Gríma was swayed by promises of wealth and power, and Éowyn the niece of the king. Gríma brought word of all that went on it Edoras to Isengard, and set the other advisors against each other. When King Théoden fell ill in 3014, some say through poison, Gríma became the chief voice he listened to. Gríma counseled caution above else, only demanding action that could not foil Isengard. Even as Gríma gained more influence, Isengard became a place of forges, the dens of orcs, pits, and the howling of wolves.

By 3018, Saruman was convinced that Gandalf had learned news of the One Ring, a connection with the Shire. With that news, lust for its possession rekindled in his heart, and he summoned Gandalf to draw him into the designs of Orthanc. Gandalf refused and fled Isengard, and soon after Saruman declared overlordship of Rohan. While Gríma's counsels kept the king indecisive, Saruman set his armies against Prince Théodred, and he was slain holding the Fords of Isen. Orc-bands bearing the White Hand of Isengard ranged throughout Rohan, and one found a prize that Saruman greatly sought: halflings of the Shire. Against the wishes of Mordor's agents, the host turned to Isengard. It was only the valor of Éomer, Marshall of the Mark, that stopped them.

But Gríma was discredited when Gandalf came to Edoras and opened the eyes of the king. So when the armies of Isengard took the Fords and poured into Rohan, Théoden King was on the move, heartening all the men of the Riddermark and hastening to the great fortress of Helm's Deep. There Saruman's armies fell upon the walls, and nearly overcame them. But Saruman had forgotten Fangorn. The Ents were roused to a great fury over the forests Saruman had burned in his forges, and the dark Huorns with them. The wrath of the Ents fell upon the circle of Isengard, and all save the tower of Orthanc itself was broken utterly, and its pits were flooded. The Huorns followed the orcs, and when the dawn broke over Helm's Deep, a vast forest filled with a dreadful malice surrounded the army and swallowed it up.

Thus it came to pass that the White Wizard was caged in Orthanc, and known traitor to both Rohan and Mordor. There his staff was broken by Gandalf, and the palantír lost by Gríma, and the only power left to Saruman was his voice and agents in the Shire. Long did he beguile Treebeard the Ent with his voice before he was set free, and hastened to his last stronghold, feeble as it was, to do mischief in the land of the Halflings. There he terrorized the little folk, but they found their courage with the return of the Ringbearer and his companions, and in the end Saruman's hold was broken and he was betrayed and murdered by Gríma.

Orthanc and its palantír returned to the King of Gondor, but the ring of Isengard remained under the care of the Ents, and where armories and pillars of iron had once stood, forests flourished in the Treegarth of Orthanc.

[Vardamir117]

Eregion (SA c. 700 to 1697)

Eregion, or Hollin in the tongues of Men, was founded near the year 700 of the Second age by Galadriel and Celeborn. For Galadriel had seen the signs of an evil in the East, some remnant of the reign of Morgoth stirring far from the realm of Gil-galad. She therefore sought to gain the alliance of the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm, later called Moria, to put friends between Rhûn and Lindon. Celeborn was not fond of the Dwarves, remembering their hand in destruction of Doriath, but in the company of the Elven settlers was Celebrimbor, the grandson of Fëanor, and the craftsmen closest to his equal in all the history of the world. Celebrimbor wrought marvels with the dwarvish craftsmen, from the great west-doors of Khazad-dûm to the fair stones of Ost-in-Edhil, the capital of Eregion. Through their love of craft, the bonds between the two peoples grew great, and the greatests smiths and artificers of the Noldor came to dwell in Hollin. Under Celebrimbor, they formed the brotherhood of the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, and great were they in the counsels of Eregion.

Above all, the Noldor were drawn to Eregion because of the Mithril, more precious than gold, found in Khazad-dûm. Mithril could be made into a silver metal, stronger than steel and yet light, and the craftsmen of both kindreds wrought it into many marvels. From it was devised ithildin, that only reflected the light of the stars and moon, only after certain words awoke it, and it adorned much in the Dwarrowdelf and Ost-in-Edhil. From Mithril also came the Moon-letters of the Dwarves, written to hide words under all but the light of the moon, or even a moon of the same shape when the letters were penned. Never else in the history of Arda was there such a friendship of the Elves and Dwarves as in Hollin and the Dwarrowdelf.

In the year 1200, there came the being introducing himself as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, as Artano, the high-smith, and as Aulendil, Disciple of Aulë, the Valar of craft and smithwork. Annatar freely offered secrets of shaping and building to the Elves, and he was received most of all by the jewel-smiths of the Gwaith-i-Mírdain. Though Gil-galad and Elrond in Lindon distrusted Annatar, as did Galadriel, he was elsewhere welcomed as a messenger of the Valar and taught much to Celebrimbor and his smiths. Less than two centuries later, the misgivings of Galadriel grew hateful to the jewel-smiths under the tutelage of Annatar, and she was forced out, to Lothlórien.

Around the year 1500, Annatar had completed his instruction, and set the smiths on a great task: the forging of Rings of Power that could preserve and connect with the Unseen World. Lesser rings had already been made and practised upon, but Annatar deemed them ready for truly powerful artifacts. He guided their first steps, but then departed to his own lands. Sixteen perilously great rings the smiths completed, rings that could stretch out the lives of mortals. Greater still were Three of Celebrimbor's design that he completed in in 1590: Narya, the Ring of Fire; Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, wrought of Mithril; and mightiest of the Three, Vilya, the Ring of Sapphire.

But greatest of all was the One Ring crafted secretly by Annatar. For Annatar was a guise of the Dark Lord Sauron, and the rings were a plot to control the Elves. In 1600, at the forge of Sammath Naur, Sauron made one ring to rule them all, that he could control the mind and will of all who wore a ring of power. But the Gwaith-i-Mírdain heard his voice and removed the rings. Celebrimbor went to Lórien to seek Galadriels' counsel. They considered destroying the rings, but found them too precious. Instead, they scattered the rings across the land, far from Eregion, and vowed never to use them. Galadriel took Nenya into her care, Gil-galad was given Vilya and Narya, and it is said among the Dwarves that Durin III received one of the Seven from Celebrimbor himself.

But when Sauron saw that the Elves knew and defeated his ruse, his wrath was kindled. He resolved to take the rings back by force, and gathered all the armies he could muster from his eastern strongholds. In 1695, he gathered a mighty host in Calenardhon, ready to pour through the gap into Eregion. Gil-galad sent what aid he could under Elrond Half-elven, and sent word to Númenor. But Sauron's hosts had the lesser distance to go, and it fell to Celeborn to muster what defense he could in Eregion. But the tide could not be stemmed long, and when Elrond came, Celeborn had no course but to join him in guarding the north while Sauron sacked Eregion. The Dark Lord's swift assault captured the prize he desired most: the House of the Mírdain, guarded by Celebrimbor himself. Sauron threw the Elf-lord down, and took him prisoner, and found the Nine rings within the House.

The location of the Seven were tortured out of Celebrimbor, and Sauron recovered them. But the Three the scion of Fëanor would not reveal, for they were dear to him, the work of his own hands unsullied by the Dark Lord. Therefore Celebrimbor was put to death, and his body used as a battle-standard. Sauron guessed that the Three must be in the hands of powerful guardians, namely Galadriel and Gil-galad, and he turned his armies northward to cleave a path through Elrond to Lindon. But the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm sallied forth, and prevented the ruin of Elrond's host. They closed their gate to Sauron, and by their valour many Elves of Hollin were able to flee Sauron's wrath to Lórien and the new haven of Rivendell.

Thus passed the Noldor of Eregion, and the ages wore on, they were forgotten by beasts and the ilexes that gave the land its name. Only the stones recalled them, lamenting the loss of their fair workers to any with the skill to hear.

[Vardamir117]

Lindon (Second Age 1 On)

Lindon was the name given to the country of Ossiriand by the Noldor. It was a quiet land, little troubled by the wars with Morgoth, and there Beren and Lúthien lived out their days. Of all Beleriand, only Ossiriand escaped sinking into the sea during the War of Wrath, though it was cleft in two by the Gulf of Lhûn. It therefore became the home of many elves unwilling to return to Valinor after Morgoth was overthrown.

The Sindarin survivors of Beleriand settled primarily in Harlindon, south of the Gulf of Lhûn, under the leadership of Celeborn and Galadriel. Most of the Noldor dwelt in Forlindon in the North, under the high king Ereinion Gil-galad. Chief of the cities of Lindon was Mithlond, the Grey Havens. There the shipwright Círdan kept many vessels, for by the grace of the Valar the elves were permitted to sail to Valinor when they wearied of Middle-earth.

For centuries, the Elves of Lindon and the greater country of Eriador around it were at peace. Few Elves found weariness, and the ships headed westward were scarce. In the year 600, there first came vessels headed eastward. The explorer Vëantur came from the isle of Númenor upon his ship Entulessë, Return, and the Men who had strove against Morgoth were united with the Eldar once more. Also with the men of Eriador met Vëantur, and they marvelled at their kin from the West, tall and fair as Elf-lords.

But soon, this bliss was disturbed by stirrings of an evil, some nameless thing of malice that hated the Eldar. Around 700, Galadriel and Celeborn moved eastward to befriend the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm and make the realm of Eregion to stand between the havens and the whispers of a threat. In 725, the princeling Aldarion, grandson of Vëantur, visited Lindon. Aldarion became enamoured of the Eldar and Middle-Earth, and made as many voyages thither as he could. When he became King of Númenor, he sent much aid to Gil-galad. Though later rulers saw the need less than Aldarion, Númenor became a fast friend of Lindon.

When the mysterious Annatar appeared to the elves in 1200, Gil-galad and his advisor Elrond Half-elven distrusted the self proclaimed Lord of Gifts, and he found little welcome in Lindon. Galadriel shared their worries, but the artisans of Eregion gladly received his tutelage, and eventually cast her out. Under Annatar's instruction, these smiths forged the Rings of Power and many other marvels. The Lord of Gifts spoke sadly of the closemindedness of Lindon, but in time his gifts proved themselves to be poison. For he was none other than the Dark Lord Sauron, the nameless menace that held the East in thrall. Sauron wrought another Ring in 1600, one to rule the others and those who wore them. But the Elves were not so easily ensnared, and they scattered the Rings unused to thwart the Dark Lord's design. Two of the mightiest rings were entrusted to Lindon, where some say Gil-galad gave one to Círdan at this time. Gil-galad sent word to Númenor for aid, and fortified Eriador with the aid of Westernesse.

In 1695, the High King's forebodings showed themselves true when Sauron returned to Eregion in wrath. Gil-galad sent an army under Elrond to render what aid he may, and sent also urgent word to Númenor. But the Dark Lord's armies were great, and Eregion was ruined ere Elrond came. The host of Lindon found itself outmatched and scarcely escaped to a strong place, where Sauron besieged it. But the Dark Lord was concerned with recovering the Rings, and he guessed aright that some were to be found in Mithlond. Burning and ruining he came across Eriador, slaying many before him. But speed was his highest aim, and not a few slipped through his swift nets to join Elrond. Even so, the elves could not withstand him. By 1700, nigh upon all of Eriador was the Dark Lord's. To the River Lhûn he had reached, the very gates of Mithlond. Gil-galad held the river with desperate strength, but all hope seemed lost as Sauron summoned another host from the south.

The second host was assailing Tharbad when the Númenórean armada came. Against Westernesse the Dark Lord could not stand, and he was driven out of Lindon. He regrouped at Tharbad, but was surrounded by another group of Númenóreans that Admiral Ciryatur had sent to a second landing. The terrible Battle of the Gwathló ended in rout and ruin for the Dark Lord, and he fled for his strongholds in Mordor, where the shadows lie. Gil-galad set forth to relieve Elrond, and defeated utterly the forces in eastern Eriador when Elrond sallied to join him.

Once Ciryatur had departed, a great council was held among the elves. With Eregion gone and Sauron revealed, it was decided that a new stronghold to the east of Lindon should be established. At Elrond's siege encampment it was made, in the valley called Imladris by the Eldar and Rivendell by men. There Elrond served as Gil-galad's vice regent. But there was little to guard for centuries, for Númenor soon returned to Middle-earth to make permanent dwellings. Sauron feared them and made no incursion into the West for long years.

Though the Númenórean pride and envy of the Eldar's immortality grew with their settlements, there ever remained some faithful to Gil-galad that watched over Lindon. But it was the haughtiest and most hard-hearted strength among the Men of the West that put an end to Sauron for a time. When the Dark Lord finally moved against the Free Peoples again near 3250, he did so in the colonies of Númenor. Then the King Ar-Pharazôn came, and bore Sauron back to Númenor in chains. With the fear of the Dark Lord gone, Lindon waxed greater, and the elves liberated many wretched creatures where they had dared not to go while tales of the eastern shadow abounded. Near unto the great forest of Greenwood Gil-galad's sway reached by the time Sauron's cunning brought low Númenor. The Faithful Men of the West also grew strong, creating the realm of Arnor alongside Lindon and Gondor farther South.

The Kings of these realms came on the last ships from Númenor, blown away by the very cataclysm that claimed that blessed isle. After the great waves rode upon the shores of Lindon came the ships of Elendil the Tall, a mighty Elf-friend and high lord of Númenor. It was he that made the scattered Faithful and men of Eriador into a Kingdom, while his sons formed Gondor under his high kingship. Elendil became a dear friend of Gil-galad, and the Elvenking built the towers of Emyn Beraid for his sake. In Elostirion, the tallest of these towers, was set a Seeing Stone that gazed to the West over the Sea. The elves kept watch over these towers when the strength of Arnor failed many years later.

It was Gondor that Sauron attacked when he returned from the Downfall. Thereupon Gil-galad took counsel with Elendil, and resolved to unite their armies and any else who would stand with them to end the Dark Lord's menace forever. The hosts of Elendil and Lindon gathered in a mighty assemblage in Arnor, then marched to Imladris. Over the Misty Mountians and then southward the host journeyed, joining along the way with the armies of the Silvan elves of Greenwood and Lórinand, the dwarves of Khazad-dûm, and many other free folk. Sauron burned the land in front of them, but to no avail. Inexorably the Last Alliance of Elves and Men marched to the Black Land of Mordor. Though terrible battles were fought, noble princes were slain, fell creatures withstood them, Gil-galad and Elendil broke through the very Gate of Mordor and besieged Sauron's Dark Tower. At last, Sauron himself came forth and fought the two of them: Gil-galad was burned to death by the fiery grasp of Sauron and Elendil was slain, but even so, Sauron was overthrown and the Ruling Ring cut from his hand. But the Ring was not destroyed that day, and sorrow came of it.

Lindon became a quiet, diminished land after the War. Many a fair elf that might enjoyed ten thousand years more under the stars had been slain, and no high king followed Gil-galad. But though he made no claim, Elrond Half-elven was looked to by most of the remaining Noldorin lords. Imladris became the chief place of the elves in Eriador, though Círdan yet remained in Mithlond to build ships for the journey to Valinor. Though they were few now, High Elves still dwelt in Lindon, and some could yet be be found wandering the wilderness of Eriador. With the Dark Lord defeated, Círdan set the Ring of Gil-galad to preserve the land, much as Elrond and Galadriel did in their own realms.

It was with wonder and joy that Círdan welcomed ships from the West one last time near the year 1000 in the Third Age. For these ships bore emissaries of Valinor, the Wizards. Among them, Círdan deemed the last to come to be the greatest, and gave to him the Red Ring Narya. This emissary was later called Gandalf, and to better use he put that Ring than Círdan was able.

Lindon remained in the counsels of the Wise throughout the age, and was a friend to Arnor in every campaign against the dread realm of Angmar. But by and large it passed the Third Age of the World in peace, spared from the worst tumults. When the Dark Lord Sauron was vanquished for the final time, the power of the Elven-rings was broken, and the Eldar could no longer bear to tarry in Middle-earth. The White ships of Lindon bore them to Valinor, and it is said the Last Ship of all took Círdan. With them went much that was fair outside the knowledge of men forever.

[pulkit24]

8 done, 10 to go. Great work V!

[Vardamir117]

Númenor (Second Age 32 to 3319)

The isle of Númenor was raised by the Valar early in the Second Age as a gift to the Men who resisted Morgoth in the great wars of Beleriand. Eönwë the herald of Manwë visited these men, and taught them of the high ways of the Valar. To them were given the greatest wisdom and strength of all mankind, and lifespans of centuries. Then, guided by the light of Rothinzil, the Star of Eärendil, the Edain set forth on an ocean calmed by Ulmo to the fair island brought forth by the hands of Aulë and Yavanna, blessed with mithril mines, filled with the plants of the Undying Lands, closer to the Blessed Realm than to Middle-earth. There the Edain became known as the Númenóreans, the men of the West. Their first king was Elros Tar-Minyatur, son of Eärendil, and he reigned for more than four hundred years.

By their chief city Andúnië was the great mountain of Meneltarma, the Pillar of Heaven. At its summit was a high place sacred to Eru Ilúvatar, He who created the world and set the Valar to watch it. To that city Elves from Valinor would often visit in the early years of Númenor and bring many gifts. The most precious of these was Nimloth, a white seedling in the image of Telperion, the Silver Tree of Valinor that had lit the nights in ages past. But the Edain were forbidden from traveling to the uttermost West in return: for the Valar feared avarice might grow in their hearts for the immortality of that land, and Eru had not seen fit to lift the Gift of Man: that their spirits might leave the circle of the world forever, however long He may have allowed its delay. Before age claimed his strength, Elros passed the kingship to his son Vardamir. But Vardamir felt his own age and passed it in turn his own son, for Elros was blessed with greater life than any of his descendants.

Though sailing to the West was forbidden, the love of the Númenóreans for the sea was exceedingly great, and they ventured ever farther to the east. Their skill in crafts was unmatched by all the men of Middle-earth, and they wrought great vessels that could complete the long journey through turbulent seas. In the year 600 of the Second Age, Vëantur the ship-captain of Tar-Elendil made landfall in the Grey Havens, and more ships soon followed. Though they never stayed long, their voyages took them far across the Hither Lands, and they would give aid and knowledge to the men living there.

In 725, the young princeling Aldarion was taken to Lindon, and there met Círdan and Gil-galad. Though it caused strife with his family, he became a great mariner and made many long voyages, even establishing the first haven of Westernesse on Middle-earth. He brought back news of a shadow rising in the east, that hated the Eldar and the Edain nearly as much, and did what he could to aid the Elves against this threat when he was king. Aldarion made careful husbandry of the trees in Númenor for the sake of his wife Erendis, but at his haven Vinyalondë in Minhiriath, fewer such provisions were made. Such deforestation was wrought that the native men there came to hate the Númenóreans, and brought troubles and raids to the mariners.

Aldarion's daughter Tar-Ancalimë reversed many of his policies of expansion and friendship with the Eldar, but the guild of venturers he established persisted long after, and ever greater ships were crafted for ever greater journeys. More havens were settled, but only for a time, for Númenórean hearts still longed for the Valar and their home in the West, however fair Middle-earth may be.

In 1600, the designs of Sauron were revealed, and Gil-galad feared that open war might arise between them. He called to Númenor for aid, and the voyagers that had often come to Lindon now bore weapons and gear for war. In 1695, Sauron arose in might against the Elves, and dire was their need. Though it was delayed too long to save Eregion, Tar-Minastir sent forth a fleet that relieved the beleagured forces of Gil-galad and Númenórean venturers. Sauron was forced to retreat southward, but there fell afoul of the second, lesser part of the ships that had landed at Lond Daer, the renamed harbor of Aldarion. At the Battle of the Gwathló, the Dark Lord's forces were broken, and he narrowly escaped to his fortress land of Mordor, consumed with hate for the Númenóreans and swearing vengeance upon them. He dared not openly fight them, but it is said that three of the Rings of Power he gave to Men were to the Númenóreans.

Though Tar-Minastir loved and aided the Eldar, he envied them their immortality and much of Númenor was likeminded. For though they could see the Undying Lands from the summit of Meneltarma on a clear day, death still claimed them in the end. As they gazed upon elves who had been old when their forefathers sailed across the Sea, the Gift of Man became a bitter truth to behold. In Tar-Minastir's day, the Númenóreans began to settle permanently in Middle-earth. In part, this was because the great forests and timber stockpiles at Lond Daer were burned by Sauron's agents in the war, but also the men of Westernesse had tasted power on the shores of Middle-earth and were fain to find more. His son Tar-Ciryatan loved the Elves less and envied them more. In his reign, and that of his son Tar-Atanamir the Great, there began talk against the Valar and their Ban on travelling to the uttermost West, even among those in high counsels. When tidings of this reached Valinor, messengers were sent to reason with them, that the Númenóreans might be made to undestand the Gift of Eru. But Tar-Atanamir paid little heed, and he broke the custom of passing the scepter to his son before his death, instead clinging to life and power as long as he was able. And great was his power indeed, for in his days Númenor began to claim tribute from the men of Middle-earth.

His descendants were likeminded, and it became the aim in Númenor to delay death. Though the arts of men could do little but embalm the dead to stay rot, ever they sought immortality by their own inquiry. Among the high lords, the long-lived royal line was held in esteem, and it became a custom stronger than law that the King's heir marry none not descended from Elros. With the West forbidden, the restless sea-kings turned east, and began to create great colonies. Much tribute was brought back to Númenor by ever crueller methods, in attempt to assuage the fear of death by great luxury while life lasted. Ever more they begrudged the choice of their forefather Elros and the immortality of the Eldar, and the Elven tongue became scarce in the Isle of the Star.

But some remained faithful to the Elves and the Valar. They were led by the Lords of Andúnië, descendents of the royal line through Silmariën daughter of Tar-Elendil, who ruled the port whereby Elves from the Blessed Land came to visit Númenor. Their true allegiance remained hidden, for they were high in the counsels of the king and sought to moderate the ills of the land, but the Faithful looked up to them in secret. It was the Faithful who maintained friendship and aid to the Elves, and their attentions made Sauron loath to trouble the Eldar.

But most in Númenor were King's Men, greedy for spoil and power. For a time a usurper even took the throne, for Tar-Vanimeldë's husband Herucalmo claimed the sceptre upon her death instead of passing it to their son. Their grandson Tar-Calmacil was a great conqueror, claiming deep stretches of coastland all across Middle-earth. He was the first ruler whose name was translated from High Elven, and he was often called Ar-Belzagar in the mannish tongue of Adûnaic. His own grandson further broke the tradition when he took the name Ar-Adûnakhôr and forbade the elven tongues in his presence, save only that his name was recorded in the Scroll of Kings as Tar-Herunúmen in the High Elven fashion. But this name, Lord of the West, was a title of the Valar, and the Faithful called it blasphemy. For that strife arose between them and the kings.

The Shadow claimed the Kings ever more, and the reigns of Ar-Zimrathôn and Ar-Sakalthôr were darker yet. When Ar-Gimilzôr claimed the scepter, he stamped out the last secret visits of the Elves to Númenor, and he forced the Faithful to move from the western side of the island to the east, that there would be none to welcome the Eldar. In his reign, the White Tree Nimloth was abandoned, and many of the faithful fled to Lindon and Pelargir to escape his persecutions. But he took a wife descended from the Lords of Andúnië, who taught his heir Inziladûn to respect the Valar and love the elves. Though the king wished his second son Gimilkhâd might rule after him, he could not change the succession. Inziladûn repented and took again a High Elven name: Tar-Palantir, the farsighted. Fighting and strife claimed Númenor when he ascended the throne, but Tar-Palantir for a time forced the isle to a lighter path, and Nimloth was once agian tended, for he foresaw that when that tree failed, so would the line of Kings. But his brother Gimilkhâd and nephew Pharazôn opposed him as openly as they could, and continued to oppress and wage war upon the men of Middle-earth against his will. When he had grown old and weary of waiting for forgiveness from Valinor, Tar-Palantir passed away and left the sceptre to his daughter Míriel, the fairest and last Queen of Westernesse. But against all custom Pharazôn wed her and claimed the kingship for his own.

Early in the reign of Ar-Pharazôn, the Dark Lord Sauron tried his strength against Númenor once more, attacking her colonies in the South and declaring himself the King of Men. That insult could not be borne by the Númenóreans, already forgetting the repentance of Tar-Palantir and turning back to ways of pride and dominance, and Ar-Pharazôn gathered a great host to humble the Dark Lord and take his lands, for Sauron's claim over all mankind had kindled the same desire in his own heart. In 3262 his fleet set out, and the sight of it was as a forest of crimson sails, Hearts on the shore quailed as it came to view and men fled in terror before it. Banners in the hundreds and thousands issued from it to march in challenge to Sauron's domain, but none dared oppose them. Sauron came alone to meet the king humbled and alone, and Ar-Pharazôn brought him back to Westernesse as a hostage.

But Sauron was guileful and full of counsel that appeared sage. Before three winters had passed, he was the king's closest advisor. He had skill in craft to offer, but more so he tended cruelty and a hatred for the Valar and all they taught. Under his tutellage, Ar-Pharazôn and the King's Men turned from Eru to the dark worship of Morgoth, and at his urging Nimloth the Fair was burned, though a seedling of it was saved by one of the Faithful. Wars Númenor brought to the shores of Middle-earth as never before, carting back men as chattel slaves and sacrifices for profane altars. The Faithful fled the land in droves as they were declared rebels and slaughtered in dark rituals in the great Temple wrought at Sauron's word. Death grew ever more present in the land, and fear of Eru's gift with it.

At last, in 3310, Ar-Pharazôn felt the number of his days and feared that he had not long left in the world. Thereupon Sauron spoke lies of the Blessed Land: that there the Valar had claimed immortality for their own, and that it could be seized by force. And so the King began to gather the Great Armament, fleets and stores of weapons that put to shame all other hosts of men that had ever graced the world. He spoke of his plan to none, but many men guessed his design. The Lord of Andúnië, Amandil who had been friends with the king in their youth, was sorely grieved when he guessed the aim. Amandil departed to the West to beg pardon and aid of the Valar, but of his success or failure no tale tells. His son Elendil took up leaderhip of the Faithful after he departed, and they kept to their ships, ready to flee from Westernesse if that need should befall them.

The Valar sent portents to Númenor, great clouds in the shape of the Eagles of Manwë, bearing lightning and judgement. But they were not heeded. Instead, they were taken as the first strikes of a war that Númenor would finish. Sauron defied the lightning and was unharmed, and he was worshipped for it. For nine years ships and arms were stowed, until the King deemed it ready at last. A convulsion rent the land before it was so, and a wind bore more Eagles eastward when they sailed forth. But the armada went forth nonetheless. By the hands of oar-slaves, the fleet set out, a shoal of war-gear uncountable, spread as a black fog across the whole of the Sea.

The Ban of the Valar was shattered, and the armies of Westernesse set foot upon the Blessed Land itself. But it was not the Valar who opposed them. The Valar called to Eru, and the One who wrought the World, an He remade it in a cataclysm of raging seas and yawning rifts in the land. All the proud armada of Westernesse was swallowed by the Sea, and the King and his warriors by the overturned hills. The Isle of Númenor was wracked by fire and molten stone from the holy mountain of Meneltarma, by high waves immeasurable, and all the wealth and craft of Westernesse, the temples and gardens and hoards of treasure, its art and records and wisdom, and all its folk were drowned in the mighty Sea. Only the Faithful of Elendil were spared when the winds caught their ready ships, and they washed into the coasts of Middle-earth by the fury of the waves they rode upon. The World was reshaped so that no man may ever sail to the Blessed Land again, that only Elven mariners may find the straight way to the Halls of the Valar.

Númenor, fair Elenna, was lost to the waves. But long in the minds of men did the memory of the ship-kings linger, both their early kindness and their later cruelty. The daughters of Númenor in Arnor, Gondor, and Umbar remained strong, and they shaped the history of the world for the next age. But never again were there kings of Men to rival those of the blessed Realm of the Star.

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Arnor (Second Age 3320 to Third Age 1974, Fourth Age 1 On)

The mariners of Númenor first returned to Middle-earth in the North, at the Elven ports in Lindon. Word of the visitors from across the sea reached the men of Eriador, kin from afar of the Edain, who held the the elves in esteem. Tales they had heard of wars with Morgoth in the west, and the land that had sunk beneath the waves. Twelve fearful men went to meet the Númenóreans, fearing them to be shades of the dead returned from the depths of the sea. But to their astonishment, the voyagers were ordinary men, though tall and bearing gear of surpassing craft. The mariners in turn found men like unto themselves, not the descendants of evil men in the service of the enemy as they feared. Their kinship was revealed again when at last greetings were spoken, for a few words were common between their tongues, and with some effort there was understanding between them.

Rarely after was Lindon bereft of Númenórean visitors. Though their great voyages more often turned far to the south, the mariners were fast friends of the elves for many years. When the Dark Lord Sauron arose in might, it was the valor of Númenor that stayed him, and the guardianship of Westernesse that kept Eriador safe afterwards. Neither the elves nor the men of Eriador forgot this, even when Númenórean hearts began to lust for immortality and power. Even as those faithful to the old ways became persecuted in Númenor, some fled to Middle-earth and were welcomed as friends in Lindon and lords in Eriador. When at last Númenor fell into shadow and ruin, Elendil the Tall's four ships were borne on the winds of the Downfall to the shores of Lindon, and he established the realm of Arnor among the exiles and men of Eriador. His sons Isildur and Anárion landed in the Númenórean havens farther south, where they made the land of Gondor. Elendil, once a noble in Númenor second only to the king, became High King over both lands, though he dwelt in Arnor and concerned himself chiefly with northern affairs.

For a hundred there was peace in Middle-earth, for Sauron had not yet begun to trouble it again. In that time, Elendil made his capital of Annúminas upon the Lake Evendim, where the Lady Galadriel had once dwelt. Other cities he founded, including Fornost and the great watchtower Amon Sûl. Great War-beacons were set, but little need for them arose, for in Annúminas and Amon Sûl were set two palantíri, Seeing Stones. But Elendil's dearest abode was not one of his own making, but the towers of Emyn Beraid raised by his friend Gil-galad, the Elvenking of Lindon. In the tallest was set his third palantír, one that gazed ever to the lost West.

For though they loved the new land, the hearts of the Númenóreans still longed to see their ancient home once more. Oft would Elendil ascend the tower of Elostirion to cast his sight far to the West, but all he ever saw were waves where the Isle had once stood. The greatest seafarers among Arnor set out to find Númenor, but their searches bore no fruit. For the world was bent in the Downfall, and no longer could Men sail to the Blessed Realm as the last King of Númenor had foolishly done. Instead, the longest voyages West found themselves in the East, and eventually to where they had begun. They therefore treasured their keepsakes from Númenor: the palantíri, the white rod that had been Elendil's symbol of office in Númenor and became his royal sceptre, the Ring of Barahir that was made in the Blessed Realm and given to men by Elf-lords in ages past, the king's sword Narsil wrought by Telchar of old.

But this peaceful time ended when Sauron marshalled his forces and set them against Gondor. Isildur fled to his father's kingdom to seek aid, and Elendil convened with Gil-galad. They determined that now was the hour to halt Sauron and set about a great muster of their realms, and they sent word to all Free Peoples that they might make and end of the Dark Lord forever. Elves and Men and Dwarves and all living things marched south to make war upon the Dark Lord, opposed along the way by orc-bands that Sauron sent to harry their supply trains and burn the land in their path. Many fair things were lost in the march to Mordor, chief of which were the fruitful gardens of the Entwives. But the swords of Arnor yet recalled the glory of Númenor, and the spears of Lindon burned with a flame kindled in the Elder Days. The Host of Mordor was defeated in Dagorlad, the Battle Plain, and the Dark Lord's very tower was beseiged for seven years. At last, after much sorrow, Sauron came forth to fight Elendil and Gil-galad, and their both met their death in the final strokes against him. It fell to Isildur to take up his father's broken sword and made an end of the Dark Lord. Isildur then journeyed to Arnor to be high king, but he was ambushed by an orc-band of Mordor, and was slain with his three eldest sons.

The world was rid of a great evil for a time, but the toll on Arnor had been severe. Never had it been a very populous realm, and it never truly recovered from the terrible losses in the War of the Last Alliance. Though foes in the north were, merely a few unorganized fell creatures, the folk of Arnor dwindled, and Annúminas began to fall into ruin. 861 years after Sauron's downfall, the sons of King Eärendur disputed the succession of the heir Amlaith, and the kingdom split into three: Rhudaur in the East, a land of many hills and mountains; Cardolan in the South, home of the prosperous town of Bree and the ancient Barrows where men had long interred their dead; and Arthedain in the West, the heart of the old kingdom under Amlaith, where all the heirlooms were kept. These kingdoms were fractious, fighting many border conflicts, especially over the Weather Hills and the tower of Amon Sûl. In Amlaith's day the king's seat moved from Annúminas to Fornost, and the City of Elendil faded into oblivion.

For five hundred years the petty kingdoms waned, and the line of Isildur perished in both Cardolan and Rhudaur. Indeed, in Rhudaur all Númenórean blood became scarce, and the wild Hill-men became strong. In this time curious immigrants came to dwell in Arnor: the halflings that called themselves Hobbits. Most settled near the border of Arthedain and Cardolan in Bree, but others dwelt in the south of Rhudaur. But the halflings in Rhudaur moved away as evil things to the north began to grow strong.

In the year 1349, Argeleb I of Arthedain began to reign, and claimed overlordship of all Arnor as the last heir of Isildur, and he prepended the royal Sindarin element to his regnal name in a tradition that lasted until the days of King Elessar. But a Hill-chief in Rhudaur had claimed power, and made an alliance with the dark power of Angmar in the north. Argeleb fortified the border along the Weather Hills, but was overcome when the armies of Angmar and Rhudaur came against him. But his son Arveleg secured the aid of the prince of Cardolan and the ship-master Círdan of Lindon, and the invaders were driven back.

Cardolan and Arthedain then guarded their borders together, while their enemies waxed greater. Angmar's armies came in force in 1409, swallowing up Rhudaur for themselves and overrunning nigh upon all of Cardolan. Arveleg and the last prince of Cardolan were slain, and Amon Sûl razed. But Círdan came again to aid the young prince Araphor and the Cardolani hiding among the Barrow-downs, and Angmar was once again turned back. The elves then won a respite for Arnor, though they could not destroy Angmar utterly.

For a time there was a watchful peace in Arnor, but ever the shadow of Angmar stayed on their minds, etched there by the empty lands once fuller not so long ago. Therefore when the halflings moved westward in 1601, King Argeleb II granted them a fief in Arthedain, the place called the Shire. Not long after the Great Plague came, and most folk in Cardolan were laid low by it. The honored Barrows in the downs afterwards became haunted by fell spirits from Angmar and Rhudaur, and the graves of Cardolani princes places of terror and peril.

But the Lord of Angmar was immortal and persistent, and that dread realm rose again. King Araval secured the aid of Lindon and Rivendell to ride againt the foes in 1851 and had some victory, but Angmar could not be undone. In the days of his son Araphant, Malbeth the Seer pronounced that his own son should be named Last-king, Arvedui, but that he may be king of a greater realm should the right choice be taken. Long-sundered Gondor later made a pact of defense with Arnor, and Arvedui was wed to the Gondorian princess Fíriel. For both kingdoms perceived that something greater drove the attacks against their lands, though they knew not what yet.

But when Angmar next attacked, Gondor had troubles of its own and came not, and these troubles ended the Gondorian kings. Arvedui claimed the throne of Gondor as the heir of Elendil and Isildur, and through his wife. But Gondor rejected him, choosing instead a victorious general who was cousin to the royal line. Gondor promised aid even so, but their own recovery meant they did not come when Angmar attacked again. Araphant passed away and Arvedui succeeded him, and at last he saw that the end of Arnor was nigh late in 1973. He send word of dire need to Gondor, but they were slow in answering and all he had was his own strength, even a few Hobbit archers, when a great assault took Fornost. Arvedui was driven North to the Icebay of Forochel, while his son Aranarth fled to Lindon. Círdan sent Arvedui a ship, but it foundered at sea and Arvedui drowned with two palantíri. But the Ring of Barahir stayed with the Snowmen of Forochel to repay them for their kindness to the king.

At last Gondor's fleet came, greater than any aid Arnor had ever hoped for. The havens of Lindon could scarce hold all their ships, and they brought gear and men for war beyond any ever waged in Arnor, and the peerless horses and riders of Rhovanion. They were joined by all the strength Círdan and Aranarth could summon and marched to Fornost, where the forces of Angmar foolishly met them in open battle and were routed utterly. Before the end, the ruler of Angmar revealed himself before vanishing: a black horseman, terrible to behold. A Ringwraith of Mordor.

Angmar was finally destroyed, but Arnor diminished beyond repair. Aranarth chose not to be crowned, perhaps fearing that the rising Shadow might come against him if he openly declared himself. Instead, he became Chieftan of the Dúnedain, and secretly patrolled his land with those of Númenórean descent to keep the folk of the Shire and Bree safe. For though the Men of Rhovanion had claimed the eastern parts of Angmar for their own, there were still a few wild things to trouble the North: orcs and hill-trolls and the fell White Wolves. The Dúnedain's guard was not wholly successful, for orcs reached the Shire in 2747, and wolves 2911, and trouble in 3019, but the valor of the Dúnedain was such that whispers of foes scarcely reached the peaceful folk of lost Arnor, and they viewed the 'Rangers' with suspicion, for they knew not who kept them safe.

The Rangers of line of Isildur kept close ties with the Elves of Rivendell. There were the heirs of Elendil fostered in an unbroken line to the end of the Age, and there were the heirlooms of Arnor safeguarded. There the last cheiftan was raised, for his father was slain by and orc-arrow when he was but an infant. Aragorn II was his name, and he was a mighty traveller and warrior of great renown who served both Gondor and Rohan in his youth, and in him some said Elendil came again. When Sauron moved against the World once more, Aragorn strove against him in all ways, and led the victorious host at the Battle of Morannon When Sauron was vanquished, Aragon claimed the crown of Gondor and the scepter of Arnor as Elessar Telcontar, and he remade Annúminas to be his capital. His queen was Arwen Evenstar, daughter of Rivendell and in his time the world knew bliss and peace.

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Gondor (Second Age 3320 On)

When the shadow fell upon Númenor and the men of Westernesse began to settle in Middle-Earth, those faithful to the Valar and the Elves made their dwellings chiefly in Pelargir, upon the river Anduin. As the darkness in Númenor grew greater, more of the Faithful travelled thither to escape it, and it grew into a great haven. When at last the Downfall took Númenor in the year 3319 of the Second Age, the five ships of the noble lords Isildur and Anárion came to Pelargir, and they were welcomed by the settlers and became Kings over them, for they were akin to the royalty of Númenor. Further inland, they each established their own city: Anárion made Minas Anor, the Tower of the Sun, upon the White Mountains, and Isildur Minas Ithil, the Tower of the Moon, upon the Mountains of Shadow. Between them the city of Osgiliath was raised, and there the brothers ruled. The new realm became known for its surpassing masonry, and was later called Gondor, the land of stone. Tall and fair were the towers of thier cities, and many other works they raised besides: monuments to kings and statues marking the borders of their land, many towers and the long wall of the Rammas Echor about the outlying fields of Minas Anor.

But soon they were troubled by the Dark Lord Sauron, who by his malice had borne himself from up from the deep sea that had swallowed Númenor. He looked upon Gondor with hatred after his return, and set armies upon Minas Ithil as soon as his strength was gathered. Isildur fled with his sons when the city was taken, seeking the aid of the Elves and his father Elendil, who had established the realm of Arnor among the Númenórean exiles in the north. And aid they sent, for it was reckoned that without the might of Númenor, unless Sauron be checked now, no hope remained for the Free Peoples. Elves came from Lindon, from Greenwood, from Lórinand, from Rivendell; Dwarves from Khazad-dûm; Men from all throughout Eriador. A mighty host marched to aid beleagured Gondor, and drove the Dark Lord back into his black land of Mordor. At last, he was overthrown, but Elendil and Anárion were both slain in the campaign. Isildur journeyed back to Minas Anor for a time to instruct Anárion's son Meneldil to be King of Gondor, for Isildur took up the high kingship of his father and soon left for Arnor. It is said Meneldil was not sorry to see them go, and desired to rule over Gondor with little direction from a High King. When Isildur perished in an ambush and the kingship of Arnor passed to his fourth son, only a child, Meneldil distanced Gondor from the Northern realm.

Under the line of Anárion, Gondor prospered, though rarely was there peace in the land. Wars were fought with the Dunlendings, the Northmen, with Orcs wherever they dwelt, evil things that remained in Mordor where Gondor now kept watch, invaders from the East. The Easterlings came in 490 of the Third Age and were routed by the crown prince Tarostar, who took for himself the name Rómendacil, East-victor. A second invasion came in 541 and slew him, but his son Turambar defeated them in turn and claimed new lands for Gondor in the East.

But the bitterest foes of Gondor were in the South, the Haradrim that had learned hate for Númenor long ago, and the port of Umbar peopled by Black Númenóreans given over to darkness and consumed with hatred for the Faithful. The twelfth king, Tarannon Falastur, was the first to build great fleets once more and claim land in the South. He had no sons of his own, but his sister-son Eärnil I carried on his work, even seizing Umbar. Eärnil drowned soon after, but son Ciryandil carried on the battle when the Black Númenóreans and their Haradric allies tried to reclaim Umbar. In the end, his own son Ciryaher overcame the South utterly, and was remembered as Hyarmendacil for it. Under his reign, Gondor reached its peak, and no power dared contest it. His son Atanatar II was called the Glorious for the riches and power he inherited when he took the throne in 1149. But with no more foes that could challenge it, Gondor grew complacent and weaker.

Easterlings returned some 1200 years into the Third Age. They were driven off by Minalcar, Rómendacil II, with the help of the Northmen who had since made peace with Gondor and settled in Rhovanion. Rómendacil saw their valour and Gondor's own waning, and strove to make relations closer, sending his own son Valacar to be an emissary among them. Valacar took a Northern wife and the bonds grew close indeed. The half-northern Eldacar ascended to the throne in 1432, but there were many who did mistrusted his mixed ancestry, and war arose in the terrible Kin-strife. Osgiliath was sieged and sacked, great treasures were lost, and Eldacar was driven from the land. Instead his distant cousin Castamir, captain of the ships, claimed the throne. But he proved a poor king, so when Eldacar reurned ten years later with an army of Northmen, much of Gondor turned against Castamir and he was defeated. But his sons left retreated with the fleets to Umbar, and became the Corsairs, hostile to Gondor ever after.

The wars with the Corsairs were interrupted by the Great Plague that came in from the East in 1636, for all suffered in that dread sickness. The King died, and the White Tree withered, though a seedling was replanted. The eastern parts of Gondor were hit hardest, and Minas Ithil was nearly abandoned. Many fled from Osgiliath and did not return to it, and the kings moved to Minas Anor, where they had long resided in the summer. Though the Men of Gondor had kept long watch over Mordor, they no longer had the strength to maintain it. But by 1810 Gondor had recovered enough to send an army to Umbar, and King Telumehtar was called Umbardacil once it had been claimed from the corsairs.

But a new enemy came from the East, more numerous and well armed than any before them. Wainriders, they were called, for they came upon great wagons and fought in chariots. Rhovanion was overrun and King Narmacil was slain when they came in 1856. War continued unabated until 1899, when the Wainriders were halted at Dagorlad. But the Easterlings moved south and found friends in Harad, and forty-five years later they came with the aid of the cruel Southrons to attack Gondor from two directions. The king and all his heirs perished the terrible northern battle at the Morannon, but in the south the general Eärnil had the victory, and he also overcame the Wainriders in their revelries.

Eärnil was chosen to be the next king, for he was descended of Narmacil. In his day Arnor was pressed to the breaking point and called to their kin in Gondor for aid. Prince Eärnur led a host a host northward to find Arnor in ruins, under the grip of a Ringwraith of Mordor. The host of the shadow was crushed, but the wraith escaped to trouble the prince's reign. For in the year 2000, a host descended from the mountains of Mordor to besiege Minas Ithil, and two years later it fell into the hands of wraiths to be become Minas Morgul, the tower of Black Sorcercy. Minas Anor was named anew in turn to Minas Tirith, the Tower of Guard. Twice messages from Morgul were sent to King Eärnur, taunting him and inviting to single combat, and the king answered the latter one. He rode to Morgul and was never seen again.

But no man saw him die, so his steward Mardil continued to rule for some time. Even when all were sure of his death, no claimant came forward. Eärnur left no heir, and it was with trepidation that Gondor remembered their last disputed succession in the days of Eldacar. Mardil passed his office to his son, as had become tradition among the stewards, and Eradan took the rod of the stewards with a promise to rule in the name of the king. But generations passed and no king came, and it was the stewards who ruled.

Under the Stewards the land was less proud than the Kings, and weaker. So they made closer ties with the other men in Gondor, that had been there ere the Númenóreans had ever returned to Middle-earth: the hardy sea-people of the Ethir, the mountaneers of Ered Nimrais, the Hillmen of Lamedon, the folk of rivers and vales. It seemed that evil slept in the dark fastness of Minas Morgul, but orcs were growing strong behind the Mountains of Mordor. In 2475 a fell race of orcs, terrible and strong, issued forth to assail Osgiliath. The bridge there was broken and the city of Kings was ruined. They were driven back at great cost by the mighty captain Boromir, but he took a wound from an enchanted blade of Morgul and died not long after.

It was in the days of his son Cirion that peril came once again from the East. The Balchoth were a great tribe related to the Wainriders, and Gondor was nearly overcome when battle came to it in the Field of Celebrant in 2510. But the descendants of Rhovanion rode to succor and the victory was had by their aid. Cirion made an Oath of friendship with the Northmen and granted them lands in the empty parts of Gondor, where they made the realm of Rohan. That friendship and Oath was long upheld, and more than one of the queens of Rohan came from Gondor.

But the first test of that oath saw foes attack both Gondor and Rohan, and little aid could be sent from one to the other. Corsairs fell upon the coasts, and Dunlendings and Easterlings upon both sides of Rohan. The foes were many and well prepared, and the winter came while they were still upon them. The lands were cleansed only with much grief, so when the Wizard Saruman returned from his wanderings he was given residence at the ancient fortress of Orthanc, that another friend might hold a place of strength in the dangerous land.

2852 saw the White Tree die with the Steward Belecthor II. Darker days were to come, for the Shadow was on the rise. Orcs from Mordor infested the eastern parts of the land, Ithilien across the Anduin. The kings of Harad stirred and made war all throughout South Gondor and more, though they were stayed with the aid of Rohan. And worst of all, the Dark Lord Sauron returned openly to Mordor, and the fire mountain of Mount Doom was rekindled. Hosts marched to Mordor from the East and South, and though some were waylaid by the men of Gondor, they knew the hosts of Mordor waxed beyond their strength to withstand.

The days seemed dark, but a captain of an unknown land came to serve the Steward Ectehlion II. Thorongil, he was called, the Eagle of the Star. Many victories he had, the greatest of which was a stroke against the corsairs of Umbar. But he departed after it, and the steward's son Denethor was not sad to see him go. It was in the days of Denethor II that the designs of Sauron reached their fullness, and war came upon Gondor in earnest. Osgiliath was assaulted in 3018, and armies beyond count besieged Minas Tirith in 3019. The corsairs assailed the southern coasts with a rebuilt fleet, but Thorongil returned to stay them, and then went to Minas Tirith and joined the great battle upon the fields of Pelennor. A day of fell deeds was had, and much work of sword and bow was done. The folk of Rohan rode to the aid of Gondor once more, and in the end the host of Sauron was driven back. And Thorongil's lineage was revealed, Aragorn, the heir of High King Elendil, come to begin the rule of kings in Gondor anew. Then, as is told in The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings, the men of the West marched against the Black Land, though the foes in it were yet many, to draw the eye of the Dark Lord while a mad plan to end him held the only hope.

But that hope came through, and upon the gates of Mordor the Men of Gondor and Rohan had victory after the power of Sauron was ended. All the foes of Gondor were defeated, and Aragorn was crowned as king, and the nobility and power of Gondor again echoed lost Númenor. Aragorn Elessar ruled the land justly for a hundred years and more, and passed a mighty realm unto his son Eldarion.

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Harad (c. First Age 300 On)

Harad is but a Sindarin translation of South, applied to all the lands below Gondor. Scant tales come from Harad in the First Age, though it is said that the Drúedain journeyed though it in their travels. In later years, Harad was a common destination of the Númenórean mariners once they mastered the wide seas, and they taught much to the native men there. The south was curiousity to the Men of the West, a land of scorching sands and dark forests, strange stars, and strange beasts: apes and the great Mûmakil that the Haradrim tamed for battle. All the great havens of Númenor save Pelargir and Lond Daer were built in Harad, and the Dark Lord Sauron long feared to encroach on the shores while the power of Westernesse held sway.

But deeper inland, Sauron's influence held sway, and the men there gave him fealty and worship. To his favorite chiefs were given some of the Rings of Power, that they might becomes sorcerors in possession of life eternal. Or so it seemed. For his true purpose was to slavery, that they would fade from the world and become Ringwraiths, the most terrible and fell of all his servants, utterly bound to his will.

Even as the lord of Mordor's strength in the South waxed stronger, the Númenórean cities grew with their pride, and they turned to darkness. Where once Westernesse had sent explorers, they became lords, and instead of teaching they brought scourges. Some of the Haradrim resisted, but none could withstand the splendor of Númenor in her noontime. Wars of conquest were carried out by Númenórean lords and princes, and they became hateful to the Haradrim. Tar-Calmacil, the eighteenth ruler of Númenor, conquered lands farther inland, and Sauron withdrew before him. But proudest of all these conquering lords was Pharazôn, nephew to the twenty-fourth king. Soon after Pharazôn had claimed the throne by force, Sauron judged his strength enough to challenge Westernesse and set his armies against the Númenórean ports, proclaiming himself the King of Men.

But Númenor's might was far beyond Sauron's reckoning. When Ar-Pharazôn came to do him battle, none of Sauron's servants had the heart to withstand the fearfully vast and splendid host of Westernesse. Sauron was borne away in captivity, but soon became an advisor to the King, and Harad found both of its tyrants united for a time. Under the cruel reign of Ar-Pharazôn, the folk of Harad's hatred turned more towards the few Númenóreans who had not abandoned the love of the Valar and the Elves, settled as they were in what would become Gondor.

Ar-Pharazôn's realm perished in shadow and waves, but Sauron escaped it. He found a few Númenóreans in the southern colonies that were yet enamored of darkness and served him gladly. The greatest were Herumor and Fuinur, who became high lords among the Southrons. Harad's armies were summoned when he returned to wage war upon Gondor and the elves, and they came and fought in the War of the Last Alliance, when Sauron was overthrown and his Dark Tower broken.

For a time, Harad was free from any outside power. The Black Númenóreans dwindled away in the colonies of Westernesse, save only in the mighty haven of Umbar were they endured. But their sway did not reach so far, and elsewhere Harad answered to none. Some eight centuries after the Last Alliance, Gondor began to revive the Númenórean sea tradition. King Tarannon was the first to do so, and he began to claim more of the coastlands south of Gondor. He took one of the Black Númenóreans, Berúthiel, to be his queen, though she bore him no children and was exiled ere his reign ended. Under the next three ship-kings, Gondor began claimed much of the coasts and took Umbar for their own. The Haradrim resisted, but Ciryaher of Gondor subdued them at last in 1050. He took the name Hyarmendacil, South-Victor for himself, for he held sway all to the river Harnen and beyond. The lords of Harad sent their sons to be hostages in his court, for Gondor had reached her height that none could withstand.

Gondorian rebels took Umbar for their own in 1441, and claimed whatever parts of Harad they could hold whenever they could. With their aid, some of the kings of Harad rebelled against Gondor a century later, even slaying King Aldamir in 1540. But they were crushed eleven years later by Vinyarion, the second Hyarmendacil.

But Gondor could not hold sway forever, and in 1856 it faced the grave threat of the Wainriders, well-provisioned Easterlings that fought in chariots. No power could be spared to hold unruly Harad, and the Haradrim were briefly free to rule themselves. Umbar was taken from Gondor, and feuds arose among the Kings of Harad. But more Wainriders came South around Mordor, fighting in Khand and parts of Harad. In this time agents from Dol Guldur, where Sauron was again taking shape, came to the South, fostering friendship between the Southrons and the Wainriders, and the Variags of Khand. Forged by their mutual hatred of Gondor, these fell folk made two great hosts to sweep into Gondor by 1899. The Haradrim marched North along the river Anduin, but they could not overcome Gondor's southern army, and the Númenórean exiles endured.

But Gondor's arm had grown weaker, and it no longer enjoyed the same strength to in the South. The hold above the Harnen weakened, and by 2885 South Gondor was under the sway of the Haradrim, and they crossed the Poros to invade Ithilien in eastern Gondor. With the aid of Rohan, Gondor stayed them at the crossings of the Poros. The twin princes of Rohan were buried in a great mound, the Haudh in Gwanur, along the river, and the Haradrim long feared it. Even so, there was still war in South Gondor, and the land between the rivers Harnen and Poros became a debatable and desert.

In 2951 tidings came to Harad that brought great joy: the Dark Lord Sauron, their master and lord of old, was returned to his tower in Mordor. The men of Harad served him once more, and many marched to Mordor to swell the growing hosts there. Soon, they could do it nearly unopposed upon Gondor's own roads, for the power of Mordor had driven the folk out of Ithilien, save only companies of green-clad soldiers that ambushed the Haradrim where they may. Quickest of all the folk in Harad to return to Mordor were the few remaining Black Númenóreans, and one became the lieutenant of the Dark Tower itself, and Sauron's mouthpiece.

At last, the power of Mordor had grown full, and war was set upon Gondor. The folk of Harad marched alongside the orcs of Mordor when Osgiliath was taken, Mûmakil trumpeted across the fields of Pelennor in the great battle at Minas Tirith, and the Haradrim helped to encircle the host of Gondor and Rohan when it marched upon Mordor. The Southrons were there at that last battle, when the power of Sauron was broken and the creatures of Mordor became witless and lost. Most of the Haradrim fled, or surrended themselves as their victory crumbled, but some made their own desperate stand against Gondor and her allies. But to no avail. The armies of Harad were broken in turn, and could not stand against the heirs of Númenor in the newly dawned Fourth Age.

[Vardamir117]

Mordor (c. Second Age 1000 to 3441, Third Age 1980 to 3019)

When Eru wrought the world, He sent forth into it the Valar, guardian spirits of might, and with them their lesser brethren to watch over it. But one sought not to guide the world, but to dominate it according to his dark design. Morgoth, the Black Enemy, he was named, and he drew to himself likeminded servants from among the lesser spirits. None he trusted more than his lieutenant Sauron, mighty in craft and guile, and in the Elder Days he aided his master in all the evil he wrought on the earth.

When Morgoth's power was broken by the Valar, Sauron repented his deeds, and was bidden to go to the West for judgement. But he did not, for he was unwilling to bear the humiliation his punishment would bring. Some hold that his repentance was true, at least for a time, but by the year 500 of the Second Age he was stirring once again to evil, setting himself up as a new Dark Lord. To the East and South he first turned, for men were easier to turn to his purpose than the elves that tarried on the western shore of Middle-earth.

But the Eldar were more powerful and skilled in craft than men, and Sauron greatly desired to rule them as well. Cautiously, he approached, for whispers of a shadow in the east had reached their ears. But he stayed his hand when the realm of Eregion was established, seeing it for the bastion against him it was meant to be. About this time, the great mariner prince Aldarion of Númenor began his voyages, and Sauron heard more whispers of the majesty and strength of the Edain across the sea. Therefore he secured for himself the land that would become known as Mordor, encircled by mountains nigh impassable, home of a fire-mountain in its high plateau Gorgoroth, where he built the great smithy of Sammath Naur, and enclosing the fields of Nurn around an inland sea, fertile enough to feed great armies. Sauron built a rampart of stone across the only large pass to Mordor, and set in it a gate of black iron. There also was built the Dark Tower, Barad-dûr, Sauron's great fortress to rival Angband of old.

Once his fortifications were complete, the Dark Lord turned once more to ensnaring the elves. He made for himself a fair form and sent emissaries to the elven lands, promising gifts and wisdom to all who would receive him. Annatar, the lord of gifts, he named himself when he followed his emissaries in 1200, and Artano, the high-smith. Some of great foresight were wary of him, including Gil-galad and Elrond of Lindon. In Eregion, Galadriel mistrusted him, and when he called himself Aulendil, the Disciple of Aulë, she recalled the servants of Aulë, the Lord of Craft in the uttermost West, and told all that he was not among them when she had dwelt there in her youth. But the jewel-smiths of Eregion cared not for her misgivings, for the skills that Sauron taught showed their merit well enough. And in truth, before he had served Morgoth, he was indeed a servant of Aulë. The jewel-smiths fell under his sway as he promised them skills to rival their peers in Valinor, learning under Aulë himself, and at his urging Galadriel was driven out of Eregion. In her place the great Elven-smith Celebrimbor ruled.

The greatest skill Sauron taught the elves was ringmaking. These rings had great power, to preserve a land or the life of a mortal, and to strengthen a will and the connection to the Unseen world. Lesser trials of art they wought first, but by 1500, they were ready to make truly perilous rings. After he had set them to it, Sauron departed from Eregion and returned to Mordor for a time. A hundred years later when he judged that the rings were complete and in use, he forged another in Sammath Naur: a ring which he poured all his strength and will into, a master ring with which to enslave the other bearers. But even as he reached out to claim their minds, they saw his design and removed their rings. Enraged, Sauron began a great muster from all his strongholds, and gathered a great host in the plains of Calenardhon below Eregion. It was in 1695 when his armies poured into the Elven realm, and their swords could not withstand him. The rings he recovered, save only those wrought by Celebrimbor's own hand, and Eregion was laid to waste. Further to the north and west Sauron's armies raged unchecked, for neither Lindon nor any place in Middle-earth had the strength to match him. But to Númenor the elves called for aid, and against the Kings of the Isle of the Star even Sauron could not stand. He was forced back to Mordor, vowing ruin and vengeance upon Númenor.

But he rightly feared the strength of the ship-kings, and so let them be in peace for many years, even when they settled havens upon the the great river Anduin, near to the mountains of Mordor. All the coasts became the domain of Númenor, and Lindon fell under their protection. Even further inland, Sauron feared to assail any who Númenor might consider a friend, and the Silvan elves of Lothlórien and Mirkwood, the Dwarves of Moria, and the Entwives passed the Second Age mostly untroubled. But out of the reach and knowledge of Westernesse Sauron reigned supreme. Cruel orcs he raised in multitudes, and trolls, and dwarves, and men in worship and fealty, and all the dark remnants of Morgoth united by the Black Speech of Sauron's devising. The Dark Lord gave out the Rings taken from Eregion, Nine to men and Seven to dwarves. They kindled dwarven hearts to greed, but men became ensnared by the seeming immortality and visions the rings granted. When worn, the Rings hid men from the sight of mortal eyes, but they began to see visions of Sauron. And in time, they faded and their flesh became unseen. Thus came to be the Ringwraiths, most powerful and terrible of all Sauron's servants.

Near the year 3250, the Dark Lord felt his might was great enough to challenge Númenor, for he had heard word of strife within it,and he made open war against them. Sauron declared himself the King of Men, and sent armies against the colonies of Westernesse. He even hoped that they might be driven to the sea, and that he might follow them across it to crush his foes. But in his pride he had underestimated the Land of the Star, and the rumors gave no true account of its might. When the armies of Ar-Pharazôn of Númenor landed and revealed their strength and splendor, the Dark Lord's servants fled without a fight. Sauron came alone to the camp and humbled himself, swearing fealty and repentance for his affronts, and was borne back to Númenor as a hostage. But his guile and fair visage had not departed him, and he became a trusted counsellor of the King. Long his whispers corrupted the hearts the Númenóreans to become tyrants unrivalled in the history of the world. At last, when Ar-Pharazôn began to feel the cold call of the grave beckoning to him, Sauron convinced him to make war upon the Valar and seize for himself immortality.

And Ar-Pharazôn went, gathering the greatest collection of arms ever gathered by men. But his insolence was punished by Eru, and the whole host and Isle of Númenor was swallowed up. Beyond Sauron's greatest hopes was the destruction, save only that he was caught in it and his fair form ruined. But he was spirit, and bore himself out of the depths back to his strongholds in Mordor. Never again could he appear fair to men and elves.

He returned in secrecy in 3320 to find that his enemies on the shores had multiplied. The arm of Lindon now stretched far eastward, and the exiled Númenóreans who Ar-Pharazôn had persecuted had established the realms of Arnor and Gondor. The Dark Lord's hatred burned fiercely, but his strength had been scattered. For more than a hundred years he gathered it as his fortresses were made new, and the fire mountain of Orodruin was rekindled into red flame. He struck against Gondor and nearly overcame it, but all who opposed him came to its aid. The Last Alliance of Men and Elves came against him, and all his strength was not enough to halt it. Many kings and princes were slain in the years of terrible battle, but in the end, Sauron was thrown down, and the Ruling Ring cut from his finger by the Númenórean Isildur. Sauron was reduced to a hateful spirit without his Ring, while Mordor became a fief under the watchful eye of Gondor. Barad-dûr was razed, save the foundations kept strong by the power of the One Ring, and Gondor wrought fortresses were to watch over the Black Land lest some evil inhabit it again: The Towers of the Teeth upon Sauron's Black Gate, Cirith Ungol to guard the Spider's Pass, and Durthang within that fell land. The Second Age had ended, and the Third Age of the World was marked by the passing of the Dark Lord.

But the One Ring was not destroyed. Though he was diminished greatly, Sauron endured. For a thousand years he was no more than a spirit of malice, but by his will and hatred he began to make a new shape for himself. Mordor he dared not reclaim from Gondor's watch, so he made a new fasthold in Dol Guldur in the forests of Mirkwood. There he watched the world as his strength waxed slowly, and waited for chances to do his enemies harm. He observed the waning of Arnor and that the vigilance of Gondor over the Black Land eventually became neglected as Gondor grew complacent. He directed his mightiest servant, the Lord of the Ringwraiths, against Arnor, and the wild things of the north made long campaigns against it. With joy he observed the Kin-strife when Gondor turned on itself, and the Great Plague that some say he sent forth that claimed so many lives that the watch upon Durthang and Cirith Ungol were abandoned utterly. He sent emissaries to his old holdings in the East, seeking foes that might weaken Gondor further, and found the Wainriders that nearly ended the Kings of Gondor and did empty the fortresses at the Black Gate. After Arnor had fallen, the Ringwraiths were sent to reclaim Mordor in secret. By 1980 of the Third Age, they were gathered in Gorgoroth and preparing the land for Sauron's return. The old fortresses of Gondor they garrisoned for Mordor, and once again dark things gathered in that land. Twenty years later, the Ringwraiths took the city of Minas Ithil from Gondor, and held it until the end of the age.

Thus secured, Sauron's servants set about rebuilding their master's land in earnest. Once more orcs multiplied in the Black Land, and slaves from abroad were set to work the great fields by the Sea of Nurnen. New strains of orcs were bred in the dark mountains, the crook-legged Black Uruks with long arms possessing hideous strength. In 2475 they were set against Gondor for the first time, and though they were driven back great harm was done. More attacks followed from Ithil and from the wide East and deep South.

At last, 2942, Sauron returned from Dol Guldur to take up his abode in the Black Land once more. Nine years later he felt secure enough to declare himself openly, and began to rebuild Barad-dûr. The fire-mountain was rekindled, and a cloud of darkness hung over the Black Land. Emissaries were sent from Mordor to distant lands: summoning tribute and armies from the East and South, inquiring of the sale of horses in Rohan, and offering one of the Seven Dwarven Rings to Erebor should they return a trifling ring. For the Dark Lord's chiefest intent was the recovery of the One Ring, that he might gain back his power from it, and that no other might wield that power against him. Even as his armies gathered he hungered for news of what had happened to it after Isildur had been slain in the Anduin. And in 3017, news came.

The wretched creature Gollum, who had long possessed the Ring, came skulking into Mordor, and under torment he told how he had lost it: how it was taken by a Hobbit of the Shire named Baggins. After that, he was set free in hopes that he might discover more. The Ringwraiths broke out of Gondor in storm of fear and swords, and openly began searching for the Shire and the One Ring. But they were thwarted and unhorsed even in their moment of triumph, and the Ring once again passed out of Sauron's knowledge.

Still he searched, sending trusted agents wherever he may to bear it back should it be found. But news came to him from the Seeing stone of Orthanc, where he saw a Hobbit and the Heir of Isildur, bearing the blade that had separated him from the Ring forged anew. Sauron foresaw that this new King of Arnor would claim the throne of Gondor, and feared he may do so with the Ruling Ring in his hand. So he issued forth his hosts, against Gondor and all who might aid her: Rohan, Lothlórien, Mirkwood, Dale, Erebor, the Beornings of the Carrock, and the coasts of Gondor were held by the fear of the sea-power of the thralls of Mordor. But the hardest hammerstroke came to Minas Tirith, where the Stewards and Kings of Gondor held their court. There a great battle raged, and fell deeds were done on both sides and many doughty warriors laid low. But the Heir of Isildur had the victory on that day.

The victorious host of the West then marched upon Mordor, driven it seemed by the confidence of one who held Sauron's Ring, into the maw of a Black Land that still seethed with armies. To the Black Gate they came, where Sauron's emissary taunted them and enclosed their camp on the slag-hills with a ring of orcs and trolls and Easterlings and Southrons. The Dark Lord's gaze was fixed upon the blade that had cut him, and the spoil he hoped to regain once that host was slain.

But all was a feint, that his Lidless eye might fail to see two Hobbits and the twisted Gollum journeying through the heart of his land, bearing his Ring to Sammath Naur where it was forged and could be unmade. Though all his attention was upon it in the end, the Ring was cast into the fire, and with it perished the power of the Dark Lord forever. Barad-dûr and the Black Gate were cast down, and his servants fled the army upon his doorstep. That army passed into Mordor and utterly destroyed all the strongholds that remained and freed the slaves in Nurn. By the valor of the humblest of creatures, Sauron was vanquished forever, and would rise no more.

[Vardamir117]

Umbar (SA 2280 On)

It was in the reign of Tar-Ancalimon that the Númenóreans fortified a great natural harbor in the south of the world. By chance, the native men called it Umbar, which means also fate in the High Elven tongue. Umbar grew to be the greatest settlment of Westernesse on the shores of Middle-earth, greater than Pelargir in the land that would become Gondor or the other havens farther to the south. As the Númenor grew mightier and its hearts darker, Umbar became the chief port for the King's Men. Here it was that Ar-Pharazôn the Golden landed in with his mighty host in 3261 to subdue the Dark Lord Sauron. Seven days the king marched inland, surrounded by fair tents and pennants to rival the blossoms of a thousand fields, and the Dark Lord could summon no army to match them. Sauron was borne to Númenor, where he poisoned minds and said whispers that set in motion the downfall of that great realm.

But in Umbar endured the Black Númenóreans, who had worshipped Sauron as he advised the king and allied with the Dark Lord once he returned from the abyss that had swallowed Númenor. They were there when Sauron fell to the Last Alliance of the Elves and the men of Westernesse who had not fallen under his sway. For a time the land had peace, but Umbar's defeat alongside the Dark Lord bred yet more hatred for the exiled Faithful, especially their realm of Gondor. In the other colonies of Númenor the Black Númenóreans withered away and mingled with the Haradrim, but in Umbar that fell race endured.

Around 900 of the Third Age, Gondor had grown great in sea power, and turned its eye upon Umbar. Eärnil I sieged Umbar on the sea and land and took it for Gondor at great cost. But some of the Black Númenóreans fled the city ere it fell. They made alliance with the Haradrim and sieged it in turn 82 years later, and slew the Gondorian king in the long investment. But they could neither take back the seas nor storm the walls, and at last Ciryaher of Gondor arrived with an army to relieve Umbar. Ciryaher overcame the hosts of the South utterly, and crushed all resistance to the power of Gondor.

So it came to be for long years Umbar was a fortress and harbor of Gondor. Though it had been held by their bitterest foes, the men of Gondor recalled with pride the landing of Ar-Pharazôn and the humiliation of Sauron a thousand years ago. A great white pillar topped with a crystal dome was raised on the highest nearby hill to commemorate it. So it may have remained forever if civil war had not broken out in Gondor against King Eldacar, and the ship-captain Castamir not taken the throne. For Eldacar reclaimed it ten years later when he slew Castamir, but all the fleets remained loyal to the usurper's sons, and they fled to Umbar and endured, though mignled with the Haradrim, and Gondor was left with no sea power to dislodge them. They formed a new realm that made unceasing war with Gondor, raiding all the coasts and claiming parts of Near Harad and South Gondor at times. But their power was ever in ships and surprise, and they became known as the Corsairs. Here many Gondorian rebels and outcasts fled, even princes of the royal line who had fallen out of favor.

With the aid of the Haradrim the Corsairs slew Gondor's King Aldamir, and by their own efforts Pelargir was sacked and King Minardil slain by the corsair lords Angamaitë and Sangahyando, descendants of Castamir. The raids were quelled for a time by the Great Plague of 1636, but they soon resumed their harrying.

But at last Gondor would have no more of it. By 1810 King Telumehtar ruled a land ready for war once more, and he stormed Umbar and ended the line of Castamir. Gondor once again held Umbar, but it soon faced Eastern invaders and could not keep the haven long. Umbar was taken back by men of Harad that eventually revived its sea power and the Corsair tradition, to once more became a thorn in the side of Gondor. They troubled it early in the days of the Steward Cirion, and slew the prince of Dol Amroth in 2746, and sent three great fleets ere the winter of 2758 came. Landings were made all across the Gondor, even far to the North. The Steward Beren had the victory over the Corsairs only at great cost.

Sauron was rising again, and Umbar was eager to serve him once more. The great pillar marking his humiliation was torn down, and the men of Umbar resumed fealty and worship of the Dark Lord. Umbar rose as Gondor dwindled, and its sea power was feared. Many slaves were taken from Gondor by the corsairs to row the oars of their dromunds.

But a great setback came to the Corsairs in 2980. Gondor sent a small fleet in secret to the harbor in the dead of night, and burned many of the ships of the Corsairs. The captain of the Haven came to with too few and too late to stay it, and he was slain by the Gondorian captain Thorongil ere the invaders withdrew. That draught was bitter to Umbar, and their hatred for Gondor was renewed.

By 3019, they had remade their fleet, some fifty great vessels and many lesser ships. All the coasts of Gondor where held in fear of the corsairs once more, and at Sauron's command the corsairs set about a great invasion, raiding all the coasts, sending fleets up rivers, and taking the greater part of their forces up the Anduin, headed towards the fortress city of Minas Tirith, that they might aid all the other hosts of Mordor sent against it. Pelargir stood in their path, and was assailed. But even as the corsairs saw victory in their grasp, raiders from Linhir to the West came to join the main body, gibbering in fear of some fell host that had come against them. For Thorongil had returned, leading an army of dead men only the King of Gondor might command. Against the deadly fear of the shades Umbar had no recourse, and on that day all the corsairs were struck down, or driven in terror to drown in the seas. Thorongil, King Aragorn Elessar, had come.

Soon after, the power of Mordor was broken, and the Dark Lord Sauron fell for the last time. Umbar was left without defense from the renewed realm of Gondor, and once more fell under the power of the Men of the West.

[Vardamir117]

Minas Morgul (Second Age 3320 On)

Isildur established Minas Ithil, the Tower of the Moon, in the earliest days of Gondor. It was made upon the very doorstep of Mordor to worry any remnants of the Dark Lord's realms, but he had little fear of it, for long had the haven of Pelargir remained unbothered by the Black Land, and the Dark Lord Sauron had been humbled by Númenor but seventy years ago. Furthermore, Sauron had been engulfed by the cataclysm that had ruined Númenor, and Isildur shared the hope of many others that the Dark Lord was gone forever.

The greatest wonders in Minas Ithil were treasures of Númenor, gifts of old from the Eldar of the Blessed Realms. In the highest tower was placed one of the Seeing Stones, the palantíri that some say were wrought by Fëanor. But more dear to Isildur was the White Tree, grown from a fruit of White Tree of Númenor that he had rescued ere Sauron had burned it. It was planted in front of his home, a constant reminder of the ancent friendship of the Elves and the grace of the Valar. Other wonders were wrought new there, for the marble walls of the city trapped the moonlight and it shined forth even in the darkest of nights.

But Sauron was only weakened by Downfall of Númenor, not destroyed. In 3429 his host poured through the Mountains of Shadow and stormed Minas Ithil. Isildur fled with his family, but was only able to take a seedling of the White Tree. Bitterly he watched smoke-plumes rising from his city, knowing that Sauron had burnt away another precious seed of Telperion.

But The Dark Lord could not hold the city for long. The Free Peoples united in the Last Alliance against him, and when armies came from the North, he was driven back into in Black Land. Isildur placed with a garrison in Minas Ithil under his second and third sons Aratan and Ciryon once it was liberated, for it guarded the steep pass of Cirith Dúath whereby Sauron might attempt to force a way out as war came to the ashen plateaus of Mordor. The pass claimed an ill name for itself, for a menace in the shape of a great Spider lurked within it, and her broods spread wide from it.

Sauron was defeated in course, but afterwards Isildur did not return to dwell in his city. He departed north with his sons to rule the kingdom of his father, leaving the care of Gondor to his nephew Meneldil. Ere he left, the seedling of the White Tree was replanted, but in memory of his brother it was done in Minas Anor. Meneldil was glad to see them gone, for he desired to be king in his own right. He saw little need to people the city of his uncle, though it was garrisoned as he kept vigilant watch over Mordor. On the other side of Cirith Dúath was placed a tower, as the She-lob continued to prey on patrols that going through the pass. For that menace the passage became known as Cirith Ungol, the pass of the Spider.

But as Mordor remained quiet and Gondor was concerned with other matters as centuries passed, the watch upon the Black Land dwindled, and so did Minas Ithil. When the Great Plague came 1636 years after Sauron was defeated, Cirith Ungol was abandoned, and Minas Ithil depeopled. Only a few soldiers then inhabited the ruined splendor of Isildur's city.

In the year 2000, the Lord of the Nazgûl, Sauron's greatest servant, issued an army out of Mordor through Cirith Ungol and besieged what little remained of Minas Ithil. Two years later it fell to the Nine wraiths and became known as Minas Morgul, the Tower of Black Sorcery. Now the Lord of Morgul had been in the North before this, where he had become known as the Witch-king of Angmar, and there he had fought the prince of Gondor. In that battle, Prince Eärnur's horse had turned aside from the terror of the wraith and he felt shamed for it, though wise heads counselled him to take no concern over it. But when he became king, the Lord of Morgul issued him a challenge, taunting the proud king's courage for his horse's failure long ago. Nearly Eärnur answered, but he was restrained. But seven years later in 2050, the Witch-king sent messages again, laughing at the aging king's cowardice. That Eärnur answered, coming with a small company to the challenge the wraith to single combat. But he never got his challenge, and was imprisoned and tortured until his death. He had no heir, and so the power of Morgul ended the line of Gondor's kings.

But after this was a time of quiet, where the evil spells of the Witch-king were set into the vale of Isildur. The waters grew poisoned and the plants twisted, bearing pale flowers that glowed with sickly light and bore scents of rot. And the city itself was no less touched by his sorcery. It was set about everywhere with a pale light, bearing no warmth. In all its windows there came to be eyes that never shut, and over the grinning maw of the great gate there was unceasing watch over Morgul Vale. The glowing road to the city passed over a perilous stream bearing icy vapor, watched by hideous statues that kept silent vigil. It became a place of horror, where unwary men might be driven mad.

Also at this time a great store of arms and hosts was amassed. Across the mountains of Mordor, through the pass of Cirith Ungol where the Gondorian tower had been claimed for the Dark Lord, orcs multiplied into greater numbers and new, hideous strains. Worst were the the Black Uruks, great orc brutes with crooked legs and strong arms that nearly hung to the ground. They bore scimitars and saw-toothed blades, and some bore cursed blades from the land of horror in Morgul Vale. The orcs in Minas Ithil took the Moon sigil of Isildur's city for their own, but disfigured it with a horrible face of death. In 2475 they were set against Gondor and overran Ithilien, even overcoming the old capital of Osgiliath and breaking its brige. But the Ruling Steward's son Boromir was a great captain and man of vigor, and the orcs could not withstand him. Even the Witch-king himself feared Boromir, and the hosts of Morgul were driven back. But Boromir took a wound from a Morgul blade. That wound troubled him for the rest of his short life, and he died in pain from the bespelled weal. Not long after came another chance for Morgul, for fierce folk came from the East to trouble Gondor. The orcs allied with them and much damage was done ere the Men of the West scattered them.

Near 2900, in the days of the steward Túrin II, orcs began to cross into Ithilien again. Their raids drove almost all folk but the Steward's soldiers out of that fair country, and Ithilien became a contested country were secret wars were waged, for Túrin made hidden refuges that held green-clad warriors to waylay the servants of Mordor.

The time was growing ripe for the Dark Lord Sauron to return to his Black Land. Bit by bit, he had been gathering strength in the fortress of Dol Guldur to the north, hiding his nature from his foes and secretly commanding fell peoples. In 2941, he was driven out by the White Council of Wizards and Elf-lords, but fled to Mordor, safeguarded by the Witch-king's ghoulish city. He claimed the land that had been prepared under the stewardship of the Ringwraiths, and claimed a great prize from Minas Ithil for his own: the palantír of Isildur. Nine years later, he declared himself openly and sent some of the Ringwraiths under Khamûl, second among them, to reclaim Dol Guldur. Soon after, the last folk of Ithilien were driven out, and none could be found in that land that were not servants of the Dark Tower, or the White Tower of Minas Tirith.

At last the time came for the Ringwraiths to be unleashed upon the world once more, for tidings of a great prize had reached Sauron. A host of orcs and Southrons and Easterlings was set against Osgiliath, and the terror brought by the wraiths forced a passage through the men of Gondor. They went throughout the land, to Sarn Gebir, to Gladden Fields, to Isengard, seeking news. From a servant of Isengard they learned of the Shire, where they hoped to find the prize, a lost Ring of Sauron. To that land they rode in haste and scattered the guards upon it. The Witch-king sent the others searching, while he stirred up some of his ancient servants, for the Shire was close to his long-perished realm of Angmar and some of his thralls yet lingered nearby.

But their quarry eluded them, and halflings bearing it slipped by, hastening to the Elven stronghold of Imladris. The Ringwraiths pursued, contending with agents of the Wise all the while. Though they came within a hairsbreadth of success, and pierced the Ringbearer with a cursed blade, the wraiths were overcome by the power in the fords to Imladris. They were unhorsed, and made the long journey back to Mordor in humiliation. But ere long they had returned, and they took winged steeds to ride the coming storm.

Mordor's armies were mustering, and the Ringwraiths undertook errands and messages aplenty, and the Minas Morgul prepared for war. When the time came to crush Gondor, the Dead City was ready to hear the call of Sauron. The Sorcery of the Witch-king flared in return, and the city was emptied in a sable-clad host. Multitudes of orcs, great bodies of horsemen, and most dreadful of all, Nine wraiths of power set forth in might against Gondor. Other armies also left Mordor, and the strongholds of Gondor fell before the might of the Black Land as its strength moved to Minas Tirith, and darkness came with it. The Witch-king and his lieutenant Gothmog encircled the city, and set spells and engines to it.

But though armies were set to secure the land, that no relief might come to the White Tower, not all the ways were watched. Even as the gates fell, the horns of Rohan joined the fray, and a great battle began on the plain. There the Witch-king met his end, and more aid to Gondor came unlooked for up the river Anduin. A red day followed, with death all around. Kings and stewards, lords and warriors, beasts of all kinds were laid low, and countless were the slain. But the dawn came for Gondor, and the hosts of Morgul were ended utterly.

When later the hosts of the West marched upon Mordor, they passed by the still valley of Imlad Morgul. They broke the luminous bridge to the narrow valley, and set the fields of twisted flowers aflame. After the might of Mordor was broken, the pale walls were razed. But though the Dead City had been destroyed, the taint of Morgul Vale still lingered, and men dared not enter it for long years to come.

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The Woodland Realm (Second Age c. 100 On)

The Woodland Realm of Greenwood the Great was founded by Oropher, a Sindarin prince who journeyed eastward after the Fall of Beleriand. He found carefree Silvan elves dwelling in the vast forest of the Wilderland, and taught them some of the craft and ways of Beleriand and the Grey Elves. Though they had no rulers before, the Wood-elves took Oropher as their king, and he established his court in the south of the forest, upon the bare hill of Amon Lanc. The Woodland Realm was friendly to Lothlórien, another Silvan kingdom across the Anduin, but sought little relations beyond that. Oropher had wearied of the Noldorin overlordship in Beleriand and still present in Lindon, desiring instead the simple life of the Wood-Elves who had not heeded the call of the Valar; to ride and hunt under the moonlight, and to gaze upon the stars framed by great trees in the gloaming. The Northmen in the lands around his realms he could tolerate, and there was trade and talk with them, but the of the Dwarves there was little love in the halls of the Elvenking. Both Oropher and his son Thranduil remembered the ancient grievances with the Naugrim and distrusted them, even though there was little strife with the dwarven traders upon the Old Forest Road travelling between the Iron Hills and Khazad-dûm.

As the shadow of Sauron in Mordor was revealed, Oropher's land found itself threatened, for few friends stood between Greenwood and the East and South save the Entwives. Northward he moved three times, and by the end of the age his dwellings were among the Emyn Duir, later known as the Mountains of Mirkwood. Some tales hold that his true aim was to escape the growing influence of Khazad-dûm, but in any case, there is little doubt that he understood the threat that Mordor cast upon the world. When Númenor fell and Sauron again made war on Middle-Earth, Oropher grudgingly joined the Last Alliance of Gil-galad and Elendil, though it marched with the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm and the resented Noldorin realms had waxed in Sauron's absence to encroach upon his borders. Greenwood mustered a great host and joined with the smaller force of Malgalad of Lórien, but they were inexperienced in war and ill-equipped. Oropher led the first charge against the Black Land before Gil-galad ordered it, and was slain for his foolish valor. Prince Thranduil returned to Greenwood with scarcely the third part of the elves who had set out and a sense of caution his father had lacked.

When Isildur was ambushed and slain, it was Thranduil and the woodmen of the Forest that came to avenge him. But once that force of orcs was destroyed, there were long years of peace in Greenwood. For more than a thousand years the wood-elves returned to their happy wanderings in the twilight of the world. Thranduil ruled the happy land, with a crown of leaves, of berries, or of flowers that changed with the seasons. The Northmen about the forest also prospered, and they fell many trees as they dwelt in its eaves, and so was the East Bight made. But a shadow came into the woods, and by the year 1050 of the Third Age its reach had grown long, and Men began to call the forest Mirkwood. Thranduil feared the dark power, for he recalled the might and terror of Mordor and had turned his thoughts to it when the Easterlings had returned to make war upon Gondor. Further north he moved as the darkness grew, until at last he could go no farther without leaving the forest altogether. Then he delved a great dwelling and fortress into a large cave beside a river, guarded by an enchanted doorway, and began to hold against the influence of the shadow that reached into his realm. As they had fled beyond the Old Forest Road of the Dwarves, the Men-i-Naugrim, a new path across the forest was made. Few were told of it, and travellers upon it were viewed with suspicion.

Bereft of the influence of the elves, the south of Mirkwood became a dark and grim place, even after the wizard Radagast came to dwell in Rhosgobel on its southwestern edge. To the gloom came the great spiders of the mountains of Mordor and many other fell creatures. But it was the spiders that Thranduil's folk hated most, and no mercy was granted to them. Though the whole of the southern parts of the forest were given over to darkness and shadow, where the elves dwelt the light shone more brightly. Even the clearings where the Woodland folk made their merriment were more wholesome, and the spiders and other creatures of darkness were loath to tread there.

Thus it was that the years passed, with the Wood-elves finding what joy they may while watch was kept upon the shadow of the South, upon the hill of Dol Guldur in Oropher's abandoned halls. The elves dwelt in simple huts beside or upon the trees, especially beeches, save for the great cave of Thranduil: palace, fortress, storehouse, jail, treasury. There were his troves of white gems and emeralds, and silver ingots kept. The Woodmen also grew stronger, coming up from the South in great numbers, armed with long bows of yew and axes to clear the hostile forest. But the evil things about them, the spiders, and the great wolves, and the cruel orcs of the mountains grew in turn. Raids cames to Mirkwood, and the orcs and wolves made plans for a great attack in 2941 of the Third Age. But those plans were foiled by a company of dwarves under Thorin Oakenshield on a quest with the wizard Gandalf, who then journeyed through Mirkwood and came upon the Elvenking feasting in the woods. Ill words were spoken, and the dwarves were taken prisoner. But through magic the elves had not forseen, the dwarves escaped them, and completed their quest to liberate their ancient home from the dragon that had claimed it.

Birds bore news of the dragon's fall far and wide, and the great ruin wrought in it. Thranduil resolved to claim the dragon's hoard for himself, to join it with his own treasure to rival the ancient vaults of lost Beleriand, and he mached forth in force to it. But the Northmen about the dragon's lair who had long traded goods with Mirkwood sent him messages, and he sent what aid he could to their home ruined by dragonfire. Thereupon Men and Elves marched together to the mountain of Erebor and the dragon's hoard, expecting to find the bones of Thorin and his reckless company. But instead they found a barred gate watched over by dwarven hearts brooding over the dragon's hoard. War nearly arose between them, stayed only when an army of orcs and wolves came also the claim the treasure. Five armies fought in a dreadful battle, and many fair elves, stalwart dwarves, and grim men were slain. But greater still were the deaths of orcs and wolves and wargs. They were pursued all across the Wilderland, some all the way back to Mirkwood. But there they were hunted, or slain by the perils of the dark forest, and the North was fairer for a time.

For in the same year, the White Council of the Wise attacked the evil power at Dol Guldur, and it was driven off, and the forest was happier for it. The elven-kingdom was merrier, and richer from the spoil of the dragon's hoard. Friendship was renewed with the men and dwarves of Erebor, and many of the Woodmen became followers of Beorn, the man who had slain Bolg the goblin-king.

But darkness was rising as the end of the age drew near. The Necromancer of Dol Guldur was none other than the Dark Lord Sauron, and he left Mirkwood for his ancient fortress-realm of Mordor. There his strength was gathered mightily, and he sent his lieutenant Khamûl the Black Easterling to reclaim Dol Guldur. It was said that that fastness grew seven times mighter than it had under the Necromancer.

Once again, the Woodland Realm stood against Sauron. To Thranduil's realm was the creature Gollum brought, that he might find healing and perhaps tell of secrets of the enemy. But he escaped in an orc-raid. Legolas Prince of Mirkwood bore those tidings to Rivendell, and did many great deeds in the War that followed. In the end, evil issued forth from Dol Guldur and came burning to the Woodland realm. A long battle under the trees was fought, but Sauron's eye was fixed elsewhere and Thranduil had the victory. The power of Dol Guldur was broken, and Woodland folk claimed the land down to the Mountains of Mirkwood without fear, and dwelt in happiness for long years to come. The forest was named anew Eryn Lasgalen, the Wood of Greenleaves. Lothlórien claimed the southern reaches, and the Wood-men and followers of Beorn moved further into the land between them. Legolas led a few of the Wood-elves to Ithilien in Gondor. All the through the reign of King Elessar he stayed, turning the once deserted land fair.

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Lothlórien (Second Age c. 100 to Fourth Age c. 100)

The beginnings of the forest realm of Lothlórien lay in the Nandorin Elves who had not completed the great journey to Valinor, but instead tarried in the woods by the great river Anduin. There they dwelt carefree lives, far from the fortress of Morgoth and lacking in any leaders. It was only after the sinking of Beleriand that Sindarin and Noldorin Elves ventured to the forest of Lindórinand and brought the culture of Beleriand. Amdír, also called Malgalad, was chief of them and became king of the land. Fairest of the inhabitants of the forest was the Lady Galadriel, who came to dwell in there after Sauron gained influence over the Elven-smiths of Eregion and drove her out. Galadriel brought with her seeds of the the fair Mallorn trees, gifts from the mariners of Númenor to Gil-galad, and gifts in turn from the Elves of the Blessed Realm. Though they would not grow in Lindon, their silver trunks took root in the forest of Amdír, and in the autumn they filled the woods with golden leaves that did not fall until spring, when golden blossomed bloomed. So fair were the Mellyrn, and so well they took to the land that Lindórinand, Vale of the Land of the Singers, became Lórinand, the valley of Gold, or Laurelindórinand, Valley of the Singing Gold.

When the folk of Lórinand wearied of Middle-Earth and were taken by the sea-longing, they journeyed not to the Grey Havens of Lindon, but to the small haven of Edhellond in Belfalas. This port was established by Sindarin mariners and further peopled by Silvan folk who tarried on the shore before setting out to the Uttermost West. Of old the sway of the Wood-elves bent much further southwest toward the haven, even to the borders of Fangorn forest. The Ents of that wood were friendly to the elves, but rare was it that one kindred set foot in the land of the other.

In time the true designs of Sauron were revealed, and the lords of Eregion were reconciled to Galadriel and gave her the Great Ring Nenya to safeguard. That gift proved foresighted, for Sauron came in great wrath to Eregion to claim the rings for his own in the year 1695. The aid Gil-galad sent was not enough to save Eregion, and the army from Lindon was nearly destroyed itself. But Prince Amroth led a force from Lórinand through Khazad-dûm, and they sallied forth with the Dwarves to stay what ruin they could. They could not stop Sauron, but the host from Lindon was saved, and many refugees from Eregion were able to flee through Khazad-dûm to Lórinand by their valor. It took the might of Númenor to drive back Sauron, and after Galadriel left the forest to counsel Gil-galad of Lindon. Soon after her husband Celeborn ventured to Lórinand for a time to fortify it, but Sauron showed little interest in troubling a well-guarded land stiffened by High Elves when the might of Númenor occupied the shores, especially when he rightly guessed that the rings of power had left it. For centuries the land of Amdír had peace, and the Silvan, Noldorin, and Sindarin peoples mingled to become the Galadhrim, fairest and mightiest of the Wood-elves.

But in time Sauron overcame the men of Númenor, with guile rather than force, and at the end of the age he threatened to swallow all Middle-Earth once again. So Amdír left his forest to join the Last Alliance of Gil-galad and the Númenórean exiles to march against the Dark Lord in his stronghold of Mordor with what might he could muster. But to their sorrow, the elves of Lórinand worked most closely with Oropher of Greenwood, and paid less heed to the veteran commanders of Lindon. Amdír's army was cut off from the host of the West in the battle of Dagorlad, and he perished with the greater part of it in the Dead Marshes. His son Amroth then took up the kingship, and after Sauron was defeated he returned to rule the land of Lórinand in peace. Galadriel and Celeborn came often to dwell in the forest, and put the Ring Nenya to use preserving and protecting the land. Time passed strangely under the guardianship of the Ring of Adamant, and the forest became known as Lothlórien, the Dreamflower. Perilous did men deem it, for tales of the eastmost land where High-Elves dwelt spoke of craft and magic beyond their mortal ken.

For a time, the greatest sorrow in Lothlórien was the unfulfilled love of King Amroth for the Silvan maid Nimrodel. Long had she dwelt by a babbling river of the same name in Lothlórien, before the Western Elves had ever ventured to the forest. And to her mind, they had brought nothing but turmoil and woe, for the land was free of war ere they came. Even though she loved Amroth in return and found him fair and wise, she could not bear to be his queen and embrace the High-Elves. So she dwelt alone in the trees beside her river, speaking only the Silvan tongue.

When the shadow grew in Dol Guldur across the Anduin, Lothlórien once again began to keep vigil on its borders. Not through great watchtowers, but in platforms built into the trees with such subtlety that one skilled in woodcraft may pass by and see no hint of it. The highest of these flets, or telain, was built by Amroth on the great hill of Cerin Amroth for a vantage-point to keep watch over Dol Guldur. But in time it also became his permanent dwelling, and it became a peculiar custom among the inhabitants Lothlórien to put their homes among the branches of the great trees.

Lothlórien only sent forth armies once until the end of the age was nigh: when Elrond of Rivendell campaigned against the Witch-realm of Angmar some 1400 years into the Third Age, he called to his kin in the forest. They answered, and their valor played a part when that dread realm was laid low for a time. For the Lady of Rivendell was Celebrían, daughter of Galadriel, and there were visits and friendship between Rivendell and Lórien.

But a terror struck nearby Khazad-dûm in 1980. Some fell power contended with the dwarves and drove them out, and in came orcs instead. Nimrodel could not bear it and fled south madly, and Amroth followed after her. He found her in the country of Fangorn, and there they were at last trothplighted, and resolved to journey across the Sea to dwell together in peace. But they became separated in the journey to Edhellond, and when Amroth found it alone he found the last ship that would depart from it. He begged them to tarry for Nimrodel, but the storms carried the ship westward ere he was on it, and he drowned attempting to overtake it in despair. Of Nimrodel no tale knows the true account: some say she wed the Gondorian lord Imrazôr, but most tales say that was her maiden Mithrellas. But in any case, the Gondorian city Dol Amroth took its name in memory of Amroth, and the princes of it claim elven blood.

Lothlórien wavered and threatened to vanish without a king, but Galadriel and Celeborn returned permanently and took up governance, though they claimed no royal title. They made their abode in Caras Galadhon, a strong place and great city to watch over the shadow of Dol Guldur. Under their guardianship, vigil was kept upon the world, through keen elven eyes upon flets, through the Mirror of Galadriel, and through the power of Nenya. Even as the world grew dark, and the power in Dol Guldur was revealed to be Sauron returned, and the folk of Lórien grew distant and mistrustful other realms, in Laurelindórinand there was recalled the unstained world of the Elder days, ere men or dwarves or orcs had walked the earth. Deep magic permeated the land, in all the silken cloaks and strong ropes and swift boats wrought there, in the songs of elves and ancient rivers that echoed through the forest, and in the tall trees filled with life.

Dark clouds would come rolling forth from Dol Guldur, but Galadriel would send out enchanted mists to stay them. With them came probes of the Dark Lord's thought, that he might see the minds within Lothlórien. But these too were foiled, for Nenya was greater than the Seven and the Nine that he held, and his thoughts were the ones laid bare. But Galadriel's mists were taken as ill signs by the Men about the forest, and none trusted the Lady of the Golden Wood. Even the Silvan kinsfolk in the realm of Greenwood visited scarcely as the power of Dol Guldur grew. Only in Rivendell was there yet constant friendship, for Celebrían and her daughter Arwen would yet come to Lothlórien.

At last, the end of the age drew nigh, and Sauron once more threatened the world. Orcs of Moria, the ruined halls of Khazad-dûm, seethed in the lands above Lothlórien, seeking vengeance upon a company that had passed through their land on a quest. The might of Dol Guldur was emptied in three great assaults upon Lórien, and in attacks against the Free Folk all about that dread hill. But the power abiding in Lothlórien was too great for the fell creatures of Dol Guldur, though they encircled the forest, for their master was away in the South. When the third assault was stayed, the boats of Lórien crossed the Anduin in turn, and stormed the Hill of Sorcery. Galadriel cleansed the pits and made the forest wholesome once more, and the once gloomy reaches of southern Greenwood became East Lórien.

But it was only for a season. For when Sauron fell, the power of Nenya was broken, and with it the will of Galadriel to tarry in Middle-earth. She departed not three years later, returning at last to the Uttermost West of her youth. Many others crossed the Sea also, and it was not so long before Celeborn wearied of the dwindling forest and moved to Rivendell. Ere the reign of King Elessar had ended, even Rivendell could not claim his heart, and he too went West, taking with him the last memory of the Elder days. When Arwen came to Cerin Amroth for the last time, where she was trothplighted to Elessar long ago, the Wood was silent, and the Mallorn leaves were falling, ere spring had come.

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Rivendell (Second Age 1697 to Fourth Age c. 100)

The end of the First Age saw a union like none before it. Elves and men were wed, and there came twins descended from both kindreds, from the Noldorin High Kings, from the greatest Sindarin rulers, from all three houses of Men, and from the spirit Melian. Elrond and Elros were their names, half-elven peredhil that were scions of king and great lords, raised by Maglor, son of Fëanor. To their family was given a choice in their fate. Elros chose the mortal lot of men and became the first King of the Isle of Númenor. Elrond chose the immortality of the elvenkind, and though he was young in the eyes of the Eldar, he soon became trusted in the counsels of the High King Gil-galad of Lindon.

When Sauron readied for war with Eregion in the year 1695 of the Second Age, Gil-galad sent a force led by Elrond to oppose the Dark Lord. But the road to Eregion was long, and Sauron's host was close. Elrond found a burning land occupied by a mighty enemy when he arrived. Even bolstered by refugees and the remnants of Eregion's army under Celeborn, he could not withstand the forces of Sauron when the Dark Lord turned northward. But Sauron was attacked from behind by the host of Khazad-dûm, who had brought the armies of Lórien with them under the Misty Mountains. Hot was the wrath of the Dwarves, for the Elves of Eregion were great friends to Khazad-dûm, and most of all their lord Celebrimbor, whose desecrated body was borne as a battle standard by the hosts of the Dark Lord.

Sauron's eye turned from Elrond for a while, but was he foiled when the gates of Khazad-dûm were shut. Ever after, his hatred burned against the Dwarrowdelf, and he would stir orcs up against it at every opportunity. But their valor gave Elrond time to regroup and establish a haven in a strong place: the valley of Imladris. Sauron besieged the new outpost that Men called Rivendell, but his aim was to recover the Rings of Power made by the smiths of Eregion, and he guessed rightly that Gil-galad held some of them in Lindon. So he left with most of his host and burned through Eriador in a fell storm of fire and sword, intent on seizing the Grey Havens with all haste.

But even as the Dark Lord came within a hairsbreadth of claiming the havens, the fleet of Tar-Minastir came from Númenor. The Dark Lord could not withstand the Men of Westernesse and was driven back, and Gil-galad lifted the siege of Rivendell. Afterwards, the Lady Galadriel ventured to Rivendell, and a council was held to decide the future of ruined Eriador. The destruction of Eregion had left the eastern side of Eriador vulnerable, but Rivendell was now strong, and it was determined that Elrond should continue to guard it for the day of Sauron's return. He was made the vice-regent of Eriador, and given the Blue Ring Vilya, mightiest of all rings of power save the One. At that same council Elrond first met Celebrían, daughter of Galadriel.

Sauron slumbered for a long while, stayed by Númenor. In that time Elrond established the Last Homely House in Imladris, not merely a fortress, but a place of learning, of comfort, of healing, and of lore. A place where elven bards sung under the stars and the free and the wise came for tidings and counsel, where one could find peace in a world of turmoil within gardens of white birches or the pine-woods about the valley, or tales and songs and poetry in the Hall of Fire that spell-like wove tapestries of thought, of fair things and distant lands.

For many years of men, there was little need for Rivendell as a fortress. For when Sauron at last stirred again, it was more than a thousand years later and against the holdings of Númenor, and the Men of the West needed no help to overcome him. When Númenor fell into shadow and ruin, and its exiles established the kingdom of Arnor under Elendil, Elrond was a friend to them. When Elendil's son Isildur came to Arnor for aid, bearing tidings that Dark Lord threatened to overcome the world, his youngest son Valandil was born in Rivendell and left there while Isildur marched back to war.

And when the Free Peoples united in the Last Alliance against Sauron, returned from the Downfall of Númenor, the armies of Lindon and Arnor gathered in Imladris, and the hosts of Rivendell marched with them. Elrond was the herald of Gil-galad and was there at the end of all things, when Sauron came forth to fight Elendil and Gil-galad, and all three were cast down. Elrond and Círdan counseled that Sauron's master ring be destroyed that day, foreseeing the hurt that it could cause and perhaps the evil that the Ring would bring about. But that counsel has not heeded, and Isildur kept it for his own. But he was slain with his eldest sons on the road, and the Ring passed out of all knowledge.

Thus began the Third Age of the world. With the deaths of Gil-galad and many elves in the war, Lindon diminished to a shadow of itself. No heir of the elvenking pressed a claim, and Lindon passed out of the guardianship of the High Elves. To Rivendell the remaining High-elven folk were drawn, for the blood of kings flowed in the veins of Elrond Half-elven, and he had the hands of a master healer, and lore and knowledge to match the wisest in the Wide World. Mighty Elf-lords such as Glorfindel and Erestor and Gildor Inglorion came to dwell in Imladris, and it grew fairer as the age passed, especially when Elrond wed Celebrían in the year 109. She bore him twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir, in 130 and a daughter in 241: Arwen Undómiel, the Evenstar in whom was the likeness of Lúthien.

With the One Ring lost, there was little fear in the use of Vilya. The Ring of Celebrimbor was set upon the valley in preservation, and under its guardianship time seemed not to pass, and the very air brought rest and comfort and joy. Even as the world diminished, and the glory of the High Elves and Númenor faded, Rivendell stood strong. It kept fellowship with Arnor and what remained of Lindon, and also with the Galadhrim of the Forest of Lothlórien. Oft would the folk of Rivendell travel to the forest, to meet with their kin in another place where High Elves lingered under the guardianship of a Ring of Power.

When the witch-realm of Angmar arose against Arnor in the year 1349, no word came to Rivendell until the assault was driven back. But Elrond watched the land warily, and there was trouble with Angmar in the following years, even a brief siege of Rivendell. But the witch-realm's eye was upon Arnor, and the next great assault in 1409 fell upon it once more, only to be driven back at great cost. But Angmar was weakened in turn, so Elrond called for aid from Lothlórien to make war against it. For a time Angmar was subdued. But the Witch-realm could not be undone, and it troubled Arnor and Rivendell for long years yet. It was only when Arnor was vanquished and help came from Gondor in the South that that fell kingdom met its end in 1975. When Angmar fled from the fury of the South, a host from Rivendell overtook it, and the swords of Imladris played their part in Angmar's downfall. There it was that Glorfindel spoke words of prophecy that were long remembered of the dread realm's Witch-King.

Even so, Arnor was no more. Instead of trying to reclaim their lost glory, its last surviving folk became Rangers, wanders that silently and thanklessly watched the land. But their friendship with Elrond remained strong, and oft would Elrohir and Elladan ride with them. By their vigil, the North was made safe again. Though dark forces gathered in the South and East, Imladris was yet a place of safety and joy.

Sorrow struck in 2509, when the orcs revealed themselves by attacking Celebrían on the road. She was taken and tormented, and given a poisoned wound ere her sons rescued her. Elrond, great healer that he was, cured her injuries, but her delight of Middle-earth was forever lost, and she travelled to the Grey Havens next year to journey across the Sea. Bitterly the sons of Elrond rued her torment, and never would they forget it as the rode against orc-raiders in the years to come.

But though songs and tales still recalled Rivendell, and more than one great quest stopped to rest in the Halls of Elrond, memory of it dwindled as the world grew darker and more fell. To the South, none could recall the way to Imladris, though few had forgotten its name. It remained a haven from evil things; few dared enter it, and those that did were stayed by the might of the Elves, in swords and fear and rivers that flooded at Elrond's command. But the might of Imladris was in weapons less than in wisdom. In all the councils of the Wise Elrond had a part, when the White Council spoke of Dol Guldur and the menace growing in it, and he foresaw that the stroke that drove it out in 2941 was too late.

For that menace was Sauron, come anew and returned to his dark fastness of Mordor once he was driven from Dol Guldur. By the end of the Third Age his arm had grown long, stretched out to claim the world. It was at Rivendell that a great Council was held, that decided the mad hope beyond hope to end Sauron, that the One Ring should be destroyed. The quest set out from Ilmadris once the Elven-smiths there reforged the sword of Elendil, that had cut the Ring from Sauron's hand in his last fall. And to Rivendell there came tidings from Lothlórien, of war and the need of aid in the South. Rangers of the North and Elrohir and Elladan rode to battle, bearing gifts from Imladris, and great deeds were done by that company.

And when Sauron was defeated, and Aragorn of the lost realm of Arnor, raised in Imladris, was crowned king, the folk of Rivendell came to his coronation. Arwen daughter of Elrond became his queen, forsaking the immortality of her father for the choice of Lúthien. But though peace was won for the world, the power of Vilya passed with Sauron, and Elrond and many of the High-elven folk at last departed over the Sea to join their kin in Valinor. Rivendell endured for a time yet, for Elrohir and Elladan still tarried with some who had seen the Elder Days, and it was yet a place of knowledge, where the Tale of Years and other parts of the Red Book were learned. But it was not so long they lingered, and when the crown passed to their nephew Eldarion, the Homely House at Imladris was no longer a place of knowledge, but of empty halls where none remained.