The full extent of the Reunited Kingdom
So we have a glimpse of middle earth's future as it marched into the fourth age. I am curious though how big did the Reunited Kingdom get. Aragorn and Eomer pursued campaigns around the sea of Rhun and subdued Harad(or the northern parts at least). But could Aragorn or his descendants have subdued all of Middle Earth all the way to the eastern sea and the Dark Land? Or would it remain beyond their grasp.
Also based on that question how did the reunited kingdom end? We know Tolkien considered Arda to be an ancient Earth so Aragorn's empire must have ended at some point or another. Anyone want to hazard to answer these questions. They are speculative of course but speculative answers are what I am looking for. |
Unfortunately, the only answer that can be given is, "We don't know." Aragorn's conquests was a topic that Tolkien only touched upon in the vaguest of terms.
That being said, I find it implausible that Aragorn or his successors could have subdued the whole of Middle earth. The Reunited Kingdom was already a vast territory of nearly ungovernable scope, and initially, very thinly populated to boot. I don't think that any additional conquests could have been large or sustainable. As for how it fell, Tolkien did write some pages of The New Shadow where in the time of Aragorn's successor Gondor was already starting to unravel. I don't know that we should suppose that the Reunited Kingdom's dominion was of any great duration. |
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Why would Gondor have been rotten morally or otherwise?
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I think it might have taken quite a while for them to have developed any 'imperial' designs for their neighbors, but a greedy King coupled with a dissatisfied populace could have started things up. |
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I don't think Aragorn and Éomer's campaigns in Harad and Rhûn were ones of subjugation and conquest. I think they were to subdue or force into peace those Men who refused to make peace after the fall of Sauron. Quote:
I doubt the Reunited Kingdom was ever much larger than the traditional heartlands of Gondor and Arnor, and I would think it very unlikely that its territory ever reached anywhere near the extent of Gondor alone during the reign of Hyarmendacil: Quote:
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I suspect the Reunited Kingdom would have gone ahead and reasserted its ancient nominal claim to everything west of the Mountains, except Rivendell and Lindon, and Rohan by ancient treaty - easy enough given a complete lack of rival claimants or meaningful opposition (the Shire, Bree-land, Orthanc, Fangorn, Druadan Forest and the Glittering Caves were "under the protection of the sceptre.") South of the Gap of Rohan, Ithilien of course; one gets a vague sense that when Aragorn "gave" Nurnen to Mordor's freed slaves it was thereby also something of a Gondorian protectorate. But I don't see Aragorn's ambitions extending farther than the Poros, unless he decided it was time to subdue Umbar once and for all. Rhun? Punitive raids against Sauronian dead-enders, yes, but there's no way Gondor could have meaningfully held all that territory.
In short, I think Elessar was concerned with re-establishing Elendil's kingdom, but no more. |
An excellent opportunity to get lost in some weeds...
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I don't think in Elessar's time, or even Eldarion's, the Dual Kingdom would have either the capacity or the intention to expand beyond what it's borders had been at the time of Sauron's return, a mere 80 years before. This would in effect mean Ithilien, from the northern end of the Ephel Duath south to the Poros, and nothing else (save reasserting a nominal claim to Minhiriath and Eriador). Certainly no point in expanding back north to the Argonath- nothing arable or even really habitable there any more. As I said, the behavior of the Corsairs might result in Umbar being retaken, but I doubt Elessar would bother with it unless provoked.
However, after 2 centuries of peace and prosperity the population might well be substantially greater; I wouldn't be at all surprised if the fall of Sauron led to something of a "baby boom" (certainly it did in the Shire!). By the mid 3200s Eldarion's son might have developed an unhealthy obsession with maps from the time of Alcarin.... |
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