Finwe said:
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"As you know, with the original founding of Arnor and Gondor..."
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Actually, anyone only familiar with the movie storyline will not know anything of Arnor.
Dúnedain is the Sindarian Elven word for 'Men of the West'
(Dúne = west, Edain = fathers of men) and was the name given to the descendants of Elros half-elven, Elrond's brother who chose mortality, and those who went with him to the island of Numenor in the Second Age.
When the Downfall of Numenor came due to the corruption of the hearts of men on Numenor, the 'Faithful' under the leadership of Elendil, set sail for Middle Earth and were scattered by the tempest that destroyed Numenor, and they came ashore some in the Grey Havens in the North, and others in the Bay of Befalas in the south. The northern group formed the Kingdom of Arnor, Numenor-in-exile, and the southern group, which had more people, formed the Kingdom of Gondor, Numenor-in-exile. Sometimes a reference of 'the exiles' will be picked up in reading the Lord of the Rings books and this is what they are referring to, not that Arargorn is an exile from Gondor.
About the two kingdoms... Gondor had the military might but not the strength of the bloodline, for the seed of the division was sown early, when Elendil, King of Arnor, appionted his sons Isildur & Anárion as the joint-rulers of Gondor. The Argonath, the two great stone sculptures of Kings each side of the River Anduin
(And shown beautifully in the movie) were the images of Isildur and Anárion, first Kings of Gondor.
After the Last Alliance of Elves & Men, and the war that overthrew Sauron
(also beautifully shown in the opening of the movie Fellowshig of the Ring), Elendil was killed and also the younger son Anárion, and Isildur was rightfully the ruler of both Arnor and Gondor. During this time Isildur wrote the parchments about the One Ring which he took from Sauron's severed finger, and after a couple years, he gave over the Kingdom of Gondor to Meneldil, Anárion's son to rule and set out for Arnor with his three eldest sons, Elendur, Aratan, & Ciryon. After thirteen days of travel they were set upon by orcs in the Gladden Fields
(skimmed over all too briefly and portrayed wrong in my opinion in Fellowship of the Ring movie, though the special edition DVD does cover Isildur's death better. For a true account of Isildur's death, read in the book 'Unfinished Tales' the account of the 'Disaster of the Gladden Fields'.) and Isildur and his sons were killed and the One Ring lost in the Anduin River. To Ohtar he committed the shards & sheath of Narsil to save by all means, and he and a companion evaded the orcs and were the only survivors of this battle save Elendur's esquire Estelmo. Ohtar successfully brought the sword to Imladris where Elrond received them as heirlooms of the line of Elendil & Isildur. For at Imladris also dwelt Isildur's wife and young son Valandil. So it is from Valandil that the line of Kingswas unbroken from Elendil to Aragorn, who re-united the two Kingdoms into one.
Of the dwindling of and demise of Arnor, there was much war upon them from the north and east, for the Witch-King, the chief nazgul, had made a forterss in the north at Carn Dûm, and the peoples of Arnor were few. As the years went, there first was the division of Arnor among the sons of King Eärendur into three kingdoms, Carladan, Rhuadur, and Arthedain. Rhuadur soon fell, and Carlodan
(where the Barrow Downs are) was wiped out by illness and war, and only Arthedain remained. Later some years, Prince Arvedui of Arthedain wed Princess Fíriel, the daughter of King Ondohar of Gondor. A few years later, war came to Gondor and during the Battle of the Wainriders, King Ondohar and his sons Artamir & Faramir were slain. It was at this time that Arvedui claimed the crown of Gondor being the descendant of the unbroken bloodline of Isildur. But he was refused, being not of the line of Meneldil, Anárion's son whom Isildur committed the rule of Gondor. He then spoke of Elendil, and the Numenorean law that allowed for the crown and sceptre to go to the eldest surviving child, and his wife Fíriel was the only living descendent of King Ondohar
(technically this would of made Fíriel the ruling queen of Gondor). There was no answer to his second claim, and the crown of Gondor was claimed by Eärnil, who was of the line of Arciryas, younger son of King Telumehtar, brother to Fíriel's great grandfather, King Narmacil II.
Arvedui never pressed his claim further, for there was trouble in the north, and in about thirty years, he found himself in battle with the Witch-King again, and he had not the might to hold him back. He called on Gondor for help, and it was sent, but too late to save Arthedain. Arvedui perished in the icy waters of Forchel when a Elven ship sent by Cirdan broke up on the ice. Arvedui's son Aranarth did not claim the title of King, but instead was called Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North. Each eldest son of the bloodline of Isildur was in turn called Chieftain, with Aragorn the last to carry that title.
Whew.. I guess I got wordy and long-winded, but it was good to delve into the scrolls and parchments of the Great Library and I thank you all for this opportunity to refresh my mind on the lore of Middle Earth. There may be some inaccuracies in my writings above, but I hope they are not many...
Namarie,
Snowdog