Quote:
Originally Posted by Inziladun
There are stark differences apparent between the Númenórean Kingdoms in Exile in Middle-earth, Arnor and Gondor.
One would think Arnor had the greater importance to the Númenóreans, since that was the realm of Elendil himself, and after the war of the Last Alliance, was to be ruled by his elder son, Isildur. Yet, it fell into decay, conquered by the Lord of the Nazgûl and his army of evil men. Why was that? The fact of disunity among the Northern Dúnedain, splitting Arnor into smaller realms, was an obvious problem. But it has always seemed to me that the Witch-king's victory over them was easier than it should have been. Their Tower of Amon Sûl was taken and razed. The capital city of Annúminas was deserted, and the other city, Fornost, was captured. The reader is told comparatively little about the Arnorian cities and fortifications, but they seem to have been less strong than their southern counterparts.
Arnor also lacked a port of its own, whereas Gondor was a sea-power.
Orthanc was made of an apparently unbreakable rocklike substance and had never been captured. The walls of Minas Anor were fashioned of the same stuff.
Why did the Southern Kingdom have those advantages the Northern Realm lacked, especially considering Arnor was to have been the seat of Elendil?
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I've often wondered about Arnor on similar veins, though I had not drawn the corollary about Orthanc-stone and Amon Sul. It is hard to understand how Numenorean fortifications of Elendil's primary realm should be more vulnerable than the Gondor fortifications. Nice point Inziladun.
Of the materials I have never been able to disambiguate, one was about the Amon Sul Palantir. We know it was large, like the Osgiliath master stone of the South, but was Amon Sul oriented as the Osgiliath subordinate or not? Just speculating, but it seems that knowing which way this item goes, may be an insight into Elendil's ideas about the distribution of power in the realms. For example, it seems that a lot of fortifications went into hedging in Mordor after he Last Alliance, where there was recognition of victory, but not of eternal vanquishment of Sauron. I wonder if that was part of Elendil's planning, where sovereignty over the North Realm emphasised something else. What, I don't quite know.
We also knew that Arnor was a less densely populated realm, covering a very large area of governance. Strategically, I imagine this was pivotal in its conquest. I never understood why, after Arvedui and Earnil, why Aragorn's ancestor was not encouraged to take up, if not the High Kingship, then the rule of the realm of Arnor. I never understood why the kingdom was not rebuilt. Though, I recall reading that it was the presence of the Barrow Wights in the resting mounds of the Kings that did have a big part in this. We're told that the presence of the Wights was anathema to the Realm, yet Aragorn did not seem to mind in FA.....
just some thoughts.