Home > Arnor

It was founded at the end of the Second Age (S.A. 3320) by Elendil, whose sons founded Gondor at the same time. The history of the two kingdoms is intertwined; both kingdoms are known as the Realms of the Dúnedain in Exile.

Before the foundation of Arnor there was already a sizable Númenórean population living there, a result of the slow emigration of Númenóreans which had started under Tar-Meneldur and Tar-Aldarion. Before the arrival of the Dúnedain Arnor was home to Middle Men of Edain stock, and the early colonists soon interbred with the indigenous population. Arnor was originally favoured over the more southern regions (Gondor) because the Elves under Gil-galad lived near it across the river Lhûn. However, in later days after the Númenóreans fell under SauronSauron is a fictional character from J. Tolkien's Middle-earth universe. He is the titular Lord of the Rings against whom the protagonists of that series struggle. His name is pronounced in IPA as: sn and in SAMPA as: sAUr\`Qn''. His "birth" occured in 30's shadow they settled more to the south. This led to a situation where Elendil arrived in an area populated by people who, unlike his own Númenóreans, were mainly still friends with the Elves, and unlike Gondor to the south in Arnor much knowledge of the Elder Days was preserved.

Arnor's second king IsildurTolkien's fantasy universe of Middle-earth, Isildur was a Dunadan of Numenor, elder son of Elendil. Isildur was born in the year 3220 of the Second Age in Numenor as first son of Elendil, son of Amandil the last Lord of Andunie. He had a younger brother A (also King of Gondor) was killed in T.A. 2 by OrcOrc or Ork an Old English word ('orc-neas' from Beowulf) for the zombie-like monsters of Grendel's race was revived by J. Tolkien in his Middle-earth legendarium. For the origin of the word and its usage in other fantasy works, see: Orc. In Tolkien's writs in the disastrous Battle of the Gladden FieldsThe Gladden Fields ( Sindarin Loeg Ningloron is a fictional location in J. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth. The Gladden Fields are located in the vale of the Gladden river, a tributary of the Anduin. At this place Isildur and his sons were ambushed by. His three eldest sons were killed with him, but the fourth and youngest, ValandilIn the fiction of J. Tolkien, Valandil was a king of Arnor in Middle-earth, ruling from 2 T. He was the fourth son of Isildur; his elder brothers were killed by Orcs at the Gladden Fields along with their father. Valandil and his mother were in Rivendell, survived and became king of Arnor (T.A 2 or 10?).

Because Valandil and his heirs did not claim the throne of Gondor the realms were split, but Arnor's ruler kept the title High King, whereas in the south the ruler was 'just' King.

Arnor's capital was AnnúminasIn the fiction of J. Tolkien, Annuminas (Elvish "West Tower" or "Sunset Tower") is a city of Middle-earth. The city was once the capital of Arnor, on the shores of Lake Evendim in the north of Eriador. The city was founded by Elendil near where the lake g on Lake EvendimIn the fiction of J. Tolkien, Lake Evendim or Nenuial is a lake of Middle-earth. The Elven name Nenuial is Sindarin for "Lake of Twilight", suggesting that it is best seen at that time of day. The lake is about 100 miles north of the Shire in northern Eri, but by T.A. 861 Fornost ErainIn the fiction of J. Tolkien, Fornost Erain ( Sindarin 'Northern-fortress of the Kings' from for(n (north) + ost (fortress); "Norbury of the Kings" in Westron) was a city of Eriador in the north of Middle-earth. It was located at the south end of the Nort had become the capital instead as Annúminas became depopulated.

After the death of its tenth king, Eärendur, in T.A. 861, Arnor was shaken by civil war between the three sons of Eärendur. The eldest son, Amlaith, claimed Kingship over all Arnor but was reduced to only ruling the region of Arthedain as his kingdom, while the other sons founded the kingdoms of Cardolan and Rhudaur.

Arnor was refounded in name by Arthedain's king Argeleb I, when Cardolan placed itself under the suzerainty of Arthedain. However, even Arthedain was eventually destroyed. The people of Arnor were mostly wiped out by the wars, but the Hobbits survived in the Shire, men survived in Bree and probably other villages, and the Dúnedain of Arnor created new homes in the Angle south of Rivendell, where some of them became known as the Rangers of the North.

See Kings of Arnor.

Arnor was also the name of a software house which developed and published a range of business and utility software in the 1990s. Their Protext word processor sold over 100,000 copies on a range of platforms including the Amstrad PCW and MS-DOS.