Dol Amroth

Dol Amroth is a coastal city and fief of Gondor, the chief stronghold of the southern fiefs, standing on the promontory of Belfalas where it juts into the Bay of Belfalas. It is the seat of the Princes of Dol Amroth, the noblest of Gondor's lords after the ruling house, who are said to carry a strain of Elven blood in their line. The city and its prince play an honored part in the defense of Gondor during the War of the Ring.

Dol Amroth is named for Amroth, an Elven-lord of old, and its lords keep something of the grace and the sea-longing of the Elves who once dwelt on those shores before passing over the Sea.

Geography

Dol Amroth stands upon a hill on the cape of Belfalas in southern Gondor, a fair walled city above the sea, with a fortress and a haven for ships. It looks out over the Bay of Belfalas and the wide waters of the south. The fief of Belfalas around it is one of the richest and most populous of Gondor's southern lands, and its knights, mounted and well-armed, are reckoned among the finest in the realm.

History

The line of the Princes of Dol Amroth is very old and noble, and tradition holds that an ancestor of the house wedded an Elf-maiden, or that the line descends from those who dwelt by the haven where Amroth's ship was lost, so that a remnant of Elven blood and the sea-longing runs in them. The princes have long been faithful and high-ranking vassals of the Stewards and Kings of Gondor, second in honor only to the ruling house itself.

In the story

Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth, uncle of Boromir and Faramir, brings his knights and men-at-arms to the defense of Minas Tirith before the siege. He fights with valor in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, helps to bear the wounded Faramir to safety, and after the battle takes command of the city's defense. He is among those who counsel and support Aragorn, and he rides with the host to the Black Gate in the final challenge to Sauron. The men of Dol Amroth, with their swan-prowed banners, are a mainstay of Gondor's strength in its hour of greatest need.