Emyn Arnen

Emyn Arnen was a range of hills in Ithilien, the fair land east of the Anduin in the realm of Gondor. It was the ancestral home of the line from which the Stewards of Gondor sprang, and after the War of the Ring it became the seat of the Princes of Ithilien.

Geography

Emyn Arnen lay in southern Ithilien, a group of hills rising east of the Anduin not far from where the river bent past Minas Tirith and Osgiliath. Ithilien itself, "the Garden of Gondor", was a region of woods, streams, and herbs, fair even in the days when it lay under the shadow of Mordor across the mountains to the east.

History and significance

The first Steward of Gondor of the House of Húrin, the line that came to hold the Stewardship in perpetuity, was descended from lords whose home lay at Emyn Arnen. The hills thus had an old connection to the ruling house that governed Gondor in the long absence of its kings.

After the War of the Ring and the return of King Aragorn, Faramir, the last Ruling Steward and son of Denethor, was made Prince of Ithilien and Lord of Emyn Arnen. He and Éowyn of Rohan, whom he wedded, dwelt there, and Faramir governed Ithilien as the chief lord under the King, helping to restore and resettle the once-fair land that had long been a war-torn borderland with Mordor.