Arnor

Arnor was the northern kingdom of the Dúnedain in Middle-earth, the sister realm of Gondor, founded by Isildur and his father Elendil at the end of the Second Age after the Downfall of Numenor. Once a great realm spanning much of Eriador, Arnor declined over the long centuries of the Third Age, broke apart, and at last fell, leaving its lands largely empty and its people reduced to the wandering Rangers of the North. The heirs of Arnor's kings, however, endured in secret, and in Aragorn the line of Isildur came at last to reclaim the crown.

Arnor's chief importance to The Lord of the Rings lies in its fall and its hidden survival: from its broken realm came the Rangers who guarded the North, and from its royal line came the heir who would restore the kingship of the Dúnedain.

Geography

At its height Arnor stretched across Eriador, from the Misty Mountains in the east to the Blue Mountains in the west, and from the Gulf of Lune southward. Its chief city was Annúminas on Lake Nenuial, and later Fornost Erain in the North Downs. The land included the country that would later become the Shire and Bree, the ruined watchtower of Amon Sûl (Weathertop), and the realm's old roads, by then crumbling and disused.

History

Arnor was founded by Elendil, High King of the Dúnedain in exile, with his son Isildur, while Gondor was ruled by Isildur and his brother Anárion. After the Last Alliance and the fall of Isildur, the northern kingdom passed to his heirs. In time Arnor was divided among quarreling successors into three smaller realms, Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur, which weakened and warred. The chief enemy of the North was the witch-realm of Angmar, ruled by the Witch-king who was in truth the Lord of the Nazgûl. Angmar destroyed the northern kingdom and took Fornost, ending Arnor as a realm, though the Witch-king was at last defeated and driven from the North.

After Arnor's fall, the surviving Dúnedain dwindled to a small, secret people, the Rangers, who guarded Eriador and the Shire from hidden, and the heirs of Isildur kept the heirlooms of their line, the shards of Narsil, the Ring of Barahir, and the Sceptre of Annúminas, awaiting the return of a king.

In the story

Though Arnor is long fallen by the time of The Lord of the Rings, its legacy is felt throughout. The Ranger Strider, who guards Bree and the wild lands, is revealed to be Aragorn, heir of Isildur and rightful king of both Arnor and Gondor. With the victory in the War of the Ring, Aragorn is crowned and the two kingdoms are reunited under King Elessar, and the North is once more brought under the rule of the line of Elendil.