Editing Gondor (section)

== Concept and creation ==

=== Writing ===

Tolkien's original thoughts about the later ages of Middle-earth are outlined in his first, mid-1930s, sketches for the legend of [[Númenor]]; these already contain a semblance of Gondor.<ref group=T>{{Harvnb|Tolkien|1987}} ch. 2 "The Fall of Númenor"</ref> The appendices to ''The Lord of the Rings'' were brought to a finished state in 1953–54, but a decade later, during preparations for the release of the Second Edition, Tolkien elaborated the events that had led to Gondor's civil war, introducing the regency of Rómendacil II.<ref name="PM-258-61" group=T>{{Harvnb|Tolkien|1996}} ch. 9 "The Making of Appendix A". Letter ''c'' in names is used for original ''k''</ref> The final development of the history and geography of Gondor took place around 1970, in the last years of Tolkien's life, when he invented justifications for the place-names and wrote full narratives for the stories of Isildur's death and of the battles with the Wainriders and the Balchoth (published in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'').<ref group=T>{{Harvnb|Tolkien|1996}} ch. 13 "Last Writings"</ref>

=== In-universe ===

Tolkien describes an early population of [[Elf (Middle-earth)|elves]] in the Dol Amroth region, writing many accounts of its early history. In one version, a haven and a small settlement were founded in the [[First Age]] by seafaring [[Sindar]] from the west havens of [[Beleriand]] who fled in three small ships when the power of [[Morgoth]] overwhelmed the [[Sundering of the Elves#Eldar|Eldar]]; the Sindar were joined later by Silvan Elves who came down Anduin seeking the sea.<ref name="UT History of Celeborn and Galadriel" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1980}}, part 2 ch. 4 "History of Galadriel and Celeborn"</ref> Another account states that the haven was established in the [[Second Age]] by Sindarin Elves from Lindon, who learned the craft of shipbuilding at the Grey Havens and then settled at the mouth of the [[Morthond]].<ref name="UT History of Celeborn and Galadriel" group=T/> Other accounts say that Silvan Elves accompanied [[Galadriel]] from [[Lothlórien]] to this region after the defeat of [[Sauron]] at [[Eriador]] in the middle of the Second Age,<ref name="UT History of Celeborn and Galadriel" group=T/>  or that Amroth ruled among the Nandorin Elves here in the Second Age.<ref name="UT Aldarion and Erendis" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1980}}, "Aldarion and Erendis".</ref> Elves continued to live there well into the Third Age, until the last ship departed from Edhellond for the [[Undying Lands]]. Amroth, King of Lothlórien from the beginning of the Third Age,<ref name="UT History of Celeborn and Galadriel" group=T/> left his realm behind in search of his beloved Nimrodel, a Nandorin who had fled from the [[Balrog|horror]] unleashed by the [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]] in [[Moria (Middle-earth)|Moria]]. He waited for her at Edhellond, for their final voyage together into the West. But Nimrodel, who loved [[Middle-earth]] as much as she did Amroth, failed to join him.  When the ship was blown prematurely out to sea, he jumped overboard in a futile attempt to reach the shore to search for her, and drowned in the bay.<ref name="UT History of Celeborn and Galadriel" group=T/> Mithrellas, a Silvan Elf and one of the companions of Nimrodel, is said to have become the foremother of the line of the Princes of Dol Amroth.<ref name="UT History of Celeborn and Galadriel" group=T/><ref name="Martinez">{{cite web |last1=De Rosario Martínez |first1=Helios |title=Light and Tree A Survey Through the External History of Sindarin |url=https://www.elvish.org/Tengwestie/articles/DeRosarioMartinez/lightandtree.phtml|website=[[Elvish Linguistic Fellowship]] |date=22 November 2005}}</ref>

According to an alternate account about the line of the Princes of Dol Amroth cited in ''Unfinished Tales'', they were descendants of a family of the Faithful from [[Númenor]] who had ruled over the land of [[Belfalas]] since the [[Second Age]], before [[Akallabêth|Númenor was destroyed]]. This family of [[Númenóreans]] were akin to the [[Lords of Andúnië]], and thus related to [[Elendil]] and descended from the House of Elros. After the [[Downfall of Númenor]], they were created the "Prince of Belfalas" by [[Elendil]].<ref name="UT-BFI" group=T/> ''Unfinished Tales'' provides an account of "Adrahil of Dol Amroth" who fought under King Ondoher of Gondor against the [[Wainriders]].<ref name="UT-CE1" group=T/>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+ Tom Shippey's comparison of Gondor and its neighbour, Rohan{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=146–149}}
|-
! Situation !! Gondor !! [[Rohan (Middle-earth)|Rohan]]
|-
| Leader's behaviour<br/>on meeting trespassers || [[Faramir]], son of [[Ruling Stewards of Gondor|Ruling Steward]] [[Denethor]]<br/>courteous, urbane, civilised || [[Éomer]], nephew of King [[Théoden]]<br/>"compulsively truculent"   
|-
| Ruler's palace || Great Hall of [[Minas Tirith]]<br/>large, solemn, colourless || [[Mead hall]] of [[Meduseld]],<br/>simple, lively, colourful   
|-
| State || "A kind of [[Ancient Rome|Rome]]",<br/>subtle, selfish, calculating || [[Anglo-Saxon]],<br/>vigorous  
|}

[[File:Witan hexateuch.jpg|thumb|Bold colourful Rohan, modelled on the [[Anglo-Saxons]] (here in an 11th-century illustration), "the bit that Tolkien knew best",{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=146–149}} is contrasted by critics with the solemn but colourless Gondor.]]

The critic [[Tom Shippey]] compares Tolkien's characterisation of Gondor with that of Rohan. He notes that men from the two countries meet or behave in contrasting ways several times in ''The Lord of the Rings'': when Éomer and his Riders of Rohan twice meet Aragorn's party in the Mark, and when Faramir and his men imprison Frodo and Sam at Henneth Annun in Ithilien. Shippey notes that while Éomer is "compulsively truculent", Faramir is courteous, urbane, civilised: the people of Gondor are self-assured, and their culture is higher than that of Rohan. The same is seen, Shippey argues, in the comparison between the [[mead hall]] of [[Meduseld]] in Rohan, and the great hall of Minas Tirith in Gondor. Meduseld is simple, but brought to life by tapestries, a colourful stone floor, and the vivid picture of the rider, his bright hair streaming in the wind, blowing his horn. The Steward Denethor's hall is large and solemn, but dead, colourless, in cold stone. Rohan is, Shippey suggests, the "bit that Tolkien knew best",<ref name="Shippey 2005 pp146–149">{{harvnb|Shippey|2005|pp=146–149 "Whether one thinks of them as Anglo-Saxons or as Goths, they represent the bit that Tolkien knew best"<!--i.e. ''Beowulf''-->}}</ref> Anglo-Saxon, full of vigour; Gondor is "a kind of Rome", over-subtle, selfish, calculating.<ref name="Shippey 2005 pp146–149"/>

The critic [[Jane Chance Nitzsche]] contrasts the "good and bad Germanic lords [[Théoden]] and Denethor", noting that their names are almost anagrams. She writes that [[Feudal allegiance in The Lord of the Rings|both men receive the allegiance of a hobbit]], but very differently: Denethor, Steward of Gondor, undervalues [[Peregrin Took|Pippin]] because he is small, and binds him with a formal oath, whereas Théoden, King of Rohan, treats [[Meriadoc Brandybuck|Merry]] with love, which the hobbit responds to.{{sfn|Nitzsche|1980|pp=119–122}}

In his analysis of the historical lore of Númenor, Michael N. Stanton said close affinities are demonstrated between Elves and the descendants of Men of the West, not only in terms of blood heritage but also in "moral probity and nobility of demeanor", which gradually weakened over time due to "time, forgetfulness, and, in no small part, the machinations of Sauron".<ref name="Stanton 2015">{{Cite book |last=Stanton |first=Michael |title=Hobbits, Elves and Wizards: The Wonders and Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" |publisher=[[St. Martin's Publishing Group]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-2500-8664-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_RoCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT143 |page=Pt 143}}</ref> The cultural ties between the Men of Gondor and Elves are reflected in the names of certain characters: for instance, Finduilas of Dol Amroth (the wife of Denethor and the sister of Prince Imrahil) shares<!--yes, one person--> her name with an [[The Children of Húrin#Finduilas|Elf princess of the First Age]].<ref name="Encyclopaedia">{{cite book |title=Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia |pages=248 |last=Day |first=David |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-6848-3979-0}}</ref>

Leslie A. Donovan, in ''[[A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien]]'', compares the siege of Gondor with the alliance of Elves and Men in their fight against Morgoth and other co-operative ventures in ''The Silmarillion'', making the point that none of these would have succeeded without collaboration; further that one such success comes from another shared effort, as when the Rohirrim were only able to come to the aid of Gondor because of the joint efforts of Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn; and that they in turn collaborated with the oathbreakers from the Paths of the Dead.<ref name="Donovan 2020 p100">{{cite book |last=Donovan |first=Leslie A. |chapter=Middle-earth Mythology: An Overview |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Stuart D. |editor-link=Stuart D. Lee |title=A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien |title-link=A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien |date=2020 |orig-year=2014 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1119656029 |page=100}}</ref>