Minas Tirith

Aragorn II, son of Arathorn, was the last Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North and the first King of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. Fostered in Rivendell as Estel, he spent sixty years as a Ranger and a captain in foreign lands before the War of the Ring, in which he guided the Fellowship, walked the Paths of the Dead, won the Pelennor Fields and the Black Gate, and took the crown as King Elessar. He reigned for a hundred and twenty years with Arwen as his queen.

Denethor II was the last Ruling Steward of Gondor, a proud, far-seeing and formidable lord who governed Minas Tirith through the years of Sauron's return and the siege of the War of the Ring. Worn down by his secret use of the palantír and by the death of Boromir, he despaired at the height of the siege and burned himself alive in the tombs of his fathers.

Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, was the greatest of the lords of Gondor's fiefs in the War of the Ring and the uncle of Boromir and Faramir. He brought his knights to Minas Tirith, fought on the Pelennor Fields, ruled the city between Denethor's death and Faramir's recovery, and marched with Aragorn to the Black Gate.

Eldarion was the only son of Aragorn Elessar and Arwen Undómiel, and succeeded his father as King of the Reunited Kingdom in Fo.A. 120. Through him the blood of Elrond's line entered the kingship of Men.

Aragorn II, son of Arathorn, was the last Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North and the first King of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. Fostered in Rivendell as Estel, he spent sixty years as a Ranger and a captain in foreign lands before the War of the Ring, in which he guided the Fellowship, walked the Paths of the Dead, won the Pelennor Fields and the Black Gate, and took the crown as King Elessar. He reigned for a hundred and twenty years with Arwen as his queen.

Denethor II was the last Ruling Steward of Gondor, a proud, far-seeing and formidable lord who governed Minas Tirith through the years of Sauron's return and the siege of the War of the Ring. Worn down by his secret use of the palantír and by the death of Boromir, he despaired at the height of the siege and burned himself alive in the tombs of his fathers.

Meriadoc Brandybuck, heir of Buckland and organiser of the conspiracy that brought Frodo's friends on the quest, became esquire to King Théoden and helped Éowyn destroy the Witch-king on the Pelennor. He later led the hobbits at Bywater, ruled Buckland as Master, and wrote the Shire's first books of lore.

Aragorn II, son of Arathorn, was the last Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North and the first King of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. Fostered in Rivendell as Estel, he spent sixty years as a Ranger and a captain in foreign lands before the War of the Ring, in which he guided the Fellowship, walked the Paths of the Dead, won the Pelennor Fields and the Black Gate, and took the crown as King Elessar. He reigned for a hundred and twenty years with Arwen as his queen.

Arwen Undómiel, daughter of Elrond and Celebrían, was called the Evenstar of her people because in her the beauty of Lúthien was said to have returned to the world. She loved Aragorn, chose a mortal life to share his, and became Queen of the Reunited Kingdom; after his death she went alone to Lórien and died on Cerin Amroth, where their troth had been plighted.

Boromir, elder son of Denethor II and Captain-General of Gondor, was the man of the Fellowship of the Ring. Proud, valiant and devoted to his city, he tried to take the Ring from Frodo at Amon Hen and then died defending Merry and Pippin against Saruman's Orcs, redeeming his fall with his last breath.

Anárion, younger son of Elendil, escaped the Downfall of Númenor with his brother Isildur and founded with him the realm of Gondor, building Minas Anor. He held Osgiliath against Sauron's first assault and was killed by a stone from Barad-dûr in the seventh year of the siege. Through his son Meneldil the Kings of Gondor descended.

Cirion, twelfth Ruling Steward of Gondor, faced the Balchoth invasion of 2510 and summoned the Éothéod to his aid. After Eorl's riders saved Gondor on the Field of Celebrant, Cirion gave them the province of Calenardhon and swore with Eorl the oath that bound Gondor and Rohan together for the rest of the age.

Eärnil II was the general who saved Gondor from the Wainriders at the Battle of the Camp in 1944 and was chosen king over Arvedui of Arthedain the following year. He sent his son Eärnur north to destroy Angmar, and was the second-to-last king of Gondor.

Eärnur, son of Eärnil II, was the thirty-third and last King of Gondor. As a young captain he led the fleet that destroyed Angmar at the Battle of Fornost in 1975; as king he accepted the Witch-king's challenge to single combat in 2050, rode to Minas Morgul, and was never seen again.

Mardil Voronwë, Steward to the last two kings of Gondor, took up the rule of the realm when Eärnur vanished into Minas Morgul in 2050. He was the first of the Ruling Stewards, whose house governed Gondor in the king's name for nearly a thousand years until the return of Aragorn.

Peregrin Took, youngest of the Fellowship, was the heir of the Thain whose curiosity drew Sauron's eye through the palantír and whose loyalty saved Faramir from the pyre. He fought at the Black Gate, roused the Tookland against the ruffians, and ruled the Shire as its thirty-second Thain.

Beregond, a Guard of the Citadel of Minas Tirith, befriended Pippin during the siege and left his post to save Faramir from Denethor's pyre, killing the porter of the tombs to do it. Judged by Aragorn, he was removed from the Guard and made Captain of the White Company, the guard of the Prince of Ithilien.

Ecthelion II, father of Denethor, was the wise and generous twenty-fifth Ruling Steward of Gondor, who strengthened the realm against the growing shadow and took many able men into his service. The most famous of them was Thorongil, the stranger from the North who was Aragorn in disguise.

Boromir, elder son of Denethor II and Captain-General of Gondor, was the man of the Fellowship of the Ring. Proud, valiant and devoted to his city, he tried to take the Ring from Frodo at Amon Hen and then died defending Merry and Pippin against Saruman's Orcs, redeeming his fall with his last breath.

Denethor II was the last Ruling Steward of Gondor, a proud, far-seeing and formidable lord who governed Minas Tirith through the years of Sauron's return and the siege of the War of the Ring. Worn down by his secret use of the palantír and by the death of Boromir, he despaired at the height of the siege and burned himself alive in the tombs of his fathers.

Faramir, younger son of Denethor II, was Captain of the Rangers of Ithilien, the man who let Frodo and the Ring go on into Mordor when he could have taken them, and the last Ruling Steward of Gondor. Healed by Aragorn after his father's despair, he married Éowyn of Rohan and became Prince of Ithilien under the restored king.

Eldarion was the only son of Aragorn Elessar and Arwen Undómiel, and succeeded his father as King of the Reunited Kingdom in Fo.A. 120. Through him the blood of Elrond's line entered the kingship of Men.

Elrond Half-elven, son of Eärendil and Elwing, chose the fate of the Elves and lived through three Ages of the world: fostered by Maglor, herald to Gil-galad at the Last Alliance, founder and master of Rivendell, keeper of the Ring Vilya, foster-father of Aragorn and father of Arwen. His house was the great refuge and library of the North, and at its Council the fate of the One Ring was decided.

Éomer son of Éomund, nephew and foster-son of Théoden, was Third Marshal of the Mark when he met Aragorn on the plains of Rohan and lent him horses against the king's orders. He fought at the Hornburg and the Pelennor, took the kingship when Théoden fell, and reigned for sixty-five years as the eighteenth King of Rohan, the friend of King Elessar and the renewer of the Oath of Eorl.

Éowyn, sister of Éomer and foster-daughter of King Théoden, rode to the Pelennor Fields in disguise as the Rider Dernhelm and there, with Merry's help, slew the Witch-king of Angmar whom no man could kill. Healed of the Black Breath by Aragorn, she found in the Houses of Healing a love for Faramir that turned her from despair, and became Lady of Ithilien.

Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's heir, was the Ring-bearer who carried the One Ring from the Shire to the fire of Mount Doom. Wounded in body and spirit by the journey, he saved the Shire but could not enjoy it, and sailed into the West with the last of the Elves.

Galadriel, only daughter of Finarfin and the greatest of the Noldor after Fëanor, left Valinor in the rebellion, learned wisdom from Melian in Doriath, and outlived every other leader of the Exiles by three Ages. Bearer of Nenya, founder with Celeborn of the realm of Lórien, and a member of the White Council, she refused the One Ring when Frodo offered it, threw down Dol Guldur, and at last sailed West with the Ring-bearers.

Gimli son of Glóin was the Dwarf of the Fellowship of the Ring. He walked from Rivendell to the Black Gate through Moria, Lothlórien, Helm's Deep and the Paths of the Dead, became the devoted friend of the Elf Legolas and of the Lady Galadriel, and after the war founded a Dwarf-colony in the Glittering Caves. Tradition says he sailed West with Legolas, the only Dwarf ever to do so.

Legolas, son of Thranduil of the Woodland Realm, was the Elf of the Fellowship of the Ring. A peerless archer and tracker, he walked from Rivendell to the Black Gate beside Aragorn and Gimli, forged the first true friendship between Elf and Dwarf in an age, and after the death of the King Elessar built a ship and sailed into the West with his Dwarven friend.

Samwise Gamgee, Frodo's gardener, was the companion who carried the Ring-bearer to Mount Doom and briefly bore the Ring himself. He restored the Shire after the Scouring, was seven times Mayor, and at the last, as the final Ring-bearer, sailed into the West.

Théoden son of Thengel was the seventeenth King of Rohan, the king whom Gríma Wormtongue and Saruman had made old before his time and whom Gandalf roused to lead his people again. He won the Battle of the Hornburg, mustered the Rohirrim at Dunharrow, and broke the siege of Minas Tirith in the great charge across the Pelennor, where he died beneath his horse after felling the chieftain of the Haradrim.

Celeborn, a Sindarin prince of Doriath and the husband of Galadriel, outlasted three Ages of Middle-earth as lord of the Galadhrim. He shared the rule of Lothlórien with his wife, led the host that stormed Dol Guldur at the end of the War of the Ring, held East Lórien for a season of the Fourth Age, and at last, when the Golden Wood had emptied, went to Rivendell and thence over the Sea.

Gandalf, called Olórin in Valinor and Mithrandir by the Elves, was the wisest of the Istari, a Maia sent by the Valar to rouse the free peoples against Sauron. Bearer of Narya, the Ring of Fire, he uncovered the Necromancer, set the quest of Erebor in motion, unmasked the One Ring, led the Fellowship, died against the Balrog of Moria and returned as Gandalf the White to guide the West to victory in the War of the Ring, after which he sailed into the West.

The Witch-king was the greatest of the Nine Ringwraiths, a king and sorcerer of the Second Age who took one of the Nine Rings and became Sauron's deadliest servant. As King of Angmar he destroyed the North-kingdom of Arnor; as Lord of Minas Morgul he ended the line of Gondor's kings; and as the Black Captain he led the hunt for the Ring and the assault on Minas Tirith, where Éowyn and Merry fulfilled Glorfindel's prophecy and destroyed him.

Chief of the Mearas, the great horses of Rohan, and the swiftest horse of his day. Taken from Théoden's herds by Gandalf in T.A. 3018 and afterwards given to him outright, he carried the wizard across half of Middle-earth in the War of the Ring, and alone of all beasts stood unmoved before the Witch-king at the broken gate of Minas Tirith.

Beregond, a Guard of the Citadel of Minas Tirith, befriended Pippin during the siege and left his post to save Faramir from Denethor's pyre, killing the porter of the tombs to do it. Judged by Aragorn, he was removed from the Guard and made Captain of the White Company, the guard of the Prince of Ithilien.

Anárion, younger son of Elendil, escaped the Downfall of Númenor with his brother Isildur and founded with him the realm of Gondor, building Minas Anor. He held Osgiliath against Sauron's first assault and was killed by a stone from Barad-dûr in the seventh year of the siege. Through his son Meneldil the Kings of Gondor descended.