Without doubt the greatest of the Mannish realms of recent history, Gondor stands like a bulwark between Mordor and the rest of the Free world. With every day that passes, it is through the unceasing vigilance and strength of arms that rests within Gondor that peace is bought for many other lands. Such defiance has not been without price, a toll heavily exacted in blood and despair over many long centuries, and Gondor’s folk have begun to dwindle while Sauron’s forces seem to endlessly replenish their losses.

In these later years, it is from Minas Tirith that the heirs of Anarion, and later the Stewards, have ruled the realm of Gondor. As the last line of Gondor’s defence, the Citadel of Minas Tirith is guarded by the finest warriors that Gondor has to offer, tall and mighty warriors in whom the blood of Númenor stills pulses true. It is here, in a small court overshadowed by the Tower of Ecthelion, that the White Tree of Minas Tirith once grew. Its line, like the line of kings, was thought eternal. As time passed, the line of kings all but died out, and so too did the line of the White Tree fail. Now all that stands in the fountain court is a withered husk, a symbol of the early glory of Gondor long since faded.

In the shadow of the White Mountains lie Gondor’s fiefs, lesser regions who govern themselves, yet kneel before the throne of Minas Tirith. Arguably the greatest of these is Dol Amroth, the city of the Swan Knights whose name is given for an Elven king long ago lost in the churning seas, yet the other fiefs have traditions and legends all of their own. In Lamedon, tales are told of the Shadow-men who gather deep in Morthond vale, their purpose in this life not yet spent though centuries may pass them by, while the folk of Lossarnach hold their duty to Minas Tirith and Gondor above all else.

THE LAST ALLIANCE

When first the realms of Gondor and Arnor were founded, Sauron hid himself in Mordor, brought low by a previous defeat. Yet the Dark Lord hated the Men of Gondor, descended as they were from the line of Númenor and, in his hatred, Sauron struck against Gondor too soon. Unready though he was, the Lord of Mordor commanded a formidable army, and his will would have prevailed, and Gondor destroyed, but for the intervention of the Elves. The High King of the Elves, Gil-galad, brought his people into the battle against Sauron. Men and Elves fought alongside one another in an echo of earlier days, and many bold deeds and heroic acts were performed. The war, this Last Alliance of Men and Elves, was to last more than seven years and was fought across much of Middle-earth. Before long it had grown into a conflict that touched upon all races, and no realm was left isolated from the strife that had begun along the Anduin. In the final battle on the slopes of Mount Doom, Sauron was cast down – though it cost the lives of many, including those of Gil-galad and Elendil. Alas, Sauron endured through the power of the Ruling Ring he had forged and so did not pass from this life, yet his power was broken for a long while.