The Northern Dúnedain

These events concern the Northern Dúnedain (the heirs of Isildur) after the northern realms separated. Malvegil was King in Arthedain when evil arose in Angmar. "The lord of that land was known as the Witch-king, but it was not known until later that he was indeed the chief of the Ringwraiths, who came north with the purpose of destroying the Dúnedain in Arnor, seeing hope in their disunion, while Gondor was strong" (p. 320, The Return of the King).  Argeleb, son of Malvegil, was the next King of Arthedain and in his reign he claimed lordship over the other northern kingdoms (Cardolan and Rhuduar) since there remained no longer any lineage to Isildur in those lands. Rhuduar rejected this claim and in secret union with Angmar brought war to Arthedain and Argeleb was killed.

"Arveleg son of Argeleb, with the help of Cardolan and Lindon, drove back his enemies from the Hills...It is said that at this time Rivendell was besieged" (p. 320, The Return of the King). By 1409 a great host from Angmar invaded Cardolan. The Dúnedain there were defeated, Weathertop destroyed, Cardolan piliged, and Arveleg was slain. But the palantir from the tower of Amon Sûl was saved and taken to Fornost. Rhuduar was now controlled by Men of Angmar and all the Dúnedain were destroyed or fled far to the West. As we can see, the Dúnedain continue to dwindle.

"Araphor son of Arveleg was not yet full-grown, but he was valiant, and with aid from Círdan he repelled the enemy from Fornost and the North Downs" (p. 321, The Return of the King). Also a remnant of Dúnedain in Cardolan had held out against Angmar in the Barrowdowns. Ultimately, however, the might of Angmar was subdued by the Elves. Círdan lent aid from Lindon and Elrond sent help form Rivendell as well as Lorien. I like that the Elves are still honoring the Last Alliance and sending aid to the Dúnedain!

It was at this time the Stoors (early descendants of the Hobbits) fled out of Eriador due to the fighting and fear of Angmar. Most fled South and West but some returned to Wilderland and settled by rivers becoming fisher-folk. This is the first overt reference to Hobbits in any of my reading yet; good stuff. I believe the Third Age timeline has some earlier references but I'll recap that at the end of my Third Age reading like I did for the Second Age. Being that it's the Third Age I am chomping at the bit to get to the major stories of the Age (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in book form) but this background (albeit sometimes tedious) is helpful in understanding the subtleties of the main stories.

Middle-earth timeline: Third Age, 1349-1409
Today's reading comes from: The Return of the King, pages 320-321