White Tower of Minas Tirith

The White Tower of Minas Tirith, , VIII: "The Tale of Years of the Third Age", The Third Age (entry 2698) was the tallest tower in the High Court of Minas Tirith. The thrones of the King and the Steward of Gondor were contained in the Tower Hall inside the tower, and the city's palantír was kept in a chamber in the uppermost story.
== Description ==
By the time of the War of the Ring, the White Tower had graced the highest point of Minas Tirith for over a thousand years. The Tower of Ecthelion flew the plain white standard of the Stewards of Gondor from its pinnacle, and—during the Fourth Age the Royal Standard. It was 50 fathoms (300 feet) tall. The Tower stood in the center of the Citadel on the seventh level of the city. In front of the Tower was the Court of the Fountain where the White Tree of Gondor grew.
In the Tower Hall was the throne of the King of Gondor upon a dais, and at the foot of the dais on the lowest step was a black chair where the Steward of Gondor would sit. The palantír of Minas Tirith, also known as the Anor-stone, was kept in a secret room at the top of the tower.
Below the Hall was the buttery of Beregond's company, where the Citadel Guard (which Pippin became) would stay when not on duty., The Lord of the Rings, "Minas Tirith", , Book Five, Chapter I: "Minas Tirith", , Book Six, Chapter V: "The Steward and the King"
== History ==
King Calimehtar first built the White Tower in TA 1900 in order to house the palantír and commemorate his victory over the Wainriders. In TA 2698, the Tower was repaired and rebuilt by the Steward Ecthelion I, some three centuries before the War of the Ring, and for whom the Tower came to be named.
The elite military unit in Minas Tirith was called the Guard of the Citadel or the Guard of the Tower. At the time of the War of the Ring, Boromir and Faramir - the sons of the Steward of Gondor - successively bore the title Captain of the White Tower. Boromir, the Steward's heir, was also the High Warden of the White Tower.
On March 9, 3019, Peregrin Took got his first glimpse of the Tower of Ecthelion as he rode with Gandalf to Minas Tirith: 
Pippin met Denethor II, the Steward of Gondor, in the Tower Hall. Denethor's son Faramir came to the Tower Hall the next day, and Pippin and Gandalf learned of his encounter with Frodo and Sam in Ithilien. When Faramir was brought back to the city gravely wounded on March 13, Denethor retreated to his chamber high in the Tower with his son and would not come down. In the secret chamber of the Tower, Denethor looked into the palantír and saw images manipulated by Sauron that caused him to despair.
After the defeat of Sauron the standard of the Stewards of Gondor was raised for the last time on May 1, 3019. That day Aragorn was crowned King and when he entered the Citadel; the standard of the Kings of Gondor bearing the White Tree and the Stars was unfurled on the pinnacle of the Tower of Ecthelion., Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), Vol. XII: , VII: "The Heirs of Elendil"
== Etymology ==
It was often called the Tower of Ecthelion after the Steward Ecthelion I who rebuilt it. It was also called the Tower of Denethor during the reign of Denethor II.
== Translations ==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Wit Toring van Ecthelion
Albanian 	Kulla e bardhë e Ecthelionit
Armenian 	Էքթելիոնի Սպիտակ աշտարակ
Asturian 	Torre Blanca d'Ecthelion
Azerbaijani 	Ecthelionın Bəyaz Qalası
Basque 	Ecthelionen Zuri Dorrea
Belarusian Cyrillic	Эктелион Белая вежа
Bengali 	একথেলিয়নের হোয়াইট টাওয়ার
Bosnian 	Bijeli toranj Ektelion
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Бяла кула на Ектелион
Catalan 	Torre Blanca de Ecthelion
Cebuano 	Puti nga Tore sa Ecthelion
Chinese 	愛克西里昂白塔
Corsican 	Torre Bianca di Ecthelion
Croatian 	Ecthelionova Bijela kula
Czech 	Ecthelionova Bílá věž
Danish 	Ecthelions Hvide Tårn
Dutch 	Witte Toren van Ecthelion
Esperanto 	Blanka Turo de Ecthelion
Estonian 	Ecthelioni Valge torn
Faroese 	Ecthelions Hvítur tornurin
Filipino 	Puting Tore ng Ecthelion
Finnish 	Valkoinen Ecthelion torni
French 	Tour blanche d'Ecthelion
Frisian 	Wite Toer fan Ectelion (Western)
Galician 	Torre Branca de Ecthelion
German 	Weißer Turm von Ecthelion
Greek 	Λευκός Πύργος του Εκθελιον
Gujarati 	એક્થેલિઅનનો વ્હાઇટ ટાવર
Hebrew 	המגדל הלבן אקתליון
Hindi 	एक्टेलियन का सफेद टॉवर
Icelandic 	Hvíti turninn frá Ecthelion
Indonesian 	Menara Putih Ecthelion
Italian 	Torre Bianca di Ecthelion
Japanese 	エクセリオンの白い塔
Kazakh 	Эктелионның ақ мұнарасы (Cyrillic) Éktelïonnıñ aq munarası (Latin)
Korean 	엑셀리온 화이트타워
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Эkтэлиондын Ак мунара
Latin 	Alba turris Ecthelionis
Luxembourgish 	Wäissen Tuerm vun Ecthelion
Macedonian Cyrillic	Белата кула на Ектелион
Malaysian 	Menara Putih Ecthelion
Maltese 	Torri abjad ta 'Ecthelion
Marathi 	इक्थेलियनचा पांढरा टॉवर
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Эkтэлион-ийн Цагаан цамхаг
Nepalese 	एथेलियनको सेतो टावर
Norwegian 	Ecthelions Hvite Tårn
Occitan 	Torre Blanca d'Ectelion
Polish 	Biała Wieża Ectheliona
Portuguese 	Torre Branca de Ecthelion
Romanian 	Turnul Alb din Ecthelion
Russian 	Белая Башня Эктелиона
Sardinian 	Torra Bianca de Ecthelion
Serbian 	Ектелионова Бела кула (Cyrillic) Ektelionova Bela kula (Latin)
Sicilian 	Turri Bianca di Ecthelion
Sinhalese 	එක්තීලියන්ගේ සුදු කුළුණ
Slovak 	Ecthelionova Biela veža
Slovenian 	Ecthelionov Beli stolp
Spanish 	Torre Blanca de Ecthelion
Swahili 	Nyeupe Mnara wa Ecthelion
Swedish 	Ecthelions Vita Torn
Tajik Cyrillic 	Бурҷи сафеди Ектелион
Tamil 	எக்டெலியன் வெள்ளை கோபுரம்
Turkish 	Ecthelion'un Beyaz Kule
Turkmen 	Ecthelionyň Ak Diňi
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Біла вежа Ектеліона
Uzbek 	Ektelionning Oq minorasi (Cyrillic) Ektelionning Oq minorasi (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Tháp trắng của Ecthelion
Yiddish 	ווייַס טאַוער פון ײשטהעליאָן
== References ==
Category:Towers
Category:Minas Tirith
de:Weißer Turm
fr:Tour d'Ecthelion
it:Torre di Ecthelion
pl:Biała Wieża Ectheliona
ru:Башня Эктелиона
Category:Places having held a palantír