Ithilien

**Ithilien** was a region and fiefdom of Gondor bordering Mordor in eastern Middle-earth.

It was the easternmost province of Gondor, and its only region between the river Anduin and the Ephel Dúath. It was subdivided by the stream of Morgulduin into North and South Ithilien.

## Geography

Ithilien was a region of Gondor during most of the time in the history of Gondor. Its borders were probably the Nindalf in the north, the Ephel Dúath in the east, the river Poros in the south, and the river Anduin in the west. The region was further divided into North and South Ithilien. The division was probably at the river Morgulduin or at the east-west-road from Osgiliath to Minas Morgul. The Emyn Arnen were located in South Ithilien.

Ithilien was a sheltered region. It was shielded from the east by the Ephel Dúath, protected from the north by the Emyn Muil, open to the southern airs and the moist winds from the sea.

Small woods of resinous trees, fir, cedar, cypress, groves and thickets of tamarisk and terebinth, olive trees, bay, great ilexes of huge girth, ash-trees and giant oaks grew in Ithilien. There were also junipers, myrtles, thymes, sages of many kinds, marjorams, parsleys, and many herbs of forms and scents beyond the garden-lore of Sam. In addition, there were saxifrages, stonecrops, primeroles, anemones, filbert-brakes, asphodel, lilies, roses, irises, water-lilies, briars, eglantines and trailing clematises. Furtermore, grass, celandine and acres populous with the leaves of woodland hyacinths grew in Ithilien.

Lebethron and Culumalda grew especially in the woods around the Field of Cormallen.

## Places

### Henneth Annûn

Henneth Annûn was a hidden outpost of Gondor in North Ithilien, founded (like all of Gondor's hidden refuges in Ithilien) by the command of Steward Túrin II shortly after Ithilien was made desolate by the incursions of the Orcs of Mordor around TA 2901 and maintained as the longest-lasting of all the refuges of Ithilien.

This secret refuge (the name means *Window of the Sunset* in Sindarin) consisted of a cave behind a west-facing waterfall overlooking a pool, the "Window-curtain", stated to have been the "fairest of the falls of Ithilien." The cave had been excavated by the stream feeding the waterfall, which originally fell from the hole in the cliff constituting the window in the name, but that stream had since been diverted by the men of Gondor to fall from doubled height, and the tunnel had been sealed, except for a concealed entrance along the brink of a deep pool beneath the waterfall.

During the War of the Ring, Faramir son of Steward Denethor II had his base of operations there, and Frodo Baggins and his companion Samwise Gamgee were taken there by his company.

### Emyn Arnen

Emyn Arnen, a series of hills at the centre of Ithilien, south of Osgiliath, stood opposite Minas Tirith across Anduin; around it the river made a bend. *Emyn Arnen* means "Hills Beside the Water" in Sindarin, referring to its proximity to the Great River, Anduin.

From this place originated the line of later Stewards of Gondor. It was home to a family of Númenórean nobles, and from them came Húrin of Emyn Arnen, chosen by King Minardil of Gondor as his Steward. Later kings of Gondor chose their stewards only from among Húrin's descendants, and eventually the Stewardship of Gondor became hereditary (the stewards called themselves members of the House of Húrin).

After the War of the Ring, the lordship of the hills was granted to Faramir, Prince of Ithilien and Steward to the King Elessar. The element *arnen* in the name Tolkien explained as of pre-Númenórean origin, while *emyn* in Sindarin means "hills".

### Field of Cormallen

The Field of Cormallen was a large grassy field close to the River Anduin and Cair Andros. After the Battle of the Black Gate the Ringbearers and wounded from the battle were brought to the field to recover.

### The Cross-roads

The cross-roads were situated in central Ithilien where the Morgul-road met the Harad Road. Frodo and Sam passed the cross-roads on the way to Mordor, as did the Army of the West on it's way to the Black Gate.

## History

Ithilien was a fair and prosperous land during the Second Age and the first part of the Third Age, filled with many woods and gardens, when Gondor was strong and Mordor deserted. Of old its chief city was *Minas Ithil*, but when this was captured by Mordor in TA 2002 it was renamed Minas Morgul. After this the population gradually migrated across the Anduin to escape the looming threat of Ringwraiths from Minas Morgul.

During the Watchful Peace (which commenced in TA 2063) Ithilien was reoccupied by hardy folk, but in TA 2475 the Watchful Peace was broken when Uruks from Mordor devastated the province; and although they were driven back to the Morgul Vale by Boromir I, raids never entirely ceased after this time. Several centuries later attacks by Orcs and Haradrim intensified and in TA 2901 the raids grew so severe that the remainder of the population of Ithilien fled across the Anduin and Gondor withdrew from the province. However the Stewards of Gondor still kept scouts in Ithilien, based at secret locations such as *Henneth Annûn*, which were built shortly after 2901. In TA 2954 Mount Doom burst into flame and those few farmers who remained fled Westward over the Anduin, leaving only the Rangers behind to harry the servants of Sauron.

In the narrative of *The Lord of the Rings*, Gollum leads Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee through Ithilien on the way to the pass of Cirith Ungol into Mordor. The land is described in the text as "a fair country of climbing woods and swift-falling streams", with gentle slopes, "shielded from the east by the Ephel Dúath and yet not under the mountain-shadow, protected from the north by the Emyn Muil, open to the southern airs and the moist winds from the Sea". It is also stated that "a wealth of sweet-smelling herbs and shrubs" and a vast array of tree species grew in Ithilien, some of them having been planted by men in days of peace, and that despite desolation the land "kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness". Samwise leaves a cooking fire burning, and as a result the hobbits are found and taken into custody by the Rangers of Ithilien, under the command of Faramir, the son of the Steward Denethor II. After witnessing a battle with Southrons (and an Oliphaunt) on the North Road, the hobbits are taken to Henneth Annûn by the Rangers, but are allowed to leave when Faramir is satisfied they are not agents of Sauron.

After the events of the War of the Ring, King Elessar granted to Faramir the Princedom of Ithilien and the Lordship of Emyn Arnen (Faramir also maintained the Office of the Steward, even after he tried to surrender it to King Elessar). Emyn Arnen, being the ancestral home of the House of Húrin, became the official home of the Steward Faramir and his descendants.

During the Fourth Age, the region was ruled by the Princes of Ithilien, a line that started with Faramir and Éowyn (the White Lady of Ithilien). Minas Ithil was destroyed and the Morgul Vale eventually cleansed. The Elves played a great role in the reconstruction of eastern Gondor. A colony was settled in Ithilien by the Elves of Mirkwood led by Legolas, and "it became once again the fairest country in all the westlands", until after some time all Elves had departed over the Sea. The colony only lasted for about a century, because many Elves left for Valinor after Elessar's death in the year 120 of the Fourth Age.