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Dates
Very uncertain; the title potentially dated back to the Second Age;1 the only recorded Lord, Forlong, was slain in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in III 3019
Location
Lord of the vale of Lossarnach, westward of Minas Tirith on the southern side of the White Mountains
Race
Division
Possibly2 Dúnedain
Culture
Pronunciation
Lossarnach is pronounced 'lossa'rnach' (where ch is pronounced as in Scots Loch)
Meaning
Lossarnach means 'flowery Arnach' (Arnach being a pre-Númenórean name for the vale, of unrecorded meaning)
Title of
Forlong the Fat, and perhaps others of his line

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About this entry:

  • Updated 11 May 2021
  • This entry is complete

Lord of Lossarnach

Ruler of the vales south of Minas Tirith

The lord of the flowered vales of the White Mountains that lay to the south and west of Minas Tirith. Almost nothing is known of the history and descent of this title, except the name of its holder during the War of the Ring. That was Forlong the Fat, who rode to Minas Tirith with two hundred men from his homeland, and fell in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Whether Forlong left an heir to inherit his lordship is unknown.


Notes

1

The existence of Forlong the Fat at the end of the Third Age is our only reference to a Lord of Lossarnach, so we have no way to be sure how far back the title extended into history. It might in principle have been as old as Gondor itself, or perhaps even older, but we have no way of knowing whether Forlong was a descendant of such an ancient line.

2

We might expect that the Lord of an important region of Gondor bordering on Minas Tirith would be descended from the Dúnedain, and indeed this might very well be the case. It is curious, though, that Forlong's name comes from the pre-Númenórean language of the Men who occupied the region before the Dúnedain settled there (whereas the names of the Dúnedain are more usually derived from Elvish). This is hardly conclusive, but it suggests that the Lords might have been, at least in part, descended from the population who had lived in Arnach before it became part of Gondor. If so, this would make their line very ancient indeed, dating back into the Second Age.

See also...

Forlong, The Fat

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 11 May 2021
  • This entry is complete

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