Captain of Gondor

A title given to the commander of a Gondorian army in the field, at least for a period during the middle of the Third Age. Though 'captain' was a common title for any leader of Gondor's forces, the specific rank of 'Captain of Gondor' was less commonly used. The earliest record of the title has it assigned to Eärnur, son and heir to King Eärnil II, who led Gondor's armies to the aid of the North-kingdom.

Eärnur's forces arrived in the North too late to save Arthedain, the last remnant of the North-kingdom, but the Captain was nonetheless able to avenge the loss of that realm when he fought the Battle of Fornost in III 1975. In the aftermath of that battle, the defeated Witch-king rode his steed directly toward the Captain of Gondor, but fear of the Nazgûl caused Eärnur's horse to flee. Eärnur would go on to become King of Gondor, and eventually to fall victim to the Witch-king, who in later times occupied Minas Morgul on Gondor's borders.

At the end of the Third Age, the overall leader of Gondor's forces was more usually titled the Captain of the White Tower, a rank held at different times by both Boromir and Faramir, the sons of Steward Denethor II. Indeed it seems that the names of these ranks might have been interchangeable, so that the Captains of the White Tower were also accounted Captains of Gondor, and we have several instances of Faramir being described as 'Captain of Gondor' to support this possibility.