Men of Gondor

A term for the people of Gondor, the South-kingdom established by the Dúnedain in Middle-earth. It applied especially to the Dúnedain themselves, who ruled this land through the last years of the Second Age, and then through the Third Age and into the Fourth.

The Beginnings of the Men of Gondor

There had been Dúnedain living in the region around Anduin's Mouths since long before the founding of Gondor, and the harbour city of Pelargir dated back to the year II 2350, nearly a thousand years before Gondor's establishment. As the Kings of distant Númenor turned away from the Valar and Eldar, many of the remaining Faithful chose to abandon the Isle and sail to Middle-earth. Thus, in the closing centuries of the Second Age, the lands around the Mouths of Anduin were already well populated by Dúnedain of the Faithful party.

In II 3319, these Númenórean settlers in Middle-earth experienced a spectacular and terrible storm rushing out of the west. The great waves that crashed onto their shores were the result of the Downfall of Númenor far across the ocean, and out of the storm came five tattered ships. Aboard those ships were Isildur and Anárion, the sons of Elendil (Elendil himself also landed in Middle-earth at this time, but far to the north).

In Númenor, Elendil had been the Lord of Andúnië and chief of the Faithful, and so the Dúnedain at Anduin's Mouths welcomed his sons. These survivors of the fall of Númenor founded new realms in Middle-earth, with Elendil taking the mantle of High King in the North-kingdom of Arnor, while his sons Isildur and Anárion jointly ruled the new South-kingdom of Gondor. Thus the Men of Gondor came into being, a people derived in large part from the Faithful Dúnedain of Númenor.

The South-kingdom

During the last centuries of the Second Age, the realm of the Men of Gondor was the lesser of the Kingdoms of the Dúnedain in Middle-earth, under the formal power of the High King in the North, but this arrangement would not last. The Dúnedain won a great victory over Sauron in the War of the Last Alliance, but High King Elendil was slain in that war, and his son Isildur became High King in his place. Setting out to take up his rule at Annúminas in the North, Isildur was ambushed by Orcs and slain, leaving the High Kingship effectively vacant.¹ Isildur's nephew Meneldil, already appointed to rule Gondor by his uncle, now stepped forward as the King of an independent South-kingdom.

These events took place at the beginning of the Third Age, and over the next three thousand years, the Men of Gondor saw both triumph and suffering. Meneldil founded a line of Kings that would survive for more than two millennia, but eventually that line failed, and the Stewards took over the rule of the South-kingdom. The Men of Gondor had at one time ruled over wide lands, but invasion and rebellion slowly caused its borders to contract. Nonetheless, as the War of the Ring approached, Gondor was still a great power and a defence against the Dark Lord in Mordor.

As the long years of the Third Age had passed, the Men of Gondor had slowly diminished. The knowledge and skills of the Exiles of Númenor who had founded their land were gradually lost, and their long lifespans dwindled, though they still lived far longer than other Men. By the end of the Third Age, the Men of Gondor were a lesser people than they had once been, but they were still proud and defiant in the face of the Enemy. A grave and valiant people, these Men still protected Middle-earth from Mordor, though in the last years of the Third Age their ultimate defeat seemed unavoidable.

In the War of the Ring, against all hope, Gondor and its allies overcame the Dark Lord. In no small part this was due to the leadership of Aragorn, the direct heir of Isildur. He thus had the right to claim the throne of Gondor, restoring the Kingship after a thousand years. With their new King Aragorn Elessar in place, the Men of Gondor entered the Fourth Age as an unopposed power in Middle-earth.