BLOG HOME TOLKIEN RACIST?

SITEMAP ABOUT … FORUMS SHOP MIDDLE-EARTH WEAPONS

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

SEARCH XENITE.ORG
How Many Armies Did Arnor Have?
by Michael Martinez • November 2, 2012 • 2 Comments
Search

Search all subdomains on Xenite.Org. Results Q: How Many Armies Did Arnor Have?
appear on search.xenite.org.
ANSWER: People ask about Gondor’s armies but I don’t recall anyone ever asking about Arnor’s armies. Technically,
Gondorian and Arnorian armies would not have been organized like modern 20th century armies with regional commands.
There would have been royal forces with specific divisions of responsibility and possibly semi-autonomous regional forces,
PRIVACY POLICY
not necessarily organized according to feudal customs as many people assume.

You may read our GDPR-compliant Privacy Policy
here. This Website does not collect personally
identifying information for the sake of processing
user data.
Last year I addressed the question of how many armies Gondor fielded. In that article I wrote:
As with all true historical nations its military forces would have undergone changes in size and organization through the
centuries in order to address the needs of the various times. The structure and size of Gondor’s forces should thus be seen as
fluid throughout the Third Age.

FOLLOW MICHAEL ON SOCIAL MEDIA This would be equally true of Arnor, although its history was much shorter than Gondor’s.

Arnor’s history can be divided into three phases:

TWITTER

Michael's personal Twitter account is

@seo_theorist
Follow the Middle-earth blog at
@tolkien_qna
Follow Xenite.Org at @xenite_org

FACEBOOK

Follow Michael's Facebook page at

@writer.Michael.Martinez

RSS Feed 1. The High Kings Period (Second Age year 3320 to Third Age year 861)
2. The Three Realms Period (Third Age year 861 to 1356)
https://middle-earth.xenite.org/feed/ 3. The Reconstituted Arnor Period (Third Age year 1356 to 1974)

OTHER ARTICLES The High Kings Period began with Elendil, who founded Arnor with assistance from Gil-galad the year after Numenor
was destroyed and the world made round. Elendil was acknowledged High King of the Dunedain-in-Exile and therefore
Read articles Michael has written for other was regarded as the utmost regal authority in Gondor. There is no direct reference to an Arnorian military prior to the onset
Websites Elsewhere on the Web of war with Sauron, but Elendil did build the tower of Amon Sûl, where he placed the most important of his three palantíri.
Amon Sûl was a military post by all accounts.

TOP MIDDLE-EARTH ARTICLES Also, Arnor and Gondor jointly held and defended the crossings at Tharbad. We don’t know when those garrisons were put
in place but it seems clear they were deemed necessary from early on because of the history of animosity between the
Why Did the Elves Leave Middle-
Dunedain and the Gwathuirim of Enedwaith.
earth?

Why Does Gandalf Say "Fly, You It seems unlikely Elendil would have been without at least some guards in his capitol city of Annúminas so let us assume
Fools!"? there was a garrison there.

Are There Female Orcs in Middle- And then there was Fornost Erain. When was that city built? Tolkien doesn’t say but he seems to imply that it predates the
earth? reign of Amlaith, first king of Arthedain (who ruled from Fornost). Hence, we can guess that Elendil had a garrison at
Fornost, presumably to defend Arnor against the wild men of northeastern Eriador.
Why Did Saruman's Uruk-hai
Come Out of Pods? After the war the larger part of Arnor’s surviving army marched northward through Calenardhon and Enedwaith to
Tharbad. Presumably the majority of those soldiers would have been discharged from service. Valandil eventually took up
What Happened to Gimli after he
his rule in Annúminas so presumably during his reign there would have been garrisons of various sizes at Annúminas (a
Sailed Over Sea?
royal guard), Fornost Erain (a frontier garrison), Amon Sûl (probably no more than a handful of wardens and attendants),

Why Did Frodo Wait 17 Years to and Tharbad. Strategically it might also have made sense to station some troops in or near the Trollshaws as well as on

Leave the Shire? the southern Baranduin to guard against wild men — but there are no mentions of such posts in any of the published
Tolkien texts.
When Does Gandalf Die?

The Three Realms Period began with the division of Arnor between Amlaith of Fornost and his two younger brothers (call
Are There Two Hobbit Books? them Rhûnen-Tôr and Harnen-Tôr). Each of the brothers would presumably have commanded some armed forces.

We know from the chapter in The Fellowship of the Ring, “Fog on the Barrow-downs”, that there were fortifications in the
Did Sauron Die When the One
northern Emyn Beraid at some point. Elendil probably had no need for such fortifications in the middle of his own realm so
Ring was Destroyed?
it is reasonable to conclude that they were built during the Three Realms Period. Hence, both Arthedain and Cardolan

Did J.R.R. Tolkien Invent Orcs must have held forces along the line extending from the Bridge of Stonebows on the Baranduin all the way to Bree (and
maybe Amon Sûl).

SUBMIT A QUESTION
Have a question you would like to see featured
here? Use this form to contact Michael Martinez. If
you think you see an error in an article and the
comments are closed, you’re welcome to use the
form to point it out. Thank you.
Thus Arthedain would have had forces positioned near Emyn Beraid, along the Weather Hills, and at Fornost Erain.
Cardolan would have had forces positions along its borders from the Baranduin to the Mitheithel, south along the
Mitheithel to where the Gwathlo was formed by the confluence of Mitheithel and Bruinen, and then southeast toward
Tharbad. We don’t know anything about the size or dispositions of the forces commanded by the Harnen Erain of
Cardolan.
Rhudaur would have been in a precarious position, facing potential enemies on the north (the wild tribes that eventually
were absorbed into Angmar), the west (Arthedain), and the southwest (Cardolan). One wants to presume that the Rhûnen
Erain of Rhudaur would remain on friendly or civil terms with the Eldar of Imladris.

SIGN UP FOR NOTIFICATIONS
Once you sign up you should receive a confirmation
email you must reply to. Some ISPs, like Century Link,
have blocked emails from Xenite.Org in the past. Please
read this notice about emails sent from Xenite.Org if you
don't see the confirmation email. Be sure to check your
spam/junk folders and whitelist us. Thank you.
Your email:
Enter email address...
Subscribe Unsubscribe
The most practical arrangement for forces in Cardolan and Rhudaur alike might have been to maintain small border
garrisons at strategically defensible points and a main army wherever the kings resided. Such distributions would explain
why the kingdoms were able to bicker constantly over the borderlands, occasionally exchange control of key points such
as Amon Sûl. Rhudaur would thus also have been the easiest of the kingdoms for Angmar to overrun, especially if the
Dunedain there were always few in number.
In fact, the rise of Angmar could be used to divide the Three Realms Period into an Early Three Realms (pre-Angmar) and
a Late Three Realms sub-period (Circa. Third Age 1300 to 1356). Those 50 or so years should have been very bad for the
Dunedain of Rhudaur, whose Line of Isildur failed and was supplanted by a non-Dunadan hill-lord loyal to Angmar. The
overthrow of the Dunedain must have led to the collapse of whatever army Rhudaur had; instead, the hill-lord’s men would
have ruled as a sort of mob of brutes.
Cardolan’s forces threw in with Arthedain after their own Line of Isildur failed but Cardolan was overrun in the War of 1409,
effectively destroying its military capabilities.

Receive email notices from Xenite.Org when new posts The Reconstituted Arnor Period would have begun with Arthedain’s army still separate from Cardolan’s army. If any
are published. Please whitelist @Xenite.Org in your email loyal Rhudaurian soldiers lived they must have been absorbed into Arthedain’s military. For about 50 years the two armies
filters. AN ALTERNATIVE is to subscribe to our RSS maintained a joint defense of the Weather Hills, Great Road, and Mitheithel river. However, with the collapse of Cardolan’s
feed. See above under "Follow Michael". forces in 1409 Arthedain’s military capability would have been severely reduced.

We can suppose that after the war Arthedain concentrated its forces in Fornost Erain, the Weather Hills, and Tharbad.
DISCLAIMER Why Tharbad should have remained strategically important isn’t clear at all. Tolkien simply notes that the garrisons were
removed or perished at the time of the Great Plague of 1636.
As an Amazon Associate, Reflective Dynamics,
Nonetheless, having a smaller frontier to defend (essentially the North Downs and Weather Hills) from this time forward,
Inc. (owner of Xenite.Org) earns commissions from
Arthedain really did not need as large a military. One possible arrangement would be to position a large force at Fornost
qualifying purchases.
and a substantial but lesser force at outposts along the Weather Hills. And perhaps it would have made sense to keep
some sort of garrison at Bree to protect the southern lands from outlaws and raiders.

All of these forces collapsed in the final war with Angmar. Tolkien notes that the Shire hobbitry sent archers to assist in the
defense of Fornost Erain. Hence, Arvedui must have greatly increased his forces as much as possible before the final blow
was struck. But there was no chance (apparently) for sending armies afield. Arthedain was overwhelmed and ceased to
exist.

While this is all highly speculative it does fit the facts we know in what I think is a relatively simple extrapolation. And
whereas Arnor’s expeditionary army in Elendil’s time could have numbered in the tens of thousands — perhaps even over
100,000 — afterwards Arnor most likely did not need more than 10-20,000 soldiers. The three realms of Arthedain,
Rhudaur, and Cardolan each probably never fielded more than a few thousand soldiers at any time.

The Reconstiuted Arnor perhaps, at the height of its power (Circa. Third Age 1850), could have fielded 10,000 or more
soldiers but by Arvedui’s time his enemies must have mustered many more troops than he. If, as I have speculated,
Fornost Erain was defended by a dyke and wall much like Isengard’s defensive works, it would have taken a very
considerable force to overwhelm the city.

Perhaps Tolkien envisioned Arvedui leading his army out to meet the army of Angmar in the field, being destroyed, and
thus leaving the city relatively undefended. That would explain why Arvedui was able to defend the North Downs before he
was forced to flee north. If his intelligence under-estimated the strength of Angmar’s army, and if he felt confident by the
arrival of recently called-up reinforcements, Arvedui might have gambled on a bold strike against the enemy that went
terribly wrong. And knowing nothing of the true nature power of the Witch-king Arvedui might have had no inkling of the
terror his enemy could wield in battle.

However Tolkien might have played out the numbers in his thoughts or perhaps some unpublished notes, I think it’s safe to
say that the armies of Arnor would have changed their sizes and purposes over the centuries; hence, one must apply
some creativity to extrapolating how the forces of the Dunedain might have been organized throughout the Third Age.

###

Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?

Follow The Middle-earth Blog

Manage your ONCE DAILY DIGEST subscriptions here

Click here to follow The Middle-earth Blog on Twitter:
Your email: @tolkien_qna.

Enter email address...

The Middle-earth Blog's RSS Feed (summaries only)

Subscribe Unsubscribe

A confirmation email will be sent to new subscribers AND

unsubscribers. Please look for it!

← Were All Easterlings and Haradrim in Middle-earth Evil Riding in Carts With Hobbits →
People?

2 comments for “How Many Armies Did Arnor Have?”

Mark
November 3, 2012 at 1:21 pm

Thanks for the thoughtful essay.

Early on you say “Elendil was acknowledged High King of the Dunedain-in-Exile and therefore was
regarded as the utmost regal authority in Gondor.” Don’t you mean Arnor?

Michael Martinez
November 3, 2012 at 3:14 pm

Mark, Elendil stood at the head of all the kings of Gondor. It was as Elendil’s Heir that Aragorn
pressed his claim to the throne.

Comments are closed.

You are welcome to use the contact form to share your thoughts about this article. We close comments after a few days to
prevent comment spam.

We also welcome discussion at the J.R.R. Tolkien and Middle-earth Forum on SF-Fandom. Free registration is required to
post.

Copyright © 2011-2020 Middle-earth & J.R.R. Tolkien Blog. All Rights Reserved.