The History of Gondor, Part One | Tolkien Explained

[@NerdoftheRings]

Watch PART TWO: kzbin.info/www/bejne/moDRZaiZmsh9iqs

[@HennyPlain]

It’s crazy to think how much modern fantasy owes to Tolkien. Pretty much every good guy kingdom made since Lord of the Rings is Gondor with a different name.

[@valentinkambushev4968]

So true. Every work of fantasy after Tolkien, from "Game of thrones" to "My little pony" has been influenced by Tolkien in some way.

[@mbern4530]

@@valentinkambushev4968 Some fantasy from Asia is still free of his influence, but in the West nobody has been able to escape his influence. I don't even know if its possible at this point considering his influence has become embedded in our culture.

[@barryallen871]

*modern fantasy owes to Tolkien's popularity. Most of the tropes and character designs were not new.

[@Atomus87]

Tolkien also based on many stories including just simply history. He didn't see medieval ages right? :) Not every story you have knights, kings and dragons have to base on it :P. For sure Tolkien made it much easier for other writers to add fantastic creatures, characters as it is all there in his books described in detail. Today not that many people read the trilogy comparing to 50 years ago :P. Maybe they saw movies.

[@valentinkambushev4968]

@Mbern45 Asian works (particularly from Japan) are subjugated to their own "Tolkiens". As for Western fantasy, I still think there's some room for innovations. There are many creatures and magical races from all of Europe that Tolkien didn't include, not to mention the largely unexplored African folklore.

[@jaysgamingcorner8539]

Tolkien lore is so deep it's really amazing. The history of Gondor presented here could be a 5 year series or multiple movies and it's just part 1. Awesome video

[@OscyJack-]

As someone who reads Tolkien daily, for about 15 years, I can say this channel is one of the best out there. Great topic idea, excited to listen.

[@mtgemperor]

This video is a reminder of why I love Tolkien's work; a history so rich and detailed . . . and this is just one region . . . and this is just part one. Keep it up!

[@myriadmediamusings]

Woot, wonderful to see the great realm of Man in the 2nd age & beyond get covered on the channel. Gondor and its capital of Minas Tirith are such iconic locations in LOTR and it was cool eventually reading on its origins via the exiled Numenorian Faithful.

[@sawyeratkinson]

3:56 from this moment onward it was known as Amon Amarth, meaning badass viking metal band. Hold that shieldwall gondor

[@ivohiemstra6839]

Was looking for references to the band

[@TheEquus92]

This feels like I'm listening to real life history. Tolkien was the master at Worldbuilding.

[@szautan]

yeah, and it's sad his worldbuilding was bastardized and twisted by Amazon. Only more sad is the treachery of NerdofTheRings on 2022 of the fourth age :(

[@Your-Least-Favorite-Stranger]

@@szautan If it bothers you, write it off as fanfic. Thats what is generally done with the Shadow of War/Mordor games, as well as Netflix's The Witcher and basically any live action anime adaptation they make. Remember: just because something exists does not mean the source material has been altered. You can just reject it and pretend it doesn't exist. People who love Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works often write off Enola Holmes or the comedy Sherlock Holmes film; they fit their given niche but you don't have to accept them as legit.

[@rudivomschauerberg6344]

he must have studied medieval history a lot. Know enough about history and your story basically writes itself, if youre creative enough and put your heart and soul into it. Even such an amazingly well written world like Tolkiens is just a imitation of the epic world that we actually really live in. Tolkien himself experienced a lot of the downsides of the modern world. Industrialization destroying tradition and nature, people loosing their local uniqueness and the overall culture of whole countries becomes more or less standardized, while bevore the industrialisation every county and every village had its own specific culture and traditions. And then of course the war, wich must have felt like a dystopian nightmare to someone who grew up on the countryside in the 1800s. I think tolkiens world is an idealized version of our world. Its what our world should have been like according to him. And maybe its what our world would be like if humans just didnt lost their way somewere in the late 1800s

[@andersonic]

It always felt like a lot that Elendil's remaining lifetime went from the Fall of Númenor to the Last Alliance, in the meantime establishing Gondor with all its cities and monuments. But it makes more sense understanding the Faithful's extended lifetimes and that the lands that became Gondor weren't exactly unpopulated. Still it would be interesting to find historic precedents for how fast flourishing city-states and fortresses were established and built in real history. We may seriously underestimate what our stonemason and horse powered forebears accomplished.

[@Manuel73618]

Constantinople was built during in few years. From Wikipedia "During 324-336 the city was thoroughly rebuilt and inaugurated on 11 May 330 under the name of “New Rome” or “Second Rome". And in three centuries it was the largest city of the world.

[@20thCenturyBoyz]

@@Manuel73618 Constantinople wasn't built, it was rebuilt. Byzance before it became Constantinople, it was one of the greatest city in Anatolia

[@Manuel73618]

@@20thCenturyBoyz you are definitely right, but the main buildings (the forum) were built in these years. The wall and Agia Sofia were built in the next two centuries.

[@shawnmelchortrondillo7837]

That last art of theoden leading rohan to Gondor is pure goosebumps and badassery, i have that on my saved arts.

[@MisterEnsayne]

Got me too. DEATH!

[@Grewskers]

With Osgiliath being hit hardest by the plague, it makes me wonder if the river was poisoned near the Field of Celebrandt, it’s close enough to Dol Guldur that it wouldn’t be a large leap to assume Sauron poisoned their rivers as a planned move

[@spiritconsumer]

brilliant theory.

[@Thechezbailey]

It wouldn't be the first time a Dark Lord used biological warfare. Morgoth did it once, too.

[@fgkuv5232]

But the plague hit the enemies of gondor too, otherwise it would have been destroyed

[@Grewskers]

@@fgkuv5232 👍🏻

[@HeavyMetalGamingHD]

@@Thechezbailey I wouldn't use the term bio weapon, because it would rather be some dark magic. we wouldn't call the dark clouds at the siege of minas tirith geo engineering or weather manipulation.

[@annecarter5181]

Thank you so much! Can never hear these stories too often. I keep learning new things with every video and every book read. Long live Middle-earth!

[@shehansenanayaka3046]

Brilliant video. Gondor and rohan faces lot of enemies from both sides. But they survived and thriving through the ages. Love this videos.

[@Atagahi]

What a fantastic delving into the history - can’t wait for part two! Minor pronunciation note: the “c” in the “-(n)dacil” suffix on names like Hyarmendacil and Rómendacil has a hard k-sound, not an s-sound.

[@sike2399]

Was going to make my own comment about this but you already pointed it out. Tolkien's Appendices blew my mind when I found out how many things I had mispronounced. C = K, DH = TH, AE = I, G is always hard so Region sounds out as Reg'-ee-on instead of sounding like Legion. Re-reading the Silmarillion with this insight was murder at first.

The same applies here. Since I was six years old (today I'm 59), I've been dreaming of our Atlantis, which J.R.R. used as a model for his Numenor. The incredible magnitude of their successes, their kindness, their warmth, overcome by greed, the will to rule broken and destroyed by excessiveness, it is the same story, the same dream. When I read the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit and the Simarillion at the age of 14, Plato may have been a great one of his time, but Tollkin was a storyteller , and today my dream, which still appears and its story merged into one And I always have to be careful not to confuse them But your rendition, friend, moved me to tears. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Namarie.

[@darthmarth87]

-over 20 minutes (smiles) -part 1 (smiles widely)

[@Hatypus]

1:30 Minas Anor. Also, Minas Anor and Minas Ithil were not cities themselves, but fortresses with town sized populations, Osgiliath was the city until it was abandoned and so Minas Anor (As Minas Tirith) then grew in population.

[@Hero_Of_Old]

Yep, its also Minas ANOR not Arnor. Anor being the word for 'Sun'. Arnor is the Kingdom in the North.

[@DaTux91]

The amount of effort you put into these videos is astounding. Not quite as astounding as the amount of fascinating, beautifully interwoven stories Tolkien produced for us all to enjoy videos like these, but I don't think you'll take offence to that observation 😅

[@Jonfanable]

W W😂

[@ДимитријеНиколић]

Your channel is great indeed! You know how to speak and to present quintessentially details of the Tolkien's stories. Well done!

[@evanairnomad4361]

“Gondor! Gondor, between the Mountains and the Sea! West Wind blew there; light upon the Silver Tree..."

[@alightinthedarkages9494]

At long last the Nerd makes a series on one of the most important regions and histories of Middle-Earth! Thank you sir, your incredible body of work was incomplete without this one.

[@paulusbexkens4392]

Tolkiens world.... it is so enormous. Thank you. I am looking forward for part 2.

[@bubbaboulware3610]

Your videos and explanations are always great. Your longer, more detailed, ones always hit different. I could listen to you breakdown and explain Tolkien for hours and hours. Great stuff

[@magicllama9614]

I'm always just SOOOOOOO enamored and fascinated with all of the intricate pieces of art and pictures you put in your videos.

[@thebrowneyesofmandalore]

Why don’t the elves play much of a role in the events of the Third Age? Like why do they assist Arnor in its fight against Angmar but not Gondor in their wars with the Easterlings and Haradrim? Ultimately what causes the Old Alliance of Elves and Men to fail? Anyway thanks for the video Matt! Another Excellent one! I love seeing the history of Gondor and how reminiscent it is of its ancestor Numenor.

[@Hero_Of_Old]

Because they are leaving Middle Earth. Their time has passed. Men must deal with their own problems.

[@randomelite4562]

@@Hero_Of_OldPlus a lot of them have been dying for the past couple thousand years

[@FatGouf]

The war of the Last Alliance depleted their people, so they're pretty much a dying race, so they pretty much kept to themselves.

[@FatGouf]

The war of the Last Alliance depleted their people, so they're pretty much a dying race, so they pretty much kept to themselves.

[@HeavyMetalGamingHD]

the war of the last alliance was a horrible pyrrhus victory for the elves. they never recovered. during the war of the ring we only see small elven enclaves with a few hundred people each.

[@Blue_Eyed_Chippewa]

I watched this video when it was new and here I am 6 months later enjoying it again. Great channel and great subject matter.

[@fingersTitan]

Its Saturday and that means a Nerd upload. Good times.

[@neilbakshi7365]

I'm curious about your take on what I consider to be the strangest aspect of Middle-Earth history, which Tolkien apparently never attempted to explain: in the relatively short time of 100 years, Elendil and his sons escape the downfall of Numenor and found both Gondor and Arnor, building Minas Anor, Minas Ithil, Annuminas, and the Emyn Beraid (at least). They also had a big enough army to be a substantial part of the War of the Last Alliance. They apparently did this with NINE SHIPS worth of people. Even if each ship carried 1,000 people (unlikely), this still doesn't add up. Do you know of any letters or footnotes where this was discussed? It's in the back of my head somehow that they "became the kings of" people who already existed in Eriador and Gondor, but I don't know where I read it or if I'm just making that up. Thanks!

[@Pixis1]

There were Numenorean settlements throughout Middle-earth from their days of exploration and colonization. So there were already Dunedain living there. The people who escaped the Downfall with Elendil likely merged with the population of those settlements.

[@justchilling704]

@@Pixis1 Beat me too it.

[@davidhimmelfahrt3732]

@@justchilling704 kind of sexual

[@davidhimmelfahrt3732]

@@Pixis1 True.

[@justchilling704]

@@davidhimmelfahrt3732 Lmfao

[@kirandeepchakraborty7921]

The Text is so detailed and so rich in context. I always find it highly fascinating.

[@midimusicforever]

You made the perfect spot to make a partition, right at the break between the line of kings and the rule of the stewards!

[@mattcoen6220]

I always love how the videos end by thanking Celebrimbor for "making this all possible." I like to imagine it as a sarcastic "Thanks Obama."

[@jfk8540]

hey guys, i just saw return of the king extended edition in theaters, and there’s another showing on the 19th! check your local theaters to see if there’s any showings, it’s through fathom events so i’m not sure every theater they work with

[@kevinbartonico]

Love this, unending content of tolkien weekend bedtime story😊

[@mstuart076267]

I listen to this while at work. You do an amazing job of taking me into the world of Tolkien.

[@CG-or1re]

love it, would also like to see one about arnor as well

[@nipurafsan5786]

Your Story Telling Is Amazing....!!!

[@dylantorres2496]

Yay 20 min of greatness! What a great for this weekend!

[@garrettcantrell1034]

Wow! Another grand slam homerun of a video! Can't wait till part 2 comes forth!

[@gregoryturk1275]

It would be pretty cool if you made a video about the Forodwaith, since there doesn’t see to be much information on them it could be a short video

[@Hero_Of_Old]

Forodwaith has always been interesting to me

[@istvantoth7431]

You are doing an amazing job on these videos. You really put time and effort in this. Well done!

[@istari0]

My favorite parts of Middle-Earth's history are those concerning the Edain and their descendants, the Númenoreans, the Gondorians, the Arnorians, and their descendants once Arnor was completely gone.

[@classyname42]

Genuine question because i'm a stickler for pronunciation - Wouldn't "Romendacil" be pronounced like Romenda(k)il? Shouldn't the 'c' never be pronounced like an 's'?

[@eduardostealth]

I was wondering that as well. From Appendix E: "Consonants. C has always the value of k even before e and i: celeb ‘silver’ should be pronounced as keleb." Both audiobooks have it as "Romendakil" Encyclopedia of Arda gives the pronunciation as "roame'ndakil"

[@leonardofaber5823]

You both are correct.

[@janeczek16]

Nerd! Thank you again for another fantastic video! Appreciate!

[@mightymulatto3000]

Wow, that picture of Theoden standing before the city with a sword raised heavenward is divine.

[@noellabella2]

This is one of my favorite videos you've done!!!!!

[@RuthlessMetalYT]

It's crazy how detailed middle-earth is. There are pieces of history that mankind know less about than middle-earth. :D

[@andremacedo414]

Awesome!! Hurry up on finishing PART II (2)!!

[@TheDeadlyKnight]

I appreciate Gondor because it’s greatest nobles were some of the paragons of the race of Men, in all the legendarium. King Isildur, Lord Faramir, King Earnur, Lord Cirion, King Anarion; not to mention their brave steadfast citizens & warriors shine, demonstrating some of the best qualities of Men in these stories: wisdom, courage, justness, mercifulness.

[@mujtabaraisani7376]

I cant imagine how many series can be made from every friction of Tolkiens lore.

[@Eureus22]

i always wanted to know the history of Gondor and i really wanted you to cover a video about that i think its a dream come true thankss

[@2002chrisking]

Loved the video. It would be really interesting to understand where the sources are from Tolkien's books.

[@samuelalejandrogonzaleszev1605]

Magnificent video Master, thank you very much, one question: Will you make a video of the Unified Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor?

[@Nandorian007]

Great video, as always! At 1:33 you refer to Minas Arnor, but in most literature it is mentioned as Minas Anor. Was this intentional?

[@NerdoftheRings]

Slip of the tongue on my part! Apologies!

[@MPS19911]

Another great video for me rewatch over and over again 😂. Where do you get the background music from? Is it from the LOTR soundtrack?

[@CrimsonGhost6969]

I really appreciate these. Thank you

[@sonrider1369]

Do you think you could do a video on the different writing scripts in middle earth? I find that topic specifically really cool and kinda hard to get information on

[@Divine_Chareka]

Amazing video as always 👏

[@ericmathieu7944]

Thank you for this immense moment. Brillant !

[@kdaalder]

Can you do a video about Elu Thingol? I’d love to know more about him

[@the28thgraypist]

Great video as always. I had a little bit of a tougher time following the locations in this one compared to some of your others, though.

[@Hasselwoof]

This is perfect to fall asleep to.

[@Bloomio95]

I´d love to see a map visualisation of the battle of helms deep from the time theoden leaves edoras to the defeat of the troops by Gandalfs forces, Theodens forces and the forest while also including the movement of the troops of the lord of the westfold :)

[@Tnbears]

Thank you so much for all the videos… always makes my day watching!

[@R2D93]

I was baffled listening to the LotR appendices for the first time and learning about the lines of Anarion and Isildur and just how much Gondorian lore and history was JAM PACKED into them that only serves as untold backstory to the books themselves

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

Tolkien himself likened Gondor in a degree to ancient Egypt, in terms of how Gondorians constructed gigantic stone structures, and the Crown of Gondor being similar to the crown of the Pharaohs of Egypt. Notably some "scholars" claimed that ancient Egypt was a colony of Atlantis, much like how Gondor was a survival of Numenor (although it is unknown if Tolkien considered this aspect).

[@kalles8789]

That's a wonder how 5 ships brought enough people to found a kingdom and how so less people can build such fortresses and cities like Minas Ithil, Minas Anor, Ogiliath and the Orthanc Tower....

[@TurinStark5]

there were already Numenorian descendants and many settlements already in Middle-Earth. With no real enemies back then they were now able to create all these cities

[@Crunch104]

Where is the majority of this subject covered in Tolkien's writings? I have read the LOTR trilogy, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin. It's not in those as far as I recall. Thanks!

[@gadamis]

Great video! Love the art. Thanks a lot. Can't wait for Part 2.

[@gurmsekhon4185]

Great work. Thank you. Erratum: at 1 min 29 sec, the city of Anarion should be named Minas Anor, not "Minas Arnor" .

[@dekimrsko1971]

When listening to LOTR and the hobbit lore and audiobooks, I feel as if listening to real life history. I do not know if it is because I would love to be real or because of my spirituality. At any rate, I love it.

[@monkeymoment6478]

Tolkien was nothing short of a literary genius. He wrote the LOTR as a history. He built a world and then made stories in it, rather than the other way around.

[@vybhaveswaraiah7114]

5:47 The First Scene of the 1st LOTR Movie thr Fellowship of the Ring, what an amazing scene that was

[@jeffreyhornblower6515]

Where did they get this unbreakable black stone? For orthanc, was it a relic of numinor or some rare Middle Earth rock

[@Rellana1]

I think they imported it from Numenor,but the lore is somewhat vague on exact details.

[@harrymckenzie4561]

"From this moment onward, the men of Gondor refer to Orodruin as Amon Amarth." *starts headbanging in Amon Amarth*

[@ryanclark579]

can u make a video on eomer? dont know if theres much more about him but hes pretty cool

[@ryanclark579]

btw been binging ur character videos there soooo good, love the way u tell the storys with maps and fan art

[@przemekreszka2825]

It seems to me that tolkien's work on history of arnor and gondor was greatly influenced by the history of Western and Eastern Roman Empire.

[@davidhimmelfahrt3732]

Could be. But the downfall of numenor for example seems to be our current time.

[@Michael_the_Drunkard]

Same thoughts mate

[@corax86]

I'm a simple guy. I see a new NOTR movie, I watch it right away.

[@mellllle93]

The story of Ondoher, Fíriel, Arvedui & Co. would make such a great movie or TV show. Let us hope someone at WB comes up with that idea.

[@post-leftluddite]

Gondor and Arnor exemplify the theme of decline so prevalent in Tolkien's work

[@davidroberts1026]

Always good, but this was particularly excellent.

[@PrinceNooks]

Question. Is is plausible that the Palantir in The Dome Of Stars (that was lost in the Anduin river)could be the same one that ends up with Sauroman in Isengard?

[@4Bobay]

No. The North Orthnac stone could be held in one hand and had been there since the end of the 2nd Age. The Stone in Osgillith was large and had to be carried using a pole device.

[@PrinceNooks]

@@4Bobay gotcha, thanks!

[@crabberdabberye]

Saruman already had a palantir in the Orthanc.

[@TiagoRamosVideos]

Fantastic👏

[@alatamore]

Amazing! Can’t wait for the second one!

[@kiwicoproductions2828]

I’ve read the rotk appendices a few times but for whatever reason those accounts don’t stick in my head as much as the Silmarillion. So there’s like a blank spot on my knowledge about the early third and and Gondor. This video def helps though.

[@benwilcockson504]

And now I shall sleep until part 2. Wake me when the beacons are lit 🔥

[@Solarnova]

Very good video, but I noticed there’s no mention of the various outposts Gondor occupied around Mordor after the Last Alliance siege, including Cirith Ungol, and eventually being forced to abandon due to the plague. Abandoning Mordor’s outer perimeter slowly allowed evil to flourish in the land once again.

[@timevexter1620]

There is a static-y hiss in the audio of this video. I thought at first it was something with my speakers but checking videos from other creators and more from you it is this video. The hiss isn't in your last video about Gothmog but is very apparent(at least to me) in "The History of Erebor" published on April 1st. The videos are still fantastic and I love them.

[@Hadril]

Amazing work! Keep it going!

[@adub1300]

“Before finally seeing the return of the king” I see what you did there

[@justinb3195]

I just want an RPG game some day that let's me traverse through the world of Tolkien.

[@nhadley]

There's Lord of the Rings Online, which is an MMORPG, but the game's admittedly not designed for sightseeing.

[@justinb3195]

@Linfindel of Gondolin yeah I have seen it but it just doesn't appeal to me. It would be great if we could get an open world skyrim style game.

[@noturmum7967]

As someone new to the lore. This video is very hard to digest for a "part one" very in depth tho. And unlike your other videos which are usually very well put together. This feels like your reading off a wimipidia list of names with no connecting coheasion. Very hard to piece together whats going on unless assumdily you have a foundational knowledge of the lore

[@astrogypsy]

Terrific job man.

[@WheresMyTea]

Well done! Oooo! Your black Numinorians video is excellent. Do you have it linked here? Maybe I missed it. Link it! Link it! It's very good.

[@fredlandry6170]

Nice to see a new video.

[@josephalonso7931]

I do believe there could be a trilogy alone based off the history of Gondor. I would personally love a live-action adaption of Castamir. I wonder how far Rings of power will delve into the history of Gondor after Númenor is destroyed.

[@Rellana1]

I like to know where Gondor would be if the Kin-strife never happened. They lost too much in the civil war.

[@josephalonso7931]

@@Rellana1 yes. Im curious myself. That's why in a small way, I think the Witch-King attacking Gondor after it was rendered so week, was a smarter strategy than when Sauron attacked it in the Third age. I think one of the proposed movies will definitely be the Angmar war.

[@vincentruhe]

Awesome video once again!

[@MrThebennettman]

They need to make three more movies of the stories leading up to this battle and then the battle itself

[@positivelynegative9149]

Thank you for the work you do. I love your content. 👍

[@Sevenigma777]

I still dont get how in one man's lifetime he was able to create whole eons worth of highly detailed stories. Tolkien didnt have much free time did he lol

[@davidhimmelfahrt3732]

No he didn't, but he used what time he had to work on the legendarium.

[@HeavyMetalGamingHD]

creating his world was tolkien's free time. that's what he loved to do

[@colinleat8309]

It's funny. I used to play a Black Numenorian in the mid 90's. We played Middle Earth Role Playing (D&D), but I hadn't read the material yet. I was playing the character as a Hero instead of a Villain 😂 Great video! 🤘😁🖖🇨🇦

[@durrangodsgrief6503]

So a black numenorian trying to redeem themselves

[@Playfulnotes]

Can you do a video on Shadowfax?!!!! Thanks for your content ❤