Gondor

Gondor was a kingdom of men in Middle-earth, bordered to Rohan to the north, Belegaer to the west, Harad to the south, and Mordor to the east. Its first capital was Osgiliath, moved to Minas Tirith in TA 1640; other major fortresses include Aglarond, Dol Amroth, Isengard, Minas Ithil and Pelargir.

Gondor was founded by brothers Isildur and Anárion, exiles from Númenor. Together with Arnor in the north they served as last strongholds of the Dúnedain. Gondor gradually declined in course of the Third Age, being continually weakened by the allies of Sauron, and was only restored in dominance after his final defeat and the crowning of Aragorn II Elessar.

History
Like Arnor to the north,                                                                                                                                      Gondor is a human kingdom founded by Anárion, the son of Elendil, after the Downfall of Númenor. It was located to the south of Rohan and to the west of Mordor, on the Bay of Belfalas. Its name means "Land of Stone", from Sindarin gond (stone) + (n)dor (land), most likely given to it because of the Ered Nimrais and other mountain chains in the land (hypothetical Quenya name Ondonórë).

Early history
Before the Downfall of Númenor, Gondor was home to many Númenórean colonists, who either mixed blood with the indigenous Middle Men if they were friendly, or dispersed them into Ras Morthil, Dunland, and Drúadan Forest. Gondor, at a latitude comparable to Venice, was a more fertile region than Arnor to the north, and therefore it already had a larger population before the ships of Elendil's sons arrived, including a well-established city, Pelargir.

The Elendili from Númenor proper were given a warm reception upon their arrival by those that had already colonized Middle-earth, including a colonial branch of Númenorean royalty at Dor-en-Ernil. The colonists north of Anduin accepted Elendil's claim to kingship over them. South of the Great River, however, the newly exiled Númenoreans did not recognize Elendil's claim.

Gondor was being founded after Númenor's population had already split between the Elendili and King's Men, and all of the more southern colonies (such as Umbar) remained enemies of the Elendili.

The newly founded kingdom of Gondor was then part of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men which overthrew Sauron for the first time at the very end of the Second Age.

Gondor Prospers
After the war Gondor's power and wealth grew steadily (only interrupted by an Easterling invasion in TA 492). Its power would continue to grow into the 9th century TA. While the power of Gondor's sister kingdom Arnor peaked during the 9th century, when it broke into various successor states, Gondor's greatest glory was yet to come. Gondors great cities Minas Anor, Minas Ithil, Osgiliath and Pelargir only grew and the Dunedain of Gondor started to rule over more and more of the lesser people.

Gondor's Golden Age
Gondor's power reached its Golden Age under the four "Ship-kings":

Tarannon Falastur r. 840–913. First of the Ship-Kings, died childless Eärnil I r. 913–936. Nephew of Tarannon Ciryandil r. 936–1015 Hyarmendacil I (Ciryaher) r. 1015–1149. Last of the Ship-Kings. In the reign of the powerful king Hyarmendacil I (c. 12th century TA) Gondor reached the height of its power. During Hyarmendacil's reign Gondor's borders reached their furthest extent. The Kingdom extended east to the Sea of Rhûn, south to the nearest lands of the Haradrim, as far north as Mirkwood, and west towards the borders of Arnor.

Such was Gondor's wealth during the period that men from other lands would say in envy: "In Gondor precious stones are but pebbles for the children to play with." Gondor would also enjoy several centuries of peace due to its military might.

The Decline of Gondor
But after his reign decadence spread under the kings of Gondor and a long period of decline began (although Gondor experienced several revivals). Three great calamities struck Gondor during the second millennium of the Third Age, which are held to be the chief reasons for its decline: the Kin-strife, the Great Plague, and the invasion of the Wainriders (a tribe of Easterlings).

The Kin-strife
In the 15th century TA a great civil war named the Kin-strife tore the nation apart. The current King Eldacar was of mixed blood: his mother was of the Northmen. Popular displeasure at this led to the overthrow of King Eldacar by Castamir, the admiral of all of Gondor's naval forces who possessed some royal blood. Eldacar's son was slain, and he fled north. Castamir was afterwards known as Castamir the Usurper. During his ten year rule he proved to be very cruel, and because of his love of his old fleet, he lavished attention on the coastal regions while the interior provinces were ignored and left to rot. Eldacar then returned with an army of his Northman kinsmen, and they were joined by armies of Gondorians from interior provinces such as Anórien. Osgiliath was devastated during this conflict, its great bridge destroyed and its palantír lost. Eldacar slew Castamir and reclaimed his throne, but Castamir's sons and their forces were besieged in Pelargir, the great port of Gondor. They eventually retreated to Umbar, where they joined with the Corsairs, and troubled Gondor for many years, until their descendants died out.

The Great Plague
Later, the Great Plague struck and the White Tree died. This Plague was no localized event: the Plague swept through all of Middle-earth, reaching the successor states of Arnor and the Hobbits of the Shire in the North. King Tarondor found a sapling of the White Tree, and moved the capital from Osgiliath to Minas Anor, the City of Anárion. During this time, Gondor was so depopulated that the fortifications guarding against the re-entry of evil into Mordor were abandoned. It is believed that had the Haradrim or Easterlings been capable of attacking Gondor at this time, it would have fallen. However, the Plague left Gondor's enemies in no better condition than Gondor itself, and neither side was capable of mounting new offensives.

The Invasion of the Wainriders
Following the sapping of Gondor's strength by the plague, the Wainrider Easterlings invaded and devastated Gondor, and the conflict lasted for well over a century. The Wainriders destroyed the Northern Army of Gondor, but survivors linked up with the victorious Southern Army of Gondor, led by a general named Eärnil, and they destroyed the Wainriders as they celebrated their victory during the Battle of the Camp.

Reunification Rejected
In TA 1944 Gondor faced a successional crisis when King Ondoher was slain in battle with both his sons. Arvedui, Prince of Arthedain, Ondoher's son-in-law, and the victorious general Eärnil, who was a distant blood-relative of Ondoher, claimed the throne. Arvedui's claim lay mainly in the reintroduction of the old Nùmenorean law of accession, which stated the eldest (remaining) child should succeed the king. If the law was reintroduced, then Arvedui's wife Fíriel, Ondoher's daughter and last remaining child, would become Ruling-Queen, making their descendants Kings of both Arnor and Gondor. Arvedui also tried to put weight behind his claim as he was Isildur's heir. The council of Gondor recognised that the name of Isildur was held in honour in Gondor, but they dictated that the South-Kingdom must be ruled by an Heir of Anarion. Due to his ancestry from Fíriel and Arvedui, more than a millennium later, Aragorn Elessar put forward his claim as the heir of both Isildur and Anarion.

Eärnil lay his claim as being a direct descendant of King Telumehtar Umbardacil. His claim was also greatly bolstered by the popularity he had gained as the victorious general who saved Gondor from the Wainriders after winning the southern theatre of the war. Steward Pelendur who was temporarily ruling Gondor as serving as arbiter of succession, intervened in favour of Gondor's victorious general who would rule as Eärnil II.

The Last Heir of Anárion
During the Battle of Fornost, Eärnil II's heir Eärnur led Gondor's forces to victory over the Witch-king of Angmar, who was actually the Lord of the Nazgûl. Although Eärnur wished to fight him, Eärnur's horse was terrified and fled the battle against his wishes. By the time he mastered his horse and return, the Witch-king had fled. Glorfindel the Elf then prophesied to him that it was better that he not fight the Lord of the Nazgûl because "never by the hand of man shall he fall".

Eärnur later ascended to the throne, ruling from Minas Anor (Tower of the Sun). During this time, the Ringwraiths captured Minas Anor's sister city, Minas Ithil (Tower of the Moon), renaming it Minas Morgul (Tower of Sorcery) and taking it as their lair. Minas Anor was renamed Minas Tirith (Tower of Guard) as a result. The Lord of the Nazgûl repeatedly sent messengers to Minas Tirith challenging Eärnur to single combat, taunting him that he had fled out of cowardice from facing him during the Battle of Fornost. Eventually, King Eärnur was overcome by wrath and rode with a small company of knights to Minas Morgul, to accept the challenge. They were never heard from again. So ended the Line of Anárion.

The Ruling Stewards
The realm was governed by a long line of hereditary Stewards after the disappearance of Eärnur, son of Eärnil, since there was no proof that the last king was dead, and no claimant had enough support to be accepted as his successor. The line of Anárion was held to have failed, and Gondor was not willing to risk to another Kin-strife, which would surely have destroyed it. Whenever there was a new Steward, he would swear an oath to yield rule of Gondor back to the King, in essence only an heir of Isildur, if he should ever return. In Gondor there was no one who could claim descent from Isildur in direct line, and the northern line of Arnor had effectively disappeared, so this oath was not considered seriously. The line of Stewards ruled as Kings, without having the title. During the War of the Ring, the ruling Steward of Gondor was Denethor II, and his two sons were Boromir and younger Faramir.

Cirion and Eorl
In TA 2510 when Steward Cirion ruled over Gondor, the nation faced one of its greatest perils: an Easterling tribe named the Balchoth invaded Gondor with mass force. Gondor's army marched to fight the Balchoth but were cut off from Minas Tirith and pushed back in the direction of the Limlight.

Messengers were sent to get help from the Éothéod, a tribe which lived in the northern vales of the Anduin, but nobody expected the messengers to reach their destination. When certain peril came upon Gondor, however, the Éothéod turned the tide of the Battle of the Field of Celebrant. After the victory the Éothéod were awarded the fields of Calenardhon north of the Ered Nimrais from the Gap of Rohan at the southern end of the Hithaeglir, Fangorn forest, rivers Limlight to Anduin, western Emyn Muil, and the Mering Stream, where they established the kingdom of Rohan with Eorl the Young as their first king. A permanent alliance between Gondor and Rohan was established by the oath Eorl swore to Cirion.

War of the Ring
In TA 3019, during the War of the Ring, Gondor faced an all out attack on Osgiliath and then its capital Minas Tirith (translates to tower of the guard and was built to protect Osgiliath from the wild men of western middle-earth) Gondor was one of the preeminent powers able to check the tide of darkness that issued from Mordor. While reduced to less than a third of its size (Gondor encompassed much of Northwestern Middle Earth for some time), Gondor still had the most powerful if not the most numerous army among the free peoples. Their war against Sauron helped stall the armies of evil for longer than most would consider possible. In the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, although nearly defeated, the Rohirrim once again turned the tide of battle, and helped win the war.

After the second and final defeat of Sauron the Kingship was restored with the Return of the King and Aragorn II became king of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor, with the Elven lady of Rivendell, Arwen Undomiel as his Queen. (See Reunited Kingdom for further history of the lands of old Gondor).

Faramir, last heir of the Ruling Stewards, was to retain the office of steward (though not ruling), and was made Prince of Ithilien, which had been reconquered from the forces of Mordor. Gondor as it appeared during the events of the War of the Ring (circa TA 3019) has been compared to the Byzantine/ Eastern Roman Empire, for numerous reasons. The Byzantine Empire and Gondor were echoes of the old greatness of the earlier Roman Empire and the united kingdom of King Elendil, respectively. However, they were still strong in their own right, but seen as a shadow of their past, never furthering the culture or technology of their almost legendary long past golden years. Also, during a period of relative barbarity surrounding them, both Byzantium and Gondor were a bastion of civilisation against the inrushing tide of darkness; both also were the homes of the worlds' greatests cities of their time, Constantinople (Istanbul/Byzantium) at the Bosphorus and Osgiliath at the Anduin. Gondor and The Eastern Roman Empire are often seen as parallel states. Just as Eriador is often seen as Analogous to Britain, Harad to North Africa etc. Gondor sit above the Bay of Belfalas (The Mediterranean) opposite its greatest enemy Mordor, to which paralells are often drawn with the Ottomans. The Graeco-Roman Architecture of Gondor in the movie franchise also echoes Greek Byzantine architecture.

Comparisons have also been made with the British Empire, although to a lesser extent, for both experienced a rapid rise and expansion with superior troops, tactics, and wealth (i.e. Britain taking all of North America after the Seven Years' War, Gondor soon after Sauron's first fall).

Over time, both were slowly nibbled away and almost devoured by foreign powers after their treasuries dried up and a stronger, resurgent enemy faced their armies again on the battlefield. Gondor, due to the severe weakening of the Great Plague and the internal turmoil caused by the Kin-strife, was forced to abandon far-flung outposts and territories that it simply could not afford to occupy (Umbar, the lands between South Mirkwood and North Mordor). Britain, likewise, was slowly elbowed out of its colonial possessions by peaceful independence movements, armed force, guerilla warfare, and German attacks during both World Wars drying up its once-overflowing treasury.

However, unlike Britain, Gondor rose to its former glory once more after its victory in the War of the Ring and the coronation of King Elessar. It regained possession of the kingdom of Arnor (Far more similar to Britain than Gondor culturally and geographically) during the Fourth Age and the name of Gondor was once again feared by the defeated and dispossessed warriors of Rhun and the Harad who are often seen as parallels of the nomadic tribes of the Asian steppe and the tribes of North Africa respectively (The Mumakil attack on Minas Tirith during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is similar to Hannibal's march on Rome; and the Corsairs of Umbar seem parallel to the Barbary Corsairs of Northern Africa).

Military
Gondor had a long and honorable military tradition harkening back to the days of Isildur and Elendil, and to Numenor even before that. The cornerstone of Gondor's well-equipped, professional army was a heavy infantryman armed with a stabbing and slashing sword and a large metal shield emblazoned with the White Tree of Gondor. Each man was well-protected by heavy plate armor and was trained to fight in cohesive box formation, much like real-life Roman legionaries.

The Second Age
The military training men of Gondor instilled within their men a martial spirit and ardor, goading them to fight to the death if attacked by the black hordes of Mordor, Rhun, and of Harad. By the Battle of Dagorlad, the army of Gondor was at its apex. Every man was over six feet tall, being very broad and strong as well. Every single soldier was in peak fighting condition and ready to take the war to Sauron's hordes. The principal weapons used by the second age Gondorians were the swords and arrows.

The equipment used by the soldiers of Gondor during the Last Alliance was markedly different than the soldiers which slugged it out with the Orcs of Mordor. They still had skill from their days in Numenor and had Numenorean armor (This armor was a strong plated layer of metal which could block most attacks), as opposed to the standard armour used in the War of the Ring which was just a layer of sheet steel and could not block most attacks. They were also better skilled in general.

Third Age Basic Military
Over the years, Gondor's army slowly deteriorated from Numenorean warriors to more basic soldiers.Their armor also deterioated from the Numenorean class to standard armor, which was a just a layer of sheet metal .Though it could block against enemy attacks it was never nearly as strong as the Numenorean version .These soldiers mainly consisted of Gondor soldiers and archers.They were armed with spears, swords and bow and arrows making a strong force on the battlefield.The Gondorian spearmen used their five to six foot spears to knock riders off of their horses/wargs, and used it to attack incoming enemy footmen by thrusting  the spears into the enemy.The Gondorian swords was used for hitting the enemy forward/straight due to its sharp point, but it could be used defensively as well due to its sides which could block most attacks,and the sides could also be used to slash at enemies.These spearmen and swordsmen are part of the heavy infantry of Gondor and function more effecient when in their phalanx positions, which could inflict massive damage to enemy armies .Their archers were among some of the best ,and used long bows, which was easy to pull the strings back and unleash volley after volley of arrows into the enemy ranks(much like the English archers).Gondors soldiers even though they never reached the level of the warriors in the past, were a force to be reckoned with especially if there was an ideal leader like Gandalf  to guide them each soldier would fight more courageously. As examplified at the battle of Minas Tirith the armies of Sauron numerously outnumbered Gondors army, but with Gandalf's aide the soldiers managed to hold off the armies of Mordor till dawn when Rohan arrived .The average warrior was stronger and better-trained than most Mordor Orcs , one average warrior would equal to ten regular Mordor orcs.(Black Uruks, Morgul orcs and Morannon Orcs are a different matter).Overall Gondor is a mighty Kingdom and its armies should not be taken lightly even in its decline.

It should be noted that Gondor's military also deteriorated not only in efficiency, but also size. One of the major leaders of the Men of the West (Imrahil the Prince of Dol Amroth) commented on the way to the Battle of the Morannon that they were challenging Mordor with an army of seven thousand, about the size of Gondor's vanguard back in the days of old. This would mean that Gondor's army was significantly more vast in the past (around 40,000-50,000 troops in the glory of its days).

Third Age Elite Military
Gondor did not have just plain soldiers and archers; it had elite units that served as a major backbone in a Gondorian army. One is the Gondor Tower Guard, a high-ranking warrior that was stronger and braver than the typical Gondor soldier. These Tower Guards had pikes and used them to take down enemies. They were also personal guardsmen to high-ranking officers/The King of Gondor. The Ithilien Rangers were an elite group of archers (seen to be led by Faramir) that used stealth and the woods to take down their enemies using guerrilla tactics. Dunedain Rangers (of the North) were similar to Ithilien Rangers, though never formally recognized as Gondor military. Finally, the Knights of Gondor were skilled horsemen (though not at the level of the Rohirrim that would charge out to trample their enemies). Gondor's Third Age military could not have stood alone; it was these powerful warriors that bulwarked it to fight against any attack/offense.

Regions of Gondor
Gondor was divided between several nearly autonomous regions. These were the following:
 * Ithilien across the Anduin,
 * Anórien under Minas Tirith,
 * Lossarnach
 * Lebennin of the Five Streams,
 * Belfalas and
 * Dor-en-Ernil, ruled by the Prince of Dol Amroth,
 * Lamedon north of the Ringló, and
 * Anfalas or Langstrand in the south-west.

The long cape of Andrast was not populated (by the descendants of Numenoreans, but evidence from the Unfinished Tales suggests that a small group of Pukel-men inhabited it.)

Additionally, Gondor held or had held the following regions at certain points in its history:
 * Harondor or South Gondor, which was contested between Gondor and Harad,
 * Calenardhon which was given to the Éothéod and became Rohan,
 * Enedwaith, never really populated by Gondor and soon abandoned,
 * Rhovanion, which was never fully under the control of Gondor but under Gondorian control at certain times during the Third Age.

Cities and fortresses of Gondor
Cities in Gondor included:
 * Calembel
 * Dol Amroth, city on Belfalas
 * Erech, fortress of Gondor, abandoned by the end of the Third Age
 * Ethring
 * Linhir
 * Minas Tirith (originally Minas Anor), City of the Kings
 * Osgiliath, city and former capital of Gondor on the river Anduin, largely destroyed and abandoned by the end of the Third Age, but King Elessar possibly rebuilt the city
 * Pelargir, the great southern harbour, under the reign of Corsairs during the War of the Ring
 * Tarnost

Additionally, Gondor had held the following locations at certain points in its history:
 * the outposts of Amon Hen and Amon Lhaw on Emyn Muil probably had small garrisons
 * Angrenost, the fortress of Isengard, later granted to Saruman, destroyed by the Ents during the War of the Ring
 * Aglarond, the Gondorian fortress, later known as Rohan's Helm's Deep
 * the Gondorian fortress guarding the pass of Cirith Ungol
 * Durthang, the largest fortress in Mordor, built to guard the Ephel Dúath
 * Minas Ithil, conquered by Mordor and renamed Minas Morgul
 * Tharbad to the north, held by both Gondor and Arnor but abandoned as Gondor retreated through Enedwaith and later ruined
 * Umbar, the far southern harbour which was lost and reclaimed several times