Minas Tirith


 * For the First Age tower of the same name, see Minas Tirith (First Age), and for the ROTK (The Rise of the Witch-king, the expansion pack to The Battle for Middle-earth II video game) chapter, see Minas Tirith (chapter).

A note on pronunciation: All i's are long in these cases, thus Minas Tirith is pronounced MEE-nas TEE-reeth.

Minas Tirith was the capital of Gondor in the Third Age and the Fourth Age of Middle-earth. Originally known as Minas Anor (the "Tower of the Sun"), it replaced the city (later ruined city and stockade of Gondor) Osgiliath as the new capital of Gondor. When the Enemy began to take shape again, Minas Anor was renamed Minas Tirith, the "Tower of Guard". The city was also called "The White City", as the courtyard in the front of the city's Citadel contained the White Tree, and also known as the "City of Kings" because of its connection with the kings and stewards of Gondor (they ruled the kingdom of Gondor from the Citadel of the city). Many important events took place in and in front of the city, such as the coronation of King Elessar, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and the healing of Meriadoc Brandybuck and Eowyn by Aragorn after they had been poisoned after stabbing ,and subsequently killing, the Witch-king.

Layout
Minas Tirith was surrounded by the Rammas Echor, a large ringwall encircling the city and encircled itself by the Pelennor Fields. This wall was built by Ecthelion II, but it had not the strength to defend the city from the Dark Lord Sauron's legions of Orcs from Mordor. The city itself layed on a hill beneath Mount Mindolluin, which rose above the city's citadel by a length of a couple of thousand feet (Mount Mindolluin was where Aragorn found the seedling of the White Tree, aided by Gandalf). The city was divided into seven one-hundred-foot high levels, each surrounded by white walls. The gates connecting the levels did not lay behind one another in a line, but faced in different directions. A spur of rock, whose summit was level with the city's uppermost tier, jutted out from the front of the city in an easterly direction, dividing all but the first level into two. Each level was scattered with many alleys, narrow passageways, marketplaces, family shops and stores, and public living buildings, such as apartments and full-fledged houses (which were probably quite rare in the city). Finally, within the seventh wall, was the Citadel of Minas Tirith, with its White Tower - three hundred feet high, so that its apex was one thousand feet above the plain. Upon the saddle between the city and Mindolluin were the Houses of the Dead - a tomb for the Kings of Gondor and their Stewards.

Defensive Structures
The walls of the city were defended by a battery of 100 trebuchets. These played a significant role in the siege shown in the movie, as they were responsible for destroying and/or killing many Orcs, Trolls, siege towers, and catapults. Sadly, a number of them were smashed to bits by the fell beasts of the Nazgul, but all was repaired in the end. Gondor soldiers stood beside the trebuchets on the walls in case the Enemy tried to assail the city using their hideous siege towers, driven by the effort of Trolls. Gondor archers also waited on top of the walls and gates of the city, firing at any Orc or Troll within their range. Soldiers silently waited behind each wall of the city in case the Enemy broke through one of the walls.

History
Minas Tirith was in built in SA 3320 by Anárion, brother of Isildur and second son of Elendil, and a High King of Arnor. King Ostoher rebuilt the city in TA 420, and, gradually, it became more important than Osgiliath, the original capital, which in later years fell into ruin. King Tarondor finally moved the King's House to the city in TA 1640, thereby making it the official capital of the kingdom of Gondor. In the year TA 2002, Minas Ithil (the "Tower of the Moon") was captured by the Ringwraiths and renamed Minas Morgul (the "Tower of Sorcery"). Minas Anor was then renamed Minas Tirith, meaning the "Tower of Guard", to indicate that, since the fall of Minas Ithil, Minas Tirith was the only thing that guarded Gondor and all the other lands around and behind it against the horrifying evil from Mordor. The Rohirrim sometimes translated this name into their own language as Mundburg.

During the War of the Ring (Third Age 3018-3019), Minas Tirith is said to "have less than half of the population which could have dwelt at ease" in it. The city was subsequently falling into ruin, and, combined with the growing power of the Dark Lord not too far to the east, resulted in the low population of the city. It appeared to Aragorn a city that had lost its luster, which had resulted in many things once beautiful that now were old and crumbling.

In The Return of the King, Minas Tirith is besieged by the troops of Mordor, including the Easterlings, the Haradrim, and the Southrons, under the Great Darkness generated by Mordor's foul geothermic vents. The Battle of the Pelennor Fields took place on 15 March TA 3019 in the fields surrounding the city. It was one of the most horrific battles of the whole War of the Ring. There, on that field, both the king of Rohan, Theoden, and the Witch-king of Angmar were slain. It was also there that King Elessar (Aragorn) arrived at the hour of Minas Tirith's need and therefore saved the city. Despite their heavy losses, the battle was finally won by the forces of good. After the battle, the stench of death was heavy in Minas Tirith's air, and the Pelennor Fields lay strewn with bodies.

On 1 May TA 3019, King Elessar's coronation took place on the plain outside Minas Tirith. After his coronation, he entered the city as the King of Gondor, as he was destined to become from the start of his lifetime. With his coronation, King Elessar refounded the line of the Kings of Gondor. His coronation also signaled the passing of the torch of dominion of Middle-earth from the Elves to Men.

Minas Tirith was repaired by its new king (who grew plants inside of its walls to add to its luster and beauty), and it is known to have stood firm and strong well into the Fourth Age because of this renovation carried out by King Elessar.

Minas Tirith in the Films
Tolkien's description of the physical layout of Minas Tirith is followed scrupulously in Peter Jackson's movie The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, although there are a couple of assumptions made by the director and differences from the book. One of these is the assumption that the top of the courtyard of the White Tree was flattened and paved, so no one has reason to believe that it was this way. Another difference between the movie and the book is that, in the book, the courtyard is not the location for the coronation of Aragorn. This, as mentioned above, occurs on the Pelennor Fields outside Minas Tirith, and only after his coronation does Aragorn march into the city as the new King of Gondor.

Trivia

 * Map #40 in Barbara Strachey's Journeys of Frodo is a plan of Minas Tirith. Pages 138&139 in Karen Wynn Fonstad's revised The Atlas of Middle-earth is another plan of Minas Tirith. They are at variance with each other, as the only authoritative maps by Tolkien are just sketches.


 * The eagle who brings the news of Sauron's defeat to Minas Tirith refers to the city as the Tower of Anor. Although this is nowhere described, it is possible that the city may have reverted to its original name once it no longer needed to guard against evil. An argument against this is that in the abandoned sequel The New Shadow, which takes place during the time of Elessar's son Eldarion, the city was clearly named Minas Tirith.