Cardolan was a realm once part of the Dúnedain kingdom of Arnor. After the death of Arnor's tenth king, Eärendur, his sons divided the kingdom into three parts: Arthedain, Rhudaur, and Cardolan.
Geography
The borders of Cardolan extended from the river Brandywine to the west, the river Hoarwell to the east and the river Greyflood to the east and south. Its northern border was the Great East Road, but Cardolan also claimed the Arthedain-controlled Weather Hills, which contained the fortress of Weathertop and its valuable Palantír. For this reason the Weather Hills were claimed by all three kingdoms - Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur of the former Arnor. This territorial dispute continued until Rhudaur became a vassal of Angmar after the line of the Dúnedain kings failed there.
History
When the kingdom of Angmar arose in northern Eriador, Cardolan became the most important ally of Arthedain. It had to fight the combined armies of both Angmar and Rhudaur. It soon became apparent that Cardolan could not hold back the forces of Angmar and in its last years the people became entrenched in the hill region, Tyrn Gorthad (the Barrow-downs). This position became untenable after Angmar sent evil spirits to inhabit the downs (the Barrow-wights). Arthedain could provide little aid, as it was itself under attack. Around TA 1409 Cardolan was destroyed, and its former inhabitants accepted the King of Arthedain as their lord. Arthedain managed to reconquer the land briefly, but few people wished to live there on account of the Barrow-wights, and so Cardolan was never re-populated.[1]
After the final fall of Arnor, and the destruction of Angmar at the Battle of Fornost, Cardolan presumably remained an unpopulated area until the reestablishment of the northern kingdom under King Aragorn II Elessar at the end of the Third Age.[2] Until then, the region was largely unclaimed and known as Minhiriath.
Etymology
The name Cardolan may be dialect Sindarin for 'Red Hill Land', though J.R.R. Tolkien never specified the name's meaning.
Gallery
Add a photo to this galleryTranslations around the world
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Amharic | ካርድኖላን |
| Arabic | كاردولان |
| Armenian | Քարդոլան |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Кардолан |
| Bengali | কার্দলান |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Кардолан |
| Chinese | 卡多蘭 |
| Georgian | კარდოლანი |
| Greek | Κάρδολαν |
| Gujarati | કારડોલન |
| Hebrew | קרדולאן |
| Hindi | कर्दोलन |
| Japanese | カルドラン |
| Kannada | ಕಾರ್ಡೊಲಾನ್ |
| Korean | 카르돌란 |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Кардолан |
| Marathi | कार्डोलन |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Кардолан |
| Nepalese | कर्दोलन |
| Persian | کاردولان |
| Punjabi | ਕਾਰਡੋਲਨ |
| Russian | Кардолан |
| Serbian | Кардолан (Cyrillic) Kardolan (Latin) |
| Sindhi | ڪارپوريشن |
| Sinhalese | කාර්ඩොලන් |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Кардолан |
| Tamil | கார்டோலான் |
| Telugu | కార్డోలం |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Кардолан |
| Urdu | کاردولان |
| Uzbek | Кардолан (Cyrillic) Kardolan (Latin) |
| Yiddish | קאַרדאָלאַן |
| Amon Ereb • Brethil • Dor-lómin • Estolad • Ladros • Rhûn • Harad • Eriador | |
| Arnor • Dunland • Gondor • Harad • Númenor • Rhûn • Umbar • Eriador | |
| Arnor (later split into Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur) • Rohan • City of Dale (later became a Kingdom) • Dunland • Lake-town (later part of the Kingdom of Dale) • Gondor • Harad • Khand • Kingdom of Rhovanion • Rhûn • Umbar • Vales of Anduin • Greenwood the Great • Eriador | |
| Kingdom of Dale • Dunland • Harad • Núrn • Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor • Rohan • Rhûn • Eryn Lasgalen • Khand • Eriador • Rhovanion • Vales of Anduin | |
References
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", iii. "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur"
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Third Age, "The Kingdoms of the Dúnedain"
