Beregond, a Guardsman, with Pippin
The Guards of the Citadel, sometimes referred to as the Tower Guard, were the soldiers responsible for guarding the High Court, the upmost level of Minas Tirith, especially the courtyard that held the fountain and the White Tree of Gondor.
They served as personal bodyguards to the Kings of Gondor, and later to the Stewards of Gondor until King Aragorn II's coronation.
They were mainly a stationary guard unit, rather than a mobile force. They were headed by a Captain of the Citadel, who was chosen by the Steward from nobility or high military ranks.
History[]
The Tower Guards saw little combat during the War of the Ring. Though the city burned around them and the air swarmed with Black Wings at the Siege of Gondor, they remained at their posts, guarding their Steward and the White Tree all throughout the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
When Peregrin Took arrived with Gandalf the White in Minas Tirith, he offered his services as payment for Boromir's sacrifice to save his life. He was outfitted in the garb of the Tower, and was instructed by Beregond of the Third Company, though did not join the normal ranks, and acted as personal esquire to the Steward Denethor. Peregrin was the only Guard to leave the Citadel during the Battle of Pelennor Fields, running to the city gates to fetch Gandalf to save Faramir from Denethor's madness. Beregond as well left his post and killed a comrade, breaking his oath and losing his position as a member of the Guard, in order to keep the fires from Faramir until Gandalf's arrival.
There were at least 3 Companies of the Guard as mentioned by Beregond while speaking with Peregrin.
Known members[]
- Beregond
- Boromir (Captain during the War of the Ring until his death at Amon Hen)
- Peregrin Took (Under service of the steward Denethor II)
Equipment[]
The Citadel Guards wore similar armor to that of ordinary knights of Gondor, though finer crafted.
In the book they are described as wearing a uniform of black robes and black surcoats, embroidered in white with a tree in blossom under a silver crown and many-pointed stars. Their helms were high-crowned and pointed, with long cheek-guards fitting to the face, and above these were set the white wings of sea-birds to honor their seafaring Númenórean heritage; the helms were made of mithril and were heirlooms from ancient times. They carried swords for close combat.
As an esquire, Peregrin Took wore mail forged of black steel, a helm with raven-wings and a silver star in the center above the forehead, and a black surcoat with the device of the White Tree sewn in silver. He bore a short sword from the Barrow-downs.
In adaptations[]
In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy[]
In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, there are two different Guard variations. The Citadel Guards first appear in the Extended Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in the flashback scene in Osgiliath.
In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the other type, the Guards of the Fountain, guard the White Tree, and there are only four of them shown at any given time. The Citadel Guards appear occasionally in the background and when Denethor attempts to burn Faramir.
Appearance[]
A Fountain Guard as shown in The Return of the King film
In the film adaptation, the Fountain Guards stationed in the Fountain Court itself wore black capes that concealed most of their armor, and black cloths over the lower halves of their faces. The Citadel guards wore normal Gondor armor, but with small wings attached flush to the helmet.
In Video games[]
- They appear in the game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth as Gondor's spear-carrying class.
- They return in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II as the Men of the West faction's pikemen class, and in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king expansion-pack, the elite pikemen for Men of the West. They can only be created from a rank 2 Gondor Barracks and cost more to recruit than normal soldiers. Their formation is interchangeable between their default line formation and a dense "shield wall" formation, where they gain 80% armor but lose 75% speed. See Citadel Guards.
- Berethor is a member of the Citadel Guards in both The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age and Battle for Middle-earth series.
- The Order of the Tower Guard is a lore-based kinship in The Lord of the Rings Online on the Landroval server; the Guard of the Citadel form the kernel of lore for the guild, who function as a mobile entity of the Guard. Lore focuses on the mysteries of the White Trees of Gondor and the transition of the Third Age to the Fourth Age, and has its roots in the Elven stewardship of Celeborn at Tol Eressëa.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Lyfwag van die Sitadel |
| Albanian | Garda e Kala |
| Arabic | حارس القلعة |
| Armenian | Ցիտադեի պահակ |
| Assamese | চিটাডেলত গাৰ্ড |
| Azerbaijani | Qala qorunması |
| Basque | Zitadela Guardia |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Вартаўнік Цытадэлі |
| Bengali | দুর্গের প্রহরী |
| Bosnian | Čuvar citadela |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Охрана на Цитадела |
| Burmese | နန်းတော်၏စောင့်တပ်ဖွဲ့ |
| Catalan | Guàrdia de la Ciutadella |
| Cebuano | Pagbantay sa Kuta |
| Chinese | 城堡警卫 |
| Croatian | Čuvar Citadela |
| Czech | Stráž citadely |
| Danish | Vagt på citadellet |
| Dogri | किले दा पहरा |
| Dutch | Bewaker van de Citadel |
| Esperanto | Gvardio de la Citadelo |
| Estonian | Tsitadelli valvur |
| Filipino | Ang mga bantay ng mga kuta |
| Finnish | Sitadelli vartija |
| French | Garde de la Citadelle |
| Frisian | Wacht fan de Sitadel |
| Galician | Garda da Cidadela |
| German | Wächter der Zitadelle |
| Greek | Φρουρά της Ακρόπολη |
| Gujarati | સિટાડેલનો રક્ષક |
| Haitian Creole | Gad nan baz la |
| Hebrew | שומר שומר של המצודה |
| Hindi | गढ़ के गार्ड |
| Hungarian | A Fellegvár Őr |
| Icelandic | Vörður af Kastali |
| Irish Gaelic | Garda an Caisleán |
| Italian | Guardia della Cittadella |
| Japanese | 城塞の衛兵 |
| Kannada | ಸಿಟಾಡೆಲ್ ಗಾರ್ಡ್ |
| Kazakh | Цитадель күзетшісі (Cyrillic) Цитадель күзетшісі (Latin) |
| Konkani | किल्ल्याचो राखणदार |
| Korean | 요새의 감시 |
| Kurdish | Nobedarên keleha (Kurmanji) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Чептин кароолчусу |
| Latvian | Citadeles aizsargs |
| Lithuanian | Apsaugos tarnybos citadelė |
| Luxembourgish | Garde vun der Zitadell |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Гарда на Цитаделата |
| Malagasy | Mpiambina ny ny toeram-Pamaharana |
| Malaysian | Pengawal Kubu Kota |
| Maltese | Gwardja taċ-Ċittadella |
| Marathi | किल्ल्याचा रक्षक |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Цайзын хамгаалагч |
| Nepalese | किल्ला को रक्षक |
| Norwegian | Vakt av Citadell |
| Pashto | د کلا ساتونکی |
| Persian | گارد قلعه |
| Polish | Strażnicy Cytadeli |
| Portuguese | Guarda da Cidadela |
| Punjabi | ਗੜ੍ਹ ਦਾ ਪਹਿਰੇਦਾਰ |
| Romanian | Garda citadelă |
| Romansh | Chastè ? |
| Russian | Стражи Цитадели |
| Scottish Gaelic | Geàrd de na Caisteal |
| Serbian | Гуард од Цитаделе (Cyrillic) Гарда od Citadele (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | බලකොටුවේ ආරක්ෂකයා |
| Slovak | Stráže z Citadela |
| Slovenian | Stražar Citadela |
| Spanish | Guardia de la Ciudadela |
| Swedish | Vakten av Citadell |
| Tamil | கோட்டையின் காவலர் |
| Telugu | కోట యొక్క గార్డు |
| Thai | ยามเนินปราสาท |
| Turkish | Muhafız Kale |
| Turkmen | Içki galada garawul |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Гвардія Цитадель |
| Urdu | قلعہ کا محافظ |
| Welsh | Gwarchodlu'r Caer |
| Yiddish | היטן פון די סיטאַדעל |