The Tower of Amon Sûl was a great watch-tower built upon the flattened hill-top of Weathertop Hill within the Weather Hills of Eriador.[1] The watch-tower overlooked the East-West Road in central Eriador, east of Bree, about halfway between the Shire and Rivendell.
As represented in The Atlas of Middle-earth, a path led from the watch-tower on Weathertop Hill northward to the other Weather Hills.[2]
History[]
The strategic importance of Weathertop Hill was recognized early on, as during the first days of the North Kingdom, the Dúnedain of Arnor slightly flattened its conical summit in order to build the Tower of Amon Sûl upon it. The Stone of Amon Sûl, the most powerful of Arnor's three palantíri was installed within the watch-tower. This palantír further enhanced Weathertop Hill's value, as it could be used for intelligence gathering and rapid communication with the King in Annúminas, or later in Fornost Erain. It is said that in SA 3431, Elendil and Gil-galad created their Last Alliance against Sauron on Weathertop Hill, though it is unknown if they were inside the watch-tower or outside the watch-tower when they did.[1]
The last alliance, by Abe Papakhian
In TA 861, after After King Eärendur passed away and Arnor was divided into Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur, the Tower of Amon Sûl upon Weathertop Hill was desired by all three of his sons due to the palantír within the watch-tower. Nonetheless, during this time, the Tower of Amon Sûl may have changed hands on several occasions.[3]
In the days of Argeleb I, the royal lines of Cardolan and Rhudaur had failed and Rhudaur was now largely ruled by Hill-men allied with the Witch-king of Angmar. As tensions with Rhudaur and Angmar increased, Argeleb fortified his border, particularly the Tower of Amon Sûl. By the latter part of the 14th century, the line of defence was held by Arthedain and Cardolan, though Argeleb lost his life in battle with the Hillmen. The Tower of Amon Sûl become the chief fortress on their fortified border with Rhudaur.[3]
In TA 1409, the forces of the Witch-king attacked Weathertop Hill, burned the watch-tower, and destroyed the fortifications on and around it. King Arveleg I was slain in the defense of the Tower of Amon Sûl[3] alongside, or concurrent with, the last prince of Cardolan;[4] the remaining Dúnedain of Arthedain were able to secure and save the Stone of Amon Sûl before retreating to their capital, Fornost Erain.[3][5]
By the time of the Great War of the Ring many centuries later, only a ring of broken stonework remained of the Tower of Amon Sûl atop Weathertop Hill. The Bree-landers paid little heed to it, and it faded into obscurity.[1]
On October 3 of TA 3018,[6] Gandalf and Shadowfax were discreetly stalked by the Ringwraiths until the night of October 3, when he was attacked by six[7] or nine[8] of them, including the Witch King, inside the Tower of Amon Sûl. Gandalf left a message on a cairn while putting up a fiery battle against them. Frodo Baggins and Aragorn saw a glimpse of the lights of that battle from their camp in the Midgewater Marshes.[9] The Witch King, Khamûl, and three others remained, watching the watch-tower and waiting for the Ring Bearer to come for two days thereafter.[10] On October 6, Aragorn, Frodo, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took arrived at the Tower of Amon Sûl from the north, discovering the cairn with the message. They made camp in a dell below the watch-tower, and that evening, Aragorn sang to the hobbits of the tale of Tinúviel. At dusk, the five Ringwraiths who had been awaiting the Ring-bearer ascended Weathertop Hill to attack them. During the skirmish below the watch-tower, Frodo received his everlasting wound from the Morgul-knife of the Witch-king.[1] As Frodo suffered from the spell of the wound, they rode hastily away from Weathertop Hill the next day, but were soon pursued again by the Nazgûl. After fourteen days, they reached and crossed the Ford of Bruinen with Glorfindel, and were free of the Ringwraiths' pursuit.[11]
Adaptations[]
The Tower of Amon Sûl in the evening, within the film
In The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)[]
In The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn and the hobbits do not actually enter the ruins of the Tower of Amon Sûl. However, moments before the attack of the Ringwraiths, a tall tower can be seen in the background, possibly being the Tower of Amon Sûl itself, though Weathertop Hill is nowhere to be seen neither below nor around it.
In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy[]
The Tower of Amon Sûl upon Weathertop Hill is a place of action in Peter Jackson's 2001 film The Fellowship of the Ring. The ruins and the path to them are simplified from their description in the book. When Aragorn and the four hobbits arrive, they make camp below the top of the hill, and Aragorn gives them a few daggers and swords, before he leaves to scout the surroundings. After nightfall, the hobbits cook food at a campfire. The fire alerts the Ringwraiths to their presence, who soon ascend the hill and attack the helpless hobbits amid the ruins at the summit rather than the dell below. The Witch-king stabs Frodo with his Morgul-knife, immediately before Aragorn returns and drives the Ringwraiths away with a torch.
In The Hobbit film trilogy[]
In the film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey the ruins of the Tower of Amon Sûl appears briefly as a meeting place for Yazneg, Fimbul, Azog and his Warg-riding hunters.
Filming location[]
The Tower of Amon Sûl was filmed upon a hill in a large farm near Port Waikato, in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The surrounding area has many limestone cliffs and boulders, some of which contain fossils.
The Tower of Amon Sûl as it appears in The Lord of the Rings Online
In The Lord of the Rings Online[]
The Tower of Amon Sûl is a playable location in The Lord of the Rings Online, portrayed as a significant ruin of the Lone-lands region.
Gallery[]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Weertop |
| Basque | Haizeen tontorra |
| Catalan | Pica del Vent |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 風雲頂 |
| Croatian | Vjetrovrh |
| Czech | Větrov |
| Danish | Vindhøj |
| Dutch | Weertop |
| Esperanto | Veterverto |
| Finnish | Viimapää |
| French | Mont Venteux |
| Georgian | ვეზერტოპი ? (Weathertop) ამონ სული (Amon Sûl) |
| German | Wetterspitze |
| Hebrew | פסגת הרוחות |
| Hindi | मौसम का शीर्ष |
| Hungarian | Széltető |
| Italian | Colle Vento |
| Marathi | हवामानशाळा |
| Nepalese | मौसम शीर्ष |
| Norwegian | Værhø
Blåstertopp |
| Persian | ودرتاپ |
| Polish | Wichrowy Czub |
| Portuguese | Monte do Vento (Portugal) Topo do Vento (Brazil) |
| Romanian | Țancul Vremii |
| Russian | Ваветрень, Заверть |
| Slovak | Vetristá |
| Spanish (Spain and Latin America) | Cima de los Vientos |
| Swedish | Väderklint |
| Thai | อะมอนซูล (Amon Sûl) |
| Turkish | Fırtınabaşı |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Вітровий пагорб |
|
Middle-earth Locations:
Provinces/Regions: Arnor | Dunland | Ettenmoors | Forochel | Forodwaith | Gondor | Harad | Ithilien | Khand | Lindon | Minhiriath | Mordor | Rhovanion | Rhûn | Rivendell | Rohan | The Shire Forests & Mountains: Amon Dîn | Amon Hen | Amon Lhaw | Caradhras | Emyn Muil | Erebor | Fangorn Forest | High Pass | Iron Hills | Lórien | Mirkwood | Mount Doom | Mount Gundabad | Old Forest | Orod-na-Thôn | Tower Hills | Weathertop Hill City/Fortifications: Angband | Barad-dûr | Bree | Caras Galadhon | Dol Guldur | Fornost Erain | Hornburg | Isengard | Khazad-dûm (Moria) | Minas Morgul | Minas Tirith | Last Homely House | Tower of Amon Sûl | Tower of Orthanc | Osgiliath | Umbar | Utumno Miscellaneous: Argonath | Astulat | Buckland | Cair Andros | Dagorlad | Dead Marshes | Enedwaith | Fords of Isen | Gap of Rohan | Grey Havens The rest of Arda:
Aman | Burnt Land of the Sun | Dark Land | Empty Lands | Neldoreth | New lands | Númenor | Tol Eressëa |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Ch. XI: "A Knife in the Dark"
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings, "Weathertop"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenórean Kings", "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, "Fog on the Barrow-downs", pp. 144-5; Index, "Cardolan, last prince of"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, The Third Age
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, The Third Age, The Great Years
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, "Flight to the Ford", pp. 187-9
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, "The Council of Elrond", pp. 251-3
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, "A Knife in the Dark", pp. 167-9
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, "A Knife in the Dark", p. 169
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Ch. XII: "Flight to the Ford"