Landmark:Weathertop

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Landmark: Weathertop

Long ago, the first King of Arnor, Elendil, built the tower Amon Sûl in the center of his Kingdom, amid the Weather Hills. Its purpose was to house a palantír – one of the seven "seeing stones" through which Elendil, his heirs, and his liegemen could communicate with each other and watch over both the North and South Kingdoms.

In time, when Arnor broke apart into the three Kingdoms of Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur, the sundered realms fractured around this tower, and their leaders often debated over ownership of the Weather Hills. All three Kingdoms desired control of the palantír, but eventually the lines of the Dúnedain in Cardolan and Rhudaur began to fail and Rhudaur fell beneath the sway of the Witch-realm of Angmar. During Angmar's first assault on Arthedain, the watchtower was razed to the ground; however, perhaps in preparation for such a day, the palantír had long been removed.

In latter days, Weathertop, as Amon Sûl was then known, became host to two momentous events. First, as Gandalf the Grey traveled from Bree to Rivendell, he did battle with several Nazgûl and was then pursued from there through the Trollshaws, though not before he left a sign upon a stone to be found two days later, when the Ranger Strider and four hobbits encamped there. The remaining Nazgûl assailed Strider and his companions, and Frodo Baggins was stabbed by the Witch-king of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgûl, after he put on the One Ring.

In The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, players will learn of a great champion of Angmar, who was defeated and presumed slain at the final battle at Amon Sûl. They will also discover that, after the passing of Strider and his hobbit companions, Weathertop has become the refuge for a band of Orcs scouting the Lonelands and Bree-land . . . a foreshadowing of evils to come. Weathertop is only one of many popular landmarks from  The Lord of the Rings  to be revisited in LOTRO.

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[edit] Weathertop

[edit] Quick Facts

Timeline:
Dates: A Tower was built here in c. II 33201, it was overrun and destroyed in III 1409
(These are the dates shown on the timeline above)
Location: East of Bree, at the southern end of the Weather Hills
Other Names: Amon Sûl

[edit] Chief of the Weather Hills

The name among Men for Amon Sûl, the southernmost of the Weather Hills in Eriador, on which had stood the Tower of Amon Sûl during the early Third Age.

[edit] Footnotes

1 Most of the fortifications on the Weather Hills dated from the time of Argeleb I (III 1349 - III 1356) and only stood for a few decades before they were thrown down by the forces of Angmar. The Tower of Amon Sûl on Weathertop, though, was much older, and had held one of the palantíri of the North-kingdom since the days of Arnor's foundation.


 


Weathertop
Region: The Lone-lands
Area: The Weather Hills
Click for a full view of Weathertop
Click for a full view of Weathertop

The ruined hill-fortress of Weathertop stands high and alone over the Lone-lands. Its top is marked with the signs of battles both ancient and recent, and its base is encircled by fell camps of orcs and their kin, the most notable of which are at Weatherfoot and Glumhallow. There are two means of accessing its heights. The first is by a long, slow approach of spirals and switchbacks. The second is a steep, treacherous climb up the northwest of the hill, but that route is difficult to find. Both are watched by the large, rough birds known as crebain.

To the north and west, the ruined fortifications of Arnor now house orcs and half-orcs, and the half-breeds have also inhabited the ruins of Naerost, to the east. A lone, ramshackle, refuge known as the Forsaken Inn lies to the southwest, along the Great East Road.

Despite the dangers, Weathertop still has its uses. The vantage is unparalleled, and is such is still sought by the Rangers of the North. One of these, known as Candaith, can be found in a sheltered dell slightly northwest of the base of the hill. The summit is the only known location that mountain basil grows in the wild.

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This page was last modified 13:52, 12 August 2008.