Weathertop

Weathertop

In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Weathertop (Sindarin Amon Sûl, "Hill of Wind") is a significant hill in the Eriador region of Middle-earth, the southernmost and highest summit of the Weather Hills.

Literature

Weathertop overlooks the Great East Road east of Bree, about midway between the Shire and Rivendell. The hill rises a thousand feet above the level lands round about, and was the site of a watchtower in the days of Arnor. The watchtower and fortifications were burned and destroyed in ME-date|TA|1409, but the top is still flat and surrounded by a ring of stones. A path leads from the top northward, connecting to the other fortresses of the Weather Hills. The tower originally held one of the seven "palantíri".

Weathertop is not mentioned in "The Hobbit", but is a scene of action in "The Lord of the Rings". After fleeing from Bree, Strider and the hobbits avoid the main road and approach Weathertop from the north. At the top they discover a cairn with a message from Gandalf, and see the Ringwraiths approaching in the distance along the road. That night, the Ringwraiths attack their camp in a dell below the summit, stabbing Frodo with a Morgul-blade, but are then driven off by the others.

Tower of Amon Sûl

The Tower of Amon Sûl is a watch-tower on Weathertop hill. It was once tall and fair, but by the end of the Third Age only ruins remained.The Tower of Amon Sûl was built in the first days of the North-kingdom of Arnor, which was founded in 3320 of the Second Age. At that time, the seven "palantíri" were divided and placed in different parts of Gondor and Arnor. The largest and most powerful "palantír" in the North was kept in the Tower of Amon Sûl. The Stone of Amon Sûl was the chief "palantír" used for communicating with Gondor. The "palantír" was kept on a round table of black marble with a curved depression in the surface where the seeing-stone was set.

It was said that Elendil watched from the Tower of Amon Sûl for the arrival of Gil-galad before the Last Alliance set out to wage war against Sauron.

When Arnor was divided into three kingdoms in 861 of the Third Age, the Tower of Amon Sûl was claimed by Arthedain and commanded the east road into Rhudaur from Cardolan. Also a special warden was posted there to guard and maintain the "palantír". But Cardolan and Rhudaur also wanted possession of the Tower and its seeing-stone and there was strife among the three kingdoms.

In 1356, King Argeleb I of Arthedain was slain defending the Weather Hills against an assault from Rhudaur, which was then ruled by an evil lord of the Hillmen who had secretly joined forces with the Witch-king of Angmar. Arveleg, son of Argeleb, drove back the invaders and defended the Weather Hills for many years. But in 1409, Weathertop was surrounded by a great host from Angmar. Arveleg was killed and the Tower of Amon Sûl was burned and razed. The stone ( Palantir) of Amon Sûl was rescued by the forces of Arthedain, but it was later lost at sea.

Over time the ring of stones that had once been the foundation of the Tower of Amon Sûl crumbled and became overgrown with grass. When Gandalf came to Weathertop on October 3, 3018, he was besieged by the Nine Ringwraiths in the ruins. There was a great battle on the hilltop, and when he escaped Gandalf left a cairn of broken and burned stones in the centre of the ruins. Gandalf marked the topmost stone with the G rune and three strokes to indicate that he had been there on October 3. Aragorn interpreted the message when he came with the Hobbits to Weathertop on October 6. Later that night in a dell on the western side of Weathertop, five Ringwraiths attacked and Frodo Baggins was gravely wounded by the Witch-king before the Ringwraiths withdrew and Aragorn led the Hobbits away.

Adaptations

Weathertop and the Tower of Amon Sûl (named or unnamed) appear in film adaptations of "The Lord of the Rings" such as Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film and Peter Jackson's 2001-2003 The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

References

*"The Fellowship of the Ring" — "A Knife in the Dark", "The Council of Elrond"
*"The Two Towers" "The Palantír,"
*Appendix A of "The Lord of the Rings", "The North-kingdom and the Dúnedain"
*"Unfinished Tales", "The Palantíri"
* "Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings"
* "The Atlas of Middle-earth", which has a detailed map of the hill
* "The Complete Tolkien Cmpanion" " Amon Sul" or "Weathertop"


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Weathertop Mountain Inn — (Waitsfield,США) Категория отеля: 3 звездочный отель Адрес: 755 Mill Brook R …   Каталог отелей

  • Weathertop —    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 …   J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth glossary

  • Kings of Arnor — This is a list of Kings of Arnor from J. R. R. Tolkien s Middle earth legendarium.High Kings of ArnorThe Kings of Arnor through Amandil claimed descent from the Lords of Andúnië, and from there to Silmariën and the Kings of Númenor. Elendil and… …   Wikipedia

  • Timeline of Arda — The History of Arda Music of the Ainur …   Wikipedia

  • List of kings of Arnor — The Heirs of Isildur Part of J. R. R. Tolkien s legendarium Sons of Isildur Elendur · Aratan · Ciryon High Kings of Arnor Valandil · Eldacar · Arantar …   Wikipedia

  • Arnor — Place from J. R. R. Tolkien s legendarium Other names North kingdom Description Northern Númenórean realm in exile Location Northwest of Middle earth Lifespan Founded S.A. 3320 …   Wikipedia

  • Witch-king of Angmar — Unknown Tolkien s legendarium character Aliases Witch king of Angmar, Black Captain, Lord of the Nazgûl, Chieftain of the Ringwraiths Race Men Book(s) The Fel …   Wikipedia

  • Amon Sûl — Colina de El Señor de los Anillos Representación renderizada de Amon Sûl. Creador(es) J. R. R. Tolkien Información Nombre original Weathert …   Wikipedia Español

  • Weather Hills —    Hills of Eriador, of which Amon Sûl (Weathertop) was the southernmost.        The range of hills running north from Weathertop.    The name among Men for the north south range of hills that lay in central Eriador, and in ancient times marked… …   J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth glossary

  • Gandalf — For other uses of Gandalf , see Gandalf (disambiguation). Gandalf Tolkien s legendarium character Aliases Greyhame, Stormcrow, Olórin,[1] Incánus, Tharkûn, The Grey Pilgrim, Gandalf the Grey, Gandalf the White, Mithrandir …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”