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Emyn Arnen

Emyn Arnen was a cluster of hills in South Ithilien. The hills, being an outlier of the Ephel Dúath,[1] were situated south of Osgiliath, on the east bank of the Anduin.[2]

[edit] History

Old records preserved in Gondor indicate that Arnen was once used for the larger part of the region later known as Ithilien.[1]

Emyn Arnen was home to a family of Númenórean nobles, and from them came a Húrin of Emyn Arnen, who became steward to King Minardil of Gondor and later founded the line of the House of Húrin.[3]

After the events of the War of the Ring, Faramir son of Steward Denethor II became Prince of Ithilien, and made Emyn Arnen his home.[4]

[edit] Etymology

The name Emyn Arnen translates as "the hills of Arnen" (cf. emyn). One historian of Gondor claimed that Arnen was likely a word invented by the Númenórean settlers of Gondor, intended to resemble an Elvish tongue (but wrongly mixing Quenya ar- "beside" with Sindarin nen "water"). Other historians derived Arnen from an unattested pre-Númenórean word arn- ("rock"), although this was based on pure guessing.[1]

[edit] References

  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Unfinished index for The Lord of the Rings", in Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 512