Angmar
Encyclopedia
Angmar is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien
's continent of Middle-earth.
by the evil Lord of the Ringwraiths, who became known as the "Witch-king of Angmar
". Since the Witch-king was a servant of the Dark Lord Sauron
, it is presumed that Angmar's wars against the successor kingdoms of Arnor
were done at Sauron's bidding to destroy an important ally of Gondor
. It may also be presumed that wars against Arnor were an attempt to find the One Ring
, as Isildur
was going to Arnor to make the Ring an heirloom
of the kingdom when he was killed.
The capital of Angmar was Carn Dûm where a race of evil men
lived. Carn Dûm was established at an unknown date near Mount Gundabad.
Soon after Angmar was founded it waged war against the divided Dúnedain
realms of Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur. The Witch-king conquered Rhudaur, the weakest of Arnor's successor kingdoms, and replaced its Dúnedain king with one of the native Hillmen, a wild tribe of men possibly descended from the "accursed" kin of Ulfang.
Now under the Witch-king's control, Rhudaur in T.A. 1356 invaded Arthedain and in the attack, Arthedain King Argeleb I was slain. However, with the aid of the armies of Cardolan, Arthedain managed to maintain a line of defence along the Weather Hills.
In T.A. 1409 Angmar attacked Cardolan, destroying the kingdom. At this time, the Rhudaur disappeared, leaving Arthedain as the last remaining Dúnedain kingdom in Arnor. Arthedain, bereft of allies, struggled on for another 500 years. The end came in T.A. 1974 when Angmar amassed its forces and launched a final assault on Arthedain. Angmar took the Arthedain capital Fornost, thereby destroying the last kingdom of the Dúnedain in the North.
A year later, Prince Eärnur of Gondor arrived to aid Arthedain, but he was too late. His army, along with the remaining Dúnedain, the Elves of Lindon
, a company of hobbit
archers, and elven forces set out from Rivendell
led by Glorfindel
utterly defeated the forces of Angmar in the Battle of Fornost, but the Witch-king was not slain. He escaped and fled to Mordor
, and his kingdom of Angmar dissipated. It was after this battle that Glorfindel made the famous prophecy that the Witch-king would be killed by no man (He was in fact killed by a woman, Éowyn
of Rohan
, and a hobbit, Meriadoc Brandybuck
, during the Battle of Pelennor Fields; hence the prophecy was fulfilled, but not in the way anyone expected). The Witch-king had achieved his master's wishes: the power of the Dúnedain of the north was destroyed until the reign of King Elessar/Aragorn
in the Fourth Age
.
Following the victory, Angmar's forces west of the Misty Mountains were completely shattered and it ceased to exist. Meanwhile, the parts of it extending on the east of the Misty Mountains were wiped out by the ancestors of the Rohirrim.
At the end of the Third Age
, on their journey to Rivendell, Frodo Baggins
, Merry Brandybuck, Sam Gamgee, and Peregrin Took
were captured at the Barrow-downs. Upon rescue by Tom Bombadil
, Merry thought he had been captured by the men of Carn Dûm but then accepted this as a dream.
, the remains of Angmar consist of a mountainous, barren wasteland populated by hillmen and a large army of the Witch-king amassed to conquer Eriador. At the northern edge of Angmar are the ruins of Carn Dûm, which have been partially rebuilt and populated with the Witch-king's forces, overseen by Mordirith, the steward of Angmar. Players can venture into Angmar to perform quests and fight the creatures there, as well as entering several instanced dungeons.
In The Battle for Middle-earth II's expansion pack The Rise of the Witch-king the campaign tells the story of the Kingdom of Angmar and the fall of Arnor. Angmar is also added as a seventh faction to the game. A campaign for the Angmar faction was also created, showing the Witch King's Rise to Power and Conquest of Arnor.
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's continent of Middle-earth.
Synopsis
Angmar was founded in in the far north of the Misty MountainsMisty Mountains
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth, the Misty Mountains is a mountain range, running for 795 miles from north to south, between Eriador and the valley of the Great River, Anduin, and...
by the evil Lord of the Ringwraiths, who became known as the "Witch-king of Angmar
Witch-king of Angmar
The Witch-king of Angmar, also known as the Lord of the Nazgûl and the Black Captain among other names, is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. In Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, he is the chief of the Nazgûl , the chief servants...
". Since the Witch-king was a servant of the Dark Lord Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
, it is presumed that Angmar's wars against the successor kingdoms of Arnor
Arnor
Arnor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. Arnor, or the Northern Kingdom, was a kingdom of the Dúnedain in the land of Eriador in Middle-earth. The name probably means "Land of the King", from Sindarin Ara- + dor...
were done at Sauron's bidding to destroy an important ally of Gondor
Gondor
Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth by the end of the Third Age. The third volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, is concerned with the events in Gondor during the War of the Ring and with...
. It may also be presumed that wars against Arnor were an attempt to find the One Ring
One Ring
The One Ring is a fictional artifact that appears as the central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy novels. It is described in an earlier story, The Hobbit , as a magic ring of invisibility. The sequel The Lord of the Rings describes its powers as being more encompassing than...
, as Isildur
Isildur
Isildur is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in the author's books The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales....
was going to Arnor to make the Ring an heirloom
Heirloom
In popular usage, an heirloom is something, perhaps an antique or some kind of jewelry, that has been passed down for generations through family members....
of the kingdom when he was killed.
The capital of Angmar was Carn Dûm where a race of evil men
Man (Middle-earth)
The race of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth books, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, refers to humanity and does not denote gender...
lived. Carn Dûm was established at an unknown date near Mount Gundabad.
Soon after Angmar was founded it waged war against the divided Dúnedain
Dúnedain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Dúnedain were a race of Men descended from the Númenóreans who survived the sinking of their island kingdom and came to Eriador in Middle-earth, led by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion...
realms of Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur. The Witch-king conquered Rhudaur, the weakest of Arnor's successor kingdoms, and replaced its Dúnedain king with one of the native Hillmen, a wild tribe of men possibly descended from the "accursed" kin of Ulfang.
Now under the Witch-king's control, Rhudaur in T.A. 1356 invaded Arthedain and in the attack, Arthedain King Argeleb I was slain. However, with the aid of the armies of Cardolan, Arthedain managed to maintain a line of defence along the Weather Hills.
In T.A. 1409 Angmar attacked Cardolan, destroying the kingdom. At this time, the Rhudaur disappeared, leaving Arthedain as the last remaining Dúnedain kingdom in Arnor. Arthedain, bereft of allies, struggled on for another 500 years. The end came in T.A. 1974 when Angmar amassed its forces and launched a final assault on Arthedain. Angmar took the Arthedain capital Fornost, thereby destroying the last kingdom of the Dúnedain in the North.
A year later, Prince Eärnur of Gondor arrived to aid Arthedain, but he was too late. His army, along with the remaining Dúnedain, the Elves of Lindon
Lindon (Middle-earth)
Lindon is the land beyond the Ered Luin, the Blue Mountains, in the northwest of Middle-earth in the fictional universe of J. R. R. Tolkien. It is the westernmost land of the continent. The Gulf of Lune divides it into Forlindon and Harlindon...
, a company of hobbit
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
archers, and elven forces set out from Rivendell
Rivendell
Rivendell is an Elven outpost in Middle-earth, a fictional realm created by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was established and ruled by Elrond in the Second Age of Middle-earth...
led by Glorfindel
Glorfindel
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Glorfindel is a name used twice for an Elf appearing in the tales of Middle-earth. He is introduced in various material relating to the First Age of Middle-earth, including The Silmarillion. The second instance is for a character of The Lord of the Rings, which...
utterly defeated the forces of Angmar in the Battle of Fornost, but the Witch-king was not slain. He escaped and fled to Mordor
Mordor
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Mordor or Morhdorh was the dwelling place of Sauron, in the southeast of northwestern Middle-earth to the East of Anduin, the great river. Orodruin, a volcano in Mordor, was the destination of the Fellowship of the Ring in the quest to...
, and his kingdom of Angmar dissipated. It was after this battle that Glorfindel made the famous prophecy that the Witch-king would be killed by no man (He was in fact killed by a woman, Éowyn
Éowyn
Éowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who appears in his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. She is a noblewoman of Rohan who describes herself as a "shieldmaiden".-Literature:...
of Rohan
Rohan
Rohan is a realm in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy era of Middle-earth. It is a grassland which lies north of its ally Gondor and north-west of Mordor, the realm of Sauron, their enemy . It is inhabited by the Rohirrim, a people of herdsmen and farmers who are well-known for their horses and cavalry....
, and a hobbit, Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc Brandybuck, usually referred to as Merry, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured throughout his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings....
, during the Battle of Pelennor Fields; hence the prophecy was fulfilled, but not in the way anyone expected). The Witch-king had achieved his master's wishes: the power of the Dúnedain of the north was destroyed until the reign of King Elessar/Aragorn
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
in the Fourth Age
Fourth Age
In the fictional world of middle earth "'the fourth age'" and the ages that preceded it, are time periods from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth, described in his fantasy writings...
.
Following the victory, Angmar's forces west of the Misty Mountains were completely shattered and it ceased to exist. Meanwhile, the parts of it extending on the east of the Misty Mountains were wiped out by the ancestors of the Rohirrim.
At the end of the Third Age
Third Age
The Third Age is a time period from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. The history of Middle-earth is to be taken fictionally as a history of the real Earth....
, on their journey to Rivendell, Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
, Merry Brandybuck, Sam Gamgee, and Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took, more commonly known as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. Pippin is introduced as a Hobbit who plays a major role as one of the companions of Frodo Baggins, in his quest to destroy the One Ring.Peregrin was the only son of...
were captured at the Barrow-downs. Upon rescue by Tom Bombadil
Tom Bombadil
Tom Bombadil is a supporting character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in Tolkien's high fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings, published in 1954 and 1955. In the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo Baggins and company meet Bombadil in the Old Forest...
, Merry thought he had been captured by the men of Carn Dûm but then accepted this as a dream.
Adaptations
In The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of AngmarThe Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game for Microsoft Windows set in a fantasy universe based upon J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings...
, the remains of Angmar consist of a mountainous, barren wasteland populated by hillmen and a large army of the Witch-king amassed to conquer Eriador. At the northern edge of Angmar are the ruins of Carn Dûm, which have been partially rebuilt and populated with the Witch-king's forces, overseen by Mordirith, the steward of Angmar. Players can venture into Angmar to perform quests and fight the creatures there, as well as entering several instanced dungeons.
In The Battle for Middle-earth II's expansion pack The Rise of the Witch-king the campaign tells the story of the Kingdom of Angmar and the fall of Arnor. Angmar is also added as a seventh faction to the game. A campaign for the Angmar faction was also created, showing the Witch King's Rise to Power and Conquest of Arnor.