TITLE: Lost and Forgotten

GENRE: Lord of the Rings

RATING: R

PAIRING: A/L

NOTES: "Arndor" is my own creation. You will not find it among Middle-Earths history, thus if you wish to understand the story you must read Chapter 1.

Feanor: Greatest of the Eldar in arts and lore, he created the Silimarilli.

Aragorn: Was 88 at the time of the War of the Ring and 207 when he died. For this reason I have excluded ages; thus you must assume that a 10-year old Aragorn would be the aged equivalent of a 5-year old boy (physically and mentally).

REFERENCES: Encyclopedia of Arda http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/

SETTING: Alternate Universe

SUMMERY: What if Isildur and Elrond broke company at odds and the Elves of Rivendell migrated east of the Misty Mountains, severing all contact with Man? What if Isildur had not been killed at the Disaster of Gladden Fields? What if after three thousand years, Elves became little more than fairytales whispered from the lips of Mother's and children?

DISCLAIMER: You know how it works.

CHAPTER I

"Myth is nourished by silence as well as by words."

Italo Calvino

PART 1

Time changes all things. It allows growth and maturity to transform even the most unattractive caterpillars into stunning butterflies. However, this impassive cycle of age continues regardless of life or death; for it also takes the most appealing flowers and withers them to mere dust.

Therefore, it is not surprising that time should take a tale of painful sadness and harrowing courage and warp it beyond truth and reason, until only legend remains. This legend becomes lost amidst the ravages of years and war, losing realism and gaining illusion. Here the tale becomes myth, a story of childhood dreams and fantasy.

Nevertheless, what is myth to some is gilded history to others.

Myths often grow like flora in an unkempt garden: the taller and thicker they become, the more tangled their stems, until one can hardly tell the desirable vegetation from the weeds. Yet deep within the soil, their roots remain the same. If one were to look hard enough, one might find the truth: for better or worse.

Thus, our tale begins, where myth's deceitful, clutching fingers reluctantly release their prey.

PART 2

Once, more than three thousand years ago, there were three separate realms. Arnor, which rested between the Misty Mountains and the Blue and Gondor, which lay between Mordor and the Great Sea were both created by Elendil. Between these two great kingdoms stood Edenwaith, where the secretive Druedain made their home

In the second year of the third age, with the deaths of Elendil and Anarion during the War of the Last Alliance, Isildur became the only remaining heir of Gondor and Arnor. Though the loss of life in Mordor was great, it was far outweighed by the treachery that followed. For when the battle weary troops marched from Barad-dur, the very ring cut from Sauron's hand was in their possession.

It was then that Elves and Man went their separate ways and the thread of events in Middle Earth diverged.

Although mourning the loss of his father and brother, Isildur returned to Gondor triumphant. After a year spent organizing the Southern Kingdom, he passed guardianship to his younger brother's only remaining child, Meneldil. However the new guardian was under serious scrutiny due to the mysterious disappearance of his three older siblings. Although, Isildur was wary of his nephew's cunning nature, he could find no evidence of wrongdoing.

Finally, Isildur and his three eldest sons left for Arnor, the Northern Kingdom. Only a few months into their journey, two of Isildur's sons were killed when Orcs ambushed them west of the Anduin in Gladden Fields. Fortunately - or perhaps not so fortunate considering later events - the One Ring was lost when Isildur's hand and the chain about his neck were separated from his body.

Upon his return to Arnor, Isildur discovered his Kingdom in chaos and his wife in mourning. It seemed that Meneldil; sure that everyone had died in the attack; had informed all of Isildur's death and declared himself King of Gondor.

In III 35, after finally regaining control of the Northern Kingdom, Isildur and his elder remaining son, Aratan, set out to reclaim Gondor with an army at their back. The war produced years of strife and torment eventually resulting in the death of Meneldil. At which time, Meneldil's son, Cemendur took control of Gondor. The Southern Kingdom was wrestled from his grasp less than a year later. This seeming victory had its cost, as all things do; alas, Isildur lost a third son in the final battle.

In the final days of his reign, rather than see another war erupt, Isildur united the Southern and Northern Kingdoms under a single banner. Separating these two kingdoms, lay a barbarous wasteland known as Edenwaith. The three territories combined became known as Arndor. The new monarchy stretched from the Ettenmoors in the north all the way down the western coast of Middle-Earth to the Harnen River in the south. Seventy-four years into the third age, Valandil, Isildur's youngest and only remaining son became Arndor's first king.

Due to its immense size, Arndor was eventually split into nine districts: Arthedain, Rhudaur, Cardolan, Minhiraith, Ened, Anorien, Anfalas, Lamedon, and Lebennin. A steward oversaw each province. Dubbed Lords, these stewards held hereditary positions much like the King. They made up the Council of Nine, which governed the nine provinces by enforcing the King's Laws.

In III 1300, the first signs of the return of the Dark Lord, Sauron, to Middle-Earth were observed as mere coincidence. Carn Dumi became occupied as the stronghold for the northern Kingdom of Angmar. The Witch-King, otherwise known as the Lord of Nazgul, was the mightiest of Sauron's Nine Servants. A thousand years later he would be responsible for the near destruction of the northern half of Arndor. Khazad-dumii, the greatest and most ancient Dwarven city, collapsed beneath the mighty force of an awakened Balrog. The fire spirit, later called Durin's Bane, was too powerful for the Dwarves to control. The survivors fled the Misty Mountains and split into two groups: half made their home in the western peaks of Ered Nimraisiii, while the rest crossed into the East.

The Kingdom remained whole until the Witch-King of Angmar's attacked in III 1409. His forces advanced beyond Fornost and eventually claimed the majority of Arthedain. At that time, the recently formed Dwarven city of Ered-dum replaced Arthedain as the ninth province of Arndor. Although the Province of Arthedain was later reclaimed from the Lord of Nazgul's clutches, Arndor was never again the same. Renamed Eriador, Arthedain was given to a little known people called Hobbits in III 1601. Thereafter, it ceased to be of any concern to Isildur's heirs and was soon forgotten.

Even though Middle-Earth extended beyond the Misty Mountains and the Anduin River, they became mankind's borders. For beyond these natural boundaries, abnormal creatures were said to roam the untamed lands. No one had ever refuted this claim because no Man had ever returned from whence they crossed.



i Carn Dum: northern tip of the Misty Mountains

ii Khazad-dum: Moria

iii Ered Nimrais: a mountain range in northern Gondor