A Tale of the Northern Kingdom

From the Chronicles of History of the Kingdom, written down by Faramir, son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor, according to the words of Mithrandir, Elrond Peredhil and King Aragorn Elessar.

For the tale of the Ring until its disappearance, see Section VI, Founding of Eregion and the Rings of Power; and Section XXIV, King Isildur and the Battle of Dagorlad.

Section XLVIII, The Destruction of the Ring and the reunification of the Northern Kingdom

It happened in the year 2941, during the rule of Steward Ecthelion II Son of Turgon of Gondor, that the One Ring did indeed reveal itself once again in answer to its Master's call, coming out from under the mountain where it had dwelt for 500 years. And from the start Mithrandir became curious, finding Bilbo the Hobbit's story suspicious. So he shared his suspicions with Elrond, who was wise among his kin, and Elrond agreed with him that this matter needed to be looked into.

Mithrandir then travelled to Gondor where he sought out old documents stored in the archives of Minas Tirith, for if there was any information at all about the Ring, it was bound to be there, in the seat of King Isildur of old, who had possessed the Ring and refused to destroy it. Mithrandir returned to the North with grave tidings - that indeed there was a distinct possibility that Bilbo's ring was, in fact, the One Ring. He did not trust Saruman entirely, after the White Wizard had overruled the attack on Dol Guldur, so he did not bring the matter to the White Council, but instead travelled around, seeking more information. He was fortunate in that a few years afterwards some Elves brought words from their travels of a creature who was looking for a ring that "the Baggins had stolen". Elrond immediately sent out his warriors, and soon the creature Gollum was brought in for questioning, and the whole picture became clearer to the Wizard and the Elf Lord.

The matters were made more grave by the fact that Sauron had by then fled to Mordor, and had been known to send his servants to search the Great River near Gladden Fields - he had actively begun to call the Ring back to him.

Elrond sent his trusted lieutenant Glorfindel to bring Bilbo to Rivendell. Seeing as this was not really an invitation, but rather a summons, Bilbo obeyed; but when Elrond and Mithrandir asked him to surrender his ring, he baulked, saying he had not brought it with him. However, Mithrandir knew his old friend well; he knew Bilbo always kept the Ring with him, as a means to escape unwanted company. And he also knew more of the Ring now; he knew that to be able to leave the Ring behind would have been a very, very extraordinary feat, something that might have been beyond even the greatest of heroes. In the end, Bilbo had to admit that he indeed had it with him, wondering what had made him lie to an old friend in the first place. Mithrandir only smiled sadly and said, "Come, and all shall be explained to you."

So Mithrandir and Elrond sat Bilbo down behind a table and explained to him what it was that he had in his possession; and indeed, Bilbo was much frightened; and when they heated the ring, and letters appeared on it, Bilbo dropped it from his hand, exclaiming: "Oh I wish I had never found it!" In the end did the unthinkable - he left Rivendell, leaving the Ring behind.

Now, there was a young mortal raised in Lord Elrond's household, known by the name Estel. Young Estel was deeply in love with the beautiful Arwen daughter of Lord Elrond, a fact which Elrond did not like. So he asked whether Estel would take it onto himself to destroy the Ring, which could only be accomplished in the fires of Orodruin; and for the love of Lady Arwen, Estel agreed.

He undertook a perilous journey to the land of Mordor, where Sauron had meanwhile declared himself openly and begun to rebuild Barad-dûr. Finally he stood before the great chasm of fire, and doubt seized him. He thought of how he could give the Ring to the lady Arwen, in token of his love, and she would be bound to him forever, and her father Elrond would not be able to forbid it; he closed his eyes and saw a vision of himself offering the Ring to Arwen. And the lady Arwen, in his vision, laughed and said that surely, he was joking. Twice more he offered the Ring to the lady, asking for her love in return, and finally she accepted him and they were powerful and happy together, ruling over both Men and Elves.

Coming back to himself, Estel was shocked at himself. He would never, ever offer her anything that bore even the slightest taint, for in his eyes she was a vision of purity. So determined that he would rather live without his love than dishonour her, he tossed the Ring into the Fire; and in the end it was only suitable that the error of Isildur was to be undone by his heir.

Estel himself almost perished in this, because the moment when the Ring was destroyed, Orodruin erupted in fires and the lands were shaken in a powerful earthquake that swallowed the very foundations of Barad-dûr. Estel was perched on a rock where he waited, without food or water, for a week until he was found by the Lord of Eagles and rescued. It took all the healing skills of Lord Elrond and Mithrandir to bring him back to life, but in the end Estel was healed.

Then Lord Elrond revealed to Estel his true heritage, that he was in fact Aragorn, son of Arathorn, heir of Isildur. Aragorn's deed was much acclaimed in all Elven realms of Eriador, and the remnants of Aragorn's own people, the Dunedain of the North, flocked to their newly found leader.

An age of prosperity and rebuilding began in the Northern Kingdom. Many towns were rebuilt, among them Fornost Erain and Tharbad, and Eregion was cleansed and resettled by a group of Elves from Imladris and Mithlond. Saruman the White's one-time desire for the One Ring was revealed, and he left Middle Earth and journeyed back home; his tower in Isengard was reclaimed by the Dunedain.

The Dunedain and other Men of the North repeatedly approached Aragorn with a plea to restore the Kingdom of the North; but Aragorn hesitated. He had not known of his heritage when growing up, and had no wish to rule as a king. Instead, he left his people in the hands of trusted friends and kinsmen, among whom Lord Elrond of Imladris was not the least, and disappeared into the Wild for long years. Later it was revealed that he had served in Rohan and even in Gondor, under an assumed name.

However, returning to his people, he could no longer deny them, and he was crowned king of Arthedain and Rhudaur; and later, when the wild Dunlendings were subdued and Dunland also brought under the King's Peace, Cardolan also joined the two other realms, and the kingdom of Arnor was unified once again. Aragorn named himself Heir of Elendil, instead of Isildur, because he wanted to disassociate himself from one who had brought peril upon Middle-Earth; and in him, through Firiel daughter of Ondoher of Gondor, the bloodlines of the North and South were reunited.

Elrond indeed could not refuse his ward the hand of his daughter; but it was Arwen who had doubts. She was much older than Aragorn, and had seen many of his forefathers expend their first puppy love on her, and thought Aragorn's love would pass similarly. However, as years passed and Aragorn was still as ardent as when they had first met, Arwen had a change of heart. So, after returning from the Southern lands, Aragorn proposed to her once more (for the fifth time) and soon after Aragorn's coronation, they were wed.

Many guests came to the wedding, including Bilbo Baggins of the Shire. Bilbo brought with him a young kinsman, one Frodo Baggins, who was but a little over ten summers old; both Aragorn and Arwen liked the youngster very much for his lively spirit.

Among the guests was also the heir of the Steward of Gondor (for the Steward himself could not leave his realm). Denethor was much embittered by Aragorn's perceived cheating, and when Aragorn invited Gondor to the reunified Kingdom of Elendil, he was rejected.