The Tombs of Evendim

My apologies for the long time since my last post; my pesky profession outside Middle Earth got the better of me for a while.  I like it much better here!

My Captain, Leeowyn, has been finishing quests and deeds in Evendim.  I really enjoy playing in that area, particularly since the update last year.  Admittedly it helps to get things done in Annúminas if you are 75!  It allows plenty of opportunity to linger and take in the sights.

Just outside of Annúminas is Men Erain, the "Way of the Kings," where the tombs of many of the Kings of Arnor can be found.  The deed, "The Tombs of Evendim," will take you here to explore the location of each tomb.  LOTRO has it right, these were indeed the rulers of Arnor, but let's look a bit more at the history of each king of who lies here, as well as those who do not.

Names with Bold/Underline are part of the Tombs of Evendim exploration deed (+1 Fidelity and 5 Turbine  Points!). The dates reflect the start and end of rule for each king.  The description for some of the kings indicate a "premature death," which is defined in Appendix A as follows:  "premature death, in battle or otherwise, though an annal of the event is not always included."

Haudh Elendil

1. Elendil - 3320-3441 Second Age (premature death).  Elendil was born in 3119 of the Second Age, in Númenor.  His father was named Valandil, and was the chief of the party of Elf-friends.  After the fall of Númenor in 3319, Elendil established the "realms in exile" in Middle Earth - Arnor in the north, with the ruling seat located at Annúminas, and Gondor in the South, with the ruling seat at Osgiliath.  His rule lasted over 100 years, until the time of the Last Alliance.  What many do not realize is the Siege of Barad-dûr took 7 long years, starting in 3434 and ending with the overthrow of Sauron in 3441.  Both Elendil and Gil-galad were slain.  Elendil's remains were never brought back north to Annúminas. Instead he was buried secretly in a spot known to the Rohirrim as Halifirien, and in Sindarin as Amon Anwar - a beacon hill in the White Mountains in Gondor, which at that time was the center of the kingdom of Gondor.  When Rohan was granted to Eorl in 2510 of the Third Age, the remains of Elendil were then reinterred in the Hallows of Minas Tirith.  Hence the Tomb that gives us an incredible 6-man instance around level 40, was always an empty one.  Doesn't matter, do the instance anyway!  It is one of the longest quest chains in the game, with a LOT of running back and forth, but well worth it in the end.  You will be doing a great service to Aragorn, Heir of Elendil, if you do!



2. Isildur - 3441 Second Age-2 Third Age (premature death).  Isildur was the eldest son of Elendil, and like his father, was born in Númenor before it fell.  His brother was Anárion, and after their exile to the west of Middle Earth, the brothers were given rule of Gondor by their father.  It was Isildur who planted a seed from the White Tree of Avallon in Minas Ithil (the Tower of the Moon), which later became known as Minas Morgul after Minas Ithil was conquered by Sauron in 3429 of the Second Age.  Isildur and his family escaped and fled north to Elendil, bearing a seedling of the White Tree that he had planted in Minas Ithil.  After the overthrow of Sauron in 3441, and the death of his brother Anárion the year before, Isildur gives Gondor to Anárion's son Meneldil, and replants this last seedling of the White Tree in Minas Anor (Tower of the Setting Sun, renamed Minas Tirith).  Intending to return north to assume the rule of Arnor, Isildur and his three oldest sons are slain by orcs in the Gladden Fields, and the Ring is lost.  Before being overrun, Isildur commanded one of his squires, Ohtar, to flee with the shards of Narsil to Rivendell so the heirlooms of the house of Elendil would survive.

But hold on - if you search Annúminas, you will eventually discover - there is no tomb for Isildur. He is the only one of the Kings of Arnor who has no tomb here in LOTRO.  Why is this?  Elendil got one - and a nice big one, too - even though his remains were never brought here.  Possibly because the remains of Isildur were never recovered?  Possibly because his heirs were extremely cheezed about him losing the One Ring?  Your guess here is as good as mine!

 

Haudh Valandil

3. Valandil - 10-249 Third Age - Valandil was born in year 3430 of the Second Age in Imladris, the fourth and youngest son of Isildur.  His father and three older brothers were killed in the Gladden Fields when Valandil was 11 years of age.  He did not, however, assume the kingship until the year 10 of the Third Age (his father died in either Year 1 or Year 2; The Peoples of Middle Earth vs. Appendix A of the Lord of the Rings give contradictory dates).  After his death in 249 of the Third Age, Valandil was buried in Annúminas.  His tomb is actually in the center of the city, instead of being out east of town in Men Erain.  I do not know the reason for this - possibly the dwindling people of Annúminas were happy to finally have the physical remains of a king to bury?  It is a lavish tomb, and also the setting of what is an extremely challenging instance for level 50 characters.  His history of losing his father and brothers at such a young age may make you feel a bit guilty that, due to some nasty sorcerers who bring him back from the dead as a Wight, you have to go smack him down in this instance.  I'm sure he would have wanted it that way.


4. Eldacar - 249-339 Third Age

5. Arantar - 339-435 Third Age

6. Tarcil - 435-515 Third Age

7. Tarondor - 515-602 Third Age

Haudh Valandur

8. Valandur - 602-652 Third Age (premature death) - Like several of his predecessors, we know virtually nothing about Valandur, except that he was slain at the relatively young age of 190, after ruling Arnor for only 50 years.  Players who had been around both before and after the Evendim revamp know that the tomb of this short-reigning king was turned into kergrim central.  Two quests take us into the tomb to kill a number of kergrim and to recover what would have been Valandur's sceptre from the chief kergrim, Bone Eater.  It is also a wonderful place to grind out the kergrim slayer deeds in Evendim, due to the very fast respawn rate - by the time you get to the bottom and kill the last kergrim, the first ones are ready to pop right back up.

9. Elendur - 652-777 Third Age

Haudh Eärendur

10. Eärendur - 777-861   Eärendur has the dubious distinction to be the last king of Arnor.   Upon his death Arnor was divided into the three smaller independent kingdoms of Arthedain, Rhudaur, and Cardolan, which I have discussed in other articles elsewhere.

What strikes me is how much smaller and considerably less lavish the tombs of the later kings became.  Possibly that may be due in part to them not taking part in such great deeds as their earlier sires.  But it more likely reflects that even as soon as the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, the Men of Westernesse began to dwindle, as stated by Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring.  Eventually the heirs of Valandil abandoned Annúminas and shifted the ruling seat to Fornost, leaving behind a glorious city that would fall into ruin.



Sources:  The Fellowship of the Ring, Appendix A, The Lord of the Rings; The History of Middle Earth (Volume XII:  The Peoples of Middle Earth, The Heirs of Elendil); Unfinished Tales

The Origin of Golf in Middle Earth

At this point in time, the only formal hobby available to us in LOTRO is fishing.  Yet Turbine still manages to give a nod to a lesser-known Hobbit hobby - golf.

According to The Hobbit as well as the timeline from Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings, goblins from Mount Gram invaded The Shire in year 2747 of the Third Age.  The Hobbit defense in the Battle of the Green Fields was led by Bandobras "Bullroarer" Took, the great-grand-uncle of the Old Took, whose name is also found in the place Bullroarer's Sward.

An uncommonly large and brave Hobbit (he was a Took, after all), he charged into the midst of the goblins and, swinging his wooden club, knocked the head off their leader, Golfimbul.  The head went flying and landed in a rabbit hole, and so was born the game of golf.  Oh yes, and the battle was won, as well!  No bogey on the bogey.


If you visit the town of Brockenborings in the northern part of The Shire, you'll see a large statue commemorating the Bullroarer's mighty backswing.

In a series of quests that begin in nearby Scary, you can end up finding what appears to be a goblin tooth in one of the many rabbit holes dotting the Green Fields north of town.  You may even go deep into the Quarry cave, braving the many spiders, and find the remains of Golfimbul's skull.  And in a later quest, your assistance is required to help get back the stolen club that the Bullroarer used.

Those players who are able to go on to Enedwaith will also find a chance to experience a little golf yourselves as emotes that can be obtained from the Grey Company - drive, putt, and chipp.  So next time you take a swing, remember Golfimbul's head flying and go for the hole in one!

Dwaling and a Lost Lead Dog

In my prior post on the Bird and Baby Inn, I talked about the group of Hobbits who congregate in the back room, deep in literary discussion.  One very important Hobbit is missing, where in Middle Earth can he be?

If one takes a stable point from Michel Delving, over to Hobbiton, up through Overhill to Brockenborings, and then north to Oatbarton, you'll eventually discover a small village north of Oatbarton that has been overrun by brigands of the worst kind.  Dwaling was once a snug, peaceful little town inhabited by artisan glass blowers.  Recently much of the property in Dwaling was purchased by some mysterious Hobbit from the Westfarthing, who then sold it to some Big Folk, who subsequently turned out to be ruffians working for the equally mysterious "Sharkey" (or Sharku, as the half-orc properly calls him) and quite rude, to boot.  And the Hobbit who sold all the property in Dwaling to this band of no-gooders?  That naughty Lotho Sackville-Baggins.  No surprises there, eh?

The remaining residents of Dwaling have turned to a local Hobbit of respect who apparently has some good writing skills, Mr. Ronald Dwale, to help them draft a letter to the chief ruffian in Dwaling.  Mr. Dwale is none other than LOTRO's doppelganger of Professor Tolkien himself. A number of biographical sources state that his family called him "Ronald."

Your first meeting with Mr. Dwale may actually be to assist him in a quest to find a toy that his young son recently lost (Lost Dog).  Turbine has again wonderfully integrated an event from Professor Tolkien's life into the story line here.  In 1925, the Tolkien family went on a holiday to the Yorkshire coast, where one of his young sons lost a favorite toy lead dog.  Professor Tolkien created a short story about the lost toy dog, which was submitted for publication a decade later after The Hobbit had been accepted, yet was never published until many years later and after his death.  You may read more about Roverandom and the story of the little toy lead dog at Tolkien-Online.  In the world of LOTRO's Middle Earth, however, the destiny of the toy dog is a bit nastier - it appears to have been eaten by one of the Sand Nerbyg from the dunes of the Barandalf!  Washing it off in the Brandywine before returning it to Mr. Dwale might be a considerate thing to do.

Turbine gives us two additional chances to help the good Mr. Dwale.  He seems to have lost a page from his notes that contained the first lines of a story he has been working on.  Possibly one of the most important pieces of Hobbit literature - don't just stand there, go help him!  Although just imagine where we would all be if he hadn't chosen to edit that first line....

After you have assisted him, Mr. Dwale decides he had better take advantage of the flowing creative juices (and I'm sure we would all thank him for that) and skip meeting with his friends - none other than the group at the Bird and Baby Inn in Michel Delving. They are naturally a bit disappointed, and a couple of them had hoped to read from some of their own works.  But they are ultimately understanding friends in the end.

Jack Lewisdown expressing his disappointment.

A wonderful reward for assisting Mr. Dwale is a pipe that matches his own, and which emits a very pretty smoke shape!

Unfortunately you can only smoke his pipe once every hour; probably a good thing, as these Hobbits seem to be cloaked in smoke half the time - can't be healthy at all.
  
You may encounter Mr. Dwale twice more in your journeys through Middle Earth - he shows his linguistic skills during one of the chapters for the In Their Absence quest group.

Those lucky enough to be invited backstage at the G.L.O.B.E. theatre in Frostbluff may also catch a glimpse of him hurriedly finishing a play.

Leeowyn enjoying a smoke with Mr. Dwale.