| Amrûnaur | |
|---|---|
 Amrûnaur | |
 Location of Amrûnaur in Dor-en-Ernil (MERP) | |
| Statistics | |
| Other names | Naur Amrûn, Flame of Sunrise |
| Type | Fortress |
| Location | Dor-en-Ernil, Gondor |
| Realm | Gondor |
| Capital | Minas Anor |
| Founded | ca. S.A. 3420 |
| Ruler | Kings of Gondor |
| Summary | Security for the pass through central Dor-en-Ernil |
| Inhabitants | Gondorians |
| Language(s) | Westron |
| Lifespan | survived into the Fourth Age |
- "The current name of this citadel is Amrûnaur, a form which exhibits the sort of corruption of the King's Sindarin that becomes all too common the farther one travels from Minas Tirith. The proper Sindarin form would of course be "Naur Amrûn", which is "Flame of Sunrise" in the Common Speech. We informed the Warden of the garrison of this, but he seemed wholly uninterested in having the name officially changed." -Findegil of Gondor
Amrûnaur in Third Age 1640-1650:
- Type: Mountain Fortress
- Inhabitants: 100% Gondorian
- Population: 180
- Origin: Established circa S.A. 3420 by Prince Edhelion
- Purpose: Security for the pass through central Dor-en-Ernil; control of the local Daen population
- Symbol: Prince's Device: A White Ship and Three White Stars on a Field of Deep Blue
History[]
Amrûnaur (S. "Flame of Sunrise") was the most important fortification in Belfalas after Dol Amroth itself, presiding as it did over Cirith Dudhrandir, the principal mountain pass joining eastern and western Gondor. Named for the eastern light of the rising sun that shone through the pass at dawn, Amrûnaur was founded by Edhelion of Dor-en-Ernil, the first Prince of Belfalas, in the year 3419 of the Second Age. Apart from guarding the strategic pass, the castle's purpose was to keep watch over the Daen Coentis of the Ered Tarthonion.
Although the King of the Mountains had sworn fealty to Isildur nearly a century earlier, the return of Sauron to Mordor led the Dúnedain to fear that the Daen would betray their trust, and return to their ancient allegiance to the Dark Lord; and although the current Morachd then resided in the Mornan, his grandfather, Merro Glastanan, had first established the Cult of Shoglic at his clan stronghold of Galibur, scarcely ten miles south of Cirith Dudhrandir. The folk of the Ered Tarthonion had therefore become a potential threat to the security of the prince's domain – and indeed, to all of central Gondor – should the Daen Coentis be stirred to war on Sauron's behalf. In order to stem any such threat from materialising, Edhelion ordered the construction of Naur Amrûn.
The Castle and its Garrison had always been placed under the authority of a non-hereditary warden, usually chosen from among the prince's household-knights, since the prince never relinquished his control of Cirith Dudhrandir to any lesser noble. The Daen Coentis did not revolt as Edhelion had feared, and Amrûnaur was never besieged or taken by a foe. Nevertheless, the internal stability and peace of Belfalas would not likely have been maintained had Amrunaur never been built in the first place. Amrunaur remained garrisoned throughout the Third Age and into the Fourth.
Description[]
The castle rose from a rocky shelf projecting from the mountain named Thoredarb by the Eredrim. Strategically placed lightning rods protected the fortress during the thunderstorms that frequented the pass. It was accessible only by a roadway that wound up the steep mountain-side. The castle's location was chosen because of its proximity to the highest point of the pass, but it later became the central link to the landward beacon system of Belfalas, which stretched along the spine of the Ered Tarthonion from Din Lamedon in the north to the Glinduin estuary in the southeast.
The peacetime garrison of Amrunaur included five household knights and their esquires, five to ten landed knights serving their term of garrison duty, a hundred yeomen, and another hundred men-at-arms. Amrûnaur was also home to a military company known as the Verderers who served the Master Forester. They were not part of the prince's war-host, but might serve as scouts when needed. They numbered between twenty-five and thirty.
Amrûnaur's pentagonal curtain wall stood fifty feet high and twenty feet thick, with machicolated battlements. Each section of the wall was two hundred feet long, and was joined by round towers. These towers were eighty feet high, fifty feet in diameter, had ten-foot thick walls, and housed five interior stories. From two of the towers, the curtain wall extended outward to create an additional bailey, meeting at a barbican. The road from below passed through an outer iron gate at the barbican, and through a second gatehouse at the inner end of the bailey. The interior of the main curtain wall was lined with stone buildings: barracks, smithies, stables, kitchens, and the like. On the highest point of the shelf was the High Keep, attached to the northwest corner of the Great Hall. The keep was 125 feet high and 60 feet in diameter. Its twelve-foot thick walls supported eight floors and a roof. The Warden and household knights had their apartments in this structure.
Places of Note[]
- Armoury
- Barracks
- Council Chamber
- Dining Hall
- Gates
- Great Hall
- The Guardrooms
- High Keep
- Kitchens
- Smithies
- Stables
- Treasury