Grithion was a gondorian administrational unit.The Grithion was a portion of land ruled by a Grithon (S."Attendant"; similar to "Count/Earl" or "Count-Baron") or noble attendant, usually a member of a noble family in service of a provincial Lord (Q."Malko", S."Malcon";vaguely resembling a "Duke").Each gondorian province (S."Ardhon") usually was split up into several (from three til up to twenty) "Garthath" (S."Districts") each ruled by a lesser or district-Lord (S."Doirion"; roughly equal to a "Margrave" or "Marquis"), of which each again then was split up into a number of Grithionath of usually three to seven.
Originally the Grithion was opposed to the Trann or Shire,a larger and formally autonomous tribal district ruled by the Chieftain of a tribe without citizen status, and allowed to rule themselves, but formal fealty to the king and subject to his law.But since the Second Age most tribal shires of Gondor had either become Grithionath or Garthath, with the heads of local families rising to the status of Count or even Lord, and the populance becoming full Citizens instead of mere Peregrini, or Gondor had lost any real authority on them and the tribal lands had fallen back into more or less independence and felt little or no loyalty to the royal Stewards.
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