Angmar Angmar shown in the BFME games Place in Arda Summary Early kingdom of the Witch-king, Realm of Black Numenoreans, Wolves, Trolls and Orcs Built by Witch-king of Angmar Realm Northwestern Arnor Mountains of Angmar Lord Witch-king of Angmar Type Realm Lifespan TA 1300

Angmar (Iron Dwelling in Sindarin) was the realm founded by the evil Nazgûl leader, who became known as the Witch-king of Angmar in TA 1300.  The kingdom was located in the far north of the Misty Mountains, with the sole purpose of weakening the northern realm of Arnor. The land was known in part for its cold weather, mostly snowing.

Contents 1 History 2 Adaptations in games 3 References 4 External link

HistoryEdit

Shortly after the Kingdom of Angmar was founded, it waged a war against the Dunedain realms of Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur. The weakest of Arnor's sub-kingdoms, Rhudaur, was conquered by the Witch-king and replaced its Dunedain leader with one of the native 'Hill-men', a wild tribe of men descended from the kin of Ulfang.

In TA 1356, Rhudaur was forced to invade Arthedain, many were slaughtered and their king, Argeleb I, was slain. However, with the help of Cardolan's armies, Arthedain maintained a strong line of defense at the foot of the Weather Hills. 

Then in 1409, Angmar attacked Cardolan and Rivendell and destroyed all the settlements within except Cardolan's capital, the Barrow-downs. Arthedain was now left without any allies to aid them them and so began a mighty struggle lasting another 500 years. After the Great Plague which started from the east of Mordor in TA 1636, the last of Cardolan's people died, allowing Angmar to send the Barrow-wights into the downs. 

During the time of TA 1974, Angmar multiplied its forces and launched a final assault on Arthedain. Subsequently, Angmar took its capital Fornost, thereby destroying the last kingdom of the Dunedain.

Sometime later, Prince Eärnur - thirty-third and last King of Gondor - arrived to aid Arthedain, but he found he was too late. His army defeated the forces of Angmar in the Battle of Fornost, but unfortunately the Witch-king was not slain but fled to Mordor leaving the kingdom of Angmar to fall.

Adaptations in gamesEdit

Video games

Angmar's territory and history was fleshed out in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king and The Lord of the Rings Online. The latter has a size-able amount of landmass to the south and east of Carn Dûm available for exploration and adventuring. In LoTRO, a large size of land is occupied by friendly tribes. This was used as a primary zone for rest and shopping. There are several locations occupied by rangers and locals, sometimes even elves. However, all of these are past the Rammath Duan where many statues of wraiths and creatures similar to the Diablo games stand tall.

These statues, morphing the form of diablo in Diablo 3, and the Balrog, will cause any player who has not done the proper story quests to cower in fear. The majority of players however, cannot access angmar due to free to play. Quest packs and areas must be purchased. Angmars area is inexpensive when compared to Moria or Isengard, and VIP player or those who had an active subscription before free to play have access to everything. Also, Carn Dum, and the embassies of the Dourhands, Uruks, and of Mordor, as well as the sorcerers embassies are playable areas and dungeons in LOTRO.

ReferencesEdit

• The Atlas of Middle-earth pg. 53
• Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings

External linkEdit

• Angmar at Tolkien Gateway