Razing Arnor: How real were the Dunadan conspiracies?

balance between Cardolan and Arthedain, preventing either realm from becoming strong enough to conquer the other and eventually moving against Gondor. The idea that Gondor and Arnor might actually have moved so far away from friendship and shared interests is radical. There is no hint of such an estrangement between the nations. But the fact that Gondor accepted eight High Kings after Isildur implies that Arnor retained the senior position in the two countries' unique relationship until Gondor had clearly become the stronger power. If Tarannon had no reason to abandon friendship with Arnor, he appears to have felt no compunction to continue the ancient policies set down by Isildur and Anarion and their father Elendil. Hence, the division of Arnor may reflect the emergence of Gondor as the dominant power among all the Dunadan kingdoms, and perhaps heralded the onset of Gondor's aggressive policies. Although it's entirely possible that Earnil was subsequently provoked to action by Umbar, it seems more likely that he was merely continuing Tarannon Falastur's policies of extending Gondor's power at the expense of other nations, and since Tarannon embarked upon his conquests while his father was still King of Gondor, the shift in policy and action was gradual and could have been set in motion by Siriondil himself. Tolkien writes in Appendix A that "though war never ceased on their borders, for more than a thousand years the Dunedain of the South grew in wealth and power by land and sea...." It may be that the continuous warfare eventually fostered the ambitions of Gondor's warrior-kings. Arnor may have experienced some troubles, but the High Kings generally seem to have enjoyed relative peace. It was probably inevitable that different policies developed in the North and South. Since we don't know the nature of the dissensions which led Earendur's sons to divide Arnor between them, we can only guess at the causes. Internal politics are simply impossible to extrapolate. We don't even know how many noble families could have been involved in the disputes and decisions. But at the very least it seems reasonable to infer there were potential external factors which could have ignited the flame of division within the heart of Arnor. We need not infer that any of the kings of Arnor, its successor realms, or Gondor fell into evil. But ambition most likely played a role in bringing about the division of Arnor. It does not necessarily have to be

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