Razing Arnor: How real were the Dunadan conspiracies?

of Gondor's king? Did Tarannon simply withhold that recognition? Would Arnor and Gondor have gone to war if Amlaith had taken up the High Kingship and demanded Tarannon recognize him? A refusal would either require Amlaith to concede he was not the High King or to launch a war against the South Kingdom. And Amlaith doesn't seem to have been the kind of man to lean toward civil war. Hence, the fact that Amlaith began his reign as merely a King of Arnor may have given his brothers and their supporters a pretext for seceding from Arnor. Arnor was no longer, in fact, the land of the High King, because there was no longer a High King. So the brothers could argue successfully that the disaffected peoples of Cardolan and Rhudaur had the right to establish their own kingdoms. The lack of forceful opposition from Amlaith indicates he wasn't willing to settle the question in blood. If it merely comes down to the power and prestige of the High Kingship, there may be no need to introduce Black Numenorean connections or dreams of conquest as causes of conflict. Tarannon Falastur alone may have been able to determine the course of action in the north. If he was willing to reconcile with the Black Numenoreans, then perhaps he would also have been willing to play kingmaker in the north, and to ignite the ambitions of Amlaith's brothers. It need not be said that Tarannon was evil. Rather, he was merely ambitious, and perhaps manipulative. Whereas his great-grandfather had extended Gondor's borders in response to invasion from the east, there is no indication that Tarannon or his father were forced to go to war against the lands they conquered. They may simply have felt it was time for Gondor to expand. If Arnor was opposed to such expansion of power and influence, or concerned by the extension of Gondor's borders right up to the Gwathlo, then it may have made sense to neutralize Arnorian concerns by eliminating the High Kingship. And the easiest way to do that without bringing the issue to war would be not only to refuse to recognize Amlaith as High King, but to also foster regal ambitions in Amlaith's brothers. In effect, Tarannon could have forced the dissolution of Arnor altogether, and Amlaith was left with only that portion of the old realm farthest removed from Gondor. Rhudaur might have served as a balance

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