Ithilien, Moon Over Gondor - Page 5
© Michael Martinez
When the Last Alliance proved victorious upon the Dagorlad, Gil-galad and Elendil seem to have paused to regroup. They had suffered heavy casualties in the battle (Amdir, King of Lothlorien, had been killed along with many of his warriors in the marshes). It was probably at this time that Isildur sent his sons Ciryon and Aratan to retake or reinhabit Minas Ithil. By this point the threat to Ithilien had either been removed, or greatly diminished. Ciryon and his brother remained at Minas Ithil to ensure that Sauron didn't escape over the mountains. The decision to keep them in the city seems to imply that the lands to the south were still friendly to Sauron, or in the hands of Sauron's allies.
Once Barad-dur came under siege, Ithilien may have been reoccupied, if its farms were usable and there were sufficient men to work them. The great armies of the alliance would have needed food, and the closer to the war the food could be grown the better. Though the demands of the war effort lasted only a few years, Gondor built and maintained fortresses throughout the Ephel Duath, and perhaps other parts of Gondor. These garrisons would also have required supplies, and Ithilien most likely benefitted from the expense. The region must have become a mecca for people seeking new land to break. At least, the first few centuries of the Third Age must have been a sort of boom time for Ithilien.
But the invasions of the Easterlings probably initiated a period of reversal in Ithilien's fortunes. That is, with a new threat coming around the mountains, northern Ithilien (at least) would not have attracted many new settlers. The region was of strategic importance to Gondor because the forts of northern Mordor would be at risk if they were cut off from Ithilien. They could still be resupplied through Mordor itself, but such a journey might prove long and dangerous. Tarostar (Romendacil I, 492-541) seems to have fought a largely defensive war against the various Easterling tribes which attacked Gondor. His son Turambar (541-667) went on the offensive, however, and took a great deal of territory to the east. Ithilien was secured against invasion and probably served as a staging area for Turambar's conquests.
Turambar's eastern campaigns don't seem to have resulted in any migration to the east. It seems he was the king who first made contact with the Northmen and invited them to settle in the lands between Rhovanion and Mordor. Ithilien seems to have been forgotten from this time forward. The Kings of Gondor turned their attention elsewhere, and when Tarannon Falastur began conquering lands to the west and north of Gondor, colonization most likely followed his armies.
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