Good Night, Good Rhudaur

because Imladris was important to him. He was born there and had been raised there. Rhudaur was also probably the location of many camps established by Gil-galad and Elendil during the years they were training and equipping their armies. The region might not have seemed a very tempting target for raiders from the north for a generation or two. But in less than 900 years Rhudaur would leave Arnor and establish its own dynasty, descended from Valandil. To justify the establishment of the kingdom, Rhudaur must have possessed a significant population and exploitable resources. So the question arises of, was there a city in Rhudaur which eventually fell into ruin much as Annuminas had? Where, for example, did the Kings of Rhudaur live? Valandur, the 8th High King of Arnor, and the 5th High King to rule after Valandil, was slain in the year 652 of the Third Age, according to the genealogies. Tolkien never explains this death. Valandur only ruled Arnor for 50 years. He probably should have lived another 30 years or so, and since the Numenoreans really only began to feel old age in about the last ten years of their lives, he must have been very strong and healthy. So it seems he died in a war. But what war? Even Gondor was at peace. Since Tolkien never mentions any strife or rebellion in Arnor at this time, it's unlikely Valandur was slain in a civil war. Instead, he must have been killed while fighting external enemies. He could have ventured off into the east, but it seems more likely he was fighting with the hill-folk who dwelt north of Rhudaur. These would be the ancestors of the Men of Angmar, and they were never apparently incorporated into the Kingdom of Arnor. Since Arnor's population had been diminished by the War of the Last Alliance, it follows that by the 7th century the clans in the northern hills were ready to expand, and they would have found Arnor was weak. Perhaps there had always been continuous raids into the south, but by Valandur's reign a King of Arnor felt it necessary to take the field. The easiest path down into Rhudaur from the north must been along the Mitheithel river. The Last Bridge stood where the East-West road crossed the Mitheithel. All that we know of the bridge is that it faced a steep slope in the Road on the western side,

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