Argonath

Place from Tolkien's Legendarium
Name	Argonath (The Pillars of the Kings)
Other names	Gates of Argonath The Pillars of the Kings
Description	The Northern Border of Gondor
Constructed by	Rómendacil II
Realm(s)	Gondor
Lord	Kings of Gondor, later Disputed
Type	Statues
Lifespan	1240 Third Age – The Fall of Gondor

[edit] Description

In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, The Argonath, also known as The Gates of Argonath or The Pillars of the Kings, is a fictional monument comprising two enormous pillars, carved in the likenesses of Isildur and Anárion, standing upon either side of the River Anduin at the northern approach to Nen Hithoel. It was originally constructed about T. A. 1240 at the order of Rómendacil II to mark the northern border of Gondor, although the realm was greatly diminished in size by the time the Fellowship of the Ring passed the Argonath on February 25 3019. Each of the two figures was shown wearing a crown and a helm, with an axe in its right hand and its left hand raised in a gesture of defiance to the enemies of Gondor.

In Peter Jackson's movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , one of the statues holds a sword, and their arms are stretched out, instead of raised up.

To create the Argonath, the filmmakers used two large and highly detailed models which were combined with live action footage of the Kawarau River and Mavora Lakes ^[1] and digital backgrounds to convey the proper sense of scale. Also seen in the movie is the quarry near one of the statues' feet, which the filmmakers reasoned would be necessary to provide stone blocks for the construction of the statues' uppermost sections.

Anárion depicted in the Argonath, as seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Isildur depicted in the Argonath, as seen in the same movie.

[edit] References

1. ^ (http://www.trilogytrail.com/index.html) Nen Hithoel is the location of the Argonath in the movie and the Kawarau River was used as the location that the fellowship boat passed.