House of the Stewards

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The House of Steward is a fictional building in the Lord of the Rings saga.

The House of Stewards is a burial place of the Stewards of Gondor. The House of the Stewards was located in the Hallows on the fifth level of Minas Tirith on the rocky spur that joined the City to Mount Mindolluin. The House of the Stewards and the House of the Kings stood in Rath Dínen – the Silent Street. The House of the Stewards was a large building with a great dome. A flight of steps led to a porch before the front door. Inside was a wide vaulted chamber that housed the tombs of the Stewards. On each tomb lay a marble statue with folded hands and a pillow under the head.

On March 15, 3019, as Minas Tirith was besieged by Sauron’s forces, the Steward Denethor brought his wounded son Faramir to the House of the Stewards. Denethor had looked into the palantír and had seen images that caused him to believe that the end was near for Gondor. Though Faramir was still alive, Denethor ordered a pyre to be lit to burn him and his son. Faramir was saved from the pyre by Gandalf, but Denethor perished in flames. The dome of the House of the Stewards cracked in the heat and collapsed into ruin.

[edit] The Tombs of the Stewards

On the hallows, the silent shoulder of rock between the mountain and the citadel there is a great domed chamber in which no breath stirs. Inside, draped with shadow, rows of tables carved in marble line this grim hall, and on each sarchophagus lies a sleeping form, hands folded on its chest. These are the tombs of the stewards, where the remains of the dead lie in crumbling grandeur like grey ghosts. It is a place of great veneration: for the people of Gondor now seem to accord more reverence to the dead than the living.

[edit] Sources

• The Return of the King: "The Siege of Gondor," p. 99-100; "The Pyre of Denethor," passim