Lore

The Argonath were were two enormous rock pillars carved in the likenesses of the first kings of Gondor, Isildur and Anárion. Placed upon huge pedestals, each of the two figures held an axe in its right hand and its left hand rose in a gesture of defiance to the enemies of Gondor. The two statues stood upon either side of the River Anduin at the northern approach to the lake of Nen Hithoel.

They were built many hundreds of years after the deaths of Isildur and Anárion by Rómendacil II, as a symbol of victory after a campaign against the Easterlings. As the Third Age wore on, the power and size of Gondor diminished, leaving the Argonath in deserted lands. On 25th of February, T.A. 3019, the Fellowship of the Ring cruised between the pillars on their journey south.

Nen Hithoel was a large lake fed by the River Anduin to the south of the Argonath amid the rocky hills of the Emyn Muil. At the southern end of the lake there stood three steep hills. Amon Hen, the "Hill of Seeing", was upon the western shore, and Amon Lhaw, the "Hill of Hearing", was upon the east. Amon Hen, and the forests around it, was where Boromir was killed and the Fellowship was broken. The third hill formed the steep-sided island of Tol Brandir. None had ever set foot upon the island due to its sheer cliffs that rose directly from the river.

At the foot of Tol Brandir, the river rushed over a huge precipice. These were the Falls of Rauros, the greatest waterfall in the west of Middle-earth.


Construction

The Argonath were built as a collaborative effort by much of ArdaCraft's community during a build day, and the final details were worked on by jacenpeter.

The terrain surrounding them was initially laid out using WorldPainter, and then was edited and improved using VoxelSniper and WorldEdit. Ruins and other details were also added by hand.

---

The Argonath form part of a larger project which seeks to recreate Middle-earth in its entirety. Credit goes to wheellee and jacenpeter for leading this project, and to the entire community of builders for contributing to the build.

The Argonath and their surrounding area can be viewed from above on ArdaCraft's dynmap (https://ardacraft.me/map/). There is no download available, but ArdaCraft is a non-whitelisted server which anyone is welcome to come and explore, provided they have installed our modpack first.

All information can be found on our website.