Houses of the Dead
The Houses of the Dead[1] were the royal burial site of Minas Tirith. The House of the Kings (the tombs of the Kings)[2] and the House of the Stewards (the tombs of the Stewards of Gondor)[3] were located in there.[4]
They were on the western side of the city of Minas Tirith along Rath Dínen (Sindarin for "Silent Street")[4] at the height of the fifth wall of the city on a mountain shoulder that joined the Hill of Guard, on which the city was built,[5] with Mount Mindolluin.[6] They could be accessed by passing through the locked Fen Hollen (Sindarin for "Closed Door") in the western side of the sixth wall of the city and descending on a winding road that went down in many curves to the narrow land under the shadow of the precipice of Mount Mindolluin at the height of the fifth wall.[4] Fen Hollen was always closed, except when funerals took place and only the Lord of the City and the employees who tended the Houses of the Dead were allowed to enter through it.[4]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", p. 1052
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen", p. 1062
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Pyre of Denethor", p. 851
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Siege of Gondor", p. 826
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings" in Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, entry Hill of Guard, p. 772
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "Minas Tirith", p. 752
