Argonath

The Argonath consisted of two enormous rock pillars, carved in the likenesses of Isildur and Anárion facing to the north. 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. A narrow gap between them led to a long dark chasm with high sheer cliffs which led to the lake Nen Hithoel.

When the Easterlings attacked Northmen that settled south of Greenwood the Great, Minalcar, the nephew of King Narmacil I and Regent of Gondor, led a great army that defeated the Easterlings between Rhovanion and the Sea of Rhûn in Third Age 1248. When he returned he fortified the eastern banks of the Anduin and built the pillars of the Argonath.

At the time of the War of the Ring the Argonath and the Emyn Muil with Amon Hen with its Seat of Seeing and Amon Lhaw, the Hill of Hearing were still a part of Gondor, but the area was deserted.

On 25 February Third Age 3019, the Fellowship of the Ring rowed down the river Anduin between the Pillars of the Kings on their journey south. Time had blurred their eyes and crannied their brows but the two figures still exuded power and majesty.

Argonath is a Sindarin name, which means "royal stones", "pair of royal stones" or "the group of (two) noble stones". It is a compound of Ar(a) (a prefix expressing royalty) and the shorter form gon ("stone" used for smaller objects made of stone, especially carved figures) of gond and -ath (a collective or group plural, because the Argonath were a pair of statues). A valid variant of the name in dual form was Argonad.

In pencilled notes for what would later become the chapter "The Great River", J.R.R. Tolkien first used the name Sern Erain and then the name Sarn Aran, which he translated as "King Stones".

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in a letter that the Númenóreans of Gondor resembled Egyptians in many ways, including their love of, and ability to construct, the gigantic and massive, and in their interest in ancestry and tombs. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull pointed out that the Argonath recall ancient Egyptian statues, like the two gigantic statues of Memnon at the Mortuary Temple of Amenophis III.

The Argonath in adaptations

1978: The Lord of the Rings (1978 film):

The Fellowship of the Ring row past the Argonath. Aragorn points them out, referring to them as the Argonath and the pillars of the kings. He explains that they are Isildur and Anárion, his fathers of old.

2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:

The Argonath comprises two large and highly detailed models which were combined with live action footage 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.

Note that in the film, the statues are of Isildur and Elendil (as almost all references to Anárion were cut from the films ) and the statue of Elendil is holding Narsil rather than an axe.

2012: The Lord of the Rings Online:

The Argonath is a prominent landmark in the East Wall area of the Eastemnet region.

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