Elendil seems to have founded his kingdom in the north for two reasons: To be as close as possible to Lindon and Gil-Galad’s elves (which largely dissolved following the Last Alliance, depriving Arnor of its primary ally, and that it would be closest geographically to the for island of Numenor, as Elendil often spent his time looking through the last Palantir which is fixed only westward.

Arnor lost its kingdom, but kept its bloodline. Gondor lost its bloodline, but kept its kingdom. It was only a matter of time.

You make it sound like Arnor was useless. Don’t forget they held Angmar off at the Weathered Hills for 600 years before Amon Sul fell. And Arthedain still fought (even won some field battles) for hundreds of years after

Arnor only had one "serviceable" port--Tharbad. After the great flood, Tharbad started to fall into ruin and the bridge collapsed from lack of maintenance. Plus Eriador itself is sort of isolated. We only see two and a half seaports (Vinyalonde is the "half"), there are limited passes over the mountains, Winters can be harsh, and only the Gap of Rohan provides easy access to Eriador. Plus it was just less populated when Elendil came. There's no mention of permanent residents of Tharbad, there might have been villages and homesteads here and there, with Bree being the chief place once the Roads were established. Perhaps that's why the roads crossed in Bree--because it was a waypoint.

What's most obvious to me, is that the fragmentation of Arnor is based on what happened to Charlemagne's empire after he died, when the kingdom was split up among his children/heirs because the custom of "primogeniture" had not evolved yet. This was an historical tragedy that was likely well known to Tolkien's readers, and the analogy would have been easily seen.

Two points you did not specifically mentioned: Gondor was based on the foundation of existing havens at Pelargir and Umbar, with the surrounding lands already peopled (maybe even with some Numenoreans. In contrast, Arnor was built mostly in the wilderness of Eregion, which had seen a far smaller Numenorean influence (beyond Tharbad). Elendil landed there with 4 ships, whilst his sons had 5 in the south. Secondly, whilst both Arnor and Gondor lost many men in the War of the Last Alliance, Arnor's losses may have been more severe due to the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, where Isildur fell. This loss close to the beginning of the realm, may have left relative weakness in Arnor, compared to Gondor.

The great plague also tore through both kingdoms and severely thinned the already waning Numenorean blood. As I recall, Tharbad effectively became deserted even though it was a strategic port city in the west

This is a lesson for all Parents: Always Write Up a Will! Especially if you're a King and have three sons in which two of them are very petty, jealous and greedy. Cannot emphasize this enough people lol.

Its kinda funny how Arnor got split three separate areas, but one of them would later have a new place that would later be formed as the shire by a pair of Hobbit brothers.

I think the biggest weakness Arnor had was its geography. Eriador was an isolated area compared to Gondor so it had less trade and it’s only neighbours were the mostly isolationist elves of the grey havens and Rivendell. Also the more northerly middle men have past grievances against Numenorians and were already predisposed to turn against them. Also where as Gondor was always tried in the fire of war Arnor had almost no conflicts after the end of the second age and was unprepared for Angmar wars. As someone else pointed out Arnor’s only port was Tharbad and the greyflood likely froze over in the winter further limiting opportunities for communication between the two kingdoms. Isolation, declining prosperity, and a lack of external conflicts were probably the contributing factors to cause the division with in the kingdom.

It echoes the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. But also echoes the collapse of Charlemagne's empire woth the splitting of Arnor in three. Also fun fact, there was a time period where Charlemagne could have married the Byzantine Empress Irene as there was with Arvedui and Firiel.

Interesting video and great insights on this topics. Here is are interesting ideas for a What if videos: 1. What if Arnor never fell? 2. What if Arnor remained united like Gondor? 3. What if Earnur was declared the king of both Gondor and Arnor?

United we stand. Divided we fall.

One major and recurring theme in all of Tolkien's writings is that people must unite and work together in order to defeat the darkness of the world. This kingdom is an example of what happens when that theme isn't followed.

Gondor also had very strong natural barriers to invasion in the White Mountains, the Anduin River, and the ocean to the south, whereas Arnor was much more geographically open to invasion.

"Men are weak...." It seems even middle earth had its own political problems In way it's reassuring that our own world reflects in this but given the downfall of the north 😬 It does make me wonder how much Saurons plans would have changed had Arnor survived 🤔 If they United they would have been a very powerful ally and serious contender on the map

I think another very relevant point is that with the deaths of Elendil, Isildur, and Anarion so close together and all the resulting political turmoil coming so soon after the War of the Last Alliance, Gondor and Arnor really split into two separate kingdoms fairly early in their mutual histories. Had that not happened, had there remained one high king over both kingdoms, Arnor would have been in a stronger position. I don't think it would have split into three and I'm not sure Sauron would have ever tried to establish Angmar.

These strifes and conflicts that occasionaly rose among both Elves and Men in Tolkien lore have always fascinated. Were these strifes the result of Melkor's discord during the Great Music, the result of Morgoth's and Sauron's lies and corruptive power, or were they inherent in these races' nature? Or maybe a mix of two or more of these?

I also wonder if the premature death of king Valandur during a time of peace was likely a political assassination, meaning the political issues went back further, even to the time of Valandur.

Very interesting video! Arnor's fall is very cool and reminiscent of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and the division of Charlemagne's Empire. Maybe "What if Gandalf found out Bilbo had the ring earlier"?

I really appreciate how you bring the videos into what we can learn and improve ourselves to be better people

I think that also, like a lot of why political divisions occur, geography plays a surprisingly vital role. Gondor is a Kingdom built around the White Mountains, one of its key fortresses at Minas Tirith literally built into the mountains with its original capital not far away on the river Anduin surprisingly close to its ancient foe of Mordor against which there was a need to be constantly vigilant. Gondor was a relatively small, tightly knit kingdom whose key lands were focused around Ithilien yet vulnerable to the Haradrim to the south and Mordor to the east. Yes, it claimed dominion over great stretches of land to the west of the southern facing side of the White Mountains but from what we can tell, these were sparsely populated lands with little strategic or commercial value to the Kings and Stewards of Gondor who regarded the region most directly under the view of the White City as the heart of the kingdom. The only exception ti this rule being Dol Amroth which is a vital princedom but comparatively far away from the capital. Arnor, by contrast, was one vast, unbroken series of rolling fields as far as the eye could see. Unlike the White Mountains of Gondor, there was no natural impediment to Fornost’s rule for as Elrond once said, it was possible in the Elder Days for a squirrel to travel from Rivendell to the Grey Havens across the treetops without ever touching the ground. The trees were felled by the time of men, but that vast unstoppableness of the land remained. It was impossible for Fornost to manage a centralised government like Osgiliath or Minas Tirith since the population was too vast and spread out to be neatly controlled by one monarch and, more importantly, the land was so vast that it was possible for regional powers to become as powerful as the King in Fornost as he could not enforce his will as effectively as a local Lord could, let alone the King of Gondor. Additionally, besides the Elves and Dwarves occasionally causing problems, Arnor had no natural enemies until the rise of Angmar caught them completely by surprise. It led the Dunedain to develop a culture of personal infighting as they had the luxury to do so whereas Gondor had a culture always focused on honour and discipline as they were always aware of the enemies on their borders ensuring that they could not be lax or unprepared should the enemy ever seek to take advantage of their small, easily crossable borders that would put the foe within spitting distance of the capital. Yet Arnor, by contrast, could sustain invasions for centuries without them ever reaching Fornost, as even the Witch King could not march on Fornost quickly or easily, but Fornost’s deep entrenchment in its own borders proved to be its undoing in the long term whereas the proximity of Minas Tirith to its own borders ironically proved to be its salvation as the urge to defend it was quick and instant. Overall, there are a series of obvious geographic factors that informed the political development of these Kingdoms and what caused them to be the different places they were which goes a way to explain why one fell to the forces of darkness whereas the other did not.

As I stated in an earlier comment I am not college educated, but my education came from being stationed in Europe, The Middle East, and the US. I will say any internal strife comes from mostly political sources, and maybe it also came to being in the northern kingdom. Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev said of the US that it's down fall will not come from outside sources, but from internal sources. That sounds like what happened here in Arnor, and it's enemies saw this and took advantage of it. Great video!

Tolkien said explicitly that the Dúnedain of the North did mix very little with the Middle Men, at least during and after the time of Elendil, and thus the average numenorean height of 2.13 meters was more common in Arnor. It's said in the Appendices that the Dúnedain were far fewer in number than the Middle men since the very beginning, both in Arnor and in Gondor. Even though Tolkien never specifically mentioned that Gondor was more populous than Arnor, as far as i know, many think it was so, for the chief haven of the Faithful was Pelargir, and the heartlands of Gondor were far closer to the sea, and to many rivers. The folk of Arnor also dwelt closer to rivers, but since the Gwaithuirim which dwelt along the coasts of Minhiriath and Enedwaith might have been hostile to them, fishing could not be a large source of food like in Gondor. Since fishing would not be a common source of food, than the source would be agriculture, but even though Arnor had large and fertile lands such as the future Shire, to have such a limit of arable lands would prevent the large growth of population to an agrarian society. Tolkien said that the Middle Men of Arnor were largely friendly to the Dúnedain and helped Elendil to build and populate the cities and fortresses which he built, but after the devastating loss of manpower during the Last Alliance(which Arnor never recovered, according to Tolkien) the Middle Men became a bit fewer to populate the places built by Elendil, many of them were young and died childless.

Great video, the tragic fall of the Kingdom of Arnor is in my impression Tolkien's take and inspiration from so many real life medieval political downfalls, actually I would love an adaptation of the early third age focusing on the troubles the realms in exile had after the great numenoreans kings of the past died and their descedants were not up to the job of maintaning the greatness of such realms.

would be cool to see a film or series on the angmar wars

This channel inspires me so much to make content. I finally finished school this year and now I can start my Channel after the stressful exams. The messages you use at the end of your videos are inspiring and I will probably use them in my Higher English essay for inspiration as I want to do it on Tolkien’s works. Great video as always!

It's interesting that in 1975 T.A. the people of the North lost their kingdom but the line of kings survived while în 2050 T.A.,Gondor lost it's line of kings but the kingdom endured towards the end of the Age

My idea on why Arnor is weaker than Gondor is simply based on geography... Gondor having the Anduin passing though its entirety makes it easier for Gondor to transport goods, supplies and armies around quickly while also functioning like an impregnable bulwark against attacks... This advantages is shown during the siege of Minas Tirith and Osgiliath.

You are a geneous for coming up with all these videos and their topics.

thoughts 1- infighting apart, it is curious to note that the witch king felled arnor with most have been much smaller forces than what we later saw in the south against Gondor. 2- interesting that Tolkien has some thematic consistency even when we are talking about the history of kingdoms: the bigger, stronger realm felled where the smaller one kept united and standing. 3- this is not completely acurate but it comes to mind: both kingdoms most likely had to try to be self suficient. they were so far apart that commmerce between them must be hard. Arnor had elves and dwarves on each side so could engage in trade but not realistically expand their territory to ocupy the minds militaristic types.

Good choice w/bg music!

Great video!!!

Arnor was conceived to be more powerful than Gondor. After all, it was founded by Elendil himself.

The size of the kingdom was not the problem, the greed and jealousy of its leaders was.

As always, great video on the lore of Arda! The comments for this video are great.

Poor internet service meant that they had too many pauses and outages while attempting to watch Men of the West, which lead to much discord amongst the people of Arnor.

This was very good, and I thank you for it. But pls consider that recorded speech about complex situations sounds very different than being in conversation with friends. Pls consider slowing it down for the rest of us. You have a nice voice - a rarity on KZfaq - and there's no need to deprived us of it. Thanks. Liked & subbed.

If I was to look at it from an economic standpoint - most of the large cities of Gondor had ports. That means that trade and travel were achieved much more rapidly. Having ports also opened up trade opportunities to more places throughout Middle Earth. If Middle Earth was a real place I am sure that trade would even occur between Gondor and the eastern port cities when war wasn't underway.

I think the whole problem started after the battle of the gladden fields, which not only caused a lack in leadership but also cut the ties to profitable gondor. Something that probably would not have happend had Isildur or Elendur survived. If we know take into account the loss of men after the war, that now could not be replaced by migration from interested men in the south and boom. You start off with a geographically worse vast land with worse trade and a demographics problem. As soon as the population density dwindled enough for local lords to matter and the split can happen. I don't say that this was irreversible in latter years in fact I believe there were several points in time where the situation could be turned for the better but after fornost fell it was hopeless. That's why Aragorn needed major support from the south to rebuild the kingdom, which now is more like a vassal than an equal kingdom in all but name.

Man, How many kingdoms are broken apart in Middle Earth?!!! At Least Elessar brings them back together...Like a good king should!!! Thanks, Mellon, for this thoughtful discussion, man Tolkien really cares for the History of Places, before the character we know has those Places...Until Dwarven StrongHolds: 2nd and 3rd Age Edition...Marion Baggins Out!!!

I hope WB's "War of the Rohirrim" series goes well so we can get a "Rise of the Witch King" one as well. I think limiting yourself to smaller events in the 2nd and early 3rd of Middle Earth would be a great idea. Each stands on its own, instead of this RoP/Amazon tm.

Another well done video friend!

Great video. Could you make one about the lands west of Arnor?

I always thought the single biggest thing that kept Gondor mostly steady was the fact Mordor was on it border (coupled with other strong external threats) and when Gondor was lax in these it was at its greatest danger!

Would very much like it if you did another channel with similar style but about real world history.

"let the past die, kill it, if you have to" -Tolkien according to Amazon

I agree with you, population seems to be the factor that kill the northern kingdom, people would have live near to castles and outside there was huge blocks of empty Land, there was never an idea of a nation as was in Gondor

You are wise in the ways of court and geography and a true Captain.

The idea that the northern Dunedain saw mixing with the Middle-men differently from the southern Dunedain is interesting. Eriador was definitely way less populated than Gondor when the faithful landed there, and while Gondor had a civil war over the marriage of one of their kings to a Northwoman, the rebellion was started by the southern lords, who ruled over the lands that were likely the least populated due to their closeness to Harad and Mordor, and among the southern lords at the time was counted Umbar, a city ruled by Black Numenoreans who had a very long history of warring with, enslaving and sacrificing Haradrim and other Middle-men, even though ironically they'd eventually mix with the Haradrim themselves. Aside from them, it seems mixing was rather common among the Gondorians, as we can see by the lifespans of the Gondorians we meet in LOTR, which while long, are not on beyond the range of normal human lifespans, aside from Faramir who died at the age of 120, which is an age some people irl have reached, and that is still very low compared to pure blooded Numenoreans. In Arnor, we can assume such interracial (interethnic?) relations weren't so controversial simply because they happened very rarely of at all. Aragorn for example died at 200 years by pulling that unique Numenorean skill of just laying down and letting his spirit leave his body, and was by all intents and purpouses a 100% full-blooded Numenorean, he could even trace his bloodline all the way back to Beor, almost 7000 years back. Aragorn was born 957 years after the final destruction of Arthedain, and due to the extremely destructive and genocidal nature of the Angmar Wars, after it ended Eriador had been left almost depopulated, with the Dunedain themselves becoming scattered, nomadic rangers, living in secret camps and rarely mingling with the few other peoples left in Eriador, although they did protect them from the Orcs. This means that, among the Dunedain of the north after the fall of Arthedain, mixing with middle-men would've been almost unheard of, as they managed to keep the bloodline pure enough to produce at least Aragorn, even with their ever-dwindling numbers, while their Gondorian equivalent, the Rangers of Ithilien, were much more mixed with the native population. We can even infer the status of the Middle-men in the three successor states of Arnor. Arthedain had the highest population in general, both of Dunedain and Middle-men, and although mixing was almost unheard of (the Bree-men were considered closer to the Dunlendings that to the Dunedain, even though they had been part of Arnor for over a thousand years and had savage wilderness between themselves and Dunland), non-Dunedain were treated well and rather prosperous, as we can see with the Shire and Bree. That spirit of coexistance seems to have mantained itself in Bree, as both men and Hobbits live in that town. Cardolan might have seen some more mixing between natives and westerners, as their barrows, while reminiscent of the ornate, massive tombs of the Gondorians, have a more "primitive" feel to them which might indicate the mixing of both cultures. Plagues and war depopulated Cardolan almost completely, leaving scattered tribes or villages of hunters and fishermen as the only population in the region after the collapse (aside from the rangers), which might mean, contradictively, that the natives (or at least some groups of natives) were instead not integrated but very much separated from Dunedain society, to the point that once Cardolan disappeared, they returned to a lifestyle not too dissimilar from the one their ancestors lived before the Numenoreans first landed on Middle Earth. Rhuadur was definitely the kingdom where the Middle-man population was the highest in relation to the Dunedain, and the one where they were likely the worst treated by the Dunedain, as the local hillsmen eventually not just overthrew the local Dunedain, but completely exterminated all who didn't flee the kingdom. That interethnic animosity seemed to have gone both ways, as eventually the remaining Dunedain from Arthedain and Cardolan completely wiped out the Rhuadur Hillmen.

I've always immediately think of Louis the Pious splitting the Carolingian empire between his three sons and how one was destroyed and the others kinda reformed back into its proper Empire but never the same; when I think of Arnor.

Thanks guys

Diversity was not Arnor's strength!

A question totally irrelevant to this particular video, but with this being your newest one I figure it's most likely to be seen here: Illuvatar told Melkor he can't do anything against Illuvatar's plans to "disrupt the song." But I seem to remember reading somewhere that Illuvatar was at times surprised over what the Valar did, such as Aule's creation of the dwarves, If it's impossible to stray from Illuvatar's plan, how can he be surprised by anything anyone ever does? And why would Melkor even try to do anything against that plan, despite wanting to, if he knows it will all either fail or be part of said plan? I get him wanting to do his own thing, but if it's truly useless to try and Melkor knew that Illuvatar was absolute and all powerful why bother. The snippets we have of the mindset of Melkor/Morgoth, it doesn't seem like he was fulfilling the role of a bad guy because that was the role he was given. Keep up the great work!

Great video as usual, but you forget the main inspiration behind the division of the kingdom of Arnor. It is heavily based on the splitting of the Frankish kingdom of Charlemagne in 843 between his three grandsons.

If the Numenoreans made Orthanc, then why weren't there similar towers in Arnor?

You have to remember that Arnor was founded mostly in Eriador. And despite the millennia since the War of the Elves and Sauron it probably never really recovered from the "desolation" the dark Maiar made it into. There were, of course, the bountiful lands of what would eventually become the Shire but would that have been enough to sustain a large population for such a big kingdom? At the same time, Arnor did not have exclusive access to the actually rich resources available. Chief of these would be mineral resources, which would be under the control of the many Naugrim kingdoms of the northwest of Middle Earth, like Khazad-dum and the wrecked mansions of the Dwarves of Belegost and Nogrod, which, if I recall correctly Durin's Folk kind of took over. There really is an implication that Arnor had a far, far smaller population than Gondor. It's hard to sustain power as a nation with a small population base.

It seems strange that Arnor had no coastal cities/ ports between the mouths of the Greyflood and the Brandywine.

If Arnor would not have been divided in 3 petty kingdoms would they have been able to resist the witch-king?

1:05 So the moral of the story is “Don’t have large families?” 😂

It was weaker because it didn’t have Denathor in charge! Too soon? Probably….

The way I viewed it was that Arnor's main population centres especially, were in the Northern part of the Kingdom. Their main port was hundreds of miles away to the south west with no major navigable waterway to the capital. This restricted trade with Gondor. Trade by road to Gondor would have been even slower. The population in the southern part of the Kingdom was not large and this will have affected agriculture. The more temperate regions of Arnor ought to have been heavily cultivated to feed the nation and allow for exports generating wealth. Instead most of the population was at higher latitudes which only allowed for a shorter growing season. It likely limited crop choices and diversity. It would also be likely that a surplus for export wouldn't happen every summer. Elven and Dwarf population centres were not large and they were at Arnor's extremities. Eregion, the one large Elven Kingdom, was destroyed by Sauron removing an ally and trading partnership. Building the capital of Arnor on the coast, whether at Tharbad or elsewhere, would have made for a better situation. A great seaport city would have shifted a large part of the population towards warmer climes. It would have enabled better contact with Gondor. I just think Elendil chose poorly when he made Annuminas his capital.

Can we get a Smaug vs Balrog What If Versus breakdown?!

I initially read this as "What made armour weaker than Gondor?" because I never got over the fact that heavily armoured Gondor soldiers get beaten up and killed like nothing in the movies.

I think a comparison of their Palantir browser history would tell

Love this channel to watch interesting videos instead of all the angry videos. Ni 'lassui En!

Hi people! Where can I find a copy of the picture of Minas Tirith against Mordon that appears at 00:38 secs of the video? I justo love this image and the white radiance the artist has given to the White City

It is interesting to make the historical parallel that people must find what it is that unites them to stand together, or focus on what divides them to tear them apart. I wonder if, in a sense, the people of Gondor were more closely bound in part due to their kingdom constantly having an external enemy. History shows that nationalism tends to soar when there is an external threat great enough for all citizens to feel they must defend the way of life of their country. When external threats are less present, divisions tend to occur along internal issues such as economics, rights, social views and others. We see this in many countries today, where the danger lies within and not without.

Gondor was much warmer and therefore able to support more agriculture and a much larger population. It had numerous rivers with access to the sea and could support much more economic activity. Arnor started off inherently weaker due to geography and climate and never got a chance to become stronger. It had only one river connecting population centres to the sea. It was struck by colder winters as the power of Angmar grew. And sometimes kingdoms just fracture for whatever reason, and if they are under relentless assault when they do, they can't reconstitute a single kingdom.

A very good video as always Men of the West.

Of the Kingdoms of Arnor & Gondor, Arnor had the smaller population. Also disease, breaking Arnor into 3 Kingdoms & the predations of Angmar lead to Arnor's downfall.

Question: Did the world of Arda have a Firmament as the Earth in the Bible was designed to have with its sky?

I'd love to see a big-screen depiction of the conflict between Arnor and Angmar one day 😊

Can you also talk about Guillermo Del Toro's version of The Hobbit please?

Also Gondor had much more fertile land to sustain a large population, more ports open for trade, I believe Arnor had only two ports Tharbad and Lond Daer.

8:58 "an mayhaps..." xddddd

Your closing was particularly saliant in the context of today's divisiveness and strife.

I also wondered if there would be Black Númenoreans who served Angmar? From Rhudaur.

I don't Arnor was that much weaker than Gondor, I think they were both about the same in strength and size. What ultimately boils down is were the rulers of the lands. Even though Arnor was split into three petty kingdoms if the ruling kings the three brothers had the sense of unity rather than jealousy I think Arnor would've survived. In Gondor, the ruling leaders stayed unified and most of that was due to the Kings at first with them allying with the Eothad and then the House of the Stewards, as said in the Return of the King Appendices that the Stewards in their wisdom created lasting friendships and strides with many folk and lords. which is why Gondor was able to maintain themselves against all manner of enemies and disasters.

Yes we should see to our divisions. We must purge all who dissent so that we may be strong!

I didn’t get a notification for this?

could do w/o howling monks en background

That devastating plague didn't help Arnor much.

"because the borders and autonomy of these three realms split actually quite neatly this must mean that civil problems had been building in Arnor for quite awhile for things to split along such generally clear-cut borders with a few conflicts here and there" That word spaghetti sounds like it's explaining something but I don't think it is. How would you draw a non clear-cut border? What does civil problem have to do with the split. It was just split between three brothers. Presumably some group of counties or the like. There is no evidence of some cultural divide based on what you said.

Great video, and a very relevant allegory. Perhaps the same fate is in store for the USA at this point?

I like the theory that Arnor’s culture was against interbreeding with middlemen, so for that reason their population dwindled and diminished. That would explain how the cities turned to ghost towns and then of course the Dunedain remaining in the north, as vestiges of the kingdom of old. To me it’s the most compelling theory and also has a subtle lesson in it, such is Tolkien’s way.

Gondor might be more powerful, but arnor is just the coolest name ever.

arnor Is like charlamanges dynasty being split into 3 for charlemagnes grandsons to divide the power because of the kingdom being so large and divided

Angmar

And despite population problems from the very beginning, i believe both the Dúnedain and Middle Men were very numerous, for the population of Númenor itself(according to Nature of Middle Earth) was 15 million, and despite being a minority, the Faithful would still be very numerous in Middle Earth, and they had many years to migrate to Middle Earth(SA. 1200 to S.A. 3319). To think that so many perished during the War of the Last Alliance shows really the scale of the war, and how Old Arnor would never recover, only when Aragorn refounded it.

Arnor is a metaphor for the slow demise of our Western hegemony. I know Professor Tolkien would've hated such a comparison.

What if Gimli took the one ring for himself?

If we use Rome as a base, the Eastern provinces (Gondor) was already settled and produced most of the revenue. The Western provinces (Arnor) had lower population and wealth except Italy were much more impoverished.

What was obvious to me is they were servants of the Valar, the Elves and a so called deity called "Eru". If they were king's men may of had some real power. Stay awake people and don't forget to praise Ar Pharazôn!

The great Plague. There. Saved you ten minutes.

Arvedui was also married to Fíriel, the daughter of King Ondoher of Gondor

I see so many real world similarities to the history of Arnor and Gondor. The division of Arnor by the kings sons reminds me of Charlemagnes kingdom being divided and becoming Germany and France. Also the western kingdom falling while the eastern kingdom endured and went through periods of expansion but eventually slowly started to decline reminds me of the Roman empire splitting in half. In this scenario the men of Rohan would be the barbarian tribes that settled in Greece and became allies and the easterlings would represent the Turks.

Other than that little civil war thing...

Tolkien based the 3 way split on the Carolingian Empire’s 3 way split. It didn’t work out for them either.

Colder climate: lower population; less trade: poorer. Gondor probably had better farming and had trade from the east and west and north, when at peace...