return

1378 the return of the king
It was thus in the reign of King Eärnil, as later became clear,
that the Witch-king escaping from the North came to Mordor,
and there gathered the other Ringwraiths, of whom he was the
chief. But it was not until 2000 that they issued from Mordor by
the Pass of Cirith Ungol and laid siege to Minas Ithil. This they
took in 2002, and captured the palantír of the tower. They were
not expelled while the Third Age lasted; and Minas Ithil became
a place of fear, and was renamed Minas Morgul. Many of the
people that still remained in Ithilien deserted it.
‘Eärnur was a man like his father in valour, but not in wisdom.
He was a man of strong body and hot mood; but he would take
no wife, for his only pleasure was in fighting, or in the exercise
of arms. His prowess was such that none in Gondor could stand
against him in those weapon-sports in which he delighted, seeming
rather a champion than a captain or king, and retaining his
vigour and skill to a later age than was then usual.’
When Eärnur received the crown in 2043 the King of Minas
Morgul challenged him to single combat, taunting him that he
had not dared to stand before him in battle in the North. For
that time Mardil the Steward restrained the wrath of the king.
Minas Anor, which had become the chief city of the realm since
the days of King Telemnar, and the residence of the kings, was
now renamed Minas Tirith, as the city ever on guard against the
evil of Morgul.
Eärnur had held the crown only seven years when the Lord
of Morgul repeated his challenge, taunting the king that to the
faint heart of his youth he had now added the weakness of age.
Then Mardil could no longer restrain him, and he rode with a
small escort of knights to the gate of Minas Morgul. None of
that riding were ever heard of again. It was believed in Gondor
that the faithless enemy had trapped the king, and that he had
died in torment in Minas Morgul; but since there were no witnesses
of his death, Mardil the Good Steward ruled Gondor in
his name for many years.
Now the descendants of the kings had become few. Their
numbers had been greatly diminished in the Kin-strife; whereas
since that time the kings had become jealous and watchful of
those near akin. Often those on whom suspicion fell had fled to