Weathertop

Long ago, the first King of Arnor, Elendil, built the tower Amon Sûl in the center of his Kingdom, amid the Weather Hills. Its purpose was to house a palantír – one of the seven "seeing stones" through which Elendil, his heirs, and his liegemen could communicate with each other and watch over both the North and South Kingdoms.

In time, when Arnor broke apart into the three Kingdoms of Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur, the sundered realms fractured around this tower, and their leaders often debated over ownership of the Weather Hills. All three Kingdoms desired control of the palantír, but eventually the lines of the Dúnedain in Cardolan and Rhudaur began to fail and Rhudaur fell beneath the sway of the Witch-realm of Angmar. During Angmar's first assault on Arthedain, the watchtower was razed to the ground; however, perhaps in preparation for such a day, the palantír had long been removed.

In latter days, Weathertop, as Amon Sûl was then known, became host to two momentous events. First, as Gandalf the Grey traveled from Bree to Rivendell, he did battle with several Nazgûl and was then pursued from there through the Trollshaws, though not before he left a sign upon a stone to be found two days later, when the Ranger Strider and four hobbits encamped there. The remaining Nazgûl assailed Strider and his companions, and Frodo Baggins was stabbed by the Witch-king of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgûl, after he put on the One Ring.

In The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, players will learn of a great champion of Angmar, who was defeated and presumed slain at the final battle at Amon Sûl. They will also discover that, after the passing of Strider and his hobbit companions, Weathertop has become the refuge for a band of Orcs scouting the Lonelands and Bree-land . . . a foreshadowing of evils to come. Weathertop is only one of many popular landmarks from The Lord of the Rings to be revisited in LOTRO.

Archet - Barrow-downs - Brandy Hall - Bree - House of Tom Bombadil - Prancing Pony - Weathertop - Withywindle