Talk:Minas Tirith/Archive 1

Minas Tirith Project
Removed comment on the link (now operational – 08 Nov 2005)

LotR sequel
"in the abandoned sequel, which takes place during the time of Elessar's son Eldarion, the city was clearly named Minas Tirith."

We could do with an article on that abandoned sequel. Lee M 01:41, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * Not much can be said about The New Shadow, it runs just a few pages and never gets past the introduction of two characters. &mdash; Jor (Talk) 07:30, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)

However, in the abandoned sequel The New Shadow, which takes place during the time of Elessar's son Eldarion, the city was named Minas Tirith. I haven't found in text of "The New Shadow" any mentions about Minas Tirith (or Minas Anor). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.98.185.169 (talk) 07:42, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

Pronunciation
The article says:
 * Note on pronunciation: The Is are long in all cases, thus MEE-nas TEE-reeth.

If the 'I's sound like 'ee', aren't they short?
 * This depends on how you define "long vowels". You're right, it's a problematic explanation. --Aranel 16:26, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Wouldn't SAMPA transcription be better here? Ausir 18:42, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Anything standardized would be better. Assuming one knows how to do it... --Aranel 18:25, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Movie picture
Does anyone know what happened to the picture from the ROTK movie? It would be good for the movie section. -- SFH 21:43, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

In the section "history", the article mentions that minas tirith was the capital of Gondor. but that was after osgiliath was abandoned and ruined. i think it should be mentioned -- George St.


 * I don't know if it is because of an illusion but for my part I read: "Ostoher rebuilt the city in III 420, and it became the capital of Gondor after the siege and abandonment of Osgiliath." Is that not what you are talking about? -- Gerfaut 20:39, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Year of construction
In the article there is a controversial information concerning the time of the construction of Minas Tirith. While in the infobox the year is 3429, it is 3320 in the section History. The article Timeline of Arda says that 3320 was the date of the date of the foundation of Gondor, and in 3429 Minas Ithil was conquered by Sauron, so I rather suspect that neither is correct. Does anyone know the correct date?--Galadh 18:10, 4 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Everything I've read suggests that construction on Minas Ithil, Minas Anor, and Osgiliath began in 3320, the same year as the founding of Gondor. For instance, Isildur planted a seedling of the White Tree at Minas Ithil in that year. However, the time needed to complete the initial stage of construction isn't stated anywhere that I can recall. --CBD 20:56, 4 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks! I now corrected it.--Galadh 21:51, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Basis of the city's appearance
"'The physical appearance of the city is based upon the Kalemegdan fortress of Belgrade (slavic Beograd- White city), Serbia.'"

Tolkien describes it in the book... Put a citation needed tag on it. Uthanc 02:49, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

Placed Notability Tag
Not the subject of multiple independant secondary sources as required by WP:NN and does not have any real world content as clarified by WP:FICT Guest9999 22:34, 18 August 2007 (UTC)]]

Random Discussion
Has anyone ever noticed the siege of Minas Tirith is basically the Fall of Constantinople with a different outcome? I thought that'd be an interesting thing to look into. --JonnyLightning 02:32, 4 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes but please keep in mind that "Constantinople in the English imagination" is a story that is very different from the real story of the city of Istanbul. Bigturtle (talk) 01:05, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

Description
"Map #40 in Barbara Strachey's Journeys of Frodo is a plan of Minas Tirith. Pages 138&139 in Karen Wynn Fonstad's revised The Atlas of Middle-earth is another plan of Minas Tirith. They are at variance with each other, as the only authoritative maps by Tolkien are just sketches." Should this statement be in this article? I don't think either Strachey's or Fonstad's writings are considered canon. I don't know for sure, but if there are discrepencies then at least one of them is not canon..

Also, in the section 'description' the seventh and first walls seem to get confused. I don't know if it's me that is confused, but at one point the article says "The outer face of the seventh wall, the lowest, was made of black stone" and then states "Within the seventh wall was the Citadel with the White Tower of Ecthelion, (where the Seeing Stone of Minas Anor rested)". This confuses me because the Tower of Ecthelion is within the seventh, but the lowest wall is the FIRST wall, is it not? I mean, if the lowest wall IS the seventh wall, then all of Minas Tirith is within the seventh wall, including the White Tower. But I think this should be clarified. Is the highest wall the first wall or the seventh wall? and is the lowest wall the seventh wall or the first wall?139.230.245.20 06:43, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

The Black stone is Laen if the material was the same as Orthanc was made of. I found this out in a MERP on Isengard. There is also a description of Laen in the MERP on Lorien and the Halls of the Elven Smiths.

Also mithril is not the hardest material. Read the silmerillion. I presume the hardest material is sil( what the silmarils are made of) and the hardest metal is Valinorean iron (what morgoths crown was made of). Also there is another material tolkien wrote about. Galvorn( shining black) invented by Eol the Dark elf. I think Anglachel and Anguirel were made of Galvorn. Anglachel was reforged as Gurthang which was carried by Beleg strongbow for some time and Turin, son of Hurin. Gurthang is on the front cover of the children of Hurin.

Another metal is Eog, was also made by Eol and is stronger than Laen.OJDriscoll (talk) 21:54, 3 December 2011 (UTC)


 * Middle-earth Role Playing is an adaptation of Tolkien's works and their interpretation can't readily be transferred to Tolkien's original writings. MERP is known to have invented place names and other material based on Tolkienian material so I wouldn't be too confident of the qualities of Laen and Eog when it comes to describing Tolkien's own fiction. De728631 (talk) 22:26, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

Minas Tirith - The White City - Belgrade?
I've read that Tolkien named Minas Tirith after Belgrade (Which means White City) according to 1456, when the first Turkish (Osmanian) Invasion under Sultan Mehmed II. was thrown back from the Walls of Belgrade. And on which Occasion Pope Calixtus III. wrote later on, that the Siege of Belgrade decided the Fate of Christianity. But i dunno if that isn't just a Theory as i did not find any Quotes on that by Tolkien. cheers, K-PaX

It could be. Here's why: Minas Tirith is "the white city." The capital of Serbia, Beograd (Belgrade to us Anglophiles), literally means "white city." Belgrade lies directly south of Hungary (as Minas Tirith lies directly south of Rohan), along the banks of a mighty river (the Danube) which reaches just almost to the sea. Tolkien described that the Rauros had changed course several times over the course of Middle Earth history, that it used to flow the other way. East of Belgrade, and across the river, lies a squarish formation of mountains, that's shaped near enough like Mordor on Tolkien's map. This land, Wallachia was formerly known as Maurovlachia (Black Wallachia). It's major city is Bucharest, which was Vlad Dracul's capital city. Tolkien said Mordor was dry and dusty, with poisonous fumes in the air and poisoned water, if any was to be found. Tolkien said he did not intend his story to be commentary on any particular modern or historical situation, but he clearly borrowed heavily from various cultures that existed at various times, as well as geography. And now, with the White City clearly identified on the map, and Mordor identified, the Easterlings must be Turks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.46.232.121 (talk) 18:09, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

According to The Guardian, The Independent and other sources, Tolkien's notes indicate that he has been using Belgrade, Cyprus and Jerusalem as points of reference in the Map, but it is written that Ravenna is the architectural inspiration for Minas Tirith, while Belgrade may have been used for the city name and somewhat the history. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.216.27.101 (talk) 09:26, 13 November 2017 (UTC)

Proposed Merger of the Tower of Echthelion
Absolutely not. Do not merge. The article on Minas Tirith is long enough already. 66.99.2.184 (talk) 18:10, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

Wallachia=Mordor
The most notorious ruler of Wallachia was of course Vlad Tepes Dracula. "Dracula" and "Sauron" are semantically very close. Das Baz, aka Erudil 18:14, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

"House of the Kings" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect House of the Kings. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Hog Farm (talk) 01:28, 13 January 2020 (UTC)

"House of the kings" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect House of the kings. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Hog Farm (talk) 01:32, 13 January 2020 (UTC)