But the Druedain of Dunharrow could not have held out forever even in that great refuge. They must have perished (slain or starved to death), or fled at last to join their kin either in the west (Druwaith Iaur on the point of Andrast), the north (the marshes along the shores of Enedwaith), or the east (Druadan Forest in Anorien). There is evidence that Gwathuirrim dwelt in Dunharrow, and probably they were members of the tribe that later became known as the Dead.
The standing stones Merry and Aragorn see, which are not carved, seem to represent a less-developed stone-craft. Yet we know from the stories about the early Druedain that they were always skilled with stone, so they probably did not make these menhir-like monuments. Instead, those were probably placed by the Gwathuirrim.
The writing above the Dark Door also implies that someone other than the Druedain had a hand in the making of Dunharrow. It may be that the Gwathuirrim tribe had the ability to write, and they carved something above the door. Or it may be that a Numenorean hand had something to do with the carvings that Aragorn and his companions could no longer read. The latter seems less likely than that the Gwathuirrim made the carvings, but Theoden seems to describe a man of Numenorean descent when he tells Merry the legend of the Dark Door:
...It is said that when the Eorlingas came out of the North in time of need, Brego and his son Baldor climbed the Stair of the Hold and so came before the Door. On the threshold sat an old man, aged and withered as stone. Indeed for stone they took him, for he moved not, and he said no word, until they sought to pass him by and enter. And then a voice came out of him, as it were out of the ground, and to their amaze it spoke in the western tongue: the way is shut.
So we are left with many questions and enigmas. The ancient legacy of Dunharrow was already buried in forgotten wars and peoples by the time the Rohirrim settled in the region. One can only wonder what powerful tragedies unfolded there, and what days of glory or delight the Druedain, Gwathuirrim, and perhaps others had experienced there in past ages.
Wonders of the Third Age
The Argonath
One of the most impressive and majestic passages in THE LORD OF THE RINGS occurs when the Company of the Ring passes down Anduin. They have been on the river several days and come at last to "stony vales amid high moors" (as Celeborn described the region). The approach passes by gradually climbing cliffs which creep down to the river's edge, almost as if to dip their feet in the water so as to share in its glorious adventure and urge it onward to its destiny. Tolkien writes:
The rain, however, did not last long. Slowly the sky above grew lighter, and then suddenly the clouds broke, and their draggled fringes trailed away northward up the River. The fogs and mists were gone. Before the travelers lay a wide ravine, with great rocky sides to which clung, upon
shelves and in narrow crevices, a few thrawn trees. The channel grew narrower and the River swifter. Now they were speeding along with little hope of stopping or turning, whatever they might meet ahead. Over them was a lane of pale-blue sky, around them the dark overshadowed River, and before them black, shutting out the sun, the hills of Emyn Muil, in which no opening could be seen.
Frodo peering forward saw in the distance two great rocks approaching: like great pinnacles or pillars of stone they seemed. Tall and sheer and ominous they stood upon either side of the stream. A narrow gap appeared between them, and the River swept the boats towards it.
So much passes by in these two paragraphs. The landscape has changed and become forbidding, almost threatening. The travelers are set upon a path of virtually no return. They have entered a region where a great power once set its hand upon the world, and the power of Gondor at one time had extended this far north. We are led with the travelers down this awesome path toward a goal which would intimidate any unwary observer, but which invites home Aragorn, the Heir of Isildur:
'Behold the Argonath, the Pillars of the Kings!' cried Aragorn. 'We shall pass them soon. Keep the boats in line, and as far apart as you can! Hold the middle of the stream!'
In a subtle way Tolkien seems to be revealing something to us of Aragorn's true majesty and authority. He is a Ranger and a warrior, but also is the son of kings coming to claim his own, to defend his kindred in the south against Sauron's armies. At the very boundary of Gondor's ancient realm Aragorn assumes an authority Boromir the son of the Ruling Steward never tries to express.
This is the actual moment of Aragorn's entry into Gondor as something more than an adventurer or traveler. He leaves no doubt as to whom he thinks he is, whereas Frodo and the hobbits are overawed and stunned by their first perception of the power and majesty of the Dunedain in Middle-earth:
As Frodo was borne towards them the great pillars rose like towers to meet him. Giants they seemed to him, vast grey figures silent but threatening. Then he saw that they were indeed shaped and fashioned: the craft and power of old had wrought upon them, and still they preserved through the suns and rains of forgotten years the mighty likenesses in which they had been hewn.
Upon great pedestals founded in the deep waters stood two great kings of stone: still with blurred eyes and crannied brows they frowned upon the North. The left hand of each was raised palm outwards in a gesture of warning; in each right hand there was an axe; upon each head there was a crumbling helm and crown. Great power and majesty they still wore, the silent wardens of a long-vanished kingdom. Awe and fear fell upon Frodo, and he cowered down, shutting his eyes and not daring to look up as the boat drew near. Even Boromir bowed his head as the boats whirled by, frail and fleeing as little leaves, under the enduring shadow of the sentinels of Numenore. So they passed into the dark chasm of the Gates.
Sheer rose the dreadful cliffs to unguessed heights on either side. Far off was the dim sky. The black waters roared and echoed, and a wind screamed over them. Frodo crouching over his knees heard Sam in front muttering and groaning: 'What a place! What a horrible place! Just let me get out of this boat, and I'll never wet my toes in a puddle again, let alone a river!'
Perhaps Sam is expressing the feelings of all the hobbits at this point, and giving the reader a moment to pause and consider what his own reaction should be. The splendor and terror of the Argonath is poorly conveyed by the written word, although Tolkien has something more to say of these great works of the ancient Gondorians in one of his letters, written in October, 1958, to Rhona Beare:
The Numenoreans of Gondor were proud, peculiar, and archaic, and I think are best pictured in (say) Egyptian terms. In many ways they resembled 'Egyptians' -- the love of, and power to construct, the gigantic and massive. And in their great interest in ancestry and tombs....I think the crown of Gondor (the S. Kingdom) was very tall, like that of Egypt, but with wings attached, not set straight back but at an angle.
The Egyptians did in fact create such huge, imposing statues. The statue of Rameses II at Karnak stands today and another sculpture, a massive bust of Rameses, was recovered from Abu Simpel.
The immense size of these works, though he never saw them in person, seems to have made a great impression on Tolkien, who had access to much information about ancient Egypt at Oxford if he desired it.
Like the Egyptians the Numenoreans of Gondor built "other works marvellous and strong...in the days of their power, at the Argonath, and at Aglarond, and at Erech; and in the circle of Angrenost, which men called Isengard, they made the Pinnacle of Orthanc of unbreakable stone.”
The Argonath were not originally created by Isildur and Anarion, but rather were constructed by Minalcar (regent 1240 - 1304) soon after his war against the Easterlings in 1248. Tolkien writes that Minalcar "fortified the west shore of Anduin as far as the inflow of the Limlight, and forbade any stranger to pass down the River beyond the Emyn Muil." This seems a bit harsh, but the "strangers" seem not to have been men of Edainic blood. Rather, we learn in THE PEOPLES OF MIDDLE-EARTH that other men had long settled in the vales of Anduin:
The vague tradition preserved by the Hobbits of the Shire was that they had dwelt once in lands by a Great River, but long ago had left them, and found their way through or round high mountains, when they no longer felt at ease in their homes because of the multiplication of the Big Folk and of a shadow of fear that had fallen on the Forest. This evidently reflects the troubles of Gondor in the earlier part of the Third Age. The increase in Men was not the normal increase of those with whom they had lived in friendship, but the steady increase of invaders from the East, further south held in check by Gondor, but in the North beyond the bounds of the Kingdom harassing the older 'Atanic' inhabitants, and even in places occupying the Forest and coming through it into the Anduin valley....
The first hobbits entered Eriador around 1050, and it was not for another 200 years that Gondor would deal with the Easterlings, driving them back into Rhun. The implication thus is that even Minalcar could not completely eradicate the Easterlings between Anduin and Rhunaer. It appears that some must have survived in southern Mirkwood near Dol Guldur, which was not powerful enough to threaten Gondor but nonetheless could harbor some strength of Easterlings who might travel down the River. The fortifications of the west-bank of Anduin thus make sense, although Tolkien had originally envisioned some troubles with the Northmen themselves still living in the Vales of Anduin.
But positioned south of the Anduin forts as they were, the Argonath could not have been intended to hold back travelers. Rather, they symbolized the great power any strangers from the north would be rousing to anger should they pass so far southward without an invitation or permission. While the west-bank forts were manned the opportunity to procure such permission was easily available.
Hence, it should be no wonder that when Aragorn himself passes between the Argonath he does not feel the fear and awe that the others exude. Although the power of ancient Gondor had passed its memory had not, and that power was a part of his heritage. The Argonath were thus a part of his heritage, and he passed them "proud and erect...his hood...cast back, and his dark hair...blowing in the wind, a light...in his eyes: a king returning from exile to his own land."