War of the First Coalition

War of the First Coalition (Q. “Ohta Minyaheren“) was a legendary and poorly understood conflict that allegedly took part at the end of the Second Age, in the land that later become Gondor. It is only mentioned in three extant manuscripts of anonymous authorship, preserved at the monastery of Durthang: Ohta Minyaheren (OM, “War of the First Coalition”), Mairon i aicassë (MiA, “Mairon at the Mountain”), and Muindyr Agarrín (MA, “Blood-Crowned Brothers”). All three sources are at odds both with each other and with what is usually known from the historiography of Gondor from official sources such as the Gondorian Chronicles.

All three manuscripts belong to the Index of prohibited books (Parmar Avanyárima) sanctioned by King Cemendur (III 158–238) because they were judged to contain lies and falsehoods about the sanctity of the Line of Elendil. Two of the books are written in Quenya, one in Sindarin. According to the Index of Durthang, the original works are now lost, but are preserved in hand-written copies made at the monastery in the 500s. All three copies have suffered some damage during the Siege of Durthang in 573 when King Turambar waged war against dissidents in Mordor.

First Coalition was a council that convened some decades after Isildur and Anárion landed in Pelargir (II 3320). According to OM, it was summoned by Edhelion of Pelargir (“to avoid further war and destruction, after Kings of the Outlands bend the knee to Isildur”). Minyaheren could be also translated as “First Order” or “First Assosiaciation”. Aim was to establish an alliance between earlier Númenorean colonists, aristocratic newcomers escaping the Downfall, and native Gwathuirim kingdoms of Arnen, Arnach, Eilenach and Rimmon.

According to MiA and MA, “King of the Mountains” (Orontur) was also summoned, but he either did not come, or did not bend the knee. MiA lists seven participants as Edhelion, Isildur, Anárion, Agarrín, Mairon, Herumor, and Fuinur, and omits the native kings completely. MA states that the real conflict was between two tribes of the Elendili: between newcomers and colonists, or between Faithful and Profane Houses, as there were many among the Dúnedain who did not accept sons of Elendil as their overlords.

OM tells us that because there was no available land for Isildur, Anárion, and the fifty Faithful families that came with them, the Exiles went north from Pelargir and built their city on an island where Anduin was narrowest; and they named their tower Elostirion. Faithful families settled on both banks of Anduin and built fortifications to protect themselves. The native reaction was initially hostile, but Isildur allied with kings of Arnen while Anárion allied with kings of Rimmon, and together they crushed kingdoms of Arnach and Eilenach, which were hence opened to Númenorean colonisation. Arnen and Rimmon became also wary of the Númenoreans, but rising threats from both east and west brought all local rulers together, and they formed the First Coalition. OM dates this to III 3350, while MiA mentions the year III 3360. MA does not have any dates at all.

The First Coalition ruled a land that came to be called Arthor-na-Challonnas (South-Landing) for several decades until a war broke out between the Coalition and the Men of the Mountains, who (according to MA) worshipped Sauron as a Living God. The reason for the war is not clear; it is hinted that Lamedon chose to bend the knee to the King of the Mountains instead of Isildur and Anárion, and the Númenoreans sent a punitive expedition to the mountains which was wiped out by an ambush at Tarlang’s Neck. At the same time, it is said in MiA and MA that the social order in the Colony of Pelargir broke down, and animosity between the Profane and Faithful Houses escalated into a civil war.

The War of the First Coalition is said to have been characterized by “ambushes, sieges, massacres, and assassinations” (OM) and that it went on for two decades until Isildur and Anárion vanquished their foes and founded the Kingdom of Gondor. Edhelion and his followers left Pelargir for Belfalas where they established an independent principality, while Herumor and Fuinur fled south where they became great kings and lords among the Haradrim. Native kingdoms of Arnen, Arnach, Eilenach, and Rimmon were gradually absorbed into Gondor. Victorious parties formed the Second Coalition together with the King of the Mountains, which lasted until the War of the Last Alliance.

Controversy

Prohibited parts of the manuscripts talk about how “the Profane Houses” (meaning those Númenoreans who were not religious, or were more aligned with Sauron) were envious of the Faithful because they had brought with them many wondrous things and items of power from Númenor, and some Númenorean lords went from Pelargir to Barad-dûr to learn how to create items of power for themselves. These included mighty weapons, such as fiery rockets and bombs, and engines of war that belched black smoke. OM states that the Faithful were acting sanctimoniously and guarded their heirlooms with great selfishness; and didn’t want to share power with anybody else.

MA is the origin story of the House Agarinna (Agarrín, “the Blood-Crowned Brothers”). The manuscript tells us of three brothers who lived in Númenor and were mighty sorcerers. They set out to find and kill Lord Annatar, Steward of the Realm, whom they blamed for the death of their friend who was sacrificed to Melkor. The brothers managed to trick and imprison Lord Annatar, who, in exchange for his life, gave them a choice of everything they wanted. They thus received wondrous items of power which their sons-in-exile preserved as heirlooms, but because they were unholy in origin, a terrible curse followed the Agarrín wherever they went, and finally, one of them went to Mordor where he learned sorcerous ways from Sauron himself. But he did that only to uncover the hideous plot Sauron was hatching against the Faithful and later betrayed his trust and told everything he knew to Isildur and Anárion, thus redeeming his House.”