Quote:
Originally Posted by Zigűr
In terms of the "ease" of Angmar's conquest, however, might it also be a factor in the failure of Arnor that it is where Sauron struck hardest first? Gondor endured war and strife through the Third Age as well, of course, and events like the Wainrider wars and the Balchoth invasion were orchestrated by Sauron, but they were largely indirect.
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There seems to be a manpower issue as well. Arnor seems not to have had the population from which to draw soldiers that Gondor displayed. What would be the reason for that? Of course, the loss of Isildur and his knights at the Gladden Fields was a blow, but we're only talking a couple of hundred people. The infighting between the mini-kingdoms would split resources, certainly, but then again Gondor endured the Kin-strife, in which "much of the best blood in Gondor was shed".
Gondor had embraced the Northmen as allies, and indeed as marriage material. If Arnor had found some "wild" Men to bring into their fold, I wonder if that could have helped them.
I still wondered, too, why Gondor got an indestructible tower and similar wall, while Arnor lost out. An answer presents itself now, that in the South was where the obvious threat was nearer. Mordor was the main concern, so if you have only a certain amount of a strong building material, you put it in Gondor.
