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Hills · Eriador

Weathertop

Amon Sûl

Amon Sûl, the broken watchtower on the Great East Road where Frodo was stabbed by the Witch-king

View on map Eriador
Appears in
The Lord of the Rings
Region
Eriador
Journeys passing through
2
Weathertop on the map of Middle-earth

Weathertop is a cone-shaped hill with a flattened top, the last and highest of the line of Weather Hills that runs north from the Great East Road. On the map it is the obvious midpoint of the road from Bree to Rivendell, with the Midgewater Marshes behind it to the west and the Last Bridge and the Trollshaws ahead to the east. From the summit a traveller can see the Road in both directions for a long way, which is exactly why it was fortified.

Elendil built the tower of Amon Sûl here, and Aragorn's telling is that Elendil stood on it watching for Gil-galad to come out of the west before the Last Alliance. It held the chief palantír of the North-kingdom, larger than the others and able to reach them all. When Arnor split into Arthedain, Rhudaur and Cardolan the tower became the prize the three kingdoms fought over, because whoever held the Stone held the advantage.

In TA 1409 the forces of Angmar burned the tower and threw it down. The palantír was saved and carried to Fornost, and was lost at sea in TA 1975 when King Arvedui drowned in the Icebay of Forochel. What is left on the hilltop is a ring of tumbled stone and a grass-grown dell below the crown.

Gandalf fought there first. Pursued by the Riders, he made a stand on the summit on 3 October TA 3018 and the lightning of that fight was seen from the marshes. Three days later Aragorn and the hobbits camped in the dell below, and five Nazgûl came up on them after dark. Frodo put on the Ring, saw the Riders as they truly were and was stabbed in the shoulder by the Witch-king with a Morgul-knife. Aragorn drove them off with fire, but the splinter in the wound worked toward Frodo's heart for the next seventeen days.

Events at this place

  1. SA 3430 · The Lord of the Rings

    Elendil's watch

    Tradition recorded by Aragorn holds that Elendil stood upon Amon Sûl waiting for Gil-galad before the Last Alliance marched east.

  2. TA 1409 · Appendices

    The tower destroyed

    Angmar burned Amon Sûl and broke the tower. The palantír was rescued and taken to Fornost.

  3. TA 3018, October 3 · The Lord of the Rings

    Gandalf besieged on the summit

    On 3 October Gandalf was attacked on Weathertop by the Nazgûl and broke out northward at dawn, drawing part of the pursuit after him.

  4. TA 3018, October 6 · The Lord of the Rings

    Frodo is stabbed

    On the night of 6 October five Riders attacked the camp in the dell. The Witch-king wounded Frodo with a Morgul-knife before Aragorn drove them back with brands.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Weathertop on the Middle-earth map?

On the Great East Road roughly halfway between Bree and Rivendell, at the southern end of the Weather Hills.

What was Amon Sûl?

The chief watchtower of Arnor, built by Elendil on Weathertop, which housed the greatest of the northern seeing-stones until Angmar destroyed it in TA 1409.

What happened to Frodo at Weathertop?

The Witch-king stabbed him in the shoulder with a Morgul-knife on 6 October TA 3018. A splinter stayed in the wound until Elrond removed it at Rivendell.