Henneth Annun Reseach Center

Timeline Event

Palantír of Minas Tirith burned

Event Type: Military/Strategic

Age: 3rd Age - Ring War

Date: March 15, 3019

Description:
An event in the Siege of Minas Tirith; see that entry for an overview:

[Denethor] stood up tall and proud... and stepping swiftly back to the table he lifted from it the pillow on which his head had lain. Then coming to the doorway he drew aside the covering, and lo! he had between his hands a palantír. And as he held it up, it seemed to those that looked on that the globe began to glow with an inner flame, so that the lean face of the Lord was lit as with a red fire....

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 7, The Pyre of Denethor

'Come hither!' [Denethor] cried to his servants. ... Swiftly he snatched a torch from the hand of one and sprang back into the house. Before Gandalf could hinder him he thrust the brand amid the fuel, and at once it crackled and roared into flame.

Then Denethor leaped upon the table ... he bowed and laid himself on the table, clasping the palantír with both hands upon his breast.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 7, The Pyre of Denethor

... even as Gandalf came to the end of Rath Dínen there was a great noise. Looking back they saw the dome of the house crack and smokes issue forth; and then with a rush and rumble of stone it fell in a flurry of fire; but still unabated the flames danced and flickered among the ruins.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 7, The Pyre of Denethor

[The palantíri] were indeed unbreakable by any violence then controlled by men though some believed that great heat, such as that of Orodruin, might shatter them....

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 3, The Palantíri

'I wish we could have a Stone that we could see all our friends in,' said Pippin, 'and that we could speak to them from far away!'

'Only one now remains that you could use,' answered Aragorn; 'for you would not wish to see what the Stone of Minas Tirith would show you.'

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 5, Many Partings

And it was said that ever after, if any man looked in that Stone, unless he had a great strength of will to turn it to other purpose, he saw only two aged hands withering in flame.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 7, The Pyre of Denethor

Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 19Sep05

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