"At Pelargir the Heir of Isildur will have need of you."
Pelargir was a great city on the river Anduin, and the main harbour of Gondor.
Pelargir was built in S.A. 2350 as a haven of the Faithful. The King's Men established havens farther South. It had in its early days been a city only a few miles away from the coasts, but after the Downfall of Númenor the coasts along the Bay of Belfalas had retreated a great distance and the city was left far inland. Pelargir was one of the cities that assembled Gondor when it was founded in S.A. 3320 by the Faithful.
It became an even greater haven in the days of the Ship-kings. Tarannon Falastur built a great house there, with its roots in the water which he so dearly loved. His wife, Berúthiel, did not, however, and preferred to live in Osgiliath with her cats. Tarannon's nephew Eärnil I, who succeeded him, rebuilt Pelargir and built a great navy to conquer Umbar.
Castamir was highly loved in the shore regions of the land, and when he usurped the throne, he purposed to move the throne from Osgiliath to Pelargir. Though he did not do so, he did move his base there. Eldacar turned the tide in the Kin-strife at the Battle of the Crossings of Erui in T.A. 1447, and Castamir's family, supporters and ships retreated to Pelargir. Eldacar besieged them by land until they were driven out, making their way to Umbar. Castamir's great-grandsons Angamaitë and Sangahyando eventually retook Pelargir in 1634, and slew king Minardil.
Like his namesake, the great general Eärnil took up residence in Pelargir. His Army of the South was stationed there during the long war with the Balchoth. News of the Disaster of the Morannon reached him on 9 July 1944, and he set out to battle. He returned victorious, and with the King and his sons slain, the general (of royal blood) was crowned King Eärnil II.
During the War of the Ring, Pelargir was overrun by Corsairs once again. Their fleet of some fifty great ships and many more smaller vessels laid in dock, ready to sail to Harlond. It was not to be: Aragorn and the Dead Men of Dunharrow struck fear into the men of Umbar, and they fled or dove into the river Anduin. After manning the Black Ships with his own troops, Aragorn released the spell that had haunted the Dead Men since the day of Isildur.
Pelargir is Sindarin for "Garth of (the) Royal Ships". Christopher Tolkien has noted that the first element derives from the Elvish element/root pel- ("go round, encircle"); the two other elements appear to be ar(a) ("royal, noble") + cîr ("ships").
Writing in a letter about an impending trip in 1955, Tolkien identified Pelargir as Venice.
Pelargir appears on a map when Gandalf explains the coming of the Black Ships.
Pelargir is one of the settings in which skirmishes can be fought.
Pelargir was built around the meeting of the rivers Sirith and Anduin, on the eastern border of the Lower Lebennin area and the Central Gondor region, west of Upper Lebennin and Eastern Gondor. Aragorn's retaking of Pelargir was featured in an Epic Battle and served as the climax of Book 2 of Volume IV. The city's emblem was a blue anchor on a white background, with gold trim. The city was divided into the West-garth, the East-garth, the Market Ward, the Shipwrights' Ward, the Court of the Ship-Kings, and Tol Ciryarani, though the latter was rendered inaccessible by a collapsed bridge by the time Aragorn liberated the city. Argillond, the Harbor of Royal Ships, was partitioned from the rest of the Great River by two sea-gates, one on the east and one on the west.
Sirgon was Lord of the city during the War of the Ring, and was captured and spirited away by Haradrim slavers when the city was captured. Sirgon's son Faltharan and his captain Thandor took command of the city following its liberation. Faltharan managed to rescue his mother and siblings, only to soon discover his brother Lorvegil had betrayed the city to the Corsairs, allowing it to fall. After apprehending Lorvegil, Faltharan discovered and rescued their father at the beacon Sirthanc in Upper Lebennin.
↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Last Debate"
↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion"
↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl"
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