The Palantíri: Seeing Stones of Middle-earth | Tolkien Explained

They are among the most interesting, powerful and mysterious devices in Middle-

earth

. Created before the ages of the world began and used during the days of The Lord of the Rings. Today on Nerd of the Rings, we cover

palant

iri, seer

stones

. The

palant

iri are believed to have been created by Feanor during the first days of the world in Valinor. Feanor, best known for his creation of the silmarils, created many of these sight

stones

, although we don't know exactly how many. There are a total of eight palantiri that we know for sure. The first and largest that we know is the Master Stone, the main one of all the palantiri.

It was placed in the Tower of Avallone on the island of Tol Eressea. The others we know come into play later and in Middle-

earth

instead of Valinor. In the latter part of the Second Age, Númenor splits into two factions: one is the King's Men, who have come to covet the immortality of the elves and have fallen to the cult of Morgoth under the guidance of Sauron. The other, smaller group is known as Los Fieles. In those days, the elves give the palantiri to Amandil, Elendil's father. They did so in an effort to comfort the faithful Numenoreans, as they themselves were no longer welcome in the land that had fallen under Sauron's influence.

We are never told where these palantiri were or who owned them during the First Age. When Numenor is destroyed in 3319 SA, Elendil and his sons escape and take the seven

seeing

stones. They sail toward Middle-earth as survivors of their once-great kingdom. While Elendil, Anarion and Isildur establish the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor, Elendil places three palantiri in his northern kingdom, while he places four in the southern kingdom where his sons live. We will start in the north. First, we have the Elendil stone, also known as Elostirion stone. Elendil positions the palantir so that it is aligned west, towards the Master Stone in Tol Eressea, across the sea.

It is said that this stone could not make contact with the other 6 in Middle Earth, but only Elendil was able to use it to look west towards the Undying Lands. Númenor could not see it because it was covered by the sea forever. While Elendil was the only man to use the stone, Cirdan's elves guarded it in later days in his tower at Emyn Beraid. Over the centuries, even after Arnor fell in his wars with the Witch-king, groups of elves made pilgrimages to the palantir, with which they could glimpse Varda in Valinor, the most revered of all the Valar among the elves.

In fact, the group led by Gildor, with whom Frodo, Sam and Pippin meet, were returning from that trip. The Elendil stone would remain in his tower until after Sauron's fall. He is then taken back to Valinor on the White Ship along with the ringbearers of Middle-earth. Next, we have the stones of Amon Sul and Annúminas. Annuminas was the original capital of the kingdom of Arnor and the stone would remain there throughout Arnor's existence and when the kingdom splits into three in 861 TA, it remains in the kingdom of Arthedain. Elendil placed the stone of Amon Sul in the great watchtower as an important place in Arnor.

When Arnor is divided, Arthedain, Rhudaur, and Cardolan each claim Amon Sul largely because they wanted control of the palantir. When Amon Sul is destroyed by the Witch King's army in TA 1409, the stone is taken to Fornost, the second capital of Arnor, and later to Arthedain. Nearly 600 years later (1974 TA), what remains of Arthedain is facing its final days and is being invaded by Angmar. Its last king, Arvedui manages to save the stones Annúminas and Amon Sul from the Witch King's army and flees to the far north. There he is helped by the Lossoth people, who warn him that he should wait for the Witch King there rather than board a ship in the North Sea.

Arvedui ignores this advice and boards the ship. The ship's hull is crushed by ice and Arvedui, and his two seer stones are lost into the sea. As we head to the southern kingdom of Gondor, let's cover how the Palantiri actually work and what their capabilities are. Their first purpose, which we get a sense of in Peter Jackson's adaptations, is to communicate with each other. But as you may have wondered while we were talking about the Elendil stone, a palantir had to be aligned correctly in order to communicate with other stones. Basically, the stones had an axis, which had to point up and down in order to function.

When someone wanted to use a palantir, they oriented themselves to also look in the direction in which they wanted to communicate. The interviewer then sends their thoughts thinking about what they wanted to say. On the other hand, the user would hear those thoughts in his mind. This method of communication is an example of Osanwe, a Quenya term meaning "exchange of thoughts." Now, what you may not realize if you're primarily familiar with the movies is that the palantiri could also be used to view people and places throughout Middle-earth, although this requires much more skill on the part of the surveyor.

The only limitations to what they could see, other than the user's will, were darkness and the veil. The veil was the technique by which one could keep their actions secret from any potential use of a palantir. If someone tried to see a person using this technique, the observer would only see a shadow or deep fog. The knowledge of how to use the shroud was one of the lost mysteries of the Palantiri. The greatest of all the palantiri of Middle-earth, and the chief of the Middle-earth Seven, is found in Osgiliath, the capital city of Gondor. It is so big that one man cannot lift it.

He is located in a chamber known as ost-giliath (the Dome of Stars), named for its ceiling, which was painted to look like a starry sky. This stone, being the master, had the unique ability to spy on the other stones. The Osgiliath Stone is the first of the seven to be lost. From 1432 to 1447, Gondor was consumed by a civil war known as the Kinfight. In 1437, in the midst of this conflict, the city of Osgiliath is burned. While the city is engulfed in flames, the Palantir is lost in the River Anduin and will never be recovered. Finally, we have the three remaining palantiri that come into play during The Lord of the Rings.

The Ithil stone was placed in the Minas Ithil city of Isildur. Approximately 30 years after Arvedui and his palantiri were lost at sea (2002 TA), the city of Minas Ithil is attacked and captured by the Nazgul and transformed into the city of Minas Morgul. The Nazgul took the Ithil stone to Barad-dur, where Sauron would use it to influence both Saruman and Denethor. The Ithil stone may have been destroyed when Barad-dur is destroyed at the end of the War of the Ring. In the city of Minas Tirith, we have the stone of Anor, named after the city's original title, Minas Anor.

After the line of kings ends in 2050, the ruling stewards of Gondor keep the palantir secret. It would not be used until Denethor begins using it after becoming steward, with his kingdom falling under the Shadow of Mordor and the growing threat of Sauron. Denethor, who uses the stone to watch over his lands, comes to engage in a battle of wills with Sauron as they both use their respective palantiri. As a testament to his incredible willpower, Denethor is not corrupted by the dark lord. However, the cost of this endeavor causes Denethor to age prematurely and leads him to despair about the future of Gondor.

Another im Denethor holds the stone as he burns on the pyre in the last moments of his life. As for the stone, it is said that after this only those with extraordinary powers could see anything in the stone except two flaming hands. Finally, we have the Orthanc stone. This palantir is located in the Tower of Orthanc in Isengard. Late in the Third Age, when the kings of Gondor are gone, the Stewards almost forget the stone of Orthanc. It is partly because of this stone that Saruman offers to settle in Orthanc, hoping to obtain the stone for himself.

In TA 2759, Steward Beren of Gondor gives Saruman the key to Orthanc and King Frealaf of Rohan welcomes her to become his northern ally. There, just as he expected, he finds the Palantir of Orthanc in its rightful place. Approximately 250 years later (3000 TA), Saruman uses the palantir for the first time. By now, Sauron has the Ithil stone in Barad-dur and, unlike Denethor, can fight with the Orthanc stone (and the wizard) at his will. After the parley with Saruman, Wormtongue, not realizing what it is, throws the stone of Orthanc at Gandalf and the others. Pippin uses the stone later that night, causing Sauron to see it and assume that Pippin is the halfling who bears the One Ring.

Knowing what we know now about how the palantiri work, we realize that it was by chance that, as Pippin was fumbling for the Orthanc stone, he placed it correctly on his shaft. Himself sitting on the western side of it, pointing towards Barad-dur, allowing Sauron to communicate with him. Shortly after this, Aragorn would also use this stone, revealing himself to be the heir of Isildur and that he possessed the reforged sword of Elendil. This leads Sauron into open war with Gondor, keeping his eyes on Aragorn and the men of Middle-earth, rather than his own lands and the hobbits heading to Mount Doom.

In the end, the Orthanc Stone is the only stone that remains in Middle-earth until the Fourth Age and is fully usable and intact. Like so many things throughout the History of Middle-earth, these once-great relics have been largely lost to time, remaining only in tales and songs, such as the one Gandalf tells to Pippin as they travel to Minas Tirith... Tall tall ships. Kings Three times three, What brought them from the sunken land Over the flowing sea? Seven stars and seven stones and a white tree. What other relics or objects from Middle Earth would you like to see covered in a future video?

Let me know in the comments!