A title given to the commander of a Gondorian army in the field, at least for a period during the middle of the Third Age. Though 'captain' was a common title for any leader of Gondor's forces, the specific rank of 'Captain of Gondor' was less commonly used. The earliest record of the title has it assigned to Eärnur, son and heir to King Eärnil II, who led Gondor's armies to the aid of the North-kingdom.
Eärnur's forces arrived in the North too late to save Arthedain, the last remnant of the North-kingdom, but the Captain was nonetheless able to avenge the loss of that realm when he fought the Battle of Fornost in III 1975. In the aftermath of that battle, the defeated Witch-king rode his steed directly toward the Captain of Gondor, but fear of the Nazgûl caused Eärnur's horse to flee. Eärnur would go on to become King of Gondor, and eventually to fall victim to the Witch-king, who in later times occupied Minas Morgul on Gondor's borders.
At the end of the Third Age, the overall leader of Gondor's forces was more usually titled the Captain of the White Tower, a rank held at different times by both Boromir and Faramir, the sons of Steward Denethor II. Indeed it seems that the names of these ranks might have been interchangeable, so that the Captains of the White Tower were also accounted Captains of Gondor, and we have several instances of Faramir being described as 'Captain of Gondor' to support this possibility.
Notes
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Eärnur is the only known Captain of Gondor, and so his dates are shown above, but in principle there may have been many such Captains through the history of that land, and thus through the entirety of the Third Age and beyond. It should be noted that neither of Eärnur's dates is absolutely certain. His date of birth appears only in draft texts in volume XII of The History of Middle-earth volume XII, and the fact that he was lost in Minas Morgul means that his exact date of death remains unknown.
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Eärnur, the only known holder of the title, was descended from the House of Anárion. From later history, it seems that the Gondorians had a preference that leaders of their forces should be drawn from the ruling house (for example, both Boromir and Faramir, heirs to the Stewardship, held such roles). On purely practical grounds, however, it does seem unlikely that all of the captains across history would have been heirs to a ruling line.
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Minas Tirith only gained that name during Eärnur's lifetime, with the capture of Minas Ithil by the Nazgûl. In Eärnur's youth, his home city would still have been known by its old name of Minas Anor. Even Minas Anor had not always been the chief city of Gondor, and during its early centuries, if a Captain of Gondor existed during that period, they would have been based at Osgiliath on Anduin.
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- Updated 26 May 2025
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