On the road that passed northward from Minas Tirith into Rohan, at the point where it passed through the encircling wall of the Rammas Echor, a guard of Gondorians was posted. Their leader was Ingold, by whose permission Gandalf and Pippin entered the townlands of Minas Tirith on their journey southwards from Rohan.
Days after Gandalf had passed, an army out of the east crossed the River Anduin and descended on Ingold's position. He retreated with his men back to the city, reporting that the northern road had fallen into the hands of the enemy. This was woeful news in Minas Tirith, because it was thought to mean that the Rohirrim could not come to their aid (though in fact the Riders were able to find another route, the long-forgotten Stonewain Valley).
Notes
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When he was encountered by Gandalf and Pippin during the War of the Ring, Ingold was an officer in the armies of Gondor. Based on this, he was probably born very roughly thirty years earlier, in about III 2990. We known that he was in Minas Tirith at the time of the Battle of Pelennor Fields, and presumably played some part in that battle, but we are not told whether or not he survived the wars that brought the Third Age to a close.
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2 |
The name Ingold had a long tradition among the Dúnedain, dating back to their ancestors in the First Age. In the form Ingoldo it had originally been a personal name of Finrod Felagund, which in that context derived from the roots ing- Ngoldo, 'foremost of the Noldor'. Finrod was a great friend to Men, and was greatly honoured by the Edain, who began to use his name Ingoldo for their own children. These people were not of course Noldor themselves, so the original meaning no longer applied, but as used by the Edain the name was interpreted more generally as 'eminent among his kindred'. Over time, and especially with the emergence of the Common Speech, the original name became simplified to the form Ingold in use in the later Third Age.
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- Updated 9 October 2017
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