One of the many titles used for those who ruled over the South-kingdom from the White Tower in the heights of Minas Tirith, the City of Gondor. The scope of the title is not completely clear, but it almost certainly encompassed the Ruling Stewards. At least, all our references to it refer to the Stewards, going back to the time of the foundation of Rohan when Steward Cirion ruled over Gondor. The same title was in use as late as the end of the Third Age, when it was used of Denethor II, who ruled Gondor at the time of the War of the Ring, fourteen generations after Cirion's time.
It is less clear whether the same title extended back as far as the time of the Kings of Gondor. If so, the first King who could possibly have used the title would have been Ostoher, who was the seventh King of Gondor but the first to rule from Minas Tirith (or Minas Anor as it was known in his time). Even so, Ostoher and his descendants only ruled from Minas Anor as a summer retreat, and the seat of the Kings was not moved there permanently until much later. It was Tarondor, the twenty-seventh King, who first ruled entirely from the City of Gondor, some 1,300 years after Ostoher's time. So, if the title of 'Lord of the City' was used by the Kings at all, Tarondor would have been the first who could hold it fully. After Tarondor, there were six further Kings who might have been known as Lords of the City, before the line of Kings came to an end and Mardil Voronwë was established as the first of the Ruling Stewards.
For full lists of all those who might have qualified for this title, and genealogical charts, see the entries for King of Gondor and Ruling Steward.
Notes
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Counting the holders of the title 'Lord of the City' is difficult, as we have no real detail about when it came into use, or indeed whether it was used by the earlier Kings at all. The figure of twenty-six Kings is highest possible number, assuming that Ostoher called himself Lord of the City as soon as he set up his summer court in Minas Anor. If Tarondor, the first permanent Lord of the City, was the first to use the title, then the total number of Kings by this count would fall to seven.
These figures exclude the Kings after the restoration (that is, Aragorn Elessar and his descendants). If these later Kings also used the title, there would have been at least two further Lords of the City (Aragorn and his son Eldarion) and potentially very many more during the Fourth Age.
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- Updated 2 July 2023
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