fav kingdom

[Beren3000]

I'd say Gondor or Gondolin (if I lived in the First Age, that is!)

[Elanor the Fair]

Arthedain - because this encompasses the Shire. I would love that simple, peaceful life!!

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

Originally Posted by Elanor the Fair

Arthedain - because this encompasses the Shire. I would love that simple, peaceful life!!

I would have to agree.... either that or Gondor.

[Dark Lord Sauron]

Oh, man. I'm split between three choices here.

Utumno is not one of them. I never spent much time there and neither did my master.

The realm of Angband is one choice. The fortress itself, Angband, was the greatest fortress in Middle Earth during the First Age, even better than that poor imitation of Gondolin. Who needs to use natural mountains? While my master, er, FORMER master, was building Utumno, I was building Angband. That entire place was made by me. *sniff* It was my first home. Despite not being as big as Utumno it still had all the comforts of home, including torture chambers, spawning areas and the living quarters for a few dozen thousand orcs, Balrogs, dragons, and of course, me and later Melkor. All of the Noldor combined, with hundreds of years of oppurtunity, could not break into my fortress.

The actual realm of Angband is no less impressive. The core of the lands, consisting of Anfauglith, was completely destroyed by flame during the Fourth Battle. Nothing remains but desert; a fitting area that any enemy should have to go through to reach Angband. Taur-nu-Fuin, formerly Dorthonion, also fell into my former master's hands after that battle After the Fifth Battle, Dor-Lomin also came to be a tributary fief. The wicked men there lived up to my expectations by enslaving the natives. At the height of Melkor's power he had influence all the way south to Nargothrond.

Mordor is my second choice. I came to this area in the Second Age. This place was almost built to be a fortress. Ered Duath to the west, the Ash Mountains to the north, and Udun providing an ideal defensive location behind the Morannon. Not to mention the fact that Gorgorath itself is nearly completely encircled. Barad-dur marks a stark and radical contrast to the previous fortresses of the Dark Powers, though my tower of Minas Tirith was a preliminary. Massive slaves in the south, and a huge volcano in the north. I love it.

The forces of Mordor conquered all of Eriador, formed alliances with the men of the East and South, and controlled most of Middle Earth, with the exception of Imladris and Gil-Gilad's realm, as well as Pelargir, Umbar, and the various other Numenorian posts. Even after my "capture" *snicker*, Mordor still ruled much of Middle Earth. During the War of the Last Alliance I made my way as far west as Minas Ithil before being on the receiving end of a cheapshot on my finger.

After my fall, Mordor was no longer my homeland, but I came eventually to rule in Dol Guldur. By the time I returned to Mordor, I was greatly increasing my strength. By 3318, I controlled not only Mordor, but also Dagorlad, much of Rhovanion, some of Ithilien, and of course southern Mirkwood. My vassal, the Witch-King, controlled Minas Morgul. The Khand, Harad, and Corsairs all were my vassals. Isengard, which could muster the forces of Dunland, acknowledged my authority. During the War of the Ring the forces of Mordor were so great that I was able to simultaniously launch attacks on Rohan, Gondor, Thranduil's relam and Lorien.

Third, I would have to say Arnor and its derivative realms.

I'm not kidding.

No really.

2000 years of constant tooling by my forces? WIN.

Actually,

I think Arnorese history is THE most interesting history in Middle Earth. All the more so because Tolkien did not provide us with adequate information of the area, leaving some of its story shrouded in mystery.

The fact that it existed as a state in limbo for more than 800 years is itself interesting. While Gondor was waging campaigns of acquisition and war against the barbarian invaders, Arnor was completely paralyzed by its low Dunedain population and thus could not accomplish much. It's split in 841 and the complex nature of the relationship between Artheadain, Cardolan and Rhudaur is very good and provides a serious challenge to Dunedain rule at the same time when Gondor is reaching the height of its power. The Witch-King's successful manipulation of this relationship causes the defection of Rhudaur over to his camp, though a revolt by the local wicked men that overthrew the Dunedain is also responsible. The subsquent slow but inevitable decline from one of the bastions of civilization to a return to barbarism is well done. Cardolan is ravaged in 1409 and most of the Dunedain perish. The remaining there struggle to control an ever-increasingly hostile realm and, coupled with the great plague of 1636 (my work ), they are completely expelled. In Arthedain, the Dunedain are struggling to hold their own, but their begin to tire of the fight. Amon Sul has been destroyed and the actual Dunedain struggle even to fill the city of Fornost. Military alliances with Cardolan and later Gondor prove unable to save the state. At last, a great host is assembled by Angmar. Arthedain sees it coming, but cannot do anything about it. In what was probably most similar to the end days of the Byzantine Empire, a final desperate call is sent out to save this last vestige of the realm of Elendil. Despite the massive assemblage of a great host, the Enemy strikes, and strikes hard. Fornost falls, and with that comes the end of Dunedain rule in the north. However, the Dunedain manage revenge by completely wiping out the army of Angmar, thus leaving a sparsely populated land ravaged by war and horror.

Beautiful.

[Attalus]

My favorite would be Gondolin, with Khazad-Dûm a close second.

[Thain Peregrin Took I]

Originally Posted by Meriadoc Brandybuck

I would have to agree.... either that or Gondor.

Yup, same here!

[elixir]

My favourite is the Blessed Realm of Aman. I would gladly miss out all the fun - wars, pain and misery - and lead my happy and peaceful life there.

[Halbarad of the Dunedain]

For me it is quite a toss up... First I think is Númenor, the following are on the same level of second; Belegost, Nogrod, Erebor, and Khazad-dûm. Finally my third favorite kingdoms are that of Utumno or Angband and Mordor!

[Pytt]

i dont really know. the blessed realm, shire, gondolin and nogrod, they all are places i wanted to live, but if i shall decide... no i can't.

[Imric]

Originally Posted by ryttu3k

I was going to say the Riddermark!

I am throwing in my vote for the Riddermark as well! Any kingdom that can boast a hero like Helm Hammerhand is surely worthy of our admiration and praise.

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

It's got to be Arnor as it's so close to elves, hobbits and dwarves plus if you live in Arnor and you were one of the Dunedain so you would travel instead of just sitting at home.

[Haradrim]

First off someone asked ig Mirkwood was a kingdom and I have to go with yes because Legolas was prince of it also there was a king of it in the Hobbit.

My favorite kingdom has to be...... Hobbitton. I think its a kingdom because it has different sections of it. Also it has leaders. So I think its fair to call it a kingdom. Why its my favorite. THe beauty, the peace, the hobbits, the whole feeling of laziness and comfort. Also all the meals!

[Michael Martinez]

Originally Posted by Haradrim

First off someone asked ig Mirkwood was a kingdom and I have to go with yes because Legolas was prince of it also there was a king of it in the Hobbit.

Thranduil's kingdom was called the Woodland Realm, although Legolas was occasionally said to be from Mirkwood. So, Mirkwood was not a kingdom, just a great forest. The Woodland Realm existed within the northern portion of Mirkwood, and was probably about the size of Lorien, maybe a little larger.

[Manveru]

My favourite is definately Arnor. They kept the line of the dunedain the longest and when the kingdom was destroyed, instead of trying to save themselves and rebuild their kingdom the dunedain used their last strength to guard the breelanders and the shire[lings??] from evil. it would be the best place to live, wandering around, camping wherever you want, canoeing down the baranduin, checking out deadman's dike (the ruins of fornost), lazing on the beach at lake evendim, skiing on the north downs in the winter, visiting the elves at rivendell and the grey havens and the dwarves in the blue mountains, strolling through the shire, hiking through the old forest and the chetwood, and snowshoeing at the cape of forochel. its got everything. and the far eastern edge of beleriand is right by.

[Wayfarer]

That's it. I'm within an inch of starting a 'What is your favorite 'what is your favorite' thread' thread.

[Durin1]

Mine has to be Doriath and/or Khazad-Dum.

I always loved the short passage in The Sil when the building of Menegroth is described:

Elves and Dwarves together, each with their own skills, wrought out the visions of Melian, of the wander and beauty of Valinor across the sea

It goes on to say that Menegroth was the fairest place East of the Sea. Must have been pretty awesome.

And just imagine walking through Neldoreth forest and meeting Luthien dancing amongst the hemlocks and the Esgalduin, the enchanted river...

[Attalus]

Originally Posted by Wayfarer

That's it. I'm within an inch of starting a 'What is your favorite 'what is your favorite' thread' thread.

Hmm, mine would be "What is your Favorite Inn."

[brego]

mine is numenor or Lothlorien

[Olmer]

Originally Posted by Dark Lord Sauron

... coupled with the great plague of 1636 (my work ), they are completely expelled.

My,my... basking yourself in the glorious light of your accomplishments...

It's all right. Sauron's military-political schemes quite often ask for respect, and even admiration, just don't ask to be credited for bad things which had happened on its own accord.

It's true that in 1636 of the Third Age the Great Plague came from the South-East direction and ravaged Harad and Gondor and then spreaded to North -West .
It's true that it came from Mordor's direction. But at this time Mordor was desolate and uninhabited, for its master was dwelling in Dol Guldur , which was quite far from the disease starting point.
One more point in Sauron's defense: since the plague had no difference between Good guys and Bad guys, common sence tells you that initiating the spread of such virulent disease might cost you of the elimination not only yours unwilling suppliers , but yours army and the armies of your allies. I don't think that Sauron, as smart and farseeing as he was, wished to be The Lord of The Great Desert.

Oh, and my favorite would be Gondolin. Here is an awesome picture of Gondolin by Billy Mosiq. I would like to visit that place.GONDOLIN.

[Rosie Gamgee]

Emyn Arnen, Gondor. 'Nuff said- although I will admit that my biggest reason for living in Gondor would be to catch one of those Gondorian hunks!