Minas Malloth

Minas Malloth (S. "Tower of the Golden-flower" or "Tower of the Golden-host"), also known as Ost Baranor (S. "Fortress of Eager-fire"), stands as an Cardolani hold, lying on a high ridge of the South Downs, east of the Barrow-downs and southeast of Bree, at the end of a road that intersected the Men Formen close to Gamuthill village. It was a vassalship of Hîredair Tinarë, and became the heart of the Cardolandren border defense. The Lord of the Tinarë lands once held court here, but after the last Hir of Tinarë died in coup, his son abandoned Minas Malloth to its perpetrators and fled north through Bree. An Arthadan force recaptured the fortress a year later, and rebuilt the hold. Because of the religious significance of these lands, there were several religious orders located nearby in Andrath or near the citadel at Minas Malloth itself, and in small monasteries on the downs themselves, most notably the Arumbarlië and Sisters of Nienna.
Minas Malloth is a construction of the Dúnedain of the North. In this period, it is a formidable structure, but it is not as enduring as other Númenórean constructs. The main keep was built in the early Third Age. The curtain walls were added at a later date with subsidies from the crown of Cardolan. The location was never sufficiently well-resourced to sustain a large population. The population of the region owed fealty to the Hir, but most of the people dwelt afar in Andrath and other towns and villages, albeit the village of Gamuthill at the nearby road junction could be deemed a goodly sized town in its heyday before the northern wars. Only the lord’s immediate family and household retainers dwelt at Minas Malloth. Above all, the mannish populations preferred and dwelt in nearby Bree-land, as generations of men had been wont to do. Minas Malloth could and would never overcome this disadvantage.
Gamuthill in the South Downs east of the Barrow-downs at the junction of the Men Formen and the road to Minas Malloth, was the only sizable village in the barony of Tyrn Gorthad. It had a real inn and stables, north of Metraith about three days into the Barrow-downs.

Type

Citadel

Owner/Ruler

Ninth Prince Minastír

Ruling/Owning Rank

Elector-Prince

Owning Organization

Cardolan: Land of the Barrows