You as the last steward...

[afro-elf]

If you where the steward of Gondor at the during the time of LOTR what would you have done?

[Renille]

For one thing, not looked into the Palantir. But otherwise, I would probably live out my steward's life just like my fore-fore-fore-fore fathers and mothers had done. I would probably fight Mordor as best as possible, and wait for the return of the king. When he came, I would HAPPILY turn over the throne to let a REAL king fight Sauron. I would want to support the king in the best way possible.

[Sween]

well i would of got the plenor wall fixed in good time and put more thought into a direct assualt on Minus Tirith. I would of also listened to Gandalf and asked him if he knew where the king was. and i would of encourages people to give birth in the years leading up to the war they needed all the men they could get.

[The Lady of Ithilien]

This is realpolitik, but I have to admit it: I'd have done pretty much as Denethor did (though would have been a bit more evenhanded with the boys ). I also would have rejected Aragorn's claim to the throne, even if he was of the line of Isildur, because he was a mere "chieftain" and ranger up north, and tried to talk my brother-in-law Prince Imrahil into taking the crown.

Also, I would have banned "Gandalf Stormcrow" from Gondor as a troublemaker and also because he really, really annoyed me, and would have started cultivating a relationship with Saruman to counter the threat from Mordor.

All this is not because I'm a bad person but because I'm imagining myself as the heir of such a long line of Stewards, indeed, the highest office of Gondor that had remained intact since Elendil. That sort of stuff can go to one's head in a big way.

[afro-elf]

I concur with mostly what Sween said. I would have tried to strengthen ties between the various free peoples as soon as I ascended to the Steward ship. There would have been garrisons of Dwarves, Elves, Men and maybe even Hobbits located through out ME to asisst each other so each kingdom would not be swallowed up one by one.

Dwarves to be engineers and warriors

Silvan Elves as archers

A handful of Noldor warriors and war advisors


Sindarin Mariners with Gondors fleet

Rohirrim for sorties

The Rangers of Ithilien and of the North as special forces( dressed in elven cloaks)

Trust in Gandalf

[ArwenEvenstar]

Originally posted by afro-elf
I concur with mostly what Sween said. I would have tried to strengthen ties between the various free peoples as soon as I ascended to the Steward ship. There would have been garrisons of Dwarves, Elves, Men and maybe even Hobbits located through out ME to asisst each other so each kingdom would not be swallowed up one by one.

Dwarves to be engineers and warriors

Silvan Elves as archers

A handful of Noldor warriors and war advisors


Sindarin Mariners with Gondors fleet

Rohirrim for sorties

The Rangers of Ithilien and of the North as special forces( dressed in elven cloaks)

Trust in Gandalf

good plan and i say ditto to sween and renille

[Telperion]

I'm not sure what I would do but what i think I should do is this.
Listen to Gandalf and act on his advice.
Tell Gandalg about the palantir.
Strengthen my cities defenses.
Make alliances with all the good people I can.
Give the throne to Aragorn when he comes to claim it.

I know that sounds very dependant on Gandalf, but i'm not smart enough to run Gondor by myself.

[Celebrian]

I would have given the Palintir to Gandalf and been very very happy when the king arrived. I would have tried not to pick a favorite out of Farimir and Boromir. I would have tried to get all the races at least semi- united so they could fight together. I probably would be a lousy steward.

[Renille]

Those aren't lousy ideas,Celebrian...those are good ideas! It's a much, much stronger stewardship plan than Denethor had.

[UnStashable]

hindsight is 20/20

[The Lady of Ithilien]

hindsight is 20/20

Said Denethor just before he looked into the Palantir for the very first time, hoping to find a better perspective on the overall situation. Instead, he encountered Sauron.

I can't help wondering: how would all the kind and gentle among us here address their nearest neighbor, Sauron, in their plans?

[Nilvasaien]

Originally posted by The Lady of Ithilien

I can't help wondering: how would all the kind and gentle among us here address their nearest neighbor, Sauron, in their plans? [/B]

I think Renille and afro-elf addressed that in their posts; I agree with them. By strenghtening ties with the other free peoples of Middle-Earth, Gondor would have been that much stronger to oppose Sauron.

[Earniel]

I would probably listen to Gandalf's advise but act afterwards as it's my own idea. Reinforcing the walls and defenses sound like a good idea but I would probably forget about it. I doubt I would have allied myself with the other races of Middle-earth, not that I wouldn't have liked it but simply because it would probably have been too difficult. I believe that there had been no communication with elves or dwarves for generations of stewards. So I doubt that I could have gotten those ties back on line again before the war. That means dwarves and elves off any kind are out of the picture. The rangers... , well if I was raised as a steward I can imagine looking down on them a bit so I doubt I would have asked them to help. Which leaves only the Rohirrim, they would have been my only allies.

I would have welcomed Aragorn cautiously. I would probably engage several genealogists to find out is he really was Isildur's heir in the first place. He would have to show me a lot of proof before I would be convinced: Birthcertificates, heirlooms, ect. If i was finally convinced I'd let him have the city, kick back and enjoy my stewardship.

[Draken]

1) Stop all this king-less mooching around. Establish Minas Tirith as a syndicalist collective and if any king ever turns up, tell him to get on with strengthening the ramparts along with the rest of the proletariat.

2) Throw everything into methodically researching and updating alchemical and metal working knowledge until Minas Tirith came up with automatic sidearms, breech loading artillery and tanks. Then sit and await Sauron's assault with a smug grin.

No...I'm not being entirely serious....

[glasses]

I would build a large wooden rabbit, fill it with my best warrioirs and send it into Mordor, and...um... uh, well, maybe if I built a wooden badger...

[The Lady of Ithilien]

By strenghtening ties with the other free peoples of Middle-Earth, Gondor would have been that much stronger to oppose Sauron.

The free peoples?

The Elves -- estranged from the majority of the race of Men by the lies of Sauron and before him, Morgoth. And so far faded in the memory of Men that Denethor himself thought Elrond and Halfelven were two separate beings living in some probably mythical place called Imladris whose location nobody knew, though many had heard of it.

The Dwarves -- scattered remnants of their former strength and numbers, not all of them good guys (except for Durin's race), and even the family of Durin was mistrusted by and mistrustful of just about everybody, with or without cause.

The Hobbits -- while they sent archers to the old wars in the North, it didn't exactly tip the balance one way or the other. There was a strength of another kind in the Shire, as Gandalf noted, but not one that Gondor could easily tap.

The Men -- they were all over the place, but other than the Rohirrim, they were either too few and too far away, or gone over to Sauron's side, or gone wild and just hiding out hoping to weather the storm. And Sauron and Saruman both were working overtime to keep the Rohirrim distracted quite effectively. That's such an interesting part of this whole story -- here's the Age of Men about to dawn, and look how they're split. (Notice that Tolkien had firmly closed off an interesting possibility here by saying that Beorn had passed on and his sons, much more human like than the Beorn we saw in The Hobbit, kept the passes open.)

And in the meantime Sauron was continuing his eons-old game of sowing lies and fear, appealing to everybody's basest instincts (which wasn't that hard to do), and making sure his minions were very secure, organized and heavily amd flashily armed, thus drawing even more waverers into their ranks as the times grew more and more chaotic.

Quite a predicament for Denethor.

[afro-elf]

Men that Denethor himself thought Elrond and Halfelven were two separate beings

PLEASE show us where he thought they were two seperate beings.

There were ties between the Northern Dunedain and the Noldor/Sindar of the NW and The Wood Elves and the Men of the Wood and Dale and Lake Town.


Again the Dwarves of the Iron Hill and The Lonely mountain where in alliance with Men and Elves

Quite a predicament for Denethor.

I concur however Denethor's pride may have been his undoing.
Also the post above do not suggest bring great armies to bare but strengthenin defense.

[Blackheart]

Were I last Steward of Gondor, I would have loaded up the treasury, snagged all the good looking women, and moved east to retire in a life of luxury and unbridled hedonistic pleasure.

Oh yeah, and probably told Sauron to bump off some of his leftenants so he could have room for a friggin decent strategist.

[Blackheart]

Oh and double post. yeah. Definately double post.

[The Lady of Ithilien]

PLEASE show us where he thought they were two seperate beings.

Boromir at the Council of Elrond: "Of these words we could understand little, and we spoke to our father, Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, wise in the lore of Gondor. This only would he say, that Imladris was of old the name among the Elves of a far northern dale, where Elrond and Halfelven dwelt, greatest of lore-masters."

'Lord of Minas Tirith,' not 'Steward of Gondor.' Hmmm -- never noticed that before.

As for strengthening defense, sand-castles, my precious, oh yess.

"Then you would have us retreat to Minas Tirith, or Dol Amroth, or to Dunharrow, and there sit like children on sand-castles when the tide is flowing?" said Imrahil. "That would be no new counsel," said Gandalf.