White Tree of Minas Tirith

A title of any of various white trees that grew in the courts of Minas Tirith, descended from Nimloth of Númenor, and ultimately (it is said) from Telperion itself.

I

III 2 – III 1636 (1,634 years) The original White Tree of Middle-earth grew in Minas Ithil, but was destroyed in II 3429 when Sauron took that fortress. Isildur escaped with a seedling, which he planted in the courts of Minas Anor. The White Tree that grew there lasted through many centuries, but finally died at the time of the Dark Plague, at the same time as King Telemnar.

II

III 1640 – III 2872 (1,232 years) After four years, the new King of Gondor, Tarondor, planted a seedling of the first White Tree in place of the original. This second tree survived through Tarondor’s own reign, and through the reigns of six Kings who came after him. It lived on after the end of the line of Kings, until the time of Belecthor II, the twenty-first Ruling Steward. When Belecthor died, the White Tree died soon afterwards.

The Dead Tree

III 2872 – III 3019 (147 years) The second White Tree left no seedlings, and so could not be replaced. Instead, Belecthor’s heir Thorondir left it standing in the courts of Minas Tirith as a Dead Tree. It remained there for nearly a century and a half, through the rule of Thorondir and four further Stewards.

III

From III 3019 After the War of the Ring, Gandalf guided Aragorn to a barren slope of Mindolluin behind Minas Tirith, where he discovered a sapling of the White Tree. The Dead Tree was then removed to the Silent Street, and the sapling was planted in its place in the Court of the Fountain.