Forlong the Fat was lord of Lossarnach, one of the fiefs of Gondor that lay south and west of Minas Tirith, between the city and the White Mountains. He was old and grey-haired, and well known in the city.1
On the evening of 9 March 3019, the day Pippin came to Minas Tirith with Gandalf, the companies of the outlands marched in to defend the city, and Pippin watched them pass through the gate. Forlong came at the head of the men of Lossarnach, and the crowd in the streets cheered him by name.1
They were fewer than the city had hoped for. The southern fiefs were held back by the threat of the Corsairs of Umbar on their coasts, and each lord brought only a part of his strength. Last and proudest came Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth with his knights.1
Six days later he fought in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and he did not survive it. The song of the Mounds of Mundburg, which closes the tale of the battle, names him among the fallen: Forlong the old, who never came home to the flowering vales of Arnach, his own country.2
Interpretation He is one of the many minor lords Tolkien named to give the defence of Gondor the feel of a whole realm, each fief with its own colours and its own small army.1
Sources
Citations name the chapter rather than the page, so they work in any edition. The colour of each note shows what kind of source it is.
- Published story The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as Tolkien published them.
- Published story The Return of the King, Book V, ch. 1, “Minas Tirith”
- Published story The Return of the King, Book V, ch. 6, “The Battle of the Pelennor Fields”