Forlong

This review won’t be Forlong and drawn out.

Background

Forlong is introduced in The Return of the King as the Lord of Lossarnach with two rather unflattering nicknames.

‘Forlong! Forlong!’ Pippin heard men calling. ‘What do they say?’ he asked. ‘Forlong has come,’ Bergil answered; ‘old Forlong the Fat, the Lord of Lossarnach. That is where my grandsire lives. Hurrah! Here he is. Good old Forlong!’ Leading the line there came walking a big thick-limbed horse, and on it sat a man of wide shoulders and huge girth, but old and grey-bearded, yet mail-clad and black-helmed and bearing a long heavy spear. Behind him marched proudly a dusty line of men, well-armed and bearing great battle-axes; grim-faced they were, and shorter and somewhat swarthier than any men that Pippin had yet seen in Gondor. ‘Forlong!’ men shouted. ‘True heart, true friend! Forlong!’ But when the men of Lossarnach had passed they muttered: ‘So few! Two hundreds, what are they? We hoped for ten times the number. That will be the new tidings of the black fleet. They are sparing only a tithe of their strength. Still every little is a gain.’

The Return of the King, Book 5, Chapter 1: Minas Tirith

Forlong fought in the Battle of Pelennor Fields. It is revealed in the Mounds of Mundberg song that he fell in battle alongside many other lords of Rohan and Gondor. Lossarnach is located southwest of Minas Tirith comprised of the White Mountain’s flowered vales.

Card Theme

There is not much about Forlong in the books to draw on the source of his readying ability. I argue it is intended to represent his dependability and reliability based on the people calling him a true heart and friend. The Outlands theme in general, however, is a different story.

Gondor arguably was the only empire of Middle Earth in the Third Age. It encompassed several different regions and had built up from Númenórean Faithful colonies and intermingled with other peoples over the course of its history. The southern fiefs called the Outlands provided different resources to the rest of Gondor. Most notably for the stat boosting mechanism to other Outlands characters is the captains of these lands brought 2,000 soldiers all equipped and trained differently. The strength of Gondor through its various peoples and lands is what is represented in the Outlands allies making each other stronger. Forlong is still and extension of that general theme.

Card Synergies and Interactions

Outlands

Forlong like all the other Outlands allies gets better the more you play. Play all the other stat boosting allies like Warrior of Lossarnach, Anfalas Herdsman, Ethir Swordsman, and Knights of the Swan. Then Forlong will have hero level stats and ready each phase. Hirluin the Fair with the resource smoothing for Outlands allies helps get them all into play.

Messenger of the King

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Spare Hood and Cloak and Marnier’s Compass

Quest Specific

Ring Rating

Card Talk uses the highly scientific yet arbitrary scale of 1 ring for the card to rule them all to 10 to be cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.

I rate Forlong at 5 rings. He is incredibly good in an Outlands deck with all the other Outlands allies. Outside of an Outlands deck he’s an expensive ally with low stats. The 5 rings I think best represents this very limited awesomeness.

• Dave – 9
• Grant – 4
• Ted – 4
• Matt – 5
• Average – 5. 5

External Links

• Tolkien Gateway
• Hall of Beorn
• Ringsdb

Sample Decks