Forannest was the northern gate of the Rammas Echor, the great encircling wall of the Pelennor Fields.
It was located in the north-west part of the Rammas and the northern road from Minas Tirith ran through Forannest joining the Great West Road.
During the War of the Ring, Gandalf and Peregrin Took passed through the gate which was under the command of Ingold. Several days later the forces of Sauron coming from the Morannon, took Cair Andros and breached the Rammas Echor, destroying Forannest, and Ingold and his men were the last to retreat from the wall to Minas Tirith.
Two days later the Rohirrim passed through Forannest and the breaches around it, therefore leading to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
The name is apparently Noldorin (which was later re-envisioned as Sindarin) and is glossed by Tolkien as "North Entrance ..." with an obscure final word looking as "in".
The name seems to be composed of the Noldorin/Sindarin elements forn "north", annon "gate" and nest which probably means "heart, core".[note 1]
 Other versions
Earlier names of the gate that Tolkien rejected were Fornest and Anfornest.
The name appears only in drafts from the 1940s and didn't make it to the final Return of the King.
- ↑ In the same note Tolkien provided the related words nesta and nethra , but with inexplicable meaning.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Ring, p. 354
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Ring, p. 357, note 18