Within the Court of the Fountain stood the White Tree, the symbol of Gondor. It was dry and lifeless throughout the centuries that Gondor was ruled by the Stewards; Aragorn brought a sapling of the White Tree into the city on his return as King. John Garth writes that the White Tree has been likened to the Dry Tree of the 14th century "Travels of Sir John Mandeville". The tale runs that the Dry Tree has been lifeless since the crucifixion of Christ, but that it will flower afresh when "a prince of the west side of the world should sing a mass beneath it". The apples of the trees allow people to live for 500 years.