The Return of the King

I

THE NUMENOREAN KINGS

(i) NUMENOR

Feanor was the greatest of the Eldar in arts and lore, but also the proudest and most selfwilled. He wrought the Three Jewels, the Silmarilli, and filled them with the radiance of the Two Trees, Telperion and Laurelin,6that gave light to the land of the Valar. The Jewels were coveted by Morgoth the Enemy, who stole them and, after destroying the Trees, took them to Middle-earth, and guarded them in his great fortress of Thangorodrim.7Against the will of the Valar Feanor forsook the Blessed Realm and went in exile to Middle-earth, leading with him a great part of his people; for in his pride he purposed to recover the Jewels from Morgoth by force. Thereafter followed the hopeless war of the Eldar and the Edain against Thangorodrim, in which they were at last utterly defeated. The Edain (Atani) were three peoples of Men who, coming first to the West of Middle-earth and the shores of the Great Sea, became allies of the Eldar against the Enemy.

There were three unions of the Eldar and the Edain: Luthien and Beren; Idril and Tuor; Arwen and Aragorn. By the last the long-sundered branches of the Half-elven were reunited and their line was restored.

Luthien Tinuviel was the daughter of King Thingol Grey-cloak of Doriath in the First Age, but her mother was Melian of the people of the Valar. Beren was the son of Barahir of the First House of the Edain. Together they wrested a silmaril from the Iron Crown of Morgoth.8Luthien became mortal and was lost to Elven-kind. Dior was her son. Elwing was his daughter and had in her keeping the silmaril.

Idril Celebrindal was the daughter of Turgon, king of the hidden city of Gondolin.9Tuor was the son of Huor of the House of Hador, the Third House of the Edain and the most renowned in the wars with Morgoth. Earendil the Mariner was their son.

Earendil wedded Elwing, and with the power of the silmaril passed the Shadows10and came to the Uttermost West, and speaking as ambassador of both Elves and Men obtained the help by which Morgoth was overthrown. Earendil was not permitted to return to mortal lands, and his ship bearing the silmaril was set to sail in the heavens as a star, and a sign of hope to the dwellers in Middle-earth oppressed by the Great Enemy of his servants.11The silmarilli alone preserved the ancient light of the Two Trees of Valinor before Morgoth poisoned them; but the other two were lost at the end of the Firth Age. Of these things the full tale, and much else concerning Elves and Men, is told in The Silmarillion.

The sons of Earendil were Elros and Elrond, the Peredhil or Half-elven. In them alone the line of the heroic chieftains of the Edain in the First Age was preserved; and after the fall of Gil-galad12the lineage of the High-elven Kings was also in Middle-earth only represented by their descendants.

At the end of the First Age the Valar gave to the Half-elven an irrevocable choice to which kindred they would belong. Elrond chose to be of Elven-kind, and became a master of wisdom. To him therefore was granted the same grace as to those of the High Elves that still lingered in Middle-earth: that when weary at last of the mortal lands they could take ship from the Grey Havens and pass into the Uttermost West; and this grace continued after the change of the world. But to the children of Elrond a choice was also appointed: to pass with him from the circles of the world; or if they remained, to become mortal and die in Middle-earth. For Elrond, therefore, all chances of the War of the Ring were fraught with sorrow.13

Elros chose to be of Man-kind and remain with the Edain; bet a great life-span was granted to him many times that of lesser men.

As a reward for their sufferings in the cause against Morgoth, the Valar, the Guardians of the World, granted to the Edain a land to dwell in, removed from the dangers of Middle-earth. Most of them, therefore, set sail over Sea, and guided by the Star of Earendil came to the great Isle of Ele

There was a tall mountain in the midst of the land, the Meneltarma, and from its summit the farsighted could descry the white tower of the Haven of the Eldar in Eressea. Thence the Eldar came to the Edain and enriched them with knowledge and many gifts; but one command had been laid upon the Numenoreans, the ‘Ban of the Valar’: they were forbidden to sail west out of sight of their own shores or to attempt to set foot on the Undying Lands. For though a long span of life had been granted to them, in the begi

Elros was the first King of Numenor, and was afterwards known by the High-elven name Tar-Minyatur. His descendants were long-lived but mortal. Later when they became powerful they begrudged the choice of their forefather, desiring the immortality within the life of the world that was the fate of the Eldar, and murmuring against the Ban. In this way began their rebellion which, under the evil teaching of Sauron, brought about the Downfall of Numenor and the ruin of the ancient world, as is told in the Akallabeth.

These are the names of the Kings and Queens of Numenor: Elros Tar-Minyatur, Vardamir, Tar-Amandil, Tar Elendil, Tar-Meneldur, Tar-Aldarion, Tar-Ancalime (the first Ruling Queen). Tar-Anarion, Tar-Surion, Tar Telperien (the second Queen), Tar-Minastir, Tar-Ciryatan, Tar-Atanamir the Great, Tar-Ancalimon, Tar Telemmaite, Tar-Vanimelde (the third Queen), Tar-Alcarin, Tar-Calmacil.

After Calmacil the Kings took the sceptre in names of the Numenorean (or Adunaic) tongue: Ar-Adunakhor, Ar-Zimrathon, Ar-Sakalthor, Ar-Gimilzor, Ar-Inziladun. Inziladun repented of the ways of the Kings and changed his name to Tar-Palantir ‘The Farsighted'. His daughter should have been the fourth Queen, Tar-Miriel, but the King's nephew usurped the sceptre and became Ar-Pharazon the Golden, last King of the Numenoreans.

In the days of Tar-Elendil the first snips of the Numenoreans came back to Middle-earth. His elder child was a daughter, Silmarien. Her son was Valandil, first of the Lords of Andunie in the west of the land, renowned for their friendship with the Eldar. From him were descended Amandil, the last lord, and his son Elendil the Tall.

The sixth King left only one child, a daughter. She became the first Queen; for it was then made a law of the royal house that the eldest child of the King, whether man or woman, should receive the sceptre.

The realm of Numenor endured to the end of the Second Age and increased ever in power and splendour, and until half the Age had passed the Numenoreans grew also in wisdom and joy. The first sign of the shadow that was to fall upon them appeared in the days of Tar-Minastir, eleventh King. He it was that sent a great force to the aid of Gil galad. He loved the Eldar but envied them. The Numenoreans had now become great mariners, exploring all the seas eastward, and they began to yearn for the West and the forbidden waters; and the more joyful was their life, the more they began to long for the immortality of the Eldar.