Wikipedia

Elendil

Elendil(Quenya:[ɛˈlendil]) is a fictional character inJ. R. R. Tolkien'slegendarium.He is mentioned inThe Lord of the Rings,The SilmarillionandUnfinished Tales.He was the father ofIsildurand Anárion, last lord ofAndúniëon the island ofNúmenor,and having escaped its downfall by sailing toMiddle-earth,became the first High King ofArnorandGondor.In the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, Elendil andGil-galadlaid siege to the Dark LordSauron's fortress ofBarad-dûr,and fought him hand-to-hand for theOne Ring.Both Elendil and Gil-galad were killed, and Elendil's sonIsildurtook the Ring for himself.

Elendil
Tolkien's legendariumcharacter
In-universe information
RaceMen
TitleLord ofAndúnië
High King of theDúnedain
High King ofArnorandGondor
AffiliationLords of Andúnië, The Faithful, Dúnedain
WeaponThe swordNarsil
ChildrenIsildur,Anárion
RelativesAmandil (father)
OriginNúmenor
Book(s)The Lord of the Rings(1954-1955)
The Silmarillion(1977)
Unfinished Tales(1980)

Tolkien called Elendil a "Noachian figure", an echo of the biblicalNoah.Elendil escaped from the flood that drownedNúmenor,itself an echo of the myth ofAtlantis,founding new Númenórean kingdoms in Middle-earth.

Fictional history

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Biography

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Elendil was born inNúmenor,son of Amandil, Lord of Andúnië and leader of the "Faithful" (those who remained loyal to theValar), who maintained a strong friendship with theElvesand preserved the old ways against the practices of kingAr-PharazônandSauron.His father Amandil had been a great admiral of the Númenórean fleet and a close friend to Ar-Pharazôn in their youth, but as Sauron's influence grew, he resorted to doing what their ancestorEärendilhad done: sailing toValinorand asking for the pardon of the Valar. Amandil was never heard of again, but on his urging, Elendil, his sonsIsildurand Anárion, and their supporters fled thedownfall of Númenorat the end of theSecond Age,escaping toMiddle-earthin nine ships. Elendil landed in Lindon, where he was befriended byGil-galad,the Elven King. The waves carried Isildur and Anárion south to theBay of Belfalasand the mouth of the RiverAnduin.[T 1]With them the leaders took thepalantíri,the "Seeing Stones" that were given to the Lords of Andúnië by theElvesofTol Eressëa,and a seedling of Nimloth, theWhite Treeof Númenor.[T 2]

Unfinished Talesstates that, upon landing in Middle-earth, Elendil proclaimed inQuenya:Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta!"Out of theGreat Seato Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world. "[T 3]His heir and 40th generation descendant in father-to-son lineAragornspoke these traditional words again when he took up the crown of Gondor inThe Return of the King.[T 4]

Elendil founded the northern realm of Arnor and its capital city of Annúminas. His sons founded the southern realm of Gondor; Anárion founded the city ofMinas Anor(later Minas Tirith) inAnórien,and Isildur foundedMinas Ithil(later Minas Morgul) inIthilien.Elendil was the High King, ruling directly over Arnor and indirectly over Gondor, via its King.[T 2][T 1]

As explained inThe Fellowship of the Ring,Sauroneventually returned to Middle-earth, establishing a stronghold inMordor,which was next to Gondor. He attacked, seizing Minas Ithil. Isildur fled north to his father, leaving Anárion in charge of Gondor. Elendil and Isildur returned south, together with Gil-galad and their combined armies, in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. They defeated Sauron in the Battle of Dagorlad, and laid siege to his stronghold ofBarad-dûr.During this long siege Anárion was killed. Finally, Sauron came out personally to do battle. Gil-galad and Elendil fought him, but both were killed, andElendil's swordwas broken beneath him. Isildur used his father's broken sword to cut theOne Ringfrom Sauron's hand.[T 5]

Line of the Half-elven

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Half-elven family tree[T 6][T 7]
Melian
theMaia		Thingol
of theTeleri		House
of Bëor		House
of Haleth		House
of Hador		Finwë
of theNoldor		Indis
of theVanyar		Olwë
of theTeleri
BarahirBelegundHarethGaldorFingolfinFinarfinEärwen
LúthienBerenRíanHuorHúrinTurgonElenwë
DiorNimlothTuorIdril
ElurédElurínElwingEärendilCelebornGaladriel
ElrosElrondCelebrían
22 Kings
ofNúmenorand
Lords of Andúnië
Elendil
IsildurAnárion
22 Kings
ofArnor
and Arthedain		27 Kings
ofGondor
ArveduiFíriel
15Dúnedain
Chieftains
AragornArwenElladanElrohir
Eldariondaughters
Colour key:
Colour Description
Elves
Men
Maiar
Half-elven
Half-elven who chose the fate of Elves
Half-elven who chose the fate of mortal Men

Analysis

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Biblical echoes

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See also:The Silmarillion § Themes
Tolkien compared Elendil to the BiblicalNoah,who similarly escaped from the wreck of a civilisation by ship.[T 8]Fresco inSan Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore,Milan

Nicholas Birns,a scholar of literature, notes Elendil's survival of Númenor's fall, an event that recalls to him both Plato'sAtlantisand the Biblicalfall of man;he notes that Tolkien called Elendil a "Noachian figure",[T 8]an echo of the biblicalNoah.[1]Tolkien explains that Elendil "held off" from the Númenórean rebellion, and had kept ships ready; he "flees before the overwhelming storm of the wrath of the West [fromValinor], and is borne high upon the towering waves that bring ruin to the west of the Middle-earth. "[T 8]Birns notes that Elendil, who he calls a hugely important figure in Middle-earth, must be later "in comparative time" than Noah; where Noah was a refugee, Elendil was "an imperialist, a founder of realms". However, he grants that "Noachian" implies a class of people like Noah, and the possibility of different kinds of flood. Birns comments that Middle-earth has itsCreationandFloodmyths, but not exactly a fall of man. He suggests that Tolkien, as a Catholic, may have been more comfortable working with the forces of nature seen in Creation and Flood, but preferred to leave the fall alone; he notes that both Creation and Flood are found in non-Christian tales from the Middle East, citing theEpic of Gilgameshfor the Flood and theEnuma Elishfor Creation.[1]

The priest and Tolkien scholarFleming Rutledgewrites that Aragorn, narrating the Lay ofBeren and Lúthiento the hobbits, tells them that Lúthien's line "shall never fail". Rutledge talks of the "kings of Númenor, that is Westernesse", and as they gaze at him, they see that the moon "climbs behind him as if to crown him", which Rutledge calls an echo of theTransfiguration.Rutledge explains that Aragorn is of the line of Elendil and knows he will inherit "the crown of Elendil and the other Kings of vanished Númenor", just as Jesus is of the line ofKing David,fulfilling the prophecy that the line of Kings would not fail.[2]

Zak Cramer notes inMallornthat Tolkien's middle name, Reuel, means "God's friend", and could be written "El's friend" with reference to the Hebrew word for "God". He speculates that Elendil, "Elf-friend", may have been a wordplay on this name.[3]

Classical echoes

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Further information:Tolkien and the classical world

The classical scholar J. K. Newman compares the myth of Elendil and the defeat of Sauron withJason's taking of theGolden Fleece.In both, a golden prize is taken; in both, there are evil consequences – Elendil's son Isildur is betrayed and the Ring is lost, leading to the War of the Ring and Frodo's quest;Medeamurders Jason's children.[4]

Germanic echoes

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Further information:Tolkien's frame storiesandJ. R. R. Tolkien's explorations of time travel

Tolkien wrote in a 1964 letter that the story of Elendil began whenC. S. Lewisand he agreed to write a space travel and a time travel story, respectively. Tolkien's tale was to be calledNúmenor, the Land in the West,with repeated father–son pairswhose names meant "Bliss-friend" and "Elf-friend"each time. It was not completed, but survives as two unfinished time-travel novels,The Lost RoadandThe Notion Club Papers.The Elf-friends were to be Elwin in present time; Ælfwine (Old English) around 918 AD; Alboin from "Lombardiclegend "; and eventually Elendil of Númenor. Tolkien states that he lost interest in the others, and focussed on Elendil, whose story he incorporated into his" main mythology ".[T 9][5]One of Tolkien's correspondents, the scholar of English, Rhona Beare, writes inMythlorethat Elendil is a "remote ancestor" of Alboin; when Alboin travels back in time he finds Númenor simultaneously familiar and strange, because he can see it both with Elendil's eyes and with his own.[6]

Names of theframe storycharacters[5]
Germanic Old English Meaning Modern name Quenya(inNúmenor)
Alboin Ælfwine Elf-friend Alwin,Elwin, Aldwin Elendil
Audoin Eadwine Bliss-friend Edwin Herendil
— Oswine God-friend Oswin, cf. Oswald Valandil ( "Valar-friend ")

Adaptations

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Elendil was played byPeter McKenzieinPeter Jackson's 2001 filmThe Fellowship of the Ring,fighting a giganticSauronto the death.[7][8][9]

InPeter Jackson'sThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,Elendil is portrayed byPeter McKenzie.He appears briefly in the prologue,[10]where he is killed by Sauron.[7]The action differs from the book, where Gil-galad and Elendil heroically defeated Sauron, at the cost of their own lives, allowing Isildur to take the Ring without difficulty. In the film, Sauron defeats Elendil, and Isildur fights Sauron, the action of cutting off his finger and the Ring serving to vanquish Sauron.[8][11]Tolkien instructed that "Sauron should not be thought of as very terrible. The form that he took was that of a more than human stature, but not gigantic", though he "could appear as a commanding figure of great strength of body and supremely royal demeanor and countenance."[T 10][9]Jackson chooses to make Sauron much larger than Elendil for his final battle. The scholar of English literatureRobert Tallycomments that it is ironic that Jackson may have come closest to Tolkien's intentions in the prologue by representing Sauron in humanoid form, while he is a disembodied eye everywhere else in the film series.[9]

In the 2022 television series,The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,Elendil is played byLloyd Owen.[12]The show introduces Elendil as a Númenórean nobleman, who serves as a sea captain. He is a widower with three adult children: sons Isildur and Anárion, and a daughter Eärien.[13][14]

See also

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References

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Primary

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  1. ^abTolkien 1977,"Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
  2. ^abTolkien 1977,"Akallabêth"
  3. ^Tolkien 1980,Part III, ch. 1 "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields"
  4. ^Tolkien 1955,Book VI, ch. 5 "The Steward and the King"
  5. ^Tolkien 1954a,Book II, ch. 2 "The Council of Elrond"
  6. ^Tolkien 1977,"Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age": Family Trees I and II: "The house of Finwë and the Noldorin descent of Elrond and Elros", and "The descendants of Olwë and Elwë"
  7. ^Tolkien 1955,Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers, I The Númenórean Kings
  8. ^abcCarpenter 2023,Letter #131 to Milton Waldman, late 1951
  9. ^Carpenter 2023,Letter #257 to Christopher Bretherton, 16 July 1964
  10. ^Carpenter 2023,Letter #246 to Mrs Eileen Elgar, September 1963

Secondary

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  1. ^abBirns, Nicholas(15 July 2011)."The Stones and the Book: Tolkien, Mesopotamia, and Biblical Mythopoeia".Tolkien and the Study of His Siurces, ed. Jason Fisher:10.Retrieved11 August2020.
  2. ^Rutledge, Fleming(2004).The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings.Wm. B. Eerdmans.p. 83.ISBN978-0-8028-2497-4.
  3. ^Cramer, Zak (2006). "Jewish Influences in Middle-earth".Mallorn(44 (August 2006)): 9–16.JSTOR45320162.
  4. ^Newman, J. K. (2005). "J.R.R. Tolkien's" The Lord of the Rings ": A Classical Perspective".Illinois Classical Studies.30:229–247.JSTOR23065305.
  5. ^abShippey 2005,pp. 336–337.
  6. ^Beare, Rhona (1996). "Time Travel".Mythlore.21(3 (81, Summer 1996)): 33–35.JSTOR26812581.
  7. ^abPringle, Gill (20 September 2013)."Bret McKenzie: Conchord flies into Prejudice".Retrieved11 August2020.
  8. ^abElvy, Craig (17 October 2020)."Lord of the Rings: Peter Jackson's Movies Made Isildur More Heroic".ScreenRant.Retrieved19 February2022.
  9. ^abcTally, Robert T.(2016)."Tolkien's Geopolitical Fantasy: Spatial Narrative in The Lord of the Rings".Popular Fiction and Spatiality.New York:Palgrave Macmillan.pp. 125–140.
  10. ^Welch, Alex (25 April 2021)."Precious Amazon's Lord of the Rings series could reveal one kingdom's epic origin story".Inverse.Retrieved19 February2022.
  11. ^"Elendil".Tolkien Gateway.Retrieved19 February2022.
  12. ^Coggan, Devan (13 July 2022)."Welcome to Númenor: Get an exclusive look at The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power".Entertainment Weekly.Meredith Corporation.Retrieved14 July2022.
  13. ^Coggan, Devan (14 September 2022)."Rings of Power star Lloyd Owen talks Elendil and geeking out over Elvish".Entertainment Weekly.Retrieved17 September2022.
  14. ^Farnell, Chris (9 September 2022)."The Rings of Power: What Elendil Means for the Future of Lord of the Rings".Den of Geek.Retrieved17 September2022.

Sources

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