Elendil

Elendil

Elendil the Tall; High King of the Dúnedain; King of Arnor and Gondor

House / Order	House of Elendil; Lords of Andúnië
Race / Culture
Status	Deceased
Origin	Arnor; Gondor; formerly Númenor
Born	Second Age 3119
Died	Second Age 3441, on the slopes of Mount Doom
Weapon	The sword Narsil
Fate	Slain overthrowing Sauron alongside Gil-galad at the end of the Second Age
Portrayed by

Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world.

Elendil, called Elendil the Tall, was the leader of the Faithful of Númenor who survived its Downfall and founded the Dúnedain realms in exile in Middle-earth. Father of Isildur and Anárion, High King of Arnor and Gondor, Elendil was a towering figure of nobility and faith whose line endured through the long ages to Aragorn. His name became a war-cry of the Dúnedain.

Background

Elendil was descended from the Lords of Andúnië, a noble house of Númenor that traced its lineage to the early Kings and remained loyal, the "Faithful," to the Valar and to friendship with the Elves even as the later Kings of Númenor grew proud and turned to the worship of Sauron and the Dark. Elendil's very name meant "Elf-friend." When Sauron, taken captive, corrupted the King Ar-Pharazôn and led Númenor into open rebellion against the Valar, Elendil and his sons kept ships ready against the day of doom.

The Downfall and the realms in exile

When Ar-Pharazôn dared to assail the Undying Lands, the Valar called upon the One, Ilúvatar, and Númenor was destroyed, swallowed by the sea. Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anárion, with nine ships bearing the Faithful and the seedling of the White Tree and the seven seeing-stones, were borne east on great winds and waves to the coasts of Middle-earth. There Elendil founded the northern kingdom of Arnor and ruled as High King over all the Dúnedain, while his sons established Gondor in the south.

The Last Alliance

When Sauron arose again and assailed the realms of Men, Elendil joined with Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor, to form the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, the greatest host arrayed against the Dark Lord since the wars of the Elder Days. They marched on Mordor and besieged Barad-dûr for seven years. At the last, Sauron himself came forth, and Elendil and Gil-galad together grappled with him upon the slopes of Mount Doom. Both kings were slain, and in his fall Elendil's sword Narsil shattered beneath him. But Sauron too was overthrown, and Isildur cut the One Ring from his hand with the shards of his father's blade.

Legacy

The shards of Narsil were borne away by Isildur and kept as an heirloom through the generations of the Dúnedain, reforged at last as Andúril for Aragorn, Elendil's heir, who reclaimed the united kingdom in the War of the Ring. The cry "Elendil!" was raised by Aragorn in battle, honoring the founder of his line across more than three thousand years.

Character

Elendil is the very image of the noble king and Elf-friend: tall, wise, faithful, and steadfast in the cause of the free peoples. His survival of the Downfall and his founding of the realms in exile preserved the high lineage of Númenor in Middle-earth, and his sacrifice in the Last Alliance bought the long peace of the early Third Age.

In the films

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films, Elendil appears briefly in the prologue, portrayed by Peter McKenzie, struck down by Sauron before Isildur takes up his sword.

Appearances

• The Silmarillion (Akallabêth; Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age)
• The Fellowship of the Ring (mentioned and in history)
• Unfinished Tales