Elendil
the Tall; the Lord of the Faithful; father of the Realms of Exiles
Name and Lineage
Elendil — “Elf-friend”, “the Tall” — was of the line of the lords of Andúnië (descendant of Elros’ house), the leader of the The Faithful in the Black Years of Númenor, and the founder of the Realms in Exile (Arnor and Gondor). The Akallabêth names him “the High” — “Elendil the Tall, the… lord of the Faithful”, with his sons, he is the pivot of the Second Age’s end.
The Flight from the Drowning
- The seed of hope: When Sauron’s sway over Númenor was complete and Ar-Pharazôn sailed against Aman, Elendil (obedient to the counsel of his father Amandil’s foresight and the old faith) prepared his nine ships — with the seedling of the White Tree, the palantíri, and the faithful — and, in the midst of the Drowning, the Quenta: — they escaped to Middle-earth and founded the realms.
- The Realms: Elendil became High King of the North-kingdom (Arnor, with Annúminas) and, through his heirs, of the South; he bore Narsil and the scepter of the exiles; his line the “Long Line of Elendil”.
The Last Alliance and Death
In the final war of the age, Elendil joined
Gil-galad in the The Last Alliance; at the last fight before Barad-dûr, Elendil was slain (his sword Narsil breaking beneath him as he fell), and Sauron — though reaching to crush Gil-galad — was overthrown; Isildur took the Ring and cut it from the Dark’s hand.
Significance
Elendil is the “Abraham of the Dúnedain” — the faithful lord who brings the seed of Light (and the White Tree, and the lore) through the drowning of the world into Middle-earth; his throne and line become the kingship of the West that endures to the age of the great-grandsons beyond scope.