The downfall of Numenor was one of the most devastating events in Tolkien’s lore, reminiscent of the Biblical expulsion from paradise or popular legends like the fall and loss of Atlantis. By the time ofThe HobbitandThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy, Numenor had long sunk beneath the waves, but some of the humans that lived there escaped the Downfall.
It was only because of Elendil, one of the most respected and powerful leaders in Numenor, that a few survivors of the doomed continent were able to escape the destruction of their kingdom and establish a new one in Middle-Earth. The character did make a brief appearance in the original movies in the flashback that shows Sauron’s defeat, but he plays a much more significant role in Amazon’sRings Of Power.
6He Opposed The Will Of The Last Emporer
Numenor was a powerful kingdom of Men that was located on an island continent between Valinor and Middle-Earth. The Valar had created it to give humans a home after their original location, Beleriand, was destroyed by Morgoth in the War of the Jewels. The land was a gift, but the Valar cautioned the humans to follow their one rule: to never try to sail to the Undying Lands. This was the privilege of Elves alone.
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Not content to face death, the Emperor of Ar-Pharazôn defied the will of the Valar and planned an expedition to Valinor even though it was forbidden. Elendil pretended to go along with the plan at first, appearing to arm his fleet for battle, but what he really did was prepare his people for an evacuation.
5He Was The First High King of the Dunedain
The bad news is that the onceproud and beautiful kingdom of Numenorhas been swept away, but the good news is there’s only one royal family left and therefore no more squabbling over the throne. It was a high price to pay, but freedom from the empire had finally come, and there was plenty of space in Middle-Earth for Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anarion.
There were already humans in Middle-Earth before Elendil arrived, and he and his sons would rule most of them eventually. For the first few years, Elendil was the undisputed High King of the Dunedain, the name taken by the survivors of the destruction of Numenor.
4His Close Friendship With Gil-galad
Elendil wasn’t just wise when it came to his family and their welfare, but he also chose well when it came to his friends. He was close to Gil-galad, the High King of the Elves, and this was the first delegate of the Quenya races to welcome him to Middle-Earth. It was because of the support and aid of the Elves that Elendil founded the Kingdom of Arnor and his sons were able to build cities like Minas Tirith and Osgiliath.
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The Last Alliance of Elves and Men, which saw Elendil, Gil-galad, and several other famous names unite against the Lord of the Ring, was the battle in which both Elendil and Gil-galad fell and Isildur took up his father’s sword.
3He Was Nearly Eight Feet Tall
One of Elendil’s nicknames, aside from his various titles and accolades, is simply “the Tall.” It sounds so plainthat a more suspicious reader might thinkthis is a metaphor or an expression that means something else.
However, it’s a dull truth that Elendil was just a really tall person. Tolkien describes him as being seven feet and eleven inches tall, which is more than two meters. None of the actors who have portrayed this character have been this tall, at least not yet.
2He Preserved The Seeing Stones And Nimloth
It wasn’t just his family and their future descendants that survived when Elendil packed up his ships for a long trip. Healso brought certain rare treasures with himthat would have sunk with the lost continent otherwise. These treasures were two of the Seeing Stones, also known as Palantiri, and the other was a sapling of Nimloth the Fair, the white tree that grew in the court of the Emperor.
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Nimloth was a gift from the Elves and an echo of Telperion, one of the trees of Valinor. It was not destroyed in the tidal wave that consumed the continent but felled by Emperor to be used as firewood in the temple before the Downfall took place. The sapling was successfully planted in Middle-Earth and the cuttings from it became the White Tree of Gondor.
1He Was A Descendent of Elros
Elrond is featured more oftenin the Lord of the Rings franchise than his brother Elros, but they both had equally interesting lives. Their parents, Elwing and Eärendil, returned the Silmaril that their ancestors Beren and Luthien had recovered to Valinor. As a symbol of their gratitude, the Valar gifted their children with the ability to choose an immortal life as Elves, or to live as humans and eventually pass away.
Elrond chose to live as an Elf, but his brother decided to remain a mortal and became the first king of Numenor. Elendil is one of Elros' direct descendants. The Elves of Middle-Earth never forgot this, which is part of why his arrival there prompted a warm welcome.
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