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Anárion — Elennúmen

Children of Anárion:
Ringelenë
Almameldë
Aspenindë
Meneldil — Nyellelírë

Children of Meneldil:
Cemendur of Gondor — Tinweriel

Children of Cemendur:
Eärendil of Gondor — Aldalótë

Children of Eärendil:
Anardil of Gondor — Elquassë

Children of Anardil:
Ostoher — Haldanárië

Children of Ostoher:
Tarostar Rómendacil I — Ravandië

Children of Rómendacil I:
Turambar of Gondor — Culindë

Children of Turambar:
Atanatar I — Rátavanië
many children

Children of Atanatar I:
King Siriondil — Ilvanya

Children of Siriondil:
Tarannon Falastur — Zâinazimril Berúthiel
Tarcíryan — Láminë

Children of Tarcíryan:
Eärnil I — Tyelcatálië

Children of Eärnil I:
Círyandil — Netyariel

Children of Círyandil:
Círyaher Hyarmendacil I — Ilwiel Rilyasicil

Children of Hyarmendacil I:
Atanatar II — Míriën

Children of Atanatar II:
Narmacil I
Calmacil — Aistárë

Children of Calmacil:
Minalcar Rómendacil II — Calamistë
Calimehtar — Imbelossë

Children of Calimehtar:
Alquandilmë — Serecco

Children of Alquandilmë:
Castamir — Núriel

Children of Castamir:
Airesarno — Azûlindil
Ninquo — Zôriphêl

Children of Airesarno:
Dôlguzagar — Azruphêl

Children of Dôlguzagar:
Arnakhôr Angamaitë

Children of Ninquo:
Lômirôth — Gimlân

Children of Lômirôth:
Azgarzîr Sangahyando

Children of Rómendacil II:
Valacar — Vidumavi Galadwen (daughter of Vidugavia of Rhovanion)

Children of Valacar:
Vinitharya Eldacar — Russariel

Children of Eldacar:
Ornendil
Aldamir — Lintasímë

Children of Aldamir:
Vinyarion Hyarmendacil II — Mittanyar

Children of Hyarmendacil II:
Minardil — Huilindië

Children of Minardil:
Telemnar — Súriel
Minastan — Nenyawilin

Children of Telemnar:
Fernendil
Mityaher
Cucuandië

Children of Minastan:
Tarondor of Gondor — Varnefindë

Children of Tarondor:
Telumehtar Umbardacil — Elenmirwë

Children of Telumehtar Umbardacil:
Narmacil II — Alassindo
Arcíryas — Moicanítë

Children of Narmacil II:
King Calimehtar — Nessimë

Children of Calimehtar:
Ondoher — Lelyariel
Lúnaduinë — Quildoloro

Children of Lúnaduinë:
Minohtar

Children of Ondoher:
Artamir
Prince Faramir
Fíriel — Arvedui

Children of Arcíryas:
four daughters
Calimmacil — Lótëaloxë

Children of Calimmacil:
Prince Siriondil — Vánquassë

Children of Siriondil:
Eärnil II — Telpinë

Children of Eärnil II:
Eärnur — Morimmacil

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Anárion was the younger son of Elendil. He and his brother Isildur were born and raised among the Faithful in Númenor shortly before its fall. Though they were heirs of the House of Andúnië, neither ever saw their ancestral homeland, as their people had been forcibly removed to Rómenna. While in Númenor, he wed the astronomer Elennúmen, and together they had four children, the last of whom was the final man to be born upon Elenna.

When the Downfall occurred and Númenor began to be swallowed up by the sea, Elendil and his sons were prepared. In nine ships, they fled with their people to Middle-earth. With them they took heirlooms: seven Seeing Stones, the Scepter of Annúminas, the Ring of Barahir, the sword Narsil, and the seedling of Nimloth.

Isildur and Anárion were separated from their father during the tumultuous voyage to the mainland. They landed in the south, by the mouths of Anduin, and there established the kingdom of Gondor while their father founded the kingdom of Arnor in the north. At length, their family was reunited, and though their kingdoms were far apart they kept in contact through the Seeing Stones.

Gondor was ruled jointly by the brothers, who held court in Osgiliath. Isildur settled in Minas Ithil and Anárion in Minas Anor, where he and his family knew peace for a century. Elennúmen taught their eldest daughter, Ringelenë, the ways of the stars, guiding her to become an astronomer like their parent. Almameldë became a dancer and organized many festivals in Osgiliath. Aspenindë learned healing, and her skill inspired Anárion to create the Houses of Healing where she would teach her art to all who came to learn. And his only son, Meneldil, Anárion taught to rule.

When Sauron, diminished from the fair and glorious form he had taken in Númenor, returned to the east as a shadow, he settled in Mordor and rebuilt his strength before attacking Gondor and forcing Isildur from Minas Ithil. While Anárion held Osgiliath, Isildur and his family moved north to Arnor, and aided Elendil in forming an alliance with Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor.

The Last Alliance of Elves and Men arrived in the south just in time to save Gondor from Sauron’s assault. Anárion led his people to the Dagorlad, where they laid siege to Mordor for seven years. Anárion did not live to see the end of the war; he was slain by a thrown rock a year before Sauron was defeated. In his memory, Isildur planted the seedling of the White Tree in Minas Anor and passed leadership of Gondor to Anárion’s descendants.

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Meneldil was the only son and youngest child of Anárion, and the last man born in Númenor before its fall. He was raised in his father’s new-founded kingdom of Gondor. He ruled as his father’s steward in Minas Anor during the War of the Last Alliance, and when Anárion died he claimed inheritance to Gondor’s throne. After the war, Meneldil’s uncle Isildur declared himself High King of the Dúnedain, but granted Meneldil the leadership of Gondor after a year of managing the kingdom’s affairs himself. Meneldil was pleased upon the departure of Isildur and his sons, for though he loved his uncle and cousins, he was eager to take up the mantle of king. When Isildur was slain not a month later, Meneldil grieved, but did not send aid to the now-kingless kingdom of Arnor, instead focusing on solidifying his own rule by moving the seat of the king to Osgiliath, the city his father had died to defend.

Meneldil took the musician Nyellelírë to be his queen. She passed her love of song onto her son Cemendur, who as king sponsored many great plays and symphonies among the artists of Osgiliath, including some pieces from the time of Tar-Vanimeldë that survived the Atalantë. It is through the arts that he met his wife Tinweriel, a dancer originally from the coast.

Eärendil was the son of Cemendur and Tinweriel, named both for his mother’s love of the sea and his father’s famous ancestor. He was a renowned fencer who initiated a tradition of tournaments among his knights and often participated himself. He was bested only by Lady Aldalótë, a shieldmaiden of great renown, and in time their friendly rivalry led to their marriage. Their son was Anardil, who while not as great a swordsman as his parents was skilled in the bow.

Anardil’s wife Elquassë was a devoutly religious woman descending from a lord of Arnor. At her bidding, Anardil reached out to Gondor’s distant sister-kingdom and attempted to arrange a great feast of reuniting with Eldacar of Arnor, bringing the two realms together in kinship once more. However, Anardil and Eldacar were both men of quick tempers, and much to Elquassë’s dismay relations soon soured and the plans were discarded. Gondor and Arnor ceased communications entirely for nearly a century, and no future attempts at reconciliation bore much fruit until the coming of King Elessar.

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Ostoher was the son of Anardil and the seventh King of Gondor. His wife Haldanárië was a resident of Minas Anor, and for her sake he rebuilt and enlarged the city of his ancestor Anárion. Upon its completion, Ostoher made Minas Anor his summer residence, allowing his wife and children to spend time with Haldanárië’s family, though his seat of power remained in Osgiliath.

Toward the end of Ostoher’s reign, Gondor was invaded for the first time by armies of kingdoms to the east. Ostoher’s son and heir Tarostar led a counterattack to drive the enemy out, though he did not succeed until eight years after his father’s death. At this time, he assumed the name Rómendacil, “East-victor,” and selected the first Steward of Gondor to serve the king. His chosen steward was Astorion, the son of his mother’s sister, and his primary duty was to preserve the Tradition of Isildur: the secret of the location of Elendil’s tomb in Amon Anwar. This secret had been passed orally from father to son, but given the increased dangers faced by Gondor, Rómendacil recorded the tradition on a scroll that the steward would possess and protect, so that it would continue even if a king died before he could reveal it to his heir.

Rómendacil may have possessed some foresight, for forty years later he was slain while fighting off a renewed attack from the East. He was mourned by his widow, Queen Ravandië, a woman he had rescued from bondage among the Easterlings in his first victory, and his son Turambar. In vengeance for his father, Turambar destroyed the invading horde and led a conquest into Rhûn. Turambar led a much more successful life than his namesake, the tragic First Age hero Túrin Turambar; he wed the painter Culindë and together they had many children throughout his reign, the longest since that of Meneldil.

Turambar’s heir was Atanatar, who led Gondor in a time of peace won due to the efforts of his father. Atanatar renewed the tournaments established first by King Eärendil, wishing to keep the army well-practiced and strong even when no war was necessary. His wife was Rátavanië, a woman of exceeding beauty he elevated from the merchant class to be his queen.

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Siriondil was the son of Atanatar I and the eleventh king of Gondor. He led in a time of peace established after his grandfather King Turambar defeated invaders from the East and conquered the land of Rhûn. He wed Ilvanya, the sibling of one of his chief counselors. They bore their husband two sons, Tarannon and Círyan, both mariners.

Tarannon was the Captain of the Hosts during his father’s reign, and upon his own ascension to the throne, he was crowned King Falastur, first of the Ship-kings of Gondor. He spent his youth marauding the coasts, and as king he turned his focus to the growing threat of rebellion in Harad. To appease his conquered subjects, Falastur married a princess of one of the south-kingdoms that was itself occupied by Black Númenóreans, those King’s Men who had come to Middle-earth during the reign of Ar-Pharazôn to oppress its people and sacrifice them to the Cult of Melkor.

This princess, Zâinazimril, was the descendant of the lord Herumor who had fought alongside Sauron in the War of the Last Alliance. She was betrothed by her father to Falastur against her will, and after their wedding he brought her to his house by the mouths of Anduin. But Zâinazimril hated the sea, especially the smells of salt and fish and gulls, and insisted on dwelling in the King’s House in Osgiliath instead.

The people of Gondor feared and hated their new queen, naming her Berúthiel for her bitter temper. As Falastur was often away at sea, she had the King’s House to herself, decorating the courtyard with sculptures from her homeland that disturbed her Gondorian servants.

Though she loathed cats, as her father’s house had been full of them, many cats of Osgiliath became fixated upon her and followed her around. Eventually, Berúthiel accepted her entourage, setting them as spies upon the suspicious Gondorians who stalked her every path. In this way she discovered many dark secrets of the realm, for she followed the tradition of sorcery taught to her ancestors by the Lord Zigûr and could speak with animals and read their memories. The people of Gondor feared and hated Berúthiel and her cats, nine black and one white, cursing whenever they walked by.

Eventually, Falastur heard of his wife’s intimidation of his counselors and returned to Osgiliath to see the truth for himself. He declared the union unsuccessful, as no children had been born between them and Harad continued to simmer with resentment against Gondor, and exiled Berúthiel from Gondor, erasing her name from the Book of the Kings.

Zâinazimril was set on a ship with only her cats for company and cast out into the sea she despised. She attempted to sail to Umbar, a haven of her people, and travel home from there, but she was no mariner and was last seen flying past the city with a cat at the masthead and another as a figurehead on the prow. Thus she passed into legend as the Stolen Princess of Harad and the Black Queen of Gondor, her final fate unknown.

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Tarcíryan was the young brother of King Tarannon Falastur. He was born Círyan, adding the prefix Tar- to his name as had that Númenórean kings of old when it became clear that Falastur would produce no heirs with his hated wife, Queen Berúthiel, emphasizing his position as his brother’s heir. After Tarannon ascended to the throne, Tarcíryan took his place as Captain of the Hosts and sailed alongside the king as he attacked the coastal settlements of the Easterlings. In one of these battles he was slain, leaving his wife Láminë a widow and losing his chance at the throne; instead, his son Eärnil inherited Falastur’s crown upon his death.

Eärnil continued the expansionist maritime policy of his predecessor, constructing a great navy and rebuilding the havens of Pelargir. He captured the Haven of Umbar, establishing it as an outpost of Gondor and learning of Berúthiel’s disappearance. The rulers of Umbar resented Eärnil and Falastur for their conquest of their people, though their own ancestors had long ago conquered this land in turn, and sabotaged one of his voyages three years later. The truth of Eärnil’s disappearance at sea was unknown for many generations, revealed only to the sons of Castamir upon their exile from Gondor.

At the time of his death, Eärnil’s wife Tyelcatálië was pregnant with his last child. She nearly withered away in grief, but her daughters tended to her through the birth of their youngest sister, and she survived into old age. Tyelcatálië and Eärnil’s only son, Círyandil, inherited the throne and dedicated himself to maintaining Umbar, not wishing his father’s achievements to be forgotten. Círyandil defended Umbar against the Haradrim, led by the Black Númenórean lords Eärnil had driven from the city, and was slain before his time in a siege. His wife Netyariel, a weaver, spun herself a veil that she wore in mourning for the rest of her life.

Círyandil was succeeded by his son Círyaher, who set about reorganizing Gondor’s armies with the expertise of his wife, the fearsome warrior Ilwiel. For years they trained their soldiers quietly, but thirty-five years into Círyaher’s reign they struck suddenly against the people of the South who had slain Círyandil. In a swift and brutal military victory, Círyaher decimated the southern forces and exacted submission from the men of Harad. After this victory, he took the name Hyarmendacil, “South-victor,” in the same style as his ancestor Rómendacil I, and Ilwiel took the name Rilyasicil for her skill with the dagger.

During his reign, Hyarmendacil brought Gondor to its greatest extent of power and wealth, even reestablishing trade with Celebrindor, King of Arthedain. Hyarmendacil ruled in peace for the rest of his days, though he was plagued by aches from his old battle wounds that only worsened in his old age. Queen Rilyasicil bore him but one child, Atanatar II, who knew only a life of decadence and would not take the lurking threats against Gondor seriously.

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Atanatar II was the only child of Hyarmendacil I. He lived in such ease and splendour that he became known as Alcarin, “the Glorious,” through no doing of his own: the wealth of his kingdom was enough. Atanatar replaced the original crown of Gondor with a jeweled helm, thinking only of his own glory and power, and not the battles his fathers had fought to achieve such magnificence. Under his reign, the watch upon Mordor was neglected, and the army his mother Rilyasicil had worked so hard to perfect fell into disrepair.

The wife of Atanatar was Míriën, daughter of the jewelsmith who crafted the new Helm of Kings. She popularized the style of facial piercings among the people of Gondor, though her own sons took no liking to this practice.

The children of Atanatar and Míriën were Narmacil and Calmacil, whose names glittered with the promise of war despite their own indolence. Narmacil inherited his father’s throne, spending most of his time absorbed in grand feasts and parties. He showed no interest in taking a spouse, and was indeed relieved when his brother Calmacil produced two sons of his own.

Narmacil named his nephew Minalcar the Regent of Gondor and sent him out to fight when the tribes of the East grew restless and thought to attack the South-kingdom while its kings neglected their borders. With the aid of the Woodsmen of Rhovanion, Minalcar defeated the invaders, and after this success he returned to Gondor having taken the name Rómendacil, after King Rómendacil I, another warrior who had defeated the Easterlings.

Worried that his nephew might seize the crown before his time, Narmacil sent him back to Rhovanion as an ambassador, using the Northmen’s history of disloyalty as an excuse for negotiation. Eventually this would lead to Rómendacil’s son marrying a princess of Rhovanion, and Narmacil achieved his purpose of occupying Rómendacil’s time so thoroughly that the thought of usurping his uncle did not even occur to him.

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Calmacil was the younger brother of Narmacil I, and like him had little interest in political matters. In his youth he was caught up in a whirlwind romance with Lady Aistárë, the young wife of one of his father’s counselors, and their scandalous affair was the gossip of all the court until Aistárë’s first husband was killed in a hunting accident and the couple were free to wed. Aistárë bore Calmacil two sons, Minalcar and Calimehtar, but when their children were grown, their parents grew apart and Aistárë returned to her father’s house. She died a few years before Calmacil would ascend to the throne, and was thus never a Queen of Gondor.

When Narmacil died without heirs, Calmacil succeeded him and became the eighteenth King of Gondor. However, he was already an old man and had never had any interest in ruling, so he continued to allow his elder son, Minalcar, function as Regent of Gondor as he had during Narmacil’s reign. Calmacil nominally ruled for ten years before he passed on to receive the Gift of Men.

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Calimehtar was the second son of Calmacil. Though his brother was a vigorous man known for his victory in battle, Calimehtar took more after his father and showed little interest in personal greatness when he could indulge in the pleasantries afforded to a Prince of Gondor. He wed late in life to Imbelossë, a young seamstress employed by his mother, and barely lived to see the marriage of his only child, Alquandilmë, to her husband Serecco, a guardsman.

Alquandilmë was much closer to her mother than her father, and felt little grief upon Calimehtar’s death. She was proud of her royal heritage, resenting her father’s ineptitude and envying her cousin Valacar’s privileges as King. Though Serecco was a loyal guard to the King’s House, Alquandilmë passed on her bitterness to her son Castamir, who would later use his grandfather’s royal status as pretext for his claim to the throne.

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Castamir was the grandson of Calimehtar, himself the younger son of King Calmacil of Gondor. He was raised by his mother Alquandilmë to resent his contemporary, King Valacar, especially for Valacar’s decision to marry a woman of the North-folk. Though Castamir was not a direct heir to the throne of Gondor, he was noble enough to be appointed as the Captain of the Ships toward the end of the reign of Rómendacil II, and he was never fully satisfied with his lot.

Castamir was beloved of the people of Umbar and Pelargir, and married the Lord of Pelargir’s daughter, Lady Núriel. Núriel bore her husband two sons, Airesarno and Ninquo, who grew like their father into mighty mariners.

When Valacar died and his son Eldacar was poised to ascend to the throne, Gondor broke out into civil war. Eldacar’s mother Vidumavi was a princess of Rhovanion and not of Númenórean descent, and many of the “high men” of the king’s court feared that he and his heirs would inherit Vidumavi’s shorter lifespan and diminish the “majesty of the Kings,” and so attempted to block Eldacar from his inheritance.

Seeing his opportunity amid this Kin-strife, Castamir joined the rebellion and quickly became its leader due to his blood relation to the crown and his great following of soldiers from Pelargir and Umbar. He besieged Eldacar in Osgiliath, eventually forcing his rival to flee north to his kinsfolk in Rhovanion. Castamir glutted on blood and destruction, slaughtering more people than was necessary in such a war, and when he captured Eldacar’s son Ornendil after the capital fell, he personally put the rival prince to death.

Now that Eldacar had been ousted from the throne, Castamir declared himself King of Gondor. Even those of his supporters had begun to fear him for his cruelty, and he further alienated his subjects through mercilessly executing and exiling any who had remained faithful to Eldacar in the war and any who dared speak against him. He also purposed to move the capital from Osgiliath to his wife’s city Pelargir, though this did not happen during his ten-year rule.

After a decade of tyranny, Eldacar returned to Gondor with an army of his northern kinsfolk and a growing number of disaffected Dúnedain who disliked their usurper-king. Castamir brought his own forces to the Five Rivers of Lebennin, and the two armies met in the Battle of the Crossings of Erui, a bloody battle where many mighty men of Gondor were slain. Eldacar himself slew Castamir in this fight, avenging his son and reclaiming his kingship.

Though Castamir was killed, his sons escaped and withdrew with their father’s forces to Pelargir. However, their mother Núriel had long since grown sick of this strife, and when Eldacar’s army laid siege upon her city she aided them in their cause, forcing her sons to flee to Umbar. Airesarno and Ninquo took the Haven of Umbar as their own, an easily-accomplished feat as the people of Umbar were descended from the Black Númenóreans and had long resented their occupation by Gondor.

Airesarno and Ninquo joined themselves to Umbar’s Council of Lords, and their own children took Adûnaic names, spurning the traditions of the Faithful. There they learned the truth of Eärnil I’s death, arranged by the rulers of Umbar after his conquest of the haven, and taught their sons to hate Gondor and its people near as much as the Lords of Umbar did.

Some generations later, Airesarno’s grandson Arnakhôr claimed lordship of Umbar and began to plot to conquer Pelargir and avenge his ancestors. In this he was aided by Azgarzîr, grandson of Ninquo and his personal champion. Arnakhôr and Azgarzîr led the Corsairs of Umbar in a siege against Pelargir, earning the Quenya names Angamaitë and Sangahyando for their prowess in battle and the fear they struck in the hearts of the people of Gondor. Still, they were unable to take the city for their own, and retreated for some years.

But when they heard that King Minardil of Gondor was visiting Pelargir, Azgarzîr stirred his liege to action and they led a devastating raid upon the port, ravaging the city and slaying Minardil. Yet there was now little left in Pelargir over which to rule, so Arnakhôr forsook the ruins of the city and returned victorious to Umbar. Their descendants would hold Umbar for some generations after, but when the Great Plague struck Gondor, they were not spared, and both Arnakhôr Angamaitë and Azgarzîr Sangahyando were killed by the deadly disease.

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Castamir the Usurper was the bloodthirsty, devious despot who overthrew the government of King Eldacar amid the chaos of Gondor’s Kin-strife. Though after a decade of tyranny, he was ousted from his throne and killed in battle, his grim legacy would endure for many generations.

The wife of Castamir was Lady Núriel of Pelargir, who bore him two sons almost as vicious as himself. After their father’s death, Airesarno and Ninquo withdrew to their mother’s city, but Núriel had long since grown sick of the conflict her husband stirred up and surrendered her keep to Eldacar’s army. Her sons then fled to Umbar, where they were taken in by the Black Númenóreans and assimilated into their Council of Lords.

Airesarno and Ninquo married daughters of their fellow lords, solidifying their place in Umbar’s Council and integrating themselves into the culture of their new home. There they learned the truth of Eärnil I’s death, arranged by the rulers of Umbar after his conquest of their haven and not lost in a sea-storm as the records of Gondor said. Though they lived in exile for the rest of their lives, the sons of Castamir instilled a deep hatred of Gondor in the hearts of their own descendants.

Ninquo was killed before his time in a duel with a rival lord, leaving his wife Zôriphêl to raise their daughter Lômirôth. In this she was aided by Airesarno and his wife Azûlindil, growing intimately close with them to the point that Lômirôth and Airesarno’s son Dôlguzagar considered each other siblings rather than cousins.

Lômirôth married one of Dôlguzagar’s close friends Gimlân, a lord grown rich off his piracy, and their son Azgarzîr quickly became embroiled in his father’s corsair lifestyle. Much like his foster sister, Dôlguzagar’s heart was won by a sea-voyager: the pirate queen Azruphêl, scourge of Gondor’s coastlines. But Gimlân and Azruphêl had many quarrels between them that forced their spouses and children apart, and thus Dôlguzagar’s son Arnakhôr remained with his father in Umbar’s political sphere while Azgarzîr sailed the mighty seas.

Still, the cousins would not be separated forever, and not long after Gimlân’s death in a ship-battle, Azgarzîr returned to Umbar to comfort his grieving mother. Upon witnessing Arnakhôr’s impassioned speech at Gimlân’s funeral, Azgarzîr became enamoured of his long-lost cousin and struck up a friendship between them. Soon he established himself as Arnakhôr’s right-hand man and personal champion, learning to loathe Gondor’s kings as he never had before.

The cousins schemed together to fulfill the promises of their great-grandfather Castamir and destroy the line of kings entirely and place Arnakhôr as the Emperor of Umbar and Gondor. Azgarzîr rallied together the disunified pirates who operated out of the haven under his lord’s banner and led a great fleet against Pelargir; though they did not succeed in taking the city of Núriel the Faithless, as she had become known to her wicked descendants, they struck fear into the hearts of Gondor’s soldiers and earned the Quenya names Angamaitë and Sangahyando for their ruthlessness in battle.

Arnakhôr Angamaitë and Azgarzîr Sangahyando retreated back to Umbar to adjust their tactics, but before their plans were full-wrought, they heard that King Minardil of Gondor had taken his wife on a visit to Pelargir. Eager for slaughter, Azgarzîr stirred Arnakhôr to action and the cousins led their fleet back to the coastal city and led a devastating raid upon the port, demolishing the city and slaying Minardil. Amid his bloodlust, Sangahyando had left little to rule in Pelargir, and in disgust Angamaitë forsook the ruins of the city and returned victorious to Umbar.

The royalty of Gondor plotted revenge against the Corsairs of Umbar, but so also did the Corsairs connive to overthrow their enemies entirely. Yet neither had the chance to strike, for only two years after Minardil’s death the Great Plague descended upon the south of Middle-earth and ravaged its peoples, killing the first new King Telemnar and his heirs and then Arnakhôr and Azgarzîr themselves.

Though neither Angamaitë nor Sangahyando had children of their own, they had many remaining kin through the younger children of their parents and grandparents, who took up the mantle of vengeance against Gondor. These descendants of Castamir would hold Umbar for some generations as the region recovered from the Plague, but eventually the line of the Usurper was wiped out when King Telumehtar Umbardacil conquered the haven for Gondor once more. Yet the Corsairs of Umbar endured, though the line of their founding lords was lost, and would not cease to trouble Gondor until the ultimate defeat of Sauron in the War of the Ring.

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Minalcar was the elder son of Calmacil, and unlike his forefathers he was a vigorous man eager to prove his worth. His uncle Narmacil I recognized his strength and appointed him the Regent of Gondor so Minalcar might rule in his stead, as he had little interest in politics. As Regent, Minalcar turned his attention to the North and East, where there were stirrings of rebellion among both the conquered Easterlings and Gondor’s sometime-allies the Northmen. With the aid of the Woodsmen of Rhovanion, Minalcar defeated invaders from the East and ensured the loyalty of the northern people. Minalcar returned home having taken the name Rómendacil after King Rómendacil I, another warrior who had defeated the Easterlings. At this time he married Calamistë, an archivist in the Library of Gondor; together they had a son, Valacar.

Without war to occupy him, Rómendacil focused on the affairs of the capital, making King Narmacil nervous he would seek to supplant him, though no such thought crossed Rómendacil’s mind. While Valacar was still a child, Narmacil sent Rómendacil and his family north again to reaffirm Gondor’s alliance with Rhovanion. Valacar grew to manhood among the Woodsmen, raised alongside King Vidugavia’s children, and eventually marrying his daughter Vidumavi. As well as integrating many Northmen into Gondor’s army and solidifying their alliance through marriage, Rómendacil and Valacar fortified the western shores of the Anduin and built the Pillars of the Argonath above Nen Hithoel.

It was not until Narmacil’s death that Rómendacil returned to Gondor permanently. His father Calmacil was crowned king, but as he was already old and had always been indolent like his brother, Rómendacil kept his position as Regent. Upon Calmacil’s own death ten years later, Minalcar was finally crowned King Rómendacil II after sixty-four years of ruling as Regent.

Soon Rómendacil called his son back to Gondor as well, for as his heir he believed Valacar ought to take an active part in governance. By this time, Vidumavi had borne Valacar a son, named Vinitharya after the fashion of his mother’s people. The court of Gondor, consisting almost entirely of “high men” descended from the Númenóreans, were displeased with Valacar’s decision to wed a woman of a “lesser” race, especially when Vidumavi grew old and died much younger than a woman of the Dúnedain might have. Nevertheless, when Valacar inherited his father’s throne he named Vinitharya, now called Eldacar, his heir, though this would not be the end of the resistance against the Woodswoman’s son.

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Eldacar was the son of King Valacar of Gondor and Princess Vidumavi of Rhovanion. He was born among his mother’s people and given the name Vinitharya, but while still a child his father returned to Gondor and he became known as Prince Eldacar. The court of Gondor, consisting almost entirely of “high men” descended from the Númenóreans, were displeased with Valacar’s decision to wed a woman of a “lesser” race, fearing that Eldacar and his heirs would inherit Vidumavi’s shorter lifespan and diminish the “majesty of the Kings.” Nonetheless, when Valacar took the throne, he named Eldacar his heir, though this would not be the end of Eldacar’s troubles.

During his father’s reign, Eldacar wed Russariel, a Gondorian woman of noble birth who worked to translate the histories of Númenor from Quenya and Sindarin into Adûnaic, that they might be more accessible to the common people. Russariel and Eldacar had two children, Ornendil and Aldamir, and for a time they were happy and at peace.

Upon Valacar’s death, Eldacar was poised to ascend the throne, but he had long faced opposition among the nobility and a civil war broke out when they attempted to block him from his inheritance. This rebellion was led by Castamir, a descendant of King Calmacil through his younger son Calimehtar’s line. As Captain of the Ships, Castamir won the loyalty of Umbar and Pelargir, and with this force he besieged Osgiliath and ousted Eldacar from the capital. Eldacar fled north to his kinsfolk in Rhovanion, but in the chaos Ornendil, his son and heir, was captured and personally executed by Castamir.

Eldacar spent a decade in Rhovanion rebuilding his army and grieving the loss of his son. He gathered a force of Northmen and disaffected Dúnedain, and when he judged them strong enough he emerged from his exile to reclaim his Kingship. Castamir brought his own army to meet him at the Five Rivers of Lebennin, and the two forces met in the Battle of the Crossings of Erui, a bloody encounter where many mighty men of Gondor were slain. In this battle, Eldacar slew Castamir, avenging his son and winning back his place as the rightful King of Gondor.

Castamir’s sons escaped to their mother’s home of Pelargir, and before reestablishing himself in Osgiliath Eldacar pursued them to the coast. Núriel, Lady of Pelargir, had long since grown weary of the cruelty of her husband and sons, and opened her city to Eldacar. Her sons Airesarno and Ninquo were forced to flee to Umbar, eventually declaring themselves to be among its lords and the haven itself to be independent of Gondor. Umbar would become a refuge for all enemies of the King, and would remain at war with Gondor for generations.

Now Eldacar returned to the broken city of Osgiliath and began work on reparations. Queen Russariel aided in the reconstruction efforts, especially among the commonfolk, while Eldacar worked to restore the loyalty and faith of the nobility. In the end, the rebels’ fears that Eldacar would die young were proven baseless: he lived for 235 years before he died and was succeeded by Aldamir, his only remaining son.

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Aldamir was the younger son of Eldacar, though due to his elder brother Ornendil’s death at the hands of the Usurper-King Castamir amid the Kin-strife, he became his father’s heir and later the twenty-third King of Gondor. He wed Lintasímë, a sharp-tongued rhetorician who bore him but one child before she was killed in a duel over an insult she had flung at a rival scholar.

During Aldamir’s reign, he was challenged by both the Corsairs of Umbar, led by Castamir’s descendants, and the kings of conquered Harad. Aldamir fell in battle against these foes, and was later avenged by his son Vinyarion, who led a great victory against the people of the South. Vinyarion took the name Hyarmendacil II, after the first Hyarmendacil who had conquered Harad originally, and ruled in peace for the rest of his days.

Vinyarion’s spouse and consort was Mittanyar, the Captain of the Ships. Mittanyar fought alongside him for years before his inheritance, and cared for him through the birth of their son Minardil. They were slain in the same battle that sealed Hyarmendacil’s victory, and were given a hero’s funeral at sea.

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Minardil was the son of Hyarmendacil II and the twenty-fifth King of Gondor. His father had defeated the rebels of Harad and Umbar, and Minardil believed that threat to be vanquished and paid little mind to the small raids upon Gondor’s coasts by the Corsairs. Minardil’s wife Huilindië was herself from Pelargir, and thus the royal couple would often visit her family there. On one such occasion, spies from Umbar informed the corsair-lords Angamaitë and Sangahyando, great-grandsons of the usurper Castamir, of the King’s presence in the city, and they quickly launched a great raid in which Pelargir was ravaged and the King and Queen were slain.

At this time, Minardil’s sons Telemnar and Minastan were on a months-long hunt far from the capital, so Minardil’s Steward, Húrin of Emyn Arnen, ruled in the absence of royalty. When the princes returned to Osgiliath, they were dismayed to hear of their parents’ demise, and the ascension of the elder son, Telemnar, to the throne was a somber one indeed.

Telemnar began to outfit a mighty fleet to attack the Haven of Umbar in revenge for his father, but this work came to an abrupt halt when the Great Plague struck Gondor. This disastrous pestilence came out of Mordor to the east, and it struck Osgiliath harder than any other place save for Rhovanion.

Though Telemnar’s wife Súriel was spared from the sickness, he and their three children all suffered from the disease. His sons Fernendil and Mityaher, both barely of age, died first; Telemnar himself perished on the same day that the White Tree withered away and died. His brother Minastan succumbed to the disease only hours after him, leaving Gondor in an uncertain position: Telemnar’s last remaining heir was his young daughter, Cucuandië, who in addition to being female was also only seven years old.

For some months, Súriel claimed rulership as Regent for the child queen Cucuandië, though the Steward Húrin also declared himself the nation’s leader. The other possible heir was Tarondor, son of Minastan, who instead of demanding the Kingship spent his time with his mother Nenyawilin, aiding the people of Gondor as they fled Osgiliath for the western dales or the woods of Ithilien.

The debate over whether Cucuandië could inherit as the first Ruling Queen of Gondor was made pointless when she died shortly after her eighth birthday, succumbing to the plague at last. At this point Queen Súriel retreated into grief, putting her support behind Tarondor as king instead. As the Great Plague passed northward and the shattered nation began to recover, Húrin relinquished his leadership and crowned Tarondor King of Gondor. In gratitude for this support, Tarondor and his heirs would choose their stewards from Húrin’s line ever after.

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Tarondor inherited the throne of Gondor after his uncle Telemnar and all his children perished in the Great Plague. He worked tirelessly to aid his illness-stricken people in their time of need, aiding them as they fled Osgiliath for safer lands. Upon taking the crown, Tarondor permanently relocated the King’s House to the city of Minas Anor, planting a surviving seedling of the dead White Tree that had also fallen to the Plague. As king, Tarondor focused his efforts on reordering the realm and nursing Gondor back to strength, and thus let the watch on Mordor cease.

He did all this while caring for his four-year-old son Telumehtar, whose mother Varnefindë was one of the Plague’s earliest victims. Telumehtar grew to adulthood at his father’s side, learning firsthand how to rule, and when it came time for him to inherit he immediately set to strengthening his realm’s defenses. The Corsairs of Umbar had recovered swiftly from the Plague and they took advantage of Gondor’s weakness to attack the coasts even as far west as the Anfalas.

Telumehtar recalled the murder of his great-grandfather Minardil at the hands of Angamaitë and Sangahyando, and using this injustice to stir his people to action, he rallied an army to conquer Umbar once more. He led a glorious assault against the haven, driving out the Corsairs, and his two sons Narmacil and Arcíryas slew the last of the descendants of Castamir. For this victory, Telumehtar took the name Umbardacil, “victory over Umbar,” and returned to Minas Anor in glory, where his wife Elenmirwë awaited him.

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Narmacil II, named for the first King Narmacil who ruled during Gondor’s greatest height of power, was the twenty-ninth King of Gondor. His spouse was Alassindo the Warrior, a dear friend who rode faithfully by his side as a youth. Great love grew between them, and though Gondor had grown more prejudiced in recent years, even going so far as to erase the true gender of Anárion’s spouse Elennúmen, Narmacil supported his friend and lover when he confessed he was truly a man. In the armies, Alassindo was accepted without question so long as he fought valiantly, and thus he earned his place as a warrior rather than a queen. They eloped young after a battlefield victory, not bothering to ask permission of Narmacil’s father, and his mother Elenmirwë was so fond of the couple that they escaped any reprimand from King Telumehtar.

Alassindo bore Narmacil one son, Calimehtar, named for the brother of Rómendacil II. As soon as Calimehtar was grown, Alassindo retreated back into the ranks of the army where he could be himself without the judgement of Gondor’s court. Even after his husband was crowned Narmacil II, he was rarely in the capitol, and during his brief reign Narmacil often rode out with Alassindo and left Calimehtar to govern Minas Anor.

During Narmacil’s reign, a new threat arose in the East. This confederacy of warriors, called the Wainriders, were encouraged by Sauron to suddenly assault Gondor. Narmacil focused on this new peril, allowing the defenses his father Umbardacil had established in the recently re-conquered Umbar to dwindle and allowing the haven to be lost. Narmacil brought a great army to the plains south of Mirkwood, gathering the remnants of the Northmen to fight against the chariot-mounted warriors. However, this threat was greater than he knew, and Narmacil II perished in the Battle of the Plains, Alassindo at his side until the very end. As a result of this defeat, much of the people of the Rhovanion were conquered, and the border of Gondor was withdrawn to the Anduin.

Narmacil’s younger brother, Arcíryas, had long been one of his political enemies, and attempted to use this tragedy to claim the throne for himself. But the court’s favor lay still with their fallen king, and just as his father had, they dismissed Arcíryas’ claim in favor of Calimehtar, the rightful heir.

Determined to avenge his fathers, King Calimehtar prepared for war against the Wainriders. Before he launched his attack, messengers came to him from Marhwini of the Northmen warning him of the enemy’s plans to raid Calenardhon and offering the aid of his people and their allies should he attack the Wainriders, for a revolt against their overlords was being planned. Calimehtar swiftly planned an attack luring the Wainriders to the Dagorlad, where horsemen of Gondor and an éored of mounted Northmen lay waiting. The ambush was an overwhelming victory, freeing Gondor and its allies from the trials of war for forty-five years.

King Calimehtar and his son Ondoher returned home to Minas Anor, reuniting with Calimehtar’s wife, the weaver Nessimë, and his daughter, the architect Lúnaduinë. As peace stretched on, Calimehtar built a great White Tower in his city based on Lúnaduinë’s designs, a building that would far outlast the line of kings.

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After the death of King Calimehtar, the Wainriders once again began to attack Gondor. Calimehtar’s heir Ondoher struggled to repel them, especially as his cousins, the descendants of his ancestor Telumehtar’s second son, began to turn the court against him and advocate a lord of their line replace him as King if he could not defeat this enemy.

Thus Ondoher was eager to ally himself with Araphant of Arnor when he reached out to end the long estrangement between the two sister kingdoms. Together the two kings realized that a single evil power was coordinating the assaults upon their kingdoms, and they formed an alliance against their mutual enemies. Araphant’s wife Laerdil befriended Ondoher’s wife Lelyariel, a merchant’s daughter elevated to Queen when Ondoher fell in love with her, and his daughter Fíriel. With her consent, the queens arranged a marriage between Laerdil’s son Arvedui and Lelyariel’s daughter Fíriel, symbolizing a reunion of the two realms.

Unfortunately, the alliance between Gondor and Arnor proved fruitless, as neither kingdom could spare help for the other. Arthedain was assailed by the Witch-king at the same time Gondor was attacked by both the Wainriders to the East and the Haradrim to the South, and Ondoher was too busy fighting his own battles to send aid to Gondor’s newest ally. However, he was not entirely alone, for Forthwini of the Éothéod had warned him of the Wainriders’ coming and promised his son Marhswinthi would lead the horse-men against their old foe.

Ondoher rallied two armies to face this double threat: one led by himself and his elder son Artamir against the Wainriders, and the other led by Eärnil, one of his political enemies among the descendants of Telumehtar. However, he ensured his younger son Faramir stayed behind in Minas Anor as regent—and as his heir, should both he and Artamir fall in battle.

This grim fate came to pass when the Wainriders moved faster than expected and struck the eastern army before they were ready, killing the king and his son. Leadership then fell to Minohtar, the son of Ondoher’s sister Lúnaduinë and her husband Quildoloro, who attempted to stem the onslaught and sent one of his captains, Adrahil of Dor-en-Ernil, to seek aid from Eärnil’s army. Amid the chaos, Marhswinthi of the Éothéod brought Minohtar the body of Prince Faramir, who had refused to stay behind as ordered and instead disguised himself to fight among them. Disheartened, Minohtar faltered, and was soon slain himself.

In the south, Eärnil had defeated the Haradrim and hearing from Adrahil of the eastern army’s peril, he now rushed to aid his kin, for despite his opposition to Ondoher in court he was a noble man who did not wish for his king’s death. His attack against the Wainriders, complacent and feasting to their victory, pushed them back to the east and avenged the losses of the king’s house. Yet the death of Ondoher and all his heirs led to a succession crisis in Gondor that would leave the nation kingless for a year before Eärnil and his kin finally won the crown as they had long sought.

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Arcíryas was the younger brother of Narmacil II. While his brother was a physically vigorous man who rode often with the armies, Arcíryas was a sharp-minded politician who aided his father Telumehtar Umbardacil in the governance of Gondor. He disapproved of his brother’s elopement with Alassindo the Warrior, who he saw as an unfit queen-in-the-making and not the war captain he was in truth, and advocated to his father that Narmacil be denounced as heir. After the birth of Narmacil and Alassindo’s son Calimehtar, ensuring the continuation of his line, Telumehtar dismissed his younger son’s arguments, engendering a lasting resentment in Arcíryas and his descendants who felt robbed of the crown.

The wife of Arcíryas was Moicanítë, a soft-spoken court scribe who bent to her husband’s will—in his eyes, a better candidate for the spouse of a king than Alassindo. Nevertheless, Moicanítë had difficulty producing a “proper” heir for her husband, giving him four daughters before at last she bore him a son, Calimmacil.

Though he and his cousin Calimehtar were childhood friends, Calimmacil was twisted by his father’s anger and as an adult became a fierce political opponent of the house of the King. When Narmacil died in battle after a reign of only six years, Arcíryas and Calimmacil attempted to wrest the crown from Calimehtar. But the court’s favor lay still with their fallen king, and just as his father had, they dismissed Arcíryas’ claim in favor of the rightful heir.

Calimmacil was a fierce warrior, competing with Calimehtar in all things, and he was determined to win glory in Calimehtar’s campaign against the Wainriders. Leaving behind his wife Lótëaloxë and his young son Siriondil (named for his kingly ancestor), Calimmacil marched to war and threw himself recklessly into battle. He was killed in the last battle, dying just as victory was secured. Calimehtar honored him despite their rivalry, and offered to take Siriondil into his care, but Lótëaloxë declined his aid. At this time Arcíryas, deeply grieving the loss of his son, retreated from court and ceased to pester the king.

Siriondil was raised without a direct influence from his father or grandfather, and thus was less harsh in his opposition to the kings. Still, he was his father’s son, and his mother passed on Calimmacil’s goals to him, and he inherited this familial rivalry. Siriondil attempted to win the hand of Lúnaduinë, daughter of Calimehtar, thus perhaps putting his heirs in line to the throne, but Lúnaduinë declined his suit in favor of her lover Quildoloro. Instead Siriondil married Vánquassë, daughter of the Lord of Pelargir.

It seemed unlikely that Siriondil would succeed in his ancestral goal of “reclaiming” the crown of Gondor, as Lúnaduinë’s brother King Ondoher had two sons and Lúnaduinë herself had one son, leaving his son Eärnil (also named for a previous king) fourth in line for the throne. Yet when Ondoher and all his other heirs perished in battle against the Wainriders, it was Eärnil, now a great general who had defeated the Haradrim and avenged the king’s death, who had the strongest claim to kingship. Eärnil expected to be declared king easily, but he was met with a challenge in the form of Arvedui of Arthedain.

Arvedui was the husband of Ondoher’s daughter Fíriel, who under the old laws of Númenor would have inherited as Ruling Queen. Arguing that Fíriel was the rightful ruler of Gondor, and that as the Heir of Isildur he was also the Heir of High King Elendil, Arvedui argued that he should become king of Gondor. His children would be heirs of Arnor and Gondor, reuniting the Two Kingdoms and fulfilling the prophecy of the seer Malbeth.

But to the men of Gondor, Arthedain was a small kingdom and only a remnant of Arnor, never as glorious as their own realm. Furthermore, Ondoher’s steward, Pelendur, was a friend of Eärnil and spoke for him among the Council of Gondor, who denied Arvedui’s claim in favor of the victorious Gondorian general, who ascended to the throne as Eärnil II and fulfilled his ancestor’s dream of kingship.

Eärnil was generous to Arvedui and offered to aid Arnor when he was able, and indeed, when the Witch-king of Angmar made to attack Arthedain, he sent his son Eärnur to their defense. But Eärnur arrived too late, for Arthedain had fallen and Arvedui had been lost at sea. Nonetheless, he joined with the forces of Círdan to destroy Angmar. The Witch-king challenged Eärnur to single combat, but when Eärnur answered, his steed swerved and fled in terror, disgracing him much to the Witch-king’s delight.

Angmar’s victory was short-lived, for soon warriors from Rivendell arrived, led by the elf-lord Glorfindel. With these reinforcements, Angmar was routed, and the Witch-king fled before Glorfindel’s might. Eärnur attempted to pursue him, but Glorfindel halted him, warning him that the Witch-king’s doom was far off, and foreseeing he would not fall by the hand of man.

During his time in the north, Eärnur met Morimmacil, a fierce warrior who had survived the ruin of Arthedain, and the two became lovers. Foreboding that the Witch-king would rise again, Morimmacil followed Eärnur back to Gondor, spurred by love and duty both. He was soon proven correct, for the Witch-king besieged Minas Ithil after recovering his strength in Mordor. Eärnil failed to save the city, which fell to the Witch-king and renamed Minas Morgul, the Tower of Sorcery. In response, Eärnil changed the name of Minas Anor to Minas Tirith, the Tower of the Guard.

Upon Eärnil’s death, Eärnur inherited the crown of Gondor. The Witch-king challenged him again to single combat, and remembering his disgrace in the North, Eärnur was eager to answer. It took the combined persuasion of his mother Telpinë, his lover Morimmacil, and his steward Mardil to convince him not to go. Instead he focused on winning tournaments in Gondor and defending Minas Tirith against the Witch-king’s assaults.

In one such skirmish, Morimmacil was slain. Furious and deeply grieved, Eärnur could not be stopped when the Witch-king taunted him with his lover’s severed head and challenged him once more. Eärnur left his crown upon the lap of his father in the Houses of the Dead, where it would remain until Steward Faramir would pass it to King Elessar nearly a thousand years later. Eärnur rode past the gates of Minas Morgul with a small escort of loyal knights, never to be seen again.

As his fate was for a time uncertain and no heirs had been named, no new king was selected. The leadership of Gondor thus passed to the Stewards, beginning with Mardil Voronwë, who began his rule with the promise to lead “until the King returns.”