Elendil

Elendil is a fictional character in

Tolkien called Elendil a "Noachian figure", an echo of the biblical Noah. Elendil escaped from the flood that drowned Númenor, itself an echo of the myth of Atlantis, founding new Númenórean kingdoms in Middle-earth.

Fictional history

Biography

Elendil was born in

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 of

Ithilien. Elendil was the High King, ruling directly over Arnor and indirectly over Gondor, via its King.^{[T 2][T 1]}

As explained in The Fellowship of the Ring,

Elendil's sword was broken beneath him. Isildur used his father's broken sword to cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand.^{[T 5]}

Line of the Half-elven

Half-elven family tree[T 6][T 7]

Teleri Barahir Belegund Hareth Galdor Fingolfin Finarfin Eärwen Beren Rían Huor Húrin Turgon Elenwë Dior Nimloth Idril Eluréd Elurín Elwing Eärendil Celeborn Galadriel Elros Elrond Celebrían 22 Kings of Númenor and Lords of Andúnië Elendil Isildur Anárion 22 Kings of Arnor and Arthedain 27 Kings of Gondor Arvedui Fíriel 15 Dúnedain Chieftains Aragorn Arwen Elladan Elrohir Eldarion Unnamed daughters 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

Biblical echoes

Enuma Elish for Creation.^[1]

The priest and Tolkien scholar

King David, fulfilling the prophecy that the line of Kings would not fail.^[2]

Zak Cramer notes in Mallorn that 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

Further information: Tolkien and the classical world

The classical scholar J. K. Newman compares the myth of Elendil and the defeat of Sauron with Jason's taking of the Golden 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; Medea murders Jason's children.^[4]

Germanic echoes

Further information:

J. R. R. Tolkien's explorations of time travel

Tolkien wrote in a 1964 letter that the story of Elendil began when

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Elendil is portrayed by Peter 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 literature Robert Tally comments 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 by Lloyd 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

• Dúnedain

References

Primary

Secondary

1. ^ ^{a b} Birns, 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. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
2. ISBN 978-0-8028-2497-4
   .
3. JSTOR 45320162
   .
4. JSTOR 23065305
   .
5. ^ ^{a b} Shippey 2005, pp. 336–337.
6. JSTOR 26812581
   .
7. ^ ^{a b} Pringle, Gill (20 September 2013). "Bret McKenzie: Conchord flies into Prejudice". Retrieved 11 August 2020.
8. ^ ^{a b} Elvy, Craig (17 October 2020). "Lord of the Rings: Peter Jackson's Movies Made Isildur More Heroic". ScreenRant. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
9. ^ ^{a b c} Tally, 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. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
11. ^ "Elendil". Tolkien Gateway. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
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. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
13. ^ Coggan, Devan (14 September 2022). "Rings of Power star Lloyd Owen talks Elendil and geeking out over Elvish". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
14. ^ Farnell, Chris (9 September 2022). "The Rings of Power: What Elendil Means for the Future of Lord of the Rings". Den of Geek. Retrieved 17 September 2022.

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elendil.

• ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4
  .
• ISBN 978-0261102750
  .
• OCLC 9552942
  .
• OCLC 519647821
  .
• ISBN 978-0-395-25730-2
  .
• ISBN 978-0-395-29917-3
  .