High King of the Noldor: Difference between revisions

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==List of High Kings==
==List of High Kings==
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Revision as of 16:48, 23 July 2020

The name High King refers to more than one character, item or concept. For a list of other meanings, see High King (disambiguation).
The Realms of the Noldor and the Sindar by Christopher Tolkien

High King of the Noldor was the title of the head of the House of Finwë in Beleriand and Middle-earth, having overlordship over all the Noldorin realms. The title was mostly nominal; the Sons of Fëanor, in particular, while they acknowledged the Kingship, paid its bearer little heed, following their own agenda under the general leadership of Maedhros.

History

Earlier Kings

The forefather of the House of Finwë, and first King of the Noldor was Finwë, the first lord of the Tatyar who led his people in the Great Journey from Cuiviénen into the West to dwell in Valinor. He was slain by Morgoth at Formenos. His eldest son Fëanor claimed the kingship and led the Rebellion of the Noldor back to Middle-earth to avenge his father's death and recover the Silmarils from Morgoth.[1]

The Rescue of Maedhros by Jenny Dolfen

Fëanor died before establishing a realm and the Kingship by right belonged to his eldest son Maedhros who was captured by Morgoth. After Fingon saved his life, in gratitude (and regretting that his father had abandoned the other Noldor in Araman) Maedhros passed his titles to Fingon's father, Fingolfin, being the eldest and wisest of all. Thus the Kingship passed from the House of Fëanor to the House of Fingolfin (fulfilling the Doom of Mandos that the Sons of Fëanor would become the Dispossessed) and the two Houses made peace.[2]

High Kingship in Middle-earth

In Beleriand

Fingolfin became the first High King of the Noldor, ruling from Hithlum with his son, mostly during the Siege of Angband. When Morgoth broke the leaguer in the Dagor Bragollach, he rode in anger to the gates of Angband and died in single combat with Morgoth. He was succeeded by his eldest son Fingon who reigned during an endless war. With Maedhros, he prepared a final assault on Morgoth, which ended in disaster for the Noldor and Fingon's own death, after a short rule.

Fingon's brother Turgon succeeded Fingon nominally, but his kingship was titular at the least, as it was not possible for the "Hidden King" to rule from his Hidden City, the location of which was unknown by even his own kin. That was until Gondolin's location was discovered by Morgoth through the treachery of Maeglin.

Following Turgon's death in the Fall of Gondolin, there were no more extant Noldorin realms in Beleriand; the Kingship passed to the House of Finarfin. The son of Orodreth, the young Ereinon Gil-galad, was named High King at the Havens of Sirion once news of Turgon's death had spread.[3] Seeing the end of the War of the Jewels, Gil-galad held the Kingship throughout the Second Age, longer than any of his forebears.

In the Westlands

After the cataclysmic War of Wrath that ended the First Age, the surviving Noldor who did not depart for the Undying Lands constituted the realms of Lindon and later Eregion in northwestern Middle-earth. Gil-galad was acknowledged as "High King of the Elves of the West"[4], though as in the First Age this title brought little real authority beyond the king's own direct realm.[source?] He was the chief enemy of Sauron in the Dark Years, at the end of which he appointed Elrond as his vice-regent in Eriador.[5] He formed the Last Alliance with Elendil, being the commander of almost all of the Elven forces who fought in that War.[6] and died during the Siege of Barad-dûr at the end of the Second Age.

Gil-galad was the last High King; after his time the title is never used,[7] as he fathered no children and no heirs of the House of Finwe remained in Middle-earth. Galadriel of the House of Finarfin perhaps could have some rights.[8] Elrond was a direct descendant of Turgon, but through his daughter Idril;[9] he never made claim to the Kingship but ruled with all its authority.[source?] The Noldorin population of Middle-earth was greatly diminished in the Third Age.[10][11]

List of High Kings

  1. Fingolfin (ruled from F.A. 7 - 456)
  2. Fingon (ruled from F.A. 456 - 472)
  3. Turgon (ruled from F.A. 472 - 510)
  4. Ereinion Gil-galad (ruled from F.A. 510 - S.A. 3441)

Other versions of the legendarium

In the published version of The Silmarillion, Gil-galad is said to be the son of Fingon.[12] However, in some of Tolkien's later notes, Gil-galad is said to be the son of Orodreth and thus a junior member of the House of Finarfin,[13] and Turgon's closest living relative in the male line (excluding the dispossessed House of Fëanor).

See also

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Darkening of Valinor"
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Return of the Noldor"
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands)
  5. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn"
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Appendix B: The Sindarin Princes of the Silvan Elves"
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Númenor"
  8. Robert Foster, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, entry "High King of the Noldor"
  9. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Council of Elrond"
  10. J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 347, (dated 17 December 1972)
  11. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Shadow of the Past"
  12. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"
  13. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor", "The parentage of Gil-galad"