King of Gondor

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The title of the lords of the Dúnedain, Elendil and his descendants, who ruled the Kingdom of Gondor. The line of the Kings came to an end when Eärnur answered the challenge of the Lord of the Nazgûl and was lost in Minas Morgul. After his loss, Gondor was ruled by hereditary Stewards until the installation of Aragorn II Elessar (a direct descendant of Elendil) after the War of the Ring.

Line of Kings

The Kings of Gondor through Amandil claimed descent from the Lords of Andúnië, and from there to Silmariën and the Kings of Númenor.

1. Elendil, r. S.A. 33203441

The son of Amandil, last Lord of Andúnië in Númenor; he founded both Arnor and Gondor, and ruled the two kingdoms as the High King. His royal seat was in his own capital in the north, Annúminas, and during his reign, Gondor was under the direct rule of his two sons, Isildur and Anárion. He formed the Last Alliance, and marched to the defeat of Sauron, but he himself was lost in that great victory.


2. Anárion (and Isildur), r. 33203440

Anárion and Isildur founded Gondor about the Mouths of Anduin and are both accounted as the second Kings of Gondor. Under the suzerainity of their High King Elendil, they established their royal capital at Osgiliath but, Anárion and Isildur established their own houses at Minas Anor and Minas Ithil respectively. After the War of the Last Alliance, in which both Elendil and Anárion met their end, Isildur succeeded his father as High King and he spent time ordering the South-kingdom. In T.A. 2, he left Gondor in the care of his nephew Meneldil, the son of his brother Anárion, and rode away into the north. On his journey, Isildur was ambushed by Orcs and slain, and so the Kingship of Gondor passed on to Meneldil and his heirs.



3. Meneldil, r. 2158

Isildur was lost with his three eldest sons, leaving just his fourth son Valandil, then a mere boy, as heir. At this time, Meneldil took on the full Kingship of Gondor, and its Kings through the next thirty generations would be his descendants.


4. Cemendur, r. 158 - 238
5. Eärendil, r. 238 - 324
6. Anardil, r. 324 - 411
7. Ostoher, r. 411 - 492

Ostoher rebuilt and expanded Minas Anor (later Minas Tirith) and took it for his summer residence. During his reign, Gondor began to suffer attacks out of the wild eastern lands.


8. Rómendacil I (born Tarostar), r. 492 - 541

He defeated the Easterlings, and took the name Rómendacil - 'East-victor' - in token of this. Nonetheless, he met his death in renewed attacks by the Wild Men out of the East.


9. Turambar, r. 541 - 667

Turambar avenged his father's death, and won wide lands for Gondor in the east.


10. Atanatar I, r. 667 - 748
11. Siriondil, r. 748 - 830
12. Tarannon Falastur, r. 830 - 913

The first of the four Ship-kings, Tarannon put his energies into the building of Gondor's navies. His Queen, Berúthiel, was sent into exile, and so he was the first of Gondor's Kings to die childless. He was succeeded by his nephew, the son of his brother Tarciryan.



13. Eärnil I, r. 913 - 936

The second Ship-king famously captured the southern Haven of Umbar for Gondor, expanding its boundaries even farther. He was lost in a storm off the very coasts he had conquered.


14. Ciryandil, r. 936 - 1015

In Ciryandil's time, the Haradrim came against Umbar, and the King died in its defence.


15. Hyarmendacil I (born Ciryaher), r. 1015 - 1149

He avenged his father's death, and pressed on to capture land in the south for Gondor, extending its borders to their greatest extent in history.


16. Atanatar II Alcarin, r. 1149 - 1226

Because of the extent and wealth of his realm, he was called Alcarin, Atanatar the Glorious, though he lacked the adventuring warrior spirit of his predecessors.


17. Narmacil I, r. 1226 - 1294

Narmacil tired of the cares of the Kingship, and appointed a Regent to manage the Kingdom for him. This was his nephew Minalcar, who would one day rule in his own stead as Rómendacil II. Narmacil died without issue, and was succeeded instead by his younger brother.



18. Calmacil, r. 1294 - 1304

Throughout Calmacil's brief reign, his son Minalcar maintained his role as Regent.


19. Rómendacil II (born Minalcar), in 1304, r. 1304 - 1366

After sixty-four years as Regent, Minalcar took the throne in his own right. In memory of a great victory over the Easterlings he had won in his Regency, he became King in the name Rómendacil II. He made diplomatic efforts in the east, allying himself with tribes of Northmen in Rhovanion as a bulwark against further Easterling invasions. He sent his son Valacar as an ambassador to the Northmen, and while Rómendacil still held the throne, Valacar wedded Vidumavi in the east, who bore him a son.


20. Valacar, r. 1366 - 1432

Valacar was a controversial and disputed King, especially because his heir carried the blood of the Northmen. In the later part of Valacar's reign, true rebellion broke out, and the southern provinces of Gondor began to break away.


21. Eldacar (born Vinitharya), r. intermittently in 1432 - 1437

After the half-Gondorian Eldacar took the throne, the rebellions of Valacar's time grew into a full civil war, and after five years as King Eldacar was deposed by Castamir the Usurper. For ten years he hid in the east, gathering his forces, and then challenged Castamir for his rightful Kingship, slaying the Usurper himself. After regaining his throne, he reigned for another forty-three years before his death.



22. Castamir the Usurper, r. 1437 - 1447

The Usurper of Eldacar's throne was descended from the royal line (he was the great-grandson of Calmacil) and is considered a King of Gondor in his own right. He reigned for just ten years, as unrest among his subjects grew, after which Eldacar attacked from the east and reclaimed the throne of Gondor.



23. Aldamir, r. 1490 - 1540

Aldamir was the younger son of Eldacar (his elder brother Ornendil had been put to death by Castamir). In his time there was war in Gondor with the peoples of the south, and Aldamir fell in that war.


24. Hyarmendacil II (born Vinyarion), r. 1540 - 1621

Aldamir's son avenged his father by overcoming the Haradrim, and in token of this took the name of Hyarmendacil, 'South-victor', the second of Gondor's Kings to bear that auspicious name.


25. Minardil, r. 1621 - 1634

Minardil's was a brief reign. He was at the port of Pelargir when it fell under attack by the Corsairs of Umbar, and he was slain in that attack.


26. Telemnar, r. 1634 - 1636

Telemnar's reign was even shorter than that of his father. He was lost with all his children in the Dark Plague, and his line came to an end.



27. Tarondor, r. 1636 - 1798

Tarondor, the nephew of Telemnar, came early to the Kingship, and enjoyed the longest rule of any of Gondor's Kings. His realm had been devastated by war and plague, and he worked to rebuild its power. It was Tarondor who moved the King's House from Osgiliath to Minas Anor.


28. Telumehtar Umbardacil, r. 1798 - 1850

Telumehtar is most remembered by history as the King who reconquered Umbar to the south, and from this deed he took his name Umbardacil 'Victor over Umbar'.


29. Narmacil II, r. 1850 - 1856

In his time, wars with the fierce Wainriders began; they emerged suddenly out of the east, and Narmacil's short reign came to an end in their violent assault.


30. Calimehtar, r. 1856 - 1936

Calimehtar reversed his father's defeat, and secured a famous victory over the Wainriders on the plain of Dagorlad. Nonetheless they were not destroyed, and their threat remained on Gondor's eastern borders.


31. Ondoher, r. 1936 - 1944

Like his father and grandfather before him, Ondoher went to war with the Wainriders. They had made alliance with the Men of Khand and the Haradrim, so that all of Gondor's bitterest foes attacked at one time. Under its great general Eärnil, Gondor had the victory at the Battle of the Camp, but Ondoher was lost in those wars, as were his two sons Artamir and Faramir.



32. Eärnil II, r. 1945 - 2043

Eärnil II ruled Gondor during a time a turmoil across Middle-earth. In the north, the last kingdom of the Dúnedain was overrun by the Witch-king, and though Eärnil's son Eärnur travelled north to the aid of Arthedain, he came too late, though he did achieve the destruction of Angmar. The Lord of the Nazgûl returned to Mordor from that defeat, and later in Eärnil's reign the Nazgûl launched an assault on Minas Ithil, Gondor's great citadel on the borders of Mordor, and captured it. After that time Minas Ithil was known as Minas Morgul, and Minas Anor as Minas Tirith.


33. Eärnur, r. 2043 - 2050

Eärnur had reigned for just seven years when he foolishly took up a challenge from the Lord of the Nazgûl, and rode willingly to Minas Morgul. He was never heard from again, and his loss left Gondor without a King once more. After him, the realm of Gondor was ruled by hereditary Stewards, the first of whom was Mardil Voronwë.



34. Aragorn Elessar, r. T.A. 3019Fo.A. 120

Aragorn was the long-lost Heir of Isildur out of the north, the direct descendant of Gondor's first and second Kings, who came into his title at the time of the War of the Ring, and was crowned in the year of the Downfall of Barad-dûr. He reunited the North- and South-Kingdoms; his Queen was Arwen, the daughter of Elrond, and his heir was their son Eldarion.


35. Eldarion, r. 120 – c. 220

During his reign, a copy of the Red Book of Westmarch is completed in Gondor by Findegil. One hundred years into his reign, he encountered a renewal of Morgoth-worship known as the "Dark Tree". There are references in the History of Middle-earth that make it all but certain that he left descendants to rule after him.


Kings of the Dúnedain

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elros
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tar-Elendil
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kings of Númenor
 
Lords of Andúnië
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elendil
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Isildur
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anárion
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kings of Arnor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kings of Gondor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kings of Arthedain
 
Kings of Cardolan
 
Kings of Rhudaur
 
Ondoher
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Arvedui
 
Fíriel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aranarth
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chieftains of the Dúnedain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aragorn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
High Kings of the Reunited Kingdom