Gil-galad

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Gil-galad
Noldo
Kimberly - Gil-galad.jpg
"Gil-galad" by Kimberly
Biographical Information
Other namesArtanáro/Rodnor (Q/S, fn),
Ereinion (S, epessë)
TitlesHigh King of the Noldor
LocationHavens of Sirion; Lindon
AffiliationLast Alliance
LanguageQuenya and Sindarin
Birthc. F.A. 450
Unknown
RuleF.A. 510 - S.A. 3441
DeathS.A. 3441 (aged c. 3581)
Siege of Barad-dûr
Family
HouseHouse of Fingolfin (The Silmarillion)
House of Finarfin (later notes)
ParentageFingon (The Silmarillion)
Orodreth (later notes)
Siblingsnone (The Silmarillion)
Finduilas (later notes)
Physical Description
GenderMale
WeaponryAeglos
GalleryImages of Gil-galad
"Gil-galad was an Elven-king
Of him the harpers sadly sing
The last whose realm was fair and free
Between the Mountains and the Sea.
"
― From The Fall of Gil-galad, as translated by Bilbo Baggins

Ereinion Gil-galad (S, pron. [eˈreɪnjon ˈɡilɡalad]) was the sixth and last High King of the Noldor.

History

First Age

The exact date and place of Gil-galad's birth is not given.

He was still a child at the time of the Dagor Bragollach when Morgoth broke the Siege of Angband. As a result his father[note 1] sent him (and his mother[1]) to Círdan at the Havens of the Falas for safekeeping.[2] After the fall of Minas Tirith, the Pass of Sirion was open to Morgoth's hosts although they were still kept at bay by the still mighty realm of Hithlum and also the power of Nargothrond. Hithlum was destroyed after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and thus there was no power left that could withstand the enemies, and the ports at the Falas were besieged and captured. Yet Círdan, Gil-galad and many other Elves could flee from death on ship and established a refuge upon the Isle of Balar and a small haven at the Mouths of Sirion.[3]

In the Nirnaeth Arnoediad Fingon, High King of the Noldor, was slain, and the crown passed to his brother Turgon in Gondolin. When Gondolin was lost, Gil-galad received the Kingship of the Noldor.[4] He and Círdan maintained the refuge upon Balar and the small port at the Sirion estuary until the War of Wrath and the end of the First Age.

Second Age

After the destruction of Beleriand during the War of Wrath, Gil-galad founded a kingdom in Lindon in the far northwest of Middle-earth, roughly between the Blue Mountains and the Great Sea around the Gulf of Lhûn and the havens of Forlond, Harlond and Mithlond were founded.[5] Many Elves, both the Sindar and the Noldor joined him. But soon there was again unrest among the Noldor, and many of them left Lindon and led by Celebrimbor founded the realm of Eregion, probably also stirred up by the finding of mithril in Khazad-dûm. Also some of the Sindar and many of the Nandor did not wish to live with the Noldor, who had done them a great evil, and migrated eastwards to Lothlórien or Greenwood the Great.

When Prince Aldarion of Númenor came to Middle-earth, they established friendship with the Elves. In S.A. 882 Gil-galad gave him a letter for his father, the King of Númenor, Tar-Meneldur. He warned him that a new shadow had arisen in the East and besought him for aid.[6]

Lelia - Gil-galad

Around the year 1000 of the Second Age, Sauron tried to make contact with the Elves under the name of Annatar, the "Lord of Gifts". But Gil-galad and Círdan did not trust him and rejected his proposals. Sauron though, was welcomed in Eregion and the Rings of Power were forged.[5] Around S.A. 1600 Sauron, though, had forged the One Ring in secret, and when the Elves of Eregion found out that they have been betrayed, Sauron demanded the Rings, and when they refused, in S.A. 1695 he invaded Eriador, and the War of the Elves and Sauron began.[7] Celebrimbor had rescued the Three Rings of the Elves in time, sending Narya and Vilya to Gil-galad, while the third ring Nenya was given to Galadriel.[8]

Sauron conquered Eregion quickly and the forces from Lindon that Gil-galad had sent under the command of Elrond came too late and were too small, and fled far north, where Elrond established the stronghold of Imladris.[8] While Sauron sent most of his army west to attack Lindon he had to leave a strong detachment behind to contain Elrond.[9]

The war lasted on, until a great fleet of the Númenóreans arrived at Lindon. With united forces, Sauron's army was driven back and defeated near the Sarn Ford and withdrew to Tharbad where he was reinforced. But the Númenórean admiral Ciryatur had sent a fleet up the river Gwathló and Sauron's army was attacked in the rear and utterly defeated.[8] After this war, the Elves were not further troubled by Sauron for a long time. During this time, Gil-galad passed the rings Narya and Vilya to Círdan and Elrond, respectively, and he appointed Elrond as his vice-regent.[8].

When Tar-Calion captured Sauron and took him to Númenor, the Westlands found peace, and Gil-galad was free to extend his power to the north and south, and east, beyond Anduin.[5]

After the Downfall of Númenor, Elendil and his sons came to Middle-earth and founded the realms of Gondor in the south and Arnor in the north. Gondor was soon attacked by Sauron and Elendil's son Isildur had to flee, and sailed north to his father, where the Last Alliance of Elves and Men was formed with Gil-galad.

Maureval - Ereinion Gil-galad

It took several years for the Allies to gather their forces but ultimately they marched on Mordor and defeated a great army in the Battle of Dagorlad. They broke through Cirith Gorgor and besieged Sauron's Dark Tower.

When the siege had lasted for seven years, it became so pressing that Sauron himself sallied forth. By his power the siege was broken and his army advanced to the slopes of Orodruin. There he was engaged by Elendil and Gil-galad in a single combat. Sauron was defeated but both Gil-galad and Elendil were killed in the act. Gil-galad was the last High King of Noldor. In the scroll he left in Minas Tirith before riding north, Isildur wrote that Gil-galad was killed by the heat of Sauron's hand.[10]

Gil-galad's weapon was the spear Aeglos.

Other Versions of the Legendarium

Gil-galad was originally, and briefly, conceived as a descendant of Fëanor.

Later, and through the writing of The Lord of the Rings, he was considered a son of Finrod Felagund, until Tolkien decided that Felagund was unmarried and childless.

A marginal note by Tolkien from around this time (the late 1950s) suggested that Gil-galad might be the son of Fingon. This suggestion was taken up by Tolkien's son and literary executor Christopher Tolkien in the published version of The Silmarillion, which states that Gil-galad is the son of Fingon. He also edited a line in Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner's Wife which originally referred to Gil-galad as a member of the House of Finarfin to make it consistent with the published Silmarillion. Christopher stated many years later in The Peoples of Middle-earth that this decision to make Gil-galad a son of Fingon was an editorial mistake on his part and did not represent his father's conception of the character. Christopher suggested that it would have been better to have left Gil-galad's parentage obscure.[11]

Tolkien's final decision for Gil-galad's parentage appears to have been that he was a son of Orodreth, who was at the same time changed from being a son of Finarfin to a son of Angrod.[11] This conception, however, was never incorporated into the written stories of The Silmarillion, and aspects of it — notably the downgrading of Orodreth into a son of Angrod — would have required considerable reworking of the existing text.

Etymology

Gil-galad is a Sindarin name, meaning "Star of bright light". The name consists of the elements gil ("star") + galad ("radiance")[12]. According to a note this name was given to him because of the brightness of his eyes [1].

Gil-galad was his mother-name, and it was his preferred name in his youth. His father-name was Rodnor (pron. [ˈrodnor]), or in Quenya, Artanáro (pron. [ˌartaˈnaːro]).

As a High King of the Noldor, his epessë was Ereinion, "Scion of Kings" (from erain = "kings" and -ion = "son").

Revised genealogy

Míriel
d. Y.T. 1170
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Finwë
d. Y.T. 1495
 
Indis
b. Y.T.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Olwë
b. Y.T.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fëanor
Y.T. 1169 - 1497
 
Findis
b. Y.T.
 
Fingolfin
Y.T. 1190 - F.A. 456
 
Írimë
b. Y.T.
 
Finarfin
b. Y.T. 1230
 
Eärwen
b. Y.T.
 
unknown sons
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Finrod
Y.T. 1300 - F.A. 465
 
Angrod
d. F.A. 455
 
Eldalótë
b. Y.T.
 
Aegnor
d. F.A. 455
 
Galadriel
b. Y.T. 1362
 
Celeborn
b. F.A.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Orodreth
d. F.A. 495
 
 
 
 
 
Elrond
b. F.A. 532
 
Celebrían
b. S.A.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GIL-GALAD
d. S.A. 3441
 
Finduilas
d. F.A. 495
 
Elladan
b. T.A. 130
 
Elrohir
b. T.A. 130
 
Arwen
T.A. 241 - Fo.A. 121
 

Portrayals in adaptations

2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:

In the prologue, Gil-galad is shown as one of the bearers of the three Elven rings. Later, he is present at the Battle of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men wielding his spear Aeglos. His death is not shown, and he does not take down Sauron. He is played by Mark Ferguson.

2010: Lego The Lord of the Rings:

Gil-galad appears in the prologue holding one of the Elf-rings. He is also an unlockable character, despite never playing into the storyline. He can be found in a cave in south-west Gorgoroth. His gear is not accurate, however; he wields an Elven sword (instead of Aeglos) and golden shield in the game, though The Fall of Gil-Galad describes a silver shield.

See Also

Notes

  1. In the Silmarillion, Gil-galad's father was Fingon; in later notes Tolkien changed him to Orodreth, but never incorporated this change in a narrative. See #Other Versions of the Legendarium

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Two. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin (Chapter 15)"
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad"
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner's Wife"
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "VI. The Tale of Years of the Second Age"
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn"
  9. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn"
  10. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Council of Elrond"
  11. 11.0 11.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor", "The parentage of Gil-galad"
  12. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Notes and Translations", in The Road Goes Ever On (J.R.R. Tolkien, Donald Swann), p. 73
Gil-galad
Born: during the First Age Died: S.A. 3441
Preceded by:
Turgon
High King of the Noldor
F.A. 510 - S.A. 3441
None
Title abandoned