Arvedui

2011-11-08T19:38:19Z

90.61.67.81: /* Portrayal in Adaptations */ bad link

{{arnorian
| image=[[Image:Arvedui lotro fragment.JPG|250px]]
| name=Arvedui
| othernames=Last King
| position=[[King of Arthedain]]
| birth={{TA|1864}}
| rule={{TA|1964}} - {{TA|1975|n}}
| death={{TA|1975}}, aged 111 years
| gender=Male
| parentage=[[Araphant]]
| spouse=[[Fíriel]]
| children=[[Aranarth]]
|}}{{Pronounce|Arvedui.mp3|Ardamir}}
'''Arvedui''' ({{TA|1864}}<ref>{{PM|Elendil}}, p. 195</ref> – {{TA|1975|n}},<ref name="North">{{App|North}}</ref> died aged 111) was the fifteenth, and last, king of [[Arthedain]], succeeding his father, [[Araphant]], upon his death in 1964.

==History==
===Birth and Early Life===
Arvedui's name meant "Last King" in [[Sindarin]], and he was named so due to a prophecy by [[Malbeth the Seer]] at Arvedui's birth spoken to his father, [[Araphant]]: {{quote|Arvedui you shall call him, for he will be the last in Arthedain. Though a choice will come to the Dúnedain, and if they take the one that seems less hopeful, then your son will change his name and become king of a great realm. If not, then much sorrow and many lives of men shall pass, until the Dúnedain arise and are united again.|[[Malbeth]]<ref name="Gondor">{{App|Gondor}}</ref>}}

Arvedui married [[Fíriel]], the daughter of the king of [[Gondor]], [[Ondoher]], in {{TA|1940|n}}, securing the link between Gondor and Arthedain after years of estrangement. Four years later, Ondoher was killed in a battle with the [[Wainriders]], and died without a male heir. Arvedui sent messages to Gondor claiming the kingship of Gondor as a descendent of [[Isildur]] and as the husband of [[Fíriel]], who, under [[Law of Succession in Númenor|old Númenórean law]], should have become the first ruling queen. In {{TA|1945|n}} the [[Council of Gondor]], persuaded by the Steward [[Pelendur]], voted against Arvedui's claim in favour of [[Eärnil II|Eärnil]] - the distant relative of the king and the victorious general in the war on the Wainriders.<ref name="Gondor"/>

===Life as King===

When Arvedui became king in {{TA|1964|n}}, the kingdom was already in a bad state, struggling to hold back the forces of [[Angmar]]. In {{TA|1974|n}} the [[Witch-king]] descended from the north, capturing [[Fornost]] and pushing most of the [[Dúnedain]] over the [[Lhûn|Lune]]. Arvedui and his men, rescued several heirlooms of Arnor such as the [[Ring of Barahir]] and [[palantíri]] of [[Weathertop|Amon Sûl]] and [[Annúminas]]. They held out on the [[North Downs]] but fled north and hid in old [[Dwarf|dwarven]] mines in the [[Blue Mountains]] before being forced to seek the aid of the [[Lossoth]] in the Ice-bay of [[Forochel]] due to hunger.<ref name="Eriador">{{App|Eriador}}</ref>

The snowmen helped the gaunt king and his men out of pity and out of fear of their weapons, giving them food and building them snow-homes. Arvedui and his men had to stay there and wait for help as all their horses had perished. In {{TA|1975|n}}, when [[Círdan]] heard from Arvedui's son, [[Aranarth]], of his plight, he sent a ship to Forochel to find him. When the ship arrived in March of that year, the ice-men were afraid for no ship had been seen in those water in living memory, and the leader of the snowmen counselled Arvedui:{{quote|Do not mount on this sea-monster! If they have them, let the seamen bring us food and other things that we need, and you may stay here till the Witch-king goes home. For in summer his power wanes; but now his breath is deadly, and his cold arm is long.|Chief of the Lossoth<ref name="Eriador"/>}}
However, Arvedui did not heed their advice and gave them his ring, the [[Ring of Barahir]], as a token of his thanks. When the ship set sail a great wind came from the north and the hull of the ship was broken on some ice, thus the last king of Arthedain died, and with him the two [[palantíri]] were lost.<ref name="Eriador"/>

===After Arvedui's Death===
In {{TA|1973|n}}, Gondor had received word from Arthedain of their difficulties, and not forgetting their ancient kinship, [[Eärnil II]], king of Gondor, sent as great a fleet as he could spare captained by his son [[Eärnur]]. By the time the fleet arrived, Arthedain was already defeated, and Arvedui had already perished.

However, in order to finally defeat this evil, Eärnur, Círdan and [[Glorfindel]] captained a host from Gondor, [[Lindon]] and [[Rivendell]] and marched across Eriador in such a great force that Angmar was utterly defeated without a single orc from that realm left to the west of the [[Misty Mountains]].<ref name="Gondor"/>

Despite the eventual victory over Angmar, Arnor was utterly defeated, and the Dúnedain of the North were a scattered and [[Rangers of the North|wandering people]] of which there were few. The line of kings continued, however, in [[Aranarth]] who took the title of [[Chieftain of the Dúnedain]] all the way down to [[Aragorn|Aragorn Elessar]]; and when Aragorn claimed the throne of Gondor he did so as both the heir of Isildur and Anárion due to the fact he was descended from Fíriel - a claim none of the heirs of Arvedui forgot.

As such, Malbeth's prophecy proved true, for Arvedui was indeed the last King of Arthedain; likewise, the last king of Gondor was Eärnur who was killed by the Witch-king. There would not be another king in the north until [[Aragorn|Elessar]] reunited the thrones of Gondor and Arnor in the [[Reunited Kingdom]].

== Etymology ==
Arvedui's name is [[Sindarin]] for "Last King" from ''[[ar]]'' meaning "royal, king", and ''[[medui]]'' (becoming [[Lenition|lenited]] to ''vedui'') meaning "last".

== Genealogy ==
{{familytree/start}}
{{familytree | | | |ELE| | |ELE=[[Elendil]]}}
{{familytree | |,|-|-|^|-|-|.| | |}}
{{familytree |ISI| | | |ANA|ISI=[[Isildur]]|ANA=[[Anárion]]}}
{{familytree | |:| | | | | |:| | |}}
{{familytree |KOA| | | | |:|KOA=''[[Kings of Arnor]]''}}
{{familytree | |:| | | | |GON| |GON=[[Kings of Gondor]]}}
{{familytree |KAR| | | | |:| |KAR=''[[Kings of Arthedain]]''}}
{{familytree | |:| | | | | |:|}}
{{familytree |ARV|~|y|~|FIR| |ARV='''ARVEDUI'''|FIR=[[Fíriel]]}}
{{familytree | | | | |!| | | |}}
{{familytree | | | |ARA| | |ARA=[[Aranarth]]}}
{{familytree | | |,|-|^|-|-|-|.| |}}
{{familytree | |ARH| | | | |:| |ARH=[[Arahael]] }}
{{familytree | | |:| | | | | |:| |}}
{{familytree | |COD| | | | |:| |COD=''[[Chieftains of the Dúnedain]]'' }}
{{familytree | | |:| | | | | |:| |}}
{{familytree | |ART|~|y|~|GIL|ART=[[Arathorn II]]|GIL=[[Gilraen]]}}
{{familytree | | | | | |!| | | |}}
{{familytree | | | | |ARG| | |ARG=[[Aragorn|Aragorn II]]}}
{{familytree/end}}
==Portrayal in Adaptations==
[[File:Arvedui ROTWK.png|200px|thumb|right|''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king|The Rise of the Witch-king]]'']]
'''2006: ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II]]'':'''
:Arvedui appears in the expansion pack, ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king|The Rise of the Witch-king]]'', during the Siege of Fornost in the Angmar-campaign. After Angmar's forces reach the second wall, he leads a sortie, but is killed.

'''2007: ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online]]'':'''
:Arvedui can be found in the Ice-bay.<ref>{{VGC|SAXIII}}</ref>

{{references}}
{{Sequence
|prev=[[Araphant]]
|next=''Realm Extinct'' [[Aranarth]] as [[Chieftain of the Dúnedain|Chieftain]]
|list=15th [[Kings of Arnor|King of Arthedain]] {{TA|1964}} - {{TA|1975|n}}
|}}
{{northernline}}
[[Category:House of Isildur]]
[[Category:Rulers of Arthedain]]
[[Category:Sindarin names]]
[[de:Arvedui]]
[[fr:encyclo/personnages/hommes/3a/dunedain/dunedain_du_nord/arvedui]]
[[fi:Arvedui]]

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Arvedui