Gil-galad

2011-07-25T19:15:54Z

Elenya:

{{sources}}
{{noldor infobox
| image=[[Image:Soni - Gil-galad at the Last Alliance.jpg|250px]]
| name=Gil-galad
| othernames=''Artanáro''/''Rodnor'' ([[Quenya|Q]]/[[Sindarin|S]], [[Father-name|fn]]), ''Ereinion'' ([[Sindarin|S]], [[Epessë|epessë]])
| titles=[[High King of the Noldor]]
| position=
| realm=[[Havens of Sirion]]; [[Lindon]]
| affiliation=[[Last Alliance of Elves and Men|Last Alliance]]
| language=[[Quenya]] and [[Sindarin]]
| birth=c. {{FA|450}}
| birthlocation=Presumably [[Nargothrond]]
| rule={{FA|510}} - {{SA|3441}}
| death={{SA|3441}}
| deathlocation=[[Siege of Barad-dûr]]
| age=c. 3581
| house=[[House of Finarfin]]
| parentage=[[Orodreth]]
| siblings=[[Finduilas]]
| spouse=
| children=
| gender=Male
| height=
| hair=Dark
| eyes=
| clothing=
| weapons=[[Aeglos]]
| steed=
}}
{{Pronounce|Ereinion Gil-galad.mp3|Ardamir}}
<center>{{quote|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]]}}</center>
'''Ereinion Gil-galad''' ([[Sindarin|S]], pron. {{IPA|[eˈreɪnjon ˈɡilɡalad]}}) was the sixth and last [[High King of the Noldor]]. He was the son of [[Orodreth]] (in the Silmarillion he is the son of [[Fingon]]), who was in turn the son of [[Angrod]] of [[Finarfin]]'s house. Gil-galad was born in [[Beleriand]] late in the First Age, and was still a child at the time of the [[Dagor Bragollach]] where his grandfather [[Angrod]] was killed; therefore his father sent him to [[Círdan]] at the [[Havens of the Falas]] for safekeeping when [[Morgoth]] broke the [[Siege of Angband]] in that battle. Gil-galad was a descendant of the Noldor, Teleri and Vanyar. Teleri from his great-grandmother Eärwen who was the daughter of Olwë and Vanyarin from his Great-Great-grandmother Indis. Nonetheless, he was counted among the Noldor.

== History ==
Fingon fell in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and the crown passed to [[Turgon]] in Gondolin. When Gondolin was lost, Gil-galad received the Kingship of the Noldor, as his father had been killed in [[Nargothrond]]. He dwelt with the Exiles of the city at the [[Mouths of Sirion]] during the remainder of the First 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, between the [[Blue Mountains]] and the [[Belegaer|Great Sea]]. There he and his people prospered, until [[Sauron]] returned; he came first to Lindon in the form of [[Annatar]], the "Lord of Gifts", but Gil-galad and [[Elrond]] rejected him. Soon after, [[the One Ring]] was forged, and [[War of the Elves and Sauron]] began. Once [[Eregion]] fell to Sauron, Gil-Galad received the Elven Rings [[Narya]] and [[Vilya]], while the third ring, [[Nenya]] was given to [[Galadriel]]. He would later give Narya to Cirdan and after his death Vilya passed to Elrond.

After the [[Downfall of Númenor]], [[Elendil]] and his sons came to Middle-earth and formed an alliance with Gil-galad, the [[Last Alliance of Elves and Men]]. They marched on Mordor and besieged [[Sauron]]'s [[Dark Tower]]. Sauron was defeated, but Gil-galad met his death in that war. According to the laws of succession, Elrond should have become the next High King of the Noldor, but he refused the crown{{fact}}, and Gil-galad became the last King of the Noldor in Middle-earth.

Gil-galad's weapon was the spear [[Aeglos (spear)|Aeglos]].

== Other Versions of the Legendarium ==
[[Image:Shrunken Gil-galad.jpg|thumb|[[Mark Ferguson]] as Gil-galad in [[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]]]
Originally in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', Gil-galad was the son of [[Finrod|Finrod Felagund]]. In the ''[[Grey Annals]]'', however, Felagund had no son, leaving his wife in [[Tirion]] at the [[Flight of the Noldor]]. Later writings, specifically the ''[[Shibboleth of Fëanor]]'', presents the fact that Gil-galad was the son of Orodreth, who was in fact the son of Angrod. In the published ''[[The Silmarillion|Silmarillion]]'' and ''[[The Mariner's Wife]]'' Gil-galad is said to have been the son of [[Fingon]]. However, [[Christopher Tolkien]] later admitted that it was a rushed choice, and that Gil-galad was Orodreth's son in the original manuscripts written by his father.

== Etymology ==

''Gil-galad'' is a [[Sindarin]] name, meaning "Star of bright light". The name consists of the elements ''[[gil]]'' ("star") + ''[[galad]]'' ("radiance").<ref name=RGEO>{{RGEO|Notes}}, p. 73</ref>

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

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

== Portrayals in adaptations==
'''2001''': ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]'':'''
:In the prologue, Gil-galad can be seen holding one of the three Elven rings. Later, he is seen wielding his spear Aeglos in the Battle of the [[Last Alliance of Elves and Men]]. His death is not shown, and he does not take down Sauron. He is played by [[Mark Ferguson]].

== Genealogy ==
{{familytree/start}}
{{familytree | | | | | | | ARF |y| EAR | | | | | | |ARF=[[Finarfin]]|EAR=[[Eärwen]]}}
{{familytree | |,|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|^|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| |}}
{{familytree | FIN | | ANG |y| ELD | | AEG | | GAL |FIN=[[Finrod]]|ANG=[[Angrod]]|ELD=[[Eldalótë]]|AEG=[[Aegnor]]|GAL=[[Galadriel]] }}
{{familytree | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{familytree | | | | | | | ORO | | | | | | | | | | |ORO=[[Orodreth]]}}
{{familytree | | | | |,|-|-|^|-|-|.| | | | | | | | |}}
{{familytree | | | | GIL | | | | FIN | | | | | | | |GIL='''GIL-GALAD'''|FIN=[[Finduilas]] }}
{{familytree/end}}

{{sequence
|prev=[[Turgon]]
|next=none (abandoned)
|list=6th [[High King of the Noldor]] <code>I</code> 510 – <code>II</code> 3441
}}
== See Also ==
* [[:Category:Images of Gil-galad|Images of Gil-galad]].
{{references}}
[[Category:Characters in The Silmarillion]]
[[Category:House of Finarfin]]
[[Category:House of Olwë]]
[[category:amilessi]]
[[category:Sindarin names]]
[[de:Gil-galad]]
[[fi:Gil-galad]]

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Gil-galad