Minardil
| Minardil | |
|---|---|
| Gondorian | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Titles | King of Gondor |
| Location | Gondor |
| Language | Westron |
| Birth | T.A. 1454 |
| Rule | T.A. 1621 - 1634 |
| Death | T.A. 1634 (aged 180) Pelargir |
| Family | |
| House | House of Anárion |
| Parentage | Hyarmendacil II |
| Children | Telemnar and Minastan |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender | Male |
Minardil, T.A. 1454[1] - 1634,[2] was the twenty-fifth King of Gondor.[3]
History[edit]
Mindardil ascended the throne after the death of his father Hyarmendacil II in T.A. 1621[4] who had defeated the Men of Harad in T.A. 1551.[5]
Since the end of the Kin-strife, when the sons of Castamir the Usurper escaped to Umbar, the rebels in Umbar had made war upon Gondor, raiding its coast and assailing its ships for generations.[6]
In T.A. 1634,[7] Minardil was killed in Pelargir by the Corsairs of Umbar who were led by the great-grandsons of Castamir, Angamaitë and Sangahyando.[8]
During Minardil's brief reign his Steward was Húrin of Emyn Arnen. After Minardil's reign the kings of Gondor always chose their stewards from among Húrin's descendants, and eventually the Stewardship would become hereditary within the House of Húrin.[9]
Etymology[edit]
Minardil is a Quenya name. Its meaning is not glossed, but Paul Strack suggests that it means "Friend of the Tower" and is a compound of a shortened form minas of minasse ("tower") and -(n)dil ("friend").[10]
Genealogy[edit]
| Aldamir 1330 - 1540† | |||||||||||||||
| Hyarmendacil II 1391 - 1621 | |||||||||||||||
| MINARDIL 1454 - 1634† | |||||||||||||||
| Telemnar 1516 - 1636† | Minastan unknown | ||||||||||||||
| children unknown† | Tarondor 1577 - 1798 | ||||||||||||||
Other versions of the legendarium[edit]
In the entry for king Telemnar in Appendix A I (iv) of The Lord of the Rings it is stated that "Minardil, son of Eldacar," was slain at Pelargir. In Appendix A I (ii) The Southern Line Heirs of Anárion Hyarmendacil II (Vinyarion) is the King of Gondor before Minardil. In the entry for the 25th king Minardil in manuscript C of The Heirs of Elendil in The Peoples of Middle-earth it is mentioned that Minardil was at Pelargir and suspected no danger since the crushing of Harad and Umbar by his father. In the entry for the 24th king Vinyarion in manuscript C of The Heirs of Elendil in The Peoples of Middle-earth it is mentioned that Vinyarion took the name Hyarmendakil II in 1551 after a great victory over Harad. These two statements in The Heirs of Elendil seem to imply that Minardil was the son of Vinyarion and thus the great-grandson of Eldacar. It is noteworthy that Appendix A I (iv) does not mention king Aldamir and king Hyarmendacil II (Vinyarion), although both are included in the list of Kings of Gondor in Appendix A I (ii) and in the Tale of Years of The Third Age in Appendix B. It is possible that this is the reason why Aldamir and Vinyarion were overlooked in Appendix A I (iv) in the short sentence mentioning king Minardil. In the opinion of Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull "Minardil, son of Eldacar" was an error and should be changed to "Minardil, great-grandson of Eldacar".[11] Mark Fisher has the same opinion.[12]
In manuscript C it is also mentioned that the rebels in Umbar had become much mixed in blood through the admission of Men of Harad and that only their chieftains, the descendants of Kastamir, were of Númenórean race and that the leaders of the Corsairs of Umbar, Angomaite and Sangahyanda made the raid up the river Anduin, ravaged Pelargir and the coasts, killed Minardil and escaped with great booty after the had learned through spies that Minardil was at Pelargir and that he suspected not danger.[1] In the preceeding manuscript B it is mentioned that the sons of Kastamir and other members of his family established a small "kingdom" in Umbar and created a fortified haven there and that they married women of the Harad and had lost much of their Númenórean blood in three generations, but had not forgotten their feud with Gondor and had killed Minardil in Pelargir with almost the same description as in manuscript C.[13] J.R.R. Tolkien did not mention any intermarriage between the Númenórean rebels in Umbar with the Haradrim in Appendix A, despite mentioning a mingling of the blood of the Dúnedain with that of lesser Men in Gondor itself after the return of Eldacar and that those descendants of the kings, on whom the suspicion of the kings fell, who had not fled to Umbar, had married women who were not of Númenórean blood. In the second edition of The Lord of the Rings he also did not reinsert a statement about intermarriage between the Corsairs of Umbar and the Haradrim, but expanded the description of the events during the life of Romendakil II (Minalkar) and Valakar that led up to the Kin-strife.[14]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "VII. The Heirs of Elendil", manuscript C, The Southern Line of Gondor: the Anarioni, 25. Minardil
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "The Realms in Exile", "The Southern Line: Heirs of Anarion", Kings of Gondor, Minardil
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "The Realms in Exile", "The Southern Line: Heirs of Anarion", Kings of Gondor
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "The Realms in Exile", "The Southern Line: Heirs of Anarion", Kings of Gondor, Hyarmendacil II (Vinyarion)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Third Age", entry for the year 1551
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", entry for king Eldacar
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Third Age", entry for the year 1634
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", entry for king Minardil
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", "The Stewards", first paragraph
- ↑ Paul Strack, "Q. Minardil m.", Eldamo - An Elvish Lexicon (accessed 28 July 2021)
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull, "Addenda and Corrigenda to the 50th anniversary edition of The Lord of the Rings (2004-5)", wayne & christina (accessed 31 October 2021)
- ↑ Mark Fisher, "Minardil", The Encyclopedia of Arda (accessed 31 October 2021)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "VII. The Heirs of Elendil", Commentary, Minardil
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "IX. The Making of Appendix A": (i) "The Realms in Exile", Note on the expansion of the tale of the Kin-strife in the Second Edition
| Minardil House of Anárion Cadet branch of House of Elros | ||
| Preceded by: Hyarmendacil II | 25th King of Gondor T.A. 1621 - 1634 | Followed by: Telemnar |
