#earnil

One of the most enduring moments of the Lord of the Rings is Eowyn’s slaying of the Witch King and fulfilling the Prophecy of Glorfindel, but where did this prophecy come from? During the Witch King’s conquest of Arnor, King Eärnil II sent his son Prince Eärnur with a small army to help defend their ally. Eärnur’s army merged with an Elven host under Glorfindel, and the Host of the West met the Witch King’s army at Fornost. During the battle the Witch King rode issuing a challenge of single combat to Eärnur, who accepted the challenge, but the Witch King’s malice and intimidating aura frightened the Gondorian horses, and Eärnur’s horse fled in fear - taking the Prince with him. The Witch King mocked him for this, and as Glorfindel’s army came the Witch King escaped the battle. Eärnur regained control of his horse and wanted to chase them, but Glorfindel warned against it prophesying “Do not pursue him! He will not return to this land. Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man will he fall”. Eärnur did not pursue, and though the battle was won his pride was hurt, and ultimately Arnor was destroyed. Mordor soon took Minas Ithil, Gondor’s chief position in Mordor, and made it into Minas Morgul, a fortress of dark sorcery. Eärnur came to the throne after the death of his father, and upon his ascension to the throne the Witch King, now based in Minas Morgul, issued his challenge again. Eärnur wished to fight him but was held back by his steward Mardil. Years later the Witch King issued another challenge, but this time Eärnur accepted. He left the Crown of Gondor on his father’s tomb, gathered an escort of knights and rode to Minas Morgul. He and his escort were never seen or heard from again. There was no heir and nobody claimed the throne. The line was broken and nobody wanted to risk another Kin-Strife. So began the Ruling Stewards as the caretakers of the throne, and the Crown of Gondor remained in the tombs until the Fourth Age and the coronation of King Elessar. Glorfindel’s prophecy remained part of legend and gave the Witch King more infamy. Hundred years later, During the Battle of Pelennor Fields in the War of the Ring, Merry the Hobbit broke the Witch King’s armor with a barrow-blade, and Dernhelm revealed himself to be Eowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan, who then slew the Witch King. His doom was met by the hand of Woman and Hobbit, and thus the prophecy came to pass.

“Now the descendants of the kings had become few. Their numbers had been greatly diminished in the Kin-strife; whereas since that time the kings had become jealous and watchful of those near akin. Often those on whom suspicion fell had fled to Umbar and there joined the rebels; while others had renounced their lineage and taken wives not of Númenorean blood. So it was that no claimant to the crown could be found who was of pure blood, or whose claim all would allow; and all feared the memory of the Kin-strife, knowing that if any such dissension arose again, then Gondor would perish. Therefore, though the years lengthened, the Steward continued to rule Gondor, and the crown of Elendil lay in the lap of King Eärnil in the Houses of the Dead, where Eärnur had left it. “

bilbo-of-the-shire

earnil

thethunderprince

guardianofthemountains

the-rightful-king-of-erebor

kingly-thranduil

heroicshadowchxrmer

kin-of-thranduil

lostmyway-twice

It's pretty interesting comparing Arvedui and Aragorn, since the two were similar in that both were kings of Arnor (or would have been, in Aragorn's case), and both made a claim for the throne of Gondor as well. Their reasoning was the same in both cases - Arnor was ruled by the descendants of Isildur. Gondor was ruled by the descendants of Anarion. Since Isildur and Anarion were brothers, one ruling family was related to the other. The difference between Arvedui and Aragorn, though, is how their respective claims were answered.

Arvedui made a claim for Gondor's throne after the rightful king, Ondoher, died without any sons. Arvedui had even married Ondoher's daughter, so part of his argument was that she should actually inherit the throne (with the assumption that he would be doing the actual ruling...) With Ondoher gone, the kingdom was being ruled by the Council of Gondor, lead by the steward Pelendur. It was up to them to decide who the next king would be. And Arvedui had a competitor - Earnil, a distant relative of Ondoher and a military hero in Gondor.

Pelendur favored Earnil, and eventually convinced the Council to choose him over Arvedui. Their reasoning was thus: Isildur had given up any control over Gondor, and so the heirs of Isildur shouldn't have any claim to Gondor's throne. And Arvedui's wife couldn't inherit since the throne could only be passed on to sons. Beyond that, at the time Arvedui's kingdom had been reduced to the much smaller kingdom of Arthedain, which Gondor found to be rather unimpressive, especially compared to the heroic exploits of Earnil.

Now, fast forward about a thousand years to Aragorn. In some ways, his claim to Gondor's throne is even worse than Arvedui's. He isn't actually king of anything, and even Arvedui's small kingdom has disappeared. But, unlike Arvedui, Aragorn has no competitors. There is no one else with any claim to the throne. Also, though it's not the patrilineal inheritance that Pelendur wanted, Aragorn is technically a descendant of Ondoher through Arvedui's wife.

While Pelendur proved that the steward did have the power to deny claims to the throne of Gondor, it's likely that he wouldn't have been able to do so if Earnil hadn't also been an option. Likewise, I think that (had Denethor survived), he might have tried to block Aragorn's claim, but probably wouldn't have been able to deny Aragorn indefinitely. His problem was that Aragorn was quite popular with many other powerful people. Gandalf may not have been too much help in Gondor's political scene, but Prince Imrahil would have been. And, after Rohan literally swooped in and saved the day at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, having Eomer's support would have been helpful as well. And (while I may be biased in this) I have the feeling that Faramir would have supported Aragorn's claim as well. And if the people of Gondor were impressed by Earnil's wartime exploits, then they would definitely have been swayed by Aragorn's.