#eldacar

By and large, heredity and ethnicity in Tolkien cannot be understood through blood quantum logic. I don't think this is even seriously debatable, really—it does not work.

Yes, Imrahil of Dol Amroth is many generations removed from his nearest Elvish ancestor. Yes, he's still visibly part-Silvan to someone like Legolas, and is Silvan-style pretty to everyone else, and his sister was mystically susceptible to Mordor's miasma and died of sea-longing.

Yes, Théoden has as much Númenórean ancestry as Eldacar, a literal Númenórean King of Gondor, and has the same Elvish ancestor as Imrahil. No, Théoden is not a Dúnadan and does not inherit Silvan features. Tolkien specifically contrasted the visible Silvan Elvish heritage of Imrahil and his nephews Boromir and Faramir with Théoden and Éomer's lack of them, though in some versions, Éomer inherited remarkable height from his Númenórean ancestry (but not specifically Elvish qualities like beardlessness).

Thank you for the ask! Picking five is always hard, but since it's for you, let's talk about five that feature Men (and their relationships with Elves, because I find it hard to leave Elves out of any story, lol).

Among So Many Marvels (G: 1,500 words). Let's start with your man Éomer! And Faramir! As young folk, meeting for the first time and finding a tender kinship in the sharing of stories. Oral traditions and awkward, dreamy youths, my darlings.

All Will Be Well, And All Will Be Well (G: 1,200 words). This started as a joke but turned into something bittersweet that I really love. Eldacar of Gondor has a memorable encounter as he flees North after being driven out of Osgiliath by Castamir's forces.

Much Sorrow, and Many Lives of Men (G: 600 words). The end of Arvedui, Last King of Arnor. Such a crucial part of the story of the Kings, and so rarely told. Very chilly times among the Lossoth. Brrrr.

In Service, Love (G: 650 words). I love the unnamed heroes who permeate Tolkien's works. This one's about Isildur's squire, Ohtar. Tolkien notes in Unfinished Tales that "Ohtar" is actually a generic term for soldier or warrior, rather than a personal name. He also says, "[b]ut Ohtar was dear to Isildur." That only made him more interesting to me.

Based on what, you may ask? Vibes. Let's go.

Eldacar. Twenty-first King. THE bestest boy in the legendarium. The hero of the Kin-strife, the archetype of immigrant child trauma, the exiled king, the vengeful father... we love him so so so much ok!!

Aragorn. First High King of the Reunited Kingdom. Yes I know your list would put him at the top but this is my list and I do what I want. Anyway he's wise and kind and "the hands of the king are the hands of a healer" and he's brave and clever and has an excellent fairy-tale romance going on and I am very much not immune to Viggo Mortensen covered in blood with unwashed hair.

Elendil. First High King. He's brave he's cool he's wise he DEFEATED SAURON. Love him.

Isildur. Second High King (co-ruler). Justice for my boy the movies did him so so dirty!! Anyway he saved the line of the White Tree and fought so so bravely and he did his best. I will not countenance Isildur slander actually.

Valacar. Twentieth King. Ranks this highly mostly because he's my blorbo Eldacar's father, but Valacar is cool! His father sent him to the Northmen to build an alliance and Valacar promptly fell in love with their chief's daughter instead. And then Vidumavi died long before he ever even became King and you have to wonder if Valacar feared he would outlive his children too :(

Aldamir. Twenty-third King. Also ranking highly mostly because of genetic proximity to my guy, but Aldamir is sooo tragic actually. He's a second son who never should have become King except his older brother was MURDERED and maybe he spent the rest of his life trying to live up to him!! Also he was also killed in battle which I am sad about. This family cannot catch a break.

Eärnur. Thirty-third and last King. This is the idiot who challenged the Witch-king of Angmar to single combat and was never seen again, but I have a soft spot for him on account of. that was really sexy.

Eldarion. Second High King of the Reunited Kingdom. We don't know much about Aragorn and Arwen's son, but movie!Eldarion is very cute which is enough to earn him a high rank.

Rómendacil II. Nineteenth King. An all-round competent guy who ruled as regent for years for first his lazy uncle and then his lazy father. Built the Argonath!! Also he's Eldacar's grandfather which again earns him points.

Eärnil II. Thirty-second King. Ended up with the crown after his predecessor and both his sons were killed in battle (although NOT his daughter. JUSTICE FOR FÍRIEL). Anyway Eärnil strikes me as a decent guy who was doing his best. Props to him for taking pains not to alienate the Dúnedain of Arthedain.

Ondoher. Thirty-first King. The aforementioned predecessor, who is mostly ranked highly because I feel bad that he died :( and he tried to ensure Gondor would still have an heir to the throne if he and his eldest son were killed! But his youngest son joined the battle in disguise and got killed anyway!

Minardil. Twenty-fifth King. Another tragic one, he was Eldacar's great-grandson and was slain in battle by the descendants of Castamir. I am upset about this.

Meneldil. Third King. We don't know much about him, but he was the first solo ruler of Gondor and also the last child born in Númenor before the Downfall, which is cool.

Telumehtar. Twenty-eighth King. Finally got rid of the last descendants of Castamir, excellent work.

Calimehtar. Thirtieth King. Defeated the Wainriders attacking Gondor in a great alliance with the Northmen, which we love to see. Also he built the White Tower of Minas Anor! Good for him.

Anárion. Second High King (co-ruler). He was initally a lot higher on the list because I feel for him always being overshadowed by his father and brother, but then I learned he was killed by a THROWN ROCK which is kind of pathetic ngl. Sorry, Anárion.

Tarondor. Twenty-seventh King. Had the unenviable task of rebuilding the realm after it was ravaged by the Great Plague, but unfortunately he moved out of Osgiliath for good (which makes me unreasonably sad. I love Osgiliath) and also allowed the watch on Mordor to lapse for good.

Eärendil. Fifth King. We don't know much about him, but his name is nice.

Anardil. Sixth King. We don't know much about him, but his name is also nice.

Telemnar. Twenty-sixth King. Died in the Great Plague, sad for him I guess.

Narmacil II. Twenty-ninth King. Slain in battle with Wainriders, made no impression on me at all.

Siriondil. Eleventh King. We know very little about him, but that's a good name.

Cemendur. Fourth King. Boring and doesn't even have a good name.

Turambar. Ninth King. Mainly this low down because THAT'S A TERRIBLE NAME WHAT ARE YOU THINKING.

Hyarmendacil II. Twenty-fourth King. Defeated the Haradrim in battle, good for him I guess.

Atanatar I. Tenth King. No personality. I don't like his name either.

Rómendacil I. Eighth King. Defeated some Easterlings in battle, but apparently not very well because they later killed him. Oh well.

Ciryandil. Fourtheenth King. A Ship-king, and I don't like Ship-kings (mostly because Castamir tried to be a Ship-king).

Ostoher. Seventh King. Didn't do much, although he started the practice of the King spending his summer in Minas Anor. Good for him? I guess?

Eärnil I. Another Ship-king. Died in a great storm, which is one of the perils associated with being a Ship-king!

Calmacil. Eighteenth King. Generally incompetent. Gains a couple of points for being Eldacar's great-grandfather.

Narmacil I. Seventeenth King. Also pretty incompetent. He let his nephew do all the work of ruling for him.

Atanatar II. Sixteenth King. Lived in indolence and splendour, and neglected the watch on Mordor which was not very wise of him!

Hyarmendacil I. Fifteenth King. Ok he actually sucks. The King who defeated the Haradrim and instituted the practice of taking their sons as hostages to live in the court of Gondor.

Tarannon. Twelfth King. The first of the Ship-kings, also known for his loveless marriage to his wife Berúthiel who gets blamed for everything for some reason.

I am deeeep in the weeds of the lead-up to the kinstrife in Gondor because I had an idea for LOTR Week’s ancestors and history prompt (lol on the timing, maybe I’ll have it done before the *next* LOTR Week rolls around!) and in the process, I think I might have found a (personally) satisfying answer to the question of why Rohan has a tradition of “Elf-” names (Elfhelm, Elfhild, Elfwine, etc.) when they are not a culture that has substantive ties to the elves and, in fact, were even kind of hostile to them at times.

The kinstrife happened because Valacar, son and heir of the king of Gondor, went to live as an ambassador of sorts with the Northmen (the proto-Rohirrim), fell in love with and married a Northman princess, and had a half-Northman son who became Valacar’s own heir. A substantial number of Gondorians wouldn’t accept this half-Northman son as their king after Valacar’s death, and so there was a coup and a civil war before the son eventually retook and held the throne. That son was named Vinitharya, which means “victor of the east” in the language of the Northmen, but Valacar had also given him a Gondorian name to help ensure the Gondorians would accept him and see him as one of them (a good thought, even if it didn’t entirely work!). The name he chose was Eldacar, which is Quenya for “elf helm”!*

So MAYBE the Northmen honored and esteemed Eldacar, who is a son of their royal house just as much as a son of Gondor’s. They were proud of him and what he accomplished as one of them. He came from THEIR community, ascended to the highest levels of power in the biggest empire in all of Middle Earth, withstood a coup and a civil war against him to hold onto that power, greatly expanded rights and opportunities for other Northmen living in Gondor, and had his own son (Aldamir) who eventually succeeded him and kept those Northmen genes in the Gondorian royal family. OF COURSE they’d be proud, and maybe they were so proud that they started naming their kids after him. Maybe they took the name Eldacar, translated it back into their language, and kept using it consistently over the years. The name followed along with the changes in the language as the Northmen became first the Éothéod and then the Rohirrim, and eventually we see it being used as “Elfhelm” in late Third Age Rohan, where it has also spun off a whole bunch of other, related “Elf-” prefix names in the process. Maybe? I don’t know, but I like it!

by Showed_Up_Late_To_The_Muster (@from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras)

Vidumavi of the Northmen learns to make her way as the wife of Gondor’s crown prince despite the resistance to her and her son from large parts of Gondorian society

General, No Archive Warnings

Then obviously you have the late Third Age, with the War of the Ring, and the Hobbit. The Hobbit is an especially interesting case as a lot of the fandom leans almost entirely on interpreting the Jackson movies, probably to an even greater degree than The Lord of the Rings.

Then you have the Second Age, which is almost entirely Silvergifting and... That Show which I shall not discuss.

And then there's everyone else.

Early Rohan has recently seen a surge of interest with the recent movie, obviously, but unfortunately for me, a middle-Third Age-Angmar-War-to-Ruling-Stewards enthusiast, far less attention gets paid here.

Which is a shame, honestly, as there's this is an era that's positively ripe for fandom.

It's what I like to call the 'Sauronic Cold War' period, where the Dark Lord himself is present and plotting but lacks the strength to act openly and so must do what he does best, undermining his enemies, but this time without the advantage of appearing Fair. So rather than acting as an agent provocateur himself, he falls back into the role of the unseen puppetmaster with like a dozen or so plots rolling at once.

It's also a period where Gandalf is probably at his most secret agent-ish. I like to think a lot of his time was spent stomping out light-to-middleweight supernatural threats in this period, possibly set up by Sauron to throw the White Council off his tail, given that the idea of 'A Nazgûl' setting up shop in Mirkwood was considered but apparently not high priority enough on Saruman's to-do list for immediate action. This is of course also the period where Gandalf first finds the Shire.

And the North itself is just taking L after L. Arnor falls, obviously, leaving the entire region depopulated for centuries. The Witch-King doing his best Dracula impression, but somehow nobody realizes he's a Nazgûl until the very end. And if the fall of Arnor wasn't bad enough, immediately after this Khazad-dûm falls as well. This all takes place in a span of five years, bastions of the Free Peoples in the north falling one after the other, definitely one of the darkest periods in the entire Third Age.

And of course let's not leave out Gondor. If anything it's likely going through just as much hell as Arnor. Invasion after invasion, a civil war (The Kin-Strife is such an interesting event, my God), plague, staring towards the East as Mordor becomes more and more of a pit of evil but unable to discern what the source is. The biggest and most significant W for Gondor is Valacar establishing strong alliances with the Northmen, and despite the Kin-Strife this pays off big time with events eventually leading up to the foundation of Rohan years down the line.