Pelendur was a lord of the House of Húrin and served as the Steward to the kings Ondoher and Eärnil II. He was a friend of Eärnil and sympathetic to his ambitions to achieve royalty for his descendants, though during Ondoher’s rules it was assumed that this would be possible only through marriage, perhaps of Eärnil’s son Eärnur to Ondoher’s daughter Fíriel.
Before any such arrangement could be made, Fíriel was wed to Prince Arvedui of Arthedain, the last remnant of the once-noble realm of Arnor. Eärnur was relieved, for his interests lay in men, but Eärnil’s frustration only grew.
When Gondor faced the double threat of attack by the Wainriders and Haradrim, Ondoher appointed Eärnil general of the southern army, for despite their political conflicts there was respect between them, and Eärnil was a great warrior. Ondoher ordered his younger son Faramir to remain in Minas Anor as regent, aided by Steward Pelendur, in case he and his other heirs should fall in battle.
While Eärnil routed the Haradrim, Ondoher’s army faced a greater threat than they had anticipated, and the King, his elder son Artamir, and his nephew Minohtar were all slain. Worst of all was the discovery of Faramir’s demise, for he had refused to stay behind and rode to war with the Éothéod in disguise. Though Eärnil avenged their deaths and routed the Wainriders from Gondor, there was now no clear heir to the throne.
Pelendur, deeply grieved by the loss of the King and his heirs, assumed his Stewardly responsibility as ruler of Gondor until a new King could be crowned. He had never expected this burden, and it wore on him; it was only through the support of his wife Meleth that he was able to endure while the Council of Gondor deliberated who would be their next leader.
Eärnil, a descendant of King Telumehtar Umbardacil through his younger son Arcíryas, presented his claim with the confidence that he would swiftly be declared King, but he was met with an unexpected challenge in the form of Ondoher’s son-in-law, Prince Arvedui. As the husband of the last King’s daughter Fíriel, who under the old laws of Númenor would have inherited as Ruling Queen, Arvedui argued that she was the rightful ruler of Gondor. Since it had been many long centuries since the Dúnedain had been led by a woman, he claimed that he should become King of Gondor in her stead. Additionally, Arvedui emphasized his position as the Heir of Isildur, once a King of Gondor himself, and thus also the Heir of High King Elendil; his children would be heirs of Arnor and Gondor, reuniting the Two Kingdoms and fulfilling the prophecy of the seer Malbeth.
But to the men of Gondor, Arthedain was a small kingdom and only a remnant of Arnor, never as glorious as their own realm. Furthermore, Pelendur had ever been a friend of Eärnil and spoke for him among the Council of Gondor. After a year of debate, they denied Arvedui’s claim and crowned Eärnil II King instead.
Pelendur served as Eärnil’s Steward for the rest of his life, and upon his death, Eärnil chose his son Vorondil as the next Steward, making the position hereditary in honor of his friend’s loyalty. Vorondil was renowned as a hunter for his pursuit of the Kine of Araw near the far-off shores of the Sea of Rhûn where he had traveled in his youth.
From one of these great, wild white oxen, he fashioned a great horn bound with silver and engraved with ancient characters. This horn passed from Vorondil to his heir, Mardil, and from him to his, and so forth from eldest son to eldest son through many generations, until it met its end with Boromir son of Denethor II. The horn was part of a matched pair, the other of which was given to his wife Anwariel as a courting gift, though this was lost long before Boromir’s time.