Land of the King,
Chapter 5: Annals of Kings I, Arnor Rising
The legends, histories, and lore to be found in the sources for this text are very extensive. Only selections from them, in most places much abridged, are here presented.
At the time of the writing of this text in the year 5700 since Elendil's Landing, there have been forty and one High Kings of Arnor, descended in an unbroken line from father to son from Elendil of old. As the lifespan of the royal house is some three to four centuries the average reign of the kings has been around 120 years, although this figure would increase in later years, as the kings began marrying and siring their heirs later and later in their lives. Their names and year of death are written below.
The tradition for succession in early Arnor was for the kings to rule until shortly before their deaths, when they would give to their sons the Crown and Sceptre, before surrendering their lives. This custom was not always followed and in later years, was abandoned entirely. Most kings did not abdicate. Others died young or abdicated far before their own deaths. Some of the listed kings did not even reign, having abdicated and passed the Sceptre directly to their own heir. For simplicity, the dates given below correspond to the end of each king's reign although the date of death is given in brackets if they abdicated before their year of death. A cross before the date of death indicates a premature death.
Elendil, 202(212), Isildur 286, Elendur I 391, Eldacar 497, Arantar 604, Tarcil †712, Tarondor 847, Valandur 951, Elendur II 1072, Earendur †1156, Amlaith †1162, Beleg 1512(1537), Mallor 1512(1580), Celepharn 1712, Celebrindor 1892, Malvegil †1976, Argeleb I 2174, Arveleg I 2287, Araphor 2401, Argeleb II 2564, Arvegil 2713, Arveleg II 2859, Araval, 3021, Araphant 3149, Arvegil II 3400, Aranarth †3461, Arahael 3674, Aranuir 3860, Aravir 4001, Aragorn I 4144, Araglas 4283, Arahad I †4442, Aragost 4452(4574), Aravorn 4732, Arahad II 4834, Arassuil 4951, Arathorn I †5001, Argonui 5248, Arador 5342, Arathorn II †5421, Aragorn II 5618.
I Elendil the Tall, 0-202
Elendil the Tall, the first High King of Arnor and greatest of the Númenóreans to survive the Downfall. He was called the 'Tall" for his incredible height of 7 feet and 11 inches. He was the son of Amandil, last Lord of Andúnië. He was born in the year S.A. 3119 and died in 212 E.L. at the age of 412. He abdicated to his son in the year 202 having reigned over Arnor for 202 years.
He began the tradition, or rather continued it from the early Kings of Númenor, of the previous king crowning their son and giving them the sceptre before their own deaths when he did so for his son Isildur. During his reign, Arnor was established and fortified, and there was peace and prosperity for most of his reign. Notably, he is also credited with writing the story of the Downfall of Númenor, Akallabêth.
II Isildur the Brave, 202-286
The eldest son of Elendil. He was forever renown as Isildur the Brave, for his feat in rescuing a seedling from Nimloth the Fair, White Tree of Númenor, before it was uprooted and burned by Sauron the Deceiver in the Temple of Melkor. He was born in Númenor in the year S.A 3209 and died in the year 286 E.L. at the age of 396. He ruled for 84 years. Isildur abdicated to his son Elendur only a month before he died.
III Elendur I, 286-391
He was the eldest son of Isildur and had three younger brothers, Aratan, Ciryon, and Valandil. He was born in S.A. 3299 and ruled for 105 years, and died in 391 at the age of 411. He was noted for being the last King to have lived in Númenor before the Downfall and had a great but tragically short-lived friendship with Corlos, son of Caster, the founder of House Casterly.
During his reign, Arnor was first raided by longships from the Grey Islands, an archipelago to the north of Fornost. He built a great network of beacons along the coast, to watch for the raiders and it was during his reign that the use of ravens for message-carrying became widespread.
Most scholars believe that the King's Rangers, a corps of elite Arnorian soldiers dedicated to intelligence-gathering and special operations, were founded during the reign of Elendur I. Though history tells little of the deeds of the Rangers, their service to their country cannot be underestimated, and though rarely mentioned, it can be expected that they played a significant role in Arnor's many wars.
IV Eldacar the Giantking, 391-497
He was the son of Elendur. He was born in the year 102 and died at the age of 395 in the year 497. He ruled for 106 years. He was called "Giantking" for his granting of asylum to a number of giant clans fleeing to Arnor from other lands. King Eldacar successfully convinced them to acknowledge him as king and having done so he granted them lands for their families and mammoth herds. These giants and mammoths would prove great boons to Arnor in later years.
V Arantar the Scholar, 497-607
He was the son of Eldacar and was born in the year 204. He married late and ruled for 110 years until his death in 607 at the age of 403.
He was a scholarly and well-read man. He built many great libraries in Arnor and gave patronage to the Guild of Alchemists, constructing a guildhall for them in Annúminas. It was during his reign that an increasing number of Arnorian citizens began developing skinchanging abilities and prophetic visions, called greendreams. Unlike other kings in other kingdoms, Arantar did not persecute them but instead established orders for these skinchangers and greenseers where they could be taught and protected and gave refuge to any with these abilities from other lands. As a result, Arnor would eventually develop a large and loyal corps of skinchangers and greenseers, giving them an incredible advantage in future wars.
He enthusiastically studied and inadvertently preserved the runes of the First Men and their meaning. In later days, his notes proved invaluable to scholars as Casterric began to fall out of favour for the Sindarin spoken by the Dúnedain.
VI Tarcil Rochir, 607-712
He was the son of Arantar and died relatively young at the age of 374, being born in 338 and dying in 712. He ruled for 105 years. From a young age he was called 'Rochir' which means Horse-lord in Sindarin. He was well known for his love of horses and was an avid horse-breeder. It was Tarcil who first began the large-scale capture and breeding of horse in Arnor, reinvigorating in his people their ancient love for horses.
Under his guidance, Arnor would begin to field its first cavalry units in the army, in the form of cataphracts, a horse and rider armoured in scale mail and armed with a lance, and units of horse-archers.
He loved both his sons, Tarondor and Amroth, but preferred Amroth due to him inheriting his love for horses. He personally led many expeditions to capture and tame the wild horses of Westeros and it was on one such expedition that he was kicked in the head by a horse and died.
VII Tarondor Hirgaer, 712-847
Tarondor was the eldest son of Tarcil Rochir. He was born in the year 433. Where his father and brother loved horses, Tarondor adored the sea. From the incredibly young age of six, he went on many journeys on Arnorian ships and learned how to sail, becoming a great captain by the age of sixteen and sailing to many lands in Westeros. He is noted to have visited Oldtown and the Arbor on no less than three expeditions. In his youth, Tarondor restarted the Guild of Venturers, a group of brave mariners. They took their name from an old guild founded in Númenor of old by Tar-Aldarion.
His royal father did not mind his passion for the sea and gave him leave for his many expeditions; some in court however, whispered that King Tarcil cared not for his son's journeys to sea and minded not if he should perish as his younger more beloved son would inherit in his place. Despite these rumours, there was little strife between Tarondor and his father but there was also little interaction between them, both preferring to pursue their respective hobby over spending time with the other.
He ascended to the throne in the year 712 after his father's early death from a horse kick. Famously, he hunted down the horse that had killed his father and commanded it to serve him. His voice had been so terrifying and his will so forceful that the horse consented and served him loyally until the end of its days.
King Tarondor built a great harbour at Annúminas and moored the Royal Fleet there. It was ever his chief concern that the Dúnedain of Arnor should embrace their seafaring heritage and he built many ports, harbours, sea walls, wharfs, and shipyards; by the end of his reign, the number of ships of Arnor had increased threefold and its navy grown to become the mightiest in the world.
Tarondor would use that navy to conquer the Grey Islands in the year 749. It was from his journeys at sea, that Tarondor gained a great hatred of the Greyborn, the raiders from the Grey Islands, having had to fight them countless times and seeing many friends and sailors die to their blades. He realized the threat they posed to Arnor and its sailors and resolved to end it forever.
For the purpose of his war, Tarondor had given royal patronage to the Guild of Weaponiths for countless steelbows, swords and other equipment for his armies. He also ordered a large amount of wildfire from the Alchemist's Guild and placed them in flamethrowers and spitfires on board his ships.
It was around the 6th century E.L. that the previously disunited Grey Islands had united under one High King in the Kingsmoot Era, becoming a great threat to the west coasts of Westeros.
Tarondor led his navy to the Islands and after many battles on land and at sea, he crushed them and conquered all the Isles. His wildfire flamethrowers had been used to devastating effect, burning the Grey Fleet and sending it to the bottom of the sea.
Those who refused to bend the knee to him were hanged. A large deal of defiance was instigated by the priests of the local religion, the Drowned God, who called upon the locals to resist their new overlords. King Tarondor extinguished 9 out of every 10 noble houses in the Grey Islands for their constant rebellions and he ordered for each priest of the Drowned Men to be executed. By the end of his rule, the religion of the Drowned God had been brutally suppressed, but the Islanders would never love Tarondor.
To control the Isles, he raised many loyal Dúnedain to rule over the islands in the place of the former lords and on the largest he built Angrenost, the Iron Fortress, a massive fortress built entirely out of indestructible smooth black stone. In order to spite the Islanders, he had purposefully built the fortress such that the holiest site of the Isles to the locals, the ribs of Nagga the great sea dragon, was within the walls of Angrenost.
The greatest of the towers of Angrenost was Orthanc, a peak and isle of rock, black and gleaming hard. In Orthanc was kept one of the seven palantiri to watch over the islands and report any trouble to the King in Annúminas.
Some argue over whether the archipelago's later name, Angren, meaning Iron or in this case, the Iron Islands, was influenced by the name of the fortress built to control them or the vast amount of iron ore found on the islands. Most believe it was a combination of both.
Apart from his shipbuilding and conquests, the other most notable deed of Tarondor was the granting of land to his brother. Tarondor's younger brother Amroth fought for him in the Conquest of the Grey Islands and for his leal service, Tarondor granted him the fief of Dol Amroth, named for him, on a peninsula to the north of Annúminas.
It was after his great victory, that Tarondor claimed the title of Hirgaer, Lord of the Sea.
King Tarondor died in the year 847 at the age of 414. His reign lasted 135 years. He is remembered as the first of the Ship-Kings, the four kings who rebuilt and expanded Arnor's navy into the greatest in the known world and spearheaded the beginning of its expansion. Many scholars attribute the beginning of Arnor's ascension to dominance in Westeros to Tarondor and his successors.
VIII Valandur Aldarion, 847-951
The eighth king of Arnor. He came to the throne in the shadow of his famous father's accomplishments. He was born in the year 543, ascended to kingship in the year 847, and died at the age of 408 in 951, having ruled Arnor for 104 years.
He was called Aldarion, after Tar-Aldarion, by many, due to his concern for the forests of Arnor. Valandur had seen that many trees had been cut down and large swathes of land deforested during the reign of his father. To repair the damaged forests, he decreed that no tree in the forests may be cut down without the planting of two more additional trees. From the reign of Valandur onwards, the Kings of Arnor took great care to ensure that timber was plentiful in Arnor for their ships and there were great timber plantations in the broadleaf forests of Malldolan.
It was during Valandur's reign, that Arnor obtained saplings of Ironwood from Northern Westeros. Ironwood is a species of tree with an exceptionally strong, black, hard wood. Despite the name, they are not quite as strong as iron. Nevertheless, they are stronger than any other type of wood save, perhaps weirwood and goldenheart. Valandur planted massive plantations of Ironwood trees in Arnor, foreseeing the use his descendants would have of them.
Unlike his father, Tarondor, who had greatly punished the peoples of the newly christened Iron Islands for their raiding, Valandur showed them kindness. He turned his forestry skills to replenishing the almost completely depleted forests on the Islands, restoring them and instituting good forestry practices. He also utilized a number of agricultural methods to help fertilize the Islands to help them grow food. An important aid to the islands was the introduction of sheep, which later lead to the Islands becoming a large sheep rearing centre in Arnor, providing wool and mutton.
The people of the Iron Islands had feared and hated Tarondor, but due to Valandur's kindness they began to warm to him. It was Valandur who had proposed the doctrine that the Drowned God was actually Arren, Maia of the Sea, one of seven. Many resisted this new ideology especially due to the implication that Arren, the Drowned God, and Cala, the Storm God, could work together. Despite the initial resistance, this doctrine would eventually come to hold sway in the Islands over the course of centuries.
Valandur Aldarion was remembered fondly for his kindness. Where his father was known as a great king, Valandur was known not only as a great king but also a good man. For his work in the planting of great woods for shipbuilding timber, he is recognized as the second Ship-King and he continued his father's work in the expanding of Arnor's navy.
IX Elendur II the Krakenslayer, 951-1072
Elendur II ascended the throne in 951. He was born in the year 671 and died at the age of 401 in the year 1072. His reign lasted for 121 years.
Elendur II was the third of the Ship-Kings and continued the legacy of both his father and grandfather. He continued the building of great harbours and fleets and also increased the number of plantations in Arnor.
King Elendur II also continued his father's policies in the Iron Islands, giving them large ships to use to fish and whale in the Sunset Sea. The kindness of Elendur and his father succeeded in winning the loyalty of the Iron Islands, which became a loyal and productive region of Arnor.
It was during his rule, that Arnorian ships began arming themselves so as to fight off krakens and sea dragons and other sea monsters.
Arnor was, according to legend, contacted by merlings during his rule and they would aid Elendur in slaying a mighty kraken, which had been plaguing Arnorian ships. For this impressive deed, Elendur was given the moniker of 'Krakenslayer'.
X Earendur Falastur, 1072-1156
Earendur was born in the year 843. He became king in the year 1072 and ruled for 84 years, mysteriously dying young at the age of 313 in 1156. He was a strong and cunning ruler, the last of the four Ship-kings, who greatly increased Arnor's power southwards, leading him to take the name Falastur, Lord of the Coasts. However, he foolishly ignored the dissension in his three sons, leading to tragedy after his death, and the near ruin of all he had worked for.
It was during the reign of King Earendur that Arnor first came into conflict with House Gardener, and the Kingdom of the Reach. The conflict began over the Misty Islands.
Following Tarondor Hirgaer's conquest of the Grey Islands, their colonies and foreign possessions all over the western coast had been left without leadership. In most places they were reconquered by the locals but in the Misty Islands, they had become a successful and independent kingdom in their own right.
The Kingdom of the Reach had expanded over the centuries to encompass most of the region watered by the Mander River. At the time they were ruled by perhaps the greatest Gardener King of all time, Garth Goldenhand, who had desired to conquer the Misty Islands and fortify them to shield the Mander River from foreign incursions. This brought him into conflict with Earendur, who also desired to conquer the islands.
Garth would be defeated by Earendur at the battle of Oakenmist in 1148 E.L and he acknowledged Arnorian rule over the islands. However, the Goldenhand refused to accept the defeat and began preparing a great army to take vengeance.
Five years later, Earendur allied with King Durran XI of the Stormlands to invade the Reach. Garth Goldenhand successfully defeated Durran at the Battle of Ashford, crushing his host and forcing a humiliating peace on Durran, taking a great deal of the Western Stormlands.
However, Garth was again defeated and this time killed by Earendur at the Battle of Goldengrove. Highgarden was saved only by the pleading of Gawen V, son of Garth Goldenhand, who persuaded Earendur to meet to discuss peace terms.
In an ironic reversal of fortune, Earendur imposed a harsh peace on Gawen. Old Oak, Goldengrove, and a great part of the coast all the way to the mouth of the Mander River would be ceded to Arnor, and the Reach would pay indemnities for the cost of the war. It was a near-unacceptable demand, the Arnorian border would be within twenty miles of Highgarden, but Gawen had had no choice but to accept, lest the castle itself be besieged.
And so Earendur returned to Arnor in 1155 E.L, having successfully expanded Arnor's borders for the first time since Tarondor Hirgaer. Mysteriously, he died much earlier than expected only a year later and the strife between his sons would see almost all his gains undone.
XI Amlaith of Fornost, 1156-1162
Amlaith was born in the year 998, the eldest of three brothers. He was called 'of Fornost' for his position as Captain of Fornost in his youth, and the fortress remained loyal to him when the time came. Even from a young age, it was clear to all that there was little love between Amlaith and his younger brothers, Cirion and Ostoher. Their quarrel set Arnor up for tragedy.
Their father Earendur married late and thus Amlaith became king in 1156 at the age of 158. However, he was not acknowledged as king by his brothers and Arnor was embroiled in a brief but bloody conflict remembered as the War of the Three Brothers.
By the end of it, Arnor had been greatly weakened. Many of its fleets and cities had been burnt and destroyed and its armies were depleted. The distraction of the succession crisis had even allowed King Gawen V of the Reach to reclaim the lands he had lost to Amlaith's father Earendur.
It is very sad, how brothers could turn against each other in such a way. For their treason Amlaith would have executed his brothers but for the sake of their shared mother, who begged Amlaith to show mercy, he instead sentenced one to a life of servitude at the Wall. Yet for the other, his crimes were judged too egregious and he was sentenced to death by beheading.
Tragically King Amlaith was slain in battle at the Second Battle of Goldengrove attempting to reclaim the lost lands from Gawen V in the year 1162.
Amlaith could have won but for his own overconfidence causing him to underestimate Gawen. In the midst of the battle, a stray arrow pierced his neck, and the young king fell of his horse and died. He was only 164, very young by the reckoning of his people, and had ruled Arnor for only six years, four of them spent at war.