Gil-galad

Gil-galad, originally known as Ereinion, was a Ñoldorin Elf, son of Fingon, and last High King of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth who bore many titles, including High King of the Elves of the West, King of the Eldar, King of Lindon, Lord of the High Elves, and the Lord of Eriador.

Gil-galad held the highest authority among the Elves he ruled and was respected by both the Ñoldor and the Sindar. He was considered the High King of the Elves in Middle Earth. He formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men with Elendil, and he led the Elves, who were undivided, to war against Sauron during this time. His death marked the end of the Ñoldor Kingdoms in Middle-earth, though many Ñoldor still dwelt in Imladris throughout the Third Age.

First Age
Gil-galad was most likely born in the fifth century of the First Age and was still young during the times of the battles of the Dagor Bragollach and Nirnaeth Arnoediad. He was the son of Fingon in the official text of the Silmarillion, which tied him into the House of Fingolfin. In the other version of the legendarium, he was the son Orodreth, and the brother of Finduilas. He lived in Nargothrond until its fall and escaped, and eventually came to the Mouths of Sirion.

After the death of Turgon during the Fall of Gondolin, Gil-galad received the Kingship of the Ñoldor. When the Sons of Feanor committed the Third Kinslaying, Gil-Galad received word of the sacking of the Havens, but he and his host arrived too late to stop the Sons of Feanor, who fled after the battle was over. However the survivors of Sirion joined with Gil-Galad and went with him to Balar, where they told him of Elrond and Elros' captivity. Gil-Galad is not known to have participated in the War of Wrath, as it is stated that none of the exiles took part in it, but afterwards the remaining Sons of Feanor vanished out of history. Maedhros committed suicide while Maglor disappeared without a trace, leaving Elrond and Elros alone. Therefore at some point Gil-Galad welcomed Elrond into his ranks, after the latter chose to be one of Elf Kind.

Second Age


In year 1 of the Second Age, Gil-galad remained in Middle-earth and established Lindon, which was strong and secure against its enemies. At its height, his realm extended eastward as far as the Misty Mountains and the western parts of Greenwood the Great, though most of the Eldar remained in Lindon and in Elrond's refuge of Rivendell.

Gil-galad had alliances with the Men of Westernesse, especially with Tar-Aldarion (the Mariner), The Faithful and Elendil. With Elendil he formed the Alliance of Elves and Men at the great watchtower of Amon Sul, which was so powerful as to be compared to the army which defeated Melkor at the end of the First Age. He reigned as High King of the Ñoldor throughout the Second Age. During this time Gil-galad was given the seeds of mellyrn, or mallorn, trees by Tar-Aldarion, who was, during this time, High King of Numenor. But the seeds wouldn't grow in his land so he gave them to Galadriel before she left Lindon. She carried these seeds for a long time, finally planting them in Lindórinand. When they grew in the land, it was renamed Lothlórien, Lórien of Blossom. At some point, Gil-Galad and Elrond were approached by a stranger called Annatar, who called himself the Lord of Gifts. Fair seeming were his words and offerings, but Gil-Galad perceived that this Annatar was not as he seemed. Therefore he refused to have dealings with him, and sent word abroad to all the Elves that they should shun this stranger.

However Annatar was received elsewhere in Eregion, where he taught the Elves how to make the Rings of Power. But Gil-Galad's distrust was proven correct, as Annatar was Sauron in disguise, and the rings were tools for his wicked plans to dominate Middle-earth. Later on, Gil-Galad was entrusted by Celebrimbor with the Elven Rings Vilya (Ring of Air) and Narya (Ring of Fire), two of the Three Rings, which he passed on to his herald Elrond and his lieutenant Cirdan prior to his demise at the Siege of Barad-dûr.

For a long time Gil-Galad waged war with Sauron. But the High King was aided by the Numenorians, which hindered Sauron's forces. Saurons was driven back into Mordor, where he was forced to weigh up the power of his enemies. He was later confronted by the Numenorians and brought back as a prisoner to their homeland, leaving Gil-Galad free to rule Middle-Earth in peace. In Sauron's absence, Gil-Galad's power grew, to the point where Sauron was dismayed when he returned from the ruin of Numenor. Yet the survivors of Numenor, known as the Faithful, arrived in Middle-Earth and established their kingdoms. They retained their friendship with the Elves, and both Elendil and Gil-Galad took counsel as to how they should deal with Saruon. At length they decided to gather all of their hosts and attack Sauron before he could recover his strength.

With the emergence of Sauron, Gil-Galad joined forces with the Dúnedain King Elendil to defeat the forces spreading from Mordor. Their large and well-trained combined forces engaged Sauron's armies multiple times in the conflict known as the War of the Last Alliance. Gil-Galad's famed weapon was a spear known as Aeglos - which meant ' Icicle ; none could stand against it. Finally, at the end of the war, the Elves and Men marched on Mordor itself and laid siege to Barad-dûr, where Gil-Galad and Elendil fought Sauron himself. During their struggle, Gil-Galad and Elendil inflicted enough wounds on the Dark Lord so that his physical form was destroyed. But according to a scroll written afterwards by Isildur, Gil-Galad perished due to "the heat of Sauron's hand", and so he passed on to the Halls of Mandos. He was not known to have a wife, nor any children, so the kingship of the Ñoldor ended in Middle-earth and Círdan was from then on the Lord of the Grey Havens and Lindon.

 Gil-galad was an Elven-king. Of him the harpers sadly sing; the last whose realm was fair and free between the Mountains and the Sea.

His sword was long, his lance was keen. His shining helm afar was seen; the countless stars of heaven's field were mirrored in his silver shield.

But long ago he rode away, and where he dwelleth none can say; for into darkness fell his star in Mordor where the shadows are.


 * ― From The Fall of Gil-galad, as translated by Bilbo Baggins

Etymology
Gil-galad was a Sindarin word that means "Star of Radiance", from gil ("star") and galad ("light, radiance").

His name in Quenya was Artanáro which means "High Flame". In Sindarin, Artanáro translates to Rodnor.

It was first conceived that Gil-galad's birth name was Ereinion instead of his epessë. The name Ereinion means "Son of Kings", from erain ("kings") and ion ("son").

Parentage
Gil-galad's parentage had many versions:


 * Gil-galad was originally, and briefly, conceived as a descendant of Fëanor.


 * In both The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, Gil-galad was the son of Fingon.


 * In some notes in the History of Middle-earth, he was briefly the son of Finrod Felagund. It was said that Felagund sent his wife and son away for the Falas for their safety. in this version, Galadriel was Gil-galad's sister and daughter of Felagund. However, Tolkien decided that Felagund was unmarried and childless. If Tolkien had not said this, this could be one of the most believed, as Gil-Galad and Galadriel both have "galad" in their name.


 * In another, Angrod had a son Artaresto (later called Orodreth) whom Finrod made his steward and succeeded in Nargothrond. His wife was a Sindarin lady of the North, and had two children, Finduilas and Gil-galad, whom she called Rodnor.


 * In the last, the name Artaresto was replaced by Arothir (Orodreth), the nephew of Finrod and father of Gil-galad. Finduilas remained as Orodreth's daughter and became sister of Gil-galad.



A marginal note by Tolkien from around this time (the late 1950s) suggested that Gil-galad might be the son of Fingon. This suggestion was taken up by Tolkien's son and literary executor Christopher Tolkien in the published version of The Silmarillion, which states that Gil-galad is the son of Fingon. After the Dagor Bragollach and the ruin of Beleriand which results in the death of his grandfather Fingolfin, then High King of the Noldor, Fingon becomes the High King and sends a young Gil-galad to the Havens of the Falas under Círdan. This idea of Gil-galad being sent to the Havens was derived from material which the elder Tolkien had written at the time when he saw Gil-galad as the son of Finrod.

After the disaster of the Nírnaeth Arnoediad, the title passes to Fingon's brother Turgon. Morgoth assaults the Falathrim in great force after that battle but Círdan and Gil-galad manage to flee in their ships to the Isle of Balar. When tidings come to Balar about the sack of Gondolin and the death of Turgon, Gil-galad becomes the King. Gil-galad's name in the chapter "Aldarion and Erendis" in the Unfinished Tales was also changed by the younger Tolkien in order to keep consistency with the published version of The Silmarillion. — in the original version of that work he was noted as a son of Finrod. Christopher later stated in The Peoples of Middle-earth that this decision to make Gil-galad a son of Fingon was an editorial mistake on his part, and did not represent his father's conception of the character. He suggested that it would have been better to have left Gil-galad's parentage obscure.

Tolkien's final decision for Gil-galad's parentage appears to have been that he was a son of Orodreth, who was at the same time changed from being a son of Finarfin to a son of Angrod. This conception, however, was never incorporated into the written stories of The Silmarillion, and aspects of it — notably the downgrading of Orodreth into a son of Angrod — would have required considerable reworking of the existing text. Moreover, if Gil-Galad were the son of Orodreth then he would not have been High King, as the kingship belonged to the House of Fingolfin. In the official text of The Silmarillion, Gil-Galad receives the kingship as he is the son of Fingon, who in turn is the son of Fingolfin.

In the books

 * The Silmarillion
 * Unfinished Tales
 * History of Middle-earth 
 * The Fellowship of the Ring 

In the films

 * The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
In Fellowship of the Ring, Gil-galad's (played by Mark Ferguson) death scene was deleted, however he makes a brief appearance when he fights multiple orcs with his spear. He also appears very briefly as one of the original three Elven ring-bearers (along with Galadriel and Círdan) wearing Vilya.

Armor


Gil-galad's armor was similar in composition to that of all the elves of the Second Age: a cuirass and fault of interlocking lames of steel plate over a hauberk of fine mail, together with pauldrons and braces. However, befitting his status as High-king, his armor was blued and etched with vine like tracery, and the plates were embossed with Tengwar symbols and included leather pants, which gave greater protection. At the throat, he wore a steel collar that bore his heraldic insignia, twelve stars on a midnight blue field. The color blue may have reflected an association with the sea; in any case, it was certainly a dye that was rare on Middle-earth, and it would have required a great deal of time and knowledge to locate enough flora or fauna with which to make it. His cloak was of a deep blue and his armor was golden, and instead of a helmet, he wore a golden crown, fashioned for him by Celebrimbor, who made the Rings of Power.

Shield


The shield of the High-king was the same shape as the regular elven shield, but like his armor it was more richly adorned: it was enameled in blue on and around the boss and decorated in gold with the twelve stars of his house. Because Aeglos(his spear) was wielded two-handed, it is likely that the shield was carried only to the field of battle rather onto it, to be left with one of Gil-galad's attendants. It may have been used by him when he fought with a sword.

Video games

 * In Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, after finding a certain artifact, the stone from Mount Doom, Celebrimbor will state that he "watched Gil-Galad die on the slopes of Mount Doom". This would suggest that the game's Celebrimbor fought in the battle of the last alliance.
 * Gil-Galad is a playable character in LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game, and can be obtained by finding him and buying him in a cave in Mordor. He is styled after the movie interpretation of Gil-Galad, but his equipment does not include a spear; he instead wields an Elven sword and shield.