Eärnur

Eärnur was the thirty-third and last King of Gondor until the accession of Aragorn II Elessar. He took the throne upon the death of his father Eärnil II in TA 2043, and after his disappearance the Stewards of Gondor ruled in his name for many generations.

Biography[]

Eärnur was the son of Eärnil II. He was a great warrior and became a great leader of armies before he became King. His greatest victory was against Angmar in TA 1975 in the Battle of Fornost, in which he defeated the Witch-king of Angmar, whom he intended to slay had his steed not panicked in terror of the Witch-king's darkness. It was to him that Glorfindel stated his prophecy that "not by the hand of men shall he fall", referring to the Witch-king as he fled from defeat. After becoming King in TA 2043, he was challenged by the Witch-king, chief of the Ringwraiths, who then resided in Minas Morgul. Eärnur, being quick to anger and wrath, would have accepted his challenge had the wise Steward Mardil Voronwë not held him back, and so the first challenge went unanswered.

In TA 2050 a second challenge came, mocking Eärnur for his supposed cowardice in the face of the Witch-king at the Battle of Fornost, and Mardil was not able to stop Eärnur from accepting the challenge. After entering the gates of Minas Morgul with a small escort, Eärnur was never heard from again. His crown lay on his father's tomb in the Hallows of Minas Tirith.

The Line of Anárion was broken with Eärnur's disappearance, and the rule of Gondor passed to the Stewards, beginning with Mardil Voronwë, who had tried to restrain Eärnur from going to Minas Morgul to face the Witch-king. The Stewards were to rule "until the King returns", for it was then unknown whether Eärnur had been killed duelling the Witch-king or not. Eärnur had also left without naming an heir, and while many nobles in Gondor could lay some sort of claim to the kingship, no claim would be accepted by all, and no one wanted to risk a second civil war.^[2]

Personality[]

Eärnur did not inherit his father's wisdom. He delighted mainly in battle, and desired no wife at the time of his disappearance.^[2]

Etymology[]

Eärnur is a Quenya name meaning "Sea-friend", and is pronounced ay-ar-nur.

In adaptations[]

In Electronic Arts' The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king, King Eärnur is a playable character only in the epilogue (the final stage of the Angmar Campaign), in which he alongside Glorfindel and Elrond set out to destroy Angmar after its victory over Arnor. His role in the game is mostly the same as in the books.

The Lord of the Rings Online - Mordirith — Eärnur as Mordirith, the Steward of Angmar

In The Lord of the Rings Online, Eärnur plays a major role in the game as the chief antagonist of several Epic storylines and is also combined with the character of Gothmog. In the game's version of events, in Minas Morgul he was transformed into a wraith named Mordirith in service of the Witch-king, who in mockery of the Stewards of Gondor made Mordirith his own Steward of Carn Dûm in Angmar. Long absent from it, Mordirith returns to Carn Dûm shortly before War of the Ring, launching attacks against the Free Peoples of Eriador. Mordirith is defeated at the end of the game's original storyline, plunging the other servants of Sauron into a civil war over his position before he returns and his identity is revealed at the end of Volume I. He is defeated again, but instead of being sent back to the North, he is given the name Gothmog and ordered to lead the Witch-king's armies against Gondor.

The player does not meet him again until Osgiliath, shortly before the Siege of Gondor. During the Battle of the Pelennor Fields Gothmog personally kills the Ranger Halbarad, but when his master is undone and can no longer bring him back from the void, he suddenly feels fear again and flees the battlefield before Aragorn. Gothmog barricades himself inside Minas Morgul, refusing even Sauron's muster to the Black Gate. Though he outlives the Dark Lord's demise, his other surviving servants blame Gothmog for it and combine their forces to assault of the City of the Dead. This gives the players and a group of Rangers of Ithilien the opportunity to sneak inside and challenge Gothmog, delivering a final defeat to him.

Foreign Language	Translated name
Amharic	ዐኣርኑር
Arabic	إيرنور
Armenian	Եարնուր
Belarusian Cyrillic	Эарнур
Bengali	এঅর্নুর
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Еарнур
Chinese (Simplified)	爾諾
Georgian	ეარნური
Greek	Έαρνυρ
Gujarati	ઍઅર્નુર
Hebrew	יארנור
Hindi	एअर्नुर
Japanese	エアルヌア
Kannada	ಅರ್ನರ್
Kazakh	Еәрнұр (Cyrillic) Eärnur (Cyrillic)
Korean	에아르누르
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Эарнур
Macedonian Cyrillic	Еарнур
Marathi	अर्णूर
Mongolian Cyrillic	Еарнур
Nepalese	एअर्नुर
Pashto	ېارنور ?
Persian	ائارنور
Punjabi	ਅਰਨੂਰ
Russian	Эарнур
Sanskrit	एअर्नुर्
Serbian	Еарнур (Cyrillic) Earnur (Latin)
Sinhalese	ඒඇර්නුර්
Tajik Cyrillic	Еарнур
Tamil	ஏஅர்நுர்
Thai	แอร์เนอร์
Telugu	ఏఅర్నుర
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Еарнур
Urdu	اآرنور
Uzbek	Еарнур (Cyrillic) Earnur (Latin)
Yiddish	עאַרנור

King of Gondor
Preceded by Eärnil II	Eärnur	Succeeded by Aragorn II Elessar (after a long interregnum)
TA 2043 - TA 2050

Eärnur

Biography[]

Personality[]

Etymology[]

In adaptations[]

House of Anárion[]

Translations[]

References[]

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