High King of the Ñoldor

Gil-galad, the last Ñoldóran

The Ñoldóran or King of the Ñoldor, also called the High King of the Elves of the West or High-king of the Eldar, was the head of the House of Finwë in Beleriand and Middle-earth, having overlordship over all the Ñoldorin realms. Some Elves in these realms, such as the Sons of Fëanor (who were in line for the kingship, but whose rights were relinquished by Maedhros), only acknowledged the Kingship nominally and paid it little heed. The Sons followed their own agenda under the general leadership of Maedhros.

History

The forefather of the House of Finwë and first Ñoldóran was Finwë, first lord of the Tatyar who led his people in the Great Journey from Cuiviénen into the West to dwell in Valinor. He was slain by Morgoth at Formenos. His eldest son Fëanor claimed the kingship, but led a Rebellion of the Ñoldor back to Middle-earth to avenge his father's death and recover the Silmarils from Morgoth.

Fëanor died before establishing a realm and the Kingship by right belonged to his eldest son Maedhros who was captured by Morgoth. After Fingon saved his life, in gratitude (and regretting that his father had abandoned the other Ñoldor in Araman) Maedhros passed his titles to Fingon's father, Fingolfin, being the eldest and wisest of all. Thus the Kingship passed from the House of Fëanor to the House of Fingolfin (fulfilling the Doom of Mandos that the Sons of Fëanor would become the Dispossessed) and the two Houses made peace.

Etymology

Ñoldóran is a Quenya name meaning "King of the Ñoldor", which is a compound of Ñoldo ("one of the wise folk") and aran ("king"), where o+a assimilated into a long ó.

Kingship in Beleriand

Fingolfin became the first King of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth, ruling from the northwest of Beleriand with his sons, mostly during the Siege of Angband. When Morgoth broke the leaguer in the Dagor Bragollach, Fingolfin rode in anger to the gates of Angband and died in single combat with Morgoth. He was succeeded by his eldest son Fingon who reigned during an endless war. With Maedhros, he prepared a final assault on Morgoth, which ended in disaster for the Ñoldor and Fingon's own death, after a short rule.

Fingon's brother Turgon succeeded Fingon nominally, but his reign was titular at the least, as it was impossible for the "Hidden King" to rule from his Hidden City, the location of which was unknown by even his own kin. That was until Gondolin's location was discovered by Morgoth through the treachery of Maeglin.

Following Turgon's death in the Fall of Gondolin, there were no more extant Ñoldorin realms in Beleriand; the Kingship passed to the House of Finarfin, and the son of Orodreth, the young Ereinon Gil-galad was named High King once news of Turgon's death had spread. Seeing the end of the War of the Jewels, Gil-galad held the Kingship through the Second Age, ruling longer than any of his forebears.

In the Westlands

After the cataclysmic War of Wrath that ended the First Age, the surviving Ñoldor who did not depart for the Undying Lands constituted the realms of Lindon and later Eregion in northwestern Middle-earth. Gil-galad was acknowledged as "High King of the Elves of the West", though as in the First Age this title brought little real authority beyond the king's own direct realm. He was the chief enemy of Sauron in the Dark Years, at the end of which he appointed Elrond as his vice-regent in Eriador. He formed the Last Alliance with Elendil, being the commander of almost all of the Elven forces who fought in that War. and died dueling Sauron on the slopes of Mount Doom at the end of the Second Age.

Gil-galad was the last High King; after his time the title was never used, as he fathered no children and no obvious heirs of the House of Finwë remained in Middle-earth. Galadriel of the House of Finarfin perhaps had some rights, but did not claim them. Elrond was a direct descendant of Turgon, but through his daughter Idril; he never made claim to the Kingship but ruled Rivendell with all the authority of a king. The Ñoldorin population of Middle-earth was greatly diminished in the Third Age, which was partly why the kingship remained unclaimed.

List of High Kings

#	Name	Reign	Lifespan	Note
Kings of the Ñoldor in Aman ‡
I	Finwë	YT 1105 — 1495 †	c. YT 1086 — 1495 †	killed by Morgoth; descendant of Enel of the Tatyar
II	Fëanor	YT 1495 — 1497 †	YT 1169 — 1497 †	Eldest son of Finwë, who was killed by the Balrogs of Morgoth
III	Finarfin	From YT 1496	From YT 1230	Third son of Finwë, who resides in Valinor after the Changing
High Kings of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth
?	Maedhros	—	Noontide of Valinor — FA 587 †	Eldest son of Fëanor, who gave his rights to the House of Fingolfin after being rescued by Fingon
I	Fingolfin	YS 7 — 456 †	YT 1190 — FA 456 †	Second son of Finwë, who was killed by Morgoth soon after the Dagor Bragollach
II	Fingon	YS 456 — 472 †	YT 1260 — FA 472 †	Eldest son of Fingolfin, who was killed by Gothmog in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad
III	Turgon	YS 472 — 510 †	YT 1300 — FA 510 †	Second son of Fingolfin, who ruled in Gondolin and perished at its Fall
IV	Gil-galad	FA 510 — SA 3441 †	YT 1481 — SA 3441 †	Son of Orodreth of the House of Finarfin, who was killed by Sauron at the Siege of Barad-dûr

‡ Also technically Kings of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth.

In other versions

In the published version of The Silmarillion, Gil-galad is said to be the son of Fingon. However, in some of Tolkien's later notes, published in The History of Middle-earth, Gil-galad is said to be the son of Orodreth and thus a junior member of the House of Finarfin, and Turgon's closest living relative in the male line (excluding the dispossessed House of Fëanor).

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Hoë Koning van die Noldor
Albanian	Mbreti i Lartë i Noldorit
Arabic	الملك عالية من نولدور
Basque	Noldorko errege nagusia
Belarusian Cyrillic	Высокі кароль Нолдорa
Bosnian	Vrhovni Kralj Noldora
Breton	Roue Uhel Noldor
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Върховният Крал на Нолдор
Catalan	Rei Suprem dels Ñoldor
Cebuano	Hataas nga Hari sa Noldor
Chinese	諾多族最高君王
Corsican	Re di Rè di Noldor
Croatian	Visokikralj Noldora
Czech	Velekrálem Noldor
Danish	Noldor Stor-konge
Dutch	Hoge-Koning van de Noldor
Esperanto	Supera Reĝo de Noldor
Estonian	Noldor Kõrge kuningas
Filipino	Mataas na hari ng mga Noldor
Finnish	Noldorin korkea kuningas
French	Haut Roi des Noldor
Frisian	Hege Kening fan 'e Noldor (Western)
Galician	Altos Rei dos Noldor
Georgian	ნოლდორის მაღალი მეფე
German	Hoher König der Noldor
Greek	Ανώτατο βασιλιάς των Νόλντορ
Gujarati	નોલ્ડરના ઉચ્ચ રાજા
Hebrew	העליון קינג של הנולדור
Hmong	Huab tais siab ntawm qhov Noldor
Hungarian	Noldor nagy királya
Icelandic	Hákonungur af Noldor
Indonesian	Raja Tinggi Noldor
Irish Gaelic	Ard Rí na hNoldor
Italian	Re Supremo dei Noldor
Japanese	ノルドールの高い王
Javanese	Raja Agung saka Noldor
Kannada	ನೊಲ್ಡರ್ನ ಉನ್ನತ ರಾಜ
Kazakh	Нолдордың Жоғары Патшасы (Cyrillic) Noldordıñ Joğarı Patşası (Latin)
Korean	놀도르의 높은 왕
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Нолдордын Жогорку падыша
Latvian	Augsts Noldoras karalis
Lithuanian	Aukštas Noldoro karalius
Luxembourgish	Héich Kinnek vun der Noldor
Macedonian Cyrillic	Висок Крал на Нолдор
Malagasy	Mpanjaka avo ao amin' ny Noldor
Malayalam	നോൾഡോർ ഉന്നത രാജാവ്
Malaysian	Raja Tinggi Noldor
Maltese	Re Għoli tal-Noldor
Marathi	नोल्डरचा सर्वोच्च राजा ?
Mongolian Cyrillic	Нолдор-ийн Өндөр хаан
Nepalese	णोल्दोर को उच्च राजा
Norwegian	Høy konge av Noldoene
Occitan	Alt Rei del Noldor
Persian	پادشاه بزرگ نولدور
Polish	Najwyższy Król Noldorów
Portuguese	Alto Rei dos Noldor
Punjabi	ਨੋਲਡਰ ਦਾ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਡਾ ਰਾਜਾ
Romanian	Marele rege al Noldorii
Russian	Верховный король Нолдор
Samoan	Le tupu Maualuga o le Noldor
Scottish Gaelic	Àrd Rìgh de na Noldor
Serbian	Велики краљ Нолдора (Cyrillic) Veliki kralj Noldora (Latin)
Sicilian	Autu Re dî Noldor
Slovak	Vysokýkráľ Noldor
Slovenian	Nadkralj vseh Noldorov
Spanish	Rey Supremo de los Noldor
Sundanese	Tinggi Raja tina Noldor
Swahili	Mfalme mkuu wa Noldor
Swedish	Högkung av Noldor
Tajik Cyrillic	Нолдор баландтарин Подшоҳи ?
Telugu	ణొల్దొర యొక్క ఉన్నత రాజు
Thai	กษัตริย์สูงสุดแห่งโนลดอร์
Turkish	Yüce Noldor Kralı
Turkmen	Noldoryň beýik şasy
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Верховний король Нолдор
Urdu	ہائی شاہ نولڈاور
Uzbek	Нолдорнинг Олий қирол (Cyrillic) Noldorning Oliy qirol (Latin)
Venetian	Alto Re del Noldor
Vietnamese	Vua cao của Noldor
Welsh	Uchel Frenin Noldor
Yiddish	הויך מלך פון די נאָלדאָר