Mardil Voronwë

This article is about the Ruling Steward of Gondor. For the other namesakes, see Voronwë (disambiguation).

Mardil as portrayed in The Lord of the Rings Online
Mardil Voronwë
Biographical information
Other names	The Steadfast
Titles	Steward to the King of Gondor Ruling Steward of Gondor Lord of Gondor
Birth	TA 1960
Rule	TA 2050
Death	TA 2080
Spouse	Unnamed wife
Physical description
Race	Men
Culture	Men of Gondor (House of Húrin)

Mardil Voronwë was a noble Man of Gondor from the House of Húrin during the mid-Third Age, who held these offices:

1. Steward to King Eärnil II (TA 2029 - TA 2043);
2. Steward to King Eärnur (TA 2043 - TA 2050);
3. First Ruling Steward of Gondor (TA 2050 - TA 2080).

Biography

Mardil Voronwë was the son of the Vorondil, a great hunter of beasts. By his time the position of Steward of Gondor was already hereditary and Mardil received the title of Steward on the death of his father in TA 2029. His Stewardship began during the last part of the reign of King Eärnil II and throughout the reign of Eärnur, Eärnil's son.

During Eärnur's reign as king, Mardil was charged with the difficult task of restraining the desire of Eärnur to fight the Witch-king of Angmar, the chief of the Ringwraiths, who accused Eärnur after the Battle of Fornost of being afraid to fight him.

The King of Minas Morgul (one of the titles of the Witch-king of Angmar) reminded Eärnur of this and challenged him at the start of his reign in TA 2043. Although an angry Eärnur wanted to fight the Morgul lord he was restrained with difficulty by Mardil. However, when the Witch-king issued another challenge with great insult seven years later in TA 2050, Mardil could not restrain Eärnur, who then rode to Minas Morgul and was never seen again.

Eärnur did not marry and thus had no children, so Mardil took it upon himself to rule Gondor. There was no one with a clear and unassailable claim to the throne, so the rule of the Stewards was a way of averting civil war. Because the fate of the King was unknown, Mardil made an oath to rule until "the King returns". This oath would be sworn by all of the Ruling Stewards. Mardil ruled Gondor with a steady hand and earned the nickname Voronwë, which means "the Steadfast" in Quenya.

During his rule, the Watchful Peace began when Sauron retreated from Dol Guldur in TA 2063 and went into hiding in the East. Upon Mardil's death in TA 2080 at the age of 120 years old, his son Eradan succeeded him as the second Ruling Steward of Gondor.

After Mardil's rule his successors stopped using High-elven names in their official names.

Etymology

Mardil is Quenya, meaning 'Friend of the (Royal) House', and Voronwë is also Quenya in origin, meaning 'steadfast'.

Portrayals in adaptations

• In The Lord of the Rings Online, Mardil appears in a flashback depicting the fate of King Eärnur.

House of Húrin

Húrin of Emyn Arnen

Pelendur

Vorondil

Mardil Voronwë

Eradan

Herion

Belegorn

Húrin I

Túrin I

Hador

Barahir

Dior

Rían

Denethor I

Two daughters

Boromir

Cirion

Hallas

Húrin II

Belecthor I

Orodreth

Morwen

Ecthelion I

Unknown

Egalmoth

Beren

Beregond

Belecthor II

Thorondir

Túrin II

Turgon

Ecthelion II

Two daughters

Denethor II

Finduilas

House of Eorl

Boromir

Faramir

Éowyn

Elboron

Barahir

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Amharic	ማርድል ቮሮንወ
Arabic	مارديل فورووتشي
Belarusian Cyrillic	Мардиль Воронве
Bengali	মার্ডিল ভোরনওয়ে
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Мардил Воронве
Catalan	Màrdil Voronwë
Chinese (Hong Kong)	馬迪爾·佛龍威
Georgian	მარდილო ვორნველი
Greek	Μαρδιλ Βωρονβε
Gujarati	માર્ડિલ વોરોનવે
Hebrew	מארדיל בן האדם
Hindi	मर्दिल वोरोनवे
Japanese	マルディル・ヴォロンウェ
Kannada	ಮರ್ಡಿಲ್ ವೊರೊನ್ವೆ
Kazakh	Марділ Воронве (Cyrillic) Mardil Voronve (Latin)
Korean	마르 딘 보론 웨
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Мардил Воронвэ
Marathi	मर्दिल वोरोनवे
Mongolian Cyrillic	Мардил Воронүё
Nepalese	मार्डिल वोरोन्वे
Persian	ماردیل وورونوه
Russian	Мардил Верный
Sinhalese	මාඩිල් වොරොන්වේ
Tajik Cyrillic	Мардил Воронве
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Марділ Воронве
Urdu	مآردال وورونوا ?
Yiddish	מאַרדיל בֿאָראָנצע

Ruling Steward of Gondor
Preceded by Vorondil the Hunter	Mardil Voronwë	Succeeded by Eradan
TA 2050 - TA 2080