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Pronunciation
ekthe'lion
Meaning
From ecthel, meaning either 'fountain' or 'spear-point'2
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  • Updated 29 April 2020
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Ecthelion I

The Steward who rebuilt Minas Tirith’s White Tower

Belecthor I
Orodreth
Morwen
Ecthelion I
(Unnamed cousin)
Egalmoth

Ecthelion I died childless, and was succeeded by his nearest surviving kin, a descendant of Belecthor I named Egalmoth.

Stewards of Gondor

The seventeenth Ruling Steward of Gondor, who succeeded his father Orodreth to the Stewardship. He is most famous for rebuilding the White Tower that surmounted the city of Minas Tirith, which was afterwards known as the Tower of Ecthelion. He ruled in Gondor for just thirteen years. He died childless, and was succeeded by his nearest kin, a descendant of Belecthor I named Egalmoth.


Notes

1

The date of Ecthelion's birth appears only in The History of Middle-earth volume XII, The Peoples of Middle-earth. It cannot therefore be considered completely reliable.

2

It was common during this part of the Third Age for the Stewards to take their names from heroes of the First Age. Following this pattern, Steward Ecthelion I was doubtless named for Ecthelion of the Fountain, a famous Elf who dwelt in Gondolin. Tolkien gives two alternative origins for the name, at one point relating it to a word for 'fountain', but later to 'spear-point'. For more detail about the name's origins, see note 1 to the entry for Ecthelion of the Fountain.

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About this entry:

  • Updated 29 April 2020
  • This entry is complete

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