Isle of Kings

A formal name for the island of Númenor, in reference to its Line of Kings descended from Eärendil himself. Its first King had been Eärendil's son, Elros Tar-Minyatur the brother of Elrond. As one of the Half-elven, Elros had been given the choice of whether to be counted among the peoples of Elves or Men, and unlike his brother Elrond he had chosen to become a mortal Man. Nonetheless, he was granted an extraordinarily long lifespan, living for five centuries and ruling over Númenor for more than four of those centuries.

Our sole reference to the use of the name 'Isle of Kings' for Númenor comes from the introduction to a letter from Gil-Galad of Lindon to Tar-Meneldur, the fifth King of Númenor, whose preamble contains this blessing: '...the Valar keep you and may no shadow fall upon the Isle of Kings.'¹ This usage in diplomatic communication seems to show that Gil-galad meant the expression as a formal one, though it cannot be said whether the term was in common use, or merely devised by Gil-galad for this particular greeting.

There would be twenty further Kings of Númenor after this time, but Gil-galad's hope that no shadow would fall on the isle eventually proved unfounded, as a shadow did indeed fall on Númenor. This darkness began to be seen in the reign of the twelfth King, Tar-Ciryatan, who was said to have seized the Kingship before his time from his father Tar-Minastir. By the time of the twenty-fifth King, the usurper Ar-Pharazôn, the pride and arrogance of the Kings had grown so great that he led an invasion of Aman itself, bringing about the Downfall of the Isle of Kings.