Eärendur Last King of Arnor
Amlaith of Fornost	Kings of Cardolan	Kings of Rhudaur
Thirteen Kings of Arthedain from Beleg to Araphant
Arvedui Last-king
Aranarth First Chieftain of the Dúnedain

The line of descent of the Kings of Arthedain from Amlaith of Fornost to Arvedui Last-king. Names shown in bold text refer to those who actually held the title 'King of Arthedain'.

A title of fifteen lords of the Dúnedain, from Amlaith of Fornost to Arvedui Last-king. Arvedui's eldest son, Aranarth, became the first Chieftain of the Dúnedain.

Arthedain was a division of the old North-kingdom of the Dúnedain, and its Kings were descendants of Eärendur, the last King of that realm. Eärendur in turn was descended in right line from Isildur the eldest son of Elendil. So, by right, the Kings of Arthedain had a claim on the lordship of all the Dúnedain of Middle-earth.

For all their noble blood, the forces of history had conspired against them. Amlaith was Eärendur's eldest son, and he fell into dispute with his brothers over his father's inheritance. The result was the division of Arnor the North-kingdom into three separate realms: Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur. Each of these was ruled by a descendant of the old Kings of the Dúnedain, but the true bloodline was maintained in Arthedain, and Amlaith became its first King.

After this settlement was reached, Arthedain's first six Kings saw a time of relative peace and prosperity. It was in this period that the first Hobbits were seen in Eriador, fleeing from the dangers beyond the Misty Mountains to the east.

It was in the reign of the sixth King, Malvegil, that the peace of early years of Arthedain began to fail. A new and powerful force emerged in the northern Misty Mountains, where a mysterious figure known only as the 'Witch-king' established himself as an enemy of the Dúnedain. This Witch-king was later revealed to be the Lord of the Nazgûl, who had come into the North to challenge the remnant of the Dúnedain there.

Open warfare broke out in the time of Malvegil's son Argeleb I. By this time, the royal line had failed in both Cardolan and Rhudaur, and Argeleb sought to establish himself as ruler of all the old lands of Arnor. Rhudaur had forged a secret league with Angmar, and resisted Argeleb's claim with force of arms. Argeleb himself was killed in battle, and the conflict between the northern lands continued throughout the rest of Arthedain's history, eventually bringing about its downfall.

Arthedain resisted Angmar for many more centuries, but the Witch-king's power grew. Foreseeing the imminent danger of defeat, the fourteenth King, Araphant, rebuilt the ancient alliance with Gondor in the south. His son Arvedui even pressed a claim for the throne of Gondor, but this was rejected. Arvedui was given his name by Malbeth the Seer: its meaning was 'Last-king', and that proved to be the truth. In his time, Arthedain was overrun by the Witch-king and destroyed.

Though the kingdom was lost, the royal line lived on in Arvedui's son Aranarth. After Angmar's victory, the Northern Dúnedain were reduced to a wandering people, but their lords - who took the title Chieftain - still continued the ancient heritage of Elendil of Númenor. It was out of this heritage, many centuries later, that Aragorn would arise and finally reclaim the Crown of Gondor.