The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
c. III 1520 - c. III 16361 (approximately 116 years)
Race
Division
Culture
Family
Pronunciation
meena'stan
Meaning
Uncertain2

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About this entry:

  • Updated 3 April 2016
  • This entry is complete

Minastan

Ancestor of the later Kings of Gondor

Minardil
Telemnar
Minastan
Tarondor
Unnamed
children

The second son of King Minardil of Gondor. His elder brother Telemnar had sat on their father's throne for just two years when he died with all his heirs in the Great Plague. Minastan had also died by this time - perhaps he too met his end in the Plague - but he left behind a surviving heir, Tarondor, who became the first King of a new line.


Notes

1

We have no dates at all for Minastan, but we do have the date of III 1516 for the birth of his elder brother Telemnar, so Minastan must have been born within a few years of that date. His date of death is also obscure, but when Telemnar died he was succeeded by Minastan's son Tarondor, not by Minastan himself as we might expect. That clue points to the fact that Minastan was already dead by this point, most likely in the Great Plague of III 1636 that took the life of his brother the King.

2

Minastan's name is not explained, but it seems to contain minas 'tower'. The second element is less certain, and maybe -tan 'make, build' or perhaps a contraction of -atan, 'Man'. It is perhaps notable that Minastan's son Tarondor removed the royal seat to Minas Tirith, so perhaps the minas in Minastan's names implies a special connection with that tower city, a connection that caused his son to move there permanently when he became King of Gondor.

See also...

Minardil

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 3 April 2016
  • This entry is complete

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