Everything about Gil-galad totally explained
Ereinion Gil-galad is a fictional character in
J. R. R. Tolkien's
Middle-earth legendarium. He is mentioned in
The Lord of the Rings, and featured in
The Silmarillion.
Character overview
Gil-galad was the last High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth. In early texts, he was the son of Fingon the Valiant, son of Fingolfin, son of Finwë, first High King of the Noldor. Other sources and versions of the text however, indicate Gil-galad is the Son of Orodreth of the House of Finarfin. This would make him grandson of Angrod - who is brother of Finrod Felagund and Galadriel. It is through this descent, his High-kingship of the Noldor is explained. However his kingship of the Noldor could also still be feasibly explained with him as the son of Fingon due to the fact after the death of Turgon he was the oldest prince of the house of Fingolfin who traditionaly had kingship of the Noldor in middle earth as opposed to the house of Finarfin. This is plausable as the kingship of the Noldor goes the oldest member of the ruling house as is evidenced when the high kingship goes to Turgon after the death of Fingon at the battle of unnumbered tears before Gil-Galad (his son Fingon's son according to the Silmarillion) as the oldest.
His name in Tolkien's invented languages of
Quenya and
Sindarin was
Artanáro and
Rodnor, respectively, but he was best known as
Gil-galad ("Star of Radiance") and his
epessë (honorary title)
Ereinion, meaning "Scion of Kings".
Appearances
Literature
» "Gil-galad was an Elven-king.
Of him the harpers sadly sing:
» The last whose realm was fair and free
Between the mountains and the sea.
» His sword was long, his lance was keen.
His shining helm afar was seen.
» The countless stars of heaven's field
Were mirrored in his silver shield.
» But long ago he rode away,
And where he dwelleth none can say.
» For into darkness fell his star;
In Mordor, where the shadows are."
Gil-galad was the last of the High Kings of the
Noldor-in-Exile in Middle-earth. An Elf of the
House of Fingolfin, he was named High King of the Noldor-in-Exile in
Beleriand after the fall of
Gondolin and the death of the last High King,
Turgon.
The early history of Gil-galad is somewhat obscure, as Tolkien himself repeatedly changed his mind about who exactly Gil-galad was, and how to fit him into the already existing history of the First Age (see
concept and creation, below). Gil-galad was certainly born in
Beleriand at some point during the First Age. He was perhaps at some point sent to live in the Falas with
Círdan the Shipwright, but this is unclear — certainly after the fall of Nargothrond he was living on the Isle of Balar with Círdan, and became the last High King of the Noldor following the fall of
Gondolin and the death of
Turgon. Gil-galad, despite his long life (he was born during the
First Age and lived through almost the entirety of the
Second), wasn't known to have a wife, nor any children. Due to this, and the fact that there were few Noldor remaining in Middle-earth, the title of High King of the Noldor in Exile ended with his death.
After the
War of Wrath and the end of the First Age, Gil-galad founded a realm in the coastal region of
Lindon along the shores of
Belegaer, the Great Sea. At its height, his realm extended eastward as far as the
Misty Mountains, though most of the Eldar remained in Lindon and in Elrond's refuge of
Rivendell.
According to
The Fellowship of the Ring, Gil-galad was the first of the Eldar to mistrust a stranger calling himself Annatar, and forbade him from entering Lindon. His mistrust was well founded, for it was soon learned that Annatar was in fact
Sauron. After Sauron forged the
One Ring, Gil-galad was given one of the
Three Elven Rings:
Vilya, the Ring of Air (and most probably also
Narya, the Ring of Fire). Just before Gil-galad's death,
Elrond was given
Vilya for safekeeping (and
Narya to Círdan).
During most of the
Second Age, Gil-galad enjoyed the friendship of the
Númenóreans. This proved very useful as during the
War of the Elves and Sauron; a great Númenórean force under the command of their king
Tar-Minastir helped Gil-galad destroy Sauron's armies.
After the
Downfall of Númenor and the establishment by the
Elendili of the
Dúnadan kingdoms in exile, there was peace in Middle-earth. In the Age's closing years, however, Sauron reappeared with a newly formed army and a war against the kingdom of
Gondor, closest to his old home of
Mordor. Gil-galad then formed the
Last Alliance of Elves and Men with
Elendil, High King of the Dúnedain-in-Exile, The armies of Elves and
Men, victorious after the
Battle of Dagorlad, laid siege to Sauron in Mordor.
At the end of the siege, both Gil-galad and Elendil aided in the overthrow of Sauron's physical body yet perished themselves in the assault; Isildur dealt the finishing blow.
Gil-galad's
spear was named
Aiglos or
Aeglos, meaning "snow-point" or "snow-thorn" or more commonly "icicle" (
aeg: sharp, pointed;
los: snow) because when orcs saw his spear, they'd recognize it by its reputation to bring a cold death to them. Elrond said that at the battle of Dagorlad, "we had the mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aiglos and Narsil, none could withstand."
Adaptations
In the
Lord of the Rings film trilogy by
Peter Jackson, Gil-galad appears very briefly in during the opening prologue sequence. He is never mentioned by name in any of the films, although he's mentioned in the behind the scenes documentaries included with the Extended Edition
DVD of .
Concept and creation
Gil-galad was originally, and briefly, conceived as a descendant of
Fëanor. Later, and through the writing of
Lord of the Rings, he was considered a son of
Finrod Felagund, until Tolkien decided that Felagund was unmarried and childless. A marginal note by Tolkien from around this time (the late 1950s) suggested that Gil-galad might be the son of
Fingon.
This suggestion was taken up by Tolkien's son and literary executor
Christopher Tolkien in the published version of
The Silmarillion, which states that Gil-galad is the son of
Fingon. After the
Dagor Bragollach and the ruin of Beleriand which results in the death of his grandfather
Fingolfin, then High King of the Noldor, Fingon becomes the High King and sends a young Gil-galad to the Havens of the Falas under
Círdan. This idea of Gil-galad being sent to the Havens was derived from material which the elder Tolkien had written at the time when he saw Gil-galad as the son of Finrod. After the disaster of the
Nírnaeth Arnoediad, the title passes to Fingon's brother
Turgon.
Morgoth assaults the Falas in great force after that battle but Círdan and Gil-galad manage to flee in their ships to the Isle of Balar. When tidings come to Balar about the sack of
Gondolin and the death of Turgon, Gil-galad becomes the King. Gil-galad's name in the chapter "Aldarion and Erendis" in the
Unfinished Tales was also changed by the younger Tolkien in order to keep consistency with the published version of
The Silmarillion.
— in the original version of that work he was noted as a son of Fingon.
Christopher later stated in
The Peoples of Middle-earth that this decision to make Gil-galad a son of Fingon was an editorial mistake on his part, and didn't represent his father's conception of the character. He suggested that it would have been better to have left Gil-galad's parentage obscure.
Tolkien's final decision for Gil-galad's parentage appears to have been that he was a son of
Orodreth, who was at the same time changed from being a son of
Finarfin to a son of
Angrod. This conception, however, was never incorporated into the written stories of
The Silmarillion, and aspects of it — notably the downgrading of Orodreth into a son of Angrod — would have required considerable reworking of the existing text.
Other works
In the
PlayStation computer role-playing game Wild Arms 2, Guild Galad is the name of a country known for its emphasis on learning and crafting preserved ancient technology. This appears to be a
pun on Gil-galad, as the
Noldor are known for their emphasis of preserving the knowledge and practice of using and crafting ancient skills.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Gil-galad'.
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