Character Analysis: Elendil, Isildur, Anarion

[Valandil]

Elendil, Isildur and Anarion:

1. Start with the facts.

2. Compare and contrast.

3. Speculation and conjecture.

Have at it...

EDIT:
Likely sources for information:
* The Lord of the Rings (snippets here and there)
* "Appendix A" and "Appendix B" of LOTR (which covers most snippets anyway)
* "Akallabeth" from The Silmarillion
* "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age" from The Silmarillion
* "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields" from Unfinished Tales
* "Cirion and Eorl..." from Unfinished Tales
* "A description of the Island of Numenor" from Unfinished Tales
* "The Palantiri" from Unfinished Tales
* "The Fall of Númenor and the Lost Road" from The Lost Road and Other Writings (Book V of the History of Middle-earth series)
* "The Heirs of Elendil" from The Peoples of Middle Earth (Book XII of the History of Middle-earth series)

[Beren3000]

Thanks for starting this, Val.
Here are my thoughts:

Elendil
Leader of the Faithful in Numenor and last of the lords of Andunie (IIRC). He's obviously a person of overwhelming influence in order to be able to keep so many people as he did faithful to the Valar. Arriving at Middle Earth, he formed the Last Alliance with Gil-Galad. He lost his life in a duel against Sauron but prepared the way for Isildur to cut the Ring off Sauron's fingers. He's also known as the Tall and the Steadfast for obvious reasons.

Isildur
Elder son to Elendil, he fought with him in the battle of the Last Alliance. While in Numenor, he managed (at his own peril) to acquire an offshoot from the White Tree of Numenor, thus starting the long tradition of maintaining the White Tree in the court of Minas Tirith. Having secured the Ring after the battle, Isildur falls under its spell and refuses to cast it into the Fire. He names it the "heirloom" of his house and, IIRC, Faramir (a very learned man) afterwards says of the Ring that it must be "an heirloom of great power" or some such quote. This is probably due to Isildur's setting down the story of the Ring in the scrolls of Gondor; it was there that Gandalf finally learns of the nature of the Ring. Having returned to Gondor after the battle, Isildur accomplishes many feats of adminstrative quality, so to say. He then marches off to meet the Orcs of the Misty Mountains in a vain sortie. This leads to the carnage of the Gladden Fields; where Isildur would have survived if not for the Ring. After his death, the Elendilmir he wore on his brow was recovered by two survivors and several other possessions of his. These were entrusted to the keeping of Elrond until the heir of Isildur would come.

Anarion
Second son to Elendil. He dies fighting in the Battle of the Last Alliance. Not much is mentioned of him (at least not that I can remember offhand)
Maybe someone else can fill this gap.

I'll post my speculation later, gotta go now

EDIT: Here is the rest, I wouldn't wanna cram the thread with new posts:

I'll leave the compare and contrast part of Val's instructions for somebody else as it's not one of my strongest points. I'm not saying that speculation is my forte, but I just enjoy it more and can write more of it.
Here goes:

I want to start with Isildur and Anarion, the towers of Minas Ithil and Minas Anor were built after their names (in a way). And the interesting thing is they suffered similar fates. For example Minas Isil fell to Sauron's forces after a bitter struggle. In the same way, Isildur himself fell to the Ring's powers after a certain inner struggle certainly present albeit not mentioned.
And just as Anarion stood by his father till the end, so Minas Anor stood up to the forces of Sauron and weathered the storm.
On a more religious note, Elendil's journey reminds me of that of the Israelites throughout the Old Testament. They kept going toward the promised land after the deluge under the leadership of Abraham and his descendants. Though this journey shares a lot of similarities with that of the Eldar towards Valinor, I'm inclined to say that Elendil's journey, too was a reminder of that Biblical journey. It started with a purging of sin: the deluge (read: the Akallabeth) and then the people who remained faithful followed God's promise to the land of the Philistines (read: Middle-Earth), etc... It seems that such a journey is God's reward for their faithfulness. It is indeed stated (IIRC) that the Valar prevented the ships of the Faithful from being sucked into the abyss with the rest of Numenor.
Well, I'm done. Hope that was enough!

[Valandil]

Hey Beren, nice start! I should have done more, but had the thought for the thread and posted what I did just before leaving for home.

First, a couple corrections: (1) Isildur did not go north on a vain sortie to attack some Orcs. He had decided to leave Gondor to his nephew, Anarion's son Menedil - and take up his father's kingdom of Arnor. He planned to go through Rivendell because his wife and youngest son (Valandil! ) were there - and from the UT account, to consult with Elrond about the Ring. He and his group were ambushed by the Orcs. His three elder sons were slain but he escaped only briefly, being slain by more Orcs while crossing the Anduin. (2) His body was not found by two survivors... but much later his remains may have been found by Saruman, who had the Elendilmir stashed away at Orthanc (UT). Before the Orc force reached them, he had sent two men away with his father's broken sword, Narsil. (ED: one other man, his eldest son's esquire Estelmo, also survived the battle, having been knocked unconscious and other bodies falling over him such that the Orcs didn't discover he was still alive) Also from the UT account, some of his possessions were found on the east side of Anduin, where he likely shed them in order to swim across.

[Valandil]

Interesting thoughts about Abraham ("I will make you a father of many nations..."). Some also compare Elendil with Noah, for obvious reasons (FLOOD!). I too see a number of parallels with ancient Israel (though some of these are not unique to Israel alone). Numenor was a 'Promised Land' given to the Edain... they became, in effect, a 'Chosen People' and were more blessed than other men by long life, peace, prosperity, safe haven, protection in travel, etc. They became for a time beneficient teachers to the other men of Middle-earth (which I think was their intended purpose - as the purpose intended by Israel's God for His People was to be 'a light for all nations') but they eventually fell short of that purpose, even as we Christians perceive that the Israelites fell short of God's purpose for them (but not to be racist... we believe the Israelites fell short because they were people, like us - and that we would have fallen short as well... not because they were Jews).

Even in Middle-earth, with Arnor and Gondor, we have a 'North Kingdom' and a 'South Kingdom' - just as Israel became divided into a North Kingdom of Israel and a South Kingdom of Judah after the 3 Great Kings. I think Egypt also had northern and southern kingdoms, but these were merged into a greater single kingdom, while those of Israel and the Dunedain were a greater kingdom divided into two lesser ones.

The Numenoreans (both on Numenor and on Middle-earth) were also drawn astray from proper worship and acknowledgement of Eru and the Valar - to that of Melkor, Sauron and the Black Arts, just as the Israelites were drawn away from God to idol worship.

[Valandil]

Now the brothers, Isildur and Anarion:

But first let's look at how the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor came to be. The Faithful refugees of Numenor's fall escaped on nine ships, led by Elendil. They came to Middle-earth, but had been separated into two groups... Elendil's ship to the north with 3 other ships (4 total), where they landed at (I think) Lindon and went on to found Arnor. Isildur and Anarion each captained a ship... theirs and 3 others (5 total) ended up in the south - at Pelargir, a Numenorean colony. In both places, there were likely earlier colonists from Numenor in far greater quantity than those on the ships... but the family of Elendil, of the House of Andunie, would have been held in high regard by those (mostly Faithful) colonists. Michael Martinez wrote a nice article on this some time back:

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/tolkien/47755

Isildur and Anarion then co-founded and co-ruled the south kingdom of Gondor... under the High Kingship of their father Elendil in Arnor. From the existing city of Pelargir, they established Osgiliath on both sides of the Anduin, upstream a bit - from where they ruled... and later, they each established a royal domain of their own.

One possible comparison is to Rome, which by legend was co-founded by the brothers Romulus and Remus, who had been raised in the wild by a wolf. They fought for supremacy though - which Isildur and Anarion did not - Romulus winning and giving the city his name.

The names: I've been told that 'Isil' is Quenya for moon while 'Ithil' is the Sindarin form... while 'Anar' is Quenya for sun and 'Anor' is the Sindarin. Thus, their given names (Isildur and Anarion) were Quenya for 'moon' and 'sun' but the place-names given for their royal palaces (Minas Ithil and Minas Anor) as well as their provinces (Ithilien and Anorien) were Sindarin. Elendil literally named his sons for the sun and moon... and in the reverse order that we mostly say them today. An earlier version of his notes has Anarion as the elder brother... but that changed. However, it seems that in Tolkien's works, the moon is often taken first... that's just from memory - can anyone confirm or dispute that?

Now - their personalities: Isildur evidently had a strong personality. At least it seems so in what we know of him. I suggest that Anarion could not have been as strong willed. I think of the relationship as somewhat akin to that of Boromir and Faramir. I think Isildur was a man of power... that he loved his brother dearly, but that he also wanted to have things his way. He was probably fine with the co-ruling arrangement as long as his brother went along with things (or, alternatively, as long as their father was alive). Anarion may have been strong in his own way, but happier when things were peaceful... adoring and looking up to his older brother... and just thrilled to be able to rule at his side. I suspect that Isildur was the 'senior partner' in the arrangement - but that they were both fine with this and worked well with it. Otherwise, they would have likely had a 'falling-out' a la 'Romulus and Remus' rather than ruling together and growing their kingdom for almost 110 years.

Interesting about Minas Ithil falling before the Enemy... I had only thought of that in geographic terms before... it WAS right on the borders of Sauron's old land (did Isildur choose to live close to the Enemy's land... sort of 'flirting with danger'?). Anarion actually fell near the end of the 7-year long seige of Barad-dur... I think in year 6, when struck on the head with a stone thrown down from above. If you can stand another Biblical reference, there's someone in there who's killed when a woman throws a millstone from the wall of a city he's beseiging. And Isildur actually stood with Elendil at his end, just as Cirdan and Elrond did with Gil-galad.

Isildur had a very interesting life. I expect Anarion may have too, but we don't know as much about him. Anarion did succeed in holding the line against Sauron's forces for five long years while the armies of the north prepared to come down and crush Sauron with their Last Alliance. I suspect Isildur was the type who would succeed at all costs... that greatness was written on him, unless his life should be cut short. However, I think I would have been happier to have Anarion as a friend.

[Beren3000]

Great thoughts there, Val. You're right about Egypt having been divided into two kingdoms a northern and southern. However, their unification was not the peaceful one Aragorn managed to bring about. The southern king, Mina, subdued the northern kingdom by strength of arms and removed the capital of the unified kingdom to a more central place (not Cairo).

I don't think Isildur was flirting with danger as you say. I'd rather say he was keeping an eye on Sauron's land just in case. Or (on a more sinister note), maybe the Ring drew him to the place where Sauron's spirit still dwelled.

Maybe Numenor was a promised land but Sauron's whisperings in the ears of the king are very much akin to those of the serpent in the ears of Eve. So you might say that Numenor is Eden and the rebellion of the Numenoreans is the Fall. But how to explain the deluge occuring in heaven? Simple, Numenor was no longer heaven thanks to Sauron: unrest and greed stifled all happiness...

More thoughts later...

[Valandil]

Yes - none of the analogies are perfect... just some similar things here and there. But Isildur built Minas Ithil long before he got hold of the Ring. In fact, he never lived there after Sauron sacked the place - 12 years prior to the time when Sauron fell, killing Elendil (and Gil-galad) and when Isildur took the Ring. So... I was following up on your thoughts about Minas Ithil falling quickly to Sauron... wondering if there was a symbolic reason that Isildur chose the land closest to that of their old Enemy (whom at that time they would have thought went down with Numenor).

[Rían]

This thread title : "Character Analysis: Elendil, Isildur, Anarion" just made me get this picture in my head of the three of them lying on couches in a psychiatrist's office, looking at Rorschach ink blots and discussing their mothers ...

An interesting side note - IIRC, Tolkien changed the sibling order of Isildur and Anarion around several times - even MORE reason to have them on those couches, poor confused fellows!

[Radagast The Brown]

Originally Posted by Valandil

Interesting about Minas Ithil falling before the Enemy... I had only thought of that in geographic terms before... it WAS right on the borders of Sauron's old land (did Isildur choose to live close to the Enemy's land... sort of 'flirting with danger'?). Anarion actually fell near the end of the 7-year long seige of Barad-dur... I think in year 6, when struck on the head with a stone thrown down from above. If you can stand another Biblical reference, there's someone in there who's killed when a woman throws a millstone from the wall of a city he's beseiging. And Isildur actually stood with Elendil at his end, just as Cirdan and Elrond did with Gil-galad.

About the Biblic reference - it's not much like Gil-Galad and Elendil... because an evil King tried to conquer a building... the name is Avimelech, son of Gid'on. Gidon had 70 sons, I think, and Avimelech killed all of the them except one. then he tried to rule... I'm not sure what, or was it to stop a rebellion? Anyway, he was killed by the womna as you said.

On topic again...

Telperion was the older of the two trees, and Isil rised before the Anar... so yes, the moon in Tolkien is older than the sun, as in Isildur and Anarion.
From some reason, I imagined isildur and Anarion personalities much like Boromir and Faramir too.

I'm not sure Isildur went to live in Minas Ithil because he wanted to stop the enemy... or 'flirting with it' as Val puts it. The question is - did he know that Sauron was still alive when he went there?

[Valandil]

Originally Posted by Radagast The Brown

:
:
I'm not sure Isildur went to live in Minas Ithil because he wanted to stop the enemy... or 'flirting with it' as Val puts it. The question is - did he know that Sauron was still alive when he went there?

I don't think he did... I imagine he thought it was safe... and I don't necessarily think he was doing anything of the sort really ('flirting with evil')... just thought I'd toss it out as a stray idea.

Yes - the story of Abimelech is not like that of Anarion at all... except their endings... and reading about Anarion's death always makes me think of the Biblical episode. IIRC, didn't he, when mortally wounded by the stone, ask one of his men to run him through with a sword, so it would not be said that he 'was killed by a woman'? (fate of the Witch-King! )

[Radagast The Brown]

About the Towers (Minas Ithil, Minas Anor) and Anarion & Isildur:
I don't think there's a connection between their fates... I find it hard, because when you think of it, Minas Ithil fell first but Isildur survived longer, and although Minas Anor (Minas Tirith) still stood in the Forth Age, Anarion died in the more prior part of the war.

Yes, he didn't want a woman to kill him. Poor him... to be smashed by a giant stone, thrown from a top of a tower by a woman.

[Beren3000]

Originally Posted by Radagast The Brown

About the Towers (Minas Ithil, Minas Anor) and Anarion & Isildur:
I don't think there's a connection between their fates... I find it hard, because when you think of it, Minas Ithil fell first but Isildur survived longer, and although Minas Anor (Minas Tirith) still stood in the Forth Age, Anarion died in the more prior part of the war.

The "fall" mentioned here is in the spiritual sense. Isildur fell to the Ring's power but outlived Anarion. Anarion, though he died first, kept to the "good" side till the end.

[Radagast The Brown]

Originally Posted by Beren3000

The "fall" mentioned here is in the spiritual sense. Isildur fell to the Ring's power but outlived Anarion. Anarion, though he died first, kept to the "good" side till the end.

Isildur was 'good' until the end too, although he wore the Ring and kept it. It's like saying that Bilbo was evil 3 years after he got the Ring - which is not true. Isildur didn't fall to the darkness.

When you think of it, the Ring didn't really kill him: he jumped into the Anduin, and put the Rign to be invisible so tha tthe orcs wouldn't shoot him, but the Ring fell off his hand. But without the Ring, he was dead even before.

[Beren3000]

I'm not saying Isildur was strictly EVIL, I say he fell: the Ring, with its temptaion, is symbolic of sin or of the corruption of power. When a man sins we say that he's had a moral downfall but not that he's evil. That's what I meant; if I've phrased it wrongly before, I humbly appologize (not )

[Radagast The Brown]

Originally Posted by Beren3000

I'm not saying Isildur was strictly EVIL, I say he fell: the Ring, with its temptaion, is symbolic of sin or of the corruption of power. When a man sins we say that he's had a moral downfall but not that he's evil. That's what I meant; if I've phrased it wrongly before, I humbly appologize (not )

Hmmmm.. I see. It's interesting, but you can also say it happened without meaning, since Minas Ithil has to be the first one to be conquered, as it is closer to Mordor.

Do you think that if Anarion had survived, instead of Isildur, he'd throw the Ring to Orodruin, or take it as a heirloom like Isildur? And what about Elendil?

[Elanor the Fair]

Originally Posted by Radagast The Brown

Isildur was 'good' until the end too, although he wore the Ring and kept it. It's like saying that Bilbo was evil 3 years after he got the Ring - which is not true. Isildur didn't fall to the darkness.

When you think of it, the Ring didn't really kill him: he jumped into the Anduin, and put the Rign to be invisible so tha tthe orcs wouldn't shoot him, but the Ring fell off his hand. But without the Ring, he was dead even before.

I agree with you, Radagast. From my perception of Isildur, he was an honourable man, valiant and worthy. The fact that he did not destroy the ring does not suggest that he "sinned". Even Frodo could not destroy the ring and we know a lot about his strength of character and moral values. Very few characters actually had the ring in their possession so it is difficult to judge if anyone else would have been able to destroy the ring.

I guess I always thought about Isildur not destroying the ring in a different light. To Isildur the ring represented the death of his most beloved parent and many friends. It was a long and bitter struggle that he was involved in. He kept the ring as an heirloom for his people - and keeping it was sort of cathartic. It's a bit like people visiting the site where loved ones died.

[Elanor the Fair]

Numenor representing heaven.....

Well, I always saw it with a scientific eye. The links I perceive are with the legendary Atlantis and current Iceland. Atlantis was purported to have been located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, so the parallels between them are evident.

Iceland is a part of the ridge where the volcanic activity has raised the ridge to above sea level. In time, (sorry to all Icelanders!!!) it is possible that the islands of Iceland will collapse under sea level - but not in the next thousand years!! This is how the legends of Atlantis are explained scientifically.

I see Numenor as being situated on a mid-ocean ridge - it was mountainous after all, and just look at its position in relation to the continents. In time, it was bound to collapse (scientifically ).

Tolkien was a learned man. Good mythology often explains scientific phenomena!! It is just another illustration of how Tolkien is inclusive of a wide audience.

[Lefty Scaevola]

I have not figured out the point fo why Isuidur went all the way north to Atnor after Minas Ithil was take by Saurons forces. It was as if he was already planning to quit the joint kingship in Gondor, he took his whole household north, but there was not yet a vacancy for him to fill in Arnor.

[Beren3000]

Originally Posted by Elanor the Fair

From my perception of Isildur, he was an honourable man, valiant and worthy. The fact that he did not destroy the ring does not suggest that he "sinned". Even Frodo could not destroy the ring and we know a lot about his strength of character and moral values.

Isildur most evidently sinned because he failed to destroy the Ring. The Ring was evil and giving in to its call is the most apt symbol (IMO) of sinning. This doesn't make Isildur any less of an honourable man. And so did Frodo sin (strength of character and moral values wouldn't be changed, they would just have a moment of weakness). We all sin everyday, but that doesn't mean we're all evil or vicious, does it?

As to your questions, RTB, I agree with Elanor that

Originally Posted by Elanor the Fair

Very few characters actually had the ring in their possession so it is difficult to judge if anyone else would have been able to destroy the ring.

However, I like to think that Elendil was strong enough to stand up to the Ring's powers. As to Anarion, we don't know a lot about him in order to make such a judgment.

EDIT:Val, here's something else that adds to the analogy of the people of Numenor and the Israelites of the Old Testament:
Denethor says: "we shall burn like the heathen kings of old." This emphasizes the idea that the Numenoreans were the "Chosen people".

[Artanis]

Originally Posted by Radagast The Brown

I'm not sure Isildur went to live in Minas Ithil because he wanted to stop the enemy... or 'flirting with it' as Val puts it. The question is - did he know that Sauron was still alive when he went there?

Hmmm - I wonder. Elendil and his sons knew who Sauron was, one of the Maiar, and from their friendship with the Elves they should also know that he could not die but would rise once again. I guess Isildur and Anárion stayed in the southern regions around Anduin because there were already many Númenoréans living there, people akin to Elendil, and the haven was a strong place.

Isildur, I do not understand why he fled from Osgiliath. Why didn't he remain there and fight beside his brother?