Henneth Annun Reseach Center

Character Bios

Meneldil

Meaning: heavens-lover, astronomer

Location(s):
Númenor
Gondor

Race/Species: Man

Type/Kind: 2nd age Numenoreans

Title(s):
3rd King of Gondor (III 2 - 158)

Dates:
II 3318 - III 158

Parents:
father: Anárion, 2nd King of Gondor

Siblings:
3 unnamed older siblings

Children:
Cemendur, 4th King of Gondor

Description:

Meneldil, son of Anárion, 2nd King (with Isildur) of Gondor, is the 3rd King of Gondor:
Meneldil was the nephew of Isildur, son of Isildur's younger brother Anárion, slain in the siege of Barad-dûr. Isildur had established Meneldil as King of Gondor. He was a man of courtesy, but farseeing, and he did not reveal his thoughts.... [Author's note.]

Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 1, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields: Notes, Note 10

It is stated in unpublished annals concerning the Heirs of Elendil that Meneldil was the fourth child of Anárion, that he was born in the year 3318 of the Second Age, and that he was the last man to be born in Númenor.

Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 1, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields: Notes, Note 10

'All know in Gondor that [Isildur] went first to Minas Anor and dwelt a while with his nephew Meneldil, instructing him, before he committed to him the rule of the South Kingdom.'

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 2, Ch 2, The Council of Elrond

It is said that when Isildur returned from the War of the Last Alliance he remained for a time in Gondor, ordering the realm and instructing Meneldil his nephew, before he himself departed to take up the kingship of Arnor. With Meneldil and a company of trusted friends he made a journey about the borders of all the lands to which Gondor laid claim; and as they were returning from the northern bound to Anórien they came to the high hill that was then called Eilenaer but was afterwards called Amon Anwar, "Hill of Awe." That was near to the centre of the lands of Gondor. They made a path through the dense woods of its northward slopes, and so came to its summit, which was green and treeless. There they made a level space, and at its eastward end they raised a mound; within the mound Isildur laid a casket that he bore with him. Then he said: "This is a tomb and memorial of Elendil the Faithful. Here it shall stand at the mid-point of the Kingdom of the South in the keeping of the Valar, while the Kingdom endures; and this place shall be a hallow that none shall profane. Let no man disturb its silence and peace, unless he be an heir of Elendil."

Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 2, Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan: The Tradition of Isildur

[The] second year of the Third Age was waning when Isildur set forth from Osgiliath.... At the Eastgate of the Bridge on a bright morning Meneldil bade him farewell. 'Go now with good speed, and may the Sun of your setting out not cease to shine on your road!'

Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 1, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields

[Meneldil] was in fact well-pleased by the departure of Isildur and his sons, and hoped that affairs in the North would keep them long occupied. [Author's note.]

Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 1, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields: Notes, Note 10


Etymology
menel  'the heavens' in Meneldil, Menelmacar, Meneltarma....

-(n)dil  is a very frequent ending of personal names, Amandil, Eärendil (shortened Eärnil), Elendil, Mardil, etc.; it implies 'devotion', 'disinterested love'....

The Silmarillion, Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names

Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 13Aug07, 24Oct07, 11Feb10

Related Library Entries

Characters Search

      

View all Bios

Full Text Search