Isildur

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Character from Tolkien's Legendarium
Name	Isildur
Titles	High King of Arnor and Gondor
Race	Men
Culture	Númenórean
Date of birth	S.A. 3209
Date of death	T.A. 2
Book(s)	The Lord of the Rings The Silmarillion Unfinished Tales

Isildur is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in the author's books The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

He was first mentioned in The Fellowship of the Ring as a Dúnadan of Númenor, elder son of Elendil. His full character history was detailed in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. He was (briefly) the second king of Gondor and Arnor. His name means "devoted to the moon". In a note written well after the initial publication of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien gave Isildur's height as 7 feet tall.

Isildur was born in the year 3209 of the Second Age in Númenor, the first son of Elendil son of Amandil, the last Lord of Andúnië. He had a younger brother, Anárion. Isildur had four sons: Elendur, Aratan, Ciryon, and Valandil.

In Isildur's youth, Númenor's King Ar-Pharazôn was corrupted by Sauron, who urged the White Tree to be cut down. Isildur went to the courts of the king in disguise and stole a fruit of Nimloth, though the guards were alerted and he was severely wounded in his escape. He lay near death for a time but his sacrifice was not in vain, as Nimloth was cut down and burned shortly afterwards, and Isildur's deed continued the line of the White Tree.

Isildur, together with his father and brother, fled when Númenor was destroyed by Ilúvatar. Isildur and Anárion landed in the south and established the realm of Gondor, and their father landed in the north, founding the realm of Arnor.

Isildur settled on the east bank of the Anduin and established the city of Minas Ithil (which would later be named Minas Morgul), as well as the province of Ithilien and setting his throne alongside his brother Anárion in city of Osgiliath. However, in 3428 Sauron captured Minas Ithil and destroyed the White Tree. Isildur and his family escaped down the Anduin by boat, bearing with them a seedling of the tree. They sailed to Lindon, seeking the Elven High King Gil-galad and his father in Arnor. Meanwhile, Anárion managed to buy time for Gondor by defending Osgiliath and driving the Dark Lord back to the mountains, while Elendil and Gil-galad marshalled their forces.

He returned with his father and Gil-galad in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men in 3434. After the Alliance was victorious over Sauron's host at the Battle of Dagorlad, they advanced into Mordor and laid siege to Barad-dûr. With Minas Ithil recaptured, Isildur sent his younger sons Aratan and Ciryon to man that fortress, which would prevent Sauron and his forces from escaping that way. Isildur was accompanied throughout the war by his oldest son Elendur. The campaign in Mordor was long and bitter, and Anárion was slain by a stone from the Dark Tower.

After seven years of besieging the Dark Tower, the enemy was all but defeated and Sauron came forth. During the final challenge on the slopes of Mount Doom, Elendil and Gil-galad were both slain in combat with the Dark Lord. Isildur took the hilt-shard of his father's sword Narsil, which had broken beneath Elendil when he fell, and cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger. Sauron's corporeal form was destroyed, and his spirit then fled.

Despite the urging of Elrond and Círdan, lieutenants of Gil-galad, Isildur did not throw the Ring into the fires of Mount Doom, instead claiming it as an heirloom for his House, and as weregild for the deaths of his father and brother.

After the fall of Sauron, the greater part of the army of Arnor returned home while Isildur stayed in Gondor for a year, restoring order and defining its bounds. He planted the seedling of the White Tree in Minas Anor in memory of Anárion. As his brother's helm had been crushed during his death at Barad-dûr, Isildur left his helm from the overthrow of Sauron as the replacement for Gondor's crown. He placed Anárion's son Meneldil in charge of Gondor, and returned north to Arnor with his three sons. His wife and fourth son Valandil had stayed behind in Rivendell throughout the War of the Last Alliance and the aftermath, and Isildur also sought further counsel from Elrond.

At the Gladden Fields, Isildur's party was ambushed by roaming Orcs of the Misty Mountains. The Dúnedain were surrounded and outnumbered, and with Ciryon slain and Aratan mortally wounded in a failed attempt to rescue him, Elendur urged his father to flee. Isildur put on the ring, hoping to escape under the cover of the Ring's power of invisibility. Fleeing to the Anduin, he cast off his armour and tried to swim to the other side of the river but the Ring slipped (of its own volition) from his finger. Despite the darkness, the Elendilmir that he was wearing gave his position away to the orcs, on the far bank seeking survivors from the attack, and Isildur being unarmed was killed by their poisoned arrows. Isildur's squire Ohtar saved his sword Narsil from the enemy, fleeing into the valley before the orcs encircled Isildur's company.

The Elves from the realm of Thranduil quickly got word of the attack though they were too late to save any of the Dúnedain. They organized a counter-attack, destroying the orcs before they could mutilate the bodies of Isildur's company.

During the War of the Ring, Sauron's servants had been searching the Gladden Fields but failed to find any traces of Isildur's remains. Their efforts were hampered by Saruman who had deceived Sauron's servants — indeed, the White Wizard had got there first before the Dark Lord. After the overthrow of Saruman and the opening up of the Orthanc, Gimli found a hidden closet which contained the original Elendilmir, which was presumed lost forever when Isildur perished, as well as a gold chain which had likely once borne the One Ring.

Isildur was the last king to rule both Gondor and Arnor, as Meneldil and his successors had effectively ruled the South-Kingdom independently, until King Elessar reunited the kingdoms at the beginning of the Fourth Age.

In the riddling rhyme "Seek for the Sword that was Broken," the Ring is referred to cryptically as "Isildur's Bane".

1 Portrayals in adaptations
- 1.1 Unfinished Tales
2 Possbile Inspiration
3 External links
4 House of Elendil

Isildur (Harry Sinclair) in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy Isildur (played by Harry Sinclair) briefly appears in the first scenes of the first film, and in an extended flashback scene later on. In the theatrical versions, Anárion and heirs do not appear nor are mentioned at all, and Arnor does not feature at all. In the third film, Legolas refers to Isildur as "the last king of Gondor". However, in the extended editions, both Arnor and the House of Anárion are mentioned, and at times it is clear that Isildur was not the last King.

The story of Isildur's succumbing to the temptation of the Ring affects Aragorn, who fears that he could succumb to the same weakness (a fear that is not evident in the book). Later, he and Elrond go to the Crack of Doom where he refuses to destroy the Ring, mirroring Frodo and Sam in the future; however, Tolkien never wrote that he went to the Crack himself, only that he was advised to (as said above).

The disaster of the Gladden Fields is depicted in Jackson's first film as Isildur's column of mounted troops being ambushed on a (dark) forest road.

In Ralph Bakshi's animated 1978 film, a silhouette of Isildur is sitting at the base of the tree examining the One Ring. Sensing a disturbance, he draws his sword but he is shot by Orc arrows a moment later.

The Silmarillion, which is told from the point of the view of the Eldar, states that Isildur had set no guard in his camp at night, deeming all his foes had been overthrown.

In Unfinished Tales, it states that the Isildur departed Minas Anor with a party of around 200 soldiers. Isildur's men had to march as they supposedly had around ten horses, mainly as beasts of burden and not for riding. They had two dozen archers who were armed with the deadly Númenórean steel bows but their numbers were too few to be effective.

Fatefully, as Isildur was in haste to seek further counsel from Elrond, he chose to travel the route along the Anduin (presuming that his foes were vanquished and as the men in the Vales had been his allies during War), instead of the safer if longer North-South road. East of the Misty Mountains, however, was where the Orcs of the mountains were deployed there by Sauron to harry any stragglers of the Last Alliance. The Orcs did not show themselves when the full armies of the Elves and Men passed by, but they were easily more than a match for a company. They were also attracted by the presence of the One Ring, though they did not explicitly known this.

Isildur was assailed during sunset, and though the first Orc sortie were beaten off, they regrouped and surrounded Isildur's party to prevent his escape. When nightfall came, the Orcs assaulted him from all sides.

Estelmo, the squire of Elendur, was found alive under his master's body, being among the last to fall but being stunned by a club.

The original Elendilmir, which had presumed to be lost forever when Isildur died, and a gold necklace which had likely held the One Ring, were both found in Orthanc by Gimli after Saruman's overthrow.

The death of Isildur by losing the Ring in the Anduin may have been inspired by the death of Frederick Barbarossa, as he led his troops in the Third Crusade across the Saleph River. He drowned in the river, likely due to the weight of his armour, but a legend was also created saying that he possesed the Spear of Destiny, and when he it slipped from his hand in the river he died, as the Spear kills anyone who loses it.

Isildur at The Thain's Book

Preceded by None; Realm established	King of Gondor (with Anárion until 3440 SA) 3318 SA–2 TA	Succeeded by Meneldil
Preceded by Elendil	King of the Arnor 3441 SA–2 TA	Succeeded by Valandil
	High King of the Arnor & Gondor 3441 SA–2 TA	Succeeded by Aragorn II
	High king of the Men of Arda 3441 SA–2 TA	Succeeded by Aragorn II
Preceded by Sauron	Bearer of the One Ring	Succeeded by Déagol