{"id":557,"date":"2025-03-25T18:28:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T18:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/?p=557"},"modified":"2025-04-01T18:30:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T18:30:46","slug":"numenors-last-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/25\/numenors-last-king\/","title":{"rendered":"N\u00famenor&#8217;s last King"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"N\u00famenor&#039;s Final Kings: Amandil and Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n | Tolkien Reading Day 2025\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kqRqRK2CbRw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Ar-Pharazon the Golden was the final king of Numenor and the captor of Sauron, though this King would later be seduced by Sauron. This would end the royal N\u00famen\u00f3rean line and N\u00famenor itself. However, the faithful, the Elendili, such as Amandil or Tar-Palantir, would keep Il\u00favatar in their hearts and not view the Gift of Men as an evil and were able to survive the downfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Early Life<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n the Golden was born in 3118 SA and was the son of Gimilkhad, who was the son of Ar-Gimilzor of N\u00famenor. He had a Quenya name, Tar-Calion, that was seldom used.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cHe had fared often abroad, as the leader in the wars of the Numenoreans made then in the coastlands of Middle-earth, seeking to extend their dominion over Men; and thus he had won great renown as a captain both by land and by sea. Therefore when he came back to N\u00famenor, hearing of his father\u2019s death, the hearts of the people were turned to him; for he brought with him of great wealth, and was for the time free in his giving. And it came to pass that Tar-Palantir grew weary of grief and died.\u201d (The Silmarillion, \u201cAkallab\u00eath\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">After hearing of his father\u2019s death, Pharaz\u00f4n would seek wealth and power even more so than his father. While he was most known for fighting the mortality of Men under Sauron\u2019s command, this would be more apparent much later. However, it is likely that his father\u2019s death played a role in Pharaz\u00f4n\u2019s later desire, as Gimilkh\u00e2d was \u201ctwo years before his two hundredth year (which was accounted an early death for one of Elros\u2019 line even in its waning),\u201d and also that the N\u00famen\u00f3reans had started speaking against the Ban of the Valar much earlier, during the reign of Tar-Atanamir, and shortly after, Ar-Adunakhor would persecute the faithful from speaking Elven Tongues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Meanwhile, the Faithful, who became distinct during the ruling of Tar-Atanamir in SA 2251, would continue keeping Il\u00favatar in their hearts, and would move to the East and continue speaking the Elven Tongues. Pharaz\u00f4n would be friends with Amandil, one of the Faithful, and the last Lord of Anduni\u00e9 of N\u00famenor. During his kingship, he would keep Amandil in his council until the return of Sauron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Pharaz\u00f4n would also wed Tar-Miriel against her will, which would also be against the law of the N\u00famen\u00f3reans, as they were not permitted to wed those closer than cousins of the second degree. There, he would take the name, Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n, and Miriel, the queen, Ar-Zimraphel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>The Sceptre<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n would be the mightiest and proudest of those that wielded the scepter of the Sea-Kings since N\u00famenor was founded. His first thought was securing power, which he would do while seizing the sceptre.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">While sitting upon his carven throne in the city of Armenelos&nbsp; he would start thinking of war. \u201cFor he had learned of the strength of the realm of Sauron, and of his hatred of Westernesse. And now there came to him the masters of ships and captains returning out of the East, and they reported that Sauron was putting forth his might, since Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n had gone back from Middle-earth, and he was pressing down upon the cities by the coasts; and he had taken now the title of King of Men, and declared his purpose to drive the N\u00famen\u00f3reans into the sea, and destroy even N\u00famenor, if that might be.\u201d (The Silmarillion, \u201cAkallab\u00eath\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Much like Melkor in the first age, Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n would ponder long in secret and during this time, he would start to desire power and dominion of his will so he could become the King of Men, which he would seek without the counsel of the Valar.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Sauron\u2019s Deception<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Meanwhile, Sauron came from his tower of Barad-d\u00fbr, though initially he made no offer of battle. However, he humbled himself before the King, as men wondered, for all that he said seemed fair and wise. The King was not deceived yet, though Sauron would pass over the sea looking at the land of N\u00famenor, and his heart would start to fill with envy and hate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">There were still a remnant of the Faithful, with the chief among them being Amandil, councillor of the King, and his son Elendil, whose sons were Isildur and Anarion. Amandil would be dismissed from the council, going their separate ways, and he would withdraw to Romenna as the rest of the council of Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n would be deceived by Sauron into worshipping Melkor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cTherefore Amandil withdrew to R\u00f3menna, and all that he trusted still to be faithful he summoned to come thither in secret; for he feared that evil would now grow apace, and all the Elf-friends were in peril.\u201d (The Silmarillion, \u201cAkallab\u00eath\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Sauron would ask the King to cut down the white tree, Nimloth the Fair, as it was the memorial of the Eldar and the light of Valinor. At first he refused since his fortunes were still bound up with the Tree, fore spoken by Tar-Palantir. But he would start hating the Eldar and the Valar and the evil purpose of Sauron would be clear to Amandil, who knew that Sauron would have his will &#8211; and he did, as the king would later yield to Sauron and cut down the White Tree. This was only the beginning, as Sauron\u2019s power would continue increasing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n would become the mightiest tyrant, especially as he started to feel that time was ticking and death was looming. Sauron would come in strategically &#8211; saying that his strength was so great, and he has to have his will and be subject to no command or ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cAnd he said: \u2018The Valar have possessed themselves of the land where there is no death; and they lie to you concerning it, hiding it as best they may, because of their avarice, and their fear lest the Kings of Men should wrest from them the deathless realm and rule the world in their stead. And though, doubtless, the gift of life unending is not for all, but only for such as are worthy, being men of might and pride and great lineage, yet against all justice is it done that this gift, which is his due, should be withheld from the King of Kings, Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n, mightiest of the sons on Earth, to whom Manw\u00eb alone can be compared, if even he. But great kings do not brook denials, and take what is their due.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Then Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n, being besotted, and walking under the shadow of death, for his span was drawing towards its end, hearkened to Sauron; and he began to ponder in his heart how he might make war upon the Valar. He was long preparing this design, and he spoke not openly of it, yet it could not be hidden from all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Thus, Sauron foresaw Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n\u2019s fear and wrath, caused by the eventual end of his life and his desire for great power which he had worked towards. Meanwhile, his old friend, Amandil, would be filled with great dread knowing that Sauron had corrupted Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n and that N\u00famenor would eventually reach its downfall.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Amandil sails west<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Meanwhile, Amandil would call on his son, Elendil, to try a counsel done by E\u00e4rendil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cThe days are dark, and there is no hope for Men, for the Faithful are few. Therefore I am minded to try that counsel which our forefather E\u00e4rendil took of old, to sail into the West, be there ban or no, and to speak to the Valar, even to Manw\u00eb himself, if may be, and beseech his ere all is lost&#8230;as for the Ban, I will suffer in myself the penalty, lest all my people should become guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">He would sail west in a small ship at night, steered east first before going into the west taking three unnamed servants. However, \u201cnever again were they heard of by word or sign in this world, nor is there any tale or guess of their fate.\u201d It is unknown what happens to him after he sails west, though he goes to plead with the Valar for N\u00famenor, while E\u00e4rendil would have gone to ask for help with the Elves and Men. Also, while the faithful were able to survive the Downfall of N\u00famenor,&nbsp; it is unknown whether Amandil\u2019s plan worked out, though we can guess that he survived the Downfall of N\u00famenor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Meanwhile, Elendil would do what his father told him, to not meddle in the evil deeds of the N\u00famen\u00f3reans.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Downfall<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n would harden his heart, going aboard his ship, Alcarondas, Castle of the Sea to Valinor, breaking the Ban of the Valar. While he initially turned back, pride overtook him at this point and he and his army would arrive in Valinor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Manw\u00eb would call upon Iluvatar while the Valar laid down their government of Arda. Iluvatar showed his power. Men would never be able to sail to Valinor. N\u00famenor sank, as Ar-Pharaz\u00f4n, along with his companions on the fleet were buried underground in the Caves of the Forgotten, while Amandil\u2019s son Elendil and his sons were able to escape and survive the downfall of N\u00famenor and create the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor in Middle-earth.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cBut whether or no it were that Amandil came indeed to Valinor and Manw\u00eb hearkened to his prayer, by grace of the Valar Elendil and his sons and their people were spared from the ruin of the day.\u201d (Akallab\u00eath)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ar-Pharazon the Golden was the final king of Numenor and the captor of Sauron, though this King would later be seduced by Sauron. This would end the royal N\u00famen\u00f3rean line and N\u00famenor itself. However, the faithful, the Elendili, such as Amandil or Tar-Palantir, would keep Il\u00favatar in their hearts and not view the Gift of<a class=\"autoreadmore\" href=\"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/25\/numenors-last-king\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-557","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-posts-and-scripts","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":559,"href":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions\/559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elffriendyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}