|Other names||Gimilzôr (A), Tar-Minyatur (Q)|
|Titles||King of Númenor|
|Language||Adûnaic, Sindarin and Quenya|
|Birth||F.A. 532 |
Havens of Sirion, Beleriand
|Rule||S.A. 32 - 442 (410 years)|
|Death||S.A. 442 (aged 500)|
|House||Founded House of Elros|
|Heritage||Half-elven mother and father|
|Parentage||Eärendil and Elwing|
|Children||Vardamir, Tindómiel, Manwendil and Atanalcar|
Elros and Elrond were born in the Havens of Sirion during the darkest days of the First Age, when the forces of Morgoth controlled most of Beleriand. When the twins were just four years old, the Sons of Fëanor, bound by their Oath, assaulted the Havens since they desired the Silmaril held by Eärendil. Elros' father was at sea, and Elwing barely escaped with the Silmaril, but the twins were captured. Maedhros and Maglor, the only Sons of Fëanor to repudiate their deeds, protected them through the end of the First Age.
After the War of Wrath and the destruction of Beleriand, the twins chose their race and fate. Elros, having chosen Manhood, was now by right a lord of the Edain. He led his people across the Great Sea, guided by the Star of Eärendil his father, to the land the Valar had prepared for the Edain as a reward for their struggle against Morgoth. They arrived at Elenna, a large island in the western part of the Great Sea, soon after the beginning of the Second Age. Elenna was the closest of mortal lands to the Blessed Realm, though Men were forbidden to go any further west than Elenna. However, the Valar gave the Edain substantially longer lifespans than most Men had, and Elros and his descendants had the longest lives of all the people.
Elros became the first King of the realm of Númenor in the year 32 of the Second Age. He took a royal name in Quenya, Tar-Minyatur, thus setting a tradition of Quenya being the royal language of the isle, even though the common tongue was Adûnaic. He brought with him the Ring of Barahir, the Axe of Tuor, and Thingol's sword Aranrúth as family heirlooms. Throughout his reign the kingdom received gifts from the Elves of Tol Eressëa, including flowers from the gardens of Yavanna and a seed from Celeborn. This was the beginning of the Númenóreans' long friendship with the Elves of the West, a relationship that would define the future of Númenor.
Tar-Minyatur had four children: three sons, Vardamir Nólimon, Manwendil, and Atanalcar; and one daughter, Tindómiel. After living five centuries, and ruling Númenor for 410 years, Tar-Minyatur died and his son Vardamir Nólimon took up the Sceptre of Númenor as Tar-Vardamir. But because Elros had lived so long, Tar-Vardamir was already old, and was thus only a titular King: he immediately surrendered the Sceptre to his son, Tar-Amandil.
It means "Elf of the spray", based on a tale from his early childhood when the Sons of Fëanor abducted the twins until Maedhros found them playing in a forest waterfall. Alternatively, his name could mean 'star-foam'.
Elros' royal name, Tar-Minyatur, is Quenya for "High First-Lord" minya "first", tur "master, lord"). All the Kings and Queens after Elros who took their names in Quenya also used the prefix tar- in their royal names.
|1st King of Númenor
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The Line of Elros: Kings of Númenor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner's Wife", "The earlier generations of the Line of Elros"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Index of Names"