A Revisiting of the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, aka the death of Isildur and his sons and the losing of the One Ring
Ok having not read this section of Unfinished Tales before, and my memory being a bit blurry on what the Fellowship book says about this, I think the majority of my perception of this situation comes from the movie (Fellowship), which in my opinion casts Isildur in a much more negative light, (not to mention completely omits Elendur, his son and heir).
--Now after scanning these obscure tags, I found there are a few posts on here that get into this topic as well, so please go read those too, but I continue--
Upon being assailed by the orcs, Elendur asks Isildur about using the ring to their advantage, and Isildur admits that he is not strong enough to wield it (of course he says he has not yet found the strength, meaning it was a thought in his mind to use it, but we go on), and he admits that it should go to someone more powerful, i.e., "to the Keepers of the Three." Despite being under the Ring's influence, there is still much more wisdom in these thoughts than we maybe give Isildur credit for.
Now I want to turn the focus to Elendur, Isildur's son, because his heroics, though fleeting, are not sung of enough. Elendur, with his brothers dead or dying, and their company facing certain death, tells (nay, commands) his father to flee and take the ring to the Keepers, "even at the cost of abandoning your men and me". What bravery and sacrifice to take on certain death, as the heir to the crown, and let your father be the one to take a chance at escape! And Isildur's response:
"King's son, I knew that I must do so; but I feared the pain. Nor could I go without your leave. Forgive me, and my pride that has brought you to this doom."
Bro. ("King's son" like can't you hear his defeated voice as he beholds his son in the darkness amid death and battle and what will be his final hours???) Talk about heart-wrenching. Now maybe this isn't the point and I don't deny the influence of the ring over him, but here I see an Isildur who is not power-hungry or self-serving or completely consumed by desire for the ring like a wraith, but I see an Isildur who has realized the weight and danger of this ring, the death it has brought by his own pride, and an Isildur that has resolved to bring the ring to the Keepers, on the words of his son whom he is leaving for dead.
His son, "who should afterwards have been King, and as all foretold who knew him, in his strength and wisdom, and his majesty without pride, one of the greatest, the fairest of the seed of Elendil, most like to his grandsire." Sound like anyone familiar? Yep, Elrond thought so too (from the appendix): "those (such as Elrond) whose memories recalled him were struck by the great likeness to him, in body and mind, of King Elessar, the victor in the War of the Ring, in which both the Ring and Sauron were ended for ever."
And I love this addition in the appendix: "Elessar...was the descendant in the thirty-eighth degree of Elendur's brother Valandil. So long was it before he was avenged." I love that the sacrifice of Elendur is remembered here, and the thread between these two not broken.
Lastly, a note to the one who miraculously survived the slaughter that killed Elendur and his brothers. The esquire of Elendur, Estelmo. Yes, the one who overheard the parting words of Isildur and Elendur, who carried the history back with him, was named Estelmo. Another connection to the future King of Gondor, Estel, a name given him by Elrond.
I love this history, thank you for reading.
All quotes from Unfinished Tales by JRRT "Disaster of the Gladden Fields"
Without her king and husband's permission, the Elvenqueen allowed for Dunedain and Woodmen to live in a town in Greewood the Great. When she eventually tells her husband, they take a trip to the town so King Thranduil can see with his own eyes and meet these people.
It is the year 3399 of the Second Age. Isildur with his family has survived the Fall of Númenor, and together with his father Elendil and his brother Anárion has founded the realms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-Earth. The horrors experienced in Númenor have been left behind, and Isildur’s life has settled into its tracks in Ithilien, where preparations for the celebration of his son Elendur’s 100th birthday are currently underway. Everyone believes Sauron to have perished in the Fall of Númenor, but one day this belief will prove wrong. Isildur, Anárion, and Elendil must go to war in defence of their new homeland. The elves come to the aid of the dúnedain, and so begins the War of the Last Alliance, at the end of which Sauron will lose his Ring, never to regain it.
A pairing I didn't know I needed: Elendur/Estelmo.
Elendur, Isildur's eldest son and heir, and the one he trusted. A wonderful person overall. And Estelmo, Elendur's squire who accompanied Elendur and Isildur on that tragic journey that ended in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields.
It sounds like Elendur and Estelmo were close, almost inseparable, for Estelmo witnessed even the most secret conversation between Elendur and his father Isildur. Estelmo was thus inadvertently trusted with the secret of the One Ring.
In the ambush, Estelmo got a blow in the head and was the only one who survived the battle (in addition to those two whom Isildur sent away earlier). Estelmo was found under Elendur's body, stunned but alive. This could be read so that Elendur protected Estelmo with his own body in the end.
What a wonderful ship this could be! Lovely Elendur (note: he's unmarried, too) and his faithful squire whom he trusts and protects in the end. Such possibilities for hurt/comfort and fealty kink. And a tragic ending, of course. I can imagine Estelmo staying a long time in Imladris, healing from the loss of his lover.
Does this ship exist already? Now I want to write it.
Please share if you know any fan art or fic about them!
men of middle-earth ☀ misc. dúnedain ☀ headcanon disclaimer
Voronwë was the son of Orontor of Númenor, and a fast friend of Elendil the Tall. He was a great mariner, and with his wife lord he escaped the downfall of Númenor, though his father and sister were lost. His children, Cemniel and Ilcanië, were aboard the ships of Isildur and Anárion and were swept away from the northern fleet, but they landed safely in the south of Middle-earth and were among the founders of Gondor. Eventually Voronwë and his daughters were reunited just in time for the wedding of Ilcanië to the shipwright Sandor and the birth of two more sons to Cemniel and Isildur her husband. Ilcanië also bore a child, whom she named Glanor, and though Voronwë was devoted to his liege in Arnor their family remained as tight-knit as that of Elendil and his own sons.
Amid the War of the Last Alliance, Elendil, Anárion, and Sandor were all slain, but Voronwë survived to comfort his daughters. It seemed that Isildur had survived and would soon reunite with Cemniel and his newborn son Valandil, but before his company could reach the hidden stronghold of Imladris, they were attacked by a massive company of orcs. Glanor at this time was serving as an ohtar, or esquire, to his uncle, and to him Isildur entrusted the shards of Narsil before the orcs closed in. Along with his friend and companion Celevon, Ohtar Glanor fled to Imladris and told of his uncle and cousins’ grim fate.
Isildur’s company was massacred save for Glanor and Celevon, and one other ohtar who was presumed dead on the battlefield: Estelmo, the esquire of Isildur’s eldest son Elendur. He was discovered lying stunned under the corpse of his lord by the Guard of Eryn Galen and the Woodmen of the North, who delivered him to the healing hands of Elrond in Imladris, and from Estelmo the last words of Isildur became known, though no trace of his body—or of the Ring he bore—were ever found by elves or men.
The kingdom of Arnor passed to the rulership of Valandil, who kept Glanor, Celevon, Estelmo, and their families in his service. For generations these men and their kindred served the King of Arnor, and indeed Malbeth the Seer was a direct descendant of Ohtar Celevon. Malbeth served as a counselor to King Araphant, advising him to name his son Arvedui, for he would be the last king of Arthedain. Malbeth warned that a choice would come to the Dúnedain, and that the one that seemed less hopeful would lead to Arvedui becoming King of a realm greater than Arnor in its glory; but alas, the Council of Gondor chose otherwise, dismissing the wisdom of the Arnorian Seer, and in the end this led to much sorrow and centuries before the Dúnedain would arise and be united again.
Malbeth made their second prophecy during the rule of Arvedui, foretelling that an Heir of the Dúnedain would call the Army of the Dead from their half-existence to fulfill their once-forsaken Oath to Isildur. This manifested in Aragorn II entering the Paths of the Dead and rallying the spirits of the Men of the Mountains to war against Sauron, releasing them from their Oath once the battle was won. At Aragonr’s side was the ranger Halbarad, leading the Grey Company out of the North to aid their Chieftain. Aragorn fulfilled Malbeth’s first prophecy also when he ascended to the throne of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor as King Elessar, bringing the Dúnedain together at long last.
The tale mentions a young man who escaped the slaughter: he was Elendur's esquire, named Estelmo, and was one of the last to fall, but was stunned by a club, and not slain, and was found alive under Elendur's body. He heard the words of Isildur and Elendur at their parting. There were rescuers who came on the scene too late, but in time to disturb the Orcs and prevent their mutilation of the bodies: for there were certain Woodmen who got news to Thranduil by runners, and also themselves gathered a force to ambush the Orcs – of which they got wind, and scattered, for though victorious their losses had been great, and almost all of the great Orcs had fallen: they attempted no such attack again for long years after.
The Disaster of the Gladden Fields, J.R.R. Tolkien
