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men of middle-earth ∿ misc. númenóreans ∿ headcanon disclaimer

Fuinur and Herumor were descendants of the King’s Men of Númenor who had come to conquer Middle-earth in the name of the King. They rose to power in the late Second Age, becoming mighty lords among the Haradrim, and served Sauron in the War of the Last Alliance. Fuinur was slain in the Siege of Barad-dûr, but his brother Herumor fled back to Harad and continued to rule. One of Herumor’s descendants was King Karasalêth, ruler of a city-state in northern Harad that was conquered by Gondor in the early Third Age. His people, conquered first by the Black Númenóreans and then by the Dúnedain, began to rebel against them both, and to appease them Karasalêth arranged to give his half-Haradrim daughter’s hand in marriage to King Tarannon Falastur of Gondor. This daughter, Zâinazimril, was betrothed against her will but powerless to stop her marriage to Falastur and his subsequent removal of her to his house by the mouths of the Anduin. But Zâinazimril hated the sea, especially the smells of salt and fish and gulls, and insisted on dwelling in the King’s House in Osgiliath instead. The people of Gondor feared and hated their new queen, naming her Berúthiel for her bitter temper. As Falastur was often away at sea, she had the King’s House to herself, decorating the courtyard with sculptures from her homeland that disturbed her Gondorian servants. Though she loathed cats, as Karasalêth’s house had been full of them, many cats of Osgiliath became fixated upon her and followed her around. Eventually, Berúthiel accepted her entourage, setting them as spies upon the suspicious Gondorians who stalked her every path. In this way she discovered many dark secrets of the realm, for she followed the tradition of sorcery taught to her ancestors by the Lord Zigûr and could speak with animals and read their memories. The people of Gondor feared and hated Berúthiel and her cats, nine black and one white, cursing whenever they walked by. Eventually, Falastur heard of his wife’s intimidation of his counselors and returned to Osgiliath to see the truth for himself. He declared the union unsuccessful, as no children had been born between them and Harad continued to simmer with resentment against Gondor, and exiled Berúthiel from Gondor, erasing her name from the Book of the Kings. Zâinazimril was set on a ship with only her cats for company and cast out into the sea she despised. She attempted to sail to Umbar, a haven of her people, and travel home from there, but she was no mariner and was last seen flying past the city with a cat at the masthead and another as a figurehead on the prow. Thus she passed into legend as the Stolen Princess of Harad and the Black Queen of Gondor, her final fate unknown. Near the end of the Third Age, another Black Númenórean lord would sell his child for the favor of a King, though this time to Sauron himself. This boy was stripped of his name and status and made to serve the Dark Tower, eventually being granted the name Mordu as he grew in his master’s favor. Mordu was cunning and cruel, manipulative of his fellow servants and clever in the fashioning of words, and as he came of age, Sauron gave him the title Dulgabêth, “the Black Word,” and sent him out as the Lieutenant of Barad-dûr, an ambassador to the lands conquered by Mordor. He became known to the Dúnedain as the Mouth of Sauron, and came before Aragorn before the Battle of the Morannon in an attempt to goad him into surrender, but the Men of the West stood firm, and he was slain in the ensuing conflict.

men of middle-earth ∿ misc. númenóreans ∿ headcanon disclaimer

In the last days of Númenor, when its people lived under the Shadow of Sauron, there were still some Faithful elf-friends yet remaining upon the Isle of the Gift. These were the Lords of Andúnië and their followers, banished to Rómenna where they could look to the West no longer, but still they kept their faith. Among these Faithful folk was a young lord named Herendil, the cousin of Isildur and Anárion through their mother Lauriel’s sister. He was born shortly before Sauron’s arrival in Númenor, and had no memory of a time before the rise of the Zigûr. Though his family lived among the Faithful, his mother feared the wrath of the King and sheltered him from the teachings her sister, a loremaster dedicated to preserving their traditions, so dearly loved. But she would not keep Herendil from his kin, and when he stumbled across Lauriel’s writings while on a visit to the house of his elder cousins, Herendil’s eyes were opened to the corruption eating away at the heart of Númenor. Troubled, Herendil took counsel with his aunt and her husband Elendil, learning of their people’s trials and tribulations. Though at first he was hesitant to believe Zigûr was capable of such evils, he quickly became eager to spread the word to the youth of Rómenna, many of whom had been similarly steered away from the political dangers in which their parents were entangled. Though some mocked him, calling him “Terendul” for his short and slender frame they believed showed his weakness, others were as stirred by these revelations as him. The siblings Almáriel and Poldor, tall and strong youths descended from Narwalótë sister of Númendil, defended Herendil, and Poldor went so far as to call him “Eärendil,” likening him to the famed mariner of old for bringing the difficult truth to light. As he became more involved with the quiet rebellion among the Faithful, Herendil met the maiden Fíriel, daughter of Orontor. They swiftly fell in love, and when Fíriel’s father left on a mysterious errand with Lord Amandil and two others, Herendil comforted her and spoke to his uncle Elendil, Amandil’s son and now the Lord of the Faithful, asking him to welcome her into his household. For a few uneasy years, Herendil and his friends worked under Elendil’s command to prepare for evacuation of Rómenna when Ar-Pharazôn’s ambitions endangered the Faithful even more. But of Herendil and his companions, only one would escape the inevitable Downfall of Númenor. As one night Fíriel sang a song of Ilúvatar for her beloved Herendil, she was overheard by one of Pharazôn’s spies who reported her blasphemies to the King. Fíriel was dragged before Zigûr and interrogated, and though she did not give up any information on the doings of the Faithful, she found she was not strong enough to stand in her convictions of Eru and Manwë’s grace and begged forgiveness for her “sins.” Amused by her pleading, Zigûr ordered her to enter the cloisters in the Temple of Melkor, forcing her to become a priestess of Darkness, serving the very evil she had worked against. Some months later, when Pharazôn’s Great Armament was nearly completed, he sent the King’s Men out across Anadûnê to recruit men for his army. Though many volunteered, a large portion of the soldiers were conscripted by force—especially those among the Faithful of Rómenna. Herendil and Poldor were both drafted against their will, and Herendil in particular refused to go against the Valar. Furious and wishing to make an example of this mutineer, Ar-Pharazôn ordered Herendil to be sacrificed in the Temple of Melkor for his disobedience. Zigûr looked into Herendil’s mind and discovered his connection to the vanished Fíriel, and delighting in his wicked schemes he arranged so Fíriel would make her first sacrifice to Melkor on the very day of Herendil’s death. Thus it was that Fíriel slew the one she most loved, offering his heart to the Dark Vala, and became so entrenched in despair that she made no further efforts at resistance. Witnessing the awful fate of his friend, Poldor submitted to his conscription and entered Pharazôn’s army. He was among those who sailed to Aman and assailed Valinor, and along with the rest of the Great Armament he was drowned beneath the seas, his spirit held captive in the Caves of the Forgotten until the Dagor Dagorath, when they shall be summoned to fight against Morgoth. His sister Almáriel remained among the Faithful of Elendil’s house and alone of her friends escaped with them to Middle-earth when the great wave came to drown Númenor, for Fíriel could not escape the Temple of Melkor and was consumed along with the wicked.

men of middle-earth ∿ misc. númenóreans ∿ headcanon disclaimer

Umbar was a great sea-haven in the far south of Gondor, once a trading post established by the men of Númenor. It was here that Ar-Pharazôn the Golden landed to make his challenge upon Sauron, and as the Shadow lengthened over Anadûnê the power of the King’s Men in Umbar only grew. The haven was governed by a council of lords, and provided goods and slaves to Númenor; these lords easily adopted the customs of Melkor-worship and spread the practice of human sacrifice across much of the East and South of Middle-earth. A contemporary of Ar-Pharazôn, Lord Eärmerco was a fearsome sea-captain who dominated the Council of Umbar and marauded the eastern coastline. He had no qualms about attacking even ships from the Númenórean navy, taking all he could for himself and delighting in bloodshed. Shortly before his capture, Sauron came to Eärmerco and promised him power and riches if he would quietly resist Ar-Pharazôn’s rule in Umbar, offering him a Ring of Power in return for his loyalty. Enchanted by the ring, Eärmerco accepted, and thus became ensnared in Sauron’s trap, eventually becoming one of the Nazgûl. Though Eärmerco would leave Umbar to obey Sauron’s will, Umbar remained a source of power for his Black Númenórean kin. Yet as the Third Age progressed and the might of Gondor grew, they realized they were threatened by the power of their neighboring rival-kingdom, a fear which came to fruition when Gondor’s King Eärnil I launched a surprise attack, capturing the haven by sea and land. The Men of Umbar fought back fiercely, but Gondor had the upper hand, and the Council of Lords was disbanded in favor of regents hand-selected by Eärnil himself. But these lords were not satisfied with their lot, recalling the glory of Eärmerco and jealous of the power they once had held. In vengeance, the brothers Azgarzîr, Dolgimil, and Azruthôr secretly plotted to arrange Eärnil’s downfall, and three years later the King of Gondor was lost at sea. In truth, the lords had sabotaged his ship before a great storm Dolgimil had scried, but when Eärnil’s son Círyandil took the throne in his place the Lords of Umbar were frustrated in their scheme to regain their power. Though with the aid of their Haradrim allies, the Black Númenóreans managed to slay Círyandil, the siege was not enough to win back control of the haven. Not until the kin-strife in Gondor would Umbar finally cast off the bonds of Gondorian domination. It was the sons of Castamir who shook Umbar free of Gondor’s rule, but not until the time of their grandsons would the haven strike back against the Kingdom of Stone. Lord Arnakhôr, chief of Umbar’s council and the great-grandson of Castamir, rallied together the quarrelling pirates who operated out of the haven and with the aid of his personal champion, his cousin Azgarzîr, led a great fleet against Pelargir. For their prowess in battle and the fear they struck into the hearts of Gondor’s soldiers, they became known in Quenya as Angamaitë and Sangahyando—but despite their savagery, the siege of Pelargir was unsuccessful and they were forced into a retreat for some years. During this time they continued to harass Gondor’s coastline, becoming known as the Corsairs of Umbar. But when they heard that King Minardil of Gondor was visiting Pelargir, Azgarzîr stirred his liege to action and they led a devastating raid upon the port, ravaging the city and slaying Minardil. Yet there was now little left in Pelargir over which to rule, so Arnakhôr forsook the ruins of the city and returned victorious to Umbar. Their descendants would hold Umbar for some generations after, but when the Great Plague struck Gondor, they were not spared, and both Arnakhôr Angamaitë and Azgarzîr Sangahyando were killed by the deadly disease. Still their legacy lived on, for the Corsairs of Umbar had taken control of the haven entirely, ousting the Council of Lords. Perhaps they would have fared better with a more central leadership, for when Gondor recovered from the Great Plague, King Telumehtar destroyed the main fortress and ship-haven of Umbar, killing the last of Castamir’s descendants and retaking the city. Telumehtar took the name Umbardacil for his victory, but left the haven in ruins. As Gondor declined in the following centuries, Umbar was conquered again by the Haradrim, retaking the land the Men of Númenor had claimed from them millennia ago. A new generation of Corsairs arose, a mix of Haradrim pirates and Black Númenóreans, who often raided the coasts of Belfalas and Anfalas in Gondor. Throughout the reign of the Stewards, the Corsairs were a constant threat, primarily countered by the Princes of Dol Amroth when other threats besieged Minas Tirith; indeed, Prince Karazôr, the fifteenth Prince, perished in battle against the Corsairs. When Sauron declared himself openly near the end of the Third Age, Umbar and its Corsairs swore allegiance to him and began amassing a mighty fleet to attack Gondor under the command of Batânhir, the Captain of the Haven. But during the rule of Steward Ecthelion II, Umbar was suddenly besieged by the Gondorian army, led by the mysterious warrior Thorongil who slew Batânhir personally. Thus Umbar was still weakened when the War of the Ring began in earnest, only able to send fifty great ships and a number of smaller vessels to raid the coastlands of Gondor, commanded by the fearsome Balakhôr the Scourge. While their attacks did draw some forces away from the defense of Minas Tirith, they were no match for the Army of the Dead summoned out of the White Mountains by an ascendant Thorongil, now declaring himself openly as Aragorn II Elessar, the next King of Gondor. Aragorn and the Dead utterly destroyed the Corsair fleet, and with the subsequent fall of Barad-dûr, Umbar lost what little of its power it had retained and submitted to the rule of King Elessar.

men of middle-earth ∿ misc. númenóreans ∿ headcanon disclaimer

Nornion was the eldest son of Vóreäla, seventh Lord of Andúnië. He was raised as his father’s heir, but when Vóreäla opposed the imperialistic politics of Prince Círyatan, Nornion and his brothers were forced into the royal navy as punishment. By the grace of Tar-Minastir, his youngest brother Vilwarindo was spared, but no amount of pleading for the sake of his young daughter could save Nornion from his fate. He bid farewell to his wife Caliniel and his little girl Roquendië, and set sail for Middle-earth alongside his brother Callondur for a campaign of twenty years. Círyatan ordered the brothers into the most dangerous parts of battle, eager to see his enemy’s sons die for his wars. Callondur was slain upon the fields of Haradwaith in the eleventh year of his sentence, but Nornion survived all twenty. Indeed, he was only a month away from returning home to Andúnië when Círyatan began a bloody battle against the Haradrim to claim the sea-port of Umbar. Though the Númenóreans won the day, it was at the cost of much life, and Nornion perished from his wounds before a healer could tend to him. Hearing of her father’s unjust demise, young Roquendië vowed to avenge him and took up the sword. As she grew older and learned pity and kindness from her mother Caliniel and her grandfather Vóreäla, Roquendië’s heart softened, but she remained ever-hateful of Tar-Círyatan, his son Tar-Atanamir, and his son Tar-Ancalimon, who was as eager as his forefathers to violently subdue the Middle Men of the mainland. Roquendië married late in her life to Vasaryamarto, a priest of Eru, and together they raised their son Failaher to love peace and honor the Valar, even as such positions grew less popular among the people of Númenor. Upon inheriting her uncle Vilwarindo’s title, Roquendië redoubled Vóreäla’s efforts to halt Númenor’s expansions, and though she was unsuccessful during her lifetime, her descendants would continue to resist the corruption and bloodshed enacted by the Kings of Númenor.

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men of middle-earth ∿ misc. númenóreans ∿ headcanon disclaimer

Orontor was a lord of Númenor, one of the Faithful, and a vassal to Lord Amandil of Andúnië. He was a skilled navigator and often guided ships through dangerous waters. His spouse was Anarroina, a cook in Amandil’s household, and together they had two children: first a son, Voronwë, and then much later a daughter, Fíriel. Voronwë was a fast friend of Amandil’s son Elendil and a mariner even greater than his father. Voronwë’s wife Netilya was a Rómenna-born farmer who passed her love of the earth to her elder daughter Cemniel, while the heart of her younger daughter Ilcanië was turned more toward the sea. Fíriel was dear friends with Cemniel and Ilcanië, being of age with her nieces rather than her brother; all three were swept up in the youth rebellion against Ar-Pharazôn’s oppressive policies stirred up by Herendil. Cemniel quickly grew close to Isildur, son of Elendil, and when she discovered her pregnancy she and Isildur were wed with great haste so their son Elendur might be born within wedlock. Despite the rushed wedding, Cemniel and Isildur would have many happy years together, though they waited to have more children for several decades after Elendur’s birth. As the Shadow lengthened over Númenor, Lord Amandil grew more and more concerned for the fate of his fallen people. Determining to seek the aid of the Valar in opposing Ar-Pharazôn’s wicked counselor Zigûr, Amandil passed the leadership of the Faithful to Elendil his son and embarked on a journey into the Uttermost West to beg forgiveness from Manwë for the sins of Númenor. With him he took three companions, including Orontor, who though he was reluctant to leave his spouse and daughter followed his lord into the West, never to return. Mourning her father’s departure, Fíriel was comforted by her friend Herendil, and soon great love grew between them. Herendil spoke to his maternal uncle Elendil and beseeched him to welcome Fíriel and Anarroina into his household, and for a few years he, Fíriel, and their friends worked under Elendil’s command to prepare for the evacuation of Rómenna should the doom of Númenor become full-wrought. Yet for Herendil and Fíriel, the bitter end came all too soon when one night Fíriel was overheard singing a song of Ilúvatar for her beloved and was dragged before Zigûr to be interrogated. Though her life was spared, she was forced into the priesthood of Melkor, and when Herendil himself was brought to the King’s twisted justice, it was she who wielded the blade that killed him, offering his heart to the Lord of Darkness. Fíriel thought it a mercy when the isle of Elenna was drowned, and herself with it, for at least then she could do no more evil. Though Orontor’s end was mysterious and Fíriel’s tragic, the rest of their family escaped with Elendil and his sons to Middle-earth. Voronwë and Netilya remained at the side of Elendil, though their daughters were swept away by the waves in the ships of Isildur and Anárion. Eventually they were reunited just in time for the wedding of Ilcanië to Sandor, a shipwright in the service of Isildur. Ilcanië and Cemniel her sister dwelt with their husbands in the city of Minas Ithil, Cemniel bearing Isildur two more sons and Ilcanië one child, a lad named Glanor. Their family would remain tight-knit to the end of their days, with Glanor serving as an ohtar to his uncle Isildur and his mother and aunt at one another’s side through many trials.

men of middle-earth ∿ misc. númenóreans ∿ headcanon disclaimer

Failaher was the son of Roquendië, and the ninth Lord of Andúnië. Like his mother, he wed late in his life, taking the dancer Pirucendëa as his wife. She bore him two children: a daughter, Canyahondë, and a son, Tultaro. When Princess Vanimeldë entered his wife’s dancing troupe under the stage name Liltalissë, Failaher saw an opportunity to steer the next generation of rulers toward peace. Yet Vanimeldë cared little for politics, having fled to the arts to escape such things, and was not at all receptive to Failaher and Pirucendëa’s overtures at allyship. Indeed, when she was crowned Ruling Queen, Tar-Vanimeldë allowed her husband Herucalmo to rule in her stead, and it was he who sat in her place on the Council of the Scepter. During his time of power, he steered Númenor in the direction of more aggressively patriarchal traditions, using Vanimeldë’s disinterest in ruling as an excuse to bar women from leadership. Canyahondë, who had by now inherited her father’s title, spoke out against this tyranny, but Herucalmo openly mocked her and dismissed her from the Council, telling her that Andúnië must bring a suitable politician to Armenelos or else go unrepresented. Furious at this ill treatment, Canyahondë decried Herucalmo’s injustice, but even in her home city the response was not as supportive as she had hoped. Grimly, she took counsel with her younger brother Tultaro, and together they came to a bitter compromise. Canyahondë feigned surrender of her position to Tultaro, making him the official Lord of Andúnië, and he took her place on the Council of the Scepter—but behind closed doors, Tultaro still loved and respected his sister and deferred to her decisions, allowing her to retain a portion of her power. When the siblings decided it was time to pass their shared title onto the next generation, it was Canyahondë’s son Ilcarion who inherited leadership of Andúnië, not any of Tultaro’s children, and the line of leaders continued down through Canyahondë’s descendants.

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men of middle-earth ∿ misc. númenóreans ∿ headcanon disclaimer

Moruinë was the first ruling Lady of Andúnië since Silmariën, and the sixth leader of Andúnië overall, during the reigns of both Tar-Súrion and Tar-Telperiën. She was headstrong and clever, and inherited her position from her father Irmondil at the young age of only 150, for he had little interest in ruling and knew his daughter would be a better leader. Her wife was a woman of the mainland, born in a coastal village in the lands that would become Dunland. While she was still young, her home was destroyed in a great storm, but as she had been out in alone in the forest at the time, contemplating her womanhood despite her family’s insistence she was a man, she was the only survivor. Freed from the expectations of her people, she took the name Moirenna and began to wander the coastline, searching for a new home. Moirenna was visited by a dream of great mountains upon a distant island, and so moved was she by this vision she determined she would find this place. After three years of searching, Moirenna at last landed upon the shores of Elenna, knowing this was the place she was meant to be. Seeking the mountains from her dreams, Moirenna wandered into the highlands of Andustar, where she encountered Moruinë, who had been compelled by a similar dream to go hither. Moruinë and Moirenna were immediately enchanted with one another, and Moruinë invited her new companion back to Andúnië. Within two years they were wed, and as a betrothal gift Moruinë gave her beloved a new name: Ortólorë, “dream of mountains.” Moruinë and Ortólorë had one child, their son Vóreäla, whom they raised together in joy: yet Ortólorë had no elvish blood to lengthen her lifespan, and even the blessed soil of Elenna could only grant her a life of a 121 years and upon her inevitable death, Moruinë was left a widow. But Moruinë did not lose herself in grief, for she had a responsibility to her people and to the elves who visited Andúnië from Tol Eressëa. Even in a time when the Númenórean population’s opinion of the Eldar was declining, she remained their steadfast friend. She befriended Tar-Telperiën’s heir Minastir, introducing him to her elvish friends and attempting to sway his opinion toward their wellbeing. Minastir envied the elves as much as he loved them, or more, but he readily accepted when Moruinë offered him the hill of Oromet upon which he could build a tower to gaze into the West. In return, Minastir agreed to her insistence that he convince his aunt to send a fleet to the aid of High King Gil-galad in Middle-earth when Sauron besieged his lands. Tar-Telperiën allowed this so long as Minastir oversaw the operation, leaving her out of it, and thus Númenor moved to war. Commanding the royal navy was Círyatur the Explorer, Minastir at his side; present also among the armada was Minastir’s son Círyatan, who gained a taste for conquest in this journey, and Moruinë’s son Vóreäla. Vóreäla’s involvement in the war delayed his wedding to his betrothed, but after the Battle of the Gwathló was won he returned to Númenor and married Tyulussë his beloved, who bore him three sons: Nornion, Callondur, and Vilwarindo. Though Vóreäla had befriended Círyatan on their voyage to Middle-earth, when they both became involved in politics he found himself at odds with the prince as he turned to greedy imperialism. To Vóreäla, the greatest horror was Círyatan’s abduction of his wife Ciara of Dunland, whom he named Morivanessië, as his own mother Ortólorë was from a nearby region of Middle-earth, though she had come to Númenor willingly. Vóreäla used his place on the Council of the Scepter to speak against Prince Círyatan, and when he was met with little success he attempted to befriend Ciara Morivanessië in the hopes of making her trials less severe. Yet even with the aid of Tyulussë, Morivanessië rebuffed him, and when Círyatan discovered his once-friend was trying to “corrupt” his wife he was furious. He punished Vóreäla by forcing his sons into the royal navy and sending them into dangerous imperialistic campaigns. Vóreäla was able to spare only his youngest child from this fate, pleading with Tar-Minastir that Vilwarindo was too young for war despite Círyatan’s protests that he was younger at the Battle of the Gwathló. Both Callondur and Nornion were slain in Círyatan’s wars, leaving Vilwarindo to inherit his father’s title. Vilwarindo had not been raised to rule and when threatened by Círyatan and his son Tar-Atanamir, he was cowed into obedience. His husband was the hunter Rómandur, and as they had no children together, Vilwarindo’s heir was his brother Nornion’s daughter Roquendië.

men of middle-earth ∿ misc. númenóreans ∿ headcanon disclaimer

Amandil was the penultimate Lord of Andúnië, though his people had been banished to Rómenna before his birth, and he never saw the western haven that once had been his family’s home. He and his younger brother Elentír were, in their youth, friends with Pharazôn and Míriel, children of the royal house: Amandil and Pharazôn were as close as brothers, and Elentír loved Míriel, though she did not return his feelings. But as they grew older, the friends drifted apart, and when Pharazôn returned from years of conquest in Middle-earth he betrayed Amandil’s friendship, unlawfully seizing the scepter of Númenor and forcing Míriel into a marriage with him against her will. At this Elentír was grieved, for though Míriel had not accepted his proposal she would have preferred his hand to her cousin’s, and he retreated to Rómenna in sorrow, taking no other wife. Amandil attempted to remain by Pharazôn’s side, but after he refused to bow to the king’s captive-counsellor Zigûr, he was dismissed from the Council of the Scepter and exiled to Rómenna in disgrace. As Ar-Pharazôn’s power and ambition grew, he prepared to make an assault against Aman itself, deeply troubling his once-friend Amandil. At this time, he surrendered leadership of the Faithful to his son Elendil, counseling him to prepare ships to escape Númenor when the time was right. Amandil then gathered his three closest friends, asking them to accompany him upon a hopeless mission into the Uttermost West: sailing to Aman to seek aid and forgiveness from Manwë before Pharazôn could attack. One of these companions was his brother Elentír, who accepted without question, for he was yet lost in despair at the fate of Tar-Míriel, and wished to do whatever he could to frustrate Pharazôn’s schemes. Another was Ilmandur, whose family had faithfully served the House of Andúnië for generations, and the last was Orontor, youngest of the group and the best navigator among them. Though Orontor hesitated to leave his children, especially his daughter Fíriel who was only a maiden, his loyalty to Amandil tugged at his conscience until he agreed to guide his lord into the west. Amandil made preparations for their journey in secret, not wishing for Pharazôn to discover his intentions and bring dire punishment upon his people. When at last the day of their departure arrived, Orontor steered them to the east for as long as the King’s navy could see them, only then circling back around and heading westward. The prayers of their families went with them, but though their task was noble and akin to the voyage of Eärendil, Amandil and his companions were never heard from again, and were presumed to have perished before arriving in the Blessed Lands.