Isildur Headcanons
For @numenorweek, Day 7: Legacy, Isildur
Isildur is one of my favourite characters from the 2nd/3rd Age. His story arc from a valiant young man in Númenor to a King who was deceived by a token from his enemy hasn’t stop fascinating me. Here are my Isildur Headcanons:
- Isildur doesn’t have a beard, although it’s uncommon among Númenorean males. He has poor beard growth, probably because of his part-elvish inheritance (although his father and brother don’t share this feature). People teased him and called him an elf-boy when he was a child.
-Isildur knew who Zigûr (Sauron in Númenor) was from very early on, but he found it difficult to believe at first. His grandfather Amandil was the one who told him all about it.
- In his family home, the faithful Númenoreans sometimes had secret meetings where they told the stories that we know as the Silmarillion. They learned those by heart, and they were also sung as ballads.
-When Isildur infiltrated into Armenelos to save the White Tree of Númenor, he imagined being on a rescue mission similar to Fingon’s mission to Angband. He had a good imagination and lots of self-confidence.
-During the Downfall of Númenor, Sauron sent his apprentice to kill Isildur. The apprentice changed sides, however, and Isildur saved him and imprisoned him when they reached Middle-earth. Later, the apprentice became an adviser and an asset in the war against Sauron. His loyalty towards Isildur grew even stronger when Isildur got Sauron’s ring. (I have written their story as my contribution to nanowrimo 2014, and later its prequel Tähden Maan Velho - however those are in Finnish.)
-The name of Isildur’s wife in my hc is Lômibêth (Adûnaic name in Númenor) / Morilinde (in Middle-earth)
-Isildur and his close relatives used only their Quenya names in Númenor, although the use of the elven languages was banned. They were so respected by many that even the King didn’t dare to forbid them to do that.
-When Isildur got the One Ring he quickly became addicted by its charm. It was like a quickly developing drug addiction. I don’t see him greedy or stubborn, but affected by powerful magic he wasn’t able to resist. I think he was addicted to that part of Sauron’s spirit that was in the Ring, craving contact with it constantly. I see it as a metaphysical Mairon/Isildur pairing that is dub-con from Isildur’s pov.
-When Isildur was travelling north on his fatal last trip, he was on his way to visit Imladris. He didn’t know, though, that Elrond was planning to take the Ring by force because he saw how much it affected Isildur. If Isildur had reached Imladris, there would have been a conflict between him and Elrond, and the continuing story of the Ring would have been very different.
