Anárion

Anárion was the second son of Elendil the Tall, the High King of the Dúnedain who escaped the Downfall of Númenor and founded the Númenórean realms in exile in Middle-earth. While Elendil established his seat in the North at Annúminas, the rule of the South was committed jointly to his two sons, Isildur and Anárion. Together they founded the great city of Osgiliath, the Citadel of the Stars, which straddled the Great River Anduin. Anárion himself built Minas Anor, the Tower of the Setting Sun, at the feet of the White Mountains, and planted there a seedling of the White Tree, brought by Isildur from Númenor. His brother Isildur built Minas Ithil, the Tower of the Rising Moon, on the eastern borders of their new realm, not far from the confines of Mordor.

Role in the War of the Last Alliance

When Sauron, having survived the ruin of Númenor, returned to Mordor and began to rebuild his power, he attacked Gondor in S.A. 3429. He took Minas Ithil and burned the White Tree, but Anárion held Minas Anor and Osgiliath against the assault. Isildur escaped down the Anduin and went north to seek aid from Elendil. The following year the Last Alliance of Elves and Men was formed, and in S.A. 3434 the great host crossed the Misty Mountains and defeated Sauron at the Battle of Dagorlad, laying siege to Barad-dûr. Anárion fought throughout the long siege, but in S.A. 3440, a year before the final overthrow, he was slain by a stone cast from the Dark Tower. His death was a grievous blow to the Alliance, but the siege continued until Sauron himself was overthrown by Elendil and Gil-galad in the final combat on the slopes of Orodruin.

Legacy and the Line of Kings

After the war, Isildur took the One Ring from Sauron's hand, but he did not remain in the South. He committed the rule of Gondor to Meneldil, the son of Anárion, and departed for the North. From Meneldil descended the long line of the Kings of Gondor, the Southern Line, which endured for many centuries. The crown and royalty of Gondor, the Council later declared, belonged solely to the heirs of Meneldil, son of Anárion, to whom Isildur had relinquished the realm. This principle was invoked centuries later when Arvedui, the last king of the North, claimed the crown of Gondor through his wife Fíriel, the only surviving child of King Ondoher. The Council of Gondor rejected the claim, asserting that the heritage was reckoned through the sons only, and the crown was given instead to the victorious general Eärnil, a descendant of Anárion's line. The line of Anárion finally failed when King Eärnur, son of Eärnil, rode to Minas Morgul in T.A. 2050 to answer the challenge of the Witch-king and was never seen again. Thereafter the Stewards ruled Gondor until the return of the king in the person of Aragorn, the heir of Isildur, who united the two lines at last.

Narrative Significance

Anárion's story is told in the Council of Elrond, where Elrond recounts the history of the Ring and the War of the Last Alliance. His death at the siege of Barad-dûr, alongside that of Elendil and Gil-galad, marks the tragic cost of Sauron's first overthrow. The White Tree he planted in Minas Anor became the enduring symbol of Gondor's kingship, and its withering and eventual renewal mirrored the fortunes of the realm. The Argonath, the great Pillars of the Kings that guard the northern approach to Gondor, were carved in the likenesses of Isildur and Anárion, standing as silent wardens of a long-vanished kingdom. When Aragorn passes between them on his journey south, he names them as his sires of old, affirming his claim to the throne. The distinction between the lines of Isildur and Anárion, and the eventual reunion of those lines in Aragorn, is a central thread in the political and dynastic resolution of the War of the Ring.