Encyclopedia of Arda: Minardil

The son of Hyarmendacil II¹ of Gondor, King Minardil had two sons, Telemnar and Minastan. He had reigned for just thirteen years when he was attacked at Pelargir by the Corsairs of Umbar, and slain. He was succeeded by Telemnar, who himself died with all his children in the Dark Plague just two years later. Ultimately, the throne was taken by Tarondor, the son of Minardil's second son Minastan. Minardil is perhaps best known as being served by Steward Húrin of Emyn Arnen, the ancestor of the later Ruling Stewards.

Notes

1	The date of Minardil's birth appears only in The History of Middle-earth volume XII, The Peoples of Middle-earth. It cannot therefore be considered completely reliable.
2	The Elvish root min- is used for prominent objects and places, and especially towers (as for example in 'Minas Anor', the Tower of the Sun). On that basis, Minardil's name probably means 'Devoted to the Tower'. This is presumably a reference to Minas Anor, but Minardil lived at a time when the Kings still dwelt in Osgiliath during the winter, so it may potentially be a reference to the Tower of the Dome of Osgiliath.
3	The Lord of the Rings gives two contradictory accounts of the parentage of Minardil. In Appendix A, the king-lists show his father as Hyarmendacil II, but later in the same Appendix he's described as 'Minardil, son of Eldacar'. In fact, Eldacar had died 131 years before Minardil took the throne, and the text should surely read 'Minardil, great-grandson of Eldacar' (just as his assailants Angamaitë and Sangahyando were the great-grandsons of Eldacar's usurper, Castamir).