Like the eighteen rulers of Númenor before him, the nineteenth took the Sceptre with a Quenya name, Tar-Ardamin. In private, though, the King's Men called him by a name in their own Adûnaic language: Ar-Abattârik. This King was the last to follow the practice of using an official Quenya name. His son Ar-Adûnakhôr abandoned the old traditions, and used Adûnaic in his official name.
It should be said that there is some small doubt over the character of Ar-Abattârik. He is listed in the detailed annals of The Line of Elros1 as the son of Tar-Calmacil and father of Ar-Adûnakhôr, but in many earlier editions of Appendix A I (i) to The Lord of the Rings, the relevant section of the King-lists appears like this: '...Tar-Calmacil. After Calmacil the Kings took the sceptre in names of the Númenorean (or Adûnaic) tongue: Ar-Adûnakhôr...' It seems most likely, as Christopher Tolkien suggests, that this omission is a simple mistake, and that Tar-Ardamin or Ar-Abattarârik should appear in the list at this point. Indeed, later editions of The Lord of the Rings insert his name in this list.
Notes
1 |
In Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth |
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