Eärendil

The grandson of Meneldil and son of Cemendur, who succeeded his father to become the fifth King to rule the South-kingdom of Gondor. He shared his name with Eärendil the Mariner, the great hero who voyaged to Aman and saved Middle-earth from the darkness of Morgoth nearly four thousand years before King Eärendil's time.

The only recorded historical event to take place during Eärendil's reign was the birth of Elrond's daughter Arwen in the north, three years after he took the throne. No-one in Gondor at that time, of course, could have known how significant that event would be: nearly three thousand years later, Arwen was to wed Aragorn, a distant descendant of Eärendil's ancestor Elendil, and become Queen of his realm.

Eärendil ruled Gondor for eighty-six years, and was succeeded by his son, Anardil.