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  • Updated 13 May 2018
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King of the Silvan Elves

Ruler of the lands west or east of Anduin

Kings of Lórien

Elvenkings of Mirkwood

Amdír or
Malgalad
Amroth
Oropher
Thranduil
Legolas

The lines of the Kings of the Silvan Elves in the lands west and east of Anduin. Names shown in bold text are those known to have held one of these Kingships.

The title given to any of the rulers of the Silvan Elves of Lórien or the Woodland Realm. The earlier Kings of these lands, Amdír and Oropher, are little known, but it is recorded that each took an army to the War of the Last Alliance, and each was slain in that war, to be succeeded by his son. For most of the Third Age, Lórien was ruled by Amdír's successor Amroth, but he was lost at sea off the haven of Edhellond, and the line of Lórien's Kings came to an end. In Greenwood the Great (later called Mirkwood) Oropher's heir was Thranduil the Elvenking, who led his people through the troubles of the Third Age to the time of the War of the Ring and beyond.

Kings of the Silvan Elves west of Anduin

Amdír
(or Malgalad)
(Slain near the end of the Second Age)
Almost nothing is known of the King who preceded Amroth. Even his name is uncertain (he was known variously as Amdír or Malgalad, though these may be alternative names for the same Elf). All sources agree, however, that he was lost in the War of the Last Alliance at the end of the Second Age, and succeeded by his son Amroth.
Amroth (Ruled from the turn of the Third Age to III 1981)
Amroth succeeded his father during or immediately after the War of the Last Alliance, and remained King in Lórien for some two thousand years. After the release of a Balrog in Moria, many of his people fled into the south, and he accompanied his beloved Nimrodel on that journey. Through a sequence of tragic circumstances, the two were separated, and Amroth was lost at sea. After his time Galadriel and Celeborn ruled the remnant of his people, but they did not take the titles 'Queen' or 'King'.

Kings of the Silvan Elves east of Anduin

Oropher (Slain near the end of the Second Age)
The father of Thranduil was a Sindarin Elf who travelled eastward and took over the rule of the Silvan Elves of Mirkwood. Like his contemporary Amdír, Oropher went to the War of the Last Alliance and was slain in battle.
Thranduil (Ruled during the Third Age and into the Fourth)
Oropher's heir became King after his father's loss. Following a thousand years of relative peace, a darkness fell on Thranduil's forest kingdom when Dol Guldur was established in its southern reaches. From that time Thranduil and his people were forced to move ever northwards, and by the close of the Third Age they dwelt on the northeastern fringes of Mirkwood. Thranduil survived the War of the Ring, and appears to have reigned on into the Fourth Age.

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About this entry:

  • Updated 13 May 2018
  • Updates planned: 1

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