Three Rings for the Elven Kings

The following lists have been compiled from information contained in Tolkien’s writings – in particular The Return of the King, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and The War of the Jewels. Tolkien gives us no data after the time of Eldarion, and so for the Fourth and later ages other sources have been used, which have been noted in detail below. All the dates given by Tolkien for the history of Middle-earth can be converted to BC dates using a simple formula: the Years of the Sun began in 10,160 BC, the Second Age in 9563 BC, the Third Age in 6122 BC, and the Fourth Age (Gondor) in 3102 BC. As for later ages, we only have the following statement, made by Tolkien in 1958: “But they have, I think, quickened; and I imagine we are actually at the end of the Sixth Age, or in the Seventh.” (Letters, #211) Any attempt to assign dates to the beginning of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Ages must therefore remain speculative (see Chronology for such an attempt).

01. Trór, or Thór, slew the duke of Thrace, or Thrúdheim, and became its king. He travelled far and wide, overcoming many adversaries, and in the northern half of his kingdom met a prophetess named Sibil, or Sif – the fairest of all women – whom he married. This account from the Prose Edda closely parallels Tolkien’s story of how Aragorn (Elessar) came to the throne of Gondor following the death of its Ruling Steward (though the latter, Denethor II, took his own life), and his marriage to Arwen who came from the north. Thrúdheim, or Gondor, is more likely to have been centred in the area later known as Noricum, or Austria, than Thrace (see Geography for the probable location of Minas Tirith, the capital).

08. Scéaf, or King Sheave to use Tolkien’s rendering of his name (The Lost Road and Other Writings), was an ancient culture hero to the Germanic peoples. He was washed ashore as a child in a boat, and later accepted as king. Though not explicitly stated, that this event occurred as a result of a great flood is both eminently logical and fits our chronology perfectly, adding further veracity to it. If the flood, as we strongly suspect, occurred around 2200 BC, the average length of generation on either side of this divide is almost exactly the same – 129 and 128 years respectively. This also happens to be very close to that of the kings of Númenor (131 years), who, like the descendants of Aragorn and Arwen, had a strong Elven genetic component. Sheave’s seven sons became the ancestors of the Danes, Goths, Swedes, Northmen, Franks, Frisians, Swordmen, Saxons, Swabes, English and Langobards. According to early sources such as Widsith and Æthelweard’s 10th century Chronicon, Scéaf was washed ashore on an island named Scani, or Scandza (i.e. Scania, the southern region of the Swedish mainland), though according to William of Malmesbury’s 12th century Gesta regum Anglorum he reigned from Schleswig in what is now north-west Germany. It would appear, however, that the dynasty’s most important seat remained in the south, in Noricum, until the time of Vóden.

24. Woden, or Vóden (Odin) in the Prose Edda, led his people from ‘Thrace’ (i.e. Noricum) to the north, which he divided amongst his sons – Vegdeg (his firstborn, or at least, his first named son) took East Saxland, Beldeg took Westphalia, Sigi took Frankland, Skjöldr took Reidgothland (Jutland), and Sæmingr took Norway. Odin himself reigned in Sweden, and was succeeded there by his son Yngvi. From these descend the royal dynasties of most of Northern Europe – and through them, by now, the majority of its general population too. Counting the generations back, we find that Vóden must have reigned in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, at which time Noricum, ancient southern seat of the kings, was gradually coming under Roman domination – the cause, presumably, of his migration.

27. Witta, or Ottor Wǽfre according to Tolkien (The Book of Lost Tales, vol. 1), set up home on Heligoland – the Holy Island – with his wife Cwen (i.e. Queen), and they had two sons – Hengest and Horsa. After Cwen’s death Ottor sailed to the west and arrived at Tol Eressëa, where he settled at the Cottage of Lost Play in Kortirion and learnt the history and lore of the Elves, who called him Eriol or Angol. He married the Elf-maid Naimi, and they had a son named Heorrenda. Some time later occurred the Faring Forth, in which the Lost Elves of the Great Lands rose up against the servants of Melko (Melkor), and Ulmo uprooted Tol Eressëa and dragged it across the sea to the east. Ossë attempted to drag it back, but it broke in two. At the subsequent Battle of Rôs (Brittany) the Elves lost to the forces of Melko and retreated back to Tol Eressëa, which was itself then invaded. At the Battle of the Heath of the Sky-roof (Ladwen-na-Dhaideloth), which took place near Tavrobel and was witnessed by Ottor, the Elves and their allies fled over the rivers Gruir and Aros, and Tol Eressëa fell under the power of evil men. That Ottor is described by Tolkien as a descendant of Eärendil is further evidence that our assumption equating Trór with Aragorn is correct.

28. Hengist, or Hengest (and other slight variants), his brother Horsa and half-brother Heorrenda conquered Tol Eressëa from the evil men, and it became known as England – with the fragment broken off by Ossë becoming known as Ireland. The notion that Tol Eressëa became England seems incompatible with the fact that the Shire was situated in what is now the English Midlands. This idea was part of Tolkien’s earliest myth cycle, but a later version of the story (The Book of Lost Tales, vol. 2) states that after the Elder Days, the Elves settled in Luthany, ruled over by Inwë (Ingwë), who sailed over the sea to Tol Eressëa and founded towns there which he named after those in Luthany, such as Kortirion and Tavrobel. Luthany was later cut off from the mainland by flooding, and became the island of Britain, but when the Rumhoth (Romans) invaded, the remaining Elves fled. In other words, the events described above happened not in Tol Eressëa but in Luthany (Britain). The conquest of England by Hengist and Horsa began in the year 449 according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the leader of the evil men (a term also used to refer to the Rumhoth) is named in that source as Vortigern. Hengest settled in Kortirion (Warwick), Horsa in Taruithorn (Oxford) and Heorrenda in Tavrobel (Great Haywood, Staffs.). Horsa was slain in battle in 455, Hengest died in 488, and the fate of the half-Elven Heorrenda is unknown. Hengest’s son, Oisc, founded the Kingdom of Kent, and his descendants continued to reign there, in increasing obscurity, until the 7th century, when the senior line failed. None of them had extended lifespans, indicating a final diminution of their Elven blood. From father to eldest son, they were: Oisc (d. c.516), Octha (d. c.543), Eormenric (d. c.590), Æthelberht (d. 616), Eadbald (d. 640), Eorcenberht (d. 664), Ecgberht (d. 673) and Eadric (d. 686), who apparently died without issue. Descendants of his younger brother, Wihtred, continued to reign in Kent for another century.