THREE RINGS for the ELVEN KINGS

“I have written nothing beyond the first few years of the Fourth Age. (Except the beginning of a tale supposed to refer to the end of the reign of Eldaron [sic] about 100 years after the death of Aragorn. Then I of course discovered that the King’s Peace would contain no tales worth recounting; and his wars would have little interest after the overthrow of Sauron; but that almost certainly a restlessness would appear about then, owing to the (it seems) inevitable boredom of Men with the good: there would be secret societies practising dark cults, and ‘orc-cults’ among adolescents.)” (Letters, #338)

The Folk of Bëor entered Beleriand in 9844 BC and ceased to exist as an independent people in 9694 BC, with their descendants eventually migrating to Númenor. The list on the right derives from The Silmarillion and The War of the Jewels.

The Haladin, also known as the Folk of Haleth, entered Beleriand in 9842 BC but were not united under a single chieftain until 9779 BC. They ceased to exist as an independent people in 9653 BC, their descendants eventually migrating to Númenor. The list on the right is derived from The Silmarillion and The War of the Jewels.

The Folk of Marach, known as the Folk of Hador from 9738 BC, entered Beleriand in 9841 BC and ceased to exist as an independent people in 9682 BC, their descendants eventually migrating to Númenor. The list on the right is derived from The Silmarillion and The War of the Jewels.

Founded as a new home for the Edain, now renamed the Dúnedain (Men of the West) on an island in the Great Sea, following the destruction of Beleriand in 9564 BC. Númenor was itself later destroyed, in turn, during the Change of the World in 6245 BC. The list on the right is derived from Unfinished Tales.

One of the two Realms in Exile founded after the destruction of Númenor in 6245 BC (Gondor being the other), Arnor was situated in the north-west of Middle-earth. The kingdom lasted until 5262 BC, when it was divided. The list on the right derives from The Return of the King.

The most important of the three kingdoms into which Arnor was divided in 5262 BC (the others being Cardolan and Rhudaur, the kings of which are unknown). Arthedain was also sometimes referred to as Arnor. The list on the right is derived from The Return of the King.

After the fall of Arthedain in 4149 BC, the royal line was preserved as a chieftainship amongst the Rangers of the North (i.e. those of the Dúnedain who survived in the area of the former Kingdom of Arnor). The list on the right is derived from The Return of the King.

One of the two Realms in Exile founded after the destruction of Númenor in 6245 BC (Arnor being the other), Gondor was situated far to the south of Arnor. Despite the dying out of its royal line in 4073 BC, the kingdom survived right up until the War of the Ring, and in 3104 BC became the core territory of the newly founded Reunited Kingdom. The list on the right is derived from The Return of the King.

The kingdom of the Rohirrim, or Horse-lords of the Riddermark, founded when the Éothéod were granted land in the province of Calenardhon by Cirion, Steward of Gondor, in 3613 BC. The list on the right derives from The Return of the King.

Land of the Hobbits, first settled in 4522 BC. Nominally subject to the Kings of Arthedain, of which it formed a part, after the fall of that kingdom the Hobbits instituted the office of Thain to discharge the functions of the former kings (the names of some of the earlier Thains are not recorded). The list on the right is derived from The Return of the King.

On the right are listed Trór – equated here with Elessar (Aragorn) – and his descendants, as derived from the Prose Edda and Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Tolkien’s names, where known, are given in brackets, and derive from The Return of the King, The Lost Road and Other Writings and The Book of Lost Tales. The Dúnedain (Men of the West), who made up most of the population of the Reunited Kingdom, were the ancestors of the Germanic peoples of Europe.

The descendants of Aragorn were dispossessed of the throne in 2194 BC, during the upheavals of the Great Flood. Later, in 2013 BC, Scéaf, son of the last King of the Reunited Kingdom, established a new, much smaller realm in Scania, or Skênland (Southern Sweden) – the former region of Dol Guldur in Mirkwood. Later still, in 50 BC, after the latest in a long series of wars of conquest, various members of the dynasty were given rulership of different areas of Northern Europe. One of these, Wegdæg, became King of the Saxons, and was the ancestor of Hengist. In AD 449 Hengist conquered the island of Tol Eressëa, which became known as England.

According to the Oera Linda Book (and supplemented by the chronicle of Occa Scarlensis and Johannes Flytarp), immediately after the Great Flood of 2194 BC the lands of the Reunited Kingdom came to be ruled by a line of Folk Mothers, based at Fryasburch, Texland (modern Den Burg, Texel, Netherlands), in a theocratic matriarchy that lasted until 590 BC, with two later attempts at revival. The first Folk Mother, Fasta, was appointed by Frya herself, when the latter ascended to the starry heavens. They called themselves the Free Peoples of the World, an ancient term that originally included Elves and Dwarves, but which later evolved into ‘Frisians’ (Frya’s Ones, or Free Ones).

After suffering invasions over many centuries, by the descendants of Aragorn and others, in 304 BC the Frisians, whose lands were now much smaller in extent, established a Greek-style militaristic monarchy – under Friso, a native of the Frisian colony in the Punjab, who had worked for Alexander the Great. The Oera Linda Book becomes sketchy after this point, though details of later rulers are preserved by the chroniclers Occa Scarlensis and Martinus Hamconius. From AD 130 to 392 Frisian rulers were known as Dukes, as Roman clients, but an independent kingship was later re-established. This survived until Charlemagne annexed what remained of the Frisian kingdom to his empire. The last independent fragment, the island of Ameland, fell in AD 806.

Fasta 2214–2038/1978 (or 2194–after 2145)
Sünje 2038–1978
Minna 2038/1978–1912/1906 (or fl. 2013)
Stintje 1912/1906–1872/1870
Inska 1872/1870–1820
Fenna 1820–1757
Elke 1757–1711
Swantje 1711–1667
Insa 1667–1621
Rôsamond 1621 (or 1631–before 1621)
Hel-licht 1621–1580 (or fl. 1621)
Gerit 1580–1553
Stina 1553–1489
Renske 1489–1429
Wibeke 1429–1377
Inka 1377–1328
Aletta 1328–1277
Eltje 1277–1224
Dywek 1224–1186
Nela 1186–1155
Imka 1155–1114
Imme 1114–1056
Enna 1056–1006
Hilka 1006–946
Fenneke 946–884
Heike 884–814
Renke 814–714
Tjarda 714–644
Frâna 644–589 (or ?–590)
Adela (acting) 590–559
No Folk Mother 590–306
Gosa 361–263 (or 306–?)
No Folk Mother 263–70
Prontlik 70–50 BC

Trór, or Thor, slew the Duke of Thrúdheim, and became its king. He travelled far and wide, overcoming many adversaries. 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 Elessar (Aragorn) 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 (Gondor) corresponds to Austria, Switzerland and Italy, extending into the Adriatic, rather than to Thrace, as stated in the Prose Edda (see Geography for a more detailed analysis).

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 fits our reconstructed chronology perfectly. If the flood occurred in 2194 BC, the average length of generation before and after of this divide is almost exactly the same – 130 and 128 years, respectively. This also happens to be very close to that of the rulers of Númenor (131 years), who, in common with the descendants of Elessar and Arwen, had a strong Elven genetic component. Tolkien tells us that King Sheave’s seven sons became the ancestors of the Danes, Goths, Swedes, Northmen, Franks, Frisians, Swordmen, Saxons, Swabes, English and Langobards. According to early texts such as Widsith and Æthelweard’s 10th century Chronicon, Scéaf (Sheave) was washed ashore on an island named Scani, or Scandza (i.e. Scania, or Southern Sweden – Skênland in the Oera Linda Book), though according to William of Malmesbury’s 12th century Gesta regum Anglorum he reigned from Schleswig in North Germany. According to the genealogies, Scéaf was the ancestor of Woden, but there seems to be some confusion here because the Oera Linda Book gives the name Wodin to an individual who can only be Scéaf himself – so perhaps the name Woden or Wodin came to be applied to all members of the dynasty. Scéaf’s father is given in the Prose Edda as Magi, whereas the Oera Linda Book states that the Mâgy, ruler of the Finns, became the father-in-law of Wodin. Furthermore the presumed dates of Scéaf’s life and reign exactly parallel those of Wodin in the Oera Linda Book. According to the latter, by 2013 BC he was living at Lumka-mâkja in what is now the Netherlands. In that year he led an army to save Skênland (Southern Sweden) from the invading Finns, but took it over himself as its king, in alliance with the Mâgy, whose daughter he married. Wodin disappeared seven years later.

Witta, or Ottor Wǽfre according to Tolkien (The Book of Lost Tales Part One), fled to Heligoland – the Holy Island – from his home in Angeln, when his uncle, Beorn, murdered his father, Eoh (or Vitgils according to the Prose Edda). On Heligoland, Ottor married 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. According to the earliest version of the tale, 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 were defeated by 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. Ottor is also described by Tolkien as a descendant of Eärendil, providing further evidence that our initial assumption equating Trór with Elessar (Aragorn) is correct.

Hengist, or Hengest, his brother Horsa and half-brother Heorrenda, in the earliest version of the tale, conquered Tol Eressëa from the evil men and it became known as England – with the fragment broken off by Ossë becoming Ireland. The notion that Tol Eressëa became England belongs to Tolkien’s earliest myth cycle and seems incompatible with the Shire being situated in what is now the English Midlands. However, a later version of the story (The Book of Lost Tales Part Two) states that after the Elder Days, the Elves settled in Luthany (Lúthien), ruled over by a mortal king named 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 to Tol Eressëa. So the events described above, from the Faring Forth, happened not in Tol Eressëa but in Luthany (Britain), and the Faring Forth itself, along with the Battle of Rôs, became part of a prophecy associated with the Final Battle (Dagor Dagorath). The conquest of England by Hengist and Horsa began in the year AD 449, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the leader of the evil men (a term also used for the Rumhoth) is named in that source as Vortigern. Hengest settled at Kortirion (Warwick), Horsa at Taruithorn (Oxford) and Heorrenda at 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.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives Hengist’s son as Æsc (d. 512). The Historia Brittonum, however, names Octa as Hengist’s son, though Bede tells us that Octa was the son of ‘Orric, surnamed Oisc’ (i.e. Æsc), from whom the Kings of Kent later claimed descent. Since Tolkien makes it clear that Hengest and his brothers settled in the Midlands of England, rather than the South East, it is presumably to the Iclings – the Kings of Mercia – that we should look for his true heirs.