Gil-Galad

Gil-Galad (which translated from Sindarin means "dawn star") is a fictional character who is part of the legendarium created by the British writer J. R. R. Tolkien and who appears in his posthumous novel The Silmarillion; He is also mentioned in the work The Lord of the Rings , in whose appendices more details of his story are offered. He is an elf of the Noldor clan, son of Fingon, in other versions he is said to be the son of Orodreth.

Gil-galad had the highest authority among the Noldor of Middle-earth, he was respected by both the Noldor and the Sindar, which is why he was considered "High King&# 3. 4; of the Elves in Middle Earth. He formed, along with Elendil and Oropher, the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, leading his people along with the Númenórean exiles into a war against Sauron. After his death, Círdan was left in command of Lindon during the Third Age.

History

First Age

Gil-galad was born in the year 450 of the First Age in Hithlum, and was still young during the times of the battles Dagor Bragollach and Nirnaeth Arnoediad, where many of his kinsmen died. He was the son of Fingon and the last of Finwë Nölome's descendants in Middle-earth, along with Galadriel and Elrond. Upon Fingolfin's death, his son Fingon inherits the throne of the Noldor. Gil-Galad should have then become heir to the throne, but Fingon decides to appoint his younger brother Turgon to the title, due to the young age of his son. Fingon sends his son to the care of Círdan in the Falas. There Gil-Galad learned of Círdan's wisdom and established himself as a friend of the Sindar.

When the Falas fall, after the fall of Nargothrond, Círdan takes Gil-Galad to the Isle of Balar, where all the refugees from the fallen Noldorin and Sindarin cities arrived, and settled under the protection of the two elven lords, on the shores of Arvernien, where they stayed until the end of the First Age of the Sun. He was named High King when the hosts of Morgoth conquer Gondolin and kill his uncle Turgon and when he receives the news of the escaped from Gondolin by Tuor, married to his cousin Idril, daughter of Turgon.

When the sons of Feanor committed the Third Massacre of the Brethren, Gil-Galad received news of the plunder, but he arrived too late to stop the sons of Feanor, who fled after the battle. will finish. However, the survivors joined Gil-Galad and went with him to the Isle of Balar, where they told him of the captivity of Eärendil's sons, the twins Elrond and Elros.

After the War of Wrath, the sons of Fëanor who were still alive disappeared from Middle-earth. Maedhros committed suicide while Maglor disappeared without a trace, leaving Elrond and Elros alone. Therefore, at some point, Gil-Galad welcomed Elrond into his ranks, after the latter chose to be one of the Eldar.

Second Age

After Eru llúvatar's flooding of Beleriand, Gil-galad remained in Middle-earth and established the kingdom of Lindon, which was strong and secure against its enemies. At its height, the kingdom extended eastwards to the Misty Mountains and the western parts of the Greenwood, although most of the Eldar remained in Lindon and later in the haven of Rivendell, founded by Elrond years later.

Gil-galad had an alliance with the Men of the West, especially Tar-Aldarion and the Faithful led by Elendil. Gil-galad was given the seeds of the mellyrn, or mallorn, trees by Tar-Aldarion, who during this time was High King of Númenor. But the seeds did not grow in his land, so he gave them to Galadriel before he left Lindon. She carried these seeds for a long time, finally planting them in Lindórinand. When they grew up, the place was renamed Lothlórien.

The Rings of Power

Gil-Galad ruled in peace for approximately twelve hundred years of the Second Age, when Annatar appeared in Lindon, calling himself the "Lord of Gifts", who It would turn out to be Sauron himself, who fled from the Valar in the War of Wrath and was now beginning to plan his strategy to dominate the Noldor, the most powerful elves in Middle-earth, a power he deeply envied and coveted.

His words and offerings seemed to be fair, but Gil-galad perceived that Annatar was not what he seemed. Therefore, she refused to have dealings with him and sent a message to all the Elves to avoid this stranger. However, Annatar was received in Eregion by Celebrimbor, where he exchanged knowledge with the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, a brotherhood of elven blacksmiths, participating in the forging of the Rings of Power.

Gil-Galad's distrust proved correct, as Celebrimbor discovered that "Annatar" was Sauron. Celebrimbor later gave Gil-Galad two of the Three Rings of the Elves, Vilya (Ring of Air), which he passed to his herald Elrond, and Narya (Ring of Air). of fire), which was delivered to his lieutenant Cirdan before the death of Gil-Galad at the siege of Barad-dûr.

For a long time, Gil-Galad was at war with Sauron. But the High King was aided by the Númenóreans, ruled by Tar-Minastir, who diminished Sauron's forces. Sauron, who barely escaped, returned to Mordor, where he remained gathering forces, plotting revenge against the Dúnedain.

Later, Ar-Pharazôn raised a large army to confront the enemy. Sauron, seeing his military power, surrendered without resistance, being taken prisoner to Númenor, leaving Gil-galad free to rule Middle-earth in peace. In Sauron's absence, Gil-galad's power grew to the point that Sauron was dismayed when he returned from the ruin of Númenor. However, the Faithful, who were survivors of the fall of Númenor, arrived in Middle-earth and established their kingdoms. They maintained their friendship with the Elves, and both Elendil and Gil-galad advised each other on how they should attack Sauron. Finally, they decided to gather all their armies and attack Sauron before he could regain his strength. His large forces, well trained and united, engaged the enemy army several times in the conflict known as the War of the Last Alliance. Gil-galad's weapon was a spear called Aeglos, which meant Icicle.

Towards the end of the war, the Elves and Men passed into Mordor and besieged Barad-dûr, where Gil-galad and Elendil dueled Sauron himself. During their fight, Gil-galad and Elendil inflicted enough mortal wounds on the Dark Lord to destroy his body, although they received terrible wounds in return. This sacrifice allowed Isildur to cut the One Ring from the Dark Lord's hand. But Gil-galad received severe burns from the heat of Sauron's hand, and so he died, passing to the Halls of Mandos. He was not known to have a wife or any children, so the royalty of the ancient nation ended in Middle Earth and Círdan would thereafter become Lord of the Gray Havens and Lindon. Bilbo would translate the ballad "The Fall of Gil -galad» in The Fellowship of the Ring.

"Gil-galad was a king of the elves
the troubers lamented the luck
of the last free and beautiful kingdom
between the mountains and the ocean.

The king's sword was long and sharp the spear,
and the shiny hull looked away;
and in the silver shield were reflected
the countless stars of the fields of heaven.

But a long time ago he rode away on horseback,
and no one knows where he lives now;
the star of Gil-galad fell into darkness
of Mordor, the country of shadows. "

The Lord of the Rings, The Ring Community, J. R. R. Tolkien

Ancestry

Gil-Galad as a descendant of Finarfin and Orodreth

According to the version published in The Silmarillion, Gil-Galad is the son of Fingon and therefore grandson of Fingolfin.

However, in other versions of the story Gil-Galad appears as the son of Orodreth (who in these cases turns out to be the son of Angrod, the son of Finarfin and not directly a son of Finarfin). With this, the last king of the Noldor would be a descendant of Finarfin and not Fingolfin. Likewise before the Nírnaeth Arnoediad, it would be Orodreth who would send his son to the Falas to live with Círdan for the same reasons that Fingon has in the Silmarillion version.

It seems that these were Tolkien's wishes regarding Gil-Galad, although they were not reflected in The Silmarillion, perhaps because his son published it before he could consider his father's work in its entirety.^{[citation required]}