Ar-Pharazôn
| Biography: Ar-Pharazôn | |
|---|---|
| Birth - Death | Second Age 3118 - 3319 |
| Race: | Man |
| Gender: | Male |
| Parent(s): | Gimilkhâd |
| Ar-Pharazôn | |
| Spouse: | Míriel |
| Info: | The last King of Númenor. Died in the Downfall of Númenor. |
Description
Ar-Pharazôn the Golden was King of Númenor, its 25th and last.
From an early age Ar-Pharazôn was true to the Valar and wared Sauron. However, after long years he returned to Númenor and brought wealth with him, and over the residents. When Tar-Palantir, then king, died, Ar-Pharazôn sought for power and married Míriel, the King's daughter and his first cousin, which was illegal as well as against her will. Thus, in 3255 of the Second Age he made himself the King and revealed a less noble heart than his early years might have told.
His head grew high and though he intended to fight Sauron and make him a vassal, it was Ar-Pharazôn who in the end became the vassal. Ar-Pharazôn, though perhaps overproud, was nonetheless powerful, the most powerful of the Númenorean kings. Even the servants of Sauron feared Ar-Pharazôn and deserted their master, and Sauron was brought in chains to Númenor. Sauron's persuasions and lies soon swayed Ar-Pharazôn, however, and the king greatly feared death, as many in Númenor then did. Ar-Pharazôn assembled a great fleet and sailed against Valinor intending to take immortality by force. Instead, the wrath of Ilúvatar was turned against Númenor. The island-kingdom and almost all its inhabitants were drowned and Arda was reshaped in what became known as the Downfall of Númenor, or the Akâllabeth.
However despite Ar-Pharazôn and the King's Men who were loyal to him, the Faithful of Númenor remained loyal to the Valar. When Sauron urged the king to destroy Nimloth, the White Tree of Númenor, Isildur managed to steal a fruit of the tree from the very courts of the King. When Ar-Pharazôn began preparing his great fleet, his cousin Amandil, father of Elendil, bid the Faithful prepare their own ships for escape. Thus the Line of Elros survived through Elendil, and so did the Line of the White Tree.
External References
- The Silmarillion, by Tolkien
- Unfinished Tales, by Tolkien
- tolkiengateway