Eldacar (King of Gondor)

Eldacar's father Valacar had gone to live among the Northmen of King Vidugavia's realm in Third Age 1250. While there Valacar fell in love with and married the King's daughter, princess Vidumavi. Their son was named Vinitharya, would later be called Eldacar. In Third Age 1260, when Valacar returned to Gondor, he gave to Vinitharya the name of Eldacar, which Vinitharya retained when he inherited Gondor's throne. Valacar had also brought his family and a household of noble Northmen back to Gondor.

The high men of Gondor frowned upon Valacar's marriage to a woman of alien and "lesser" race for they feared that Vidumavi's descendants would prove short-lived. As Valacar grew old rebellion smouldered in the southern fiefs of Gondor since many refused to accept Eldacar as their upcoming lord. When Eldacar succeeded his father in Third Age 1432 full civil war erupted, called the Kin-strife.

Eldacar showed no sign of more rapid aging than any of the Dúnedain and displayed fearlessness in opposing those who sought to depose him. However, the rebels came against him in great strength and lay a siege that laid waste to Osgiliath (and caused the loss of the palantír kept in the Tower of the Stone). As Eldacar fled the city to Rhovanion a distant relative named Castamir claimed his throne and had Eldacar's son Ornendil put to death.

Eldacar gathered together his kinsfold in Rhovanion, those Northmen who had served Gondor, and many of the Dúnedain from the northern parts of Gondor. After ten years of exile Eldacar led a great army to reclaim his Kingship. His forces were augmented by the people of Calenardhon, Anórien, and Ithilien. In this he was aided by the cruelty and lack of generosity of Castamir, and by Castamir's disdain for the land with his plan to remove the seat of the King to Pelargir. The greatest clash during Eldacar's return took place at the Crossings of Erui.

Although Eldacar himself avenged his son Ornendil by slaying Castamir, the sons of the Usurper escaped from the battle and held out at Pelargir. Gathering the remainder of their forces these sons then sailed to Umbar which then became a refuge for all enemies of the King. The independent lordship of Umbar would remain at war with Gondor for generations, a constant threat to its coastlines and sea traffic.

Eldacar lived for 235 years, which showed that his mother's lineage had not diminished his lifespan as feared. Eventually he was succeeded by his younger son Aldamir.

Eldacar is a Quenya name. It means "Elfhelm". It is a compound of elda ("elf") and the suffixal form -car of carma ("helm") also seen in Valacar.

Vinitharya is a name in the language of the Northmen that was spoken by his mother Vidumavi. It is said that the name had much the same meaning as Rómendacil, which means "East-victor". Arden R. Smith suggests that it is a modified form of the original reconstructed Gothic name *Winiþa-harjis, which means "one who battles the Wends". The Wends or Winedas (in Old English) were a Slavic people who dwelt inside Germanic territories. He further suggests that the original name that was fictitiously translated by Tolkien as Vinitharya referred to Easterlings instead of Wends. The historical bearer of this name was a king of the Ostrogoths of the fourth century and was the great-grandfather of Theodoric the Great, who was called Vinitharius or Venetharius by Jordanes, an Eastern Roman writer from the sixth century who is believed to be of Gothic descent. Jim Allan suggests that the name consists of vinid (a reference to the Vinidi, the Wends) and harya derived from hari ("army"), which could be rendered "army-man" and points out that Jordanes mentioned Vinitharius as the name of an ancient king of the Ostrogoths.

In the entry for king Telemnar in Appendix A I (iv) of The Lord of the Rings it is stated that "Mindardil, son of Eldacar," was slain at Pelargir. In Appendix A I (ii) The Southern Line Heirs of Anárion Hyarmendacil II (Vinyarion) is the King of Gondor before Mindardil. In the entry for the 25th king Minardil in manuscript C of The Heirs of Elendil in The Peoples of Middle-earth it is mentioned that Minardil was at Pelargir suspecting no peril since the crushing of Harad and Umbar by his father. In the entry for the 24th king Vinyarion in manuscript C of The Heirs of Elendil in The Peoples of Middle-earth it is mentioned that Vinyarion took the name Hyarmendakil II in 1551 after a great victory over Harad. These two statements in The Heirs of Elendil seem to imply that Minardil was the son of Vinyarion and thus the great-grandson of Eldacar. It is noteworthy that Appendix A I (iv) does not mention king Aldamir and king Hyarmendacil II (Vinyarion), although both are included in the list of Kings of Gondor in Appendix A I (ii) and in the Tale of Years of The Third Age in Appendix B. It is possible that this is the reason why Aldamir and Vinyarion were overlooked in Appendix A I (iv) in the short sentence mentioning king Minardil. In the opinion of Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull "Minardil, son of Eldacar" was an error and should be changed to "Minardil, great-grandson of Eldacar". Mark Fisher has the same opinion.

1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 25/05/2026.