The Encyclopedia of Arda - The Farsighted (original) (raw)
The island of Númenor had been created at the beginning of the Second Age by the Valar as a reward for the Edain who had fought beside the Eldar in the Wars against Morgoth. Through the earlier centuries of their existence, the Númenóreans remained fast in friendship with the Elves, and continued to honour the Powers in the West. As time passed, however, the Men of Númenor began to fall away from these ideals.
By the time some three thousand years had passed since the realm's founding, the Kings and many of their people had fallen far from their earlier state. The twenty-third King, Ar-Gimilzôr, went so far as to ban the Eldar from his land, and punish any of his people who spoke the Elvish tongues. In this many of his people supported him, but not all: a small party known as the Faithful hoped to return Númenor to its earlier ways. One of these was Inzilbêth, Ar-Gimilzór's Queen, who secretly raised her son Inziladûn in the ways of the Faithful.
When Ar-Gimilzôr died in II 3177, Inziladûn succeeded as King. He began to make the hopes of the Faithful into policy, attempting to reconcile his people with the Valar and the Eldar. He took up the rule of Númenor using a royal name derived from Elvish: Tar-Palantir, the Farsighted. The name reflected his vision for the future of Númenor, since his mind saw farther than most, and he was renowned for understanding the truth of things.
Nonetheless, Tar-Palantir's far-sighted hopes would ultimately be dashed. The opponents of the Faithful, known as the King's Men, remained a power in the land; their leaders were Tar-Palantir's own brother, Gimilkhâd, and Gimilkhâd's son Pharazôn. When Tar-Palantir died after [seventy-eight years](../chronicle.html?startyear=3177&startage=2&endyear=3255&endage=2&c=The Rule of Tar-Palantir) of rule, his nephew Pharazôn usurped the succession, forcibly wedding Tar-Palantir's daughter Mìriel and unlawfully making himself King. As King Ar-Pharazôn, he became a tyrant beyond any of his predecessors, and led Númenor on a course that would bring it to its Downfall.
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