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Gil-galad was an Elven-king... - Page 10

© Michael Martinez

Sauron's departure seems to have brought an effective end to the wars with the Elves. Over the course of the next 57 years Gil-galad was able to extend his influence throughout the northern world, even into the upper Vales of Anduin. When Elendil and his sons brought nine ships of survivors from the disaster of Numenor to Middle-earth in 3319 Gil-galad befriended them and helped them establish the realms of Arnor and Gondor. The Elven-king built three towers overlooking the Gulf of Lune for Elendil, and these may have been the Dunadan king's first home in Middle-earth. But though he ceded vast authority to Elendil over Eriador, Gil-galad still said nothing (it seems) about the Rings of Power. It would not be until the year 3429, when the reconstituted Sauron felt strong enough to attack Gondor, that Gil-galad would be faced with the moral dilemma of the Rings. He had kept Narya and Vilya hidden for more than 1,000 years. Neither he nor any other Elf had worn or actively used the Rings in that time. They dared not do so. But they had still benefitted from the Rings' ability to hold back the effects of Time. It must have become obvious to Gil-galad that the Elves had only deferred the inevitable decision to destroy the Rings. He may not have been convinced of the need to do so, or that they would fail if the One Ring were unmade, but as long as Sauron remained a threat to Men and Elves there was no hope of the Elves ever realizing the full benefit from the Rings they had retained control over. So Gil-galad seems to have revealed all to Elendil and his sons. Now at last the Elves fessed up to their own sins, and they resolved with the Dunedain to undertake a final war against Sauron that should have resulted in his complete defeat. They had the military power to achieve this end. Gil-galad's people had grown numerous again, but he had also established relations with the peoples of the Vales of Anduin, including the much more numerous Silvan Elves ruled by Oropher and Amdir. Elf, Man, and Dwarf came together with a common purpose and they raised the greatest army Middle-earth had seen since the end of the First Age. But Gil-galad's persuasive arguments don't seem to have endeared him with Oropher, who as a Doriathrin Elf was by one account unfriendly to the Noldor. It may only have been Gil-galad's relationship to Thingol and the pressing need to do something about Sauron, who had ravaged the lands east of the Misty Mountains as well as Eriador, that drove Oropher to ally himself with Gil-galad. Oropher nonetheless refused to march under Gil-galad's banner.

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