The Men Who Would Be Steward - Page 3

When Boromir reached maturity, he became his father's servant. We know from his own testimony in Rivendell and comments made by Faramir and Denethor that Boromir was a captain of Gondor. Tolkien uses the word "captain" (a French word derived from Latin) in various ways throughout The Lord of the Rings. The only specific titles attributed to Boromir are High Warden of the White Tower and Captain-General (of all Gondor's forces). "Captain-General" is an actual royal title of the British monarchy, and denotes the station of the monarch as commander-in-chief. Although it might seem imprudent or even hypocritical for the Stewards to assume such a title, The Peoples of Middle-earth says that "the Hurinionath were not in the direct line of descent from Elendil, [but] they were ultimately of royal origin." Boromir, therefore, was a descendant of Elendil, a fact not provided in The Lord of the Rings. Descent from Elendil may have provoked Boromir's ambitions, but it also may have served as the foundation for Denethor's jealousy of Aragorn, whom he had known in his own youth as Thorongil. In any event, since Gondor needed a commander-in-chief, the office and its title was assumed by the Stewards (and presumably conferred upon a son or nephew being groomed to take up the Stewardship later in life). Hurin of Emyn Arnen was the Steward of Minardil, King of Gondor from 1621 to 1634. Minardil died in battle at Pelargir, fighting the Corsairs of Umbar (who were led by his cousins Angamaite and Sangahyando). Minardil was twenty generations removed from Meneldil, son of Anarion. There is no indication in any of the published texts about where Hurin of Emyn Arnen's family branched off from the royal line. He himself may have been the son of a royal princess. One possibility for Hurin's ancestry would be the daughter of Eldacar, the half-Dunadan/half-Northman King of Gondor who was driven from the throne for ten years by Castamir the Usurper. Eldacar's elder son Ornendil was slain in the Kin-Strife, and Eldacar was eventually succeeded by his younger son Aldamir. But Aldamir was Eldacar's third child. Minardil was Aldamir's grandson, so Hurin of Emyn Arnen could have been Aldamir's grand-nephew and Minardil's second-cousin. Hurin could not have been more closely related to Minardil, and he could, perhaps, have been more distantly related. A descent from Eldacar would prevent the Stewards from claiming a purer bloodline than that of the Kings. Bloodlines, however, are not as important to Tolkien as they are to many of his failed characters. That is, the Kin-Strife was fought between Gondorians who believed the royal house should remain pure and Gondorians who believed that mingling the royal family with other kindreds of Men would do no harm. So, it is not necessary for Tolkien to show from whom the Stewards descended. Nonetheless, Eldacar remains, in my opinion, the best candidate for their most immediate royal ancestor. At the very least, he is the only king said or implied to have a daughter (in "The Heirs of Elendil", a chapter in The Peoples of Middle-earth which provides a great deal more information about the leading houses of Gondor than The Lord of the Rings).

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