This Is What You Need To Know About Gil-galad Ahead Of 'The Rings Of Power
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With less than a month to go until the premiere of The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime Video, there is still time to get primed on as much lore as you can. That is the challenge of this show. There is so much lore to go through. It is hard to know where to begin. Who are the characters? Where are the locations? Why are there giant trees lit like the sun? The point of this article and others like it are to help fill that gap. Today, we will take a look at the Elven king Gil-galad.
Who Was Gil-galad?
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Gil-galad was an Elven-king.
Of him the harpers sadly sing;
the last whose realm was fair and free
between the Mountains and the Sea.
His sword was long, his lance was keen.
His shining helm afar was seen;
the countless stars of heaven's field
were mirrored in his silver shield.
But long ago he rode away,
and where he dwelleth none can say;
for into darkness fell his star
in Mordor where the shadows are.
- The Fellowship of the Ring
Gil-galad was the High King of the Elves in Middle Earth. He is portrayed by Benjamin Walker in The Rings of Power. While we still do not know exactly what will be shown in the show, we do know some things for sure. The show’s title explicitly informs us that the show will involve the creation of the rings of power. As a result, we know the major players during that event will present in the show and Gil-galad factors into all of this.
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This show will take place during what is known as the Second Age. Long, long before the Second Age, the world of Arda, Tolkien’s world, was created by Eru Ilúvatar. Thousands and thousands of solar years passed from creation to the first named age, the Years of the Lamps, in which the world was illuminated by two massive lamps atop tall towers. That age came to a close when the lamps were destroyed. Light returned to the world when two massive trees were created and filled with light. This began the age known as the Years of the Trees, and that was the age that Gil-galad was born into. This was thousands and thousands, something like well over thirty thousand years or more since the creation of the world.
Image Source: TheOneRing.net
The trees did not last much longer after Gil-galad was born, and he was one of the few Elves still alive in Middle-earth to have seen the trees in their brilliant glory. The Years of the Trees ended, and thus began the First Age. Gil-galad did not die until well into the Second Age, during which The Rings of Power takes place. By the time of his death, Gil-galad was several thousand years old, as Elves are immortal in the sense that we know.
Gil-galad was a member of the Ñoldor, one of the great clans of the Elves. The Elves were created and then “awakened” from a sleep that was pre-determined by Eru Ilúvatar. Upon awakening, they were to journey from their place of birth and awakening to the land of Aman, where the Valar, their “gods,” resided. The first group to make the journey was known as the Vanyar. The second group eventually became known as the Ñoldor.
While all Elves were intended to journey to Aman upon awakening, not all did. The Ñoldor did journey to Aman, but then the evil Vala, Morgoth, stole the Ñoldors’ greatest creations, the Silmarils (beautiful, shining jewels filled with light from the Great Trees). A great host of the Ñoldor set off under the leadership of the Ñoldo Elf Fëanor to reclaim them from Morgoth, who fled from Aman to the part of Arda known as Middle-earth. Due to differences in opinion and complicated developments, the Ñoldor, on their journey, ended up slaughtering many of their Elven cousins and were thus banned from returning to Aman. From that point forward, they remained in Middle-earth.
Gil-galad descended from the Elven bloodline that included Fëanor. Through Elven lineage and hierarchical rules, the High King title would go to the eldest living son of the line of Finwë, who could trace their lineage back to the awakening of the elves. Through these rules of succession, Gil-galad came to rule the Ñoldor in Middle-Earth.
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Why Is Gil-galad An Integral Part Of The Show
Even though Gil-galad ruled over the Ñoldor in Middle-earth as their High King, he was actually younger than another star character in the show, Galadriel. She was actually what we would call his great aunt, and she was vastly more powerful as a magic user than Gil-galad. Due to her lineage and power, she did come to rule part of Middle-earth in her own right alongside her husband Celeborn. When Gil-galad acquired the three elven rings of power, he gave one of them to Galadriel.
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Elrond, who married Galadriel’s eventual daughter, was also a distant relative to Gil-galad. At the end of the War of Wrath, Elrond found himself without his family, and Gil-galad stepped in and brought Elrond into his ranks as his herald. Later, when Sauron launched his war on Middle-earth, Gil-galad called upon Elrond to aid the region of Eriador. Gil-galad ultimately failed, and Elrond would then go on to establish and rule Rivendell.
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Speaking of Sauron, he and Gil-galad had quite the history, one that entangled him with the ring maker Celebrimbor and the powerful kingdom of Númenor. Sauron was a Maia, a lesser servant of the Valar. In his case, he was the servant of the Vala Morgoth. After the War of Wrath, he disappeared for a time until he returned, disguised as Annatar, Lord of Gifts. Annatar was charismatic and friendly, but Gil-galad felt something was off, and something was not right about him. Gil-galad turned him away and warned his Elven kin to be wary of this stranger. However, Lord Celebrimbor did not heed the warning and welcomed Sauron. Sauron as Annatar convinced Celebrimbor, a skilled craftsman, to craft the rings of power that would go to the Dwarves and Men. However, Celebrimbor crafted three rings in secret for the Elves. When it was revealed that Annatar was Sauron, Celebrimbor, realizing his mistake, entrusted the three Elven rings to Gil-galad. Gil-galad gave one to Elrond, and another to one of his lieutenants. The third went to Galadriel, which became the source of much of her great power.
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Eventually, Sauron launched a war of dominion on Middle-earth. He targeted the Elven realms. Just when it seemed like he was going to succeed, Númenor joined Gil-galad’s forces, and together they succeeded in pushing Sauron back to Mordor. After a time, Sauron was captured by the Númenóreans, who brought him back to their island. It was a costly mistake as Sauron managed to corrupt the Númenóreans, which ultimately led to their destruction. Sauron returned to Middle-earth and regained enough power over the century to challenge the descendant kingdoms of Númenor. Gil-galad allied with these western kingdoms of Men in what was called the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. They marched against Sauron and inflicted enough damage to Sauron’s army that the Dark Lord was forced to join the fight himself. Gil-galad and Elendil, the King of Men, took on Sauron together. While they were able to inflict enough wounds to Sauron’s physical body, he mortally wounded both of them. Gil-galad passed on to the Elven underworld. Their sacrifice, however, allowed Elendil’s son, Isildur, to sever the One Ring, from Sauron’s hand.
It is unlikely that we will see the death of Gil-galad by the end of the show’s run of five seasons. However, being involved in the struggle against Sauron as the High King of the Ñoldor, we are sure to see a lot of Gil-galad in The Rings of Power.
The show debuts on Amazon Prime Video on September 2.
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Source(s): One Wiki to Rule Them All