Q: Who Was the Last Prince of Cardolan?
ANSWER: In Appendix A to The Lord of the Rings, there are a few references to the War of 1409 between Arthedain and Angmar. In one paragraph J.R.R. Tolkien writes:
A great host came out of Angmar in 1409, and crossing the river entered Cardolan and surrounded Weathertop. The Dúnedain were defeated and Arveleg was slain. The Tower of Amon Sûl was burned and razed; but the _palantír_ was saved and carried back in retreat to Fornost, Rhudaur was occupied by evil Men subject to Angmar, and the Dúnedain that remained there were slain or fled west Cardolan was ravaged. Araphor son of Arveleg was not yet full-grown, but he was valiant, and with aid from Círdan he repelled the enemy from Fornost and the North Downs. A remnant of the faithful among the Dúnedain of Cardolan also held out in Tyrn Gorthad (the Barrowdowns), or took refuge in the Forest behind.
A little more detail is provided about Tyrn Gorthad further on:
It is said that the mounds of Tyrn Gorthad, as the Barrowdowns were called of old, are very ancient, and that many were built in the days of the old world of the First Age by the forefathers of the Edain, before they crossed the Blue Mountains into Beleriand, of which Lindon is all that now remains. Those hills were therefore revered by the Dúnedain after their return; and there many of their lords and Kings were buried. [Some say that the mound in which the Ring-bearer was imprisoned had been the grave of the last prince of Cardolan, who fell in the war of 1409.]’
There is no reference to this last prince, although when Merry awakens from his enchanted sleep (after Bombadil rescues the Hobbits from the wight) he seems to recall being slain by a spear through the heart, almost as if he is the seeing the last moments of someone else’s life. Was this the ill-fated prince?
In various passages Tolkien states that Amlaith of Fornost and his descendants retained the friendship of the Eldar. It is tempting to ask if the Kings of Cardolan and Rhudaur lost the friendship of the Elves, or enjoyed less close relations with them. Did those kings take names in Sindarin or did they take names in Adunaic/Westron? Tolkien never says, but his noting that the Kings of Arthedain retained Elvish friendship and naming conventions does seem to imply there was a break.
What we can be sure of is that the last Cardolanic prince was unable to claim the throne — a right that had died out with the last Heir of Isildur in Cardolan by 1349, when Argeleb I took a name claiming royal authority over all of former Arnor. Although Rhudaur’s hill-folk rejected Argeleb’s claim it would appear that the people of Cardolan accepted it. The unnamed Prince of Cardolan therefore could not have any claims on the Line of Isildur.
He could have been descended from the Royal House through a daughter; or it could be that he was descended from a more ancient family. There is one example of such a family in Gondor: the Princes of Belfalas (later Dol Amroth) were given that title, according to “Cirion and Eorl”, by Elendil himself and were related to his family somehow. Perhaps there were old Numenorean families in Middle-earth that claimed descent from or kinship with the Lords of Andúnië, and from among them Elendil may have selected various princes to help him and his sons maintain order in their new kingdoms. Or perhaps the various ship-captains who accompanied Elendil and his sons (of whom there would have been six: three in the north and three in the south) became princes in the new kingdoms.
Although there is much room for speculation, it does seem certain that this last prince was a good man, loyal to the Line of Isildur, and keen on protecting his people. He died bravely even if he was taken by surprise in the dark of night. We cannot know his name but some people may call him i-Ernil Vedui (or Caun Vedui), the Last Prince.
See also:
- When Was Lond Daer Enedh Abandoned?
- Was Tharbad Ever an Independent City-state?
- What was the Capital of Cardolan?
- Where is the Red Hill of Cardolan?
- What Is the History of Tharbad?
- Who Ruled Cardolan, Land of Red Hills?
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