Northern Dúnedain

Quick Facts

Timeline:
Dates:	Arrived in Middle-earth after the Downfall of Númenor in II 3319; survived into the Fourth Age
Location:	The lands that originally formed the realm of Arnor
Origins:	Númenórean survivors of the Downfall, led by Elendil
Race:	Men
Division:	Dúnedain
Culture:	Originally Men of Arnor, these people became divided into three kingdoms, and eventually gave rise to the Rangers
Family:	Led by the House of Elendil
Settlements:	The capital of the Northern Dúnedain was originally at Annúminas, and later Fornost
Pronunciation:	Dúnedain is pronounced 'doo'nedine'
Meaning:	Dúnedain means 'Men of the West'
Other names:	Dúnedain of Arnor, Dúnedain of the North

The Dúnedain of Arnor and their descendants

The Two Kingdoms founded by Elendil and his sons were originally intended to form two parts of a greater nation of the Dúnedain, ruled by a High King at Annúminas. This was not to be. The loss of Elendil's son Isildur led to a chain of events that separated Arnor in the north from Gondor in the south, and the two kingdoms continued to follow different paths through history.

Arnor, the North-kingdom of the Dúnedain, was ruled by the direct descendants of Isildur, beginning with Valandil, his youngest son. Though the bloodline of the Northern Dúnedain came directly from the old High King, theirs was a troubled realm. Internal strife and war with Angmar saw Arnor become fractured and eventually destroyed, leaving the Dúnedain of the North a dwindled and wandering people.

Nonetheless, the line of Isildur was maintained through the Chieftains of this people. Aragorn II was Isildur's Heir through thirty-nine generations, and it was he who reunited the kingdoms of the Dúnedain after three thousand years of separation.