Imrahil's father was Prince Adrahil. Imrahil's
daughter was
Lothiriel.
Imrahil, ruling prince of Dol Amroth, is spoken
of in the Lord of the Rings as Denethor's and Faramir's
kinsman, as Denethor's wife, Finduilas, was his sister.
Dol Amroth was named after Lothlorien's elf-king,
Amroth, he who loved Nimrodel. Amroth, valiant and wise, kept his small
kingdom fair and prosperous. Until Amroth's drowning in 1981 TA when he
leaped
off of what he thought was the last ship to the West, this was the
seaport
city from which the elves of Lothlorien sailed to Valinor in white swan
ships
that could navigate straight space. For this reason, the gilded
banners
of the princes of Dol Amroth were blue as the sea, marked with a white
ship
and the silver swan of Ulmo. Dol Amroth was one of the five great
cities
of Gondor, in the fief of Belfalas, ruled by princes. The tower of Dol
Amroth
was called the Sea-ward Tower, Tirith Aear in the Sindarin language.
The
Sindarin word "dol" meant "hill" or "hill of".
Imrahil showed both his Dunadan and elvish history
in looks, learning, and manners. He and his folk were tall with
sea-grey eyes and dark hair, of "high blood", carrying themselves
proudly. They
sang as they came into Gondor.
When it is said they are from the people
of Nimrodel, the reference is to the silvan elves, their blood mingled
with Noldorins who had fled Eregion due to Sauron. The silvan elves
were
Teleri who never reached the Sea on the westward march when called to
Valinor.
King Amroth, son of King Amdir, was a golden-haired Sindarin elf, as
the
normal arrangement in Lothlorien was to have Sindarin rulers over
silvans.
This arrangement was the same as in Mirkwood, where the golden-haired
Sindarin
King Thranduil, whose son was Legolas of the Fellowship, ruled the
silvan
elves. If Amroth had had a daughter, she might very well have been
matched to Thranduil's son. After King Amroth's death without an heir
of any sort, Celeborn and
Galadriel's
return was welcomed by the people, and the pair took up guardianship
rather
than rulership of Lothlorien. Part of the welcome may have been that
Celeborn
continued the familiar tradition of Sindarin leadership, being
Sindarin.
Galadriel, his wife and advisor, was a golden-haired full Noldorin.
Galadriel
knew that, to keep Sauron from crossing the River Anduin, the area
required strong leadership which was missing after the death of Amroth.
The legend of Prince Imrahil's line (from Unfinished
Tales) says that Nimrodel and her maidens fled the evil arising in
Moria and became lost in the wooded hills, therefore not reaching Dol
Amroth in time to sail with Amroth. Mithrellas apparently became
separated from this little group and was harbored by Imrazor the
Numenorean, who lived in Belfalas, and he took her to wife. They had a
son, Galador, and a daughter, Gilmith. Then Mithrellas slipped away one
night and Imrazor never saw her again.
Galador became first Lord of Dol Amroth. Apparently this was not
love or even desired as long term (at least by the lady), and therefore
Mithrellas did not seem to have been required to make the choice of
Luthien
and Arwen for mortality. As a full elf, she could not have been allowed
that choice in any case and would have been aware of the fact from the
beginning.
Prince Angelimar was twentieth in unbroken descent
from this same Galador, and fathered Adrahil who fathered Imrahil.
Amdir may also have been called Malgalad and Adrahil.
A small settlement of elves lived near the
larger human city of Dol Amroth.
On the Dunadan side of Prince Imrahil's ancestry, a
group of the Faithful from Numenor related to Elendil
from whom comes
the title of Prince, sailed away before the Downfall, settling in
Belfalas with a stronghold on the high promontory of Dol Amroth.
Apparently the name
of the promontory much later became the name of the city, castle, and
port
as well, possibly at the time of Galador. Perhaps he brought it all
together and this is why he was called the first Lord of Dol Amroth.
At the time of the War of the Ring, Prince Imrahil
brought his men from Dol Amroth to aid in the defense of Gondor: a
company of swan-knights on grey horses, with seven-hundred men at arms.
Prince Imrahil proved great bravery going foremost
with his men in Denethor's sortie, following Gandalf the White, against
the flying Nazgul and his great army that had harried Faramir's forces
back
from the defense of Osgiliath to the gates of Gondor. The charge of Dol
Amroth saved Faramir from being hewn to pieces after being felled by a
poisoned Southron dart (arrow). Imrahil collected what could have been
Faramir's
dead body from the field, apparently recognized that he was alive,
removed
the arrow and stanched the wound. Then Imrahil took him across his
horse
to the White Tower to Denethor.
He supported Gandalf when he took command of Gondor,
after Denethor despaired. (For after Faramir's fall, Denethor looked
into the palantir, seeing only what Sauron wanted him to see, and
believed their hope was lost. He despaired and, unknown to Imrahil,
planned to suicide, taking his feverish son into the pyre with him.)
But Gandalf was pulled
away from command of Gondor's forces to handle this madness, leaving
Prince
Imrahil as their leader.
Thus, as commander, Prince Imrahil was in the van of
Gondor meeting the men of Rohan with Theoden's body, over whom he wept.
Attracted by Eowyn's beauty to look more closely, he recognized that
she still lived, proving to them that she breathed by using as a mirror
his
polished vambrace (forearm armor). Thus she went to the Halls of
Healing,
saving her life. Thus at least twice Imrahil shows knowledge of healing
From the meeting with with the wounded Rohirrim,
Imrahil and the others from Gondor rode into the battle aiding the
breaking
charge of the new king of Rohan, Eomer,
against the forces rallied by
Gothmog, lieutenant of Morgul. The prince was one of the very few able
to survive that battle unscathed, along with Eomer and Aragorn, who
came with his Corsair fleet reinforcements.
Understanding rulership, being a relative, and being
in the neighborhood, it was natural for Prince Imrahil to step in for
the Stewardship of Gondor when Aragorn had not yet claimed the throne,
Denethor had killed himself, Boromir had earlier been killed by orcs,
and Faramir was in the Houses of Healing. Imrahil's banner flew for a
time from the
White Tower.
Legolas came to Imrahil with a message from Aragorn,
who desired his and Eomer's presence at his tents along with Gandalf,
Elladan, and Elrohir for a council. Legolas immediately recognized that
the prince had the blood of the people of Nimrodel, and said so.
Imrahil agreed that it was in the lore of his land, but no elf had been
seen there for "years beyond count". To Gimli, Legolas afterwards
commented that Imrahil was
"a fair lord and a great captain of men".
Once Faramir was well enough to take up Stewardship
in the newly crowned Aragorn's name, Prince Imrahil was free to go, and
joined Aragorn as one of the Captains of the West before the Gate of
Morannon.
There they were in the deadly position of
distracting Sauron, causing him to send out his forces early and away
from Frodo and the Ring. Pippin and Beregond stood on the same hill as
the Prince and the other men of Gondor. The Captains of the West were
joined by the Eagles
racing towards the Nazgul, as massive forces swept against the
defenders'
hills. But just as the eagles came, the the Dark Lord abruptly had more
important business, as the Ring was revealed on Mt. Orodruin. So the
Dark
Lord's will suddenly loosed from his servants, to their confusion, and
as
the Ring melted, his works broke apart and great tumult of destruction
ended
the battle.
Prince Imrahil's daughter, Lothiriel, married
Eomer, King of Rohan.
References: Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion, Unfinished
Tales
Image:
Imrahil tends to his nephew, Faramir. Artist Anke-Katrin Eiszmann.
Rolozo Tolkien
top
