Captains of the Last Alliance: Elendil

In the year 3430 of the Second Age, the land of Gondor came under attack by the armies of Sauron of Mordor. In response, a coalition was formed between Elendil of the Dúnedain Kingdoms in Exile and Gil-galad of Lindon: the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Their armies met at the watch-tower of Amon Sûl, then marched to Imladris where they spent three years in preparation for the coming war. When all was made ready, the combined forces crossed the Misty Mountains and marched south through the Vales of Anduin, and their numbers were bolstered by elves from Lothlórien and the Woodland Realm. They were also joined by the Longbeards of Khazad-dûm, under the command of Durin IV. After defeating Sauron’s armies in battle upon the plain of Dagorlad, the armies of the Last Alliance breached the Black Gate and passed into Mordor, where they laid siege to Barad-dûr, the very stronghold of Sauron. For seven years the Free Peoples beleaguered the Dark Tower, but at last Sauron himself came forth and did battle. Though he was defeated and thrown down, that was a grim day, for many had died to win it, and the One Ring was not destroyed.

Elendil the Tall was the High King of the Dúnedain in Exile. He and his sons, Isildur and Anárion, had survived the terrible Downfall of Númenor and led the Elendili, the Faithful, to Middle-earth in nine mighty ships. With them they bore the palantíri and a seedling of the White Tree of Númenor. While crossing the Sea, a storm arose and the ships were scattered. Isildur and Anárion landed near the Mouths of Anduin, while Elendil landed far to the north, near Lindon. Thus, there were two Dúnedain kingdoms in exile, Arnor and Gondor; but Elendil, from his seat at Annúminas, was the High King of both realms. Elendil was said to be very fair to look upon and was extremely tall: two and-a-half rangar, or 2.41m (7’11”). A wise king and great warrior, Elendil is seen here arrayed for battle in panoply of silver and black, for black to the Men of Númenor was a colour of honour, representing the fair night before the Dark Lord came and filled it with fear. Elendil wears a long coat of mail reinforced with a strong steel breastplate intricately embellished pauldrons. His war-crown is a great helm featuring a motif of the wings of sea-birds in both black and silver. The wing motif in black and white is continued in his rich cloak. He cuts a truly majestic figure on the battlefield, particularly when he raises aloft his sword Narsil, which “shone with the light of the Sun and of the Moon”. Alas, though Elendil alongside Gil-galad did personal battle with Sauron, and threw him down in defeat, both kings were slain. As Elendil fell, Narsil broke beneath him. Though the day was won, it was at heavy cost. Isildur, the king’s heir, used the hilt-shard of Narsil to cut the One Ring from the hand of the fallen Sauron, but rather than destroy it, he chose to keep it as weregild for the deaths of his father and brother. He could not or would not see the events this decision would set in motion, culminating three thousand years later in the final struggle of the Free Peoples against Sauron.

This is the third and final outfit in a collection presenting portraits of the Captains of the Last Alliance: Gil-galad for the Elves and Elendil for the Men, as well as Durin IV for the Dwarves who assisted them. This outfit could be seen as an update or upgrade of one of the outfits I featured in the earlier days of this blog: Captain of Gondor. I’ve been looking forward to using the leggings featued in this outfit for a long time. I think they create a really nice-looking representation of a long coat of mail when paired with a plain mail chest piece or breastplate. In fact, the leggings have a slight “bloodstained” effect that matches very nicely with the slightly blood-tinted colour on portions of the breastplate. I hope that overall, this outfit presents a suitably regal interpretation of a truly heroic and epic character from Tolkien’s stories!

• Head: Tarchar (bartered — Ost Galadh Malledhrim rewards vendor/Malledhrim reputation), black
• Shoulders: Ceremonial Doom-hunter’s Shoulders (bartered — skirmish camps cosmetics quartermaster/Rift cosmetic clothing – medium), black
• Back: Swan-cloak (purchased — LOTRO Store), black
• Chest: Chainmail Breastplate (purchased — Esteldín heavy armour vendor; or looted — world drop/general), black
• Hands: Barnavon Hunter’s Cured Gauntlets (quest reward — Dunland [71] A World of Trouble), black
• Legs: Lesser Banner of the West Leggings (bartered — Harndirion novices quartermaster/tier 1 difficulty Captain armour), black
• Feet: Ceremonial Boots of the Gloom-bane (bartered — skirmish camp cosmetics quartermaster/Rift cosmetic clothing – heavy), default
• Weapon: Claymore (looted — world drop/level 13)

Tips: There are several world drop helms that have the same appearance as the one used in this outfit; often they are called Helm of Rallying and they seem to drop in level 55+ zones. The gloves in this outfit have the same appearance as a wide variety of medium armour quest rewards from Dunland.