Who Are The Faithful in The Rings of Power?
Join us on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!
One of the things that we’ve seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the fact that the people of Númenor are no longer friends with the Elves and are not as easy to trust the will of the Valar as before. However, there are those who were able to stay true to the traditions and roots of Númenor, and these people come in the form of the Faithful. So, who are the Faithful in The Rings of Power?
The Faithful are the minority of Númenoreans that stayed friends with the Elves and were still loyal in terms of their belief to the Valar. The Faithful were also the ones who led the surviving Númenoreans to Middle-earth to establish the kingdoms Gondor and Arnor after the Fall of Númenor.
It is the existence of the Faithful that allowed the rest of Númenor to live through the people that went on to establish the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor on Middle-earth. Of course, these kingdoms also became the very same kingdoms of Men that continued to resist Sauron and his forces for thousands of years. Now, let’s look at what we know about the Faithful in The Rings of Power.
Who Are The Faithful In The Rings Of Power?
Ever since we saw Númenor for the very first time on screen, we were captivated by the beauty of this island kingdom and how far the Númenoreans were able to take their civilization in comparison to the Men of Middle-earth, who didn’t have the same kind of organized civilization as the Númenoreans. However, what we also learned when we first saw Númenor was the fact that the Númenoreans weren’t exactly fond of Galadriel’s kin.
This was surprising to those who know the history of JRR Tolkien’s writings because the Númenoreans were the very same men that fought alongside the Elves against Morgoth during the First Age. After Morgoth’s defeat, these Men were given an island nation by the Valar as a reward, and that was when Númenor was established. In fact, Elrond’s brother Elros was the first king of Númenor after he chose to become a Man instead of an Elf.
As such, the fact that they no longer recognized the Elves as friends were quite surprising to see in The Rings of Power. Galadriel herself didn’t understand why the Númenoreans no longer respected the Elves, but she was able to discover that one of the reasons why this was so was due to the fact that the Númenoreans believed that the doom that would happen to the island was going to be due in large part to the Elves. On top of that, there were several people among the Númenoreans that hated the Elves and were jealous of them because of their natural stamina and immortality.
In that regard, it was no wonder why Ar-Pharazôn, the chancellor of Númenor, was one of the figures that led to King Tar-Palantír getting removed from his station as the ruler of the country. Queen Regent Míriel sat on the throne instead of her father but was careful enough to make sure that she would not force the people to rebel against her as well. On top of that, Míriel was also aware of the doom that was going to come to Númenor, and that was the very reason why she was careful in her dealings with Galadriel when the Elf found herself on the island.
However, while a good majority of the Númenoreans no longer see the Elves as friends, there were those who stayed true to the old traditions of Númenor and were still quite friendly towards the Elves to the point that they knew how to speak Qenya, the Elven language. These are the Faithful.
The Faithful are a minority people among the Númenoreans, as these were the ones who were still quite loyal to Númenor’s long-standing friendship and alliance with the Elves. On top of that, the Faithful are also quite faithful to the Valar, especially during the time when Ar-Pharazôn became the leader of the Númenoreans.
It is quite possible that the Faithful are somewhere around the corner in The Rings of Power but are yet to be fully revealed. And we can already see remnants of the Faithful in the form of Elendil’s own family.
Out of all of Elendil’s children, it is Anárion who is the most faithful to the Elves, as he went to the western shores of Númenor, where most of the Faithful quite possibly stay. Isildur is also showing signs of his faith in the Elves and the Valar.
Of course, Elendil seems to be conflicted with his own faith. It is possible that he also believes in the Elves and the Valar but is troubled by the fact that he has a high station in Númenor. And it is also possible that his late wife was a member of the Faithful but ended up dying due to her faith and belief in the Elves.
Meanwhile, it does seem like Eärien isn’t as easy to trust the Elves as the rest of her family. From what we’ve seen from her, it looks like she is more loyal to Ar-Pharazôn and his vision for Númenor. That could be one of the reasons why Eärien was never mentioned in the history of Middle-earth, as we explain the importance of the Faithful to the events surrounding Middle-earth.
What Is The Importance Of The Faithful In The Rings Of Power?
In JRR Tolkien’s writings, Ar-Pharazôn became the new ruler of Númenor and was able to lead the Númenoreans to a golden age of prosperity and power. They were strong enough to defeat Sauron’s army and even capture the dark lord. However, Sauron was wise, deceitful, and cunning enough to fool Ar-Pharazôn into believing that Melkor was the one true Ainur to worship. And he made Ar-Pharazôn believe that attacking Valinor was going to help the Númenoreans gain immortality.
It was during this time that the Faithful became active in trying to save what was left of Númenor. Isildur, for instance, stole a seed of the White Tree of Númenor and took it to Middle-earth, where it became the White Tree of Gondor and the very symbol of the entire kingdom. Elendil and Isildur also went on to save what was left of the Númenoreans and took them to Middle-earth, as the Valar sank the entire island back into the seas and killed Ar-Pharazôn and his armada on the shores of Valinor.
As such, the importance of the Faithful could be seen in the fact that they were the ones who were responsible for making sure that the Númenoreans got to live despite the different things that Ar-Pharazôn had done to anger the Valar. On top of that, because the Faithful were the ones that established the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor, they not only preserved Númenorean culture and civilization but also continued the resistance against Sauron’s forces, as Gondor and Arnor were actively fighting the dark lord for thousands of years and were the ones who fought him during the War of the Ring at the end of the Third Age.
Liked this article? Join us on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!