Last-king

Arvedui was the last King to rule in Arthedain before it was destroyed by the Witch-king. For this reason, he is often known as 'Arvedui Last-king', but that title was not merely a later recognition of his role in history, it was actually the meaning of his name: ar vedui means 'last king'. It was given to him at his birth by Malbeth the Seer, who foretold two possible futures: either the old Kingdoms of the Dúnedain would be reunited under one King, or Arthedain would be destroyed. In either of these futures, Arvedui would be the last King of Arthedain.

As the direct Heir of Isildur, Arvedui had a claim to the thrones of both Arnor and Gondor. In III 1944, King Ondoher of Gondor was lost in battle, along with both his sons, leaving the South-kingdom without an immediate heir to the throne. Arvedui pressed his claim, and if the Gondorians had accepted him, the Kingdoms of the Dúnedain would have been reunited more than a thousand years before the War of the Ring. Instead they rejected his claim, and history took a different path. Thirty years later, Arvedui's northern kingdom was swept away by Angmar, and soon afterwards Arvedui himself perished in the far north. Thus the second of Malbeth's possible futures came into existence, and the line of Arthedain's Kings came to an end.