Lord of the Western Lands

Elendil and his sons landed in Middle-earth in II 3319, having escaped the Downfall of Númenor. There they found many fellow members of the Faithful faction of the Númenóreans, and as rightful Lord of Andúnië and a descendant of the House of Elros, Elendil founded two Realms in Exiles in the lands eastward of the Great Sea. Together these new realms ruled over most of the Western Lands of Middle-earth.

Originally, these wide lands were under the power of a single High King, the Lord of the Western Lands. That High King had his seat in the North-kingdom of Arnor (whose name indeed means 'land of the King'), while the South-kingdom of Gondor was ruled by lesser Kings in the High King's name. At the time of the founding of these realms, the High King in the North was Elendil himself, while the South-kingdom of Gondor was ruled jointly by Elendil's sons, Isildur and Anárion.

This situation held for more than a century, until the time of the War of the Last Alliance. High King Elendil was lost in that War, as was King Anárion of Gondor. Thus Isildur inherited the Lordship of the Western Lands, and a new ruler was appointed to watch over the South-kingdom: Anárion's son Meneldil.

This arrangement did not last for long. Having installed Meneldil as King of Gondor, Isildur set out on the long road to the northern capital of Annúminas, but he never reached the seat of the High Kings. Ambushed by Orcs, he and his escort were slain on the road. His three elder sons were also lost in this disaster, leaving his only heir as the thirteen-year-old Valandil, who had remained in the North during the war. With effectively no High King in Arnor, and therefore no overall Lord of the Western Lands, Meneldil began to rule Gondor as an independent realm, and the Two Kingdoms of the Dúnedain became divided.

Over the course of the Third Age, the North-kingdom would become further divided and eventually fall, while in Gondor the long line of Kings descending from Meneldil also reached an end, though their realm survived. Nonetheless the line of descent from Isildur was preserved among the remnant of the Northern Dúnedain, and after the War of the Ring, Isildur's Heir stood forward to reclaim his inheritance. This was Aragorn, who chose the royal name Elessar as he took up Isildur's long-lost legacy to establish himself and his heirs as High Kings and Lords of the Western Lands.

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For a list and genealogy of all the Lords of the Western Lands, see the entry for High King.