It was Gondor's eighth King, Rómendacil I, who saw the need for a senior official to act in the King's name, and so appointed the first Steward of the High King. We have few details of this original appointment, but Rómendacil's reign lasted until III 541, and so the first Steward must have taken office before that year.1 From this time forward, the Kings of Gondor would continue to appoint a Steward to aid in his duties, typically chosen from among his older and more experienced counsellors.
This tradition of appointing a Steward continued for more than a thousand years, until the time of Minardil the twenty-fifth King. His Steward was Húrin of Emyn Arnen, of a noble Númenórean line. In this time Gondor was ravaged by war and plague, losing two of its Kings in rapid succession. Húrin's labours for the realm in this time of trouble seem to have gained him great respect, because after his time the Stewards were appointed exclusively from his house.
The descendants of Húrin continued to serve the Kings, from the reign of Minardil's grandson Tarondor to the time of Ondoher three centuries later. Ondoher and both his heirs were slain in battle, leaving the realm without a King, and at this time Steward Pelendur rose to prominence. It was he who managed the succession crisis, eventually seeing Eärnil II raised to the Kingship in III 1945.
The restored line of Kings did not last long, coming to an end with the loss of Eärnil's son Eärnur in III 2050. Eärnur's Steward at this time was Mardil, called the Good Steward, and with the loss of his King, he took on the direct rule of Gondor himself. From Mardil's time until the end of the Third Age, the South-kingdom had no King, but a Ruling Steward in his place. Though the Stewards now held sole power over the realm, they still acknowledged that they were not Kings. Even at the time of Mardil's distant descendant Denethor at the end of the Third Age, the Stewards still styled themselves as 'Steward of the High King'.
By Denethor's time, the Stewards had ruled in Gondor for nearly a thousand years. Despite their readiness to title themselves 'Steward of the High King', in reality they held little expectation that a King of Gondor could return to claim his throne. In this they were mistaken, and during the War of the Ring a true Heir of Isildur, and thus rightful High King, did indeed emerge. This was Aragorn, a Ranger of the North-kingdom, who would become King Aragorn Elessar. After his time the line of Ruling Stewards came to an end, but the office of Steward of the High King continued, with Faramir son of Denethor serving as Steward to the new King Elessar.
For a genealogical chart of the Stewards of the High King, see the entry for Steward of Gondor.
Notes
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It is notable that, after several centuries of peace following the War of the Last Alliance, Rómendacil was the first King of Gondor to campaign against his enemies in the field, going to battle beyond the borders of his realm. Though we're given no details of the first Stewards' appointment, it is not hard to see the need for a senior official to take charge of the heartland of Gondor while the King himself was campaigning in the East. Indeed it is noted that the Steward was not permitted to go to war, or even to leave Gondor, which implies that this was indeed his original role.
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- Updated 26 June 2025
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