A Man of Gondor, born into its Royal House in the time his great-grandfather Eärendil ruled as King. He lived through the reigns of his grandfather Anardil and his father Ostoher before becoming King of Gondor himself.
Two years before his succession, Gondor was suddenly beset by Wild Men out of the East, and Tarostar went to war in place of his father, who was in the last days of his old age. Tarostar's war with the Easterlings was a hard one, lasting for ten years, and seeing the death of Ostoher and Tarostar's own succession to Gondor's throne. At last, the Easterlings were driven back, and Tarostar took a new name, Rómendacil, 'East-victor', under which to rule the South-kingdom.
Decades later, the Easterlings renewed their attacks on Gondor. Once again, Tarostar rode out to meet them, but the name of 'East-victor' did him no good - he was slain in the assault and his reign came to an end. It fell to his son Turambar to take up the challenge; he avenged his father by driving back the Easterlings once again and claiming much land east of Anduin for Gondor.
The events of Tarostar's life were strangely mirrored some seven centuries after his time. Another great Gondorian, Minalcar, took charge of Gondor's armies in place of its King, and like Tarostar he led them to victory in the east. Following Tarostar's example, he too took the name Rómendacil, and would one day rule as Rómendacil II.
Notes
1 |
The date of Tarostar's birth appears only in The History of Middle-earth volume XII, The Peoples of Middle-earth. It cannot therefore be considered completely reliable. |
2 |
The tar- element of Tarostar's name is definitely a reference to his royal status, but ostar is obscure. It seems to relate to the root-word os-, 'surround', so it might mean 'protector' or it might be a plural, 'cities, fortresses' (literally, places surrounded by walls). Tarostar, then, might be 'royal protector', or it might be something like 'lord of the cities' (or, of course, some third possibility we haven't considered here). |
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- Updated 2 March 2002
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