Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2.
In the first season ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, we were introduced to a faction of Númenóreans known simply as “the Faithful.” This group often hides in the shadows as the rest of Númenor has cut itself off from the rest of Arda in its prideful ambition and vain conceit. Nevertheless, they remain, with Elendil (Lloyd Owen) being the primary face of the movement thus far on the Prime Video series. But withSeason 2 ofThe Rings in Powernow in full swing, the question on many of our minds is,who are the Faithful exactly?What do they believe? Who do they serve? Given their presence throughout the literary works ofJ.R.R. Tolkien, we’ve got some answers for you.
What Do the Faithful Actually Believe?
Simply,the Faithful are a group of Númenóreans sometimes called the Elendili, meaning “Elf-friends” in the Elvish language Quenya. They are a relatively small faction of Men who have devoted themselves entirely to the traditions of their forefathers, in particulartheir devotion to the Valar. While many Númenóreans (often identified as belonging to the majority faction, the King’s Men) either rebelled against or completely forgot about the Valar, the Faithful refuse to disobey or dishonor these spiritual beings. When the King’s Men aimed tosail West to Valinor in an effort to defeat death and live forever, as the Elves do, the Faithful refrained from such foolishness, and chose instead to embrace the “Gift of Men” (as the Elves called death), believing it to be a natural part of life.
More to the point,the Faithful were also worshipers of the God of Tolkien’s high-fantasy world named Eru Ilúvatar. According to Tolkien’sUnfinished Tales, this group climbed up the mountain Meneltarma, located in the center of Númenor, to worship Eru at any time. In fact, before Ar-Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) took charge of the kingdom, the King of Númenor led the people up the mountain three times a year in order to offer praise to the divine Creator. But Pharazôn did more than just cease from actively worshiping Ilúvatar, he actually criminalized ascending the mountain for religious purposes with the death penalty enacted for disobedience. Thus, many of the Faithful had to remain devoted in secret.
Additionally,The Rings of Powermakes a point to note thatElendil’s name also means “Elf-friend,“just like the group he is actively a part of. Though their truest devotion lies with the Valar and their ultimate Creator,the Faithful are also faithful friends of the Elves, also deemed Children of Ilúvatar by Tolkien. This friendship ran in contrast with the King’s Men party, who thought that the Elves were the enemy due to their immortality. Eventually, Númenor likewise banned the use of the Eldarin language and kept a close eye on the Elendili, as they were no longer deemed to be trusted.
Númenor Seeks a New Destiny in ‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Sneak Peek
Long Live the King! Ar-Pharazôn!
In Tolkien’s Legendarium, Sauron Turned Númenor Against the Faithful
Although the Faithful were in opposition with the King’s Men, Númenor set its sights on Sauron (played byCharlie VickersonRings of Power) near the end of the Second Age, hoping to defeat the Dark Lord. Unfortunately, once they captured the fallen Maia, the fair-formed enemy deceived Ar-Pharazôn into believing that Eru Ilúvatar was nothing more than an invention of the Valar in their efforts to keep Men subserviant to them. Thus, as explained inThe Silmarillionpassage “Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor,” he turned the heart of Pharazôn and his followers to Melkor (akathe original Dark Lord, Morgoth) instead, ushering in a dark wave of human sacrifice and death with the false promise of eternal life. Unfortunately,the Faithful were often the ones chosen as these sacrifices, with many slaughtered during Númenor’s last days.
ThoughRings of Powerwill likely adapt this portion of the events differently, in Tolkien’s world, these events lasted decades.Pharazôn continued to grow in power, while the Faithful lessened greatly in numbers, but he didn’t get any younger. Preying on the king’s fear of death, Sauron encourages him to invade Aman, the continent on which Valinor resides, and claim eternal life for himself by force. In a true Tower of Babel-type event, that’s exactly what the Númenóreans attempted to do, and they failed miserably. Sauron had deceived the king, and as punishment for the wickedness of him and his people, Eru Ilúvatar destroyed them as well as all of Númenor in a great wave that would’ve rivaledthe biblical Great Flood of Noah’s day.
Elendil’s Faithfulness to the Valar Was Eventually Rewarded
Thankfully, the Faithful remained as such despite the horrific happenings in Númenor. Prior to Pharazôn’s attempt to invade the Undying Lands, Elendil’s father, Amandil, sailed to Aman to beg the Valar’s forgiveness and ask for deliverance from Sauron. But before Amandil left, he charged Elendil to set up a small fleet of ships and prepare for the worst. When the waves did eventually come,Elendil and his sons, as well as other faithful Númenóreans, made it out alive and sailed to Middle-earth. Because of his own commitment to Ilúvatar, and his resolve to remain faithful in the face of the Melkor worship occurring around him, Elendil was honored by the Valar.
Upon arriving at Middle-earth, Elendil and his sons established the Kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor, with Elendil crowned the first High King of what would come to be known as the Realms in Exile. With his sons, Isildur (played byMaxim BaldryonRings of Power) and Anárion,Elendil fought for his new kingdoms alongside the Elves in the War of the Last Alliance, the final battle against Sauron that effectively closed the Second Age. Though Elendil fell in battle,Isildur rose up and defeated the Dark Lord, claiming the One Ring as his own until his death. Centuries later, near the end of the Third Age,Elendil and Isildur’s descendant Aragornwould return to the throne of Arnor and Gondor, aid in the final defeat of Sauron (and the destruction of his One Ring), and marry an Elf, Arwen, thus honoring his Faithful ancestors.
‘The Rings of Power’ Sets up the Elendili as Important Players in the Second Age
AsThe Rings of Powercontinues, we see that the Faithful, such as Elendil and Tar-Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), remain largely in secret, asthe rest of Númenor has forgotten their former debt to the Valar,who once raised the island kingdom from the sea for their ancestors. Their decision to go to Middle-earth and aid Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) in the battle against the forces of Mordor was met with heavy criticism after the disastrous results, including the supposed death of Isildur and Míriel’s blindness. This, along with the appearance of an eagle as seen in “The Eagle and the Sceptre,” has primed Númenor for Pharazôn’s faulty leadership. Knowing what is ahead, and how things will get harder for the Faithful in the future, one can only hope that those who claim to be Elf-friends will continue to be so as the series continues.
Of course, knowing the fate of characters such as Elendil and Isildur doesn’t make the journey any less exciting, nor does it discount their struggles to remain faithful through difficult times. “Elendil is a combination of Noah and Job from the Old Testament,” actor Lloyd Owen toldCinema Expresswhen meditating on Elendil’s arc in the second season. “Job tries to keep his faith after so many losses and that is what we begin to see with Elendil in Season 2. Obviously, Noah’s trait of building an arc to save himself and his people is there in Elendil as well but Job is the greater comparison.” It’s no secret that Tolkien’s mythology waslargely inspired by his Catholic faith.The author has been quoted as saying that, “The Lord of the Ringsis of course fundamentally a religious and Catholic work,” a statement easy to understand when examining the story of the Faithful.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweris available for streaming on Prime Video.
