Lords of Andúnië

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In the fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien, the Lords of Andúnië were the rulers of a noble house of Númenor.

The Lords of Andúnië — named for their ancestral home of Andúnië — were descended from Silmariën, daughter and oldest child of Tar-Elendil the fourth King of Númenor. The laws of Númenor at that time would not allow her to rule as queen, so she wedded Elatan of Andúnië and took up residence there. Their son Valandil would be named the first Lord of Andúnië.

Throughout the Second Age, the Lords of Andúnië became leaders of the Elendili, or Elf-friends, for remaining friends with the Elves and faithful to the Valar. Their continued importance is reflected by the Lords' ownership of two of Númenor's most precious heirlooms—Narsil and Ring of Barahir. This was despite opposition and eventually persecution from the King's Men.

At the end of the Second Age, Númenor's estrangement from the Elves and the Valar under the evil guidance of Sauron corrupted Númenórean society. Seeking pardon of the Valar for the wickedness of the Númenóreans, Amandil the Faithful, the last Lord of Andúnië, sailed into the west but was never heard of again.

His son Elendil, the heir to the Andúnië Line, did not join Ar-Pharazôn's grand armada to attack Valinor, and instead fled with his sons Isildur and Anárion and many of the Faithful to Middle-earth where they founded the lines of the Kings of Gondor and Arnor. Upon the destruction of Númenor and death of Ar-Pharazôn in 3319, Elendil became the senior descendant of Elros. Elendil however did not use the style of King of Númenor, as it was lost; he styled himself the High King of Dúnedain instead.

Elendil brought with him the Sceptre of Andúnië, the instrument of his lordship, which became a hereditary emblem of royal authority in Arnor, along with the Ring of Barahir and the Elendilmir. It later became known as the Sceptre of Annúminas and by the Third Age thought to be the oldest artifact made by Men in Middle-earth.