Eärnur, son of Eärnil II, was the last King of Gondor of the line of Anárion. As a captain he led the fleet his father sent north to help Arnor against the Witch-king of Angmar, and in 1975 of the Third Age he joined in the victory at Fornost that ended the realm of Angmar.1,2,3
When the Witch-king rode out of the rout, Eärnur rode after him, but his horse could not bear the terror of the Nazgûl and bolted, and the Witch-king laughed. Glorfindel of Rivendell held him back from the pursuit and spoke the prophecy that would be remembered on the Pelennor Fields.2
Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man will he fall.
Eärnur never forgot the shame. He became king in 2043, and the Witch-king, now lord of Minas Morgul, sent him a challenge to single combat, mocking him with the flight from Fornost. The Steward Mardil restrained him then.2
In 2050 the challenge came again, and this time Eärnur rode to the gates of Minas Morgul with a small escort of knights. None of them was ever seen again. He had taken no wife and left no heir, and because no one could be sure he was dead, Mardil and the Stewards after him ruled Gondor in the king's name, until the King should return.2,3
Sources
Citations name the chapter rather than the page, so they work in any edition. The colour of each note shows what kind of source it is.
- Appendices Tolkien's own appendices to The Lord of the Rings.
- Appendices The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, I (iii), “Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur”
- Appendices The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, I (iv), “Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion”
- Appendices The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, “The Third Age”