Faithful

The Faithful referred to the minority faction of Númenóreans who remained friendly with the Elves and respectful and obedient to the Valar. Their most noted leader was Elendil, the Lord of Andúnië, who later founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-earth.
==History==
The Faithful emerged as a result of the division that occurred in Númenórean society by the middle of the Second Age during the reign of Tar-Ancalimon. The Númenóreans had become split between the Elendili and the King's Men, a faction centered around the King that rejected friendship with the Elves and allegiance to the Valar. With Númenor reaching the apex of its might, the King's Men eventually espoused open defiance of the Valar. This split would eventually precipitate the Fall of Númenor.
The Elendili, however, not only preserved their ancient friendship with the Elves, they also regarded the burgeoning arrogance of the King's Men as blasphemy, but the King's Men became more powerful, and by the end of the Second Age had begun to persecute the Elendili as rebels and dissidents.
As use of Elven-tongues and respect for the Valar began to wane, the Faithful became the only ones to preserve these traditions unto themselves. In SA 2350 to escape persecution, the Faithful founded the haven of Pelargir on the shores of Middle-earth as opposed to Umbar which became a haven of the King's Men. As the King's Men's influence grew and the people and their rulers became more and more greedy of wealth and power, the situation of the Faithful worsened dramatically with the accession of Ar-Gimilzôr in SA 3102. Being one of the King's Men, he openly persecuted the Faithful, forbidding the teaching and speaking of the Elven tongues nor was meeting with Elves permitted. The Faithful were then forced to move from the west havens (away from possible contact with the Elves) to Rómenna where they were carefully watched. In these evil days, many of the Faithful emigrated to the friendly havens in Middle-earth.
Some relief came to them in SA 3177, when Elf-friend Tar-Palantir took the sceptre and began to turn Númenor back to the ways of the Faithful. He repented the ways of his forefathers, stopped the persecution of the Faithful, and tried to amend the corruption of Númenor, but his policies were rejected by the majority. On his death, Tar-Palantir's nephew Ar-Pharazôn, son of Gimilkhâd forcibly usurped the throne and the Elendili were more vigorously oppressed. He defeated Sauron, the Dark Lord and took him prisoner to Númenor. It was not long before the King listened to his evil words and took him deep into his counsels, Sauron playing off his fear of death. The Dark Lord established an evil cult on the island, introducing dark practices such as human sacrifice to corrupt and eventually destroy Númenórean society.
It was during these dark times that the Faithful endured their most grievous woe for the King. The Faithful were hunted, killed and even sacrificed in the Temple for Morgoth to the cult of Melkor. When the King prepared the Great Armament, Amandil, the leader of the Faithful attempted to sail to Aman to beg for forgiveness and mercy from the Valar. Before doing so, he entrusted his son, Elendil with the task of preparing a fleet of ships to depart to Middle-earth to escape the coming darkness. As Ar-Pharazôn led his grand armada to Aman to challenge the Ban of the Valar, Elendil and the remaining, Elf-friends were warned by the divine powers to leave Númenor forever. They were thus spared the downfall of Númenor when, as punishment for the attempt to defy the Ban, Eru Ilúvatar sank the island kingdom into the sea.The Silmarillion, Akallabêth (The Downfall of Númenor)Unfinished Tales
When Númenor was destroyed in SA 3319, the fleet reached the shores of Middle-earth and were welcomed by the Elves and Faithful Númenórean colonists, founding the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor and a lineage leading down to King Elessar.The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Second Age, "Númenor"
==Etymology==
The Faithful were also called Elendili, which means "Elf-friends" in Quenya, from eledh, meaning 'Elf', and the suffix (n)dil, meaning 'devoted to'. Another name, perhaps Adûnaic, of uncertain meaning was Avaltiri, containing the root "Avalô", the Adûnaic name for the Valar.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. IX: Sauron Defeated, Part Three: "The Drowning of Anadûnê"
== In adaptations ==
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set in Númenor, partly during the time of Ar-Pharazôn. While walking around the city, Elendil comes across Valandil and the Sea-Guard members who are returning their uniforms under the supervision of Eärien and Kemen. All guards loyal to the Queen Regent must resign. Eärien informs her father that Belzagar would like to have him convicted of treason and offers her old friend Valandil to spare him this shame, he refuses. Elendil joins the guards and surrenders his captain's sword. He leaves under the tributes of his former men.
The faithful gather in the oldest shrine of the city, to commemorate their fallen comrades in Middle-earth. The High Priest presides over the ceremony, Kemen then arrives with guards. The shrine had to be evacuated to be destroyed for the passage of a new aqueduct. An old believer who is there does not want to leave without an idol that protects the deceased. Kemen takes the statuette, pretending to give it to him, but breaks it on the ground. Elendil then punches him in the face. He is seized by guards and just as Kemen is about to return his blow, Valandil prevents him. The two men fight. Valandil eventually gains the upper hand and threatens a frightened Kemen with his own sword. Elendil convinces Valandil to stop. The latter drops the sword and goes towards his captain. Kemen behind him takes his weapon and pierces Valandil's chest with it. The young man died in the arms of his captain. Kemen orders Elendil to be arrested as the instigator of the uprising.
She evokes the dissension among the island's population. After Ar-Pharazôn's accession to the throne, the persecution accelerated, led by Kemen, the king's son. Míriel submits to the Trial by Abyss for rebellion against the throne in Elendil's place. Immersed in the sea, she is not devoured by the giant sea-worm, which legitimizes her claim to the title of Queen of Númenor, and strengthens the camp of the Faithful.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Die Getroue
Albanian 	Ortodoksët
Amharic 	ታማኝዎቹ
Arabic 	المؤمنين
Armenian 	հավատարիմ
Basque 	Fededunak
Belarusian Cyrillic	верны
Bengali 	বিশ্বস্ত
Bosnian 	Vjernik
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	правоверните
Catalan 	La Fidel
Cebuano 	Ang Matinud-anon
Chinese 	忠信
Cornish 	Len
Corsican 	u Più Fidu
Croatian 	Vjerni
Czech 	Věrní
Danish 	Den Trofaste
Dutch 	De Gelovigen
Esperanto 	La Fidela
Estonian 	Truu
Filipino 	Ang Tapat
Finnish 	Uskollinen
French 	La Fidèles
Friulian 	Fedêl
Galician 	Os Fieis
Georgian 	ერთგული
German 	Die Getreue
Greek 	η Πιστή
Gujarati 	વિશ્વાસુ
Haitian Creole 	Fidèl La
Hawaiian 	Ka Hoopono
Hebrew 	ה נאמנים
Hindi 	वफादार
Hungarian 	Hívők
Icelandic 	Hinir Trúuðu
Indonesian 	Persis dgn kenyataan
Irish Gaelic 	Na Dílse
Italian 	I Fedeli
Japanese 	忠実
Javanese 	Setya
Kannada 	ನಿಷ್ಠಾವಂತ
Kazakh 	Адал (Cyrillic) Adal (Latin)
Korean 	충실한
Kurdish 	Dîlsoz (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	ишенимдүү
Laotian 	ໃນສາດສະຫນາ
Latin 	Fideles
Latvian 	Uzticīgs
Lithuanian 	Ištikimasis
Macedonian Cyrillic	верен
Malagasy 	Mahatoky
Malaysian 	Mukminin
Malayalam 	വിശ്വസ്തരായ
Maltese 	Il Fidili
Manx 	Jeelys
Maori 	Te Tūturu
Marathi 	विश्वासू
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Итгэмжит
Nepalese 	विश्वासी
Norwegian 	Den Trofaste
Occitan 	Fidèl
Pashto 	د اميرالمؤمنين
Persian 	وفادار
Polish 	Wierni
Portuguese 	Os Fiéis
Punjabi 	ਵਫ਼ਾਦਾਰ
Querétaro Otomi 	Ya Fieles
Romanian 	Credincioşii
Russian 	Верные
Sardinian 	Fidelidade
Scottish Gaelic 	Tha Dìleas
Serbian 	Тхе Фаитхфул (Cyrillic) Verne (Latin)
Sicilian 	Fedeli
Sinhalese 	විශ්වාසවන්ත
Slovak 	Verní
Slovenian 	Verniki
Somali 	Kuwa Aaminka ah
Spanish 	Los Fieles
Swedish 	Den Trogna
Tajik Cyrillic 	Дар мӯътамад
Tamil 	நம்பிக்கையின்
Telugu 	ఫెయిత్ఫుల్
Thai 	เอกภักดิ์
Tongan 	E kau Faivelenga
Turkish 	Vefakâr Insanlar
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Вірність
Urdu 	وفادار
Uzbek 	Садоқатли (Cyrillic) Sadoqatli (Latin)
Venetian 	Fedele
Vietnamese 	Tín đồ
Welsh 	Mae'r Ffyddlon
Yiddish 	דער געטרייער
Yoruba 	Awọn Olódodo
== References ==
Category:Elf friends
Category:Númenor
de:Getreue
es:Fieles
fr:Fidèles
it:Fedeli
pl:Wierni
pt-br:Fiéis
ru:Верные