High King of the Ñoldor

High King of the Ñoldor was the title of the head of the House of Finwë in Beleriand and Middle-earth, having overlordship over all the Ñoldorin realms. The title was mostly nominal; the Sons of Fëanor, in particular, while they acknowledged the Kingship, paid its bearer little heed, following their own agenda under the general leadership of Maedhros.
==History==
The forefather of the House of Finwë and the first King of the Ñoldor was Finwë, the first lord of the Tatyar who led his people in the Great Journey from Cuiviénen into the West to dwell in Valinor. He was slain by Morgoth at Formenos. His eldest son Fëanor claimed the kingship, but led a Rebellion of the Ñoldor back to Middle-earth to avenge his father's death and recover the Silmarils from Morgoth.The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Darkening of Valinor" 
Fëanor died before establishing a realm and the Kingship by right belonged to his eldest son Maedhros who was captured by Morgoth. After Fingon saved his life, in gratitude (and regretting that his father had abandoned the other Ñoldor in Araman) Maedhros passed his titles to Fingon's father, Fingolfin, being the eldest and wisest of all. Thus the Kingship passed from the House of Fëanor to the House of Fingolfin (fulfilling the Doom of Mandos that the Sons of Fëanor would become the Dispossessed) and the two Houses made peace.The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Return of the Noldor" 
===High Kingship in Beleriand===
Fingolfin became the first High King of the Ñoldor, ruling from the northwest of Beleriand with his sons, mostly during the Siege of Angband. When Morgoth broke the leaguer in the Dagor Bragollach, he rode in anger to the gates of Angband and died in single combat with Morgoth. He was succeeded by his eldest son Fingon who reigned during an endless war. With Maedhros, he prepared a final assault on Morgoth, which ended in disaster for the Ñoldor and Fingon's own death, after a short rule. 
Fingon's brother Turgon succeeded Fingon nominally, but his reign was titular at the least, as it was impossible for the "Hidden King" to rule from his Hidden City, the location of which was unknown by even his own kin. That was until Gondolin's location was discovered by Morgoth through the treachery of Maeglin.
Following Turgon's death in the Fall of Gondolin, there were no more extant Ñoldorin realms in Beleriand; the Kingship passed to the House of Finarfin, and the son of Orodreth, the young Ereinon Gil-galad was named High King once news of Turgon's death had spread.The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" Seeing the end of the War of the Jewels, Gil-galad held the Kingship through the Second Age, ruling longer than any of his forebears. 
===In the Westlands===
After the cataclysmic War of Wrath that ended the First Age, the surviving Ñoldor who did not depart for the Undying Lands constituted the realms of Lindon and later Eregion in northwestern Middle-earth. Gil-galad was acknowledged as "High King of the Elves of the West",The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B though as in the First Age this title brought little real authority beyond the king's own direct realm.The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age" He was the chief enemy of Sauron in the Dark Years, at the end of which he appointed Elrond as his vice-regent in Eriador.Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn" He formed the Last Alliance with Elendil, being the commander of almost all of the Elven forces who fought in that War.Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Appendix B: The Sindarin Princes of the Silvan Elves" and died dueling Sauron on the slopes of Mount Doom at the end of the Second Age. 
Gil-galad was the last High King; after his time the title was never used,The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Númenor" as he fathered no children and no obvious heirs of the House of Finwë remained in Middle-earth. Galadriel of the House of Finarfin perhaps had some rights,The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, entry "High King of the Noldor" but did not claim them. Elrond was a direct descendant of Turgon, but through his daughter Idril; he never made claim to the Kingship but ruled Rivendell with all the authority of a king.The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Council of Elrond (chapter)" The Ñoldorin population of Middle-earth was greatly diminished in the Third Age, which was partly why the kingship remained unclaimed.
==List of High Kings==
# 	Name 	Reign 	Lifespan 	Note
Kings of the Ñoldor in Aman 	Kings of the Ñoldor in Aman 	Kings of the Ñoldor in Aman 	Kings of the Ñoldor in Aman 	Kings of the Ñoldor in Aman
I 	Finwë 	YT 1105 — 1495 † 	c. YT 1086 — 1495 † 	Descendant of Enel of the Tatyar, who was killed by Morgoth
II 	Fëanor 	YT 1495 — 1497 † 	YT 1169 — 1497 † 	Eldest son of Finwë, who was killed by the Balrogs of Morgoth
III 	Finarfin 	From YT 1496 	From YT 1230 	Third son of Finwë, who resides in Valinor after the Changing
High Kings of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth	High Kings of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth	High Kings of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth	High Kings of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth	High Kings of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth
I 	Fingolfin 	YS 7 — 456 † 	YT 1190 — FA 456 † 	Second son of Finwë, who was killed by Morgoth soon after the Dagor Bragollach
II 	Fingon 	YS 456 — 472 † 	YT 1260 — FA 472 † 	Eldest son of Fingolfin, who was killed by Gothmog in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad
III 	Turgon 	YS 472 — 510 † 	YT 1300 — FA 510 † 	Second son of Fingolfin, who ruled in Gondolin and perished at its Fall
IV 	Gil-galad 	FA 510 — SA 3441 † 	YT 1481 — SA 3441 † 	Son of Orodreth of the House of Finarfin, who was killed by Sauron at the Siege of Barad-dûr
==Other versions of the legendarium==
In the published version of The Silmarillion, Gil-galad is said to be the son of Fingon.The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin" However, in some of Tolkien's later notes, published in The History of Middle-earth, Gil-galad is said to be the son of Orodreth and thus a junior member of the House of Finarfin,The Peoples of Middle-earth, "The Shibboleth of Fëanor", "The parentage of Gil-galad" and Turgon's closest living relative in the male line (excluding the dispossessed House of Fëanor).
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Hoë Koning van die Noldor
Albanian 	Mbreti i Lartë i Noldorit
Arabic 	الملك عالية من نولدور
Basque 	Noldorko errege nagusia
Belarusian Cyrillic	Высокі кароль Нолдорa
Bosnian 	Vrhovni Kralj Noldora
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Върховният Крал на Нолдор
Catalan 	Rei Suprem dels Ñoldor
Cebuano 	Hataas nga Hari sa Noldor
Chinese 	諾多族最高君王
Corsican 	Re di Rè di Noldor
Croatian 	Visokikralj Noldora
Czech 	Velekrálem Noldor
Danish 	Noldor Stor-konge
Dutch 	Hoge-Koning van de Noldor
Esperanto 	Supera Reĝo de Noldor
Estonian 	Noldor Kõrge kuningas
Filipino 	Mataas na hari ng mga Noldor
Finnish 	Noldorin korkea kuningas
French 	Haut Roi des Noldor
Frisian 	Hege Kening fan 'e Noldor (Western)
Galician 	Altos Rei dos Noldor
Georgian 	ნოლდორის მაღალი მეფე
German 	Hoher König der Noldor
Greek 	Ανώτατο βασιλιάς των Νόλντορ
Gujarati 	નોલ્ડરના ઉચ્ચ રાજા
Haitian Creole 	Anwo nan syèl la wa peyi Noldor
Hausa 	Babban Sarki na Noldor
Hebrew 	העליון קינג של הנולדור
Hmong 	Huab tais siab ntawm qhov Noldor
Hungarian 	Noldor nagy királya
Icelandic 	Hákonungur af Noldor
Indonesian 	Raja Tinggi Noldor
Irish Gaelic 	Ard Rí na hNoldor
Italian 	Re Supremo dei Noldor
Japanese 	ノルドールの高い王
Javanese 	Raja Agung saka Noldor
Kannada 	ನೊಲ್ಡರ್ನ ಉನ್ನತ ರಾಜ
Kazakh 	Нолдордың Жоғары Патшасы (Cyrillic) Noldordıñ Joğarı Patşası (Latin)
Korean 	놀도르의 높은 왕
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Нолдордын Жогорку падыша
Latvian 	Augsts Noldoras karalis
Lithuanian 	Aukštas Noldoro karalius
Luxembourgish 	Héijer Kinnik vun Noldor
Macedonian Cyrillic	Висок Крал на Нолдор
Malagasy 	Mpanjaka avo ao amin' ny Noldor
Malayalam 	നോൾഡോർ ഉന്നത രാജാവ്
Malaysian 	Raja Tinggi Noldor
Maltese 	Re Għoli tal-Noldor
Marathi 	नोल्डरचा सर्वोच्च राजा ?
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Нолдор-ийн Өндөр хаан
Nepalese 	णोल्दोर को उच्च राजा
Norwegian 	Høy konge av Noldoene
Persian 	پادشاه بزرگ نولدور
Polish 	Najwyższy Król Noldorów
Portuguese 	Alto Rei dos Noldor
Punjabi 	ਨੋਲਡਰ ਦਾ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਡਾ ਰਾਜਾ
Romanian 	Marele rege al Noldorii
Russian 	Верховный король Нолдор
Samoan 	Le tupu Maualuga o le Noldor
Scottish Gaelic 	Àrd Rìgh de na Noldor
Serbian 	Велики краљ Нолдора (Cyrillic) Veliki kralj Noldora (Latin)
Slovak 	Vysokýkráľ Noldor
Slovenian 	Nadkralj vseh Noldorov
Spanish 	Rey Supremo de los Noldor
Sundanese 	Tinggi Raja tina Noldor
Swahili 	Mfalme mkuu wa Noldor
Swedish 	Högkung av Noldor
Tajik Cyrillic 	Нолдор баландтарин Подшоҳи ?
Telugu 	ణొల్దొర యొక్క ఉన్నత రాజు
Turkish 	Yüce Noldor Kralı
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Верховний король Нолдор
Urdu 	ہائی شاہ نولڈاور
Uzbek 	Нолдорнинг Олий қирол (Cyrillic) Noldorning Oliy qirol (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Vua cao của Noldor
Welsh 	Uchel Frenin Noldor
Yiddish 	הויך מלך פון די נאָלדאָר
Zulu 	INkosi ephakeme ye-the Noldor
==References==
Category:Ranks and titles of Elves
es:Alto Rey de los Noldor
fr:Haut Roi des Noldor
it:Re Supremo dei Noldor
pl:Najwyższy Król Ñoldorów
ru:Верховный король Нолдор