Like the eighteen rulers of Númenor before him, the nineteenth took the Sceptre with a Quenya name, Tar-Ardamin. In private, though, the King's Men called him by a name in their own Adûnaic language: Ar-Abattârik. This King was the last to follow the practice of using an official Quenya name. His son Ar-Adûnakhôr abandoned the old traditions, and used Adûnaic in his official name.
It should be said that there is some small doubt over the character of Ar-Abattârik. He is listed in the detailed annals of The Line of Elros2 as the son of Tar-Calmacil and father of Ar-Adûnakhôr, but in many earlier editions of Appendix A I (i) to The Lord of the Rings, the relevant section of the King-lists appears like this: '...Tar-Calmacil. After Calmacil the Kings took the sceptre in names of the Númenórean (or Adûnaic) tongue: Ar-Adûnakhôr...' It seems most likely, as Christopher Tolkien suggests, that this omission is a simple mistake, and that Tar-Ardamin or Ar-Abattarârik should appear in the list at this point. Indeed, later editions of The Lord of the Rings insert his name in this list.
Notes
1 |
Unlike Elvish, the Adûnaic language from which the name Ar-Abattârik comes is not well documented, so interpreting the name is difficult. From what references we do have, it seems that tárik is probably 'pillar'. The Elvish name of this King was Tar-Ardamin, where Arda refers to 'the world', so we might take Ar-Abattârik in full as 'King, pillar of the world'. This does not seem to be direct translation of Tar-Ardamin, but the names do share a similar sense, each effectively referring to the most powerful and prominent king in the world.
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2 |
In Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth |
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