The second Ruling Steward of Gondor, son and heir to StewardMardil Voronwë. Eradan was born during the reign of KingEärnil II, and at that tine, as the heir of Mardil, he would have expected to one day inherit the Stewardship in service of a King of Gondor. While he was still a small child, events unfolded that would have a profound effect on his future. On Gondor's eastern borders, the city of Minas Ithil was suddenly besieged by the Nazgûl, who captured it in III 2002, when Eradan was just three years old.
Eärnil II was succeeded by Eärnur, who was a headstrong and wilful ruler. He was twice challenged by the Lord of the Nazgûl, and he became determined to answer the second of these challenges, despite his Steward's protestations. The King thus rode to Minas Morgul, where he was lost, and Eradan's father Mardil then took up the sole rule of Gondor in the King's name. After these events, Eradan was no longer merely the heir to the Stewardship, but to the rule of the South-kingdom.
After a time, though the Nazgûl remained in Minas Morgul, they offered no further threat to the realm. It was later discovered that their master Sauron had fled into the East at this time, and western Middle-earth had entered the period known as the Watchful Peace. So, when Eradan inherited the Stewardship seventeen years later, he ruled a land under no immediate threat. Eradan was the first Steward to rule without ever serving a King, and he held the Wand of his office during a time of relative peace for the realm.
The date of Eradan's birth appears only in The History of Middle-earth volume XII, The Peoples of Middle-earth. It cannot therefore be considered completely reliable.
2
Eradan's name seems to contain the elements er-, 'one, single, lone' and adan 'Man', so the entire name can conceivably be interpreted as something like 'one man' or 'lone man'. If this is correct, it's unclear what significance this meaning might hold. Perhaps Eradan's name is an oblique reference to the fact that he was the first Ruling Steward to inherit the title from his father, or it may mean no more than that Eradan was an only child.
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