Isildur’s Heir

		Isildur
Elendur	Aratan	Ciryon	Valandil
			Seven further Kings of Arnor, from Eldacar to Eärendur
		Amlaith of Fornost	Kings of Cardolan	Kings of Rhudaur
		Fourteen further Kings of Arthedain, from Beleg to Arvedui
		Fifteen Chieftains of the Dúnedain, from Aranarth to Arathorn II
		Aragorn II Elessar
		Eldarion
		Further heirs

Isildur was the eldest son of Elendil, and so by right he and his heirs should have inherited the title of High King and ruled the Two Kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. Soon after the defeat of Sauron at the end of the Second Age, though, Isildur and his three elder sons all perished in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields.

Isildur's only remaining Heir was Valandil, kept safe in Rivendell but only thirteen years old at that time, and unable to take up his rule. So, Isildur's nephew Meneldil took control of the kingdom of Gondor, and the Two Kingdoms split from one another. In the south, Gondor remained strong under the rule of Meneldil's descendants, but the North-kingdom was not so fortunate. It broke into three separate kingdoms, and was slowly overcome by dark forces of the neighbouring land of Angmar. Arvedui, Isildur's Heir through twenty-three generations, was the last King to rule in the north; he attempted to reclaim the High Kingship, but failed, and the last remnant of royal Arnor was overrun by its enemies.

Now the line of Isildur in the north became forgotten by nearly all. Though their royal cities were wasted, and their people dwindled, the line of Isildur's Heirs continued for another sixteen generations under the title 'Chieftain of the Dúnedain'. The last Chieftain was Aragorn II of the War of the Ring, who famously came to Minas Tirith and reclaimed the High Kingship of all the western lands.