Top Ten Second Age Characters | Tolkien Top Tens

Honourable Mentions
There are so many!

Among the Men of Númenor there are some great kings and lords that I didn't have time to mention. Elendil, father of Isildur, is an obvious one, along with Isildur's brother Anárion, and his grandfather Amandil. All of these guys were crucial in bringing about Sauron's defeat at the end of the War of the Last Alliance. I could also have included Tar-Palantir, the twenty-fourth King of Númenor who tried to return his nation to a more positive mindset, and redeem them from the Shadow that had fallen. And there's also Tar-Minyatur, the first King of Númenor, and the twin brother of Elrond.

Also: Durin III (Lord of Khazad-dum and friend of Celebrimbor), Fimbrethil (the ent-wife of Treebeard), and, or course, Galadriel.

“Aldarion is selfish for prioritising the sea… but the opposite argument holds water too.”

Oh very good.

Amdir is sexier than most mortal women in middle earth. Am I right?

saying "Elrond is ONLY half-elfen" is a bit misleading. yes he was called Elrond Half-Elf but a) it wasn't like 50/50 as both his parents were half-elfs themselves and only one of his grandparents was human, and b) the non-elf part of his ancestry also included a Maia which means he is basically part-angel.

Isildur would be a lot more interesting if he were more flawed. Like I get Tolkien was trying to illustrate the corruptive power of the Ring via making him a great guy but hes basicaly perfect.

Thank you for giving Celeborn some well deserved credit! I think he's so underappreciated!

I love how ROP represented these characters! (JK it's terrible)

Even your videos of this rich lore require 3rd and 4th viewings

No Gil-Galad?

I just noticed now that you keep calling Feanor "the greatest craftsman of the 1st age"
It's a bit of nitpicking, but didn't the 1st age started a short time AFTER Feanor's death? By this logic he should be the greatest craftsman of the age of the trees (not that there's a big difference, but it's a bit like some of the world's magic has already left even before the first man open his eyes)

I'm surprised you didn't mention that Cirdan is so old by the end of the Second Age that he is (to my knowledge) the only elf, alive or dead, to have ever born a beard.

For me, watching the movies, I always saw Isildur as a tragic character, I never really viewed him as villain or as truly corrupted any more than I really saw Frodo or Boromir that way, corruption is what the ring does

Aldarion be like:

“The sea is always right!”

i love your way of calling really epic people “guys” and “dudes”

I know that he got in over his head with the rings of power, but I just love Celebrimbor. As a crafter myself, I understand the lure of the ability to learn new techniques in order to make marvelous things.

Thank you for all your hard work.

Erendis and Aldarion would be a great story for a Second Age TV show.

Can't wait to hear more about these guys when we get to that part of the Legendarium (someday).

The best part is you doing the numbers, I laugh everytime.

And yes this anti isildur pseudo mcarthyism is trash. One of the greatest manish heros.

Ok Elrond and Cierdan were also literally thousands of years old and farsighted even among elves, the wisdom of time alone makes it incomparable to a mann even a Numenorian man...

I still think your justification for Isildur is shallow... your explanation of the term "weregil" is also debunked by yourself in Isildur's statements in his dying moments... Weregil according to your definition is a compensation by the perpetrators to the victims. However, neither Sauron nor anyone from the darkside offered compensation to Isildur... and yes he was corrupted and took the ring out of greed, as his statement in his dying moment suggests. Plus that was no mare ring, certainly not a wedding ring he would've brought back to his wife... everyone knew the tales of the one ring and basically the one of many reasons he is in the war, witnessing the slaying of his father and brother. Everyone knew the one ring had to be destroyed... but again, he was corrupted! There is nothing else heroic about him other than being the King's son and heir to the throne.

Celeborn was literally just a microphone for galadriels mind in the movies lol

Dang. Poor Isildur.

When it says that nobody was able to injure the ring, Gandalf threw it into the fire at Frodo’s house. Even if he suspected it was the one ring, nobody throws anything into the fire without expecting it to be damaged or destroyed.
Thank you for a very illuminating video!

Gil Galad is the best. He's the least elf like elf in my opinion. In my understanding family and bloodlines are the most significant thing to an elf. The goal is to do something great to enhance the prestige of your family. But Gil Galad, next to gandalf, is the big picture guy. The survival of elves as a whole, not just noldor is his driving force. Gil Galad had no problem reaching out to men and establishing friendships and alliances. And Gil Galad is the kind of guy you want to be friends with. Loyalty duty and sacrifice are his values over all. He's loving and kind but is always ready to put the good of the whole above his own and whether anyone knows it or not is inconsequential

I'm almost finished reading the Silmarillion. I didn't read anything about Oropher. What book do I read for that and some others that weren't in the Silmarillion? I've read the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. I love your videos and they got me to start reading the Silmarillion since I read the other books decades ago.

Damn right! Isildur has been so misunderstood for such a long time. I was even guilty of it myself. He was an incredible man and his time with the Ring doesn't diminish that in the slightest. The fact that he planned to willingly give it away after having it for TWO YEARS is insane. No one else that we see in the story is capable of that. Frodo wouldn't have been able and he had it (actively) for less time. It wasn't weakness that flowed through his veins, it was strength.

Another great video! As a Tolkien newbie, it would be interesting to see a video about the meaning behind different symbols and colors worn by all the characters. Like the changing tree symbols used by men, and the different types of clothes and armor worn by elves.

Hello Dave, firstly I want to thank you for all these amazing videos. I also have a question; will you do a series focused on the Second Age, like you did with Feanor and the Silmaris and Wars of Beleriand etc. ?

I love The Tolkien books because it is an epic tale about Wizards, Elve's, Orc's, Dwarve's, Gods and Men. They fight for thousands and thousands of years in battles where continents are being tossed about, billions die, landscapes changed forever by these powerful beings and these wars fought between good and evil. But in the end all of the evil is brought down by four 3ft tall, beer drinking, feast having, pot smoking farmers. Talk about the little things.

Great video! For future ideas, I would like to hear more about the dwarves of the second age.

I am actually really shocked that Ar-Pharazôn the Golden wasn't on the top ten of 2nd Age Characters. The Last King of Númenor. This is a character that really could make an argument is an all time top ten Middle Earth Character. Forces his cousin Tar-Míriel the Queen of Númenor into marriage. Finds out that Sauron claims the title King of Men and masses together the largest single army ever. This army is probably larger than The Last Alliance Army which was between 110,000-140,000 strong. So your looking at what 200,000-250,000 Númenóreans at least every man able to wield a sword. He has to have a force large enough where open warfare isn't even an option. Forcing Sauron to be humble for a while and allow himself to be captured. Ar-Pharazôn burns the white tree and leads his people into worshipping Morgoth. Than even goes to the Undying Lands and breaks the World. In the process Númenor is destroyed by a giant Tsunami wave sent by the Valar.

"Celeborn gets less attention that his famous wife, Galadriel."
Rings of Power: "He died. Also his armor didn't fit him."

Ya but what about your favorite Harfoot 😅

These ships of the faithful Numenorians muct have been huge, with thousands of people on each ship, it they are to build two nations! Yes, there were Numenorian colonies in Middle Earth, but some of those were the King's Men. I don't have the facts at my fingertips, but I beleive I read/heard that the faithful were strong in the north, the king's men in the south. Still, I don't think the nine ships of the faithful were actually single ships - I rather see them as fleets. Thestrength of the Numenorians in Gondor and Arnor just doesn't fit on just nine ships.

Question: When elves dies they stay in a spirit form for 1000 years and are then reborn. By the time of the Hobbit shouldn't some of these more famous and powerful elves of the first age haven been present again?

This is fantastic and thank you for putting it together. I never knew any of this and am very grateful for your doing this.

Tolkien Untagled - Galadriel is a fantastic character………..

Amazon - Wanna bet ??

I'm not a Tolkien scholar,, but isn't it "Sauron" not Salron"?

why is Cirdan the only elf with beard???

More entertaining than the Amazon show

So glad you mentioned Oropher and Thranduil! But I think it would help to mention that Oropher, as one of the few high-born Sindar elves confirmed to be alive by the end of the second age, would be most likely to know the exact details of the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, the ship burning at Losgar and subsequent deaths during the crossing of the Helcaraxe - putting aside the two Kinslayings of the Sindar themselves by Noldor + the kinda racist implications of dark vs light elves - and, most importantly, the Doom of Mandos. 
If, as is very likely, Oropher knew about the Doom, he'd know that the Noldor would screw things up EVEN - often, especially - while trying to do good. Since he, unlike Celeborn, wasn't married to a Noldor, it makes perfect sense that he'd want to stay as far away from the Noldor as possible.

omg I never new what Sauron did that to the body of celebrimbor

Think I found my new favorite channel

What about Boromir? Give my man some love for once.

Fun list! 😁

You forgot stg about Cirdan that makes him in the top few : his beard. He's the only 100% official bearded Elf that we know... yet proving there can be others