abstract
| - The House of Elros was the line of Elros's descendants. Due to his ancestry, he was Half-elven and given the choice of the immortality of the Eldar or the Gift of Men. He chose to live as a mortal, but he had an extraordinary lifespan of 500 years. His descendants inherited his longevity, but Elros was the only one who lived so long. Elros, also known as Tar-Minyatur, was the first King of Númenor. After his time the island was ruled by Kings and Queens of his house for about 3,000 years of the Second Age. Elros's distant descendant Ar-Pharazôn was manipulated by Sauron into bringing about the Downfall of Númenor, and so the end of the Line of the Kings. There were no more kings for Númenor, but the House of Elros did not end in the Downfall. The Kings had been descended through Elros's great-great-grandson Meneldur, but another branch of the House also survived: the Lords of Andúnië, descended from Meneldur's elder sister Silmariën. The line of the Lords of Andúnië continued until Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anarion, and so was carried from Númenor to Middle-earth and survived the Kings of Arnor and of Gondor. After the War of the Ring and 6,000 years after its founder, an heir of the House of Elros was still alive. He could be no other than Aragorn II Elessar.
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