Eärendil the greatest hero of LOTR

So first off I want to give a giant shout out to @SirBlu for compiling this LOTR list http://imgur.com/gallery/D2Ygex1 blessed be your soul. Sadly though while looking through it I felt like a giant piece of history was missing so I decided to make a post about my favorite Eärendil basically the J.R.R.T version of Batman

Background

This is Eärendil (no shit) Son of Tuor of the house Hador (One of the three great Houses of men.) and Idril daughter of Turgon king of Gondolin, making him half elf and man this will come up again later. Eärendil was born in FA 503 and grew up in Gondolin (Basically the last true stronghold of the Noldor in middle earth.) until the Sacking of Gondolin when he was 7 where he and his parents when were forced to flee. From then on he grew up to be the leader of Arvernien by the mouth of Sirion where he met and wedded Elwing and had two sons a couple of years later Elrond and Elros (Important figures in their own right.)

Eärendil the Mariner

While by the sea he found a love for it and became a very skilled mariner. He built a ship with the help of Cirdan the best shipwright there was. He named it Vingilótë (the coolest fucking ship EVER!!!) and set out to find mom and dad. While he was gone though the Sons of Feanor caught wind that Elwing had one of the Silmaril so they attacked their village and rather then give it to them Elwing jumped off a cliff.

Time to Man up

Rather than let Elwing die she was spared by Ulmo valar of the sea and transformed into a great white bird she flew a long time and eventually found her way to her beloved. Earendil put her in bird form to sleep and the next day found her turned back into her true form and was able to regal him with the tale of what happened. Eärendil saw no other choice other than to go to Valinor to speak to the Valar making him the first mortal to step foot in Valinor which was a big deal cause the punishment was death. He made his way to the Valar and asked them to help the men and elves fight Morgoth. Not only did they accept his plea but they allowed him to live live seeing as he came to Valinor with noble intentions. The Stage was Set and my boy Eärendil was going to be right in the middle of the biggest battle of Middle Earth.

The War of Wrath

The Valar after hearing Eärendil's plea decided to help the people of middle earth and that it was time to take out Morgoth. They amassed a, MASSIVE army consisting of Valar, Maiar, and the elven tribes Noldor and Vanyar. It was the biggest army ever put together and they sailed for middle earth to help save those who lived there. Eärendil was right at the front of the army he kept the silmaril and had his ship magically enhanced to fly. (That's right this fucker got a flying ship. HOW FUCKING COOL IS THAT!!!!!!) The war was about 42 years and even though the Valar had amassed a huge army they were still extremely outnumbered (It was roughly hundreds of thousands versus millions) and the war was hard fought. Eventually the force made it's way to Angband (Morgoths fortress) and seeing defeat being inevitable, Morgoth pulled the ace from his sleeve as a last resort. He released the Dragons!!!!!!!

The Turning Point

So the Winged Dragons entering the battle was a huge deal the Host of Valinor went from about to win the battle to being pushed back and being forced to retreat, it looked like all hope was lost. Enter Eärendil, him and a host of eagles charged against the dragons and Eärendil fought the biggest of them all. Ancalagon pictured above was his adversary and boy was he big.

Charts make everything better.

No seriously I don't think you guys get how big he was. You remember watching the hobbit and saying holy shit Benedict Cumberbatch is massive well Ancalagon made him look like fucking fly. Now there isn't an exact size for him but he is said to have been as tall as a 35,000 ft mountain and as long as three of them at about 5 miles each. Basically he is fucking huge and Eärendil charges head long into battle with him.

The Defining Moment

So what does it take to fight a dragon the size of a mountain chain? Well an army of giant eagles, a flying ship, a silmarl, one of the three greatest swords ever made, and balls of fucking mithril. The battle took an entire day and was said to be insane but eventually Eärendil struck a lethal blow and Ancalagon fell to his death destroying the volcanic mountains we discussed called Thangorodrim causing the ruin of Beleriand. The of Ancalgon was the crucial turning point in the battle Morgoth forces we routed and dispersed and Morgoth himself was forced to flee into Angband where he was later capturing ending the war. Because of Eärendil actions the Valar were able to win and finally defeat their arch-enemy. Without Eärendil it is very likely that Morgoth would have won and been able to take middle-earth for himself and we wouldn't hear about a brave little hobbit and his incredible journey.

After the War

Eärendil got the recognition he was deserved after the battle and the Valar granted him and his family since they were all half elven and half man to decide what race they wanted to be. Eärendil wanted to be a man but ultimately decided to be an elf as that's what Elwing decided and he did not want to leave her. Elrond chose to be an elf and Elros chose to be a man and founded the line which Aragorn is from. The Valar at this point forgave the Noldor for the betrayal with Feanor and many decided to go back to Valinor, because he had already step foot in Valinor he could not return to middle-earth. Instead he sails in his flying ship with the silmaril upon his brow appearing as a star in the sky for those who travel to Valinor. It is said when Morgorth returns and begins the final battle Eärendil will play a key role in the battle, my guess is he will again do battle with Ancalagon who will return. Personally I feel bad that he will have to get his ass beat again. And so ends the tale of Eärendil the Blessed.