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Malbeth the Seer


In J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, Malbeth the Seer was a sage of Arthedain who was remembered for two prophecies.

At the birth of the son of Araphant Malbeth said

This prophecy was to be fulfilled in the year T.A. 1975. After a terrible defeat when the armies of Angmar, led by the Witch-king of Angmar, assailed Fornost, Arvedui fled Arnor, going far into the snowy North in order to evade death at the hands of the Witch-king's army. When a ship was sent by Círdan of the Grey Havens to rescue him, he was cautioned by the Lossoth to await the thaw to set off. Not heeding their words, Arvedui set sail straight away and was shipwrecked and died in the ice-bay of Forochel. Thus the prophecy came to pass; the rule of his people passed on to lesser men who could not truly control the realm. The chieftains of the Dúnedain ruled for many generations, until they were united by Aragorn, son of Arathorn, when he ascended to the throne of Gondor and Arnor, in time returning the kingdom of Arnor to its former glory.

Alternatively, this prophecy may refer to the choices made by the Dúnedain of Gondor, where Arvedui claimed the crown in T.A. 1944, by virtue of his descent from Isildur and his marriage to Fíriel, the only surviving child of the late King, Ondoher. The Council of Gondor, led by the Steward Pelendur, rejected Arvedui's claim, choosing instead their victorious general Eärnil, a male-line descendant of Anárion. The Appendices to the Lord of the Rings speculate that if the Crown of Gondor had instead been given to Arvedui, "it may be that...the kingship would have been maintained and much evil averted." Instead, the realm of Arthedain was destroyed, and the kingship of Gondor fell vacant shortly afterwards.


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