Quantas Estrelas de Elendil estavam lá e o que aconteceu com cada uma delas?

Provavelmente havia apenas duas pedras com o nome "Elendilmir":

• A pedra de Silmariën. Este era o Elendilmir original e era a "coroa" do reino de Gondor usada por Elendil e Isildur. Foi perdido quando Isildur caiu no Desastre dos Campos Gladden, mas foi recuperado e guardado por Saruman algum tempo depois. Aragorn descobriu em Orthanc logo após ascender ao trono de Gondor, e se tornou um item cerimonial (ênfase minha):

  Saruman in his degradation had become not a dragon but a jackdaw. At last behind a hidden door that they could not have found or opened had not Elessar had the aid of Gimli the Dwarf a steel closet was revealed. Maybe it had been intended to receive the Ring; but it was almost bare. In a casket on a high shelf two things were laid. One was a small case of gold, attached to a fine chain; it was empty, and bore no letter or token, but beyond all doubt it had once borne the Ring about Isildur's neck. Next to it lay a treasure without price, long mourned as lost for ever: the Elendilmir itself, the white star of Elvish crystal upon a fillet of mithril that had descended from Silmariën to Elendil, and had been taken by him as the token of royalty in the North Kingdom.

  [...]

  Elessar took it up with reverence, and when he returned to the North and took up again the full kingship of Arnor Arwen bound it upon his brow, and men were silent in amaze to see its splendour. But Elessar did not again imperil it, and wore it only on high days in the North Kingdom.

  [...]

  When men considered [Saruman's] secret hoard more closely, they were dismayed. For it seemed to them that these things, and certainly the Elendilmir, could not have been found, unless they had been upon Isildur's body when he sank

  ^{_{Unfinished Tales Part 3: "The Third Age" Chapter I: "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields"}}

• A pedra de Valandil. Depois que o Elendilmir original foi perdido, um segundo foi feito e usado por Valandil, filho de Isildur, e carregado por todos os reis de Arnor e chefes dos Dúdedain. Aragorn continuou a usá-lo mesmo depois que o original foi encontrado (ênfase minha):

  Every king and the chieftains that followed them in Arnor had borne the Elendilmir down even to Elessar himself; but though it was a jewel of great beauty, made by Elven-smiths in Imladris for Valandil Isildur's son, it had not the ancientry nor potency of the one that had been lost when Isildur fled into the dark and came back no more.

  Elessar took [the original Elendilmir] up with reverence, and when he returned to the North and took up again the full kingship of Arnor Arwen bound it upon his brow, and men were silent in amaze to see its splendour. But Elessar did not again imperil it, and wore it only on high days in the North Kingdom. Otherwise, when in kingly raiment he bore the Elendilmir which had descended to him. "And this also is thing of reverence," he said, "and above my worth; forty heads have worn it before."

  ^{_{Unfinished Tales Part 3: "The Third Age" Chapter I: "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields"}}

  Esta pedra é quase certamente não o token que Aragorn dá a Sam Gamgee, mas abordarei isso em breve.

Presumivelmente, os dois Elendilmir continuaram sendo símbolos da linhagem real de Gondor, embora o que exatamente aconteceu com eles após o início da Quarta Era seja desconhecido.

Outras pedras

A questão traz duas referências a pedras que parecem deveria seja o Elendilmir. Infelizmente, é difícil ter certeza absoluta das intenções de Tolkien aqui, mas o consenso de Christopher Tolkien é que Elendilmir também não.

• A pedra de Erendis. A história dessa pedra é que Tar-Aldarion, sexto rei de Númenor, uma vez trouxe um diamante da Terra-média e o deu a Erendis, a mulher que ele amava e eventualmente se casou (ênfase minha):

  At that time Aldarion first looked on Erendis with love; and he stood long in the stern looking back as the Palarran passed out to sea. It is said that he hastened his return, and was gone less time than he had designed; and coming back he brought gifts for the Queen and the ladies of her house, but the richest gift he brought for Erendis, and that was a diamond.

  ^{_{Unfinished Tales Part 2: "The Second Age" Chapter II: "Aldarion and Erendis"}}

  Quando eles estavam oficialmente noivos, Erendis revelou a Aldarion que ela o colocara em um filete de prata, e depois ela o usou na testa:

  "I have had my betrothal gift, though it came beforehand. It is the only jewel that I have or would have; and I will set it yet higher." Then he saw that she had caused the white gem to be set as a star in a silver fillet; and at her asking he bound it on her forehead. She wore it so for many years, until sorrow befell; and thus she was known far and wide as Tar-Elestirnë, the Lady of the Star-brow.

  ^{_{Unfinished Tales Part 2: "The Second Age" Chapter II: "Aldarion and Erendis"}}

  A confusão é compreensível, porque o Elendilmir é descrito de maneira muito semelhante. No entanto, existem alguns problemas com esta leitura:

  • O Elendilmir quase certamente já existia neste momento. Silmariën era tia de Aldarion e provavelmente ainda estava vivo quando Aldarion trouxe o diamante da Terra-média
  • O diamante usado por Erendis nunca é descrito como algo além de um diamante comum, embora a coisa mais agradável que Aldarion tenha trazido de volta nessa viagem em particular. O Elendilmir, por outro lado, é descrito como um "cristal élfico" e exibe muito claramente algumas tendências mágicas (por exemplo, reage mal ao Um Anel, queimando intensamente e deixando de ficar invisível quando Isildur usa os dois ao mesmo tempo)
  • O filete do Elendilmir é descrito como sendo feito de mithril, mas Erendis 'é descrito apenas como prata

  Da mesma forma, não há indicação de que alguma vez tenha sido referido como "Elendilmir"; isso lhe pareceria um nome estranho, já que não tem conexão com Tar-Elendil e não existia até bem depois de sua morte.

  Christopher Tolkien compara as duas gemas em uma nota de rodapé no Contos Inacabados, onde ele enfaticamente afirma que eles não são os mesmos:

  It is told in "Aldarion and Erendis" (p.193) that Erendis caused the diamond which Aldarion brought to her from Middle-earth "to be set as a star in a silver fillet; and at her asking he bound it on her forehead." For this reason she was known as Tar-Elestirnë, the Lady of the Star-brow; "and thus came, it is said, the manner of the Kings and Queens afterward to wear as a star a white jewel upon the brow, and they had no crown" (p. 225, note 18). This tradition cannot be unconnected with that of the Elendilmir, a star-like gem borne on the brow as a token of royalty in Arnor; but the original Elendilmir itself, since it belonged to Silmariën, was in existence in Númenor (whatever its origin may have been) before Aldarion brought Erendis' jewel from Middle-earth, and they cannot be the same.

  ^{_{Unfinished Tales Part 3: "The Third Age" Chapter I: "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields" Notes}}

  O destino final desta pedra é desconhecido; há poucas referências a ele depois do noivado, e nenhuma indicação do que Erendis finalmente fez com ele. É possível que ela o tenha descartado como uma lembrança amarga de seu casamento fracassado; ou que ela levou com ela quando morreu; ou que ela o presenteou para a filha Ancalimë, caso em que pode ter passado pela linha dos reis. Qualquer que seja seu destino intermediário, quase certamente se perdeu para sempre quando Númenor afundou

• A estrela dos dúnedain. Este é um caso mais confuso, porque a única referência conhecida a esse objeto está no Apêndice B:

  1436 King Elessar rides north, and dwells for a while by Lake Evendim. He comes to the Brandywine Bridge, and there greets his friends. He gives the Star of the Dúnedain to Master Samwise, and Elanor is made a maid of honour to Queen Arwen

  ^{_{Return of the King Appendix B "The Tale of Years" Later Events Concerning the Members of the Fellowship of the Ring}}

  A questão é um tanto confusa, porque alguns estudiosos proeminentes de Tolkien escreveram seus próprios livros afirmando que "Estrela dos Dúnedain" era apenas outro nome para Elendilmir. Como Christopher Tolkien observa em uma nota de rodapé Contos Inacabados, ele próprio acha isso improvável, mas não tinha outra referência para refutá-lo mais definitivamente (grifo meu):

  In the Tale of Years in Appendix B to The Lord of the Rings the entry for the year 16 of the Fourth Age (given under Shire Reckoning 1436) states that when King Elessar came to the Brandywine Bridge to greet his friends he gave the Star of the Dúnedain to Master Samwise, while his daughter Elanor was made a maid of honour to Queen Arwen. On the basis of this record Mr. Robert Foster says in The Complete Guide to Middle-earth that "the Star [of Elendil] was worn on the brow of the Kings of the North-kingdom until Elessar gave it to Sam Gamgee in Fourth Age 16." The clear implication of the present passage¹ is that King Elessar retained indefinitely the Elen­dilmir that was made for Valandil; and it seems to me in any case out of the question that he would have made a gift of it to the Mayor of the Shire, however greatly he esteemed him. The Elen­dilmir is called by several names: the Star of Elendil, the Star of the North, the Star of the Northkingdom; and the Star of the Dúnedain (occurring only in this entry in the Tale of Years) is assumed to be yet another both in Robert Foster's Guide and in J. E. A. Tyler's Tolkien Companion. I have found no other reference to it; but it seems to me to be almost certain that it was not, and that Master Samwise received some different (and more suitable) distinction.

  ^{_{Unfinished Tales Part 3: "The Third Age" Chapter I: "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields" Notes}}

  Ele faz uma observação muito boa aqui, que eu quero enfatizar: sugerir que a Estrela dos Dúnedain é o Elendilmir (qualquer um) é sugerir que Aragorn pensou tanto em Sam que ele fez um presente de um dos símbolos de seu escritório como Rei de Gondor. Sem querer presumir conhecer a mente de Tolkien, isso parece incrivelmente improvável.

  No entanto, isso ainda nos deixa com a pergunta ainda não respondida sobre o que, exatamente, a Estrela dos Dúnedain realmente foi. Christopher Tolkien responde isso para nós em História da Terra-média, onde ele menciona receber alguma correspondência, argumentando (claramente) que isso era uma referência a um broche usado pelos dúnedain na forma de uma estrela radiada:

  In The Tale of Years (LR Appendix B) the entry for the year 1436 in the Shire Reckoning states that the King Elessar, coming to the Brandywine Bridge, gave the Star of the Dunedain to Master Samwise. In my note 33 to The Disaster of the Gladden Fields in Unfinished Tales (pp. 284 - 5) I said that I was unable to say what this was. This is a convenient place to mention that after the publication of Unfinished Tales two correspondents, Major Stephen M. Lott and Mrs. Joy Mercer, independently suggested to me that the Star of the Dunedain was very probably the same as the silver brooch shaped like a rayed star that was worn by the Rangers in the present passage (RK p. 51); Mrs. Mercer also referred to the star worn by Aragorn when he served in Gondor, as described in Appendix A (I.iv, The Stewards): 'Thorongil men called him in Gondor, the Eagle of the Star, for he was swift and keen-eyed, and wore a silver star upon his cloak.' These suggestions are clearly correct.

  ^{_{History of Middle-earth VIII The War of the Ring Part 3: "Minas Tirith" Chapter IV "Many Roads Lead Eastward (1)"}}

  A passagem referenciada de Retorno do Rei é certamente um esboço semelhante a este, uma descrição dos Rangers em Dunharrow (ênfase minha):

  A little apart the Rangers sat, silent, in an ordered company, armed with spear and bow and sword. They were clad in cloaks of dark grey, and their hoods were cast now over helm and head. Their horses were strong and of proud bearing, but rough-haired; and one stood there without a rider, Aragorn’s own horse that they had brought from the North; Roheryn was his name. There was no gleam of stone or gold, nor any fair thing in all their gear and harness: nor did their riders bear any badge or token, save only that each cloak was pinned upon the left shoulder by a brooch of silver shaped like a rayed star.

  ^{_{Return of the King Book V Chapter 2: "The Passing of the Grey Company"}}

  Mais uma vez, o destino desse token é desconhecido. É possível que Sam tenha levado com ele quando atravessou o mar, mas também pode ter se tornado uma herança de família ou um mathom.

Não é impossível que Tolkien pretenda que uma ou ambas as pedras sejam versões do Elendilmir, mas falta alguma confirmação direta dele (que, se existir, não foi encontrada), ficamos com as evidências sugerindo que elas não são.

¹ A passagem mencionada é aquela em que Aragorn descreve a importância contínua do segundo Elendilmir, mesmo que o original tenha sido encontrado:

Elessar took it up with reverence, and when he returned to the North and took up again the full kingship of Arnor Arwen bound it upon his brow, and men were silent in amaze to see its splendour. But Elessar did not again imperil it, and wore it only on high days in the North Kingdom. Otherwise, when in kingly raiment he bore the Elendilmir which had descended to him. "And this also is thing of reverence," he said, "and above my worth; forty heads have worn it before."

^{_{Unfinished Tales Part 3: "The Third Age" Chapter I: "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields"}}