The second of the two great nations of Men founded in Middle-earth by Elendil after the Downfall of Numenor, the other being Arnor in the north. Gondor was at first ruled jointly by Elendil's sons Isildur and Anarion. Both Elendil and Anarion were lost in the Siege of Barad-dur, and his brother Isildur soon afterwards in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, and so the Kingship of Gondor fell on Anarion's son Meneldil. Thus, the Kings of Gondor were descendants of Anarion through many generations until the time of Earnur.

When Earnur was lost in Minas Morgul in III 2050, the rule of Gondor was taken up by the King's Steward, Mardil Voronwe; the death of Earnur was not certain, and so Mardil and the Stewards who followed him pledged to rule 'until the King comes back'. Unlikely though this seemed, it happened almost a thousand years later in III 3019 when Aragorn II Elessar, descendant by right line of Isildur, elder brother of Anarion, reclaimed the throne of Gondor.