It is his return as King that is referred to in the title of the third volume of ''The Lord of the Rings''. The "return of the king" itself is an event of myth, not expected by anyone. In the lands formerly under the rule of Arnor, the people retained only a distant memory, remaining in sayings and idioms such as somebody having "never heard of the king" if behaving badly or against the rules. In Gondor the line of Anárion had stopped with the last King Eärnur, who was succeded by his Steward. The Stewards of Gondor ruled in the King's name, but the return of a king was no longer an anticipated event, merely a story. | It is his return as King that is referred to in the title of the third volume of ''The Lord of the Rings''. The "return of the king" itself is an event of myth, not expected by anyone. In the lands formerly under the rule of Arnor, the people retained only a distant memory, remaining in sayings and idioms such as somebody having "never heard of the king" if behaving badly or against the rules. In Gondor the line of Anárion had stopped with the last King Eärnur, who was succeded by his Steward. The Stewards of Gondor ruled in the King's name, but the return of a king was no longer an anticipated event, merely a story. |