Prince of Ithilien

Faramir		Éowyn
	Elboron?
	Barahir

The names of those who held the title 'Prince of Ithilien' are shown in bold in this genealogical chart. Note that Faramir's direct heir is never named in any canonical text, but in draft versions his name is given as Elboron.

The Stewards of Gondor had a long association with the land of Ithilien, and especially with the hills of Emyn Arnen that overlooked Anduin from its eastern banks. The line of the hereditary Stewards could be traced back to Húrin of Emyn Arnen, Steward to King Minardil, who lived more than a thousand years before the War of the Ring. After the loss of the last King of Gondor in III 2050, the Stewards descended from Húrin had acted as the rulers of Gondor.

After the War of the Ring, Aragorn Elessar re-established the line of the Kings in Gondor, and so the Stewards no longer ruled in their own name. Faramir son of Denethor retained the inherited title of Steward, but the new King gave him new titles, making him Lord of Emyn Arnen and Prince of Ithilien. Faramir thus took up the rule of his new principality from the very hills where his ancient ancestor Húrin had originated.

Faramir's new title of Prince made him one of only two holders of such a title in Gondor (the other being the Prince of Dol Amroth, who remained the pre-eminent noble of the realm).¹ With his consort, the Lady Éowyn of Rohan, the new Prince took command of the eastern borderland of Ithilien, where Gondor marched with Mordor. In the days after the War of the Ring, that land still contained the corrupted city of Minas Morgul, and also harboured outlaws and wild Orcs. It fell to the Prince to rid the land of these troubles.

The Prince of Ithilien retained the office of Steward, and in that capacity he was chief of the royal counsellors. When the King went to war in the East (as he often did in the early years of the Fourth Age), one of the two Princes of the realm (that is, of Dol Amroth and Ithilien) would ride with him, while the other remained to rule Gondor as his regent. So, Prince Faramir would have ridden into the East on campaign at times, and at other times would have taken on responsibility for the realm in the King's absence.

The titles of Prince and Steward were both hereditary, and so, when Faramir's life came to an end in IV 82, they would have passed to his son and heir (some sources name this son as Elboron, though this is not necessarily canonical). After Faramir's time, the line of the Princes of Ithilien, and thus also of the Stewards, would have continued into the Fourth Age.