Ing

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This content is considered pre-canon. While the subject of this article is based on official information, it was replaced or emended in later stages of the legendarium.

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Ing was a king of Leithian in earlier versions of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium.

History

Ing was King of Leithian, and his people were called the Ingwaiwar. Ing was descended from Ermon, one of the two "Fathers of Men" mentioned in The Book of Lost Tales and, probably due his ancestry, Ing was friendly with Elves of the Great Lands. For this reason, when they were defeated after the "First Faring Forth", Ing welcomed the Elves in his realm.

After some time, Eärendel came to Leithien to seek the help of Ing. In order to reciprocate the help given to him, Eärendel gifted to Ing the limpë, a drink that give immortality, and blessed his progeny. Hearing the tales of Eärendel about Tol Eressëa, Ing and many of his people sailed there. However, in his wrath, the Vala Ossë sent a storm that blew them eastward; only Ing survived to the resulting shipwreck.

After the departure of Ing, Leithian became an island and suffered seven invasions by Men of the Great Lands, the sixth of which was by the Men of Rûm, who did not even believe that Elves were real. This invasion caused the fleeing of most Elves of Leithian. After three hundred years, the descendants of Ing in turn invaded the island and during this times the few Elves remaining in Leithian learned Old English, the Ingwaiwar's tongue. Later, Ælfwine, a descendant of Ing born in Leithian, would famously travel to Tol Eressëa.

According to an elvish prophecy, in the Second Fairing Forth Ing will lead the Elves from Tol Eressëa back to Leithian.

Etymology

Ing means "Chief" in Gnomish.

Behind the scenes

The tale of Leithian was originally conceived as a myth about the origins of Great Britain and Ing was created as the ancestor of the Anglo-Saxons. In fact, Tolkien started the creation of the legendarium with the intent to build a proper British mythology.