house of hurin of emyn arnen revisited

[cellurdur]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Unless no King of Gondor ever had more than a single son, or any daughters- which seems very unlikely, low birthrate or not- I think we can assume they (and, therefore, Elendil) had descendants outside the direct line. That's how it works in the real world, anyway.

I believe Tolkien understood this- c.f. the passage about how "no male descendants of clear title (or nearly pure blood) of Elendil could be found". Note the qualifications: he's not saying they couldn't find any at all, just none with a good enough claim.

The problem is that branches of the family would then marry back into the main line. Things like the Civil War would have decimated the line of Elendil. Just look at the effect the War of the Roses had on House Plantagenet (though of course half of England is still descendant from them, but through illegitimate lines). The Line of the Black Prince and Henry IV were wiped out.

As you said there were other descendants of Elendil, but they were likely in conflict over the throne. In such a situation it would be best to pick somebody with no claim.

That being said I am sure the later Stewards of Gondor would be descendants of Elendil. I find it extremely unlikely the Princes of Dol Amroth had not intermarried with the royal family.