High king

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High king

A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor

Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor or a woman who rules in her own right ....
; compare King of Kings

King of Kings

King of Kings is a title that has been used by several monarchies throughout history, and in many cases the literal title meaning "King of Kings", i.e....
.

Rulers who have been termed "high king" (by their contemporaries or by modern observers) include:

The Bretwalda

Bretwalda

Bretwalda, also Brytenwalda, Bretenanwealda, is an Anglo-Saxon language term, the first record of which comes from the late ninth century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle....
was essentially the high king of the Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
, though the name is rarely translated as such. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong

Yang di-Pertuan Agong

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the highest ranking office created by the constitution of the federation of Malaysia. The office was first established in 1957....
in Malaysia

Malaysia

Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government....
could probably be seen as a "high king", as he is selected from among nine Malay rulers (seven Sultan

Sultan

Sultan is an Islamic honorifics, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ???? sulah, meaning "authority" or "power"....
s, a Raja

Raja

A Raja is a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya Varna in Hinduism.The word 'raja'means 'rajan' in nepali which means the supreme king.It's normally the first given name in Nepal and surname in India which isused by hindus and buddhist....
, and a Great Lord

Yang di-Pertuan Besar

In Malay language, Yang di-Pertuan Besar, literally "He Who Is Made Great" or "Great Ruler", is a monarchy title....
) by election (through informal agreement, on a rotational basis).

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Encyclopedia

A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor

Emperor

King of Kings

Various ancient Celtic
Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
rulers, notably the High King
High King of Ireland

A High King of Ireland is a historical or legendary figure who claimed lordship over the whole of Ireland. The High-Kingship was never a political reality in Ireland, but has a strong literary and folkore tradition....
(ard rí) of Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
. Some other monarchs, such as King Arthur
King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary Britons leader who, according to medieval histories and Romance , led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century....
, Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon

Uther Pendragon is a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur.A few minor references to Uther appear in Old Welsh language Medieval Welsh literature, but his biography was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae , and Geoffrey's account of the character was used in most lat...
, and Vortigern
Vortigern

Vortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Sub-Roman Britain, a leading king of the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend....
, have been termed "High King of Britain" in some accounts.
The ruler of the Picts
Picts

The Picts were a confederation of tribes in what was later to become eastern and northern Scotland from Roman Empire times until the 10th century....
.
The Ard Rí Alban, high king of Scotland
List of monarchs of Scotland

The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth MacAlpin , who founded the state in 843, although this is no longer taken seriously by historians....
.
Some ancient Greek
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
rulers, such as Agamemnon
Agamemnon

In Greek mythology, Agamemnon / is the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus and the husband of Clytemnestra; different mythological versions make him the king either of Mycenae or of Argos....
(see anax
Anax

is an ancient Greek language word for "Monarch". It is one of the two Greek titles traditionally translated this way, the other being basileus, which also translates as Monarch....
).
The most powerful king of the various Etruscan
Etruscan civilization

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy and Corsica whom the ancient Romans called Etrusci or Tusci....
city-states.
Mepe-Umaglesi 'Most High King' was a predicate of the Georgia
Georgia (country)

Georgia is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, located at the dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is bordered by the Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia to the south, and Turkey to the southwest....
n Orthodox Mepe-Mepeta ('King of Kings')
In Lithuania, the title of "Didysis Kunigaikštis" is more accurately translated as "high king", although it is traditionally rendered as "Grand Duke"
In ancient Sumer
Sumer

Sumer was a civilization and a historical region located in Southern Iraq , known as the Cradle of civilization. It lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period through the Uruk period and the Dynastic periods until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC....
, the rulers of all Sumer held the title of "Nam-Lugal
Sumerian king list

The Sumerian King List is an ancient text in the Sumerian language that lists monarch of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties. It records the location of "official" kingship, along with the rulers and the lengths of their rule....
" (High King).

The Bretwalda

Bretwalda

Anglo-Saxons

Yang di-Pertuan Agong

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the highest ranking office created by the constitution of the federation of Malaysia. The office was first established in 1957....
in Malaysia

Malaysia

Sultan

Raja

Yang di-Pertuan Besar

In Malay language, Yang di-Pertuan Besar, literally "He Who Is Made Great" or "Great Ruler", is a monarchy title....
) by election (through informal agreement, on a rotational basis). In practice, however, the term "high king" is rarely applied to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, rather 'King'.

The titles "maharaja

Maharaja

The word Maharaja is Sanskrit for "great king" or "high king" . Due to Sanskrit's major influence on the vocabulary of most languages in India, the term 'maharaja' is common to many modern languages, such as Oriya language, Punjabi language, Bengali language, Hindi, Gujrati, etc....
" or similar (Indian

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
), and "daewang" (Korean

Korea

Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries, a civilization, and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia....
) could possibly be rendered as "high king", although the literal meaning is closer to "great king". The title "King of Kings

King of Kings

King of Kings is a title that has been used by several monarchies throughout history, and in many cases the literal title meaning "King of Kings", i.e....
" also expresses much the same concept as "high king" — it was used at various times by the Emperor of Persia

Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
(shahanshah) and the Emperor of Ethiopia

Emperor of Ethiopia

The Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of Ethiopia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The Emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive power, judicial power and legislative power in that country....
.

Other uses

is also the name of a J-pop group created in 2008 featuring Ai Takahashi

Ai Takahashi

is a Japanese pop singer associated with Hello! Project, best known as the current leader of Morning Musume, former member of its popular subgroup, Mini Moni, and most recently given the leadership role as Hello! Project's leader....
, Reina Tanaka

Reina Tanaka

is one of the sixth generation members of the J-pop group Morning Musume. Her professional first name is spelled in hiragana to differ her from the Japanese actress Rena Tanaka whose name is the same in kanji because their first names can be pronounced both as "Reina" and "Rena" and who is similarly from Fukuoka Prefecture....
, Saki Shimizu

Saki Shimizu

is a Japanese pop singer. Her career began in 2002 when she successfully passed the audition for Hello! Project Kids, an all-female teen pop group within Hello! Project....
, Maimi Yajima

Maimi Yajima

is a member and the leader of ?C-ute, a Japanese pop group within Hello! Project....
and Yuuka Maeda

Yuuka Maeda

, born on December 28, 1994 in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese pop singer and a member of Hello Pro Egg, under Hello! Project....
.

In C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as Jack, was an academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist....
's fictional Chronicles of Narnia, Peter was the High King of Narnia over Edmund, by virtue of being the eldest. He was also the High King over all Kings of Narnia, from the first to the last.
In J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Order of the British Empire was an English people English literature, poetry, Philology, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion....
's works, mainly The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's Mythopoeia works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer....
, there was a succession of High Kings
Noldor

In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor were those of the second clan of the Elf , the Tatyar, who came to Aman. According to legend, the clan was founded by Tata , the second Elf to awake at Cuivi?nen, his spouse Tati? and their 54 companions, but it was Finw?, the first Noldo to come to Valinor with Orom? and the other Elven kin...
of the Noldor
Noldor

In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor were those of the second clan of the Elf , the Tatyar, who came to Aman. According to legend, the clan was founded by Tata , the second Elf to awake at Cuivi?nen, his spouse Tati? and their 54 companions, but it was Finw?, the first Noldo to come to Valinor with Orom? and the other Elven kin...
exiled in Middle-earth
Middle-earth

Middle-earth refers to the fictional lands where most of the stories of author J. R. R. Tolkien take place. These stories include The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings....
, beginning with Fëanor
Fëanor

F?anor is a character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional history The Silmarillion. He was the eldest son of Finw?, the Noldor, and his first wife M?riel Serind? ?erind?....
and culminating in Gil-galad
Gil-galad

Ereinion Gil-galad is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, and featured in The Silmarillion....
's reign. Ingwë
Ingwe

Ingwe may be:* Ingw? - a character in the fictional universe of J.R.R. Tolkien* Ingwe - a South African anti-tank guided missile* BHP Billiton - a division of the BHP Billiton mining company...
, leader of the Vanyar
Vanyar

In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Vanyar are the fairest and most noble of the High Elf . They are the smallest of the three clans of the Eldar , and were the first to arrive in Aman....
, is also referred as the High King of the Eldar
Elf (Middle-earth)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, an Elf is an individual member of one of the races that inhabit the lands of Arda. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, but their complex history is described in full only in The Silmarillion, edited and published after Tolkien's death....
, while Manwë
Manwë

Manw? S?limo is an Ainu in J. R. R. Tolkien's Tolkien's legendarium.Manw? is first described in The Silmarillion. He is the King of the Vala , husband of Varda Elent?ri, brother of the Dark Lord Morgoth, and King of Arda....
is also sometimes titled High King of Arda
Arda

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Arda is the name given to the Earth in a period of prehistory, wherein the places mentioned in The Lord of the Rings and related material once existed....
. Thingol
Thingol

Elu Thingol is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in The Silmarillion and The Lays of Beleriand and Children of H?rin as well as in numerous stories in the many volumes of The History of Middle-earth....
is acknowledged as high-king of Beleriand by Fingolfin. In the Third Age, the rulers of Arnor
Arnor

In the fictional legendarium of J. R. R. Tolkien, Arnor, or the Northern Kingdom, was a kingdom of the D?nedain in the land of Eriador in Middle-earth....
were known as "High King," including Aragorn, as King Elessar.
In Lloyd Alexander
Lloyd Alexander

Lloyd Chudley Alexander was a widely-influential United States author of more than forty books, mostly fantasy novels for children and adolescents, as well as several adult books....
's Chronicles of Prydain, there is a line of High Kings of Prydain who are descendants of a royal family who came from the Summer Country in order to oppose Arawn. The High King throughout the series is Gwydion's father Math, who is then succeeded by Gwydion and later Taran in the final novel of the series, The High King
The High King

The High King is the last book in the Chronicles of Prydain fantasy literature series of books by Lloyd Alexander. It was awarded the Newbery Medal for excellence in United States children's literature in 1969....
.

High king

Other uses

See also