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anghraineI’ve complained about this before and will complain about it again:
1. We know that Denethor, and by extension Aragorn, Faramir, Boromir, probably other Dúnedain look like ancient Númenóreans.
(At least, the ones in Gondor are described as startlingly like Boromir, suggesting that what we’re seeing may be not only family resemblance but a distinctive Dúnadan ‘look.’)
Evidence
2. We know that ancient Númenóreans were virtually indistinguishable from Elves. Tolkien doesn’t specify which, but IMO this is much more likely to be the Noldor and Sindar with whom they actually associated and are related to than, say, Silvan.
They [the Númenóreans] became thus in appearance, and even in powers of mind, hardly distinguishable from the Elves (Letters)
3. We know that the Faithful who became the Dúnedain of Middle-earth chiefly came from the Bëorian-settled Andustar
Now the Elendili [Faithful] dwelt mostly in the western regions of Númenor (Silm)
those parts were largely settled by people of “Bëorian” descent (UT).
The Stewards, specifically, came from a Faithful family that ultimately descended from Elros and/or intermarried with the house of Anárion, making it extremely likely that their origins are Bëorian:
though the Hurinionath were not in the direct line of descent from Elendil, they were ultimately of royal origin (POME)
The Stewards belonged to a family of the ancient Elf-friends, who used (beside the Common Speech) the Noldorin tongue [Sindarin] (POME)
the Hurinionath … undoubtedly had some share in the actual blood of Elendil and Anárion (POME).
The Princes of Dol Amroth came from earlier Faithful refugees and were cousins of Elendil’s:
It was given to his ancestors by Elendil, with whom they had kinship. They were a family of the Faithful who had sailed from Númenor before the Downfall and had settled in the land of Belfalas (UT).
4. We know that there is a very distinctive Bëorian/Westlander ‘look’ in the perception of other (chiefly Hadorian) Númenóreans. They seem to consider it an exotic, Elvish sort of thing:
beauty of a kind seldom seen in Númenor; for Beregar came of the House of Bëor (UT)
he took her for one of the Eldar, who came at times to those parts of the Island [the Andustar] (UT)
4. We know that there were a few of the Edain who looked noticeably like the Elves they associated with; in particular the Bëorians tended to resemble the Noldor. Probably the most notable case is Túrin Turambar, the spitting image of his mother Morwen Eledhwen of the house of Bëor; he could be mistaken for a Noldorin lord even by Elves and was thus called Adanedhel, Man-Elf. (His mother’s epithet Eledhwen also refers to her Elf-like appearance.)
[H]e was in truth the son of Morwen Eledhwen to look upon: dark-haired and pale-skinned, with grey eyes … even among the Elves he might be taken for one from the great houses of the Noldor (Silm).
5. We know that Tolkien envisioned Gondor’s Dúnedain in Egyptian, Byzantine (Greek), and especially Italian terms. He explicitly referred to Italy as Gondor, the Dúnedain as sort of Roman and sort of Egyptian. Geographically Minas Tirith is around Florence (Italy) and Pelargir around Troy (Turkey), while culturally MT is more of a Rome-Constantinople hybrid, while Pelargir is quasi-Venetian.
Evidence.
Basically:
Bëorian Númenóreans (generally) and Edain (sometimes) look like Elves (esp Noldor), to the point that it’s possible to mistake them for each other.
Dúnedain are descended from aforementioned Bëorian Númenóreans and are strongly suggested (at times stated) to resemble them. They are also Italian-Greco-Turkish-Egyptian.
Or tl;dr:
Where are my ancient Mediterranean Elves at???
1. We know that Denethor, and by extension Aragorn, Faramir, Boromir, probably other Dúnedain look like ancient Númenóreans.
(At least, the ones in Gondor are described as startlingly like Boromir, suggesting that what we’re seeing may be not only family resemblance but a distinctive Dúnadan ‘look.’)
Evidence
2. We know that ancient Númenóreans were virtually indistinguishable from Elves. Tolkien doesn’t specify which, but IMO this is much more likely to be the Noldor and Sindar with whom they actually associated and are related to than, say, Silvan.
They [the Númenóreans] became thus in appearance, and even in powers of mind, hardly distinguishable from the Elves (Letters)
3. We know that the Faithful who became the Dúnedain of Middle-earth chiefly came from the Bëorian-settled Andustar
Now the Elendili [Faithful] dwelt mostly in the western regions of Númenor (Silm)
those parts were largely settled by people of “Bëorian” descent (UT).
The Stewards, specifically, came from a Faithful family that ultimately descended from Elros and/or intermarried with the house of Anárion, making it extremely likely that their origins are Bëorian:
though the Hurinionath were not in the direct line of descent from Elendil, they were ultimately of royal origin (POME)
The Stewards belonged to a family of the ancient Elf-friends, who used (beside the Common Speech) the Noldorin tongue [Sindarin] (POME)
the Hurinionath … undoubtedly had some share in the actual blood of Elendil and Anárion (POME).
The Princes of Dol Amroth came from earlier Faithful refugees and were cousins of Elendil’s:
It was given to his ancestors by Elendil, with whom they had kinship. They were a family of the Faithful who had sailed from Númenor before the Downfall and had settled in the land of Belfalas (UT).
4. We know that there is a very distinctive Bëorian/Westlander ‘look’ in the perception of other (chiefly Hadorian) Númenóreans. They seem to consider it an exotic, Elvish sort of thing:
beauty of a kind seldom seen in Númenor; for Beregar came of the House of Bëor (UT)
he took her for one of the Eldar, who came at times to those parts of the Island [the Andustar] (UT)
4. We know that there were a few of the Edain who looked noticeably like the Elves they associated with; in particular the Bëorians tended to resemble the Noldor. Probably the most notable case is Túrin Turambar, the spitting image of his mother Morwen Eledhwen of the house of Bëor; he could be mistaken for a Noldorin lord even by Elves and was thus called Adanedhel, Man-Elf. (His mother’s epithet Eledhwen also refers to her Elf-like appearance.)
[H]e was in truth the son of Morwen Eledhwen to look upon: dark-haired and pale-skinned, with grey eyes … even among the Elves he might be taken for one from the great houses of the Noldor (Silm).
5. We know that Tolkien envisioned Gondor’s Dúnedain in Egyptian, Byzantine (Greek), and especially Italian terms. He explicitly referred to Italy as Gondor, the Dúnedain as sort of Roman and sort of Egyptian. Geographically Minas Tirith is around Florence (Italy) and Pelargir around Troy (Turkey), while culturally MT is more of a Rome-Constantinople hybrid, while Pelargir is quasi-Venetian.
Evidence.
Basically:
Bëorian Númenóreans (generally) and Edain (sometimes) look like Elves (esp Noldor), to the point that it’s possible to mistake them for each other.
Dúnedain are descended from aforementioned Bëorian Númenóreans and are strongly suggested (at times stated) to resemble them. They are also Italian-Greco-Turkish-Egyptian.
Or tl;dr:
Where are my ancient Mediterranean Elves at???