Tumblr crosspost (3 May 2020)

[anghraine]

I reblogged this post from Oct 2018—

One of the weirder aspects of Tolkien fandom wrt LOTR is the absolute fixation on descent from Elros.

Of course there are contexts where it matters (Elrond!), but Tolkien was quite clear that obsession with descent from Elros was a Númenórean mistake. I mean, morally, but also because within a few generations, their belief in Elrosian difference was factually incorrect. That was long, long, long, longgggg before LOTR.

And yet.

—and added:

#another 'aragorn is more special than ANYONE bc he's descended from elros' was also on my dash #/sighs #elrosian and non-elrosian differences among númenóreans disappeared thousands of years before lotr #also elros has so many descendants in earlier generations that they couldn't fit on one chart #and we're talking thousands and thousands of years after that #it is very probable that all dúnedain and all of their descendants are descended from elros #the stewards are #the princes of dol amroth probably are #which means that théoden and his sisters and all of their children probably are #i've ranted about this before but ... well argh #i like elros as far as possible but... c'mon #(also he had many descendants who were. let's say. not stellar people)

Comments

[chestnut_pod]

In my heart there is a fic where Elwing visits a little fisher's child playing on Rómenna's strand, and helps her bring in a little minnow to the fisher's shack where her family live, while up the road and up the hill and up the ladder, one Tar-Jerkface or another 'counts the names of his descent dearer than the names of his sons.' Because that little girl is just as much their descendent as the king, and closer to their own experiences besides.

[anghraine]

Ooh, that would be very cool! And I laughed out loud at Tar-Jerkface :P