and WHILE I'm ranting

[anghraine]

I periodically see very nice posts about how sweet it is that Elrond is so kind towards all of Elros's descendants, and they are nice and I don't respond, because every time, my mind goes straight to Elrond talking about Gondorian Dúnedain's racial impurity right in front of a Gondorian Dúnadan descended from Elros.

I remember someone on Tumblr being like, okay, that's only one sentence, but ... uh, how many sentences of it do we really need? Unless he's misrepresenting himself, that sentence is still what he thinks.

Comments

[chestnut_pod]

It Sure Is A Line! It's a really interesting character note, honestly. I wonder what drives it, from a Watsonian perspective.

[anghraine]

It very much is a line, and one that ... well, I get why people would want to overlook it, and why Silm fans in particular would be more invested in Elrond than late Third Age Gondor, but the general breezing past it makes it all the more difficult to get past for me personally.

If we assume that most Dúnedain at this point are descended from Elros (which seems probable), then I guess it's possible that the dwindling of Númenóreanness = a loss of personal connection. But that's a generous reading, because in his speech in the Council, what he really seems to regret about Gondor's current state is the fading of their imperial power à la Númenor that he ties to racial impurity. :\