Tumblr crosspost (8 September 2020)
Feb. 27th, 2024 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anghraineThinking about it, part of the reason that Númenóreans/Dúnedain speak to me so much is that I’m honestly a sucker for Chosen One/Chosen Ones narratives. Characters who have cool powers and whatnot because they’re Just That Special? YESGOOD
… if they’re human.
Elves and their like are fine and all, but idk, characters just don’t speak to me that way unless they’re essentially human (even if they’re something else, too). And part of the deal with Númenóreans is that they ultimately become Just That Special as a people, regardless of descent. The differences between Elf-descended Númenóreans and the others largely vanish after a few generations.
When Third Age characters talk about Númenórean identity or Númenórean types, it’s not some shorthand for Elvishness, even though it’s related—in some ways Númenóreans are more like Elves than like other humans, but Númenóreanness is nevertheless a distinct quality (sometimes contrasted with Elvishness, at that). And Númenórean history and culture are shaped by their fundamental human natures and ties to their human ancestors and contemporaries. Yet they’re special! Super special!
YESGOOD
Tagged: #i was 14 or 15 when i first read lotr and the dúnedain were the purest id candy imaginable #'window on the west' was just the perfect blend of 'human beings doing their best' and 'SPECIAL. SO SPECIAL' #this is probably part of the reason that the treatment of dúnedain as basically just like other humans or cut-rate elves is so annoying #they are like humans and like elves and like neither and this is the thing that makes them so cool!
… if they’re human.
Elves and their like are fine and all, but idk, characters just don’t speak to me that way unless they’re essentially human (even if they’re something else, too). And part of the deal with Númenóreans is that they ultimately become Just That Special as a people, regardless of descent. The differences between Elf-descended Númenóreans and the others largely vanish after a few generations.
When Third Age characters talk about Númenórean identity or Númenórean types, it’s not some shorthand for Elvishness, even though it’s related—in some ways Númenóreans are more like Elves than like other humans, but Númenóreanness is nevertheless a distinct quality (sometimes contrasted with Elvishness, at that). And Númenórean history and culture are shaped by their fundamental human natures and ties to their human ancestors and contemporaries. Yet they’re special! Super special!
YESGOOD
Tagged: #i was 14 or 15 when i first read lotr and the dúnedain were the purest id candy imaginable #'window on the west' was just the perfect blend of 'human beings doing their best' and 'SPECIAL. SO SPECIAL' #this is probably part of the reason that the treatment of dúnedain as basically just like other humans or cut-rate elves is so annoying #they are like humans and like elves and like neither and this is the thing that makes them so cool!