Anghraine

An anon on Tumblr said:

First of all congrats on nearing the end of your PhD program!!! Woohoo!!!

Second of all, I’m muy late to the party here (been off tumblr for a bit) but WRT these tags ( https://www.tumblr.com/anghraine/749212904253947904/khazzman-tolkien-elendil-was-called-the ) what do you mean the pregnancies were strange lol how strange can they be…?

[The tags in question: #and that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how distinct and peculiar númenóreans are #fandom has slept on it for decades but they are reallyyyyyy unusual #they have weird pregnancies (and few of them) and horse telepathy and can rarely even get injured much less sick #there's this part where tolkien is trying to mathematically figure out elvish aging (hilarious tbh) and pencils in 'and númenóreans' #that's not even getting into the uncanny valley of númenórean kids...]

My reply:

As for the first point: Thank you! I'm really looking forwards to being done, lol.

As for the second point: anon, I delight in your innocence.

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I’ve always thought it interesting that “The Mariner’s Wife” places such an emphasis on Erendis looking strange (in a beautiful way, but strange) to other people on Númenor. Aldarion thinks she’s an Elf (from Tol Eressëa, I think?) until he gets close up, and we hear later that other Númenóreans are struck by her appearance, because it is “of a kind seldom seen in Númenor; for Beregar [Erendis’s father] came of the House of Bëor.”

So it’s pretty much wholly attributed to her being Bëorian. It turns out that her whole region was predominantly settled by Bëorians, so it seems to be a regional thing.

The physical difference between Hadorians and Bëorians is usually presented in terms of hair color, but … it’s hard for me to see the other Númenóreans as so agog at someone simply having dark hair. To me it sounds like there’s something more, idk, substantial in the difference of appearance—something which, to go by Aldarion’s initial reaction to her, is at least somewhat reminiscent of the Elves who visit Númenor (presumably Eldar). Of course, Bëorians looking somewhat (or in some cases, very much) like Eldar is not new, but it adds to the association there.

This is doubly interesting because the Faithful primarily came from the same region and thus, it’s very possible that the Númenórean ‘look’ among their descendants would be more like Erendis than what was typical of most Númenóreans.

I’m not sure what Erendis does look like tbh, but I do think her look—and by extension, Bëorians’ and most of the Faithful’s—would be pretty distinctively different. 

Tagged: #i imagine that the transition to númenóreans /generally/ looking like elves is still ongoing at this point #but once it really takes hold most númenóreans look like vanyar and faithful like noldor #which is honestly kind of hilarious to me given the uhhhh cultural dynamics there #but what that difference /looks/ like beyond coloring is still up for grabs

vardasvapors on Tumblr asked:

WAIT I FIGURED ONE OUT. One of your Tindomiel posts inspired me: do you have ideas about Elros's wife? (Imo one of the most wtf occurrences of unnamed women.) As a person, founding queen, wife, mother, sister-in-law, or whatever, any of the facets.

I replied:

I agree! It is definitely one of the most ????? omissions, and when it comes to Númenórean women, that’s saying a lot.

Rambling a bit:

I generally prefer to wiggle around canon rather than rejecting the unpleasant aspects of it, so I start with the fact that her absence is baffling. What might have kept her out of the historical record? Even a partial, male-dominated historical record?

Well, one possibility is that she had a normal lifespan, which in the historical view would make her… kind of a blip in Elros’ half a millennium of life. If so, Elros almost certainly married her well after establishing Númenor (SA 32), since their firstborn child was born twenty-nine years later (SA 61). In fact, it’s very possible that she herself was born on Númenor (though in that case, she could have a longer lifespan).

I also tend to assume she wasn’t that politically prominent (more Laura than Hillary, say—not that a US First Lady is like a Queen of Númenor, but you get the idea). I don’t just mean in terms of her own conduct, but her family. We do occasionally hear something when the queen’s family is notable: Almarian’s father was captain of the ships, Erendis’ was a descendant of the lords of the house of Bëor, Inzilbêth was the Lord of Andúnië’s niece. So I’m thinking that her own background was not particularly exceptional.

Another detail I find interesting is her four children’s names. One is clearly named after Elros’ family (Tindómiel, the ‘morning star,’ obviously refers to Eärendil). One seems a vaguer reference to the Edain. But the other two, including the firstborn son, are named for the Valar. Considering that one or both of the other children are connected to Elros, I kind of like the idea that she was the one behind Vardamir and Manwendil. So I’m envisioning her as an intense devotee of the Valar, particularly Elbereth (it is the firstborn named for Elbereth, the third for Manwë).

Also for consideration: her eldest, Vardamir, was a dedicated scholar with zero interest in politics. He took the name Nolimon, something like ‘loremaster.’ That doesn’t necessarily reflect on his mother, but it’s something to consider, particularly given her apparent obscurity.

So: I tend to envision her as a bookish type like her son, and also like him, largely disinterested in public life. Originally, she could be a wise-woman à la Adanel—odds are that she’s also Hadorian. She’s a dedicated scholar and profoundly devout in her veneration of the Valar, particularly Elbereth.

I’m not even a CoH blog, but … “She was not conquered” might be my favorite line that Tolkien ever wrote in anything.

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Today’s villain origin story: descriptions of Erendis as a bitter woman who raised Ancalimë to hate men without any explanation of why

In response to this post, crocordile (now elwing) said:

😂😂😂😂😂

I replied:

It's TRUE.

She said:

Also your tag ☺️☺️☺️💖💖💖

I replied:

It took me time to see the truth, but here I am!

Inspired by a Twitter conversation:

One of the more important things about the material around Aldarion and Erendis is that it destroys the idea that the early stage of Númenórean imperialism was purely benevolent.

Like—Erendis may be rightfully bitter, but she is 100% right about sexism and war (certainly no one is able to offer a rebuttal, and her denunciation foreshadows where it’s going to lead). Tolkien says of Aldarion’s actions in Middle-earth:


That’s not “if you read between the lines you can see—” That’s The devastation wrought by the Númenóreans was incalculable, right there. It got very much worse later on, but at no stage was it harmless.