Anghraine

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