Heren Istarion is a figure of contention and mystery. Among others, he has been identified as:
five separate personalities forming an Order of Wizards
The Necromancer of Threadwood
A large, ever-sparkling orange firework
and
King George the Fourth of Georgia
Certainly, there is no doubt he possesses deeply magical powers. Despite his exotic origins in Valinor/somewhere in the East/Rasghobel/Isengard/Georgia, his mastery of the tongue of the Angles and Saxons far surpasses that of any of us prosaic inhabitants of "Tol Eressea", and is distinguished for its fluency, originality, yea, and usefulness too. Obscure Latinate constructions that we mere Britons have long forgotten find a haven in the Heren English Dictionary (it's well known that the HED outstripped the OED back in the Third Age...)
He is known to be the most generous inhabitant of the Downs, and is a prodigious rep-pourer, though some sources have him down as sending the occasional mischievous anonymous rep...
In the Seventh Age,
Heren Istarion took a wife of mysterious beauty, who is captured in a picture where her face slips away. Mrs Istarion is registered, rumour has it, to the Downs, though she is quite self-effacing. Reactions to the news of the union caused various lines of speculation along these terms:
"Ask her to study Heren and tell us everything she finds out about the Blue Wizards!"
But presumably the discreet Mrs Istarion is sworn to secrecy on such topics.
Finally, Heren is one of the greatest romanciers of our time. Listen to his description of the birth of Aranarth:
Quote:
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Third party may lawfully knock holes in both theories, indicating the whole story as mere typo on Tolkien's part. But I prefer to dream romance behind it, masked Arvedui climbing the walls and swimming over Anduin to (not to lose sight of the title) kiss his beloved, that kind of thing. And little Aranarth being as much a cause for the wedding as political necessity may have been. Things tend to be hushed up in higher up circles, yer honour. Having in mind marriage customs, though, every union is automatically 'in wedlock', so 1940 T.A. may be viewed as the year of 'official rituals', confirming the fact.
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