[Belegorn]

Originally Posted by Saurondil

This would imply that the Lords of Andunie retained their long lives even when the Kings did not, & lived five times as long as Lesser Men.

They certainly did have longer lifespans that the Kings I would think due to the effect of the rebellion on the King's Men specifically. The deterioration of their lifespans coincided with their grasping for longer and/or eternal life.

"The lives of the Kings of the House of Elros waned because of their REBELLION" [Sil, p. 330]

Originally Posted by Saurondil

If Elendil died prematurely at 322, this suggests his age should be divided by 5 - IOW, he had the vitality of a Lesser Man aged 64.

Are you assuming here that 322 is comparable to 64 in the Middle Men? I'm not sure if this is the case. The Dunedain as I know it did not age as other men did, lifespan aside.

"The first approach of 'world-weariness' was indeed A SIGN for them that their PERIOD OF VIGOUR was nearing its end. When it came TO AN END, if they PERSISTED IN LIVING, then DECAY WOULD PROCEED, as growth had done, NO MORE SLOWLY than among OTHER MEN." [UT, p. 236]

Only after this sign [world-weariness] would they begin to get old like other Men. A note is mentioned where it is said that the end of vigour would be around 400 or earlier, & 200 or later for the line of Elros and other Dunedain respectively. [236-237] I think even when their lifespans were almost as those of other men their vigour still held longer than other men.

Originally Posted by Saurondil

As Meneldil, unlike Valandil, was born in Numenor, he may have been born with an inbuilt resistance to loss of vitality that Valandil, born in Middle Earth, lacked. So - piling speculation on speculation ! -

I would not say he had less vitality. One was longer lived than the other, but they would both remain vital deep into their lifespans. It's not like the one with the lesser years grew weaker earlier in his lifespan than the other did in his. Unlike the few Nobles in Gondor who kept their vitality deeper into their lifespans which were close to normal men, who became weaker earlier into their lifespans.

Originally Posted by Saurondil

Meneldil's age may be divisible by 4 (to make 70) or 3 (to make 90). Valandil's age of 260 amounts to a Lesser Man's lifespan of almost 87 (3 x 87 = 261), of 65 (4 x 65 = 260), or of 52 (5 = 52 = 260). The waning in vitality or in lifespan or in both seems to begin soon after the birth of Meneldil in 3318, but to be slow, and not constant.

I'm looking at the line of the Kings of the Mark for a guage of the ages of normal Men and from Eorl to Theoden the span of life for these kings are: 60, 58, 101 [Aldor the Old], 89, 86, 80, 74, 73, 68, 72, 90, 71, 60, 73, 83, 75, & 71.

Originally Posted by Saurondil

This would provide background for interpreting Aragorn's age, and therefore, Faramir's. Cirion the Steward had been Steward from 2489 to 2567 - 78 years, or almost 2/3 of Faramir's life of 120 years. So the Stewards, even under the Shadow in Middle Earth, seem to have retained their vitality until late in the Third Age.

The House of the Stewards were certainly one of the purest houses in Gondor, "they were ultimately of royal origin, and had in any case kept their blood more pure than most other families in the later ages" [People of Middle-earth, ch. 7] It is also said of the noble families in Gondor, "indeed the span of their lives had waned to little more than that of other men, and those among them who passed the tale of five score years with vigour were grown few, save in some houses of purer blood." [TotK, p. 149]

I mentioned before about the behavior of the Dunedain having some contribution to their lengthy years. In a note in Unfinished Tales it is said, "the increase in the Numenorean span was brought about by ASSIMILATION of their MODE OF LIFE to THAT OF THE ELDAR" [235] Notably Aragorn and Faramir seem to have this assimilation, especially Aragorn who was raised in Elrond's house.

Originally Posted by Saurondil

Even if Cirion was a young man when he became Steward, 78 years is a long time. It would help if we knew whether (as with the later Rulers of Numenor) the power passed from aged Stewards to their successors: there are a lot of questions of constitutional law in the Numenorean kingdoms that are not spelled out.

Cirion was 118 when he died and I think he was one of the better ruling Stewards of Gondor. He was ever watchful and called for aid when he saw the movement of his enemies and according to Eorl, "in Cirion Eorl saw the HIGHEST and NOBLEST man of THE WORLD that HE KNEW, and the WISEST, on whom sat the MAJESTY of KINGS OF MEN of long ago." [UT, p. 317] Like his descendants in Faramir and Denethor he appeared in every which way a Numenorean.

I'm not sure what you mean by the passing of power here, but the Stewards all shared the same powers, although their worldly power varied according to the times as regards the realm of Gondor itself. The passing of office itself for the Stewards was a bit different than with the Kings because it could pass in the female like, even though the Kings of Anor and Gondor were from the female line being of the House of Andunie. So if the Steward left no son it could pass to his aunt's son or his sister's son. The council of Gondor had a hand in this choice. If the Stweard had a son the council had no power to choose.

Originally Posted by Saurondil

Answers to them might resolve some of the contradictions - like the one about when Tar-Minastir reigned.

You mean as regards to succession to the throne?

Originally Posted by Saurondil

is the environment & its effect on lifespans, etc., to be understood as a self-contained natural force - or is it a way of describing the action of the Valar upon the world ?

I think it's the way of the world. This is why the Valar created Aman, the Undying Lands, and hollowed it out and all so it is unlike the rest of Arda. This is why it is home to the Elves who're doomed to live as long as Arda survives and why Feanor's grandson and his boys were dupped into creating the Rings of Power by Sauron so that they could bring Aman to Middle-earth and stop waning and decay, etc. The Valar do have a part to play I think. At times they turn to Eru as in the case with the Rebellion in Numenor.

Originally Posted by Saurondil

When the lifespans of the Kings "wane" in Numenor, is that because of the kind of environmental change a weather-man could study; or is it, instead, the result of the action of the Valar ? What is the relation between the Valar, and events in Arda ?

I believe the Valar withdrew their gifts from the High Men due to their rebellion. They give and slowly take away and I think it was a combo when the exiles in M-E had to deal with the natural waning of M-E and the gradual withdrawing of their gifts by the Valar.

Originally Posted by Saurondil

Are the ages of Aragorn's ancestors "canonical" ? I've read some of the HoME, but not all. It can't all be canonical.

I got those from The People's of Middle Earth and they seem like they would probably coincide with the dates in the Tale of Years.