Middle-earth What-ifs

[denethorthefirst]

The relatively long lifespan of the Steward Hador stands out and i have often wondered about that. My view is that it may be an abberation and not indicative of the general life span of the numenorean nobility of that time. The stewards during the watchful Peace have, in general, a lifespan between circa 107 (Dior) to 130 years (Belegorn). Hadors son Barahir follows this trend with a lifespan of 122 years. After the end of the watchful Peace the lifespan begins to further decrease, Denethor I lives for only 102 years (a new low, maybe the shock of Saurons return and the sudden invasion of Ithilien shortened his life?). Without going into a lot of statistics that would only bore everyone: interestingly the kings of Gondor have, at least for the first 1800 years or so of the third Age, a remarkably longer lifespan than the Kings of Arnor and later Arthedain, only the later King Earnil has a comparable relatively short lifespan of "only" 160 years ... very strange. What could be the reasons for this difference? Its not a fluke, its consistent: all the kings of Gondor (except for the last two and those slain in battle) live for circa 20-40 years longer than their northern counterparts.