The Landing of Elendil

[Mithalwen]

Numenoreans started to build permanent havens as early as 1200SA and a thousand years later Pelargir and Imbar were built as the chief haven and great fortress of the Numenoreans in Middle Earth ...... So there were potentially 2000 year old communities of Numenoreans in Middle Earth when Elendil and co arrived... It is in the nature of things that the first Mariners may have taken local wives but as communities became more established it is not unlikely that Numenorean families may have "emigrated" and so the Numenorean strain may have been more concentrated rather than diluted over time ... especially since the disparity of lifespan would have meant that they would have preferred spouses of Numenorean descent - especially as the Numenoreans don't seem to have remarried after widowhood.... So it is quite likely that while the numenoreans and non numenoreans may have lived together peacefully they may not have intermarried to such a great extent once the communities were established and especially when "refugees" from the rebellion arrived ..... remember it was a thousand year between the start of the rebellion and the down fall.... The decline would have been more marked after the carnage of the last alliance....... However it can be seen that some communities held out longest and lifespan was the indicator - I can't quite remember who - maybe Beregond ? said that it was uncommon to reach eighty and still be hale unless you were from a "pure blood" family - The Princes of Dol Amroth all make 100 or thereabouts ... and while Imrahill is only a few years younger than Theoden - he is portrayed as a man in his prime..... The men of Dol Amroth also retain the classic Numenorean appearance ..... height as well as longevity being a Numenorean trait.....

I think some of the regions had more non numenoreans... but I can't find that now .......

Faramir is an interesting case - he has the typical Numenorean traits of nobility of character and bearing and height - and he has a conspicuously long life reaching about 120 - which seems to be more than could have expected from his genetic legacy even allowing for the fact that he is the child of a Steward and a daughter of the "ultra pure" house of Dol Amroth. Maybe a small part of the "grace" given to the first Numenoreans was given to Faramir as a reward for his small but significant role in the success of the mission of the Ringbearer? I like to think so....