Unfinished Tales - Part Two - III - The Line of Elros: Kings of Númenor

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Eruhen

I also quite like reading anything that the Professor wrote on Westernesse. I really wish that he had written more about the Second Age in addition to the First.
I've wished and hoped quite often for a discovery of a version of the Akallabêth written in the fashion of "Aldarion and Erendis". Probably not going to happen, but it's nice to dream about.

Let's dream on Eruhen! We can always imagine how it went, how the people were, what they thought, how they behaved, what motivated them... That's also a good thing great fiction offers the reader, room for imagination!

Although I must agree I'd happily read more of the prof's possible ideas on Númenor and the people in there (or the Second Age in general).

[Eruhen]

As far as info from the Second Age goes, I'd like to know more about Gil-Galad, the Numenorean colonies (tantalizing info in "A & E", huh?), and the history and movements of the Dwarves. While we're making wish lists, I'd like a more detailed history of the Hobbits, a map of all of Middle-Earth post-Downfall from the hand of the Professor, and a parrot that can sing the Lay of Leithian in Sindarin.

But, as far as the Akallabêth goes, I found this while poking around on Ardalambion a while ago. I know it's by and large Mr. Fauskanger's work, but it's still fantastic, in my opinion. Definitely some of the best fan-fiction I've ever read, in any genre. Definitely better than the garbage video games that are most of my exposure to Tolkien fanfics.

[Dilettante]

As far as a favorite ruler of Numenor, would have to say Tar-Palantir because he was wise and he repented of the rebellion against the Valar wrought by his predecessors. (And his mum, Inzilbeth is also a favorite of mine.) He tried to stop what he saw coming and even visited the Meneltarma, unlike his father who had abandoned respect for Manwe and the rest. Alas, it seems to be to little too late.

I found myself wondering about Inzilbeth, how she was of the Faithful but was wedded to Ar-Gimilzor who persecuted the Faithful. Was she forced into their marriage? Or perhaps, did she take it upon herself to marry him any try to infiltrate his regime and bring an end to the destruction he was wreaking? That would be a cool story.

Speaking of marriages, royal marriages in Numenor seem to be disasters more often that not. Were they arranged? Or were they marrying for power/wealth rather than love?

I should have mentioned this in the discussion of Aldarion and Erendis, since that is where the table is; but this is The Line of Elros so it fits. I noticed that the daughter of Elros is Tindomiel which, if I am correct, is Morning Star. Fitting, considering her cousin is Undomiel, the Even Star. I was about to say these two girls frame the beginning and ending of the second age, but Arwen Undomiel was born several hundred years after the Third Age began. Still, is there a reason that one is Morning and the other Evening?

But, as far as the Akallabêth goes, I found this while poking around on Ardalambion a while ago. I know it's by and large Mr. Fauskanger's work, but it's still fantastic, in my opinion. Definitely some of the best fan-fiction I've ever read, in any genre. Definitely better than the garbage video games that are most of my exposure to Tolkien fanfics.

Eruhen, I have practically stopped reading fanfiction altogether. I agree, most of it is tripe. However, that looks pretty good.

[Guinevere]

To several of the kings listed in the "Line of Elros" there can be found more details in the Akallabêth, but it is an interesting complement.

I find Nogrod's comparison to Plato's "republic" (which I didn't know) very interesting and true.

What strikes me most, are all those birth- and death-dates and length of rules.
That the descendants of Elros had a longer life span seems logical, because of their Elven ancestry, but I ask myself how the Valar actually could alter the life span of the other Numenoreans...?

Also, it seems inconceivable how late everyone got married and how few children they had. The race of the Numenoreans apparently had a very low sex drive...

Originally posted by Esty
The one fact I find most interesting foreshadows Aragorn's death at the end of LotR - the ability of Númenorean kings to die at their own will.

I find this fascinating too!

From letter #212:
It was also the Elvish (and uncorrupted Númenorean) view that a "good" Man would or should die voluntarily by surrender with trust before being compelled (as did Aragorn). This may have been the nature of unfallen Man; though compulsion would not threaten him: he would desire and ask to be allowed to "go on" to a higher state.

I think that many people would wish for this ability to “fall asleep” at a time and under circumstances that they could choose themselves, rather than lingering on while the infirmities and indignities of old age assail the body. Especially in our time where modern medicine creates often problematic situations where life (and suffering) are artificially prolonged. Hence the huge success of “Right-to-die-Societies” !
I do wonder what Tolkien would have said to that?!

Btw, Helge Fauskanger's interesting text is not exactly fanfiction, it's his suggestions of how a movie prequel could be made from the story of the rise and fall of Númenor. Of course, doing this would involve a lot of "Fanfiction" indeed. (Well, we will have enough of fanfiction in the coming "Hobbit" movie!!)

My favourite among the Númenorean rulers is still King Meneldur, because of his thoughts and acts after receiving Gil-Galad's letter.
And I think it very sad that after her father's death, Ancalimë neglected all his policies.

[Formendacil]

I am woefully behind in keeping up with the Unfinished Tales read-through, but fortunately these threads have no best-before date, so I can attempt to catch myself up over the next week or two.

Mind you, there's little enough to say about "The Line of Elros." For the most part, it reads like a more fleshed-out version of the LotR Appendices (A & B), chunks of which we already have fleshed out further in "Aldarion and Erendis" and "The Akallabêth." It's in the middle, between Tar-Anárion and Tar-Palantír that we get the most additional information.

One thing that struck me, though, about "The Line of Elros" was how many times Christopher Tolkien had to put in a footnote noting deviation from the Appendices. In a couple cases, he says that he can't explain the deviation. As he says in the Introduction: "The text introduces some minor chronological puzzles, but also allows clarification of some apparent errors in the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings."

What I find interesting to think about here is whether Tolkien might have wanted some discrepancies to stand. Tolkien is obsessed throughout his mythmaking with presenting an historically plausible framework for the transmission of his myths, and the simple fact is that records often don't line up. For example, the accounts of the kings of Judah and Israel in the Bible are rather different from the Book of Kings to the Book of Chronicles, or we often see a range of possible years for the birth of Roman Emperors or medieval monarchs.

This isn't to say that I don't think Christopher Tolkien is right about "The Line of Elros" clarifying some of the Appendices, but in a couple of a cases I wonder if the confusion might be deliberate. There are indications of this, I think, in the content of the text and not just in its implications. Some of the information we're given seems to flat-out contradict other sources. For example, Christopher Tolkien notes that the laws of succession don't seem to be applied consistently across "Aldarion and Erendis" and "The Line of Elros" in notes 5 & 8. What really got me thinking about this, though, was the inclusion of "Tar-Anducal" under the entry for Tar-Vanimeldë, the third ruling queen. In particular, the following line stood out:

Originally Posted by Tolkien, "The Line of Elros"

Herucalmo took the sceptre upon his wife's death, calling himself Tar-Anducal, and withholding the rule from his son Alcarin; yet some do not reckon him in the Line of Kings as seventeenth, and pass to Alcarin.

"Some" clearly includes the author of the Appendices...