Tar-Aldarion changes the law of succession in Númenor; thankfully primogeniture will play no role in determining Sara’s successor on the podcast. Join The Man of the West and The Shieldmaiden of Rohan as we conclude the long and tragic tale of Aldarion and Erendis — and say farewell to Sara for this season. Soronto waits for a day that will never come, Hallacar slides into Ancalimë’s DMs, and there’s a shadow hanging over Erendis as she meets her sorrowful end in Rómenna. We note that Silmarien wants a word, wonder what the Quenya is for “man, my parents are a mess”, and discuss the great Númenórean dirigible. Also, Númenórean mix tapes.
Recommended Reading
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) (William Morrow, paperback)
The Silmarillion
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) (William Morrow, paperback)
The Nature of Middle-earth
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Carl F Hostetter, ed.) (William Morrow, hardcover)
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Carpenter, Humphrey ed. (William Morrow, paperback)
Just a thought on the end of the Aldarion and Erendis story. Remember back to the beginning where she said she was in a contest with Uinen?
“…she determined that she must utterly defeat the Sea and the ships, or else be herself defeated utterly”.
Or more directly:
There Valandil, Lord of Andúnië and close kin of Aldarion, 15 held a great feast; and at that feast he drank to Erendis, naming her Uinéniel, Daughter of Uinen, the new Lady of the Sea. But Erendis, who sat beside the wife of Valandil, said aloud: “Call me by no such name! I am no daughter of Uinen: rather is she my foe.”
Well, that’s the meaning of the final line of the story. It’s interesting how Tolkien knows when to draw back and not fill in details. There are several ways to interpret this. One is more literally ‘tragic romance’ where she gets crazy/frantic enough to try to swim out to sea in despair and drowns. The other is more Lovecraft, where she could have been wandering forlornly on the beach pining for Aldarion and was taken by a ‘sneaker’ wave. Either way, in a world of nature controlled by “spirits” (Maiar) it would be defeat by Uinen, her foe…
I really like this (in a morbid way of course). I think the Lovecraft idea you have here also pairs well as a somber callback to Maglor. I’m intrigued by the idea of both of them, particularly when, outside of the tumultuous moments we see of the sea with the voyages and Numenor, it’s something calming, something healing, something that calls to us and echoes the Music.