Tar-Aldarion
Encyclopedia
Tar-Aldarion (–1098, reigned S.A. 883–1075) is a character from J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
’s legendarium
Legendarium
Legendary may refer to:*A hagiography, or study of the lives of saints and other religious figures**The South English Legendary, a Middle English legendary*A legend-Entertainment:*Legendary, an album by Kaysha*Legendary...
.
He was the sixth King of Númenor
Númenor
Númenor is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. It was a huge island located in the Sundering Seas to the west of Middle-earth, the main setting of Tolkien's writings, and was known to be the greatest realm of Men...
, succeeding his father, Tar-Meneldur. He was a great mariner, and during his time Númenor started to invest more in its navy and strengthened its presence overseas in Middle-earth. He wedded Erendis
Erendis
Erendis is the fictional wife of King Tar-Aldarion of Númenor in J. R. R. Tolkien's Unfinished Tales and, as such, the Queen Consort of Númenor. Erendis was beautiful, fell in love with Aldarion as a young maiden, and was approved by his parents as a suitable consort.-Fictional biography:Erendis...
in 870, but their relationship was troubled. He ruled for 192 years and surrendered the Sceptre to his daughter, Ancalimë, in 1075. He died in 1098. His tale is recorded in Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales is a collection of stories and essays by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980.Unlike The Silmarillion, for which the narrative fragments were modified to connect into a consistent and...
: Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner’s Wife, which is the only known story of Númenor before its fall.
Early years
At the time of his birth Númenor was still relatively “isolated”; it was only in relatively recent times that Númenórean seafarers had successfully made the journey back to Middle-earthMiddle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
.
In his early maturity Aldarion sailed with his maternal grandfather Vëantur to Middle-earth, and on this voyage he became enamoured of the Great Sea
Belegaer
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Belegaer, the Great Sea or the Sundering Seas, is the sea of Arda that is west of Middle-earth....
, in love with seafaring in itself and the thrill of new horizons and new lands over the horizon. During his first journeys to Middle-earth he made the friendship of Gil-galad
Gil-galad
Ereinion Gil-galad is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, and featured in The Silmarillion.- Character overview :...
and Círdan
Círdan
Círdan the Shipwright is a fictional character created by J. R. R. Tolkien. He was a Telerin Elf, a great mariner and shipwright, and lord of the Falas during much of the First Age. He was the bearer of the Great Ring Narya, which he in turn gave to Gandalf.He had a beard, which was rare for...
, from whom he learned much about both the making and management of ships. In 750 he founded the Guild of Venturers with like-minded young seafarers.
During this time he also met Erendis
Erendis
Erendis is the fictional wife of King Tar-Aldarion of Númenor in J. R. R. Tolkien's Unfinished Tales and, as such, the Queen Consort of Númenor. Erendis was beautiful, fell in love with Aldarion as a young maiden, and was approved by his parents as a suitable consort.-Fictional biography:Erendis...
, a Númenórean lady of great beauty and intelligence, but who was not descended from the Line of Elros. Encouraged by his mother, Erendis and Aldarion began a long and troubled courtship, each harbouring doubts about the idea of marrying the other, yet drawn to each other in their hearts. Erendis desired the whole loyalty of the man to whom she would be wed and feared that she could never overcome Aldarion’s love of seafaring and travel, and her fears were well-founded. Aldarion was reluctant to marry at all, feeling little pressure of time because of his grace of long life as a member of the Line of Elros. Yet almost against his will he was drawn to Erendis.
In time they did marry, but Aldarion was ever driven to the sea, and Erendis resented both his absences and his inattention to Númenor. They became estranged after the birth of their daughter and only child, Ancalimë.
Threat of Sauron and coronation
When Aldarion returned from a long journey to Middle-earth, he presented a letter from Gil-galadGil-galad
Ereinion Gil-galad is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, and featured in The Silmarillion.- Character overview :...
of Lindon
Lindon (Middle-earth)
Lindon is the land beyond the Ered Luin, the Blue Mountains, in the northwest of Middle-earth in the fictional universe of J. R. R. Tolkien. It is the westernmost land of the continent. The Gulf of Lune divides it into Forlindon and Harlindon...
to his father, King Tar-Meneldur. In this letter Gil-galad described the new threat of Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
which was descending upon Middle-earth and asked for help:
A new shadow rises in the East. It is no tyranny of evil Men, …, but a servant of MorgothMorgothMorgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...
is stirring and evil things wake again. Each year it gains in strength, for most Men are ripe for its purpose. … And now I make a bold to seek your help. If you have any strength of Men to spare, lend it to me, I beg.
— Unfinished TalesUnfinished TalesUnfinished Tales is a collection of stories and essays by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980.Unlike The Silmarillion, for which the narrative fragments were modified to connect into a consistent and...
: Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner’s Wife
When Tar-Meneldur thus learned of the extent of the danger, he abdicated in favour of his son, who he thought would be better able to deal with this new threat because of Aldarion’s many travels and knowledge of Middle-earth. Aldarion thus became King of Númenor far earlier than would have been the normal case.
King of Númenor
As king, Aldarion gave aid to Gil-galadGil-galad
Ereinion Gil-galad is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, and featured in The Silmarillion.- Character overview :...
, established new havens and bases (of which Vinyalondë was most notable) on the coasts of Middle-earth, and laid the groundwork in Númenor for the creation of a great naval power.
Aldarion’s efforts as king only worsened his conflicts with his wife, who had little care or interest for the world beyond Númenor, and who disdained seafaring and feared, and at times almost hated, the Sea. Her love was given directly to the woods and forests of Númenor and indirectly to the isolated and “innocent” realm of her youth, and Aldarion was changing both. Though Aldarion was a careful steward of Númenor’s resources, planting more trees than he cut for his ships and fleets, he did so out of a sense of duty and conservation of resources for the future, not out of love for the trees and forests. Under the reign of Aldarion wild forests were replaced by plantations of trees, and the attention of Númenor turned outward from the Isle, to Erendis’s dismay.
Twisted in her way by the war between her parents, and perhaps having inherited many of the worse traits of each, Aldarion’s daughter, Ancalimë, grew up to be beautiful, but stubborn and wayward. Her father changed the inheritance laws of Númenor so that his daughter could inherit the Sceptre after him, doing this in part out of paternal feeling but probably more as a move in his war with his wife. In so doing he disinherited his nephew Soronto, and set a lasting precedent for the future. In due time Ancalimë did succeed her father, who passed the Sceptre to her, in accordance with Númenórean custom, some years before his death.
Much about Aldarion’s later years and exactly which actions he took as a king to help Gil-galad and counter Sauron’s threat is unclear, as Tolkien never finished the tale of Aldarion and Erendis, although Christopher Tolkien
Christopher Tolkien
Christopher Reuel Tolkien is the third and youngest son of the author J. R. R. Tolkien , and is best known as the editor of much of his father's posthumously published work. He drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings, which he signed C. J. R. T. The J...
provided some hints about his later history in Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales is a collection of stories and essays by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980.Unlike The Silmarillion, for which the narrative fragments were modified to connect into a consistent and...
.
There is no mention [in Tolkien’s writings] of any further development of the alliance with Gil-galad, or of the sending of the aid that he requested in his letter to Tar-Meneldur; it is indeed said that “Aldarion was too late, or too early. Too late: for the power that hated Númenor had already waked. Too early: for the time was not yet ripe for Númenor to show its power or to come back into the battle for the world.”
— Christopher TolkienChristopher TolkienChristopher Reuel Tolkien is the third and youngest son of the author J. R. R. Tolkien , and is best known as the editor of much of his father's posthumously published work. He drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings, which he signed C. J. R. T. The J...
in Unfinished Tales: Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner’s Wife, Section: Further course of the narrative.
Aldarion died in 1098 of the Second Age, having lived 398 years, ruled Númenor for 192 years, and having outlived his wife Erendis by over a century. His successor as ruler of Númenor was his daughter, Ancalimë.
External links
- Rómenna Meeting Report — January 14, 1984 (A commentary on the story of Aldarion and Erendis)
- A History and Complete Chronology of Númenor — A detailed chronology of Númenor, its successor states and their rulers.