The Fall of Númenor Read online

  The animals named ekelli seem to have been urchins or hedgehogs of large size, with long black quills. They were numerous in some parts, and treated with friendship, for they lived mostly upon worms and insects. There seem to have been wild goats in the island, but whether the small horned sheep (which were one of the varieties of sheep-kind that the Númenóreans kept) were native or imported is not known. A small kind of horse, smaller than a donkey, black or dark brown, with flowing mane and tail, and sturdy rather than swift, is said to have been found in the Mittalmar by the settlers. They were soon tamed, but throve and were well-tended and loved. They were much used in the farms; and children used them for riding.

  Many other beasts there were no doubt that are seldom named since they did not generally concern Men. All must have been named and described in the books of lore that perished.

  About the coasts seals were abundant, especially in the north and west. And there were also many smaller animals, not often mentioned: such as mice and voles, or small preying beasts such as weasels. Hares are named; and other animals of uncertain kind: some that were not squirrels, but lived in trees, and were shy, not of men only; others that ran on the ground and burrowed, small and fat, but were neither rats nor rabbits. In the south there were some land-tortoises, of no great size; and also some small freshwater creatures of turtle-kind.

  Of Seawater and Freshwater Fish

  Sea-fish were abundant all about the coasts of the island, and those that were good to eat were much used. Other beasts of the sea there were also off the shores: whales and narwhal, dolphins and porpoises, which the Númenóreans did not confuse with fish (lingwi), but classed with fish as nendili all those that lived wholly in the water and bred in the sea. Sharks the Númenóreans saw only upon their voyages, for whether by the ‘grace of the Valar’ as the Númenóreans said, or for other cause they did not ever come near the shores of the island. Of inland fish we hear little. Of those that live in the sea partly, but enter the rivers at times, there were salmon in the Siril, and also in the Nunduinë, the river that flowed into the sea at Eldalondë, and on its way made the small lake of Nísinen (one of the few in Númenor) about three miles inland: it was so called because of the abundance of sweet-smelling shrubs and flowers that grew on its banks. Eels were abundant in the meres and marshes about the lower course of the Siril.

  Of Birds

  The birds of Númenor were beyond count, from the great eagles down to the tiny kirinki that were no bigger than wrens, but all scarlet, with high piping voices the sounds of which were on the edge of human hearing. The eagles were of several kinds; but all were held sacred to Manwë, and were never molested nor shot, not until the days of evil and the hatred of the Valar began. Not until then did they on their part molest men or prey on their beasts. From the days of Elros until the time of Tar-Ankalimon [the fourteenth King of Númenor], son of Tar-Atanamir, some two thousand years, there was an eyrie of golden eagles in the summit of the tower of the king’s palace in Armenelos. There one pair ever dwelt and lived on the bounty of the king.

  The birds that dwell near the sea, and swim or dive in it, and live upon fish, abode in Númenor in multitudes beyond reckoning. They were never killed or molested by intent by the Númenóreans, and were wholly friendly to them. Mariners said that were they blind they would know that their ship was drawing near home because of the great clamour of the shore-birds. When any ship approached the land seabirds in great flocks would arise and fly above it for no purpose but welcome and gladness. Some would accompany the ships on their voyages, even those that went to Middle-earth.

  Inland the birds were not so numerous, but were nonetheless abundant. Some beside the eagles were birds of prey, such as the hawks and falcons of many kinds. There were ravens, especially in the north, and about the land other birds of their kin that live in flocks, daws and crows and about the sea-cliffs many choughs. Smaller song-birds with fair voices abounded in the fields, in the reedy meres, and in the woods. Many were little different from those of the lands from which the Edain came; but the birds of finch-kind were more varied and numerous and sweeter-voiced. There were some of small size all white, some all grey; and others all golden, that sang with great joy in long thrilling cadences through the spring and early summer. They had little fear of the Edain, who loved them. The caging of song-birds was thought an unkind deed. Nor was it necessary, for those that were ‘tame’, that is: who attached themselves of free will to a homestead, would for generations dwell near the same house, singing upon its roof or on the sills, or even in the solmar or chambers of those that welcomed them. The birds that dwelt in cages were for the most part reared from young whose parents died by mischance or were slain by birds of prey; but even they were mostly free to go and come if they would. Nightingales were found, though nowhere very abundant, in most parts of Númenor save the north. In the northern parts there were large white owls, but no other birds of this race.

  Of Trees and Plants

  Of the native trees and plants little is recorded. Though some trees were brought in seed or scion from Middle-earth, and others (as has been said) came from Eressëa, there seems to have been an abundance of timber when the Edain landed. Of trees already known to them it is said that they missed the hornbeam, the small maple, and the flowering chestnut; but found others that were new to them: the wych-elm, the holm-oak, tall maples, and the sweet chestnut. In the Hyarrostar they found also walnuts; and the laurinquë in which they delighted for its flowers, for it had no other use. This name they gave it (‘golden rain’) because of its long-hanging clusters of yellow flowers; and some who had heard from the Eldar of Laurelin, the Golden Tree of Valinor, believed that it came from that great Tree, being brought in seed thither by the Eldar; but it was not so.2 Wild apple, cherry, and pear also grew in Númenor; but those that they grew in their orchards came from Middle-earth, gifts from the Eldar. In the Hyarnustar the vine grew wild; but the grape-vines of the Númenóreans seem also to have come from the Eldar.

  Of the many plants and flowers of field and wood little is now recorded or remembered; but old songs speak often of the lilies, the many kinds of which, some small, some tall and fair, some single-bloomed, some hung with many bells and trumpets, and all fragrant, were the delight of the Edain.

  Of the flora of Eldalondë the Green, the haven at the centre of the Bay Eldanna, it is recorded:

  All about that place, up the seaward slopes and far into the land, grew the evergreen and fragrant trees that they brought out of the West, and so throve there that the Eldar said that almost it was fair as a haven in Eressëa. They were the greatest delight of Númenor, and they were remembered in many songs long after they had perished for ever, for few ever flowered east of the Land of Gift: oiolairë and lairelossë, nessamelda, vardarianna, taniquelassë, and yavannamirë with its rose-like flowers and globed and scarlet fruits. Flower, leaf, and rind of those trees exuded sweet scents and all that country was full of blended fragrance; therefore it was called Nísimaldar, the Fragrant Trees. Many of them were planted and grew, though far less abundantly, in other region of Númenor; but only here grew the mighty golden tree malinornë reaching after five centuries a height scarce less than it achieved in Eressëa itself. Its bark was silver and smooth, and its boughs somewhat upswept after the manner of the beech; but it never grew save with a single trunk. Its leaves, like those of the beech but greater, were pale green above and beneath were silver glistering in the sun; in the autumn they did not fall, but turned to pale gold. In the spring it bore golden blossom in clusters like a cherry, which bloomed on during the summer; and as soon as the flowers opened the leaves fell, so that through spring and summer a grove of malinornë was carpeted and roofed with gold, but its pillars were of grey silver.

  Long after these times, in the Third Age, Legolas the Elf uses similar words when speaking to the remnant of the Fellowship of the Ring of the Elven-realm of Celeborn and Galadriel.

  ‘There lie the woods of Lothlórien!’ said
Legolas. ‘That is the fairest of all the dwellings of my people. There are no trees like the trees of that land. For in the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold. Not till the spring comes and the new green opens do they fall, and then the boughs are laden with yellow flowers; and the floor of the wood is golden, and golden is the roof, and its pillars are of silver, for the bark of the trees is smooth and grey. So still our songs in Mirkwood say. My heart would be glad if I were beneath the eaves of that wood, and it were springtime!’3

  The relationship between the trees of the Golden Wood and the malinornë of Númenor is chronicled thus:

  Its fruit was a nut with a silver shale; and some were given as gift by Tar-Aldarion, the sixth King of Númenor, to King Gil-galad of Lindon. They did not take root in that land; but Gil-galad gave some to his kinswoman Galadriel, and under her power they grew and flourished in the guarded land of Lothlórien beside the River Anduin, until the High Elves at last left Middle-earth; but they did not reach the height or girth of the great groves of Númenor.

  Of the Beasts and Birds of the Edain

  To the land the Edain brought many things from Middle-earth: sheep, and kine, and horses, and dogs; fruiting trees; and grain. Water-fowl such as birds of duck-kind or geese they found before them; but others they brought also and blended with the native races. Geese and ducks were domestic fowls on their farms; and there also they kept multitudes of doves or pigeons in great houses or dovecotes, mainly for their eggs. Hen-fowl they had not known and found none in the island; though soon after the great voyages began mariners brought back cocks and hens from the southern and eastern lands, and they throve in Númenor, where many of them escaped and lived in the wild, though harried by the foxes.

  THE LIFE OF THE NÚMENÓREANS1

  Of Cities

  Of old the chief city and haven of Númenor was in the midst of its western coasts, and it was called Andúnië because it faced the sunset… with its town beside the shore and many other dwellings climbing up the steep slopes behind.

  Hard [by Meneltarma] upon a hill was Armenelos, fairest of cities, and there stood the tower and the citadel that was raised by Elros son of Eärendil, whom the Valar appointed to be the first King of the Dúnedain.2

  Of Belief and Worship

  Near to the centre of the Mittalmar stood the tall mountain called the Meneltarma, Pillar of the Heavens, sacred to the worship of Eru Ilúvatar… A winding spiral road was made upon it, beginning at its foot upon the south, and ending below the lip of the summit upon the north. For the summit was somewhat flattened and depressed, and could contain a great multitude; but it remained untouched by hands throughout the history of Númenor. No building, no raised altar, not even a pile of undressed stones, ever stood there; and no other likeness of a temple did the Númenóreans possess in all the days of their grace, until the coming of Sauron. There no tool or weapon had ever been borne; and there none might speak any word, save the King only. Thrice only in each year the King spoke, offering prayer for the coming year at the Erukyermë in the first days of spring, praise of Eru Ilúvatar at the Erulaitalë in midsummer, and thanksgiving to him at the Eruhantalë at the end of autumn. At these times the King ascended the mountain on foot followed by a great concourse of the people, clad in white and garlanded, but silent. At other times the people were free to climb to the summit alone or in company, but it is said that the silence was so great that even a stranger ignorant of Númenor and all its history, if he were transported thither, would not have dared to speak aloud. No bird ever came there, save only eagles. If anyone approached the summit, at once three eagles would appear and alight upon three rocks near to the western edge; but at the times of the Three Prayers they did not descend, remaining in the sky and hovering above the people They were called the Witnesses of Manwë, and they were believed to be sent by him from Aman to keep watch upon the Holy Mountain and upon all the land.3

  The Númenóreans thus began a great new good, and as monotheists; but… with only one physical centre of ‘worship’: the summit of the mountain Meneltarma ‘Pillar of Heaven’ – literally, for they did not conceive of the sky as a divine residence – in the centre of Númenor; but it had no building and no temple, as all such things had evil associations.4

  [Between the south-western and south-eastern ridges of the Tarmasundar, the Roots of the Pillar] the land went down into a shallow valley. That was named Noirinan, the Valley of the Tombs; for at its head chambers were cut in the rock at the base of the mountain, in which were the tombs of the Kings and Queens of Númenor.

  Of Language

  The Númenórean language was Adûnaic (‘language of the West’) or, to use its native name, Adûnayân.

  The Númenórean language was in the main derived from the speech of the people of [the House of] Hador (much enlarged by additions from the Elven-tongues at different periods).5 The people of Bëor had in a few generations abandoned their own speech (except in the retention of many personal names of native origin) and adopted the Elven-tongue of Beleriand, the Sindarin. This distinction was still observable in Númenor. Nearly all Númenóreans were bi-lingual. But where the main mass of settlers came from the people of Bëor, as was the case especially in the North-west, Sindarin was the daily tongue of all classes and Númenórean (or Adûnayân) a second language. In most parts of the country Adûnayân was the native language of the people, though Sindarin was known in some degree by all except the stay-at-home and untravelled of the farming folk. In the Royal House, however, and in most of the house of the noble or learned, Sindarin was usually the native tongue, until after the days of Tar-Atanamir [the Thirteenth King of Númenor].

  Sindarin used for a long period by mortal Men naturally tended to become divergent and dialectal; but this process was largely checked, at any rate so far as the nobles and learned were concerned, by the constant contact that was maintained with the Eldar in Eressëa, and later with those who remained in Lindon in Middle-earth. The Eldar came mostly to the West regions of the country. Quenya was not a spoken tongue. It was known only to the learned, and to the families of high descent (to whom it was taught in their early youth). It was used in official documents intended for preservation, such as the Laws, and the Scroll and Annals of the Kings, and often in more recondite works of lore. It was also largely used in nomenclature. The official names of all places, regions, and geographical features in the land were of Quenya form (though they usually also had local names, generally of the same meaning, in either Sindarin or Adûnayân). The personal names and especially the official and public names of all members of the Royal House, and of the Line of Elros in general, were given in Quenya form. The same was true of some other families, such as the House of the Lords of Andúnië [who lived in the important city port of the western region of Andustar.]6

  Of Appearance and Health

  The people, tall and strong, were agile, and extremely ‘aware’: that is they were in control of their bodily actions, and of any tool or material they handled, and seldom made absent-minded or blundering movements; and they were very difficult to take ‘off their guard’. Accidents were thus unlikely to occur to them. If any did, they had a power of recovery and self-healing, which if inferior to that of the Eldar, was much greater than that of Men in Middle-earth. Also among the matters of lore that they specially studied was hröangolmë or the lore of the body and the arts of healing.

  Sicknesses or other bodily disorders were very rare in Númenor until the latter years. This was due both to the special grace of health and strength given to the race as a whole, but especially due to the blessing of the land itself; and also in some measure no doubt to its situation far out in the Great Sea: animals were also mostly free from disease. But the few cases of sickness provided a practical function, so far as one was needed, for the continued study of hröangolmë (or physiology and medicine) in which the practisers of simple leechcraft among the Edain had received much instruction from the Eldar, and in which they were able still to learn fr
om the Eressëans,7 so long as they would. In the first days of the coming of Númenórean ships to the shores of Middle-earth [beginning in year 600 of the Second Age] it was indeed their skill in healing, and their willingness to give instruction to all who would receive it, that made the Númenóreans most welcomed and esteemed.

  Death untimely, whether by sickness or mischance, seldom occurred in the early centuries. This the Númenóreans recognized as due to the ‘grace of the Valar’ (which might be withheld in general or in particular cases, if it ceased to be merited): the land was blessed, and all things, including the Sea, were friendly to them.

  Of Ageing and Longevity

  Long life and Peace were the two things that the Edain asked for when the Valar offered them reward at the fall of Thangorodrim.

  The long life of the Númenóreans was in answer to the actual prayers of the Edain (and Elros). Manwë warned them of its perils. They asked to have more or less the ‘life-span of old’, because they wanted to learn more.

  Of that reward of a longer life-span granted to the Númenóreans, it is written:

  The increase of the Númenórean life-span was brought about by assimilating their life-mode to that of the Eldar, up to a limited point. They were however expressly warned that they had not become Eldar, but remained ‘mortal Men’, and had been granted only an extension of the period of their vigour of mind and body. Thus (as the Eldar) they ‘grew’ at much the same rate as ordinary Men: gestation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence up to puberty and ‘full-growth’ proceeded more or less as before; but when they had achieved full-growth they then aged or ‘wore out’ very much slower…