The Fall of Númenor Read online

  The first approach of ‘world-weariness’ [or a ‘seeking elsewither’] was indeed for them a sign that their period of vigour was nearing its end. When it came to an end, if they persisted in living, then decay would, as growth had done, soon proceed at more or less the same rate as for other Men. Thus, if a Númenórean reached the end of vigour… he would then pass quickly, in about ten years, from health and vigour of mind to decrepitude and senility.8

  Númenórean mental development was also assimilated to some degree to the Eldarin mode. Their mental capacity was greater and developed quicker than that of ordinary Men; and it was dominant. After about seven years they grew up mentally with rapidity, and at 20 years knew and understood far more than a normal human of that age. A consequence of this, reinforced by their expectation of long-lasting vigour which left them with little sense of urgency in the first half of their lives, was that they very often became engrossed in lore, and crafts, and various intellectual or artistic pursuits, to a far greater degree than normal. This was particularly the case with men.

  Of Marriage and Child-raising

  Desire for marriage, the begetting, bearing, and rearing of children, thus occupied a smaller place in the lives of Númenóreans, even of the women, than among ordinary Men. Marriage was regarded as natural for all, and once entered into was permanent…

  A Númenórean woman might marry when 20 (marriage before full-growth was not permitted); but most usually she married at about 40 to 45 years (‘age’ 24 to 25). Marriage was considered unduly delayed in her case if postponed much beyond her 95th year (‘age’ about 35).

  Men seldom married before their year 45 (age 25). Their time from the year 15 to 45 was usually engrossed in learning, in apprenticeship to one or more crafts, and (more and more as time went on) in seafaring. Postponement of marriage to about the 95th year (age 35) was very common; and, especially in the case of men of rank, high duty, or great talents, it was not seldom entered into as late as the 120th year (age 40). In the Line of Elros (especially among the children of actual kings), which was somewhat more longeval than the average and also provided many duties and opportunities (both for men and women), marriage was often later than normal: for women 95 (age 35) was frequent; and for men might be as late as the 150th year (age 46) or even later. This had one advantage: that the ‘Heir to the Sceptre’, even if the king’s eldest child, would be able to succeed while still in full vigour, though he would probably have passed through the ‘Days of the Children’ and be more free to devote himself to public concerns.

  Númenóreans, like the Eldar, avoided the begetting of children if they foresaw any separation likely between husband and wife between the conception of the child and at least its very early years.

  Númenóreans were strictly monogamous: by law, and by their ‘tradition’: that is by the tradition of the original Edain concerning conduct, afterwards re-inforced by Eldarin example and teaching…

  No one, of whatever rank, could divorce a husband or wife, nor take another spouse in the lifetime of the first.

  A second marriage was permitted, by traditional law, if one of the partners died young, leaving the other in vigour and still with a need or desire of children; but the cases were naturally very rare.

  Marriage was not entered into by all. There was (it appears from occasional statements in the few surviving tales or annals) a slightly less number of women than men, at any rate in the earlier centuries. But apart from this numerical limitation, there was always a small minority that refused marriage, either because they were engrossed in lore or other pursuits, or because they had failed to obtain the spouse whom they desired and would seek for no other.

  Like the Eldar [the Númenóreans] tended to make the period of parenthood (or as the Eldar called it, the ‘Days of the Children’) a single connected and limited period of their lives. This limitation was regarded as natural. The connexion, the treating of the period of child-bearing as an ordered and unbroken series, was considered proper and desirable, if it could be achieved. That the married pair should dwell together, with as few and short times of separation as possible, between say, the conception of their first child to at least the seventh birthday of the latest, was held to be the ideal arrangement. It was particularly desired by the women, who were naturally (as a rule) less engrossed in lore or crafts; and who had far less desire for moving about.9

  Thus the Númenóreans, who seldom had more than four children in each marriage, would frequently produce these within a period of about 50 to 75 years (between the first conception and the last birth). The intervals between the children were long as a rule, in ordinary terms: often ten years, sometimes 15 or even as much as 20 years; never less than about five years. But it has to be remembered in this regard that in proportion to their total life-span this period was only equivalent to one of about 10 to 15 years of normal human life. The intervals, if reckoned also according to their degree of approach towards the end of vigour and fertility, were thus equivalent to a (rare) minimum of one year, with a more frequent allowance of two, three, or sometimes four years.

  ‘Vigour’, that is primarily bodily health and activity, and the period of fertility and child-bearing in women, were of course not co-extensive. The child-bearing period of women was similar to that of ordinary women, though reckoned in Númenórean terms. That is, it ranged from puberty (reached by Númenórean women not long before full-growth) to an ‘age’ equivalent to a normal human 45 (with occasional extension towards 50). In years this means from about 18 to about 125 or a little more. But first children were seldom if ever conceived at the end of this time.

  Since in matters of growth, which included the conception and bearing of children, the Númenórean development differed little in speed from that of ordinary Men, these intervals seem long. But as has been said their mental interests were dominant; and also they gave great and concentrated attention to any matter that they took up. The matter of children, therefore, being of highest importance, was one that occupied most of the attention of the mother during bearing and infancy, and except in great households cast a great deal of the daily labour upon the father. Both were glad for a while to return to other neglected pursuits. But also (it was said by the Númenóreans themselves) they were in this matter more like the Eldar than other kinds of Men: in the begetting and still more in the bearing of a child far more of their vigour both of body and mind was expended (for the longevity of the later generations was, though a grace or gift, transmitted mediately10 by the parents). A rest both of body and will was, therefore, needed, especially by the women. After the conception of a child indeed desire for union became dormant for a while, in both men and women, though longer among the mothers.

  If the Númenóreans were not lustful, they did not think the love of men and women less important or of less delight than did other Men. On the contrary they were steadfast lovers; and any breaches in the bonds and affection between parents, or between them and their children were thought great evils and sorrows.

  Of Appetites and Behaviours

  There were in the early centuries few cases of the breach of the law, or even of desire to break it. The Númenóreans, or Dúnedain, were still in our terms ‘fallen Men’; but they were descendants of ancestors who were in general wholly repentant, detesting all the corruptions of the ‘Shadow’; and they were specially graced. In general they had little inclination to, and a conscious detestation of lust, greed, hate and cruelty, and tyranny. Not all of course were so noble.

  Until the Shadow came, there were in Númenor few gluttons or drunkards. No one ate or drank to excess, or indeed much at any one time. They esteemed good food, which was plentiful, and expended care and art in its cooking and serving. But the distinction between a ‘Feast’ and an ordinary meal consisted rather in this: in the adornments of the table, in the music, and in the merriment of many eating together, than in the food; though naturally at such feasts food and wines of more rare and choice sorts would sometimes appear. br />
  There were such things as wickedness among them, at first very rarely to be seen. For they were not selected by any test save that of belonging to the Three Houses of the Edain. Among them were no doubt a few of the wild men and renegades of old days, and possibly (though this cannot be asserted) actual conscious servants of the Enemy.

  This suspicion would be proved justified by events in the years from c. 2221, see below.

  Of Skills and Crafts

  The Edain brought with them much lore, and the knowledge of many crafts, and numerous craftsmen who had learned from the Eldar, directly or through their fathers, besides preserving lore and traditions of their own.

  But they could bring with them few materials, save for the tools of their crafts; and for long all metals in Númenor were precious metals. They brought with them many treasures of gold and silver, and gems also; but they did not find these things in Númenor. They loved them for their beauty, and it was this love that first aroused in them cupidity, in later days when they fell under the Shadow and became proud and unjust in their dealings with lesser folk of Middle-earth. Of the Elves of Eressëa in the days of their friendship they had at times gifts of gold and silver and jewels; but such things were rare and prized in all the earlier centuries, until the power of the Kings was spread to the coasts of the East.

  Some metals they found in Númenor, and as their cunning in mining and in smelting and smithying swiftly grew things of iron and copper became common. Lead they also had. Iron and steel they needed most for the tools of the craftsmen and for the axes of the woodsmen.

  Among the wrights of the Edain were weaponsmiths, and they had with the teaching of the Noldor acquired great skill in the forging of swords, of axe-blades, and of spearheads and knives… [and as is observed elsewhere] if they had had the mind they could easily have surpassed the evil kings of Middle-earth in the making of war and the forging of weapons; but they were become men of peace.11

  Swords the Guild of Weaponsmiths still made, for the preservation of the craft, though most of their labour was spent on the fashioning of tools for the uses of peace. The King and most of the great chieftains possessed swords as heirlooms of their fathers12; and at times they would still give a sword as a gift to their heirs. A new sword was made for the King’s Heir to be given to him on the day on which this title was conferred. But no man wore a sword in Númenor, not even in the days of the wars in Middle-earth, unless he was actually armed for battle. Thus for long there were practically no weapons of warlike intent made in Númenor. Many things made could of course be so used: axes, and spears, and bows. The bowyers were a great craft. They made bows of many kinds: long bows, and smaller bows, especially those used for shooting from horse-back; and they also devised cross-bows, at first used mainly against predatory birds. Shooting with bows was one of the great sports and pastimes of men; and one in which young women also took part. The Númenórean men, being tall and powerful, could shoot with speed and accuracy upon foot from great long bows, whose shafts would carry to great distance (some 600 yards or more), and at lesser range were of great penetration.

  Of Sports and Pastimes

  Númenor was a land of peace; within it there was no war or strife, until the last years. But the people were descended from ancestors of a hardy and warlike kind. The energy of the men was chiefly transferred to the practice of crafts; but they were also much occupied in games and physical sports. Boys and young men loved especially to live, when they could, freely in the open and to journey on foot in the wilder parts of the land. Many exercised themselves in climbing. There were no great mountains in Númenor. The sacred Mountain of the Meneltarma was near the centre of the land; but it was only about 3,000 feet high, and was climbed by a spiral road from its southern base (near where was the Valley of the Tombs, in which the kings were buried) up to its summit. But there were rocky and mountainous regions in the promontories of the North and North-west and South-west, in which some heights were about 2,000 feet. The cliffs, however, were the chief places of climbing for the daring. The cliffs of Númenor were in places of great height, especially along the west-facing coasts, the haunts of innumerable birds.

  In the Sea the strong men took their greatest delight: in swimming or in diving; or in small craft for contests of speed in rowing and sailing. The hardiest of the people were engaged in fishing: fish were abundant, and at all times one of the chief sources of food for Númenor. The cities or towns where many people congregated were all by the coast. From the fisher-folk were mostly drawn the special class of mariners, who steadily increased in importance and esteem. At first the Númenórean craft, still largely dependent on Eldarin models, were engaged only in fishing, or in coastwise journeys from port to port. But it was not long before the Númenóreans by their own study and devices improved their art of ship-building, until they could venture far out into the Great Sea.

  The women took little part in these things, though they were generally nearer to men than is the case with most races in stature and strength, and were agile and fleet of foot in youth. Their great delight was in dancing (in which many men also took part) at feasts or in leisure time. Many women achieved great fame as dancers, and people would go on long journeys to see displays of their art. They did not, however, greatly love the Sea. They would journey in need in the coastwise craft from port to port; but they did not like to be long aboard or to pass even one night in a ship. Even among the fisher-folk the women seldom took part in the sailings. But nearly all women could ride horses, treating them honourably, and housing them more nobly than any other of their domestic animals. The stables of a great man were often as large and as fair to look upon as his own house. Both men and women rode horses for pleasure. Riding was also the chief means of quick travel from place to place; and in ceremony of state both men and women of rank, even queens, would ride, on horseback amid their escorts or retinues.

  The inland roads of Númenor were for the most part ‘horse-roads’, unpaved, and made and tended for the purpose of riding.

  Coaches and carriages for journeying were in the earlier centuries little used; for the heavier transport went largely by sea. The chief and most ancient road, suitable for wheels, ran from the greatest port, Rómenna, in the East, north-west to the royal city of Armenelos (about 40 miles), and thence to the Valley of Tombs and the Meneltarma. But this road was early extended to Ondosto within the border of the Forostar (or Norlands), and thence straight west to Andúnië in the Andustar (or Westlands); it was however little used for wheeled vehicles of travel, being mainly made and used for the transport by wains of timber, in which the Westlands were rich, or of stone of the Norlands, which was most esteemed for building.

  Though the Númenóreans used horses for journeys and for the delight of riding they had little interest in racing them as a test of speed. In country sports displays of agility, both of horse and rider, were to be seen; but more esteemed were exhibitions of understanding between master and beast. The Númenóreans trained their horses to hear and understand calls (by voice or whistling) from great distances; and also, where there was great love between men or women and their favourite steeds, they could (or so it is said in ancient tales) summon them at need by their thought alone.

  So it was also with their dogs. For the Númenóreans kept dogs, especially in the country, partly by ancestral tradition, since they had few useful purposes any longer. The Númenóreans did not hunt for sport or food; and they had only in a few places upon the borders of wild lands any great need of watch-dogs. In the sheep-rearing regions, such as that of Emerië, they had dogs specially trained to help the shepherds. In the earlier centuries country-men also had dogs trained to assist in warding off or tracking down predatory beasts and birds (which to the Númenóreans was only an occasional necessary labour and not an amusement). Dogs were seldom seen in the towns. In the farms they were never chained or tethered; but neither did they dwell in the houses of men; though they were often welcomed to the central solma or hall, w
here the chief fire burned: especially the old faithful dogs of long service, or at times the puppies. It was men rather than women who had a liking to keep dogs as ‘friends’. Women loved more the wild (or ‘unowned’) birds and beasts, and they were especially fond of squirrels, of which there were great numbers in the wooded country

  While obedient [to the Valar ban on sailing to the West], people from the Blessed Realm often visited them, and so their knowledge and arts reached almost an Elvish height.13

  From Avallónë, the haven of the Eldar upon Eressëa… at times the Firstborn still would come sailing to Númenor in oarless boats, as white birds flying from the sunset.14 For the friendship that was between the peoples… they brought to Númenor many gifts: birds of song, and fragrant flowers, and herbs of great virtue. And a seedling they brought of Celeborn, the White Tree that grew in the midst of Eressëa; and that was in its turn a seedling of Galathilion the Tree of Túna, the image of Telperion that Yavanna gave to the Eldar in the Blessed Realm.15 And the tree grew and blossomed in the courts of the King in Armenelos; Nimloth it was named, and flowered in the evening, and the shadows of night it filled with its fragrance.

  Nimloth was the ancestor of what would become known as the White Tree of Gondor and memorialised as a symbol of the line of Kings and Stewards of Gondor. The genealogy of the White Tree in its various manifestations is long, dating from the First Age through until the ending of the Third and the beginning of the Fourth Ages.16 It is recorded that for many years, following the founding of Númenor, the life lived by the Númenóreans was referred to as the ‘days of bliss’.