I love the whole story of Tal-Elmar. Tolkien is often accused of a black-and-white worldview, but Tal-Elmar certainly makes the picture more gray. The pre-Pharazon (
) Númenóreans are portarayed somewhat ideal good (though they might have some little faults), but Tal-Elmar shows there's another side to them. It doesn't glorify the wild men of Middle-Earth either: Tal-Elmar's grandmother/mother (Tolkien varied their relationship and it was left a bit unclear who she was) was taken captive by the wildmen and forced to marry one of them, and as Bethberry says, that was gentle fate for one that was taken as slave.