The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Middle-earth What-ifs

denethorthefirst · 07-21-2015, 03:46 AM

Another curious thing: the lifespans of the stewards and the princes of dol amroth fluctuate rather heavily, you have someone like Dior living only 107 years but then, even relatively late in the third age Belecthor lives 120 years, whereas the lifespan of the Kings only ever goes downward. I guess that's Tolkiens way of showing that the gift of the Valar has become unpredictable: in the late third age you can no longer rely on a long life just because you're of numenorean descent, it depends on genetics, the specific person and a bit of luck.

On a side note: it's my impression that with the departure of the king the political system of Gondor also changed significantly. I always had the impression that the Gondor of the Kings was modeled after the Roman/Byzantine Empire: a powerful central government, an efficient bureaucracy, a standing army, provinces with appointed governors, and so on. My guess is that the departure of the King weakened the central government and in a way jump started a "feudalization" process that fractured the once unified country.
Galador founded Dol Amroth and achieved Semi-Independence in the 21. century sometime after Earnur left and a lot of the other Provinces followed and achieved autonomy. (But did the House of Dol Amroth rule Belfalas/Dor-en-Ernil before the foundation of Dol Amroth or were they simply a very powerful local family co-existing with (or maybe occupying the position of) the official royal governor of Belfalas? A lot of this is speculation and conjecture because, sadly, Tolkien did not write all that much about the political aspects of Middle-Earth. It's also possible that it was a gradual process and the feudalization started even earlier with the Kinstrife and the Great Plague and that the collapse of the state during these catastrophes enabled the local noble houses rise to power)
The stewards of the late third age only seem to have direct control over Anorien and Ithilien, the other fiefs seem more or less autonomous and independent in all but name.

07-21-2015, 03:46 AM	#62
denethorthefirst Haunting Spirit Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 81	Another curious thing: the lifespans of the stewards and the princes of dol amroth fluctuate rather heavily, you have someone like Dior living only 107 years but then, even relatively late in the third age Belecthor lives 120 years, whereas the lifespan of the Kings only ever goes downward. I guess that's Tolkiens way of showing that the gift of the Valar has become unpredictable: in the late third age you can no longer rely on a long life just because you're of numenorean descent, it depends on genetics, the specific person and a bit of luck. On a side note: it's my impression that with the departure of the king the political system of Gondor also changed significantly. I always had the impression that the Gondor of the Kings was modeled after the Roman/Byzantine Empire: a powerful central government, an efficient bureaucracy, a standing army, provinces with appointed governors, and so on. My guess is that the departure of the King weakened the central government and in a way jump started a "feudalization" process that fractured the once unified country. Galador founded Dol Amroth and achieved Semi-Independence in the 21. century sometime after Earnur left and a lot of the other Provinces followed and achieved autonomy. (But did the House of Dol Amroth rule Belfalas/Dor-en-Ernil before the foundation of Dol Amroth or were they simply a very powerful local family co-existing with (or maybe occupying the position of) the official royal governor of Belfalas? A lot of this is speculation and conjecture because, sadly, Tolkien did not write all that much about the political aspects of Middle-Earth. It's also possible that it was a gradual process and the feudalization started even earlier with the Kinstrife and the Great Plague and that the collapse of the state during these catastrophes enabled the local noble houses rise to power) The stewards of the late third age only seem to have direct control over Anorien and Ithilien, the other fiefs seem more or less autonomous and independent in all but name. Last edited by denethorthefirst; 07-21-2015 at 04:32 AM.