Quote:
Originally Posted by Huinesoron
It is entirely possible that Cirion was continuing the Stewards' habit of claiming more authority than he rightfully had. Pelendur started this by rejecting Arvedui's claim to the throne for the far weaker one of General Earnil (and by making his own post hereditary, which seems likely to have been a condition of accepting Earnil's claim); Mardil 'the Faithful' continued it by seizing the throne in all but name when Earnur vanished, and ultimately Denethor II capped the whole thing by attempting to prevent the accession of High King Elessar to the throne. It would not be surprising if Cirion - who was already in the middle of selling off a chunk of Gondor to buy an alliance, and relocating the most sacred site in the nation - didn't quite have the divine authority he asserted he did.
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While I do actually agree with the various points that have been made in response to this, including
William Cloud Hicklin's point that the utter lack of female inheritance in Gondor means Arvedui really didn't have much of a claim on the throne through his wife, and the ragged state of Arthedain meant a high kingship claim wasn't going to fly... I have just uncovered yet
another possible instance of the Stewards of Gondor overstepping their bounds.
It's 1636. Two years ago, King Minardil was killed by the great-grandsons of Castamir the Usurper, who pulled off a highly successful raid on Pelargir. His son, Telemnar, is on the throne... but the Great Plague hits. Telemnar and his family die. His brother, Minastan, also apparently dies. The heir to the throne is
his son, Tarondor, who never expected to hold it.
Except... Sangahyando and Angamaitë, Castamir's descendents, also have a claim. They too are a younger branch of the royal line, one that branched off a few generations earlier. Unlike Telemnar, they have only Numenorean blood - that was the whole
point of Castamir's revolt, that by marrying a princess of Rhovanion his cousin Valacar had sullied the bloodline (and you know, you
know that there were still Gondorians who agreed with that). And at a time when Gondor was crippled by plague, Umbar was still strong - it had, after all, taken a military victory over Gondor just two years earlier.
There are no direct hints in Tolkien's writings that the Steward considered handing the throne to the Umbar line. Except... other than his death, one of the only things said about Minardil on the wiki is that after his reign, the kings 'always chose their stewards from among Húrin [of Emyn Arnen]'s descendants'.
It does
not take a lot of imagination to picture Steward Húrin going to Prince Tarondor, hiding from the plague in Minas Anor, and saying, "There's a faction - a powerful faction - that wants to pass you over. The Usurper's descendents are strong - they could renew the watch on Mordor, and repopulate Osgiliath - and then there is the matter of your however-many-times-great grandmother.
"Of course I'm on your side - of
course I am - and I'm sure I can bring the council around. But first... first I need you to promise something."
Of course, it
could be a coincidence that the two changes in the hereditary nature of the Stewardship both come at times when the direct royal line is extinct, and there's a decent second claimant available. But I'm not sure I'd bet a silver
castar on it.
hS, Chair of the Committee for Stewardly Misconduct (I guess)