Eowyn, Eomer.....Their Lifespans?

[Boromir88]

I would be very shocked if Eldarion reached even close to Aragorn's age. Even at this time Aragorn was old amongst the Dunedain. I also think it's funny how we are the only people responding on this thread lol.

[Mithalwen]

Yes but with an Elvish Mummy you would expect a reasonable innings.... yes .... does no one else care? LOL

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Whether one parent is elven the other is mortal, by blood you could be half-elves, but Manwe puts the "choice" on people, like Earendil and Elwing's sons, Elrond and Elros. (Boromir88)

To elaborate on this: Manwë (under consultation from Eru) gave them a choice, because Elf-Man offsprings are mortal - yes, Dior is mortal - and are banned from stepping into the Undying Lands. Mandos raised the question himself, and Manwë gave the choice as an answer to his question - frankly, I have no idea what would happen had Eärendil or Elwing chosen to be of the Atani. But they didn't.

The choice was extended to their children, and their children alone, because of some reward. Since I don't have the books with me, I forgot the right reason. But there.

Oh, and hope this helps. It's about the Rohirrim and the Númenórean blood.

[Osse]

Mithalwen: "Yes but with an Elvish Mummy..."

I was unaware that the Elves were into mumification! That adds a completely new skew to their religious beliefs... :P

The question of Eldarion's lifespan is quite interesting - would Arwen's potency be passed on? As the choice was for only the children of Elrond, would any blood related long-life have been passed on? My guess is probably not in Eldarion's case. The gift of the Choice was given only to two the Twins (and in Elrond's case, passed on to his descendants). I do not believe that Eldarion would have inherited the grace that was brought by Arwen's choice. He would have lived a lifespan normal to that of the Dunedain, that is, somewhere close to Aragorn's.

Sadly, there is no reference in the texts to supplement my disbelief, nor is there any to form an alternate theory on.

[Essex]

As Boromir stated, eomer reigned into his 90's. Looking at the tale of the years and counting back from when Eomer died (working out the differences from the shire calender) it works out he died at the fairly decent age of 93.

Not too old, but a fairly good innings. Whether this has anything to do with numenorian blood I'm not sure.

PS Unfortunately, I do not know the date of Eowyn's death. If she lived into her 90-100's, this could give us circumstantial evidence of some effect of their numenorian lineage.


PS It's amazing what you pick up on with lotr, no matter how many times you've read the books. It serves me right for not reading the appendices thoroughly, but I've only just found out that Aragorn, with the assistance of Eomer was still at war battling enemies "beyond the Sea of Rhun and on the far fields of the south" after Sauron was destroyed. I must have a proper read now.......

[Mithalwen]

Osse: Ha bloody Ha...... elvish bodies actually disappeared soon after death ...
(Nice to see you back though )

I meant that Eldarion should have a span on a par with his father's not a lesser one - as Boromir suggested. If Aragorn had married a woman of a lesser line ...even from the pure house of Dol Amroth, Eldarion might have had a lesser span.... I am aware of the limits of the choice - if I remember correctly, I think the immortals' perception that Death was the Gift of Iluvatar and so should not be with held from those with any sort of "entitlement".

Also, wasn't the line of Elros' longevity (even by Numenorean standards) a "perk" of his Elvish descent ....... not an automatic one pehaps .....

I think it is not unreasonable to hope that Eowyn lived at least as long as her brother ...... women usually have a longer life so she might have lmade it to 100....

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

To understand why those with Númenórean blood have or have not a lengthy lifespan, we must first understand what gave the Dúnedain such a lifespan in the first place.

. . . the increase in the Númenórean lifespan was brought about by assimilation of their mode of life to that of the Eldar . . . (UT II 3 - endnote 1)

Since the Eldar were already in decline wouldn’t it also mean that the famed Númenórean longevity of old would fade, too? And as is said by Faramir:

[Faramir: ]For so we reckon Men in our lore, calling them the High, or the Men of the West, which were Númenóreans, and the Middle Peoples, Men of the Twilight, such as are the Rohirrim and their kin . . .
[W]e [the Númenóreans] have become more like [the Men of Twilight], and can scarce claim any longer the title High. (LotR IV 5)

Would not the last distinction - the lifespan - disappear, too, in this assimilation of mode of life?

[Mithalwen]

Oh that is an interesting point .. and may well explain Faramir's span - Sam (who after all by now had spent more time with elves, including some of the noblest left in ME than most other mortals then alive) discerns an elvish quality about Faramir. Faramir replies that Sam detects, maybe an air of Numenor. Faramir is in body and spirit as well as lineage about as true a Numenorean as Gondor can muster at the end of the Third age and under his lordship, Ithilien will mirror (in a lesser way) Numenor. Here elves (albeit the Silvan elves of Mirkwood not the Eldar of Eressea) share their skills with men and even dwell alongside them for a while. When Sam and Frodo meet Faramir, he and his men are using Elvish as a first language in Ithilien ... I wonder if there are any other indications.