Unfinished Tales - Part Two - II - Aldarion and Erendis

[Thinlómien]

I reread UT two years ago, and I remember the story of Aldarion and Erendis provoked a myriad of thoughts and I'm now leafing through it and trying to remember.

In a way, I like the story of Aldarion and Erendis. It's very different from other stuff Tolkien wrote, and it shows clearly his potential as a writer of complicated relationships, something that is not so much in the spotlight in his main works. I'm kind of sad it was left unfinished - I would have liked to hear more about what happened! Aldarion and Erendis are sad characters, and I can't like them, but I can't really dislike them either. In the beginning my sympathies are on Erenbdis's side, but in the end more on Aldarion's. It is quite tricky to take sides in this story.

There's one thing that bothers me in all the stuff about Númenór. As a woman who loves the sea, I find it annoying most of the women hate or dislike it, or at best they have no feelings towards it. It's difficult to say why exactly it's so annoying. Maybe because it kind of restricts women to their homes and gardens and makes it seem none of them ever felt any longing to be elsewhere, to see the world, to be free.

I can't help feeling Aldarion and Erendis would have been happier if they hadn't married after all, and it's a very sad conclusion to make from a love story. The story of Aldarion and Erendis is, for me, a lot about the sacrifices you make for love, and whether they are worth it in the end or not. I'm also wondering if what happens in the end could be called a divorce, and if any kind of divorce existed in Númenór or Middle-Earth.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

This story is full of interesting details, and I'd like to continue the discussion for another week before we move on to the next. Here are some things that stood out to me:

Aldarion's father, Meneldur, also longed for something beyond his kingdom, and his great passion was astronomy. However, he did not let that keep him from being "a good and wise king", and (at least in the beginning) he let his son follow his own very different interests despite his prophetic misgivings. The later estrangement came when he lost interest in his son's endeavours, to the point of actively opposing them. The communication between them stopped.

Lack of ability to compromise has been mentioned as a cause of the tragedy of Aldarion and Erendis' marriage, and I find one passage particularly interesting:

Never would Erendis take less, that she might not lose all; and fearing the Sea, and begrudging to all ships the felling of trees which she loved, she determined that she must utterly defeat the Sea and the ships, or else be herself defeated utterly.

That shows her pride, and as so often in Tolkien's stories, pride brings downfall.

Another interesting detail - Erendis is called "the Lady of the Star-brow" - Smith of Wootton Major is also called "Starbrow"! I'm not sure there's a connection, but the word made me pause and think.

What do you think was the significance of the Elven birds? They are quite the opposite of Erendis and Aldarion:

...if one were separated from the other, at once they flew together, and they would not sing apart.

[Dilettante]

Thinlomien stated....

There's one thing that bothers me in all the stuff about Númenór. As a woman who loves the sea, I find it annoying most of the women hate or dislike it, or at best they have no feelings towards it. It's difficult to say why exactly it's so annoying. Maybe because it kind of restricts women to their homes and gardens and makes it seem none of them ever felt any longing to be elsewhere, to see the world, to be free.

I wonder about this myself. One would think that as much as the sea is emphasized among the Numenoreans, and that they are renowned as great seafarers and even called Sea-Kings if I remember correctly, that their women would like the sea as much as they do. Perhaps this is the providence of the Valar, knowing that if both men and women loved the sea they would all go out roaming and abandon Numenor entirely. Perhaps the women desiring to stay on land keeps their men coming back to the Land of Gift. Just a thought.

Still, it does seem strange that all the women hate and fear the sea. Certainly at least one or two women every generation or so would like to be a seafarer and adventurer as well? Tying into this is the fact that the women of Numenor also make no music. "For in Numenor in those days it was the part of men to play upon instruments." So, women don't go to sea and they don't play music? What's left for them to do then? Tend sheep (there appear to be a lot of shepherdesses) and garden and knit I suppose. Seems kind of a boring life. I know I would be bored.

What I find interesting is that Erendis surrounds herself with women. Her house in Emerie has no male servants and the closest man is several miles away, so it appears. She then proceeds to teach her daughter that men are evil, vile creatures and all females are better off without them. If this were a modern story, the first thing Erendis would do after Aldarion had been gone for a year would be to start an affair with one of the household staff or a handsome squire from the estate next door. Instead here, she turns her hatred of Aldarion into a hatred of all men in general.

As for the elven birds, I find them most interesting. They are truly the opposite of Aldarion and Erendis. They cannot bear to be apart and will only sing if they are together. Did the Eldar give them to Erendis in hopes that the two of them would be like these birds? Or perhaps to be a lesson to both of them: You should be like these birds, not happy unless together.

One more thing that perhaps should be touched on. Erendis seems to often, if not always, dressed in white and is called "the White Lady of Emerie." Is there a significance to this white? Is she in white because she is cold? Rather like Eowyn being the White Lady of Rohan and she is also as a frosted flower.

[Guinevere]

Though tragedies are usually just too sad for me to read, I have become fond of this story. Aldarion and Erendis seem very much alive and "real" for me!

The story of their relationship in its "other time" setting, contains much timeless truth. And here again we find many poignant quotes and applicable wise sayings, coming from both sides of the conflict.

Same as Thinlómien said, in the beginning my sympathies are more on Erendis's side, but towards the end more on Aldarion's.

It also struck me, like Formendacil said, how much time was “frittered away” because of the longevity of the Númenoreans . All those years that Erendis spent waiting for Aldarion to make up his mind, and when he finally wooed her in earnest, she “held back nigh twelve years”! She had a lot of patience and forgave him many times, but how could she believe he would stop voyaging after they were married? I think those two were just too different from each other, had hardly any common interests and failed to make compromises. Though they were in love they did not really understand each other.

I cannot relate to Erendis anymore in the end, how she retreated completely from society, and hated not only her husband but all men (why?) and what is worse, how she isolated her child from all normal company and taught her to despise men. (Though that example of her teaching that is preserved has a lot of insight!)

My favourite character in this story however, is king Meneldur! I can relate very much to his conflict after reading Gil-Galad’s letter.
"When either way may lead to evil, of what worth is choice?"

And I was so thrilled when I first saw Gil-Galads letter! Up to now he had only been the mythic Elven King "of whom the harpers sadly sing" – and here we get to read a letter from him! Such a pity there was not more about him!

I see the birds that were given by the Elves of Eressea as a symbol of conjugal love.

I also think that the different attitudes of Men and Elves towards the tree that the Elves gave at the wedding are typical! Aldarion said "The wood of such a tree must be precious." And the Elves answered "Maybe, we know not. None has ever been hewn. It bears cool leaves in summer and lowers in winter. It is for this that we prize it."

Originally posted by Thinlomien:
As a woman who loves the sea, I find it annoying most of the women hate or dislike it, or at best they have no feelings towards it.

We know only about Erendis and queen Almarian. Were there any others mentioned?

As far as I recall, in medeaval times, sailing was an exclusively male domain. Were there any woman actively sailing in medeaval times ? I can only recall male Vikings for example.

Originally posted by Galadriel55
"Erendis threw herself into the Sea (right?)"

That’s not exactly what was stated. In old age she longed once more for Aldarion and went incognito to Rómenna to seek him.
"There, it seems, she met her fate; but only the words "Erendis perished in water in the year 985" remain to suggest how it came to pass."

Btw I just remembered a statement that Philip Pullman made some years ago (and that enraged me)

“Tolkien is not interested in the way grownup, adult human beings interact with each other. He’s interested in maps and plans and languages and codes.”

If Pullman had read "Aldarion and Erendis" he would have had to revise this opinion!!

[Snowdog]

In the early 1980's I was at a sort of hippy tea house where they conducted readings of books followed by discussion. Imagine my surprise when the evening I wandered in, they were starting a reading of Aldarion and Erendis. I had only recently read through the chapter and I loved the actual insights into Numenor. Anyway, the discussion led to some interesting hypothesis on their relationship. Some of what I remember is touched on in some of this discussion here.

Originally Posted by Dilettante

What I find interesting is that Erendis surrounds herself with women. Her house in Emerie has no male servants and the closest man is several miles away, so it appears. She then proceeds to teach her daughter that men are evil, vile creatures and all females are better off without them. If this were a modern story, the first thing Erendis would do after Aldarion had been gone for a year would be to start an affair with one of the household staff or a handsome squire from the estate next door. Instead here, she turns her hatred of Aldarion into a hatred of all men in general.

There was a thought expressed that The White Lady of Emerie was possibly a lesbian and enjoyed the company of women in her house. Her reasoning for marrying Aldarion had to do more with acquiring power than love, but the relationship may of had its beginnings in brief but intense lustful period which didn't carry over to their marriage.

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

I can't help feeling Aldarion and Erendis would have been happier if they hadn't married after all, and it's a very sad conclusion to make from a love story. The story of Aldarion and Erendis is, for me, a lot about the sacrifices you make for love, and whether they are worth it in the end or not. I'm also wondering if what happens in the end could be called a divorce, and if any kind of divorce existed in Númenór or Middle-Earth.

I never really saw it as a love story but more of a tragic tale if a married couple. They were in essence 'separated' for years on end while Aldarion was in Middle Earth. One f the hypothesis that came up was the possibility that Aldarion had a 2nd family in Middle Earth. Anyway, the consensus, then and now, is the reader at first feels for Erendis, but by the end, feels more for Aldarion.

I always liked this chapter for its showing the Numenoreans off exploring in their tall ships, and the brief expansion of Gil Galad with his letter.

[Belegorn]

Originally Posted by Snowdog

There was a thought expressed that The White Lady of Emerie was possibly a lesbian and enjoyed the company of women in her house.

She did say to him he had been neglecting their bed, and he said in reply that he had the feeling she did not want him there [UT, p. 201]. I'm not sure if that necessarily implies her having a thing for women because it seems she did want to be with him and hoped that because they did not have a son he'd stay with her longer.

I do think she was a bit unfair and created a bad situation for herself. Aldarion did try to compromise with her and told her that she could live with him on the ship and they could go to lands where there were great forests. She would have none of it and rejected the sea. Although he kept breaking promises, staying away longer than promised like when after they had their daughter. She tried to keep him from what he loved to do, he was willing to make some compromise but she was like only the trees on Númenor were good enough for her.

I'm not sure if Aldarion had much time for women. He knew Erendis for 70 years before they even got together and her beauty is described as "a kind seldom seen in Númenor" [p. 185]. I think he did a lot of exploring while away, sometimes getting caught up in bad weather, and at times working with Gil-galad or building ties with him. Maybe a stronger case could be made for Aldarion's homo-sexuality, but I do think they were both straight and that he was not a slave of the desires of his 2nd head as men are in our world. He was held in esteem by Gil-galad and where his father felt overwhelmed by the news he received from the Elven-king this was not the case with Aldarion and his father felt he had to give the Kingship to him for this reason.

I think the relationship was forced. Aldarion felt the weight of the ball and chain of marriage. He did not really want that. They liked each other to be sure, but marriage was not the best thing for them, especially with Aldarion's mood and her own uncompromising one. I'd say if you want to blame anyone for the whole situation blame his grandfather Vëantur, hahaha

[NogrodtheGreat]

I've always found Aldarion and Erendis a fascinating little tale. Coming from reading the Lord of the Rings, one would never anticipate that Tolkien would've written something even remotely as, well, Jane Austen-esque. Of course Tolkien is here even more pessimistic about the possibilities of monogamous relationships that Austen, but like her he depicts the strictures of society acting as buffers for two people who in another social situation might actually function as a couple.

I've always thought it would make an excellent "period-piece" film. It would certainly be the most unusual fantasy movie ever made, but I think it would do very well, and it would certainly change perceptions of Tolkien as an author and as a writer! If only we could convince Adam Tolkien to hire Michael Arndt to write a good screenplay from the Unfinished Tales fragments once Christopher paces into the Netherworld! Of course marketing such a film would be a nightmare!

Numenorean society here is really delicately evoked here, on a social level, more completely than, say, Gondorian society in the Third Age (we only see it there though the eyes of a hobbit and during wartime).

As to the possible homosexual take re. Erendis - I think this is a very legitimate reading. She certainly seems to be reacting against all those things that the men have appropriated to themselves in Numenorean society - adventure, the sea, etc. Perhaps there is a sexual element in this rebellion as well.