Ship of the Dark

[Thinlómien]

In Tal-Elmar, one of the unfinished tales in Peoples of Middle-Earth (HoME XII), Hazad, a middle-earthian man, tells his son Tal-Elmar about Númenóreans' dark ships. He says:

In greater numbers they [Númenóreans] come then: two ships or more together, stuffed with men and not goods, and ever one of the accursed ships hath black wings. For that is the Ship of the Dark, and in it they bear away evil booty, captives packed like beasts, the fairest women and children, or young men unblemished, and that is their end. Some say they are eaten for meat; and others that they are slain with torment on the black stones in worship of the Dark. Both maybe are true.

Now, what were these dark ships? Were these just a legend of the wild middle-earthian men or a rumour that had no real basis?

Or did the Númenóreans really "kidnap" some of the wild men? If yes, why?

In my opinion they probably did, since "there's no smoke without fire" and I don't think some wild men would have just fabricated the story. But surely they didn't eat them or sacrifice them, that was most probably superstition and fear from the wildmen's side that caused such rumours. But what did they do with them then? Did Númenóreans have slaves? If yes, then I think they were taken as slaves. But shouldn't this all be against the Númenóreans' high sense of morale? I admit they thought they were lords of everything and "better" than the middle-earthians, but still...

Can we actually compare Númenóreans with European colonialists?

Any thoughts on this?

[Anguirel]

Well, I think if we are dealing with the latter days of Numenor, then the captives almost certainly were sacrificed in Sauron's cult, offerings to Melkor, the Giver of Freedom...

Unpleasant, and thought-provoking, and an excellent rebuke to any who see Tolkien as any form of colonialist or, insipid word, racist.

[Lalwendë]

Lommy, that's an excellent find!

Well, it could be any number of things that were going on. All that is known is that these people were taken away never to be seen again, and understandably, those who remained have constructed a horrific tale (which could even be true). It's also interesting as its very reminiscent of the slave trade, and if indeed Tolkien was drawing on that dark period of history then it's fantastic as even today a lot of the 'establishment' struggle or indeed refuse to acknowledge the part that millions of innocent victims played in the building of an empire.

The 'black wings' are interesting - did this refer to actual wings, wing-like structures or the sails?

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by Ang

Well, I think if we are dealing with the latter days of Numenor, then the captives almost certainly were sacrificed in Sauron's cult, offerings to Melkor, the Giver of Freedom...

Of the timing of the story it's only said:

Originally Posted by Cristopher Tolkien in the short intro for the story

. . . it must recount the coming of the Númenóreans (Elf-friends) before the Downfall, and represent their choice of permanent havens.

Now, I'm not sure how to interpret these words by CT. Is he implying that the Ship of the Dark -episode could have taken place at any time before the Downfall and thus it could be in the latter days of Númenor and Anguirel would probably be right? Or does that "and represent their choice of permanent havens" actually imply that the story is set to the times of the earliest Númenóreans coming to Middle-Earth?

Lal, I guess the black wings refer to the sails, since the passage continues as:

The foul wings of the Sea-men have not been seen in these waters for many a year; but remembering the shadow of fear in the past I cried out, and cry again: is not our life hard enough without the vision of a black wing upon the shining sea?

[Bêthberry]

There's a later passage as well which seems to identify the black wings as sails.

'They [the ships] have come nearer.' He [Tal-elmar] pointed. 'There you will see their wings, or their wind-cloths, call them what you will.'

The page earlier they are referred to as well.

'Ships of the Go-hilleg,' said Hazad, 'with great wind-cloths. Three white -- and one black.'

It appears that the wind cloths suggest the size of the ships, not being small ones powered by paddles or oars. Also that the term 'wind cloth' represents an effort on Tolkien's part, I would think, to attempt to characterise the way of thinking of these people. The sight of the ships with their unfamiliar sails is described in metaphorical terms as they lack any word in their own language for sails.

It's a fascinating little tale, especially with the story of Tal-elmar's mother, who clearly is a captive slave taken in marriage against her will. She has been kidnapped and taken away from a husband and first child. The story suggests that this 'marriage' is a preferable state to what usually happened to slaves.

But when his wife, Elmar, had learned at length enough of the speech of her new kin, she said to Buldar on a day: 'I have much to thank thee for, lord; but think not ever to get my love so. For thou hast torn me from my own people, and from him that I loved and from the child I bore him. For them ever shall I year and grieve, and give love to none else. Never again shall I be glad, while I am held captive among a strange folk that I ddem base and unlovely. '

Her language is characterised by the formal (archaic) forms of English. A most fascinating tale.

[Thinlómien]

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.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

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.

Well, just to clarify, it isn't me who says that fate is gentler than others, but the story. Frankly, I think that attitude shows great failure to understand such a fate.

I wonder about this tale, though. It is written much later than Tolkien's other work, so isn't part of his initial inspiration about the Legendarium. Could this be his toying with more contemporary ideas about point of view/perspective and colonial history, seeing how to incorporate them in a narrative placed back in time? I can imagine him curious to see how he could 'fit' a more modern view of history into his mythical creation, to see how the two would meld.

[Tar-Telperien]

The tale of the "Ship of the Dark" is quite probably based on true events. This seems to have taken place during the time that Sauron was absent in Númenor (Tolkien himself wasn't sure about this; he queried about it in one of his notes). But a cursory look at the tale shows that his query should be answered in the affirmative: things exactly like this happened after Sauron seduced the Númenóreans into worshipping Melkor.

What, you thought that Temple in Armenelos was the only one? Or that it was only the Faithful the Númenóreans sacrificed? Well, they went after innocent natives in Middle-earth too:

Originally Posted by The Akallabêth

And [the Númenóreans] sailed now with power and armoury to Middle-earth, and they came no longer as bringers of gifts, nor even as rulers, but as fierce men of war. And they hunted the men of Middle-earth and took their goods and enslaved them, and many they slew cruelly upon their altars. For they built in their fortresses temples and great tombs in those days; and men feared them...

The Númenóreans did not just worship Melkor in their own land; they took their new religion everywhere they went. This was among the blackest of their deeds. Hazad and his people had the great misfortune to live during these times.

(This does not mean, of course, that the account should be taken as completely true; I doubt, for example, that the Númenóreans practiced cannibalism, though it is possible. Tolkien never goes into detail concerning Melkoristic rites. Nevertheless, the story does seem to contain a lot of truth.)

The Númenóreans Tar-Elmar meets in the story are obviously not Melkor-worshippers, though; they are clearly members of the Faithful, some of whom are probably leaving Númenor precisely to escape the sort of persecution alluded to above. They were probably in the midst of finding a new home when Tar-Elmar encountered them.

[Lalwendë]

Evidence of dark worship in Middle-earth:

Originally Posted by The Rivers and Beacon Hills of Gondor - an essay published in an edition of Vinyar Tengwar

The Men of Darkness built temples, some of great size, usually surrounded by dark trees, often in caverns (natural or delved) in secret valleys of mountain-regions; such as the dreadful halls and passages under the Haunted Mountain beyond the Dark Door (Gate of the Dead) in Dunharrow. The special horror of the closed door before which the skeleton of Baldor was found was probably due to the fact that the door was the entrance to an evil temple hall to which Baldor had come, probably without opposition up to that point. But the door was shut in his face, and enemies that had followed him silently came up and broke his legs and left him to die in the darkness, unable to find any way out.