The waning of the Dúnedain,[1] also called the dwindling of the Dúnedain[2][3] or dwindling of the Númenóreans,[3] refers to the physical, mental, and spiritual changes experienced by the exiled Men of Númenor after the Downfall of their land at the end of the Second Age. Before the island of Númenor was destroyed, its people were taller, wiser, and much more long-lived than other Men. The Downfall and loss of Númenor, the closest mortal land to the blessed realm of Aman, and the living of the Númenoreans in Middle-earth resulted in a slow withdrawing of the gifts of the Númenoreans. The intermarriage of the house of the King of Gondor and of other houses of the Dúnedain at first did not speed up the waning of the Dúnedain, it merely continued slowly as it had before.[1]
By the time of the War of the Ring, 3,000 years after the Downfall, most of the Dúnedain were on the same level as the Men of Middle-earth. In houses that maintained their purity of Númenórean blood (such as that of Aragorn Elessar), these changes were somewhat slowed; Aragorn lived 210 years, far longer than any other Man of that time period.[source?]
Broadly speaking, the waning of the Dúnedain could be linked to the decline and ultimate failure of the line of Kings in the exilic realm of Gondor, and the dwindling of the royal house in its sister kingdom of Arnor to a strange, wood-haunting Ranger band. It was also a factor in the gradual depopulation of their lands. In addition to their fall from power and prominence, the Dúnedain suffered mental and spiritual stagnation as well: many of the arts, crafts, knowledge, and technology that the Númenóreans had invented were lost and forgotten. Furthermore, the exiles of Númenor became ignorant and fearful of the Elves, a kindred with which they had been allied in their early days.[4]
The Dúnedain were very conscious of their waning and it was a source of grief to them, and they did all that they could to prevent it. Some tried to find ways to prolong their lives, while others urged the Númenóreans to maintain genetic and cultural purity. In the middle part of the Third Age, these beliefs led to the violent Kin-strife when King Valacar of Gondor married a woman from the tribes of the indigenous Northmen. After his son Eldacar ascended to the Throne, many people rebelled against his rule because of his mixed blood. This led to a civil war that threatened to destroy Gondor. However, marriage to the Northmen did not seem to hasten the waning of the Dúnedain—but the catastrophic wars in which Gondor (and its sister kingdom Arnor) were involved certainly did.[source?]
The Annals of the Kings and Rulers of Gondor claim that the race of the Black Númenóreans who lived in the south of Middle-earth quickly "dwindled or became merged with the Men of Middle-earth".[5] It is not known if this dwindling referred to their numbers, their life-span, their knowledge, or their skills. It is also not known if the merging of the Black Númenóreans with the Men of Middle-earth was the result of their intermarrying and having children with them, or whether it was an assimilation with the cultures and languages of the Men of Middle-earth so that the Black Númenóreans ceased to appear distinct from them from the point of view of chroniclers from Gondor. It is noteworthy that King Tarannon Falastur of Gondor married Berúthiel,[6] a Black Númenórean woman,[7] from Harad whose name was erased from the Book of the Kings[6].
External links
- Decline of the Lifespan of the Númenóreans and The Lifespans of the Ruling Stewards of Gondor and the Lords of Dol Amroth, by Alcuin
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", entry about King Eldacar, p. 1048
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields", "Appendix: Númenórean Linear Measures", other version about the origin of the word Halflings
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part Two. Body, Mind and Spirit: VI. Descriptions of Characters", Heights, p. 195
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Window on the West", pp. 677-9
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", entry about King Eärnil I, footnote 1, pp. 1044-5
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The Istari", "Notes", note 7, pp. 401-402
- ↑ Daphne Castell, "The Realms of Tolkien", The Realms of Tolkien, accessed 15 January 2021