#almiel

[spruceneedles]

A little drawing of Ailinel, Almiel and Aldarion

[arofili]

the line of elros ♚ royalty of númenor ♚ headcanon disclaimer

          Tar-Meneldur was the fifth king of Númenor. He was born Írimon, the youngest child and only son of Tar-Elendil. Though he had two older sisters, the law of Númenor at that time prevented women from inheriting, and thus Írimon was named the king’s heir.           From his youth, Írimon turned his gaze toward the heavens, and to study the movements of the stars he built a tower in Forostar where the sky was clearest. For this love of the stars he became known as Elentirmo, the star watcher.           Though he had no love for the sea, Írimon was nonetheless drawn to the daughter of Vëantur, Captain of the King’s Ships, and wed her while they were still in their youth. Her name was Almarian, and she possessed exceeding beauty and a fondness for flowers. For this he named her Lilótëa and looked back down to the earth for her, though he always returned to his own passion for stargazing.           Almarian bore Írimon three children: a son, Anardil, and two daughters, Ailinel and Almiel. Though their daughters were fond of the land, with Ailinel painting beautiful landscapes of locations across Elenna and Almiel exploring the depths of the forests and the heights of the mountains, Anardil inherited his maternal grandfather’s love of the sea. He sailed often with Vëantur, even to Middle-earth, and even when Írimon was crowned Tar-Meneldur, fifth King of Númenor, he only remained upon the shores of Númenor for a short time.           Strife grew between Anardil and his father, though he still had the love of his mother, but nothing could deter him from his voyages. At last, he delivered a letter to his father from Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor, warning of a new Shadow in the East. Tar-Meneldur pondered this danger, and deciding that his son was better equipped to handle this menace, he stepped down as king long before his due time, passing the scepter to Anardil Tar-Aldarion many decades before his eventual death.

[kareenvorbarra]

An opinion: Silmarien and Ancalimë did not get along

Okay, this is essentially 100% headcanon, but my Silmarien is rather different from some of the other interpretations I've seen around. Which is fine, I just wanted to throw some different things into the mix. 

I've mentioned before that I have lots of headcanon for Meneldur's daughters and their relatives. Here's a short overview: Ailinel and Almiel live with their parents in Forostar until Tar-Elendil retires, then they move to Armenelos when their father takes the throne. The two are quite close, and Ailinel (who is seventeen years older) kind of helps raise Almiel. Ailinel is close friends with Aldarion when they're younger, and Almiel idolizes him when she's a child. However, he and Ailinel grow apart when he begins regularly taking long sea voyages, and as he comes into conflict with Meneldur his sisters tend to side with their father. Aldarion's behavior seems selfish to them, especially when he starts gaining responsibilities as the King's Heir and then leaving Númenor to avoid them. Ailinel marries a member of the nobility for political reasons, but the marriage turns out well and they end up very much in love. Almiel, despite her own desire to travel, continues to live at court and tries to help mediate her family members' disagreements.

Silmarien is extremely competent and practical-minded, and has a lot of affection for her younger siblings. She is good at turning any situation to her advantage with a minimum of fuss, and isn't particularly bitter about not becoming queen. However, she and Meneldur are both quite aware that he's not exactly cut out to rule, and he relies on her a great deal for advice. She also co-rules Andúnië with Elatan, and is highly respected and a force to be reckoned with in Númenorean politics. 

Silmarien is close to both of her nieces, and shares their concerns about Aldarion's behavior. She has a lot of influence on them, and they love and respect her. Silmarien is also an important figure in the life of Ailinel's son, Soronto; she watches him grow up and spends a good deal of time with him. When he shows an early interest in politics, she takes him under her wing and mentors him. He's intelligent and committed and a quick learner, and she hopes he will end up in a position of influence, likely as a member of the Council of the Sceptre. When the possibility arises of him inheriting the throne, Silmarien feels he has the potential to be a better king than his uncle or grandfather. 

She has a lot less confidence in her niece. In Silmarien's view, Ancalimë has had a questionable upbringing that has left her far too headstrong - she spends too much of her energy on petty concerns, and her actions are too often dictated by contrariness. Silmarien sees too much of both her parents in her (Aldarion's fixation on his own desires, Erendis' lack of tact, and both of their unwillingness to compromise). 

Silmarien has also gotten used to having the ear of the king; Meneldur trusts her judgement a lot, and Aldarion respects her despite their disagreements. She knows Soronto will also listen to her advice, but more than that she has a great deal of confidence in him, and trusts him to rule well even without her help. On the other hand, Silmarien knows she won't be able to have much influence over Ancalimë, and she doesn't trust her niece to do a good job.

(Side note: we know that before the law of succession changed, the heir to the throne after Aldarion was not Soronto but Malantur, a cousin who was the nearest descendant of Elros through the male line. When the law changed, Soronto, the son of the king's sister, moved into the line of succession. Under the new law, he would inherit the throne from Aldarion only if Ancalimë refused to marry. 

I'm guessing Malantur never expected to be anywhere near the throne, even though he was officially next in line after Aldarion. Numenor doesn't seem to have many issues with succession, because of people's longevity and durability, and nobody ever expected Aldarion to die suddenly or fail to produce an heir. Since we never hear much about Malantur, I think he didn't spend much time at court and was shocked when he found out he might have to become king. He probably felt very relieved when they changed the law.)