Tar-Miriel for the character asks please!
Tar-Míriel my beloved! I'm so glad you asked about her!
First impression: I don’t remember much from my first read-through of UT, but I do remember feeling so unbelievable sorry for her and so upset that that was her ending.
Impression now: I fell into a Tar-Míriel obsession this past year and haven’t yet crawled out of it. The queen in chains trope is catnip to me, and she serves it up in spades. And I still feel unbelievably sorry for her, while also tormenting her like a dog's very battered squeaky toy.
But mostly I love her for clinging to her faithfulness by her fingernails, no matter the cost. She doesn't get any kind of reward for it (although I hope that she does after her death), but she tries to the bitter end nonetheless.
Favorite moment: She doesn’t really have any moments of action described within the text outside of her last, but this never fails to break my heart, so: "And last of all the mounting wave, green and cold and plumed with foam, climbing over the land, took to its bosom Tar-Míriel the Queen, fairer than silver or ivory or pearls. Too late she strove to ascend the steep ways of the Meneltarma to the holy place; for the waters overtook her, and her cry was lost in the roaring of the wind." And thus came a thousand Tar-Míriel feelings.
Idea for a story: I have a couple fics in progress about her, including the timeloop one I've shared before, which may or may not fold my Tar-Míriel does a Judith fic idea into it (thus far it consists only of that title and many thrilling mental images in the vein of Artemisia Gentileschi's painting). I've also been working on one concurrently about her marriage to Pharazôn and the things she does to endure it, but tbh it's dark even for my standards, and I'm on the fence about continuing it.
Unpopular opinion: I find her potential relationship with Sauron much more interesting than Pharazôn and Sauron’s. Not necessarily in a shippy way (although Sauron trying to seduce her a la Celebrimbor would be equally horrifying and fascinating), but more from the perspective of how they exist alongside each other, when they both from the very beginning know exactly where the other stands. I headcanon that they can read each other very clearly and that both of them excel at very veiled, politic barbs and threats, which is a delicious dynamic to me. And Sauron being the master mental torturer that he is adds a whole other level of yikes and yum.
Favorite relationship: I headcanon that Tar-Míriel was very close with Amandil’s wife (Elennúmene in my fics). I envision her living a very isolated life after her marriage to Pharazôn, especially after Sauron's arrival, as it would be dangerous for her to continue openly affiliating with anyone among the Faithful, but I imagine that she would still be permitted to interact with Amandil's wife for a while longer, since he stays in Pharazôn's good graces for a while due to their past friendship, despite being a known leader of the Faithful. And I headcanon that Elennúmene is a major source of strength and comfort for her, especially as Sauron's influence grows and the plight of the Faithful worsens. Elennúmene also helps her keep in contact with others among the Faithful and helps her participate in what acts of resistance she can.
Favorite headcanon: Continuing from above, I headcanon that she led and participated in every small act of resistance that she could without further imperiling herself—nothing that would turn the tide of Númenor’s downfall, but small things that made her feel that she had more agency over her life, and that she was doing all that she could for the Faithful, despite having very little power with which to keep them (or herself) safe. And that knowledge, that at least she was making some difference, however small, was what kept her going through the worst of Númenor's last days.
Fic rec: The Last Queen of Númenor by NevillesGran (G, 2.1k, character death):
The Mariner's Star hung low as Tar-Miriel walked out of Armenelos, lower and brighter than she had ever seen it. This was right: it was an omen of the death of kings.
Miriel would meet her death on the Holy Mountain, Meneltarma. That was the last decision remaining to her. She was almost too tired to enjoy it, but she had made it nonetheless.
