Among the countless characters in the Lord of the Rings universe, there is one who was to be the focus of an unfinished novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Why? We don't know. On the other hand, his story foreshadowed the arrival of the Numenoreans in Middle-earth.
Tolkien's lore enriched by its appendices and unfinished texts
While The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillon are the three great works of J.R.R. Tolkien, the British writer wrote other works dedicated to his fantastic universe and its very rich lore. For example, he is responsible for Unfinished Tales and Legends, stories and fragments detailing additional information on the Istari, the founding of Rohan, as well as elements used to connect the plots of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Other novels too, reconstructions of First Age stories from ancient legends: Beren and Luthien and The Fall of Gondolin being the best known, a collection of poems on The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, The History of Middle-earth, notes and drafts collected by his son in twelve volumes, and several supplements and essays that serve to enrich his emblematic work and enrich the lore.
Who is Tal-Elmar and what is his story?
Tolkien was known for his drawings, sketches, drafts, and unfinished texts. A formidable body of analysis for experts that allows for in-depth reflection on how the novelist wanted to nourish his lore. These are wonderful treats offered to his most fervent fans who are just waiting to connect all these plots together.
Tal-Elmar is one of the unfinished stories. This text, named after a little-known character in Tolkien's universe, tells of the distrust of the indigenous peoples of Middle-earth towards the expansion of the Numenoreans in Middle-earth during the Second Age, a time when the powerful kingdoms of Gondor and Rohan did not exist, and when the race of Men was represented only by warrior tribes, sometimes close to the Duneans who still existed in the Third Age.
The physique of the young Tal-Elmar contrasted with that of his people, dark-haired, stocky men. He was blond, tall, and slender, due to his origins from his grandmother, who came from the peoples of the East, and who was captured by the chieftain of a tribe from the Hills of Agar, an area located in what would become Gondor in the Third Age. One day, Tal-Elmar and his father spotted several ships in the distance, one of which was draped in an ominous black sail. The Numenoreans and their "ship of darkness" were docking to abduct certain members of the tribes in order to devour and sacrifice them. This is what the legend says. The village chief then ordered Tal-Elmar to spy on the invaders near their camp. Strangely understanding their language, he decided to give himself up and speak to them, before realizing that this language was none other than the one he had always heard in his dreams. Captured, he discovered that the ship's black sails actually symbolized the night of Elbereth, Valar and Queen of the Stars, whom the Elves often invoked in their songs or prayers.
Unfortunately, Tolkien's lines of text stop at the capture of Tal-Elmar. The Numenoreans were not evil, but men who came to conquer Middle-earth to drive out the native peoples and establish their empire. This is the opposite view to that usually found in stories about Nùmenor, where men are this time portrayed as invaders, not heroes. Upon J.R.R. Tolkien's death, his son Christopher published this fragment in A History of Middle-earth.
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