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Character Bios

Tar-Ancalimë

Meaning: Most Bright One

Other Names:
Emerwen Aranel 'Princess Shepherdess'

Location(s):
Númenor, especially Armenelos, Emerië

Race/Species: Man

Type/Kind: 2nd age Numenoreans

Title(s):
King's Heir (892-1075)
Seventh Ruler of Númenor (1075-1280)
First Ruling Queen of Númenor (1075-1280)

Dates: II Spring 873 - II 1285

Parents:
father: Tar-Aldarion
mother: Erendis

Siblings: None

Spouse: Hallacar (Mámandil)

Children: Tar-Anárion

Description:

Table of Contents:

Description
Family Relationships
Skills
History
Language
Etymology

Description

Even from birth the child was fair, and grew ever in beauty: the woman most beautiful, as old tales tell, that ever was born in the line of Elros, save Ar-Zimraphel, the last.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

Ancalimë, like her father, was resolute in pursuing her polices; and like him she was obstinate, taking the opposite course to any that was counselled. She had something of her mother's coldness and sense of personal injury; and deep in her heart, almost but not quite forgotten, was the firmness with which Aldarion had unclasped her hand and set her down when he was in haste to be gone. She loved dearly the downlands of her home, and never (as she said) in her life could she sleep at peace far from the sound of sheep. But she did not refuse the Heirship, and determined that when her day came she would be a powerful Ruling Queen; and when so, to live where and how she pleased.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis: The Further Course of the Narrative

Aldarion [...] saw there a child of his own, rather than of Erendis, for all her schooling.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

As she grew older she became ever more wilful, and she found irksome the company of Erendis, who behaved like a widow and would not be Queen; but she continued to return to Emerië, both as a retreat from Armenelos and because she desired thus to vex Aldarion. She was clever, and malicious, and saw promise of sport as the prize for which her mother and her father did battle.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis: The Further Course of the Narrative

She was less prim than Erendis, and natively liked display, jewels, music, admiration, and deference; but she liked them at will and not unceasingly, and she made her mother and the white house in Emerië an excuse for escape.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis: The Further Course of the Narrative

She had a profound dislike of obligatory marriage, and in marriage of any constraint on her will. Her mother had spoken unceasingly against men [...]

Moreover, and more potently, Erendis had made Ancalimë accustomed to the society of women: the cool, quiet, gentle life of Emerië without interruptions or alarms. Boys, like Îbal, shouted. Men rode up blowing horns at strange hours, and were fed with great noise. They begot children and left them in the care of women when they were troublesome. And though childbirth had less of ills and peril, Númenor was not an "earthly paradise," and the weariness of labour or of all making was not taken away.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis: The Further Course of the Narrative

Family Relationships

She approved, as it were, both Erendis' treatment of Aldarion on his late return, but also Aldarion's anger, impenitence, and subsequent relentless dismissal of Erendis from his heart and concern.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis: The Further Course of the Narrative

Such love as [Erendis] had was all given to her daughter, and she clung to her, and would not have Ancalimë leave her side, not even to visit Núneth and her kin in the Westlands.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

But the women [of Erendis's household] were chary of their speech to the child, fearing their mistress; and there was little enough of laughter for Ancalimë in the white house in Emerië. It was hushed and without music, as if one had died there not long since; for in Númenor in those days it was the part of men to play upon instruments, and the music that Ancalimë heard in childhood was the singing of women at work, out of doors, and away from the hearing of the White Lady of Emerië.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

Skills

All Ancalimë's teaching was from her mother; and she learned well to write and to read, and to speak the Elven-tongue with Erendis, after the manner in which high men of Númenor used it. [...] Much Ancalimë also learned of Númenor and the ancient days in such books and scrolls as were in the house which she could understand; and lore of other kinds, of the people and the land, she heard at times from the women of the household, though of this Erendis knew nothing.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

History

Spring 873
Tar-Ancalimë of Númenor born

In the eight hundred and seventieth year of the Second Age Aldarion and Erendis were wedded [...]

Two years later Erendis conceived, and in the spring of the year after she bore to Aldarion a daughter. [...] When her first naming was due they called her Ancalimë.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

Spring 877
Aldarion departs on his voyage in Hirilondë

But when Ancalimë was close on four years old Aldarion at last declared openly to Erendis his desire to sail again from Númenor. [...] He tarried until the birthday of Ancalimë, and made much of her that day. She laughed and was merry, though others in that house were not so; and as she went to her bed she said to her father: "Where will you take me this summer, tatanya? I should like to see the white house in the sheep-land that mamil tells of." Aldarion did not answer; and the next day he left the house, and was gone for some days. When all was ready he returned, and bade Erendis farewell. [...]

Next morning Aldarion hastened away. He lifted up Ancalimë and kissed her, but though she clung to him he set her down quickly and rode off.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

877 - 882
Erendis withdraws with Ancalimë to Emerië

[Erendis] left Armenelos, and went to Emerië in the midst of the Isle, where ever, far and near, the bleating of sheep was borne upon the wind. [She went to] her white house, the gift of the King; and that was upon a downside, facing west, with great lawns all about that merged without wall or hedge into the pastures. Thither she took Ancalimë, and they were all the company that either had. For Erendis would have only servants in her household, and they were all women; and she sought ever to mould her daughter to her own mind, and to feed her upon her own bitterness against men. Ancalimë seldom indeed saw any man, for Erendis kept no state, and her few farm-servants and shepherds had a homestead at a distance. Other men did not come there, save rarely some messenger from the King; and he would ride away soon, for to men there seemed a chill in the house that put them to flight, and while there they felt constrained to speak half in whisper.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

But now Ancalimë was seven years old, and as often as she could get leave she would go out of the house and on to the wide downs where she could run free; and at times she would go with a shepherdess, tending the sheep, and eating under the sky.

One day in the summer of that year a young boy, but older than herself, came to the house on an errand from one of the distant farms; and Ancalimë came upon him munching bread and drinking milk in the farm-courtyard at the rear of the house. He looked at her without deference, and went on drinking. Then he set down his mug.

"Stare, if you must, great eyes!" he said. "You're a pretty girl, but too thin. Will you eat?" He took a loaf out of his bag.

"Be off, Îbal!" cried an old woman, coming from the dairy-door. "And use your long legs, or you'll forget the message I gave you for your mother before you get home!"

"No need for a watch-dog where you are, mother Zamîn!" cried the boy, and with a bark and a shout he leapt over the gate and went off at a run down the hill. Zamîn was an old countrywoman, free-tongued, and not easily daunted, even by the White Lady

"What noisy thing was that?" said Ancalimë.

"A boy," said Zamîn, "if you know what that is. But how should you? They're breakers and eaters, mostly. That one is ever eating - but not to no purpose. A fine lad his father will find when he comes back; but if that is not soon, he'll scarce know him. I might say that of others."

"Has the boy then a father too?" asked Ancalimë. "To be sure," said Zamîn. "Ulbar, one of the shepherds of the great lord away south: the Sheep-lord we call him, a kinsman of the King."

"Then why is the boy's father not at home?"

"Why, hérinkë," said Zamîn, "because he heard of those Venturers, and took up with them, and went away with your father, the Lord Aldarion: but the Valar know whither, or why."

That evening Ancalimë said suddenly to her mother: "Is my father also called the Lord Aldarion?"

"He was," said Erendis. "But why do you ask?" Her voice was quiet and cool, but she wondered and was troubled; for no word concerning Aldarion had passed between them before.

Ancalimë did not answer the question. "When will he come back?" she said.

"Do not ask me!" said Erendis. "I do not know. Never, perhaps. But do not trouble yourself; for you have a mother, and she will not run away, while you love her." Ancalimë did not speak of her father again.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

Autumn 882
Aldarion visits Erendis and Ancalimë in Emerië on returning from his voyage in Hirilondë

[At] cockcrow [Aldarion] awoke to a great disquiet and anger. He rose at once, and thought to go without noise from the house [...] Later he would summon Erendis to bring his daughter to Armenelos [...] But as he went out towards the doors Erendis came forward. [...]

"You leave more promptly than you came, my lord," she said. "I hope that (being a mariner) you have not found this house of women irksome already, to go thus before your business is done. Indeed, what business brought you hither? May I learn it before you leave?"

"I was told in Armenelos that my wife was here, and had removed my daughter hither," he answered. "As to the wife I am mistaken, it seems, but have I not a daughter?"

"You had one some years ago," she said. "But my daughter has not yet risen."

"Then let her rise, while I go for my horse," said Aldarion.

[....] when Aldarion rode back [...] Ancalimë stood beside her mother on the threshold. She stood erect and stiff as her mother, and made him no courtesy as he dismounted and came up the steps towards her. "Who are you?" she said. "And why do you bid me to rise so early, before the house is stirring?"

Aldarion looked at her keenly, and though his face was stern he smiled within: for he saw there a child of his own, rather than of Erendis, for all her schooling.

"You knew me once, Lady Ancalimë," he said, "but no matter. Today I am but a messenger from Armenelos, to remind you that you are the daughter of the King's Heir; and (so far as I can now see) you shall be his Heir in your turn. You will not always dwell here. But go back to your bed now, my lady, until your maidservant wakes, if you will. I am in haste to see the King. Farewell!" He kissed the hand of Ancalimë and went down the steps; then he mounted and rode away with a wave of his hand.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

Autumn 882
Tar-Meneldur decides to resign the Sceptre to Aldarion
— Ancalimë returns to Armenelos after Erendis refuses Tar-Meneldur's summons

[There] came a message from Tar-Meneldur, a command indeed, though graciously worded. [Erendis] was bidden to come to Armenelos and to bring with her the lady Ancalimë, there to abide at least until the Erukyermë and the proclamation of the new King.

[...] she returned answer to Tar-Meneldur: "King and father, my daughter Ancalimë must come indeed, if you command it. I beg that you will consider her years, and see to it that she is lodged in quiet. For myself, I pray you to excuse me...."

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

It seems that for some eighteen years after Aldarion became King he was often gone from Númenor; and during that time Ancalimë passed her days both in Emerië and in Armenelos, for Queen Almarian took a great liking to her, and indulged her as she had indulged Aldarion in his youth. In Armenelos she was treated with deference by all, and not least by Aldarion; and though at first she was ill at ease, missing the wide airs of her home, in time she ceased to be abashed, and became aware that men looked with wonder upon her beauty, now come to its full.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis: The Further Course of the Narrative

892
Ancalimë proclaimed King's Heir
Tar-Aldarion changes the laws of succession and royal marriage

Now in the year 892, when Ancalimë was nineteen years old, she was proclaimed the King's Heir (at a far earlier age than had previously been the case); and at that time Tar-Aldarion caused the law of succession in Númenor to be changed.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis: The Further Course of the Narrative

At some later date Tar-Aldarion rescinded the law that a Ruling Queen must marry, or resign (and this was certainly due to Ancalimë's reluctance to countenance either alternative) [...]

At all events, suitors for Ancalimë's hand soon began to appear in Emerië, and not only because of the change in her position, for the fame of her beauty, of her aloofness and disdain, and of the strangeness of her upbringing had run through the land. In that time the people began to speak of her as Emerwen Aranel, the Princess Shepherdess. To escape from importunity Ancalimë, aided by the old woman Zamîn, went into hiding at a farm on the borders of the lands of Hallatan of Hyarastorni, where she lived for a time the life of a shepherdess. The accounts (which are indeed no more than hasty jottings) vary as to how her parents responded to this state of affairs. According to one, Erendis herself knew where Ancalimë was, and approved the reason for her flight, while Aldarion prevented the Council from searching for her, since it was to his mind that his daughter should act thus independently. According to another, however, Erendis was disturbed at Ancalimë's flight and the King was wrathful; and at this time Erendis attempted some reconciliation with him, at least in respect of Ancalimë. But Aldarion was unmoved, declaring that the King had no wife, but that he had a daughter and an heir; and that he did not believe that Erendis was ignorant of her hiding-place.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis: The Further Course of the Narrative

c. 1000
Ancalimë weds Hallacar

What is certain is that Ancalimë fell in with a shepherd who was minding flocks in the same region; and to her this man named himself Mámandil. [...] at length he declared his love for her openly, and she drew back, and refused him, saying that her fate lay between them, for she was the Heir of the King. But Mámandil was not abashed, and he laughed, and told her that his right name was Hallacar, son of Hallatan of Hyarastorni, of the line of Elros Tar-Minyatur. [...]

It was however to Hallacar that Ancalimë was wedded in the end.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis: The Further Course of the Narrative

1003
Tar-Anárion of Númenor born

[The] story is clear that Ancalimë did not desire love, nor did she wish for a son; and she said: "Must I become like Queen Almarian, and dote upon him?" Her life with Hallacar was unhappy, and she begrudged him her son Anárion, and there was strife between them thereafter.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis: The Further Course of the Narrative

1075
Tar-Ancalimë becomes Queen of Númenor

[In] the year 1075 Ancalimë became the first Ruling Queen of Númenor. It is told that after the death of Tar-Aldarion in 1098 Tar-Ancalimë neglected all her father's policies and gave no further aid to Gil-galad in Lindon.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis: The Further Course of the Narrative

1280
Tar-Anárion becomes King of Númenor
1285
Tar-Ancalimë, Queen of Númenor, dies

Language

Ancalimë [...] learned well to write and to read, and to speak the Elven-tongue with Erendis, after the manner in which high men of Númenor used it. For in the Westlands it was a daily speech in such houses as Beregar's, and Erendis seldom used the Númenórean tongue, which Aldarion loved the better.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis

Etymology

KAL- shine (general word). [...] Ankale 'radiant one', Sun.

The Lost Road and Other Writings, HoME Vol 5, Part 3, The Etymologies

Contributors:
Aralanthiriel. 01.07.03
Lyllyn 4.23.03
Loquacious 04.13.04 - changed name
added quotes: Tanaqui 17Dec05

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