Erendis

Welcome to the Tolkien Road.

Over the past few weeks, we've been revisiting our four-part journey through Aldarion Erendis, the Mariner's wife, one of Tolkien's most compelling and heartbreaking tales from the history of Numenor.

Today, we're wrapping up that journey with The Mariner's Mailbag, in which we respond to listener questions and comments about Aldarion Erendis, their troubled marriage, and the larger themes of this remarkable story.

And for those of you waiting for fresh journeys down the Tolkien Road, we'll be back soon with brand new episodes.

For now, let's open the mailbag and return once more to the tragic story of Aldarion and Erendis.

The Tolkien Road, Episode 188, The Mariner's Mailbag.

Hello, everyone.

Bethany, Bethany E., she wrote us two notes.

We'll be back soon with brand new episodes.

For now, let's return to Numenor and the story of Aldarion and Erendis.

The Tolkien Road, episode 187, Second Age Deep Dive, The Mariner's Wife, part four.

Hello, everyone.

Let's roll? Yeah, let's do it.

All right, let's do it.

So last part of Aldarion and Erendis, the Mariner's Wife.

Again, just like to reiterate that the three key themes of the Second Age are the delaying elves, Sauron's growth to a new Dark Lord, and Numenor slash, in parentheses, Atlantis, which is, this is kind of Tolkien's Atlantis story, if you will.

Yeah.

You know, it, the thing that finally, uh, uh, convinced me that was not even potentially possible was the fact that you and I spent, I think, 11 weeks on Aldarion and Erendis alone.

[laughs]

[laughs]

Welcome to The Tolkien Road.

Over the next four episodes, we're returning to one of Tolkien's most compelling and heartbreaking tales, Aldarion and Erendis, the Mariner's Wife.

Originally published in Unfinished Tales, this story takes us deep into the history of Númenor, exploring the troubled marriage of the royal couple, Aldarion and Erendis, and the painful conflict between ambition, duty, love, and family.

Today, we're revisiting part three of our discussion.

And for those of you waiting for fresh journeys down the Tolkien Road, don't worry.

We'll be back soon with brand-new episodes.

For now, let's return to Númenor and the story of Aldarion and Erendis.

[upbeat music] The Tolkien Road, episode 186, Second Age Deep Dive: The Mariner's Wife, part three.

We'll be back soon with brand new episodes.

For now, let's return to Numenor and the story of Aldarion and Erendis.

The Tolkien Road, Episode 185, Second Age Deep Dive, The Mariner's Wife, Part 2.

The Tolkien Road, Episode 185, Second Age Deep Dive, The Mariner's Wife, Part 2.

If you got, if you got some ideas or thoughts that you want to share with us about this story or any other Tolkien matter, shoot it over to Tolkien road podcast at gmail.com, or you can contact us through Tolkien road.com, uh, and through the contact form there.

So, uh, All right, so part two of The Mariner's Wife.

So when we left off last time, it was the year 858, and Aldarion and Erendis had just been betrothed.

And then Aldarion is, of course, he will eventually become the sixth king of Numenor, right? But we're picking up in the year 858.

And this talks about Tolkien's critique of British imperialism.

Taking into account the tale of Aldarion and Erendis.

Basically, she says, quote, Although Numenoreans abuses of native Middle Earth peoples are briefly mentioned, the main objection to colonization within this particular tale is its moral corruption of the colonizer.

She goes on further to say decline directly results from the cultural shift in how we assign value to things.