#miriel fairer than silver. ivory. or pearls.

[thequeensjester]

Rings of Power ➤ Women of Power: Season 02

“I hear your sorrow, and your anger. I share it. We have bloodied and been bloodied but know this... we will find our course.”

credit: cap-that.com

[marybeatriceofmodena]

A playlist for Miriel x Elendil, or, for those with taste, "Elendil's Sad Slam Poetry About Miriel :("

And last of all the mounting wave, green and cold and plumed with foam, climbing over the land, took to its bosom Tar-Miriel the Queen, fairer than silver or ivory or pearls. ("Akallabeth", The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien)

(art by @muggylee)

[tarninausta]

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.

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, “The Downfall of Numenor”

@secondageweek day 2: men; TAR-MIRIEL

[ID: An edit consisting of four graphics. The main colours are blue-green and golden brown. 1: A closeup on the face of a dark-skinned woman with black curly hair in a ponytail. She's looking up, and has golden and blue-green glitter around her eyes. In the bottom left corner, text reads "Tar-Miriel" 2: Golden fireworks in a blue-green sky. Text across the image reads "her father's only daughter and intended heiress, raised to be queen but ursurped by her cousin who took her to wife" 3: An image of a towering wave. Again, text across the image reads "Watched as the kingdom changed and drowned on the day Numenor fell" 4: An image of a ceiling held up by pillars, the building being an ancient egyptian one by the looks of it. Text in the upper right corner reads "of Numenor" /End ID]

[entiish]

rop “fans”: the casting for miriel was so bad, she was awful and looked nothing like she is described in the LoRe!!!!   tolkien’s actual & only lore on her appearance: “fairer than silver or ivory or pearls”      so are you mad that she’s a woman of colour and therefore not beautiful/fair, are you saying she’s ugly, are you straight mad that she’s poc OR is it all of the above? either way, that’s not a good thing to like... say... aloud. ever. 💁🏽‍♀️

and NO fair in this context does not equate to skin tone dont be dumb ok          FAIR, adjective : very pleasing to the eye — “a fair maiden”

[mnafif]

"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."

Tar-Miriel, art by Selenada (or so it says)

Tolkien's lore and his world building is really on another whole level

[galadhremmin]

silm asks - 1, 9, 13, 22

1. Favorite Section (Ainulindalë, etc.)? The end, because it breaks my heart! The sense of loss is so palpable. You really experience a feeling of mourning for the destruction of a world that never existed in a way I have never experienced with other fantasy. I do love the Ainulindale because the idea of a world made of music and responsive to it is incredible appealing to me. ‘Is that not a silmaril,’ or! that sentence about the death of Miriel...  ‘ and the sky reeled, and the hills slid, and Númenor went down into the sea, with all its children and its wives and its maidens and its ladies proud; and all its gardens and its halls and its towers, its tombs and its riches, and its jewels and its webs and its things painted and carven, and its lore: they vanished for ever. 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.’ Painful; beautiful. But yeah, I can’t really choose. Though I’d still say the end.   9. What Age of Arda would you like to live in? I love reading about heroic and tragic events and enjoy dramatic irony, but I want none of those things in my own life! Years of the Trees in Valinor. Every time I try to think about what Valinor would be like in a slightly more concrete way it grows stranger and more intense in my imagination. Even if it would speed up my death-- fine. See Valinor And Die. ‘ And tales and rumours arose along the shores of the sea concerning mariners and men forlorn upon the water who, by some fate or grace or favour of the Valar, had entered in upon the Straight Way and seen the face of the world sink below them, and so had come to the lamplit quays of Avallónë, or verily to the last beaches on the margin of Aman, and there had looked upon the White Mountain, dreadful and beautiful, before they died.” -- That’s the spirit. If it actually existed I’d swim upstream towards the blessed realm like a salmon in season, right here right now.   13. Would you want The Silmarillion to be made into a film or tv series? Only if it was animated, and only if it was done by people like the ones who made Song of the Sea, The Red Turtle or similar. I don’t think the entire thing would really work in the same style; an anthology of separate stories by different creators might work best. The only live action version of a Silm story I’d like to see would be Del Torro in the spirit of Pan’s Labyrinth. But overall I think the Silm material and the way people interact with it would suffer from a big studio laying claim over it. Copyright and capitalism don’t go well with this sort of story.  22. What is your opinion of Fëanor? He’s interesting. This is getting a bit long, so cut.

I think it doesn’t do the character or the story justice to make his conflict with Fingolfin entirely about his father’s affection; there’s a interesting sentence in one of the versions of the stories that indicates Fingolfin was at least perceived as threatening not just Feanor’s but also Finwe’s authority, in favour of the Valar;  Whispers came to Feanor that Fingolfin and his sons Turgon and Fingon were plotting to usurp the leadership of Finwe and of the eldest house of Feanor, and to supplant them by the leave of the Valar-- for the Valar were ill-pleased that the Silmarils lay in Tuna, and were not given in their keeping. [..] on the high day of the Valar Feanor spake words of rebellion against the Valar, crying aloud that he would depart back to the world without, and deliver, as he said, the Gnomes from thraldom, if they would follow him. And when Fingolfin sought to restrain him Feanor drew his sword. ' Combined with from yet another version; 'said Finwë: ‘While the ban lasts upon Fëanor my son, that he may not go to Tirion, I hold myself unkinged, and I will not meet my people.’ ... I think there’s room for more than just a narrative about a child insecure about his father’s love. That is also there; and it is fascinating all on its own, because he is the first person in Valinor to lose a parent, the first for so many things. But this is there, too; a potential politico-religious conflict about authority supported by Noldorin tradition vs. the Valar. Given that Ulmo called Feanor’s birth a result of Marring and Indis line the good to come of it I think this makes sense on both levels.  Anyway, aside from that I think his devolving into a state of horrible, selfish paranoia and grief leads him to do entirely awful things in an interesting way. I don’t read the character as a parallel for real world fascists/nationalists because that just doesn’t make sense in context of, well everything. Being a King in a feudal society is only the start of it... But given Tolkien’s life experiences I’d say when he uses a sentence like ‘no other race shall oust us’ the wording is deliberate, and you’re supposed to feel those associations; the way his spirit starts to twist, the wrongness of the words he uses to motivate those not convinced by the need for vengeance etc. Feanor is a character who often plays the oracle without knowing it. He predicts his own son’s final fate (Maglor) without realising it. When he sees the future he doesn’t know it, and when he is justified in his emotions or even opinions he reacts in the worst possible way. It makes him fascinating. He is too much of everything, and you get the distinct sense that he doesn’t truly understand himself.  Aside from that; well, the slender dexterity of Feanor’s fingers... haha. He was Tolkien’s favourite, clearly, and it shows. I really love what seems like his intense curiosity and need to engage with the world he lives in. I love that his heraldry seems related to the spectrum of visible light, when so much about him is about light. I think Nerdanel might be the only woman in Tolkien’s work who is not loved for her beauty but her spirit, and that in turn tells me something about Feanor’s spirit. I could go on, probably verging into headcanons. I enjoy the character; I think of his actions and eventual implied ideology are indefensible. I also think that the circumstances being what they were (no one born in the blessed realm truly understood loss, or having to let go of a possession, for one) and with the qualities ascribed to him his choices make sense. 

[thefrostfallathenaeum]

The Tragedy of Tar-Míriel

Tolkien is no stranger to writing tragedies, as anyone who’s read the Silmarillion would know. Take “Children of Húrin”, “Fall of Gondolin” or even the Ruin of Doriath. I mean, Celegorm and Curufin killed Dior Eluchil and his wife Nimloth for the Nauglamír , i.e. one of the Silmarils. (Which was because of the Oath of Feanor but more on that later)

The Downfall of Númenor is probably one of the saddest and most intriguing bits of Middle Earth lore, in my opinion, as it has all the common reasons for falling prey to whispers of evil such as corruption, arrogance, fear, hatred, and jealousy. But I have always believed that the Eldar and the Valar could have handled the situation much better. 

Númenóreans were forbidden by the Valar from sailing so far westward that Númenor was no longer visible, for fear that they would come upon the Undying Lands, to which men could not come. This ban was acceptable by men of  Númenor, until it wasn’t. There was dissent, in no small measure. Envy too, against the Valar and the deathless. 

But I’ll come to the point, Numenor was sunk by the Valar when Ar - Pharazon, who was a scumbag sailed west and stepped foot upon the shores of the Undying Lands. So basically the Valar got pissed and killed everyone on Elenna, i.e. Numenor. 

"And last of all the mounting wave... took to its bosom Tar-Míriel the Queen, fairer than silver or ivory or pearls." — The Silmarillion, Akallabêth

Tar-Miriel was the daughter of Tar-Palantir, who was the elder son of Inzilibeth and Ar - Gimlizar, and loved the elves like his mother and unlike his younger brother Ar-Gimlikhad, who was worse than his father, if such a thing were possible. But as Tar-Palantir was older, he got the sceptre of Numenor, even if his father wanted his younger son to succeed him.

Well, Ar - Gimlizar got what he wanted in a twisted way, Ar - Gimlikhad had a son, Ar - Pharazon, and he wedded Tar - Miriel, changed her name to Ar - Zimraphel (Adunic) and seized the sceptre of Numenor.

Ar-Pharazôn in his pride brought a mighty fleet to Middle-earth to challenge Sauron for dominion of the land. Sauron pretended to humble himself before the King and was taken as a captive to Númenor. And soon, he had fully corrupted the King and had persuaded him to seek immortality and assail Valinor itself. The Valar called upon the One, who cast Númenor into the sea.

Tar-Míriel strove to reach the sacred peak of the Meneltarma before the inundation of the island, but the great wave swept her away from the steep side of the Holy Mountain

It always annoys me how the Valar never cared about people loyal to them in Numenor, and how they are painted in such a reverential light. The tragedy of Tar - Miriel has always bugged me so much. She was a good queen who was forced into marriage and died because of Sauron’s corruption and Ar - Pharazon’s stupidity.

And if you compare it with the fates of Amandil and Elendil, who escaped. I wish Miriel would’ve escaped. Her story is a true tragedy. It is a shame, how this story is overshadowed by many others. 

Art by Ted Nasmith. (I have an illustrated edition of The Silmarillion, I’m so proud of it)

[butterbeerandlemoncakes]

In an hour unlooked for by Men this doom befell, on the nine and thirtieth day since the passing of the fleets. Then suddenly fire burst from the Meneltarma, and there came a mighty wind and a tumult of the earth, and the sky reeled, and the hills slid, and Numenor went down into the sea, with all its children and its wives and its maidens and its ladies proud; and all its gardens and is halls and its towers, its tombs and its riches, and its jewels and its webs and its things painted and carven, and its laughter and its mirth and its music, its wisdom and its lore: they vanished for ever. And last of all the mounting wave, green and cold and plumed with foam, climbing over the land, took to its bosom Tar-Miriel 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.

J.R.R. Tolkien, Akallabeth (The Silmarillion)

[sniperct]

Is it really spoilers to speculate how they're going to show x y or z character die in rings of power? lmao

But damn I want to see Miriel's end, especially in light of what happened in the last two episodes.

It is my favorite passage in all of Tolkien's works. Beautiful. Tragic

In an hour unlooked for by Men this doom befell, on the nine and thirtieth day since the passing of the fleets. Then suddenly fire burst from the Meneltarma, and there came a mighty wind and a tumult of the earth, and the sky reeled, and the hills slid, and Númenor went down into the sea, with all its children and its wives and its maidens and its ladies proud; and all its gardens and its halls and its towers, its tombs and its riches, and its jewels and its webs and its things painted and carven, and its laughter and its mirth and its music, its wisdom and its lore: they vanished for ever. 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.

Tolkien, J.R.R.. The Silmarillion (p. 335). HMH Books. Kindle Edition.

listen I can think of a hundred ways they could show this and each is more tragic than the last

man I can’t wait to see Pharazon’s rise to power, that’s been set up super well

[thequeensjester]

Rings of Power ➤ Miriel

"The faithful believe that when the petals of the white tree fall, it is no idle thing, but the very tears of the Valar themselves, a living reminder that their eyes and their judgment are ever upon us."

credit: cap-that.com

[thequeensjester]

[tarninausta]

MILESTONE CELEBRATION ⭐ TAR-MIRIEL + AQUARIUS requested by @echoofthemusic​

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.

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, “The Downfall of Numenor”

[ID: An edit for Tar-Miriel from the Tolkien Legendarium. It consists of 10 images mainly in white and cyan shades.

A young black woman in side profile

Beams of light underwater

A pool with white flowers in it

A white text field reading “Tar-Miriel” and “jewel-daughter”

Incarnate pillars

A blue-green gemstone

A light-skinned person holding on to a rock in a stormy sea

A brown-skinned person wearing a white dress, with curls falling down their back

An incarnate crown decorated with pearls and gems

White Blossoms

End ID]