Race Númenórean Men Spouse Tar-Aldarion | Title Queen of Númenor Book Unfinished Tales | |
 | ||
Aliases Tar-Elestirnë,
'The Mariner's Wife',
Lady of the Westlands,
White Lady of Emerië Similar Tar‑Aldarion, Tar‑Meneldur, Tar‑Elendil, Silmariën, Elros Tar‑Minyatur | ||
Erendis (S.A. 771–985) is the fictional wife of King Tar-Aldarion of Númenor in J. R. R. Tolkien's Unfinished Tales and, as such, the Queen Consort of Númenor. Erendis was beautiful, fell in love with Aldarion as a young maiden, and was approved by his parents as a suitable consort.
Fictional biography
Erendis married the seafarer Aldarion in S.A. 870. Some time before he had presented to her a white gem which she then used to wear in a fillet of silver. Because of this jewel she was later also called Tar-Elestirnë in Quenya, meaning "Lady of the Star-brow". When married, they disagreed about Aldarion's long absences from Númenor, and the later years of their marriage were unhappy; they separated in S.A. 882. Their only child, Ancalimë, was born in S.A. 873.
They had in common a desire to have their own will in all things; both from childhood were stubborn. Aldarion, being the King's Heir, seems to have been little restrained by the duties of that position until adulthood. Erendis, too, was self-willed, reluctant ever to compromise, as her own mother Núneth observed; even in childhood for Erendis it was 'all or nothing'. This led to constant competition between Erendis and her husband. As David Louis Edelman notes, "Aldarion’s desire for the sea and Erendis’ stubborn resentment [could] not be reconciled."
In later years, Aldarion changed the succession law in Númenor so that the eldest daughter of the King could inherit the Sceptre, instead of the eldest son only. This pleased Ancalimë, who had inherited her father's natural ambition, but it was done less out of egalitarian impulses or paternal love (though the latter perhaps played some role), than because doing so suited Aldarion's other plans, and as part of his ongoing strife with Erendis.
Erendis' final years were tragic and sad: her daughter neglected her, Aldarion was away from Númenor most of the time, and her own bitterness isolated her. Númenor was changing around her; even her own daughter was in the end more Aldarion's daughter than hers in turn of mind. Ancalimë proved to be a competent Queen, but Aldarion's policies of aid to the Elves of Middle-earth were abandoned by her.
It is said in the story that Erendis finally longed for Aldarion enough to overcome her bitterness, and she travelled to a haven where he was expected to return. All Tolkien writes of her then, though, is that she died there in the water.