Tar-Minastir by oshun

Tar-Minastir ruled Númenor from 1731 of the Second Age until 1869.¹  He is often remembered as the man who stood in a tower looking westward hoping to see a glimpse of Elven ships on the horizon or even perhaps the dim outline of the shores of Avallónë in the distance. In the index to Unfinished Tales, Tar-Minastir is identified without elaboration as “the “Eleventh Ruler of Númenor, who sent the fleet against Sauron.” He was one of those Númenóreans to whom “long life had been granted” and who “remained unwearied for thrice the span of mortal Men in Middle-earth.”² He survived 399 years, which actually would be closer to four times the life span of a long-lived Man east of the sea. But numbers and dates do not always match perfectly when one is reading Tolkien in the drafts, which remained unpublished until after his death. This is certainly the case in various mentions of dates relating to the life and times of Tar-Minastir.

He used the name Minastir (meaning "tower watcher" in Quenya from minas meaning "tower" and tir meaning "watch"³) before taking the throne. One might presume he chose Tar-Minastir as his regnal name based upon his much-noted fondness for a certain tower he constructed in the Westlands looking to the west mentioned throughout the texts:

This name he had because he built a high tower upon the hill of Oromet, nigh to Andúnië and the west shores, and thence would spend great part of his days gazing westward.  For the yearning was grown strong in the hearts of the Númenóreans.  He loved the Eldar but envied them.  He it was who sent a great fleet to the aid of Gil-galad in the first war against Sauron.⁴

Tar-Minastir inherited the throne from his paternal aunt Tar-Telperiën, who was the second ruling queen of Númenor and its tenth monarch. She never married and died without issue; for this reason, her nephew succeeded her.⁵ Christopher Tolkien is unable to explain certain inconsistencies to be found in the texts concerning the dates of the death of Tar-Telperiën (1731), the accession to the throne of her nephew, and the year in which Tar-Minastir, most notably among his recorded deeds as monarch, sent naval support to Middle-earth (1700) during the conflict with Sauron launched initially against Ost-in-Edhil, the capital city of Eregion. In a footnote in Unfinished Tales, Christopher Tolkien writes:

The date 1731 here given for the end of the rule of Tar-Telperiën and the accession of Tar-Minastir is strangely at variance with the dating, fixed by many references, of the first war against Sauron; for the great Númenórean fleet sent by Tar-Minastir reached Middle-earth in the year 1700. I cannot in any way account for the discrepancy.⁶

If one searches the internet, one may encounter discussions among fans desirous of speculating and extrapolating meaningful reasons for these contradictory dates. There is no textual evidence to support any of such theories. Sometimes, a mistake is simply a mistake.

By the time of Sauron’s attacks on Ost-in-Edhil, the connection between Númenor and the realm of Gil-galad had long been well-established.  In the Akallabêth, Tolkien notes that “seafaring became the chief enterprise for daring and hardihood among the men of Númenor.”⁷ Between the years when the famous mariner Aldarion began his visits to Middle-earth and the reign of Tar-Minastir, there were periods of mutually advantageous settlement and trade.

Most impressively in the early years, the exchange of expertise benefited the peoples of Middle-earth, even while the Númenóreans profited from using these lands as a source of raw materials.  In the Akallabêth, the intervention of the Númenórean explorers into the lives of Men across the sea is described thusly: “Corn and wine they brought, and they instructed Men in the sowing of seed and the grinding of grain, in the hewing of wood and the shaping of stone, and in the ordering of their life, such as it might be in the lands of swift death and little bliss.”⁸ When Aldarion began making his lengthy visits to Middle-earth, his father Tar-Meneldur considered his exploration a time-consuming and self-indulgent hobby for the heir to the throne. He changes his mind when his son returns with a letter from Gil-galad praising the results of these ventures into international trade and diplomacy:

Aldarion gives his father a letter from the Elven King Gil-galad, explaining that he has been helping prepare for a growing but unknown threat on the mainland — which turns out to be Sauron rising in power for the first time. Aldarion and his continental allies begin laying many of the seeds that lead to great Númenórean victories centuries later. Particularly, they build ports that allow for help to be sent to the mainland quickly. The letter reveals that Aldarion's work has made him a hero to the Elves.⁹

Over time, the attitude of Númenor toward Middle-earth shifted from one comprising benevolent assistance to the benighted men left behind to a relationship focused upon the exploitation of the resources of Middle-earth for the island kingdom’s own greater economic growth. The Númenórean kings transformed themselves more and more into "proud men, eager for wealth, and they laid the men of Middle-earth under tribute, taking now rather than giving."¹⁰

When Sauron invaded Eriador, Gil-galad called for aid from Númenor. In the Unfinished Tales’ account of Galadriel and Celeborn, Tolkien explains that Tar-Minastir “sent out a great navy,” which was delayed. Meanwhile Sauron conquered huge swaths of land from the determined forces of Elves, Dwarves, and Númenóreans already in place. When it looked as though Sauron might actually win the war, “the great armament of Tar-Minastir ^finally came in; and Sauron’s host was heavily defeated and driven back.”¹¹

Biographical sketches online of Tar-Minastir often name him as one of the last good kings. It is written that he “loved the Eldar but envied them.”¹² He was no saint but was, in fact, what one might call a man of his times. He accepted circumstances and practices which preceded him in his relations with Middle-earth and foreshadowed those that would follow. He was no monster like Ar-Pharazôn but evaluated his relations with Middle-earth in the light of past practice. He chose to protect Númenor’s alliance with Gil-galad’s realm, no doubt considering his country’s ongoing trade with Middle-earth and a continuing extraction of its natural resources.

Tar-Minastir abdicated the throne in favor of his son in 1869, possibly not entirely of his own free will. His heir, Tar-Ciryatan, was to be more exploitative and domineering over the peoples of Middle-earth than his father had ever been: “It is said that he constrained his father to yield ^{his throne} to him ere of his free will he would. In this way (it is held) might the first coming of the Shadow upon the bliss of Númenor be seen."¹³

I want to thank Ignoble Bard for reading and looking over the text, and also Dawn Felagund for copy editing.

Works Cited

1. Unfinished Tales, "Index."
2. Unfinished Tales, "Introduction."
3. The Silmarillion, Appendix, “Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names," see entries for minas and tir.
4. Unfinished Tales, The Line of Elros: Kings of Númenor.
5. Ibid.
6. Unfinished Tales, “Notes,” footnote 9.
7. The Silmarillion, Akallabêth.
8. Ibid.
9. Jaron Pak, “Tolkien’s Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner's Wife Explained,” Looper: Endless Entertainment, March 23, 2021, accessed April 29, 2021.
10. The Silmarillion, Akallabêth.
11. Unfinished Tales, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn.
12. Unfinished Tales, The Line of Elros: Kings of Númenor.
13. Ibid.