REBELLION: Ránë Nésë

SUMMARY: A son’s rebellion may well cost him his life... and a kingdom.

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Armenelos, Númenor, S.A. 824:

"I forbid it," Tar-Meneldur declared to his son, Anardil, known to all and sundry as Aldarion. "You will not set sail again so soon after returning from your last voyage. It is time you thought of settling down and taking a wife."

"Nay, I will not seek a wife at this time, Atarinya," Aldarion stated firmly. "Other things of more urgency I have yet to do, for my mind is bent on them. ‘Cold is the life of a mariner’s wife’ they say. The mariner who is single of purpose and is not tied to the shore goes further and learns better how to deal with the sea."

"You do not ‘deal with the sea’, Aldarion!" Meneldur exclaimed in exasperation. "Do you forget that the Atani dwell here under the grace of the Lords of the West, that Uinen is kind to us, and Ossë is restrained? Our ships are guarded, and other hands guide them than ours. So be not overproud, or the grace may wane. Nor should you presume that it will extend to those who risk themselves without need upon the rocks of strange shores or in the lands of men of darkness."

"Life on land is irksome to me," Aldarion stated, scowling. "Why do you think I built Eämbar, so I might not be subject to any will but my own, where I am the Great Captain whom my men love?"

"You are the King’s Heir, yonya," Meneldur reminded him coldly. "As such, you are subject to my will."

"We will see," Aldarion said, then gave his king and father a stiff bow and strode out of the room, his face set.

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"He did what?" Meneldur shouted.

"He has left Rómenna, Majesty," Beregar, his chamberlain, stated, "with the evening tide and with seven ships. It is said that a cloaked woman came to the quays before they set sail and offered him the Green Bough of Return. None know who she was or whence she came."

"He has defied me both as father and king," Meneldur stated, his fury rising. "Therefore I rescind his authority as Lord of the Ships and Havens of Númenor. The Guildhouse of the Venturers on Eämbar is to be shut down, effective immediately. The shipyards of Ròmenna are to be closed and the felling of trees for shipbuilding is to cease. My son, when he returns, if he returns, will find that he will get no warm welcome in Númenor unless he ceases this rebellion against mine authority and acts the King’s Heir in truth."

Almarian, the Queen, stood silently by, distraught by her husband’s words, for she dearly loved her wayward son. It was she who had seen that the Green Bough of Return, without which it was considered ill luck to sail, be brought to the Palarran. She silently prayed to the Valar that they protect her son both from the dangers of the sea voyage and the wrath of the king. Outwardly, though, she merely said, "You shall do as you think best, my husband."

At Meneldur’s smirk of satisfaction, though, she had to stop herself from slapping him.

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Aboard the Palarran, now returned to Númenor, S.A 829:

"He did what?" Aldarion shouted, glaring at his father’s chamberlain in disbelief as he stood on the deck of his ship. He had been dismayed to see the shipyards empty of men and now his own crew were forced to unload their cargo of timber without aid. His father’s chamberlain was the only person to greet him at the quay and his news was not good.

"It is as I said, lord," Beregar replied, "Your father, the king, ordered the Guild of Venturers to be disbanded, the shipyards here in Rómenna closed and the felling of trees for the purpose of shipbuilding to cease. That decree has been in force these five years since you left." There was a hint of rebuke in the chamberlain’s words, though he kept his expression carefully neutral.

Aldarion stared at the man for some time before he spoke and his fury knew no bounds. "Then say this to my father, for I will not step upon the land again: If I am to have no welcome in Númenor, and no work for my hands to do, and if my ships may not be repaired in its havens, then I will go again and soon; for the winds have been rough and I need refitment. Has not a King’s son aught to do but study women’s faces to find a wife? The work of forestry I took up, and I have been prudent in it. There will be more timber in Númenor ere my day ends than there is under your sceptre."

When Meneldur heard these words, he was grieved, but he did not deny Aldarion his desire to leave. He did, however, make one final decree. "No woman of my household shall be given leave to go to Rómenna. No Green Bough of Return shall they give unto my son. He has not my blessing nor the blessing of the Valar in this. See also that a guard is put around the harbor and that none approach the Venturers with bough in hand."

Almarian stood by and said nothing, knowing that there was naught she could do this time. Her son would set sail unblessed and she feared that Ossë would see that as an invitation to do Aldarion great mischief.

True to his word, Aldarion set sail a few months later with three ships and the hardiest of his men as crew. No Green Bough of Return graced the prow of the Palarran. For the first time a ship of Númenor sailed out of the harbor unblessed.

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Fourteen years later:

"My king," Beregar exclaimed, bursting into the king’s study unannounced. "Ships have come into Rómenna. One of them is thine own son’s ship, the Palarran!"

Meneldur stared at his chamberlain in disbelief, then swallowed hard, sending a prayer of thanksgiving to the Valar for his son’s safe return. "Ask Aldarion to come to me," he finally said, "if... if he will so deign to greet his father, if not his king." Beregar bowed, his expression neutral as he carried out his king’s command, grieved that so great a lord would humble himself unto his wayward son.

Aldarion arrived the next day, looking tired and battered, his eyes bleak, and he looked old before his time. Before he could offer his king his obeisance Meneldur took him into his arms and embraced him. "Welcome home, yonya. You were gone for so long, we all feared you had either decided to remain in Endórë or that you... you...."

"I am here, atarinya," Aldarion replied, sounding worn and defeated. "Your son returns, not in glory, but in shame."

Meneldur led him to a seat beside the fire and gave him a goblet of mulled wine, for the day was damp and cool with winter rain. "Tell me," he said simply as he took his own seat.

"We sailed first to the haven of Vinyalondë," Aldarion said after taking a sip of his wine, " and thence we made a great coastwise journey southwards, far beyond any place yet reached by our ships. All went well, but turning northwards we met contrary winds and great storms, scarce escaping shipwreck at one point." He paused, closing his eyes and sighing. "When we finally returned to Vinyalondë it was to find it overthrown by great seas and plundered by hostile men."

Meneldur reached over and put a comforting hand on his son’s arm. Aldarion opened his eyes to see naught but sympathy in those of his father.

"Thrice we attempted to cross the Great Sea," Aldarion continued his narrative, his tone blank of any emotion, "and thrice we were driven back by high winds out of the West. Palarran was struck by lightning and dismasted." Tears began to form in his eyes. "I lost several good men in those storms. It was almost as if Lord Ulmo himself was angered at us." He shook his head, forcing the tears back. "The fourth time, by dint of great labor and hardship, were we able to come at last to Rómenna."

For several minutes neither spoke. Aldarion downed his wine and reached for the decanter to refill his goblet while Meneldur watched him under hooded eyes, greatly comforted at his son’s safe return, but grieved at the sense of defeat Aldarion exuded.

"Thou didst rebel against Our authority, yonya," he finally said, speaking formally, knowing that Aldarion needed to hear the truth. "Thus didst thou forsake the guardianship of the Valar, risking the wrath of Ossë, not only for thyself, but for thy men whom thou hast bound to thee in devotion. Yet, I forgive thee thy transgressions, both as thy king and thy father, if thou abidest in Númenor for a time. Thy people need thee, Aldarion, as do I."

Then Aldarion went to his knees before his king and father and taking Meneldur’s hands into his own, he bent down and kissed them in filial love, as well as in fealty. "Thou hast my promise, atarinya, that I will not stray from the harbors of Númenor, for I deem that there is much that needeth repairing because of the neglects of my long absence."

"Then, I will restore thee to the Lordship of the Ships and Havens," Meneldur replied, standing and raising his son to embrace him, giving him a kiss upon the brow, "and I have in mind to bestow upon thee the further title of Master of Forests." He gave Aldarion a smile and Aldarion returned it with one of his own, though it was less sure.

"I will no longer be a mariner upon the seas, then, but I will abide in Númenor, as thou commandest lord, and be the King’s Heir," he repeated his promise. Yet, even as he spoke the words, Aldarion knew them to be futile, for in the very depths of his heart he could hear Uinen singing and see Ossë cavorting with the great shepherds of the seas, while far in the distance where no land is sighted, Ulmo’s mighty conches sounded across the purple waves. Still, for now, he was content just to be home and in his father’s good graces once again.

For now....

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All words are Quenya:

Ránë Nésë: ‘Wandering Youth’.

Atarinya: My father.

Atani: Men; more precisely, the three Houses of the Edain in Beleriand from which the Númenóreans are descended.

Yonya: My son.

Cultural note taken from 'Aldarion and Erendis' in Unfinished Tales:

"[It was] the custom that when a ship departed from Númenor over the Great Sea to Middle-earth a woman, most often of the captain’s kin, should set upon the vessel’s prow the Green Bough of Return; and that was cut from the tree oiolairë, that signifies "Ever-summer," which the Eldar gave to the Númenóreans, saying that they set it upon their own ships in token of friendship with Ossë and Uinen. The leaves of that tree were evergreen, glossy and fragrant; and it throve upon sea-air."

Historical notes taken from ‘The Line of Elros: Kings of Númenor’ in Unfinished Tales:

V. Tar-Meneldur

He was the only son and third child of Tar-Elendil, and he was born in the year 543. He ruled for 143 years, and surrendered the sceptre in 883; he died in 942. His "right name" was Írimon; he took his title Meneldur from his love of star-lore. He married Almarian daughter of Vëantur, Captain of Ships under Tar-Elendil. He was wise, but gentle and patient. He resigned to his son, suddenly and long before due time, as a stroke of policy, in troubles that arose, owing to the disquiet of Gil-galad in Lindon, when he first became aware that an evil spirit, hostile to Eldar and Dúnedain, was stirring in Middle-earth. 

VI. Tar-Aldarion

He was the eldest child and only son of Tar-Meneldur, and he was born in the year 700. He ruled for 192 years, and surrendered the sceptre to his daughter in 1075; he died in 1098. His "right name" was Anardil; but he was early known by the name of Aldarion, because he was much concerned with trees, and planted great woods to furnish timber for the ship-yards. He was a great mariner and ship-builder; and himself sailed often to Middle-earth, where he became the friend and counsellor of Gil-galad. Owing to his long absences abroad his wife Erendis became angered, and they separated in the year 882. His only child was a daughter, very beautiful, Ancalimë. In her favour Aldarion altered the law of succession, so that the (eldest) daughter of a King should succeed, if he had no sons. This change displeased the descendants of Elros, and especially the heir under the old law, Soronto, Aldarion's nephew, son of his elder sister Ailinel.