Ruling Queens of Númenor

The Ruling Queens of Númenor were Dúnedain women who ruled the kingdom of Númenor. Out of Númenor's twenty-five rulers, only three were female, but the existence of Ruling Queens under Númenórean law was remarkable in a society and a world dominated by male rulers.
In the early days of Númenor, succession followed the principle of agnatic primogeniture that is, rule passed to the oldest male offspring of the King. A similar principle was used by the High Kings of the Ñoldorin Elves, with whom the Edain of Númenor had had extensive dealings.
Silmariën (born SA 5211), the progenitor of the line of the Lords of Andúnië— from which the Kings of Gondor and Arnor later sprung— was the oldest child of King Tar-Elendil. Under the laws at the time, women were not allowed to rule, so she was passed over in favor of her younger brother, Tar-Meneldur. Nevertheless, Silmariën was one of the most significant of Númenor's royal family, as she received both the sword Narsil and the Ring of Barahir from Tar-Elendil, her father. These were handed down to her descendants, the Lords of Andúnië and later the Kings of Gondor and Arnor. Silmariën also possibly commissioned the creation of other precious heirlooms to survive into the Fourth Age: the silver rod of Andúnië, which after the Downfall became the Sceptre of Annúminas and the Star of Elendil, which became the tokens of royalty in Arnor.
Tar-Aldarion, the sixth ruler of Númenor, had only one child: a daughter, Ancalimë. To prevent the throne from passing to his nephew, Soronto, he changed the law to allow full cognatic primogeniture, under which rule would pass to the oldest child of the ruler, whether male or female.
==Tar-Ancalimë==
Tar-Ancalimë (SA 873 - SA 1285, r. SA 1075 - SA 1280) was the seventh ruler and first Ruling Queen of Númenor. Her name means "Most bright".
She married the nobleman Hallacar, son of Hallatan of Hyarastorni. Both Tar-Ancalimë and Hallacar were fifth-generation descendants of King Vardamir Nólimon, and the marriage was more one of politics than of love. The Queen aimed to produce of an heir in order to secure her throne from her first cousin Soronto. Following the birth of their son, Hallacar and Tar-Ancalimë lived apart.
Tar-Ancalimë was raised by her mother Erendis and a childhood companion was Zamîn. Her mother's tragic married life might have influenced Tar-Ancalimë's rejection of her husband. She was succeeded by her son, Tar-Anárion. She died in year 1285, at the age of 412 years.
==Tar-Telperiën==
Tar-Telperiën (SA 1320 - SA 1731, r. SA 1556 - SA 1731) was the 10th ruler and second Ruling Queen of Númenor. She succeeded her father, King Tar-Súrion (who was King because his two elder sisters had no interest in ruling). She was named for Telperion, the Silver Tree of Valinor.
Tar-Telperiën ruled for 175 years. During her reign, the Rings of Power were forged, and Sauron conquered Eriador. She did little to react to these events. She refused to marry and bore no children. She was succeeded by Tar-Minastir, the son of her younger brother, Isilmo. She died in SA 1731 at the age of 411 years.
==Tar-Vanimeldë==
Tar-Vanimeldë (SA 2277 - SA 2637, r. SA 2526 - SA 2637) was the 16th ruler and third ruling Queen of Númenor. She was the daughter and heir of Tar-Telemmaitë. She had little interest in ruling, however, and left the day-to-day chores of monarchy to her husband, the nobleman Herucalmo. Her name means "Beautiful Beloved".
Tar-Vanimeldë ruled for 111 years. When she died in 2637 at the age of 360 years, the Kingship should have gone to her son, Tar-Alcarin, but Herucalmo usurped the throne and ruled for twenty years as King Tar-Anducal. His rule was not considered legitimate, and in the official records Vanimeldë was directly followed by Alcarin.
==Tar-Míriel Ar-Zimraphel==
Tar-Míriel was the daughter of King Tar-Palantir, and the rightful heir of Númenor. She should have been Queen, but her throne was usurped by her husband, Ar-Pharazôn, who gave her the name Ar-Zimraphel (as Ruling Queen she would have preferred the Quenya Tar-Míriel). When Eru Ilúvatar sank Númenor, Míriel attempted to ascend Meneltarma, but she drowned before reaching the summit.
== Queens in Gondor and Arnor ==
After the destruction of Númenor, the surviving Númenóreans (led by descendants of Silmariën) founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-earth. At that point, cognatic primogeniture seems to have been abandoned; none of the rulers of Arnor or Gondor were women, and in the case of Anárion's children the youngest child Meneldil received the throne, as his older siblings were women. Queen Berúthiel of Gondor, although certainly formidable, was a Queen-consort, and therefore did not rule, at least officially.
In TA 1945, Arvedui of Arthedain—who was married to Fíriel, daughter and only surviving child of King Ondoher—invoked the old Númenórean law to claim that he (not his wife) should be granted the throne. Instead, the Steward Pelendur gave the throne to Eärnil II, a prominent general from an agnatic branch of the House of Anárion. Ironically, the Kingship did eventually pass to Fíriel's line, in the person of King Elessar.
==Background==
Although females of J.R.R. Tolkien's writings generally have less authority than the males, the laws of Númenor were ahead of their time in this fictitious universe. The first European nation to adopt equal primogeniture (Sweden) did not do so until 1980.
*The Tale of Years as published in The Lord of the Rings gives Silmariën a birthdate of SA 548, but it is clear that Silmariën was the oldest child of Tar-Elendil, while that of her sister Isilmë is fixed at SA 532 and her brother at SA 543. The reason for this apparent error is that her birthdate was changed from SA 548 to SA 521, but this revision was missed in the Tale of Years (see Timeline of Arda).
*In the earliest version of the tale of the Fall of Númenor (in The Lost Road and Other Writings), Míriel's name is Tar-Ilien.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Regerende Koninginne van Númenor
Albanian 	Mbretëreshat sunduese të Númenorit
Arabic 	الملكات الحاكمات في نومينور
Armenian 	Նումենորի իշխող թագուհիները
Azerbaijani 	Númenorun hakim kraliçaları
Basque 	Númenorreko erregina gobernariak
Belarusian Cyrillic	Кіруючыя Каралевы Нуменора
Bengali 	নুমেনোরের শাসক রানী
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Управляващите Кралици на Нуменор
Catalan 	Reines Governants de Númenor
Cebuano 	Nagmando nga mga Rayna sa Númenor
Chinese 	努门诺尔的统治女王 ?
Czech 	Vládnoucí Královny Numenoru
Danish 	Númenors regérende dronninger
Dutch 	Regerende Koninginnen van Númenor
Esperanto 	Regantaj Reĝinoj de Númenor
Faroese 	Númenors Stýrandi drotningar
Finnish 	Númenorin Hallitsevat kuningattaret
French 	Reines Dirigeantes de Númenor
Galician 	Raíñas Gobernantes de Númenor
Georgian 	ნუმენორის მმართველი დედოფლები
German 	Regierenden Königinnen von Númenor
Greek 	Κυβερνώντες βασίλισσες της Νουμένορ
Gujarati 	ન્યુમેનોરની શાસક રાણીઓ
Hebrew 	מלכות השלטות של נומנור
Hindi 	न्यूमेनोर की शासक रानियाँ
Hungarian 	Númenor Uralkodó királynői
Indonesian 	Ratu-ratu yang berkuasa di Númenor
Irish Gaelic 	Banríonacha rialaithe Númenor
Italian 	Regine Regnanti di Númenor
Japanese 	ヌーメノールを統治する女王たち
Javanese 	Ratu-ratu sing mrentah ing Númenor
Kannada 	ನ್ಯೂಮೆನರ್ ನ ಆಡಳಿತ ರಾಣಿಯರು
Kazakh 	Нұменордың билеуші ханшайымдары (Cyrillic) Numenordıñ Vïlewşi xanşayımdarı (Latin)
Korean 	누메노르의 통치 여왕들
Latvian 	Numenoras Valdošās karalienes
Lithuanian 	Númenoro Valdančiosios karalienės
Macedonian Cyrillic	Владејачките Кралици на Нуменор
Maltese 	Irġejjen li Jmexxu Númenor
Malayalam 	നുമെനോറിന്റെ ഭരണാധികാരികളായ രാജ്ഞികൾ
Malaysian 	Permaisuri-permaisuri Númenor yang Memerintah
Marathi 	न्यूमेनोरच्या सत्ताधारी राण्या
Nepalese 	णुमेनोरको शासक रानीहरू
Norwegian 	Númenors Regjerende dronninger
Persian 	ملکه های حاکم نومنور
Polish 	Rządzący Królowe Númenoru
Portuguese 	As rainhas dominantes de Númenor
Punjabi 	ਨੁਮੇਨਰ ਦੀਆਂ ਰਾਜ ਕਰਨ ਵਾਲੀਆਂ ਰਾਣੀਆਂ
Romanian 	Reginele Domnitoare ale lui Númenor
Russian 	Правящие Королевы Нуменора
Scottish Gaelic 	Banrighrean Riaghlaidh Númenor
Serbian 	Владајућа Краљица Нуменора (Cyrillic) Vladajuća Kraljica Numenora (Latin)
Slovak 	Vládnuce Kráľovné Numenoru
Slovenian 	Vladajoče Kraljice Numenorja
Spanish 	Las reinas gobernante de Númenor
Swedish 	Regerande Drottningar av Númenor
Tajik Cyrillic 	Маликаҳои ҳукмрони Нуменор
Telugu 	న్యూమెనార్ యొక్క పాలక రాణులు
Turkish 	Númenor'un Yönetici kraliçeleri
Turkmen 	Numenoryň Hökümdar şa aýallary
Welsh 	Breninesau Dyfarniad Númenor
Yiddish 	רעגירנדיקע מלכּיות פֿון נומענאָר
pl:Królowe Númenoru
Category:Rulers of Númenor