A thousand years in a couple of pages. I'm not sure that everyone appreciates the scope and scale of some of the events of the Appendix's.
A. I expect the average reader if they read them at all probably skims them.
Yes, whoever the “average reader” might be, he or she seems always to be contrasted with the more die-hard fans like us who read the appendices avidly. Millions of sales, millions of readers – and only a few thousand at most on all the fan sites, or buying the critical literature. On the other hand, almost everything that is written about The Lord of the Rings tends to be written by fans like us, so it’s always rather elusive who those people are who actually dislike or ignore the appendices.
B. The complexities of the northern kings claim to the southern throne is probably lost!
Don’t say that! I love that whole Arvedui thing. It adds so much to our contemplation of Aragorn’s heritage and quest, that there was a pit stop between him and Isildur, where the southern throne was seemingly within reach of the northern line. I could spend quite a lot of time trying to imagine how JRRT thought that one up, and why and when he buried it in the appendices with only the slightest mention in the main text (Malbeth the Seer, remember?) – and what he expected us his readers to make of it when we sniffed it out.
C. But what does anyone here think of the style?
In this section at least, the style is most purely Tolkien’s “annalistic” mode. Copied from classical models by English historians like Gibbon and Macaulay, the narrative is straightforward, impersonal, and abbreviated. The style is latinate as per Gibbon: inverted constructions; long and complex sentences carefully balanced (count the uses of ‘but’!) between positives and negatives; and extensive parallelisms. Dialogue is infrequent and apparently quoted from other sources; characterization of the actors is minimal; modern-style inquiry into impersonal historical, cultural, or social factors is nonexistent. At the same time, there is a strong moral overtone, with the narrator clearly directing the reader on who and what to cheer and boo, based on the known outcomes of various key events. I enjoy the style for its effortless historicism and crisp rhythms – the panorama whips along without turgidity or flaccidity.
D. There does seem to me to be the possibility of lots of tales here that Tolkien obviously didn't have time to write. So he had to summerize most of them in this manner.
Possibility, yes. I’m not sure Tolkien ever intended to write about most of this in any more detail than he did. Although he is now notoriously known to have whipped up many an “unfinished tale” from the merest scrap of dialogue or an obscure Tale of Years entry, I have always thought those were targets of opportunity or interest for him – not of intention. I think the Appendices are the ultimate expression of what he called the “vista” that forms an invaluable misty backdrop to his hyper-detailed foreground stories of the Silmarils and the Rings.
E. Though I personally think it would be nice if more people that wrote fanfic would write about Earnil rather than Aragorn or Legolas or perhaps if a fanfilm could be made of one of the events, but that's just me!
I’m not a fanfic fan, but I agree that the Appendices are begging for treatments by fan authors. I would guess that the reason they avoid the appendices is the same reason the famous “Hobbit Bridge” film never took off: the information that would back up the characters and plot is too scanty, so that any written product would have too little of Tolkien about it to give the writer satisfaction.
The first thing the text says is that war never ceased on the borders. That seems a bit sad to me that no-one in Gondor for 3 thousand years knew genuine peace.
F. Or is that statement a bit of an exaggeration? The first few centuries seem peaceful at least and the watchful peace seems at peace.
The model for Gondor seems to be the Roman/Byzantine empire. As with any great empire, made up of many smaller lands and many different nations, endemic border warfare was a given, not something to feel sad about. Since warfare was more localized back then, I think you should console yourself with the text’s clear implication that within Gondor’s uncontested borders at any given time, there was both peace and prosperity for hundreds or even thousands of years at a stretch. What is interesting is how little mention is given to internal affairs or civil discord!
G. The struggle with Umbar takes up most of the concerns of the early kings it appears.
Of the seven paragraphs we are reading, the third, fourth, and fifth are concerned with the Ship-kings and Umbar. The Easterlings and Haradrim get their word count too – what is missing is the details of how Gondor expanded “west to the Greyflood” and “north to Celebrant and the southern eaves of Mirkwood”.
The text says that Gondor grew strong in it's early years and was victorious. Though not completely and one king Earnil 1 was killed in a great storm of Umbar.
H. Perhaps he over-reached himself?
I don’t see a moral component in the account of Earnil’s death in the “great storm off Umbar.” Rather it seems to be a comment about how fate does not spare the mighty.
I. Was the storm caused by Sauron possibly.
There’s no suggestion that Sauron was active at this point. The best we can make out about his team is the cryptic comment that Gondor’s relative decline under Atanatar Alcarin “was doubtless observed by its enemies.”
J. The text never quite says if the wars with Umbar were justified or not. Maybe the Kings would have been wiser to have kept to Gondor's natural borders.
The truth about empire is that by definition it has no natural borders. If it does not grow it will tend to die. Also, I don’t think “justified” is a useful word for this kind of warfare and politics. Umbar was an implacable enemy, even more so in Tolkien’s fantasy universe of Good-And-Evil realms and rulers.
K. Maybe some were a bit emotional, oh the tales that could be written about this time!
Absolutely. The closest I can think of is the “Mariner’s Wife” from Unfinished Tales. A real bodice-ripper, well not a bodice-ripper because Tolkien didn’t write those, but, well, still a very passionate piece overlaid on the formal rituals of the Numenorean empire – of which Gondor here is the direct descendant.
L. In the same way that these appendixes summerize the Silmarillion in a few sentances I can't help but wonder what other tales Tolkien thought about but had no opportunity of writing!
I think he was always focused on trying to finish the cycle of tales that make up The Silmarillion. Again, Unfinished Tales and The Children of Hurin give us some indication of what those might have been like.And then not every tale he wrote was so great - witness The Lost Road and the "mere thriller" sequel to LotR.
Anyway Gondor grows strong and mighty. A quick thought.
M. Would Gondor in 1000 have been able to defeat Mordor of two thousand years later? We'll never know!
Imrahil seems to think they would have had at least a fighting chance, with his comment during the Last Debate that Aragorn’s makeshift force would have been only the “vanguard of [Gondor’s] army in the days of its power”.
The next king the text says loved ease and did nothing to maintain his power.
N. Well as the rise of Sauron in the later part of the age seems to have been pre-fated was there anything Atanatir Alcarin could have done?
No, not if you begin invoking JRRT’s authorial presence!
O.And does the text suggest that he should have simply whacked a few Easterlings on the head or anything more subtle?
The text says he and his sons should have “maintained” the power they inherited. But there is no explanation of what responsibility the royal family had for Gondor’s strength besides that of organizing armies for military conquest. One thinks of passing wise trade laws, designing infrastructure improvements, directing prudent exploitation of natural resources, decreeing social and legal reforms, taming and directing the aristocracy, encouraging profitable and productive enterprises, etc. But this history is not written in such terms.
