#herucalmo

I'm looking at how insistent Elendil is in the UT that we should not count Vanimeldë's husband Herucalmo in the line of kings of Númenor. Elendil clearly specifies that Herucalmo WAS of royal blood, as a descendent of Atanamir, and that he effectively ruled Númenor for 20 years, until he died, and he even adopted a royal name -- Tar-Anducal. But he also makes a point of highlighting that none of the circumstances of his claim made it legitimate, and goes on to say that Alcarin, Herucalmo and Vanimeldë's son, "ruled for 80 years until his death in 2737, being rightful King for one hundred years".

The difference between Herucalmo and Pharazôn is that Pharazôn is still married to Míriel and thus he is a legitimate king. Which brings to mind again Elendil's insistence that the marriage was not just a product of coercion, but that it was illegal anyway because cousins that close can't marry under Númenorian law. I've mentioned before that it sounds so weird on page the first time you read it, that a lame ass law about cousin marriage would be put on the same level as rape/forced marriage... and I always come away with the same impression, that it is easy to assume Elendil is just using every single argument he has to say that Pharazôn's kingship is at best dubious...

Fëanor thinks the whole thing is absurd and just wears casual work clothes all the time anyway. Unless he's at a family function. Things like being a lambengolmor or mastering a craft entitle you to wear certain types of clothing, and guess what his half-siblings and most of his political enemies are not. So he shows up wearing, say, long red robes that look from a distance like they have the entire text of a certain tatyarin epic embroidered on them in silver thread, and you get closer and it's actually thousands of tiny artificial diamonds. If it was just lots of shinies, Ñolofinwë would be fine with it - well, annoyed - but the problem is that it's actually tasteful. Like Míriel Þerindë's son would be caught dead in tacky robes. And at this point Ñolo is practically frothing at the mouth and valardammit it would almost have been worth mastering a trade just to show him up. 

Teenage Elemmirë (the younger) goes through a rebellious phase where she dyes her robes. Her mother panicks and makes her wear a hastily modified bed sheet until she can get them clean. 

Vanimeldë likes extremely elaborate historical costumes for her plays, partially to show off the wealth of the crown and partially because she's doing it for art. Herucalmo is the angry history nerd who complains about how artisans in Tirion would never have worn that, the color and pattern are all wrong for a member of that clan, and anyway they had restrictions on precious stones in clothing. This is most of what they fight about.