Do you have any headcanons about the contrast between the first Ruling Queen of Númenor and the last? I for myself associate Ancalimë strongly with Sun whilst Míriel with the Moon.
I agree, I think the comparison with the sun and the moon is VERY fitting! And I think Ancalimë and Míriel are each very emblematic of the time period they belong to within Númenor’s timeline... they sure can IMO fuction as symbolic opposites, too. And I am definitely with you on the associations with the sun for Ancalimë! I mean, I have been on board with that ever since I read [this post] of @anghraine‘s about her son Anárion - whose name means “son of the sun” (<3 <3 <3)… And of course, you can say you have Ancalimë as the sun of Númenor’s prosperity vs Míriel as the moon of Númenor’s dark night. Ancalimë rises, Míriel wanes; Ancalimë lights the way ahead of her, Míriel can’t dispel the dark night of Númenor. And the very imagery too, with Ancalime being the sherpherdess queen, roaming the open fieds under the sun while Hallacar sings for her... while Míriel gives you a more claustrophobic feeling, with her being a sort of prisioner to her own husband too, in the palace and city that oughta have been hers. And ofc, there’s something about Ancalime becoming the first queen, rising to power even though traditionally she shouldn’t, whereas Míriel doesn’t rise to power, even though traditionally she should....
For more comparisons, in my HC Míriel is very close to her father, and not close at all to her mother (whom I haven’t managed to unfridge yet x_x). In my HC, the question of whether Inziladûn died because he choose to die or because he was really too old, and just naturally died, is metatextually ambiguous... but HE frames it as a choice he’s making, to go like the monarchs of old - so there’s an obscure part of Míriel that feels abandoned. In that sense, it’s possible to trace a parallel with Ancalimë, who afaik got along just fine with her dad later on, but who never forgot that time when she, as a child, clung to him but was set down on the floor as he walked out, ‘abandoning’ her and her mother (that’s UT canon)... I think Míriel and Ancalimë are both very lonely people, with abandonment issues and a complicated relationship with isolation. And there’s also the fact that they’re both married against their will. Maybe Míriel contemplates that one day, when thinking about her predecessors ;/ Ancalimë had to marry against her wishes and Vanimeldë’s husband usurped her son after she died. The only female monarch to whom marriage was never a problem was Telperiën, who never married (bless).... by contrast, the only male monarch whose marriage troubles are known to us are Aldarion and Gimilzôr... and of course, Pharazôn. I’m sure Míriel thinks about that a lot....
IDK if this is of interest to you, and if you also HC this, but I imagine Númenorean culture as very interested in revisiting itself and its formative cultural past, and I imagine that’s something that reaches its apex during Vanimeldë’s rule and its les arts florissants, etc. So, for some time, I played with the idea of Ancalimë and Telperiën being associated with sun-and-moon imagery during Vanimeldës time, whereas Vanimeldë herself would be associated with the stars/Varda the beloved, queen of the sky (;DDD). I think Númenorean artists would moreover be working with the name implications - “Ancalimë” meaning “most bright” (the sun) and “Telperiën” meaning “crowned in silver”* (the moon). I can also stretch it a bit and look towards Silmariën, who was born one generation too early to profit from her nephew Aldarion’s law reform, and who’s named for the legendary jewel before it became a star in the sky... and to Míriel “jewel-daughter”, which I can easily interpret as a reference to the brightest star in the sky, who’s also her great-great-etc-etc-grandfather :^) :^( (although ofc there are a lot of male rulers with names also related to stars and shining and brightness ofc, but that’s besides the point).
Is this more or less what you expected? Do you agree/disagree, have other opinions or takes? Thank you for this question, it was very nice getting it :D
*it’s interesting to notice Telperiën had a younger brother called Isilmo, which translates to something like “man of the moon” 👀 coincidence?? IThink Not
