On Elves, Bloodlines, & Beards

[Manveruon]

Okay, so… beards.
The topic has been on my mind a lot lately, because of the (relatively) recent revelation in NoME that pretty much every single person descended from the line of Elros took rather after Elven features for near perpetuity, generation after generation - meaning Aragorn and probably Boromir, Faramir, and the whole line of stewards were all smooth-cheeked, since they were all, however distantly, technically descendants of Elros.
I suppose I should just say right off the bat that, as a person with facial hair, who likes his facial hair, and has no intention of shaving it anytime soon, I am *not a fan* of this fact. But there it is. Can’t argue with a man who’s been dead longer than I’ve been alive.
Anyhow, this got me to wondering about the prevalence of facial hair among the Dúnedain in general. Just HOW MANY of the Men of the West, by the end of the 3rd Age at least, took after that Elven predisposition towards beardlessness?
Well, the real question there, of course, is: roughly what percentage of Númenóreans, and by extension, the specific groups of Númenóreans who escaped with Elendil, Anárion, and Isildur before the island’s destruction, were also descended from Elros? Of course, we know that after many many generations, a single person can have positively STAGGERING numbers of descendants (Genghis Khan, anyone?), but the destruction of Númenor may well have created something of a genetic bottleneck there - and we know that there was a fair deal of mixing with the Middle-Men in the north, and (if I recall correctly) some of the other Númenórean colonists in the south.
So like… I know it’s practically impossible to say for sure, but… what do we think? If we had to make some big, wild guesses, how many out of 10 Dúnedain and/or Gondorians would likely be rocking those baby-faces, and how many might have had a propensity towards growin’ out their soup-catchers?

[Greg]

How many out of 10 Dúnedain and/or Gondorians would likely be rocking those baby-faces, and how many might have had a propensity towards growin’ out their soup-catchers?

I call dibs on this for my new forum signature.

[Udwin]

Great question!
Honestly, off-hand I would actually guess very few Gondorians or northern Dunedain of the late Third Age were beardless. Let's make up a number and say 3 out of 10? I feel like the implied situation is that by the war of the Ring, the 'blood of Numenor' is super rare, which would further make Aragorn, Imrahil, Denethor's family, etc. stand out--and make it really clear what makes Strider the rightful Heir. It really is a 'Ghengis Khan' situation, as any 'beardless Numenorean' would be able to trace his ancestry to one guy (Elros), and the history of his direct descendants (especially post-Downfall bottleneck) is really just one bad thing after another.

However, in one of Corey Olson's lectures I was recently listening to, he brought up an interesting point I hadn't considered previously. While Tolkien makes a big point about Aragorn & Arwen being the third (after Beren & Luthien, Tuor & Idril) and final Union Of Men And Elves, as the Dol Amroth example clearly illustrates, there must have been other Elves and Men...'mingling' together in the past...(There's also that problematic bit in The Hobbit Ch 1 about the Took who "must have taken a fairy wife"!)
It's just that in those examples, the union was purely physical/romantic, and the (probably female) Elf did not choose to become mortal or otherwise bind herself to the Man.
So in areas with Elvish populations (or Elvish populations in the past)--eastern Mirkwood, Dol Amroth, Evendim, assorted Nandor colonies, though probably not Eregion--there would be the potential to have non-Dunedain beardless folks with distant Elf ancestry. Not that it was common, I think, but possible.

[Manveruon]

Leave it to Udwin to come in hot with some fantastic speculation! This is just the sort of thing I was looking for! Thank you!!
This certainly aligns with my own inclinations (biased though they admittedly may be), and introduces a few aspects I certainly hadn’t considered! Makes perfect sense really - in many ways, being “Mannish” but having Elf-ish bearing and features might paint a kind of giant target on your back in the latter days of Tolkien’s chronology. Heck, in the elder days probably as well, TBH (as you say, the people who belong to those stories and bloodlines certainly seemed to mostly be predestined for tragedy).
The thing about other Man/Elf “mingling” is SOOOOO FREAKING FASCINATING to me as well! Honestly, that’s exactly what I would personally expect in that context, but Tolkien really loved to write in absolutes (“such-and-such was the FIRST time this ever happened,” or “such-and-such was the ONLY time someone ever did this,” etc.), which always sat a little wrong with me, especially because a lot of his absolute statements of that kind ended up contradicting each other over the years as his Legendarium grew. Personally, I enjoy living in the gray areas, and I think viewing the Silmarillion and other related texts as a somewhat inaccurate, and likely VERY biased account of that time period opens up so many possibilities! That said, I also don’t think there’s necessarily anything (that I’ve seen at least) in the text to directly preclude the ideas you mention here. At least, to borrow a phrase from another mythology, “from a certain point of view.”

Great question!
Honestly, off-hand I would actually guess very few Gondorians or northern Dunedain of the late Third Age were beardless. Let's make up a number and say 3 out of 10? I feel like the implied situation is that by the war of the Ring, the 'blood of Numenor' is super rare, which would further make Aragorn, Imrahil, Denethor's family, etc. stand out--and make it really clear what makes Strider the rightful Heir. It really is a 'Ghengis Khan' situation, as any 'beardless Numenorean' would be able to trace his ancestry to one guy (Elros), and the history of his direct descendants (especially post-Downfall bottleneck) is really just one bad thing after another.

However, in one of Corey Olson's lectures I was recently listening to, he brought up an interesting point I hadn't considered previously. While Tolkien makes a big point about Aragorn & Arwen being the third (after Beren & Luthien, Tuor & Idril) and final Union Of Men And Elves, as the Dol Amroth example clearly illustrates, there must have been other Elves and Men...'mingling' together in the past...(There's also that problematic bit in The Hobbit Ch 1 about the Took who "must have taken a fairy wife"!)
It's just that in those examples, the union was purely physical/romantic, and the (probably female) Elf did not choose to become mortal or otherwise bind herself to the Man.
So in areas with Elvish populations (or Elvish populations in the past)--eastern Mirkwood, Dol Amroth, Evendim, assorted Nandor colonies, though probably not Eregion--there would be the potential to have non-Dunedain beardless folks with distant Elf ancestry. Not that it was common, I think, but possible.

Haha, Go right ahead - I was admittedly proud of that ridiculous turn of phrase, not gonna lie!

How many out of 10 Dúnedain and/or Gondorians would likely be rocking those baby-faces, and how many might have had a propensity towards growin’ out their soup-catchers?

I call dibs on this for my new forum signature.

[Cimrandir]

Interesting thoughts all round. To be honest, I'm far too attached to my beard / too repelled by my baby face to ever shave for book-accuracy. I personally have been writing a very mixed heritage for Cimrandir's backstory to specifically address that. Good to know that I wouldn't be alone in the bushy face look!

[caedmon]

Sorry to ressurect this but I also think that the tale of Aldarion & Erindis is salient here.

In addition to there being a difference between Numenoreans and other men, there was a difference between the elf descended royals and everyone else. So when we talk about the blood of Numenor, we shouldn't immediately assume there's Elvish blood. But yes; Aragorn, Boromir, Faramir, and Denethor should all baby faced. (At least until the third stage of life)

Aldarion and Erendis, The Unfinished Tales:

In those days there was no need, by law or custom, that those of the royal house, not even the King's Heir, should wed only with descendants of Elros Tar-Minyatur; but Erendis deemed that Aldarion was too high.

And:

It was also ordained at the instance of the Council that a female heir must resign, if she remained unwed beyond a certain time; and to these provisions Tar-Aldarion added that the King's Heir should not wed save in the Line of Elros, and that any who did so should cease to be eligible, for the Heirship. It is said that this ordinance arose directly from Aldarion's disastrous marriage to Erendis and his reflections upon it; for she was not of the Line of Elros, and had a lesser life-span, and he believed that therein lay the root of all their troubles.

Beyond question these provisions of the "new law" were recorded in such detail because they were to bear closely on the later history of these reigns; but unhappily very little can now be said of it.

At some later date Tar-Aldarion rescinded the law that a Ruling Queen must marry, or resign (and this was certainly due to Ancalimë's reluctance to countenance either alternative); but the marriage of the Heir to another member of the Line of Elros remained the custom ever after.†

†It is said elsewhere that this rule of "royal marriage" was never a matter of law, but it became a custom of pride: "a symptom of the growth of the Shadow, since it only became rigid when the distinc­tion between the Line of Elros and other families, in life-span, vigour, or ability, had diminished or altogether disappeared."

[Udwin]

Sorry to ressurect this but I also think that the tale of Aldarion & Erindis is salient here.
In addition to there being a difference between Numenoreans and other men, there was a difference between the elf descended royals and everyone else. So when we talk about the blood of Numenor, we shouldn't immediately assume there's Elvish blood. But yes; Aragorn, Boromir, Faramir, and Denethor should all baby faced. (At least until the third stage of life) "

Absolutely an important distinction to make! It's really just the Line of Elros who would be beardless. Which reminds me...I really need to put together a catalog of known hair/eye color combos of characters. IIRC Aldarion is 'golden haired' ('Hadorian'), and Erendis is brunette ('Beorian')? - good excuse to revisit UT again.