Haleth and Caranthir

The history of relations between Men and the Eldar was possibly the subject within his own writing closest to Tolkien's heart, and often enough, especially in the most famous cases, it is the relationship between genders. Invariably, in every man/elf pairing, the man is, well, a man and I think part of what makes it work that way and not the other is the fact that humans (especially in their early, primordial days) are so rash, hot-blooded and aggressive compared to their elvish counterparts. they're not going to live forever and so they go after what they want, before they're too old and weak to do so. they're basically unlearned barbarians alongside the elves, but they accept this about themselves more or less, and come at this world of far more ancient and developed people (both good and evil) with this "give 'em hell" attitude; they're bad boys, and time and time again the Luthiers and Idrils and Finduilas's go for it; they respond to their human immediacy and their ability to act and live in the moment and work with this short life-cycle and curious fate they've been given, leaving the cooler, more reserved Daerons and Gwindors and Maeglins of the world eternally friend-zoned. these are all classically,primal-ly attractive male traits, yet what is never really addressed, but is quite obvious in figures like Haleth or Nienor, is that this is all equally true of human women. Following from that thought, I wanted to do a depiction of the scene where Caranthir and Haleth meet on the battlefield, the elven prince and his forces having just cut through the orcs to the rescue of the valiant but overwhelmed haladin. It is the only time (at least in the silmarillion) that we get to hear about the meeting of a male elf and a human female, and though there is no romantic undercurrent to their meeting as written, the two do have a relationship of sorts, albeit a short one: Caranthir, impressed by the bravery of the haladin and their leader (this is the same Caranthir who talks about the Teleri and the Sindar as racial inferiors) makes her an offer to take her people and live on his lands as friends and allies. Haleth, in pride, refuses, and the haladin set out on their own, and pretty much from that day forth miss out on the great cultural elevation that comes from interaction with the eldar, as enjoyed by the people of Beor and Marach. reading the scene - though only a short footnote as it stands - I always wondered what Caranthir thought upon coming face to face with the haladin; these primitive little mortals caked in mud and the blood of their fellows, their leader this living rag doll, all of five and a half feet tall with a huge, unruly mat of hair,  breasts out, and painted for war, but possessing undeniable valor, and all her people unbent, unbroken after weeks under siege, and even un-humbled in his mighty presence. They live about as long as one of his bad moods, but there's something kind of amazing about humans which I think impresses itself upon the haughty Caranthir. similarly I wonder what Haleth makes of the noldor prince up on his great war-horse; tall and fell, beautiful beyond the measure of men, stern and proud and a little vicious in demeanor. It seems to me like these two would very easily hit it off, and it's appealing in a slashfic-y kind of way to imagine that Haleth's proud refusal of his alliance may in part be motivated by feelings on her part not entirely political (and then naturally she takes no other man for the rest of her life because Tolkien )


These two were a lot of fun to paint, as both are long-time favorites of mine from the 'Silm.' I'm quite proud of Caranthir's "korinthian spangenhelm," I imagine this is one of the "tall helms with plumes or red" wrought by Feanor. His overall silhouette I wanted to feel like a cross between ancient nordic styles with a classical greek elegance of form. Haleth's swirling blue warpaint (or possibly tattoos) was of course inspired by the ancient celts, but the high "eyebrows" they culminate in was actually inspired by those sported by the fearsome Lady Kaede in Kurosawa's "Ran," and the way they wrap around her wrists came from how Athena is often represented holding snakes in both hands (I imagine they might end in little serpent heads). She's a warrior by nature, one of these inherently mighty specimens humanity produced a lot of in its earliest generations, I wanted to depict her topless not so much to sexualize her (although as I mention above sexual tension is an important part of the piece) but on the thought that, like the real life ancient celts, the haladin warriors might, by custom, fight stripped to the waist (or possibly even completely nude) and as their new leader Haleth opts to go bare-chested into battle as well. I loved the image it provided, not only for the tension between her and the elven lord, but providing this vision of her as this timeless, archetypal heroine-savior figure, like Delacroix's "Liberty leading the people", Joan of Arc, Boudicca, Elizabeth Tudor or the goddess Athena (or more recently Jennifer Lawrence ) the great mother/protector of her people. Haleth seems to go down in the cultural memory of the haladin that way .