Queen Of Numenor

Tar-Miriel, aka Ar-Zimraphel, the well intentioned but surprisingly ineffectual daughter of Tar-Palantir, Wife of Ar-Parazon and last queen of Numenor. I always wondered how exactly the young Ar-Pharazon managed to 'force' the then Ruling Queen into marrying him, against both her will and the laws of numenorean society (the two being first cousins) Maybe some sort of political coup? some "marriage or civil war" type ultimatum? it's one of the many many MANY moments in middle-earth's history I wish Tolkien had written more about. We don't get to know much about her except that she was the rightful Heir to the throne, that like her father she was one of the "faithful," and that she drowned attempting to ascend the sacred mountain Meneltarma, presumably to repent and beg the valar for mercy for her people. Miriel seemed a good opportunity to portray a typical tolkienian "Great Woman" at least in the physical sense; tall, flinty, far seeing, and while beautiful enough, somewhat masculine and authoritative, more Sigorney Weaver than Scarlett Johansson, a "handsome woman," as they say. her basic garments were drawn mostly from greco-roman dress, but I liked the idea that, like the patrician class in imperial Rome, the numenorean nobility, especially in the later years of conquest and expansion, had become infatuated with styles and ornamentations from conquered lands like Harad and Khand (like her jeweled and feathered "karma turban," a popular article among men and women, which I imagine could be worn under the similarly shaped helmet). I tried to keep a certain androgynousness to the lines of her garments, with the broad "armored" shoulders and straight, unbroken lines going down her long, long body. A final, unexpected influence (but one that works IMO) came from the 1920's flapper-era fashion, like gloria swanson in her prime.

A brief thought on Dunedain height: Tolkien never tells us how tall a numenorean noblewoman would be, but considering that elendil at around eight feet was known as "Elendil the tall," not "Elendil the circus freak with a thyroid condition" it stands to reason that the national average is pretty damn lofty. Here we see her alongside an imported body servant; I like the idea (not mentioned as far as I know in tolkien's writing, but certainly plausible) that wealthy numenorean women, like roman matrons, would be attended by a devoted personal slave brought over from colonized regions in Middle Earth, also it gives us a good scale comparison between an average, say, 5'2" dunnish slave girl and her (quite possibly) seven foot 'domina.'

another entry for the Weekly Tolkien Sketchblog

See also:
Numenorean Armor turnermohan.deviantart.com/art...
Numenorean Helmets turnermohan.deviantart.com/art...
Queen Beruthiel turnermohan.deviantart.com/art...
Umbar turnermohan.deviantart.com/art...