The daughter, and eldest child, of Tar-Elendil, fourth King of Númenor. She did not succeed her father (though later changes to the laws of Númenor would have made her Ruling Queen). Instead, she founded the line of the Lords of Andúnië from which the Kings of Gondor and Arnor were descended.
Notes
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In older editions of The Lord of the Rings, the date of Silmariën's birth is listed in the Tale of Years as II 548. This was an error (it would have made her younger than her brother Meneldur, with crucial historical repercussions). In later editions the correct date of II 521 appears.
The date of Silmariën's death is not recorded, but she certainly survived until II 630, when her son Valandil was born. It was common in this early period of Númenor's history for its nobles to live for four hundred years, and thus quite plausible that Silmariën survived until about the year II 920.
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Silma- means 'shining silver or white', and is related to the same element in the word Silmaril. The element -riën can mean 'queen', which is not strictly correct in Silmariën's case, but perhaps prefigures her royal descendants. It can also be interpreted more literally as 'crowned lady', so the full name Silmariën can be taken as 'lady crowned with shining silver'. Given that we know it was her habit to wear a glistening white gem bound to her brow with mithril - a gem which would in time become the Elendilmir - this latter interpretation appears to be the correct one.
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See also...
Elatan, Elendil, Elestirnë, House of Elros, House of the Lords of Andúnië, Isilmë, King of Númenor, Line of Kings, Lord of Andúnië, Ring of Barahir, Star of Elendil, Star of the North Kingdom, Sunset, Tar-Elendil, Valandil of Númenor
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- Updated 17 August 2015
- Updates planned: 1
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