How much greater were Numenoreans meant to be than normal men?

How much greater were Numenoreans meant to be than normal men?

I know they're meant to be taller (Elendil was 7 feet tall) and live longer, but were they stronger and smarter too?

What I don't get is how the greatest of the Numenoreans; Isildur, 2 of his brothers and his own personal guard were btfo in the Gladden fields by only 1000 or so Orcs.

Since Tolkien was extremely racist he considered the pure blooded descendants of Elendil uperior to common men since they had "blue blood". So yeah, Aragorn pulls of feats that no other man could possibly have done, like listening for footsteps 50 miles away, kicking metal helmets 50 feet etc etc

I've always wondered why Tolkien had a hard on for bloodlines. Aragorn is basically the coming together of 3 ancient bloodlines isn't he? Arnor, Gondor and some elven blood iirc.

Yes. Also notice he is one of the few characters that does absolutely no errors in the entirety of the quest.
Tolkien was extremely racist, it's so obvious it's baffling. Not that I pay any mind mind you.

Like original Space Marines. +7ft demigods.

You can read Children of Hurin, and then imagine Turin mixed with high elves, then further on blessed by the gods.

>blessed by the gods

Was he actually though? His is one of the most tragic stories in the LOTR universe. I know his cousin was visited by the sea god but I always thought Turin had a curse on him as opposed to a blessing.

No, the Númenóreans, you cunt.
My point is the numenoreans are of the Edain/first men, alike Turin/Hurin/Beren, mixed with elves-as in Luthien. Then blessed by the gods and given their own continent/huge island then they have ww1 tech, if not even later.

>Our ships go now without the wind, and many are made of metal that sheareth rocks, and they sink not in calm or storm; but they are no longer fair to look upon. But our shields are impenetrable, our swords cannot be withstood, our darts are like thunder and pass over leagues unerring

Shit, I have to start reading some of the wider lore. I never realised they had iron ships.

Don't dwell too much on it, there are more important works to be read.

I think it's only in "Books of Lost Tales". Which is technically not canon (still write by Tolkien).
In Silmarillion and other "lore" books, they are instead early 19th century tech. And are more about numbers and size (ships like islands) than technology.

ImoTbhFamalam the book of lost tales is superior to Silmarillion.

Because bloodlines are hugely important in any society led by a king, and Tolkien was old-school in that sense; he believed that a society ruled by a just king was the ideal setup. Added to that, the Edain and elves are the closest thing to the embodiment of how the children of Illùvatar should be, so Aragoen being descended from both noble Edain and Elvish blood means that he is uniquely superior and possesses kingly qualities that, for example,a hobbit never could. Though it is interesting, now that yiu mention it, how Tolkien constructs this ideal of superiority and then subverts it by having little stunted faggits save the world

That quote is fascinating, and leads back to one of the more interesting aspects Tolkien's legendarium, namely the lack of "magic" as it exists in most of the fantasy that came after, and based itself on, Tolkien's model. Tolkien himself stated that the "power" he writes about is not magic. Rather it is art, or skill; the ability to control and manipulate the physical world. Gandalf at no point blasts spells at cunts or teleports or flies or anything we might consider magic. Every seemingly super-natural thing he does is described in such a subtle manner as we are never fully sure about the nature of his skills. Saruman's power is his unique talent for manipulation using his voice and cunning. The "power" encapsulated in Sauron's ring is never explained except by vague allusions to malice and will. There is no wand-waving shit going on; what seems like magic is only so because we aren't told how it is working (that clichèd Asimov quote comes to mind). The Elves' power, think of Feanor for example, is in harnessing the world around them using their skill and artistry. The idea that they are technologically advanced, albeit in a different manner to how we understand technology, makes more sense than any invocation of magic to explain the fantastical aspects of Tolkien's world. The Eldar are literally so enlightened by having lived with the Valar that their technology surpasses description. The seeping away of wonder and beauty that occurs in the Third Age and onwards is the decaying of the influence and artistry of the greatest race among the Children of Illùvatar, and men descend into a savagery in their wake, presumably thousands of years after Aragorn and his kingdom have disappeared. Imagine how the tribes of the Dark Ages viewed the great aqueducts and villas of the broken Roman empire; they believed giants or gods built them. Technology is magic to an uneducated savage. Arda is our world, as is pretty well known, and we are living in the first enlightened era that has been built up after the fall of the Elves and the Edain, living in a world that is becoming rapidly as "magic" as the Elves, due to our technological advances, but without the beauty or artistry.

I wouldn't trust any info from a LotR thread so infested with poltards

Wait, what /pol/ shit have you seen in this thread so far? Seems to have been a bretty reasonable discussion to me

What makes Tolkien a racist, user?

>how Tolkien constructs this ideal of superiority and then subverts it by having little stunted faggits save the world
He's not "subverting" anything. Bloodlines and ancient glories and kings and such can important but they're not the only thing that's important or that matters.

>kicking helmets

Way to out yourself as a non-reader.

>>/tv/

Yes. Sauron's power was deception and "mind control" (you might wonder why he didn't just go by himself and destroy Gondor; cause he was busy hand-holding a billion orcs), not shooting magic-missiles at people.
When Manwë subdues Morgoth he uses "force", or better yet; sheer might. His will commands Morgoth to go down on his "knees" and hands.
Magic in Tolkien is all about will & art. You could almost call it "Nietzschean".

Power begets corruption,
The powerless are near-incorruptible.
Yet evil lies in all men's hearts even the kindest of souls, as shown by the fall of Frodo at the very end.

I agree with you, good post.

The quote you referenced is by Arthur C Clark though

they had like three times the normal lifespan of men, and to normal folk were almost indistinguishable from elves (except their height)
Isildur was destined to die and was already mad with power from the ring
the two thousand or so orcs (its written that the orcs outnumbered them ten to one) directly ambushed the lead convoy in the war party and attacked Isildur and his men directly. They were also directly from Barad-dur, it was raining, the orcs had the terrain advantage, and they were all tired from just having fought the fucking siege of barad-dur

>and they were all tired from just having fought the fucking siege of barad-dur
But his death came years after the ring came into his possession, did it not?
Or did he write his letters on the way from Mordor?

he had it for like 2 years