Have Island, Will Rebel - Page 4
© Michael Martinez
Only two Numenorean guilds are actually named: the Guild of Weaponsmiths and the Guild of Venturers. The latter guild was founded by Aldarion while he was still just a prince, and it was a society devoted to exploration and travel. There seems to be no real evidence that the Guild of Venturers was anything like a medieval craft guild. The Guild of Weaponsmiths, on the other hand, was responsible for making the tools used by Numenor's craftsmen, and in the early centuries at least they spent more time making tools than weapons. It may be that the guilds were in fact sponsored by the kings, or other wealthy leaders.
If royal patronage gave a guild its income, the guild would have to take royal direction as well. Hence, Elros could decide where the cities would be built, where the mines would be dug, where the quarries would be established. All of early Numenor seems to have been laid out according to some well-conceived plan, and the logical conclusion is that Elros, who reigned in Numenor for 410 years, must have devoted a great deal of time toward organizing the kingdom.
And yet he doesn't seem to have been an arbitrary ruler, as his descendants were not all arbitrary rulers. Tar-Meneldur, Aldarion's father, did not act as an autocrat. In a note to "Aldarion and Erendis" Christopher Tolkien writes that "In a note on the 'Council of the Sceptre' at this time in the history of Numenor it is said that this Council had no powers to govern the King save by advice...." And yet when Tar-Meneldur announced his intention to abdicate he told his council that he would defer the action for a while if they insisted. The Council was drawn from the leading men of various regions of Numenor, and these were not always descendants of Elros.
So it appears that Elros must have governed by a sort of consensus at first, winning the support and acclamation of the various chieftains who agreed to sail over Sea to Numenor, but establishing where necessary whatever guilds were utilized in building the Numenorean civilization, which literally rose up under Elros' guidance. Royal patronage or at least royal charters and direction must have brought about the profound and broad powers of the kings.
And yet the members of the Council of the Sceptre appear to be wealthy men themselves. Where did their wealth come from? If they were the descendants of the original chieftains, those men may have organized lesser guilds, or established control over local economies. The people of Emerie were shepherds, and vineyards were grown in eastern Hyarnustar. Hyarastorni, another region in Mittalmar (perhaps bordering Emerie on the west), seems to have been a farming and sheep-raising region. Hallatan, son of Hallacar, was able to pass himself off as a shepherd when he was wooing Ancalime (who was passing herself off as a shepherdess).
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