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TurnerMohan — Haleth
Published: 2013-11-16 21:03:31 +0000 UTC; Views: 7860; Favourites: 80; Downloads: 60
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I've been thinking alot about the Haladin lately, the middle and by all accounts least extraordinary of the three houses of the Edain, whose 2nd and 3rd age descendents tend to catch a fairly consistent (and usually deserved) bum rap, so I thought I'd try and amend that reputation a bit with a take on one of their peoples' more positive historical figures.Haleth was the daughter of Haldad, the leader of the second wave of men to come into Beleriand. Following the death of her father and brother, she took up the leadership of her people, fighting off the orc-raids in Thargelion and even earning the respect and gratitude of Caranthir (a very rare feat). Given the very celtic nature of the Haladin (their physical description, their role in Middle-earth's history relative to the very romanesque numenoreans and germanic "northmen" and, significantly, their most famous leader being a woman) a very Boudicca-like picture springs immediately to mind for the ancient warrior-queen, and I'v always thought that, for a stuffy old english academic with probably some very conservative notions about gender relations, Tolkien seemed to have a surprising girlpower streak. one of the enjoyable things about Haleth is just how little a deal is made of her gender; she's a chieftain of the Edain, like Beor or Marach, who happens to be a woman.
In someways I see this piece as almost the antithesis to Queen Beruthiel , the soft faced, pampered young noblewoman (and deranged sadist); the people of the first age by contrast are a gallery of mostly rough-hewn, weather-worn folk, no more than a few generations into the world and not very far along in cultural development, but possessing a real unrefined clarity and primitive hardihood.
I must admit much of my recent enthusiasm for the character stems from the praise heaped upon her in "The Silmarillion for Noobs" www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYGHEz… a wonderful little video series that I would strongly recommend to noobs and seasoned fans alike.
Part of the Weekly Tolkien Sketchblog.
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Comments: 34
I think this Haleth might have served as the principal for Numenors absolute cognatic succession, in which females were considered equal to males in terms of inheritance and in ruling.
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It occurred to me while perusing your most excellent depiction of Haleth the Indomitable (which remains convincingly hard-bitten and inspirational, yet with just a bit of the hard-headed pride that drove her people to make a hard march that might not even have been needful) and while also considering your fondness for the mental image of Abraham Lincoln as an inspiration for the Folk of Beor that Old Abe might indeed be the PERFECT inspiration for a depiction of Beor the Old (for something about that prematurely-wearied but enduring visage strikes me as entry appropriate to a man who'd had to lead his folk through unimaginable sufferings to find something better on the other side - I get the impression that when Finrod Felagund found them there were very few truly old or very young people amongst the Atani, for obvious reasons and that Balan became Beor in part out of shame at the sufferings he had been unable to avert).
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I'd never thought of that but it's pretty brilliant; lincoln has, similarly to haleth as i see her, that flinty, monkeyish "dawn of man" look about him (a thing for which he was unendingly maligned by the media of his day) while being, as i'd mentioned before, a great model of the "beorian type" in stature, coloring, and temperment, whereas haleth is more the classic celtic "firey redhead," like the girl from Brave after a several decades out in the elements (although who knows, she could be like thirty-five here, people weathered up young in the past 
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Haleth is a redhead? (now I'll just have to imagine her as even MORE like Queen Elizabeth the First, albeit absent the seriously shiny costumes that graced Gloriana).
I'm glad you like the idea of a Lincoln-esque Beor; for some reason the character fascinates me, possibly because I read something more complex than 'Elves are Awesome!' behind his decision to resign his rule over the Folk who would bear his name (the thought occurs to me that since you like Honest Abe as a physical model for the House of Beor, would any actor cast as Abraham Lincoln work as a man of Beorian descent in your opinion?).
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No she isn't told to be a redhead (most of the Halethrim are dark-haired and that's all we know : I don't remember anyone of them having a precise hair colour) but it could be as redhead appear in Tokien's work without any relation to their kin (like Mahtan a redhead Noldo).
Nice idea for Lincoln as Bëor.
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I'm afraid that partial credit for this particular idea still goes to Master Mohan; he has a particular admiration and suggested using him as a model for Aragorn and Elendil - I agree that he's a good reference for the House of Beor in general, but suspect that he's a bit … mmm … primal-looking to serve as a direct model for a character known as 'Elendil the Fair' (or the remote descendent who is held to strongly resemble him).
Which is why I was wondering who Mr Lincoln might serve as a better model for when 'Beor' struck me.
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Thanks for the explanation. I agree with Turner and you for saying that Lincoln's "chimp-head" (no offense here : I love the man and his deeds but as primates we look more or less, depending of genetic hazard, alike to our cousins ; I consider myself and my grand-father and grand-uncle as having some chimp features 
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You're quite welcome and I'm glad that my explanation does not strike you as too fatuous! (to be honest from what I have been able to gather of his character in the course of reading about him, Mr Lincoln was far too nice a gentleman for me to utter anything uncivil about his appearance, since his character seems to have been as graceful as his looks were … well, distinctive).
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Héhé as I said saying someone has ape-like features is not "uncivil" and offensive to me... though I have to say that's not something I like much in ladies.
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Just so long as you didn't get in an essential vein and the plasters were put on promptly you should make a full recovery!
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Hum... I'm afraid my poor american-english prevent me from understanding your rosbif joke !
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Well now, well now, this is a fine way to treat a poor wee Scotsman!
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Perdon me then ol' pal for confusing you with a damn Englishman but the internet prevent me from hearing your wonderful (though confusing) accent and I perceived the quality of your english as the typical haughtiness of the anglo-saxon jerk. 
...
All that sentence being a joke of course since you excuse too much to be haughty ! ^_^
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Now, now I AM British so I'm at least a quarter English (not least because my own dear old Dad was born down South); I'll have you know that I resemble those remarks!
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Well now you are just being confusing on purpose ! How do you call a mix of you oldest ennemy with your oldest ally ?
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Well 'You Bounder!' or 'Rapscallion!' would be a good place to start.
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no as far as I know she was nowhere mentioned to be a red head, and you are right, the haladin are remarked to be dark haired (this was and is largely true of celtic people aswell, red hair being a pretty rare mutation even for them) but I liked the image.
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Of course but if you read me right (or if I made myself understandable) I kinda like that idea too.
Also red-hair looks very cool on a person clad in green and this drawing of steamy helped to put that image in my head with the auburn hair he gave to Haleth.
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Whoa, this is fantastic!! I LOVE Haleth, and I absolutely love your version of her! from the more objective aspects, such as her hair and the color of her skin, to her powerful gazer and expression... interesting comparison with Queen Berúthiel's portrait, too!
Also by the way, I really love that youtube series too hahaha
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"you'll damn well swim to middle earth like a real man" is probably the best middle-earth line not written by Tolkien. I was trying to make a picture of Haleth that looked like she could deliver a line like that.
I dont quite know why the comparison to beruthiel came to my mind, I think it was because Tolkien has a tendency (obviously not all the time, but prevelent enough) to make characters' appearance coincide with their personalities; the more noble a person is the "fairer" (and usually taller) they will often be. for an evil character, some people were surprised that I depicted beruthiel as young and beautiful, whereas Haleth is a lot older and more hardened by life, but a much more noble, likeable character (though I think both of them, the way I've drawn them, have a look that shows what they're like as people)
Thanks for the nice comment!
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Great interpretation of the character, I love her believable features.
And a very interesting description, it reminded me such fond teenage memories... all the time I spent ruminating on those characters, imaginary people and geographies...
In short, I'm fond of your work.
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sounds like you and I had similar teenages
thanks so much for your kind words.
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It is a rarely acknowledged fact that Tolkien invented the modern heroic fantasy heroine. Several female fantasy writers have accredited him as the story teller who inspired them to write stories with strong female characters. The Silmarillion is filled with strong or inspiring female characters, but then Tolkien was inspired by many of the old sagas and epics, who have their share of noteworthy women. (Especially the Icelandic and Finnish sagas, who have some tough ones! 
Good to see you still at work on the Haladin restoration project.
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without being able to verify it, I have little difficulty believing you're right about tolkien inventing the modern fantasy epic heroine, and I think one of the many many wonderful things about his work is that it can really be enjoyed by both genders (unlike so much of the fanboy-aimed 'tolkien-inspired' sword and sorcery genre, which is all too often a complete sausage fest)
I think part of what draws people in to the Silmarillion (and especially makes it a gold mine for fan artists) is that, like the vast appendices, it feels like the events recounted so briefly in it could fill a hundred full length novels; the world feels so real and credible (as it was his major interest, not the stories presented therein) as opposed to most fantasy writiers, who will create a world purely as an excuse to tell a particular story.
Yes on that mixture you mention of sorrow and determination. I don't really know how old she is supposed to be here. her facial features were partially inspired by Florence Owens Thompson, the subject of a very famous photo from the great depression, who was only 32 at the time, but was so weathered by hard times. it seemed a more appropriate model than some hollywood actress. Originally this piece was supposed to be her facing caranthir up on his horse, with her people and her amazonian guards (who may yet rate a drawing) behind, spears in hand, but I drew her head too big. Their meeting is one of those scenes I wish had a novelized treatment; no mention is ever made of interactions between a human woman and male elf, and I would love to know what the beautiful, immortal, arrogant son of feanor would make of such a creature, with her creased skin and big unruly mat of hair, looking for all the world like some living ragdoll, but possessing undeniable valor. 'grit' would be the right word, I suppose.
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Ho and for a human woman interacting a male-Elf there is this wonderful back-and-forth between Finrod and Andreth called "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth". If you haven't check it out, it's extremly interisting (even if I understand why Tolkien thougt it was kind of a "biblical parody") and the story of Aegnor and Andreth is, in my opinion, the most touching story of all love-stories Tolkien ever told.
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Crazy : when you mentionned taking inspiration from Florence Owen Thompson, though I didn't remember who she was, I immediately remembered the picture.
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thanks man. good to see you on my page again. I'd be most interested to hear your thoughts on some of my more recent work.
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I will, I promise, I'm off with school on the 21st of May.
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The really interesting thing about the meeting between Caranthir & Haleth is that Haleth did not enter into an alliance with the Noldor. She led her people westward (through Nan Dungortheb no less!) to Brethil by herself, asking no one's aid along the way. The Halethrim did continue to live apart afterwards, aiding the elves and the other Edain, but not becoming very close with them, either. So I think that's the key factor in the meeting, that Haleth appreciated the timely attack of the Elves, and the immediate assistance they provided, but she and her folk were not going to become Caranthir's sworn allies or vassals. Yes, she had a lot of grit!
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it's funny, Haleth's people, as you mention, did not share a connection with the elves like Beor's did with Finrod or Marach's with Fingolfin, and it seems that that was their first foot off the wagon of the edain's long, mighty history. Tolkien once said something to the effect of "all rightful human kingship comes through the elves" or something, I see it as this chain of spiritual authority by spiritual knowledge, from Eru, to the Ainur, to the Elves (particularly the high elves who saw the light of the trees) to the men who interacted with them, culminating in earendil, a figure with all three races in him, and progenator of the elvish/divine strain in men. the Men of Brethil missed the boat on this entirely; no son of theirs ever bred with an elf like Beren for beor's house, or Tuor for Hador's (I suppose Tuor is partially halethian, and half beorian, but he seems to be such a perfectly typical man of hador's house) and of the three they made up the least of the population to come to numenor, and their remaining kin in middle earth (as we've discussed) did not have the best time of the second and third ages. Tolkien would almost seem to blame them, and Haleth specifically, for their refusal of an alliance with the elves, and the comparatively lowly destiny they were consigned to as a result (usually if anyone in tolkien's writing spurns the elves it's because they're either evil or ignorant) but considering that of all the elven lords, they ran into caranthir (not especially well known for his grace or diplomacy in dealing with 'other peoples') it's not so surprising that Haleth and her people chose to go their own way, with the druedain (their continual companions) in tow, no less. I like the people of haleth; i like their story and that they essentially told caranthir and the whole lofty chain of elf-worship to go stuff it. They ended up paying for it in the long run, and it would have been much better if they'd run into somebody like Finrod ("Mr. Good Vibrations" himself) but as it stands I cant really fault their choice.
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Yes, the Halethrim did not embrace the elves (literally in the case of their heroes) and so they missed out on getting in on the ground floor of Numenorian authority. Even after Caranthir set aside his pride at the sight of the desperate but proud Haladin people, Haleth did not want to accept it. But it was their choice, which has to be noted. Haleth could have been a close Elven ally, instead of a casual ally in times of general war. However the choice was hers and she chose for her people to stand on their own, as they had since they had crossed the Ered Luin. I think that was what Tolkien wanted to emphasize, the freedom of choice, to choose a fate and then have the will to stick to the decision. The Elves did not coerce the people of Haleth, but let them move on and live as they chose. It's what the difference was between the Free Peoples and Morgoth's coerced hordes, right? So that was all of it, in the end.
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it's hard to understand how caranthir could be seen to be any kind of decent representative for this superior elven spiritual/moral authority which the Haladin would have benefited from if only they'd been less proud and made alliances with him; the guy is (or would be by his end) a two-time kinslayer, open in his contempt for the sindar, the dwarves, and even his own cousins, and generally the biggest dick of the house of finwe; a character the readers are basically encouraged to hate (granted, the silmarillion, being in the style of an ancient chronicle, doesnt really manipulate audience sympathies as strongly as a modern novel would, but even still, by his few defining actions over the course of several centuries - which is how all the elves are characterized and judged by in the silm - it's highly implied that caranthir is a complete asshole). that's one of the confusing things about tolkien's writing; on the one hand the elves are held up as these beautiful, perfect beings, by whose influence lesser beings like men are effectively brought closer to god, and on the other they're these flawed, haughty douchebags like feanor or his sons, or eol. I quite prefer the latter presentation of them to the former (tolkien's unquestioned, unconditional love of the blatantly flawed elves is one of the more aggravating elements of his fictional world) and furthermore it's a pretty bad double standard: the people of beor, by good fortune only (having done nothing to earn it) have the good fortune to run into finrod, the people of marach (who enter into beleriand with spears bristling) into fingolfin, and the people of Haleth into... caranthir. and because they choose to strike out on their own, rather than take his offer of protection, they are forever relegated to lower status, as those never touched by the beautiful, perfect noldor. It's unfair the way the way the biblical Noah, in a drunken fit, relegating his son Ham and his descendents to an eternity of subjugation to his two brothers and their seed for having seen him naked (even though Ham found his father passed out drunk and naked, and covered him up) is unfair, only all the more condemnably so, as tolkien (unlike the authors of the old testament) was writing in the twentieth century, and the overarching, theological morality of middle-earth as presented in his books is usually (in my opinion) quite a bit more palatable by modern, secular, "reasonable-man" standards than that offered by the bible (the elves' "fall" for example, comes from murdering their fellow elves, a far more understandable grounds for expulsion from paradise than adam and eve) and it's an unfairness meant to justify, within his mythology, the continued contempt and critisism of his celtic proxies. I love tolkien, I always have, but I can see why so many non-white people find little to relate to in his creation; even as a fully white person, but one of mostly 'celtic' ancestry (a thing we share in common if i remember correctly) even I want to have words with him over the haladin.
As i mentioned somewhere in the comment section for my Wood Woses piece, one of my favorite things about the druedain is that they seem to enjoy the author's favor despite appearing nowhere on what i earlier called the chain of elf-worship, and it seems middle-earth can only accomodate a small number of such exceptions, and the haladin (being too advanced, too much like the other edain, and not "noble savage" enough, i suppose) are not among them, but if it werent for the very partisan saxon/christian monism of his work (despite the rather banal claims made on the LOTR dvd extras that lord of the rings promotes the pluralism of the free peoples over the monism of sauron the all seeing eye, I think his work might rightly be said to promote, ultimately, a very christian 'dualism,' of absolute good and absolute evil, and the varied, compromised figures inbetween) i think the haladin might fare a little better. ofcourse you cant change tolkien's work, and niether would i want to; it is what it is, and part of what it is is a cultural mythology, which is bound to be exclusionary, but where the fiction meets the real world, i do have my criticisms.
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Interestingly enough it seems this was the one case where Caranthir actually got off his high horse and was genuinely nice to people who were not Noldor. The orc-raid that plagued the Haladin had bypassed the usual tracks and had suddenly attacked the Men, who retreated to their emergency fort and withstood a siege. The Halethrim had nothing against Caranthir, since they lived beyond his boundaries, but they had nothing really for Elves of Beleriand either, since the Green-Elves of Ossiriand had kept them from settling in that region. Caranthir heard of the Orcs, and his army staged a last-minute rescue, but Haleth wasn't in a thankful mood by then. It's how things work out sometimes, but then not all ends are Hollywood.
Beor was glad to meet FInrod and form an alliance, and Marach was received by the Noldor as a desirable ally. Still, many of their folk decided to forsake the war with Morgoth, and passed back into Eriador, and so missed out on glory and blessed Numenor. However, the Halethrim stayed in Beleriand, and helped out where and when they could. That alone earned them a place among the Edain for ever.
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