Thread: Dunedain related question

I have been wondering, whether so or not the following piece of information is 100% true or like so. The information is the following: All Dunedain have black hair and grey eyes (Need to know about the grey eyes).

Is this true, or are the varieties between said colors? It seems kind of hard to believe they all had the same hair and eye color.

Speaking from memorey numenoreans descendend from the house of Beor were black haired and grey eyed, descendeants from the house of Hador were often blond and blue eyed, and those of the house of Haleth (dont quote me) may have had brown hair variations, what percentages from each house survived to become numenoreans im not sure, but departures from the standard grey eyed black hair were posible.

Would the Dunedain have gone grey as they aged?
I have Dunedain who is living in Gondor and is about 80-90 years old. I gave him grey hair, is that lore appropriate?

Originally Posted by Storm-Winterwolf

Would the Dunedain have gone grey as they aged?
I have Dunedain who is living in Gondor and is about 80-90 years old. I gave him grey hair, is that lore appropriate?

At 80 to 90 no, he wasn't even middle-aged for a Numenorean.

As for your basic question, Tolkien merely referred to them as humans with a greatly extended life expectancy, all aspects of their aging therefore I see as no different from other races, thus greying hair would be one aspect.

But as I say, at the age your character is this isn't an issue: remember Aragorn was about the same age and Tolkien's description of him was of a 'young man'; and keep in mind Aragorn was one of the last of his kind and was 'diminished' as Tolkien put it and wasn't as long-lived as they were of old.

Originally Posted by Kerin_Eldar

At 80 to 90 no, he wasn't even middle-aged for a Numenorean.

As for your basic question, Tolkien merely referred to them as humans with a greatly extended life expectancy, all aspects of their aging therefore I see as no different from other races, thus greying hair would be one aspect.

But as I say, at the age your character is this isn't an issue: remember Aragorn was about the same age and Tolkien's description of him was of a 'young man'; and keep in mind Aragorn was one of the last of his kind and was 'diminished' as Tolkien put it and wasn't as long-lived as they were of old.

Ah thank you, for explaining that I think I may change his age to something like 130-140. This age is at the time of the War of the ring, about 3038 I think. Actually, I'll probably put him as 142 years old, just to make a Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy reference :P
His major backstory is basically that he is a Ranger in the North, who left to go to Gondor with his good friend Winterwolf, an elf. He worked there for fifty or more years before being accepted into the Guard Of The Citadel as a retainer, due to his skill with tactics.
That isn't entirely Lore-Correct but my Roleplaying "Guards of the Citadel has to bend the lore a slight bit otherwise we wouldn't be able to have any members besides Human males from Gondor...

Remember, Dúnedain aren't pure-blooded Númenoreans. Ever since they left their isle, they mixed with the men of Middle-earth, and thus diminished, even while adding variety. Only in the royal line did the blood remain 'pure' enough to retain the long lifespan expectancy (excluding illness and, more commonly, violence). After the passing of Eärnur, the royal line died in Gondor.

As for Aragorn...

Originally Posted by Tale of Aragorn and Arwen

"---I am the last of the Númenoreans and the latest King of the Elder Days; and to me has been given not only a span thrice that of Men of Middle-earth, but also the grace to go at my will, and give back the gift."

During the War of the Ring, Aragorn was (roughly) 88 years old, with "dark hair flecked with grey" and as he put it...

Originally Posted by The Two Towers

"I am no longer young even in the reckoning of Men of the Ancient Houses," said Aragorn.

After the War, he went on to rule about 120 years, meaning he was a little over 200 years old at the time of his passing.
What bears remembering, too, is that he was an exceptional case; in him the blood of Númenor flowed the purest in Middle-earth. Even the house of Stewards of Gondor were lesser in that regard.

Then there's also the original Númenoreans... Remember, their first king was Elros Tar-Minyatur, the twin brother of Elrond.
Unlike his brother, Elros chose mortal life; because of his... curious... heritage, he still lived several centuries. The line that sprung from him was similarly blessed. Alas, don't have Silmarillion at arm's length, atm. Or UT.
But there's this:
"This (Elros') blood line was also gifted with longer life than others. While the rest of the Númenóreans lived around 200 years, royal kindred had double life span, 400 years."

Oh, and another thing?
War of the Ring ends in year 3019 of Third Age...

Originally Posted by Daeross

Oh, and another thing?
War of the Ring ends in year 3019 of Third Age...

*Faceplam* yeah, i should have googled that before i posted so i didn't look like a complete idiot... Ah well :P. I am by no means a scholar of tolkein lore, I love Middle Earth and love learning about it and the amazing amount of detail Tolkein put into it, but i'm still a little rusty on dates and the fine details

Sorry for looking like a complete idiot there....

Originally Posted by Daeross

Remember, Dúnedain aren't pure-blooded Númenoreans. Ever since they left their isle, they mixed with the men of Middle-earth, and thus diminished, even while adding variety. Only in the royal line did the blood remain 'pure' enough to retain the long lifespan expectancy (excluding illness and, more commonly, violence). After the passing of Eärnur, the royal line died in Gondor.

As for Aragorn...


During the War of the Ring, Aragorn was (roughly) 88 years old, with "dark hair flecked with grey" and as he put it...

Ah, Well what age would you recommend for my Dunedain Ranger, Taerion Greyfang, who is graying?

Hey, everyone does mistakes. I just happened to have a good day, memory-wise. Trust me, another day, and I would've had hard time remembering any numbers... or who was related to whom.

As for a good age for an aging Dúnedain...
Despite their mixing with others, I think they were still considered long-lived, for men. Too often those who were mentioned died by the sword, though, so we don't have much data for that; gut feeling says, given the chance to live and die of old age rather than external reasons, a normal Dúnadan might have lived up to 120-150 years.
If I were you, I'd suggest an age around 80-90 (like you had, too ), comparative to around 50-60 of a normal man. Not a young man, definitely, but not yet one unable to wield a blade.

As an aside, Théoden was 71 when he died. Denethor 89. And both were considered more or less old men.