Queen Berúthiel
Encyclopedia
Queen Berúthiel is a minor fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien
's legendarium
.
Berúthiel was first mentioned in Unfinished Tales
. She was of Black Númenórean origin, from "the inland city", somewhere south of Umbar
. Her marriage to Tarannon Falastur is believed to have been arranged for political reasons. She is described by Tolkien as being "nefarious, solitary and loveless", and she and Falastur never had any children. Eventually, Falastur separated from her and sent her into exile, at which point she returned to her original home.
Berúthiel was most notorious for her cats
—in particular, her use of them as spies. This is described in the Unfinished Tales
:
It may well have been her continual intrigues that led Falastur to expel her. Her name was removed from the Books of the Kings (but not from the memory of Men
), and Falastur had her sent out to sea in a ship with her cats:
In an interview Tolkien had in 1966 he added the following information on her:
, Aragorn
uses Berúthiel's cats as a byword for navigation in the dark:
This suggests that Berúthiel and her cats have passed into popular legend by the time of the War of the Ring
.
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's legendarium
Tolkien's legendarium
The phrase Tolkien's legendarium is used in the literary discipline of Tolkien studiesto refer to the part of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy fiction being concerned with his Elven legends; that is, historic events that have become legendary from the perspective of the characters of The Lord of the...
.
Berúthiel was first mentioned in Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales is a collection of stories and essays by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980.Unlike The Silmarillion, for which the narrative fragments were modified to connect into a consistent and...
. She was of Black Númenórean origin, from "the inland city", somewhere south of Umbar
Umbar
Umbar is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. It was a great haven and seaport to the far south of Gondor in Middle-earth.'Umbar' was a name—of unknown meaning—given to the area by its original inhabitants...
. Her marriage to Tarannon Falastur is believed to have been arranged for political reasons. She is described by Tolkien as being "nefarious, solitary and loveless", and she and Falastur never had any children. Eventually, Falastur separated from her and sent her into exile, at which point she returned to her original home.
Berúthiel was most notorious for her cats
Cats of Queen Berúthiel
The Cats of Queen Berúthiel were at first mention used as a cognitive estrangement device in an off-hand remark in the Lord of the Rings. Later a story was published about the cats of Queen Berúthiel, the wife of Tarannon Falastur, twelfth King of Gondor....
—in particular, her use of them as spies. This is described in the Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales
Unfinished Tales is a collection of stories and essays by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980.Unlike The Silmarillion, for which the narrative fragments were modified to connect into a consistent and...
:
It may well have been her continual intrigues that led Falastur to expel her. Her name was removed from the Books of the Kings (but not from the memory of Men
Man (Middle-earth)
The race of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth books, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, refers to humanity and does not denote gender...
), and Falastur had her sent out to sea in a ship with her cats:
In an interview Tolkien had in 1966 he added the following information on her:
Later references
In The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, Aragorn
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
uses Berúthiel's cats as a byword for navigation in the dark:
This suggests that Berúthiel and her cats have passed into popular legend by the time of the War of the Ring
War of the Ring
In the fictional high fantasy-world of J. R. R. Tolkien, the War of the Ring was fought between Sauron and the free peoples of Middle-earth for control of the One Ring and dominion over the continent. The War of the Ring took place at the end of the Third Age. Together with the Quest of Mount Doom,...
.