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Margoliantë Berúthiel
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Home(s)
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Language(s)
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People
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Time Period
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T.A. ca. 830 – 913
(reign of Tarannon) |
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Gender
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Female
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Parents
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Belegorn of Umbar (N), Morbereth of Umbar (N)
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Siblings
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Unknown
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Spouse
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Children
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None
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Notes
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(N) = non-canon
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A Black Númenórean by birth, Margoliantë Berúthiel[1] (originally known as Beruthin or later Berethiel) was the daughter of Morbereth of Umbar, and Queen of Gondor during the reign of the first Ship-king Tarannon (T.A. 830-913). Vilified to an object of barter in a purely political marriage that should restore peace between Gondor and its sister colony, Berúthiel was bound to a husband she didn't love, in a country she despised, a people that hated her, and a family which didn't accept her, she fell for paranoia, Sorcery and the Cult of Benish Armon. Spiteful and reclusive, she shunned the sea that her husband held so dear, and refused to live in the palace he erected over the river Anduin. Instead, she stayed secluded in undecorated chambers in the otherwise opulent King's House in Osgiliath. Hideous sculptures adorned her bizarre gardens, leading most of the members of the King's Court to believe that she was insane. Tarannon's people despised her, suspecting Berúthiel of heinous nocturnal machinations. Indeed, the Queen spied on her subjects, communicating through her ten intelligent cats (one white and nine black). No one dared bother the creatures, who wandered the streets of the capital as Berúthiel's "eyes" and "ears." King Tarannon abandoned his love for her and eventually seized her evil cats and put them (and her) to sea in a drifting ship that was last seen off the coast of Umbar.
Berúthiel abhorred beauty and decoration, although she was herself quite gorgeous. She dressed only in black or silver.
Familiars[]
LOTR SBG[]
In the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game by Games Workshop, Berúthiel is considered a wizard character by the time of War of the Ring. How she survived this long and why she would be alive during WOTR is a mystery. However, if combining MERP with LotRSBG: Berúthiel wields the Kuilëondo, which grants longer lasting life and power, possibly even undeath; or her descendant, maybe possessed by her spirit, could be present during the War of the Ring, either justification could be used to have her placed during the time of WOTR.
Expanded interpretations of the Battle Strategy Game, such as Age of the Ring and Realms in Exile, place this Beruthiel as a separate character, the daughter-in-law of the King of Umbar in the Late Third Age.
The Realm of Bellakar[]
A later MERP interpretation of Berúthiel from Other Minds was that she was not Umbarean, but rather from Bellakar, a largely Faithful Black Númenórean realm to the south. In this interpretation, she is the daughter of Narkuzîr I of Bellakar, who followed the religious practices of the Gondorians, and Queen Zâirinzil, who was born of the Cult of Ishtra. Despite her father's influence, Berúthiel was taken by the goddess of her mother, Ishtra or Nessa.