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Post by pandemonium on Apr 27, 2010 20:22:07 GMT -6
Firstly, sanna, the photo and link are great! Erulissë, I squealed at your mention of caravels. My imagination places a variety of vessels in Middle-earth, including those, and vessels reminiscent of Viking longships, Roman biremes and triremes, barges (for river traffic) and coracles for lighter water travel. When I read Aldarion and Erendis the idea I had (rightly or wrongly) was that the trips were long because the Númenóreans chose to make them so! They went exploring far, charting the coastlines and creating havens and settlements. I imagine it a little like the Spanish and Portuguese soon after they "discovered" America, or like the Dutch and British later on around Australasia and the Pacific. Or like the surveying expedition that took Darwin to the Galapagos - I believe he spent more time on land than travelling. The ships I imagined were also bigger than the Jewel of Muscat. Likewise, that's why I imagine the voyages of the Númenóreans to be long as well: because they were great explorers, much like the Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch, who sailed to far shores and traveled along the coastlines, stopping and checking out the interior of distant lands. After all, how else did taters, Nicotiana and sunflowers arrive in Middle-earth? I can imagine something like the Jewel of Muscat traveling up the coast from Umbar and on along Belfalas, etc.
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