It might not be clear why the Men of Númenor hate Elves in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but as always, Tolkien’s lore can fill in the contextual gaps. In season 1, episode 3, Galadriel and Halbrand are brought to the magnificent island kingdom of Númenor more or less as captives. They are greeted by Númenórians with open hostility, and they learn that Elendil, the captain who rescued them at sea, took a great risk by helping them, for Númenor had barred Elves from their shores. This wasn’t always the case though, as later in the episode, it is revealed that the first king of Númenor was Elros, Elrond’s beloved Half-elven brother who chose to be a Man, further mystifying the broken alliance between the two peoples.
Númenor is far from Middle-earth, and in The Rings of Power its isolationism is more prominent than in Tolkien’s lore from The Silmarillion. Amazon does not have the rights to this more informative text, so their version of Númenor has to differ from Tolkien’s, particularly in regard to the expansive timeline of the Second Age. Still, the greatest kingdom of Men will invariably play a key role in the events of The Rings of Power, and its animosity toward Elves is a fundamental part of Númenor’s history.
For The Rings of Power, Númenórian hatred of Elves built over time out of jealously for their immortality. In The Silmarillion, Tolkien outlines the downfall of Númenor as a slow burn that began with the Ban of the Valar, which entailed the first Númenórians agreeing to never sail west toward Valinor. Initially, Númenórians viewed their mortality, their difference from the Valar and Eldar, as a gift; they had no desire to enter Valinor as the Elves could. Over centuries, however, Númenórians began to fear death, seeking to extend or preserve their lives however they could. They grew to despise the Ban of the Valar, and beginning with the reign of Tar-Ancalimon, the 14th king of Númenor, a policy of rebellion against the Valar became commonplace. This gave rise to two factions of Númenórians: The King’s Men, who were the majority and held disdain for Elves and the Valar; and the Faithful, a minority group who maintained allegiance to the Valar and friendship with Elves.
Do Numenorians & Elves Rebuild Their Alliance?
In Tolkien’s timeline, Númenor’s penultimate king, Tar-Palantir, the father to The Rings of Power’s Queen-Regent Míriel, tried to fix relations with the Valar and Elves, but it was too little too late. He lacked enough to make meaningful change, and what happens to Númenor is tragic self-destruction. Only the Faithful, led by Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion, leave their doomed kingdom to establish realms in Middle-earth with alliances to Elves.
While The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power cannot adapt much of Tolkien’s Númenórian history, it’s clear they’ve retained the crux what plagued the great island kingdom of Men. Envy and fear ate out the heart of a proud and powerful civilization, but its roots of brotherhood with the Elves does endure. Elendil and his progeny, leading eventually to Aragorn, keep the bond between Men and Elves alive.