Hallatan of Hyarastorni was a descendant of Vardamir Nólimon and thus of Elros Tar-Minyatur the founding King of Númenor. He was therefore a member of a minor branch of the royal house of Númenor, and an important lord in his own right. His holdings were in the south of the Mittalmar, the Inland regions of Númenor, where he maintained great flocks of sheep tended across the downlands by shepherds and shepherdesses, and thus Hallatan gained his title of the 'Sheep-lord'.1
Hallatan the Sheep-lord was a member of the King's Council of the Sceptre, in which he represented his homeland of the Mittalmar. He was a great friend and supporter of Aldarion, and aided in his ascension to the Kingship of Númenor (Hallatan would later be made regent of the realm while King Tar-Aldarion travelled to Middle-earth). Tar-Aldarion had only a single child and heir, the wayward Ancalimë, who at one time left court and disguised herself as one of the Sheep-lord's shepherdesses. In that disguise she was wooed by one 'Mámandil', who eventually revealed himself as Hallacar, son of Hallatan the Sheep-lord. The two married, and thus the Sheep-lord Hallatan became a direct ancestor of the following line of the Kings of Númenor.
Notes
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Our only direct references to the title 'Sheep-lord' apply to Hallatan himself, but theoretically it might have been a family title. Conceivably, Hallatan may have inherited the title from his father Cemendur, and passed it on to his son Hallacar. Though this is not impossible, the general use of the title rather suggests that it was given affectionately to Hallatan by his people, rather than being a formal title passed through the generations.
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- Updated 10 July 2019
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