Plus, at 67 removes...

Aragorn and Arwen are first cousins approximately 67 times removed. by ClaireBook1 on 2021-08-06 13:53:29 UTC Reply

This is based on information I gathered from ~~wasting time~~ researching The One Wiki to Rule Them All: there were 27 Kings of Númenor (including usurpers), 10 Kings of Arnor, 15 Kings of Arthedain, and 15 Chieftains of the Dúnedain. The Lords of Andúnië (Aragorn's ancestors in Númenor) were descended from Silmariën, the eldest child of Tar-Elendil, the fourth King of Númenor. I can't find out how many Lords of Andúnië there were between Silmariën and Amandil, Elendil's father, so all of this is an educated guess based on what I found on the wiki.

As well as adoptive siblings (nm) by Ki no Shirayuki on 2021-08-06 15:34:31 UTC Reply

Only in a very technical sense by Somariel on 2021-08-06 23:30:00 UTC Reply

Arwen was in Lothlorien the entire time Aragorn was being raised in Rivendell and had only just returned from there when he first met her. (Which happened when he was twenty.)

Plus, at 67 removes... by Neshomeh on 2021-08-07 20:40:14 UTC Reply

I'm pretty sure the amount of DNA Aragorn shares with Arwen would be roughly the same amount he would share with any random person. Apparently the average genetic distance between American spouses is seventh cousins, and there is no meaningful genetic similarity at that remove, either.

Marrying cousins wasn't always taboo, either, and it's not as scary as you might think as a once-off thing. I found an interesting article about it here: https://www.popsci.com/marrying-cousins-genetics/ That's where I got the above statistic.

And I reckon it still isn't (as) taboo among royalty and other less-open societies. The smaller the pool of acceptable spouses, the more genetic similarity between spouses you're going to get, and you either gotta accept that or be more open-minded about who you can marry. *shrug*

~Neshomeh

P.S. Genetic diversity or lack thereof hardly matters at all if you don't plan to have offspring, anyway. The biggest risk is, like, getting the flu at the same time.

Carlos II of Spain, anyone? by Tawaki on 2021-08-14 13:16:01 UTC Reply

King Tut also appears to have had physical deformities that could easily have arisen from inbreeding.

Yeah, that's why I said "as a once-off thing." by Neshomeh on 2021-08-14 14:22:06 UTC Reply

See also: "pure" dog breeds such as bulldogs and pugs, which far too often need surgery just to breathe normally. It's definitely not a good idea to make a habit of inbreeding.

On an unrelated note, support your local animal shelter. Adopt, don't buy. {= )

~Neshomeh

Also on an unrelated note, I have three cats. by ClaireBook1 on 2021-08-15 02:55:01 UTC Reply

My family got the first two cats, named 72 (after 72% cacao dark chocolate) and Tuxie (short for tuxedo), from an empty lot on our morning coffee walk. We were helping the guy who feeds them to get them fixed because he was practically up to his ears in cats. He let us have the two kittens because he was having a hard time taking care of them because his eyesight is bad. When we got them, they were a mess. I helped hold them while my dad gave them baths because they were so dirty. They weren't too happy about that. We had to give them multiple baths because they were too small for flea medicine. They bore us no ill will for that, and now they just spend most of their time lying around on the armchairs in our living room unless they decide to pester me at my laptop or start climbing on the dining room table (which they are not allowed to do) because they think it's time for lunch even though it's only 10 AM.

We got our third cat, Nimbus, from a neighbor who heard that we were looking for cats. He told us that he had a very friendly kitten, so we decided to adopt him. Dad named him Nimbus because he thinks the cat looks like a little grey cloud. He is blueish-grey with a few white patches. I wanted to name him Strider or Gandalf or something from Lord of the Rings, but Nimbus stuck. He is a very loving cat, and his favorite pastime besides napping in laundry baskets and galloping around the house like a maniac is pestering everyone. I am convinced that he is a nutcase. At least he is a nutcase who purrs. Yes, I like talking about my cats. I will stop now.

You're right, I forgot about that. Now Aragorn and Arwen getting married sounds really weird. (nm) by ClaireBook1 on 2021-08-06 18:35:01 UTC Reply