Beruthiel and Her Cat: LotR

"(Gandalf) Is surer of finding the way home in a blind night than the cats of Queen Beruthiel." 

, Aragorn,  Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

Queen Beruthiel remains one of the mysteries of Middle Earth.  In the trilogy she is alluded to in Fellowship of the Ring by Aragorn regarding the certainty of Gandalf's finding his way.  She was again mentioned in an interview with Tolien in 1966, and only explained further in the posthumously published Book of Lost Tales.  From these sources we can gather that Beruthiel (translating as, "Harsh Queen") was a Black Numenorean betrothed to Tarranon Fallustur, twelfth King in the line of Gondor.  It can assumed theirs was a loveless, political union, arranged to foster peace between their respective kingdoms.   The Queen was solitary figure, unloved in Gondor and was famous for her ten cats, one white and nine black who spied and learned the secrets of men for her.  Beruthiel was eventually exiled by her king and took ship back to her homeland.  The couple produced no heir and the last mention of her ship, "Seen flying past Umbar under a sickle moon, with a cat at the masthead and another as a figure-head on the prow". 

 

GW and Mithral Miniatures both made versions of the queen.

On the tabletop Queen Beruthiel appears in Game Workshop's War of the Ring as a wizard an hero in the Fallen Realms army list.  It was their intention to produce a figure which was sculpted but, went unreleased.  I like the aquiline face but, there isn't a single cat to be found and the cat hair (?) bustle makes for a poor substitute.  Mithral Miniatures also produced an enthroned Beruthiel.  I liked this one, particularly the cats congregating around her.  Unfortunately, the model is in the 32mm scale and think it would make a better display model than a gaming piece.  I haven't assembled so large a Haradrim host that I should be considering epic leaders but, this looked like it would be a fun and fast project to take on.

Paula DiSante's "Reporting to Beruthiel"

Finding the right base model meant finding an appropriately inspiring base figure.  Before I began looking I looked for an image that summed up the character for me.  "Reporting to Beruthiel" by Paula DiSante was perfect.  I wish a sculptor would use this image as a basis for a figure somewhere down the line.  The dour queen was described as wearing only black and silver because she hated colour (and most other things, including her cats).  This image captures that austerity completely.  The severe robe, spartan tiara and hardened expression on her face are as I imagined her.  The white cat was her chief, overseeing the other cats.  Beruthiel has it vunerable, by the scruff of the neck and seizes it's report through some dark magic.  A mother cat can paralyze her kittens by lifting them by the scruff to remove them from harm, but this image is one of control, something sinister.

I scoured the lead pile and managed to find an older Julie Guthrie sculpt I had among some fantasy models.  The tab was dated 1995.  She might have been a cleric as she had a mace in her right hand and the necklace may have been intended as a holy symbol.  I cut off the mace hand and replaced it with a staff from another model.  I think her hand is riding too high up for the position she has it in but I liked the shape and was out of options.  I didn't have a cat to spare her but remembered the Pegasus animal kit I used for the Animal Farm scenery project.  I used all of the livestock but, the kit included some dogs that were too small to be of much use.  Just the same I squirreled them away and was glad I did.  With a snip and a shave one of the tiny hounds made a passable cat to accompany Queen Beruthiel.

Painting her was straight forward.  With the description I'd been supplied the bulk of the figure was painted in a blue-black.  To contrast the the volume I opted for pallid skin, the dominant white cat, and a staff in white.  Each of these three elements were treated in a different white with the cat originating in a blue-grey, the staff from bone, and the pallid skin from the Vallejo Malefic Flesh set.  Overall I'm happy with the result with the stark contrasts calling attention to her face, hands, the staff which is part of her identity as a wizard in game and her cat which is integral to the character.