eikyuuyuki

[eikyuuyuki]

This piece details how I imagine Oropher would treat Thranduil.

However Thranduil(s) react to such a father is up to them. (your) Thranduil may inspire Oropher to change or go about things different. I am here to explore how Oropher would wish to love and teach his son.

First Age Before Thranduil was born, Oropher has already established himself as a very stern and intense Prince who is likeable by those close to him and not so much by others. Prince Oropher has many duties, and like any other statesman, he would also have to attend council, court hearings, and private meetings with the King and whoever else. This is good for him and his close friends because they all work together and don’t really need an allocated ‘social time’ to interact or mingle. They basically see each other for much of the day.

But, that is not good for anyone outside of his circle. After Thranduil was born and up to when Thranduil could attend a school, Oropher did pass his most of his duties to another, and became a full time dad. Whatever urgent or important issues that needed his attention was directed to his home.

After Thranduil was old enough and did not require constant supervision, Oropher resumes full active duty and tries his best to allocate any free time he has to his family. Oropher’s life was basically the military, work, and family. He may miss family dinners or outings (if any) either because his day ended sourly, or a council had a bad vote or his outbound trainings did not go as plan, etc. Oropher doesn’t want to bring his mood home to his wife and kid because he is an introspective and emotional ellon, with the power of the forest overtaking his senses. So, Oropher might not come home sometimes, or only come back after everyone is asleep. He is an ellon who does not really separate his environment and personal feelings.

Oropher will also try his best to bar Thranduil from entering his meetings or seeing him when he is a Prince. He doesn’t want Thranduil to see a side of him that he could not wholly control, when dire circumstances dictate that he be harsh to his people or fellow ministers in order to drive a point.

As Oropher is not good with words and very self aware of what is going on with him and others, he tries to make up for lost time by giving gifts, whether its a cool rock or twig that caught his eye on his trips outside of Doriath, or some bread/toy/shenanigan he bought from the villages, or all kinds of jewelry from the smiths in the city. Oropher is very generous to the people loved by him and he will give Thranduil anything the son likes, whether candy, fruit, swords, daggers, capes, pets. Literally anything.

As the First Age wears on and Thingol becomes more and more [insert adjective here], Oropher’s time is less and less free and his moods are more and more harsh. He starts to get paranoid about his friends, especially of Celeborn and Luthien. Being older, Oropher wants to protect them from Thingol’s wrath, which means if an occasion calls for it, he will put himself as a wall between the King and the younger Prince and Princess, no matter what, and body block for them if needed. He cries more when in private and becomes distant from his son, not wanting to transfer his fell moods and thoughts to his family.

When Doriath ended with the First Age, Oropher does learn that family is the most important thing, and the only thing that survives.

Second Age Oropher will be less of a father and more of a Leader / King to Thranduil. Oropher will strive to teach and train Thranduil either personally (if he could) or through classes and whatnots.

He’ll basically make a King out of Thranduil, teaching his son all the things he thought that Thingol should have done, or that Doriath did not have time to see come to fruition. These include but are not limited to: Expanding trade & diplomatic relations, mastering both the sword & the bow, the art of tactical & strategic maneuvers, who Thranduil should and shouldn’t fight/defend etc. He’ll give Thranduil a very rounded, non-bias & non-isolationist education. Oropher becomes stricter and sterner in the Second Age.

Oropher’s main goal is to prepare Thranduil and hope (desperately) that at least Thranduil may have the peace Oropher wanted so badly when they moved to Greenwood. Oropher knew all along that he would not know peace in his time.

Greenwood A father only needs to love his son, but a King needs to love his people too. The way Oropher goes about parenting and kinging is actually to prepare Thranduil for everything, equip him for all situations. Oropher loves Thranduil through not wanting him to come to any sort of harm, and so putting his son into a position of power is actually the best way to ensure Thranduil has control over events and the skill to maneuver different situations in and outside the battlefield. Oropher is traumatised and he does not want a repeat of Beleriand, where thing were just happening to the Sindar and it seemed like prophecy and Valarin punishment drove fates, rather than the free peoples themselves.

Oropher loves his people through giving them the best possible fall back because he’s not arrogant to the point that he thinks himself unassailable or everlasting. Oropher has never felt that way since the second kinslaying when he saw Thingol fall before his eyes and the power of Melian fleeing. The fact that Tolkien kept writing Oropher as an escapist, while bolstering that part of him with simple reasons like disliking the Dwarfs’ encroachment, resenting the intrusion of C & G, all of these things point to trauma and wanting control over unnecessary sudden situations. All while never taking the offensive front, until the War of the Last Alliance. [ important read ]

All of the Second Age for Oropher is his priority in returning his son to a position of power and authority, so that Thranduil has sufficient resources and willpower at his hands to not be controlled by worldly events. However, Lindon is not the right place to do that without short of a rebellion, hence Oropher has to move somewhere else to build a safe and stable environment for Thranduil.

Whether Thranduil appreciates that, resents that, thinks Oropher has become more distant from him etc whatever, it has little bearings to Oropher, because Oropher will continue his mission anyway. The world and its dangers were, unfortunately, way bigger than a simple family life.

If Oropher has to die so that his son could live, what did it matter any unsettled resentment and grief? That’s what he thought.

Love comes in many forms. People and their motivations are heavily affected / twisted by tragedy, fears, humiliation, etc.

[eikyuuyuki]

Oropher and Gil-Galad. Interpret as you will.

[eikyuuyuki]

I wholeheartedly am in love with luthienne’s character analysis of Legolas Thranduilion and this line «it’s impossible for me to think about legolas and not think about his father and his grandfather, to not think about the life he must have lived leading up to the forming of the fellowship.» set my heart aflame to speak on Oropher, and how his selflessness and wisdom is reflected in Thranduil and Legolas.

I have a deep love for Oropher, the canon character with only two pages or so dedicated to him. I think that the House of Oropher is chiefly characterised by resilience and non-violence, which is saying A LOT coming from the lineage of a Sindarin Prince of Doriath who not only has witnessed the Fall of Doriath, but also the second and third Kinslayings. To the House of Oropher (and Celeborn?) should be the right for vengeance against the Dwarves and the Noldor, or to pass judgement on those who had stood aside at Sirion. However, that is not what Oropher chose to do. Oropher’s entire reign as King of Greenwood was a big contrast to how he was described in the last alliance, and regrettably by some in fandom: “rash, hateful, isolationist”.

Indeed, Oropher did not stay in Lindon (forlindon, the seat of Gil-galad)—and this is so understandable because of its chiefly Noldor population, which must be triggering even if they were not the sons of Feanor. And to this point, I have to remind the reader that even Celeborn and Galadriel did not stay in Forlindon, so let’s be fair here. And later, each of these leaders moved away: C G C (Tyelpe) to Eregion, and Oropher much further east over the Misty Mountains to Greenwood.

Oropher had come among them with only a handful of Sindar, and they were soon merged with the Silvan Elves, adopting their language and taking names of SIlvan form and style. This they did deliberately; for they came from Doriath after its ruin, and had no desire to leave Middle-earth, nor to be merged with the other Sindar of Beleriand, dominated by the Noldorin Exiles for whom the folk of Doriath had no great love.

I always found it quite amazing and inspiring that Oropher literally travelled halfway across the “globe” as he knew it, with only a handful of his people, and joined with the Silvan elves. Think about the would-be King —who may not even know he was going to be a King— camping out on harsh lands, hunting on the hills, crossing two great rivers, and scaling the immense Hithaeglir, just for a shot at:

They wished indeed to become the SIlvan folk and to return, as they said, to the simple life natural to the Elves before the invitation of the Valar had disturbed it.

This is such a huge shade being thrown at the Sundering of the Three Kindred, waaaay back when. It is so heartwarming and endearing that Oropher and his friends REMEMBERED there exist other of their folk! And would brace all these unknowns mapless lands to go join them and live among them and be with them? What was going through his mind? And when we think about the Woodland Realm holding back the forces of Dol Guldur in Legolas’s time? Would Greenwood the Great be overrun if Oropher did not make this journey, if Oropher did not go to a distant land? Indirectly or literally, Oropher’s coming empowered and defended the Silvan Elves. His knowledge from Doriath, his knowledge about the enemies they will be facing in the future, would greatly survive the Silvan elves.

Three times did Oropher move his people, for different reasons. He’s not perfect, he’s traumatised, but yet he chooses a non violent way of avoiding his triggers.

In the Second Age their king, Oropher, had withdrawn northward beyond the Gladden Fields. This he did to be free from the power and encroachments of the Dwarves of Moria (…) and also he resented the intrusions of Celeborn and Galadriel in Lorien. But as yet there was little to fear between the Greenwood and the Mountains and there was constant intercourse between his people and their kin across the River, until the War of the Last Alliance.

See also Note 14 of Disaster Of The Gladden Fields

From my point of view, it always looked like Oropher was escaping from the trauma of Doriath and the Kinslayings. We must remember that even though Galadriel had no part in the Kinslayings, she withheld vital information. Prophecy may null whatever she could have revealed, but to a Sindarin Prince of Doriath who sees his King and people slaughtered before his very eyes? This is all very real, very traumatising, and I can understand Oropher pinning some kind of disdain on ~ all Dwarves ~ or ~ all Noldor ~. Oropher does not take any offensive measure, or drive them out. No, Oropher himself chose to walk away from his chances for vengeance. Heck, he might even be so self aware of his or his people’s feelings that he chooses to leave before some kind of accident happens. However, Oropher remains professional as a King and the realms do communicate often before the Last Alliance. This can be inferred as Oropher had peace with the realms of Moria and Lorien, despite past trauma.

I think Oropher has such a big heart, and quite a lot of patience as well. It must take a hefty amount of resources and planning to move a huge number of people not once, but three times. Then I remember Thranduil’s iconic line in The Hobbit: ❝ Long will I tarry ere I begin this war for gold. ❞ His father did not choose war at any point in time, until the moment where it counted, and this is the kind of wisdom that Thranduil has. Thranduil lived through all of Oropher’s decisions to move, and it must be quite stressful on a young person to have to uproot their entire life to move? Yet Thranduil must also have been one of Oropher’s closest councils, being the only named son of Oropher, and Thranduil listens to his father’s wisdom and it shows through in The Hobbit, where Thranduil does not choose to take the offensive until all other means has been exhausted. I, for one, could clearly see that Oropher brought up his son well.

Legolas’ decision to help Aragorn rebuild Minas Tirith, could it also be him remembering how his grandfather and father rebuild their people after every set backs? Oropher’s big heart and willpower to put all of his life’s work into another people, and shelter them as his own?

The House of Oropher could honestly be a romance novel! They are capable of such great love and selflessness despite, despite, despite.

[eikyuuyuki]

Do you remember this Parody?

READ FULL CHAPTER 2 HERE:

https://tanukise7en.wordpress.com/2021/03/23/gondolins-untold-chapter-2-english-version/

Special thanks for my Translator Eikyuu Yuki!!

[eikyuuyuki]

Thank you so much for doing Nolofinwean week. It was fantastic.-@outofangband

Thank you dear. And sorry for not replying sooner.

[eikyuuyuki]

You've single-handedly convinced me with that "Worst parts of Facebook/Reddit Tolkien fandom" post to never set foot outside of Tumblr ever. I know Twitter is The Real Blue Hell but damn I never guessed it would be that bad.

Part of the problem with Facebook is its older demographic. People are a lot more conservative than on Tumblr and ready to dismiss fanfiction because they conflate it with “gay smut” and convince themselves that “Tolkien wouldn’t have wanted that” is a valid reason to think something shouldn’t exist. Basically you get boomer culture mixed into fandom culture.

Reddit has an overabundance of edgy teenage boys, the very demographic a lot of fantasy and sci-fi already caters to. They’re the people who’ll throw a hissy fit over a video game having a female or black protagonist or an lgbt side character - why would they care about fanfiction, a genre mostly written by women and marginalised groups?

Tumblr, for all its weird discourse and bots, is a place that values and encourages storytelling and creativity, partly because of its format where the reblog system makes it easy to share art and writing one likes without it losing the connection to the original author/artist, but partly because such a large part of the demographic consists of people who are used to the fact that if they want representation in media, they’ll have to make it themselves. And when I talk about representation here, it’s not just about “character with my gender/skin colour/sexual orientation/disability is present in the story”, it’s also about the kind of story being told and the way the story is told. People on Facebook and Reddit will ask “Who would win if Fëanor and Sauron fought?” and people on Tumblr will ask “Did Fëanor care more about his father or the silmarils?” The former is about numbers, battle stats, a glorified game of pokemon. The latter is about emotion, fatal flaws, greed, ambition and love - all the ingredients necessary to make a great story.

[eikyuuyuki]

@windrelyn 🍀 I’m lucky to have met you

Send me Emojis

🌹  I have a romantic crush on you

⭐️ I have a platonic crush on you

🌈  I’m gay for you

🤗  given the chance I would gladly hug you

💛 You are my best friend

💙 You are my closest friend

💚 You’re cute

🦄  you’re adorable

🎨  you’re artistically talented

💕  we have a lot in common

😑  you’re annoying

✖️  you’re mean

☄️ I wish we could talk

👽 you’re out of this world

🤙 you’re pretty cool

🔥 you’re hot

💋 I wanna make out with you

😊 Your blog makes me smile

😘 I’d date you

💍 I want to marry you

💓 I can’t stop thinking about you

💘 I love you so much 

🐶🐱 let’s get a dog/cat

👾 nerd

👻 I admire you from afar you probably don’t know I exist

🗑 You’re content is trash and i love you

😍 I aspire to be like you one day

🍀 I’m lucky to have met you

🤐 We don’t talk as much as we used to

🛫 You live far away and it sucks because I want to meet you

😩 I’m too shy to talk to you but I really love your blog

😇 You’re a sweet cinnamon bun

💎 Your blog is pretty

🐒 You’re funny

🎄 Wish to hang out over the holidays

⚔ I trust that you would have my back

👍 you are fun to be around

[eikyuuyuki]

did you open a blog for the nolofünwean week yet? i couldn't find it.

Here is the separate blog for this week: https://nolofinwean-week.tumblr.com/

[eikyuuyuki]

Reblog. Get ready for tomorrow! Also, there is a separate blog for this week here: https://nolofinwean-week.tumblr.com/

We’ll try to update it as soon as possible.

Appreciation for Nolofinwëan Week 2019

Following the success of Fëanorian Week and Gondolin Week with so many support and love from you guys, and for tons of messages we ( @windrelyn ) have received since yesterday asking if we are going to celebrate Nolofinwëan Week, we decided that…YES! We’re in!

Nolofinwëan Week 2019 will happen from August 4th to August 10th, 2019* for full seven days! Details for each day is as follow.

Day 1 – August 4th: Fingolfin & Anairë

Day 2 – August 5th: Fingon

Day 3 – August 6th: Turgon & Elenwë

Day 4 – August 7th: Aredhel

Day 5 – August 8th: Argon

Day 6 – August 9th: Idril

Day 7 – August 10th: Maeglin

*We choose this particular period because it includes number “456”, which was the year our High King Fingolfin challenged the Dark Lord Morgoth.

ANY forms of fan works: edits, fanfics, meta, fan art, video, etc. is accepted and appreciated.

To participate, please add #nolofinweanweek to your posts.

NOTE: If you want to add any member of the House that is not listed here. Feel free to do so.

As always, our box is open for any questions and suggestions!

[eikyuuyuki]

Hi! Is there a separate blog for Nolofinwëan week where all participating posts will be reblogged? :) Similar to what many other events have.

Hi! Yes, there is a separate blogs for Nolofinwëan week. We’re preparing it and will announce later.

[eikyuuyuki]

Appreciation for Nolofinwëan Week 2019

Following the success of Fëanorian Week and Gondolin Week with so many support and love from you guys, and for tons of messages we ( @windrelyn ) have received since yesterday asking if we are going to celebrate Nolofinwëan Week, we decided that…YES! We’re in!

Nolofinwëan Week 2019 will happen from August 4th to August 10th, 2019* for full seven days! Details for each day is as follow.

Day 1 – August 4th: Fingolfin & Anairë

Day 2 – August 5th: Fingon

Day 3 – August 6th: Turgon & Elenwë

Day 4 – August 7th: Aredhel

Day 5 – August 8th: Argon

Day 6 – August 9th: Idril

Day 7 – August 10th: Maeglin

*We choose this particular period because it includes number “456”, which was the year our High King Fingolfin challenged the Dark Lord Morgoth.

ANY forms of fan works: edits, fanfics, meta, fan art, video, etc. is accepted and appreciated.

To participate, please add #nolofinweanweek to your posts.

NOTE: If you want to add any member of the House that is not listed here. Feel free to do so.

As always, our box is open for any questions and suggestions!

[eikyuuyuki]

It has been a long time since my last post here. Last time, I was Thorinduil’s fan. Now, my love has spread to entire ME. During the past two years, I have worked with my partner windrelyn in building Gondolin’s headcanon system. It is kind of complete now. If you are interested, you can read it on AO3.

Hope you enjoy it :”>

[eikyuuyuki]

Tolkien’s narrative didn’t treat those who suffered from great physical and mental trauma kindly. As always Tolkien's’ works are a product of the time, and the understanding of mental health in his days were hellish to say the least.  The reoccurring theme within his works of those tormented is often bleak. You’re either avoided at all cost, given a shoddy narrative, or sent away.  In some of Tolkien’s cases, torture usually entails an unfortunate ending for the victim. 

I mean think of the elves who were tormented by Morgoth, and by some chance returned to elven society. There’s Maeglin, Maedhros, and Gwindor just to name a few.  

And I mean in Maeglin’s case he was disturbed before he encountered Morgoth when he left Gondolin, and the narrative for reasons still worked against his favor.  And Maedhros ends up committing suicide in the end, so we can say he seemed “alright” when he got back from the cliff (idk how to spell the name), but obviously he wasn’t. And it can be argued that the Silmaril burning his hand caused it but we know that wasn’t the only reason.

I’m not even gonna discuss Gwindor because I mean.  Then there’s the notion that if you’re tortured or tormented, you have to be sent away. Frodo and Celebrian…to Valinor. I’m not saying that Valinor isn’t good for them, but i’m not saying it’s a utopia for those who’ve sustained great emotional, physical, and mental strain.

And in Tolkien’s time, the mentally ill were usually sent away and dealt with in places where those who weren’t dealing with mental illness didn’t have to think about them. They were put away so other people could live “normal” lives. And these places were in no way qualified to treat them, but society thought they were. They believed they were.

And then there’s Miriel. Like? I’m sorry all parties involved in that were wrong, except Miriel. I just think it’s funny how folks couldn’t wait for her to heal, especially considering they were immortal. But when she doesn’t work, they send her away. When she can’t heal faster enough and have more children, they send her away, pretend she doesn’t exist, and replace her.  And everyone who played their hand in that is guilty, everyone. Except Miriel (and Feanor). But that’s not the point of this post, but it does open the door to Feanor too, and the untreated trauma he dealt with his entire life that went unchecked and essentially threw him off the rails. 

How he was essentially expected to move on just like his mother, while they were both equally damaged. 

Also look at Turgon, who understandably sustained some form of PTSD and paranoia, considering that he balled his people up. When he crossed the ice and lost his wife, you realize why he acts the way he does.  His narrative isn’t exactly the best, because his methods of protecting his people were god awful and akin to a tyrant, and his trauma is no excuse but it’s why he did it. And that’s not good.  His trauma plays a hand in him doing very questionable things. 

It’s just concerning how the narrative treats those who suffer from trauma, especially in times of war.

And i’m sure i’m missing some people because it’s late, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about, and will probably solidify in the next week or so when I’m able to think straighter. 

And I don’t mean to offend Tolkien, who was no doubt a sufferer of PTSD himself, but  I won’t deny that he’s  a product of his time, and that his narrative reflects that in almost all areas. 

There’s just this general misunderstanding of what to do to people who suffer so much it renders them unable to “fit” in. Do we send them away to a place that’s notorious for kicking people out? Does their suffering promise them a life of hardships and even more trauma? 

And I do appreciate that this is his way of coping with what he saw in the war, but i’m not saying it’s free of criticism either. 

And honestly I didn’t intend for this to get this long, but i just find it strange how the narrative treats those who’ve suffered so badly. And i don’t actually find it strange I find it understandable given the time, but upsetting nonetheless. 

Arda really could’ve benefited from a good counselor. 

[eikyuuyuki]

@oneringnet‘s favourite locations event → gondolin

“Now thou shalt go at last to Gondolin, Turgon; and I will maintain my power in the Vale of Sirion, and in all the waters therein, so that none shall mark thy going, nor shall any find there the hidden entrance against thy will. Longest of all the realms of the Eldalië shall Gondolin stand against Melkor. But love not too well the work of thy hands and the devices of thy heart; and remember that the true hope of the Noldor lieth in the West and cometh from the Sea.”

[eikyuuyuki]

The Silmarillion aesthetic | Miriel Serindë

Míriel was called Serindë, because of her surpassing skill in weaving and needlework; for her hands were more skilled to fineness than any hands even among the Noldor. She was a Noldorin Elda of slender and graceful form, and of gentle disposition, though as was later discovered in matters far more grave, she could show an ultimate obstinacy. Silver was her hair and dark were her eyes, she had a beautiful voice and a delicate and clear enunciation, though she spoke swiftly and took pride in this skill.

[eikyuuyuki]

Happy Father’s Day 2018! 

 Thranduil meets Oropher at Valinor. 

 Trans: “Well done”, “I’m so proud of you, my son.”

[eikyuuyuki]

Chibi Oropher, quick sketch