#Finwëans
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for real who is haunting the narrative more than míriel. the tengwar and the silmarils and a whole dynasty created because fëanor was maybe the only elf in aman to understand impermanence and loss enough to fear them. the noldorin crown passed on because finwë chose to spare his son another abandonment and died for it. gondolin and nargothrond and nevrast and lindon and hithlum established as realms and the silmaril coming back to valinor because indis had children with a widower. just something about míriel simultaneously being present everywhere in the story and also watching and recording it from outside unnoticed and without the power to ever intervene
#who is doing it like she's doing it....#the silmarillion#miriel therinde#finwëans#the professor's world#elves elves elves#meta + analysis#brought to you by me#every day i wake up + get on my little soapbox
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A keychange
A good deal too late, but nonetheless...@tolkienremix
Here is my fic for the Tolkien Remix 2023...
A keychange
Words: 4 474
Characters: The Valar, The Finwëan widows, daughters, and sisters, the Finwëans...
Warnings: It takes places in Mandos...sadness, trauma, reference to past crimes
It's a Remix of SpaceWall's The Second Rebellion of the Noldor which is truly beautiful, touching, and incredibly interesting story!
I can only warmly recommend it to everyone!
My own humble remix offers a different point of view on the same story.
It has been kindly beta-ed by @cilil.
#og post#IDNMT writes#fanfiction#writing#tolkien writing#jrrt#tolkien remix#tolkienremix#SpaceWall#Valar#Fëanorians#Doriathrim#Finwëans#Somehow everyone#eh!
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Finrod and Maedhros in the halls or post embodiment talking about Sauron.
Not about the torture or the agony they went through, more like gossiping on how much of a peacock he was, strutting around and bragging about how beautiful he is.
If you came across them in the street you’d think they’re talking about one of those overdressed Tirion nobles, but then you hear “I preferred his torture to his speeches because dear Eru those were a whole new level of pain-“
“Heard all of two before being mauled. Definitely preferred the werewolf.”
Celebrimbor sometimes joins these sessions but he’s got the additional years of having known Annatar and it’s therapeutic to talk about how self absorbed he was to people who really understand. Safe to say Maedhros and Finrod sombrely commiserate the kid on dealing with that for centuries.
“How did you two become friends??”
“I think his vanity numbed my brain.”
“That’s fair.”
#there’s a surprising amount of Celebrimbor on this blog for someone who barely wrote about him until three months ago#not that I’m complaining. I think he’s in my top five faves#Celebrimbor#Tyelpë#tyelperinquar#telperinquar#Maedhros#Maitimo#Nelyafinwë#Finrod#findarato#ingoldo#Finrod felagund#Sauron#Annatar#silmarillion#tolkien#silm#silm headcanons#feanorians#ITHOF Writes#Finwëan family dynamics
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‘You have returned to Middle-earth for Maglor Fëanorion, you said?’ Elrond asks. ‘Yes, I am to beckon him come back to Valinor at last,’ Fingon answers hopefully. Few others had been willing to return to Middle-earth, and Fingon had already saved a Fëanorian cousin before. That made him more qualified for this task than most.
Had a blast writing this Fingon/Maglor for @silmsmutexchange based on @whovianofmidgard fantastic prompts. Shoutout to @from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras and @mircallaruthven for helping me spin the Rohirrim worldbuilding. This was a new challenge for me.
#silmsmutexchange2024#Finwëan party animals#Fingon is yet on a another quest#The challenges and delights of dragging your long-lost cousin back home#Rohan#rivendell#fingon#maglor#elrond#eorl the young#silmarillion#lord of the rings#lotr#Melesta writes
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Getting emotional over the almost-forehead-touch between Galadriel and Celebrimbor on this fine morning. ;_____;
#The Rings of Power#Galadriel#Celebrimbor#their tenderness in this scene waaaaaaugh#Finwëan cousins really going through it
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A diplomatic meeting about the parentage of Gil-Galad hosted by High King Finarfin
General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Gen, M/M, Complete Work
Summary
Finarfin has requested that the remaining members of the house of Finwë discuss the parentage of the newly returned Gil-Galad in the early fourth age. Everyone has opinions, Finwëans have trouble behaving and poor Gil is in the middle of it.
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“To me it is very clear that he does unfortunately not come from our house,” Finarfin spoke. He was seated upon his royal throne at the head of the table in the great marble hall where diplomatic meetings were held since the reign of Finwë. “Finrod would never have betrayed Amarië, Artanis only had one child and she wouldn’t lie about that, neither would Angrod or my grandson. As for my other boy, we know that he had lost his heart to one that passed on, leaving no children. Besides, his hair is too dark.”
“Irissë only had Lómion, thank Eru that man hadn’t defiled her further.” Fingolfin spoke, thoughtfully holding his chin. “Elenwë passed on the Grinding Ice, and as fond as he is of my mother, Turgon vowed to never take another bride. He cannot be his. My dearest little Argon died before he ever wed. That leaves Fingon, but, of course, he was never wed.”
#the silmarillion#jrr tolkien#tolkien#silmarillion#my writings#silm fic#silmarillion fanfiction#Gil-Galad#finarfin#fingolfin#nerdanel#elrond#celebrimbor#finweans#house of finwe#fourth age#gossip with the Finwëans#silm crack#incoherent thoughts of an insomniac#feanorians
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another headcanon: finrod and fingon became truly close friends in helcaraxë. they spent a lot of time together because someone had to step up and be fingolfin's right and left hands. (fingolfin is sure he would have gone mad without them. fingon and finrod are sure they would have gone mad without each other.)
#they are both hope personified#and the kind of elves that would go around during short periods of rest just chatting with their people#cheering them up and allowing them to cry on their shoulders#and making sure they keep seeing the promise of land ahead#also if i had to pick a finwëan cousin who could have known about /rescue maedhros/ plan#i would pick finrod!#he's the only other elf who would say#sure fingon go ahead a harp and faith in inherwnt goodness of the world is enough to take on melkor#*inherent#tolkien#the silmarillion#fingon#finrod
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The most vexing gift
Characters: Fëanor, Fingolfin, Maglor, Maedhros
Themes: Soft
Warnings: None
Word count: 500+ words
Summary: Fingolfin presents Maglor with a gift on his begetting day.
A/n: This was inspired by @batsyforyou baby Maglor post
Minors DNI
Fëanor studied the strange box in his half-brother's hands with apprehension. "Pray what have you there, brother mine?"
"Tis a gift for Káno, brother." Fingolfin was all innocence, but the light flashing in his eyes gave rise to further suspicions. Fëanor believed this gift—whatever it was—was more than just a mere gift. "It is his begetting day, after all."
"Very well," came the reply. Fëanor did not wish to argue during his second son's begetting day. He comported himself with as much dignity as he could muster, and he moved to the side to allow his half-brother to meet his young son. "Come here, little one. Your uncle has come calling."
Maglor babbled merrily and ran as fast as his little feet could carry him. His laughter rattled around the receiving room as soon as he set his eyes on his father.
"Atar!" He cried, and then he turned to face his uncle. Maglor watched with eager eyes while Fingolfin dipped to his haunches and held out the box for his nephew to take.
"For your begetting day," Fingolfin cooed and looked on with growing amusement while his nephew fussed with the ribbon. He reached out and loosened the strips of silk himself when Maglor gave up and huffed in frustration. "I hope you like it."
A whoop of delight followed. Maglor pulled out a shiny, beaten gold drum and held it in his hands. He rewarded his uncle with a lopsided grin and made himself comfortable on the cool marble floor. A loud, shrill womp sound followed when he banged his fist onto the drum skin. Maglor laughed like it was the most wonderful sound he had ever heard. He banged his fist on the drum skin again. A second womp followed, and another, and another. Maglor looked at his uncle and babbled incoherently. Then he clutched the little drum to his chest and rose to his feet. Fëanor observed this all unfold before him, and with growing alarm. His second son adored anything that made noise, and this drum made ample noise. Maglor would be relentless in playing with his new toy, and at all hours too. They would know neither silence nor peace until he tired of it. Fëanor turned to face his brother, his eyes narrowed to thin slats.
"Of all the gifts," he began in a hushed whisper, "why this?"
"Like I said," answered Fingolfin, "it is merely a gift. One I am certain Káno would love."
A round of loud womp-womp-womps and more laughter followed. This time it came from the library. Maedhros was then heard encouraging his little brother to play even more. Fëanor nearly howled.
Fingolfin must be vexed over what I said about him during the last feast, he thought to himself. Yes. That must be the cause of this gift.
More shrill sounds were heard. And then Maglor began to sing. It was high-pitched and garbled, and it was very much the singing of a small child. Maedhros' cheers encouraged him.
"Ah, the joys of childhood." His half-brother continued. The smile that followed was both triumphant and vicious. "I must leave. Farewell, brother mine."
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I really don't get the sense that Finwë or Thingol would throw punches at one another over the Silmaril debacle, it seems more likely that they would feel grief and regret over how everything unfolded... but for the sake of the argument, if someone was chewing on Mandos' walls trying to kick some ass, it wouldn't be Finwë.
#let's be real:#Thingol being justifiably annoyed with Finwëans for their disrespectful treatment of him#(they're basically ignoring the local ruler and breaking every rule of diplomacy. which must feel insane to Thingol and probaly makes him#wonder what could he possibly have done to insult Finwë so that he'd teach his kids this way: at best ignore him and at worst kill his kin)#and naming the Silmaril as a bride price for Lúthien because he thought it would resolve the Beren problem#are NOT the same as Finwë's offspring going on three killing sprees among Thingol's kin and assaulting his daughter#also Thingol probably is the more feral of the two#you don't marry a divine being and become a literal faery king if you're not little bit unhinged
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While the primary view of Maedhros fathername seems to be that it's a dig at Fingolfin, this ignores how the succession is very much not in question until the Valar get involved to banish the heir and the current king goes with him into exile (not to mention that it's exactly this position of Fëanor's which motivates Fingolfin's side of the jealousy). It's not spite to name Maedhros after his legitimate place in the succession. What's more, I find it very likely that, like Fëanor, his fathername might have initially been simply Finwë-the same as Finwë and Fëanor's own fathername ere it was modified later, making "Finwë third" an explicit acknowledgment of the threadline between Finwë, Fëanor and Maedhros that often gets reserved for the Fëanor-Curufin-Celebrimbor triumvirate-and only later changed to Nelyafinwë. But regardless it's still primary a connection to Fëanor's initial fathername and Finwë's name and the commonality between them (the line of succession as well as, I dare say, love and respect).
#silm#maedhros#i know I'm likely not the first to say this but it does irk me#not to start on the same old rant again but not everything the Fëeanorians do is about the Nolofinwëans actually#it's a cute name showing both Fëanor's love for his father as well as pride in the family lineage#the first grandchild and 3rd generation Finwëan!#the Fëanorians as a whole are cute with names#getting the only canonical nicknames (aside from the concept of epessë depending on how you view it)#(given that they otherwise preferred their mn's it's difficult to see another reason for shortforms of their fn's to exist)#and mockingly giving Finrod his famous Felagund (“Mr. badger”) moniker#They DO have that elvish tralala~ factor they DO! Even if it can be a bit mean-spirited...#also speaking to the strength of their friendship with the Dwarves that their nickname got transmitted over them#meaning they definitely used it to talk about Finrod behind his back lol
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Instead of Elrond looking like some vague Finwëan-Sindar combo
Elrond looks a little different to everyone that sees him
His face doesn’t change. He is still very much Elrond Peredhel, but his features will always remind whoever sees him of some form of a regret.
He supposes it is a combination of being a healer and the descendent of Maia but he tries not to dwell too hard on it.
(It is very uncomfortable to be the image of the deepest wounds of another’s heart)
Nonetheless, it is difficult to heal one’s own soul without facing the reasons for its damage.
Elros Tar-Minyatur was the only one to ever look at Elrond and see only Elrond.
If this was because his blood matched Elrond’s, or because Elrond was Elros’ deepest regret, Elrond doesn’t particularly want to know
Maedhros, utterly predictably, saw Fingon, and in doing so, found both comfort and misery.
Occasionally he would see in Elrond the ghosts of all his brothers, and he would again face the knowledge that he was not able to save them from their doom and the dark void.
Maglor sees Maedhros, and feels regret, not for the violence or the death, but for days in far off Valinor, under the light of the Trees. Days of running off with friends, to sing, to compose, to preform for adoring fans, to do anything but stay at home and help Maitimo take care of their small army of younger siblings.
(Maybe then the title of eldest brother would weigh less heavy on Mae’s shoulders. Maybe then the responsibility of care for them all would not have driven him so far, and to such a bitter end.)
If Glorfindel is to be asked, he’d tell you Elrond appears to him as the spitting image of Turgon
If you are Erestor, you know Glorfindel mostly sees Maeglin, Maeglin young and quiet, Maeglin older and scared, but sometimes also Aredhel, defiant and ready to disappear into the woods without a sound
Elwing once looked upon her son and saw naught but the visage of her little brothers
Galadriel sees Finrod, as does Celebrimbor, for very different reasons, but mostly because they share the same kind of kindness, and there is little that marks a person better than that
In quieter moments Galadriel will glimpse what her husband sees, Lúthien, as she was after Beren died, solemn, trapped, and entombed in misery.
During Bilbo’s final years, he can’t quite remember what he first thought upon looking on Elrond’s face (he’s sure it’s written down somewhere) but in those last days, he sometimes sees Frodo, wary and so very afraid. But mostly Elrond resembles Thorin and that is something Bilbo shall never set to paper
(Someday, in a time far beyond the counting of years, Fëanor will find himself staring at the face of his grandchild and seeing the eyes of Míriel Þerindë above the features Indis and will have a very small, very quiet meltdown.
#headcanon#silmarillion#tolkien#maedhros#elrond#elros tar minyatur#maglor#lotr#bilbo baggins#thorin oakenshield#fingon#galadriel#I prolly have more of these but I’m tired#and this is incoherent enough already#glorfindel#eldritch peredhel#fëanor
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Now imagining Fëanor and Fingolfin on opposite sides of Valinor coming together when their kids are a couple of years old (because Finwë’s the only one who knew the names were basically the same and purposely kept them apart) and just. Fuming. When they find out.
Meanwhile Fingon and Maglor are having the time of their lives and keep running around calling each other ‘Káno.’ Their looks and voices are so similar at this young age (and maybe even when they get older) that even their parents are struggling to tell them apart. Because of course they end up dressed in the same colours.
Maedhros as Resident Oldest Brother TM is the only one who always knows. Except he’s part of the little ones’ shenanigans too 😂
K so when what I supposed to realize that Findekano is the backwards form of Kanafinwe?
#maglor#fingon#Fëanor#Fingolfin#macalaurë#findecáno#tolkien#tolkien legendarium#tolkien crack#silmarillion#silm headcanons#Finwëan family dynamics
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Things the Finwëans have definitely said about other Finwëans, PT 1:
Angrod: Caranthir? More like "Crack-anthir".
Fingolfin: Curufinwë isn't even salty at this point. He's just upgraded to "ocean cocaine" now, which probably isn't something I should be joking about because he'd invent it.
Finarfin, seeing Finrod as a newborn fresh from the womb: My Eru, he clearly doesn't have my genes!
Finrod: You see, Tyelkormo is a nice person at heart. You just have to... force yourself to see the good in him. Like, just peel the layers of his heart until you're left with nothing.
Celegorm: Arkáno? Who's he, some spawn of Uncle Nolofinwë?
Aredhel: Oh, Artanis? Well, yeah, when you see her, she's all about fire and swords and stuff, but really, she's about fire and sparkly dresses.
Turgon: Circles? I love circles, especially circle theorems! ...Oh, we're talking about family trees?
Fëanáro: Irissë is the daughter I never had. And no, I did not kidnap her when she was a child, despite everything her father may say.
Caranthir: Last night, I dreamt that Artarestro had me arrested for tax-evasion, which is funny because I never pay taxes.
Galadriel: When I found out that Kanafinwe actually survived, I was surprised. Mainly because I expected him to die.
Elrond: When I came to Valinor, I was shocked when I saw my family. But that's because I expected them to be in the Void.
Maedhros: One thing I hate about being the eldest is that everyone assumes I order the babies around. I do not. The babies order me around.
#jrr tolkien#tolkien#silmarillion#the silmarillion#the silm#the silm fandom#elrond#maedhros#fingon#maglor#angrod#argon#caranthir#fingolfin#nolofinwë#aredhel#finrod#feanor#curufin#celegorm#turgon#finarfin#galadriel#tolkien povs#finweans#house of finwe#finwe#orodreth
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I sometimes think about Fingolfin being the sole Uncle looking after all his nephews/niece/kids. Like, there’s 16 children. Before taking the Helcaraxë he no doubt promised Finarfin that he would take care of them. And I feel like once he found out about Fëanor, and especially saw the state of Maedhros, he silently promised his half brother he’d do his best to look after them too. Not that he wasn’t going to anyway.
But the burden that must have been, especially with how volatile and independant all these kids are. Oh they might be grown. But he’ll never see them as such. Even now he remembers Nelyo’s birth and how the baby would toddle after him, crying when it was time to leave. Curvo going through all his mechanical devices, Turukano right behind him as Fingolfin explained where each came from and listened to the children tell him all about the workings. Carnistir carefully running little hands over the embroidery of his cloak, Anairë laughing quietly and explaining the techniques that went into it. Ambarussa and all the chaos they caused, enough so that Fëanor and Nerdanel would dump them at his house for days at a time, usually a couple of brothers tagging along. Tyelko and Irissë wrestling in the mud, neither group of parents knowing what to do when they trudged in, a sticky trail behind them.
Findekáno’s duets with Makalaurë, the little musician quietly asking to play before his uncle and cousin to make sure it was perfect before he showed his father. Finno, Nelyo, and Findarato encouraging him with whoops, Fingolfin and Anairë applauding with wide smiles at the end as he was swarmed by his cousins and brother. The four’s ‘secret’ sleepovers whenever they were in the same place. Aikanaro and Angamaitë raiding his kitchens, Fingolfin joining in with a finger on his lips, helping steal pastries in the middle of the night. Artanis insisting she could join in whatever game his boys were playing, Ireth backing her with a scowl until they were let in. Little Orodreth and his own Arakano, friends since birth. The screams of delight whenever they saw each other.
Despite everything, or maybe because of everything, he doesn’t know. All of them are now his children. He couldn’t stop the Fëanorions from taking the most dangerous lands because he had no argument to give. He can’t stop Turno and Ingo from making hidden kingdoms and taking Ireth and Artaresto with them. He couldn’t save little Arakano. He can’t stop Artanis hiding in Doriath, although he’s grateful at least one of his kids is safe… even if that safety comes with disowning the rest of her family.
He can’t even protect little Tyelpë and Itarillë who never asked for any of this.
So when the Dagor Bragollach comes and he hears Aegnor and Angrod are definitely dead, Curufin, Celegorm, and Celebrimbor might as well be for the trail of bodies leading to Doriath and the mass murder at the Girdle, Maglor’s land has been burned so far beyond recognition, they can’t even *find* bodies, Turgon, Idril, and Aredhel he wouldn’t even know if they were killed, and he hasn’t heard from Finrod in months-
He can’t.
So he makes a last ditch attempt because maybe, just maybe, he can make their battle the slightest bit easier. Give his kids if any of them survive a weakness to exploit. A slight advantage to turn the tables…
A stab to the foot does the trick. Morgoth will be limping on that one for millennia.
He hopes his brothers can forgive him.
#Fingolfin feels#looking after so many kids he saw grow up#in the most dangerous land they’ve ever seen#must’ve been horrifying#dagor bragollach#nolofinwë#Maedhros#Maglor#Celegorm#Caranthir#Curufin#Fingon#Turgon#finrod#Fingolfin#finweans#house of finwe#tolkien#the silmarillion#ITHOF Writes#Finwëan family dynamics
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One of the oddest Silmarillion takes that I’ve seen recently is the idea that Beren and Lúthien had it easy.
I mean, let’s take a look at Beren’s life. The Battle of Sudden Flame hits when he’s in his early twenties. He spends five years carrying on a guerilla war against the invasion of his homeland by orcs and other evil creatures; his mother and all his female relatives have to flee, and he has no knowledge of whether they are desd or alive, or captured. There’s a strange darkness speading over the forest and turning it into something out of a horror movie, a place most people won’t even dare to go into. The band of guerillas is slowly whittled down to about a dozen people, who are hunted constantly by Sauron and his wolves. Then, while he is away, his father, his uncles, and everyone else remaining are brutally killed, and he returns to find crows eating their corpses and orcs joking about looting the dead.
He carries on an guerilla alone, against Sauron, for another several years, in the haunted woods od Taur-nu-Fuin. When he absolutely can’t last any longer, he crosses the most horrifying wasteland in all of Beleriand, where the only water present is poisoned and turns you mad, filled with evil spiders and who knows what other creatures. He’s in his early thirties but he’s been through so mich that he looks like an old man. He has lost literally everyone he has ever known; he does not know if any friend or relative of his, anywhere, is still free or living.
Then he meets Lúthien.
When he leaves Doriath on the quest of the Silmaril, which every sane person in Beleriand knows is laughably impossible, he goes to Finrod, the one person he can hope for any assustance from. Finrod has an entire realm; I don’t think Beren is any expectation that Finrod will go with him personally. And what happens? The king of the largest remaining kingdom in Beleriand besides Doriath is overthrown by his own people at the instigation of Celegorm and Curufin and left with only a few loyal people around him. All of whom then die torturously in the dungeons of Sauron, followed by Finrod’s own death saving Beren.
On top of everything else he’s been through, on top of spending several months in despair being tortured in Sauron’s dungeons, the survivor’s guilt that Beren must be feeling is extreme. Even after Lúthien rescues him, it takes him a while to recover. And he still hasn’t made any progress on the quest itself!
Then they’re attacked by Celegorm and Curufin – the people who bear a substantial amount of respinsibility for the death of Finrod and the Ten, the people who very deliberately abandoned them all to due and coerced all Nargothrond to do the same, and the people who kidnapped Lúthien and attempted to force her into marriage – and they try to kidnap Lúthien again, and to murder Beren.
The fact that Beren does not kill Curufin in that moment is a deed of extreme moral fortitude. The difference between Beren and Lúthien compared with many of the Finwëans isn’t that they don’t face temptations, or that their choices are easy, it’s that they overcome those temptations.
So. Beren spares Curufin’s life at Lúthien’s urging and Curufin immediately tries to murder Lúthien; Beren jumps in front of the arrow, is severely wounded again, and for the third time since they met Lúthien gets to work healing him. Virtually all of their time together has been spent with Beren recuperating from physical injury, psychological injury, or both.
And as soon as Beren recovers, he walks away from the one person who loves him who’s still alive, and prepares to rob the gates of Hell, alone. Because Beleriand is dangerous, and as long as Lúthien is with him and therefore unable to go anywhere safe, she will be in danger from both the servants of Morgoth and the sons of Fëanor. And even if there’s a virtual 100% chance that him walking into Angband will lead to him being slowly tortured to death, that’s a better option than the one person he has left getting killed or, worse, captured, because of him.
And then she goes with him anyway. And beyond all hope they actually succeed in getting a Silmaril - and then he immediately loses it, and his hand, to Carcharoth, and it was all for nothing.
And for the fourth time since Lúthien met him, he’s near death and she’s desperately fighting to heal him and kerp him alive, while she’s exhausted to the point of collapse. And this is the moment when she gives up and goes back to Doriath, because that is what has the best chance of keeping Beren alive.
And then, at last, a ray of hope – Thingol looks at all they’ve been through and says, fine, you crazy kids can get married. And they’ve scarcely been married yet when they learn that oh, it’s not over, Carcharoth is rampaging through the land killing people and this needs to be dealt with. And Beren, even after everything, insists on going. (Because, hello, survivor’s guilt! he probably feels that this is his fault for, uh, getting his hand bitten off.)
(The fact that the Silmaril was, for a time, inside a wolf and outside Doriath, and Celegorm, noted hunter, never got near it, is, okay, rather amusing to me.)
And then Beren dies, saving Thingol, because he knows deeply what it feels like to lose his family and he’s not going to let that happen to Lúthien. And she loses him instead.
Now let’s shift to Lúthien’s point of view. Since her first meeting with Beren she has been betrayed by literally everyone she knows and everyone she meets except for Beren and Huan. She has been treated like a child, and a madwoman, and a trophy, and a pawn, and a sex object, and literally everything except an adult person whose choices have worth and meaning. She is not a superhero; she does not know what she is doing; she is terrified for practically every moment of it, for Beren’s sake even more than for her own, and for much of it she is hopeless. She does not know how or if she can achieve anything; she only knows that she has to try, because it is better than sitting in Doriath waiting to find out if Beren is dead. She puts substantial work and thought and effort into figuring out how to get out of Doriath (given in more detail in the poetic version) – and then, just when she thinks she’s found help (note: Celegorm and Curufin do not give her their names when they first meet her; she doesn’t know they’re the sons of Fëanor), she is again taken captive, this time with the goal of forced marriage and the threat of rape hanging over her. And she still knows Beren is in desperate danger, and she still can do nothing about it.
When Huan aids her and she goes to Tol-in-Gaurhoth, it isn’t because she feels she has the power to fight Sauron one-on-one! It’s because she’s desperate and can’t think of any other options. And in fact, it is not she who defeats Sauron, it is Huan; once he is defeated by Huan, she has the intelligence and strength of will to force his surrender by threatening him with something he fears more than defeat, and to demand – not the freeing of Beren alone – but the destruction of Tol-in-Gaurhoth, freeing all its prisoners. The reason she defeats Sauron is not that she’s a half-Maia badass who can wave her hands and do everything easily! The reason she defeats him is that she shows up there completely vulnerable and in effect uses herself as bait. That is an extraordinary degree of courage, not some kind of deus ex machina. And she’s putting all the strength that she has on the line – she’s pretty much passing out by the time she finds Beren. Similarly, all her healing of him is hard, exhausting work that she’s doing despite being, the whole time, terrified that he’s about to die. None of this is easy.
Likewise in Angband – Huan’s advice and Lúthien’s magic of disguise and sleep is invaluble in getting them through the door and past Carcharoth, but the reason she is able to enchant Morgoth and cast all Angband into sleep is not primarily because of extreme power, but because, like every other non-Beren person she meets, he doesn’t take her seriously. Morgoth finds the idea of using Melian’s daughter as a brief entertainment amusing (and, if you read the poetic version, makes some truly creepy sexual threats against her), and that’s how she is able to get him unguarded enough that she’s well into her song and he’s already getting sleepy before it starts to occur to him that maybe this isn’t going quite as he planned. Lúthien’s victories are not because she’s just on a different power level from the rest of Beleriand, they’re because she’s amazingly brave and willing to walk into the most dangerous places virtually defenceless. And she and Beren rely on each other utterly – after her sleep song she’s practically passing out and can only get out of Angband because Beren is holding her up.
So this is who they are, at Beren’s death. A man who has lost everyone he loves and everyone who loves him, every friend or family, often helplessly witnessing their gruesome death – everyone except for Lúthien. And an elf-woman who has been betrayed by everyone she loved or trusted, except for Beren.
When Beren dies, I wonder if he’s even relieved that it’s finally him dying instead of everyone around him. When he sees Lúthien in the Halls of Mandos, I believe his first feeling would be not joy or love, but horror. That the last living person he loved, and the one he wanted above all to save, had now died because of him.
But Lúthien isn’t done. She goes to Mandos, and she sings, and her song says: look at what we have been through, look at what all Beleriand has been through, Eldar and Edain. We don’t want realms or glory or power; we only want a few moments of peace with each other, and we fought so hard for it, and we didn’t even get that. And when she’s offered bliss and immortality for herself, she says No, I don’t want it, not without Beren. She isn’t promised happiness or long life – she only know that for the short time she will get, she will have the chance to be with Beren. And that is enough for her; for that, she gives up everything else.
This is a faerie-story; but it does not sound to me like a trite tale of easy victories handed to the heroes by Fate or by the author! They fought and struggled and sacrificed for those victories, amd they did it without ever letting go of courage, and mercy, and humility. There is a reason why this is the story that Frodo and Sam hearken back to for inspiration.
#tolkien#the silmarillion#beren and luthien#beren#luthien#look you can’t dismiss this and then go: look at all maedhros has been through! he was captive he lost a hand#he had friends die in horrible ways because of decisions he made#all his family died#SO DID BEREN#he just didn’t go evil because of it#so don’t turn around and tell me he had an easy life!#maedhros had several hundred years in paradise#beren was fighting a hopeless war pretty much as soon as he hit adulthood!#the two people on their own are NOT the ones who have had things handed to them#the finweans had fortresses and armies and kingdoms and they DECIDED to walk into a war for vengeance and power#tolkien’s greatest heroes are always the ones who would rather live simply and peacefully#and who go through darkness and danger because they must
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Here comes my @tolkienrsb 2024 art! (Acrylic, 40x80cm) I've also been fascinated by the time period in the Years of the Trees before the conflicts within the Noldor truly boil over, but when they are just starting to arise. The "Finwëan family picnic" painting has in some form or another been going back and forth from WIP/abandoned WIP since 2021, so I am also happy to finally have done the idea justice :D
The fic for this piece has been written by @skaelds, who managed to beautifully bring the painting alive in her words and expand on the little moments we see, tying the little scenes together in the evening that the family shares at their yearly picnic. As the Finwëans try to cherish the yearly meeting, the many little tensions and cracks in the peace beautifully explore this strange moment in Aman. You can find the fic: "au dessus des nuages" here Rating: General Audiences No Archive Warnings Category: F/M Relationships: general Finwëan family relationships Characters: Finwë, Indis and most of the kids & grandkids Additional Tags: Family Fluff, Tension, Years of the Trees, Dysfunctional Family
#illustration#silmarillion#silm art#house of finwe#finweans#Fëanor#nerdanel#finarfin#maglor#finrod#turgon#anaire#fingolfin#maedhros#aredhel#ëarwen#galadriel#fingon#findis#celegorm#curufin#irimë#angrod#caranthir#aegnor#look at baby aegnor he is so smol i love him#trsb2024#trsb24#trsb
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