#Morgoth’s ring

[outofangband]

Tolkien did give answers for this in some versions but I just imagine that Formenos is utterly abandoned after the Darkening. We know from Morgoth’s Ring that Morgoth ransacked much of the house after killing Finwë, not in search of the Silmarils, he knew exactly where they were at that point, but simply out of spite.

I doubt the wreckage was ever dealt with. Perhaps it remained that way indefinitely. Somewhere between a museum, a memorial and a mausoleum.

No one ventures there for centuries, the atmosphere too somber to even be approached as a dare. Perhaps webs, glistening and deadly, still cling to various surfaces from Ungoliant’s encroachment. Trees, flowers and water poisoned from a venom with no cure.

A desolate cold estate in paradise. A haunted house in a land without death or ghosts.

[watchingthescreen]

the amount of times in "Morgoth's Ring" it is mentioned that neither he nor Mairon are capable of creating anything living, just makes me want to write something, where they are forced to take care of an elven/human child, more.

like, for some reason it’s important for them that this child stays alive and is well taken care of. them growing attached to it. them starting to being protective over it in their cruelty. and maybe without fully realizing it, this child becomes their weak spot.

i think it's an interesting idea.

[fellowship-of-the-doodles]

Andreth and Aegnor, requested by @bailesu

[stormchaser819]

Which Tolkien character is your roommate?

Spin the wheel to see whether you'll enjoy your time as a roommate. 🤣

[kathrenax]

Bad Omen

[riding-with-the-wild-hunt]

morgoth’s ring excerpts got me acting unwise…fomenting ideas in my brain about the drowning of beleriand being melkor’s fallback option to preserve in some capacity his living arda vs. the valar’s last-ditch attempt to get rid of it forever..sailors in the second age encountering lots of strange things at sea…

if the horror of mordor is that it’s a fundamentally dead place, the horror of beleriand under melkor is that it’s alive. every wild thing, every plant, the land itself, all of it can be bent and shaped to the will of that which wants you gone. woods with vines to choke and trap and strangle, bogs replete with depthless pools and paths that lead nowhere and clouds of mosquitoes that can turn your blood to poison. leave a wound in the open air and by nightfall infection will have set in. goats and sheep are born shrivelled and eyeless. springs that if drunk from will bloat your belly and waste you away to nothing. deer watching with too many eyes, boars running mad and foaming even after they’re felled. just endless possibilities for fear and havoc and destruction, and all of it is intended…there is no comfort in the randomness of nature when nature hates you personally

[xueyangsleftpinky]

“Nu nam nîn natha tognir in ainn i’warth, dangarnen. Nin gostathar gwaith bán a gellathar.”

Introducing Celebrimbor, Lord of Eregion, the Ring Maker 💍

Translation: “Beneath my hammer, the Bringer of Gifts, the Betrayer shall be unmade. All shall fear me and rejoice.”

[inexpressiblybeautiful]

I just gotta share this art posted by @pinksunnys on Twitter.

Them at the end of Dagor Dagorath

[sun-snatcher]

Wasn’t this how The Silmarillion went

[fawningbruises]

To see their light, reflected in your eyes.

[outofangband]

Posted about it briefly here and in a few other posts on the description of the Darkening from Morgoth’s Ring, but the shadow of Morgoth over Finwë is something I find so compelling and horrifying.

Morgoth to the early elves is this darkness manifested, this nameless monster called a dozen things in the dawn of the Quendi language, when the anguish he caused, stealing elves in the shadows, the fear wrought by the uncanny creatures that stalked them, barely had words to describe it.

Morgoth appearing to the elves as the dark rider, cementing himself in their collective memory and nightmares to the point where they do not trust Oromë when he comes to them is such a cruel detail I think

But some do eventually trust Oromë and through the Valar, Morgoth is given a name, an explanation and an identity. He is not a sole power but part of a system. There is relief, even religion for some, in this.

The physical power he wields over them does not change but he is no longer a faceless evil in the shadows and thus lessens the power, the reach of his fear. And also through the Valar comes the offer of protection. Perhaps it is because of their kinship to the monster that haunted the elves that some refused or fled the offer.

Finwë is not among those. He accepts and his people come to Valinor and then Morgoth comes to Valinor in chains. He has a distinct physical form, one that can be bound and confined. And bound and confined he is

And so the nightmare of Morgoth is relegated to the nightmares of sleep, to dark murals and whispered tales. The grim memories remain

Even upon his release, even though there was whispers of resentment, betrayal, fear and fury at the decision of the Valar to unleash the monster that had overshadowed them…Morgoth is no longer the nightmare, the dark rider. He still has a distinct form, and when his influence spreads beyond limbs and the boundaries of his robes, they can be written off as the influence of nightmares, of change and uncertainty. Melkor walks beneath the same light as they do, closely watched by powers believed to match or beat his own.

Things do change when that influence is shown to have been the deliberate work of Melkor. I do not doubt that in addition to the direct result of interfering in the Noldorin royal family, Melkor hoped to undermine the Valar more generally, to sew fear, mistrust and uncertainty. And he succeeded in that.

I wonder sometimes if Finwë agreed to go in exile with Fëanor in the hopes that a smaller realm would allow him some higher degree of control. He could see the enemy coming and would not have to second guess the motives in the faces of his subjects, aides and neighbors.

Of course he does not see the enemy coming on that day when the lights have gone out. But Finwë feels him.

But even as we drew near to Formenos the darkness came upon us; and in the midst was a blackness like a cloud that enveloped the house of Fëanor.

This is what Maedhros says in his testimony to Manwë in Morgoth’s Ring. I imagine Finwë felt that mist of blackness envelop his house. Indeed, Maedhros also testified that his grandfather had felt uncertain, agitated and troubled from the start of the day, even before the trees were attacked, it was why he decided to remain while Fëanor had gone. Was it foresight? A premonition of dread?

Regardless, he must have known as he faced the demon upon his threshold that he would not survive this encounter. I imagine he wondered if his grandsons had already been struck down, perhaps even took some fleeting comfort in the knowledge that he would know within moments.

[notarakhae]

back to my old obsession

[ayaosguqin]

The Fate of us all

Lies deep in the dark

When time stands still at the iron hill

Fingolfin’s last stand against The Darkness

[velvet4510]

In Option 3, I meant created by Eru.

[autistook]

January 15th - The bridge of Khazad-dûm

[watchingthescreen]

Sauron, you will not deceive me. I have read the Silmarillion and I know that you were Morgoth's little princess and that you still love him.