#Morgoth’s ring

[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.

[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

[velvet4510]

This is, of course, assuming LaCE is canon. I honestly am not sure if it is or not.

[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

[fawningbruises]

To see their light, reflected in your eyes.

[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

[tuserlivia]

You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dûm. Shadow and Flame.

[5ummit]

I promise you, when Middle-Earth is healed and its people see what you and I did here, all our sufferings will be worth it. Our sufferings?

[outofangband]

From Maedhros’s testimony of Finwë’s death to Manwë, in the version of the darkening in Morgoth’s Ring

I now have a tag for the darkening!!

[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.

[galstelperion]

Galadriel has the light of the two trees ensnared in her hair:

“...and her hair was held a marvel unmatched. It was golden like the hair of her father and of her foremother Indis, but richer and more radiant, for its gold was touched by some memory of the starlike silver of her mother, and the Eldar said that the light of the Two Trees had been snared in her tresses.”

— Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn"

And her eyes bore a sheen of starlight of which the Calaquendi who beheld the light of Valinor for many years held:

I find the prevailing theory that Sauron covets her light in the same way Morgoth coveted the Silmarils very interesting. That he would see in her a faded memory he had not even thought to reach for, the memory of being Aule’s disciple, the memory of being Mairon the admirable, not Sauron the abhorred.

But the light he desires most, that he would burn the entire world for, rejects him, burns him, just as the Silmarils burned Morgoth…

But Morgoth persisted in capturing the silmarils light and for a time wore the three glittering stones on his crown:

“For they were set in the Iron Crown, and treasured in Angband above all wealth; and Balrogs were about them, and countless swords, and strong bars, and unassailable walls, and the dark majesty of Morgoth.”

— The Silmarillion, Chapter 19: Of Beren And Luthien

— art by neexsethe

Now I wonder if this connection they are making to her hair and to the light Galadriel holds, how he longs for it so deeply it even brings that smile back to his eyes…

There are many who might say this conversation he had with Mirdania is purely manipulative in nature and I would agree to an extent. He certainly went into to that conversation with the intention of turning her worries about what she’d seen away from suspecting him…

At the same time, I also don’t think this touch was calculated and intentional. This scene felt very well done because it showed us, for the first time in many episodes, perhaps a hint to Sauron’s truest desires again. Galadriel’s light and hope and goodness being at the very of that.

Mirdania will die off in an episode or two. This scene was clearly meant to fully establish and really remind the audience of what Sauron wants most…

I can’t help but think this scene will somehow be reflected in his persistence to capture Galadriel, and if, like Morgoth before him, he will have the chance to keep that light bound with him, even for a small time?

[sugurugetos]

THE RINGS OF POWER — 1.03: Adar (2022)

[perlen-gold]

Melkor: We've been dating for so long we finish each other's ...

Sauron/Mairon: ... war crimes.