#Tolkien Untangled

[breathlesswordsbloodyknees]

Narrative Doom

Introduction

I've been playing around in and exploring this space where Sauron as Halbrand was genuinely seeking redemption, trying not to manipulate events but merely nudge them.

In my view, at this point he's in survivalist bed-rotting mode post-goo-form when he meets Galadriel. (I think he's more of an opportunist than a schemer in this era. Not that he doesn't have those schemes, but I think he's pushing those bad bad urges down. I have a web of scenes that I consider in this view for some other day)

I’m building much of this piece on these previous work: (link) (link) (link)

It's led me down some interesting philosophical rabbitholes, and I'd like to share.

Now, important to note, Sauron is a Maia—not a 'human' by any means. He's an ancient spiritual being who doesn’t feel the way us teeny tiny mortals do.

But on a broader scale: Tolkien’s work, like fiction as a whole, reflects and explores the human experience, so we’re riding that train.

All this with the framework of not absolving him for anything that came before or comes after. I plan on expanding into his evil alongside Morgoth and his actions in Season 2 at a later date.

But right now, we’re just exploring this blip of a moment where I consider Sauron could be genuine in repentance.

This is more an analysis of Sauron, but I feel like it has a lot to explore for Haladriel fans. There's some critique of Galadriel's choices here, but I want to make it clear: I'm not assigning blame. More just digging into the complexities.

And, well, I don't think this ship would be as compelling if it didn't have complexities.

Spoilers:

All of TROP S1

Vague themes/lines in TROP S2, mostly from S2E1.

The Good Place spoilers for overall theme and a few season 4 lines, but nothing outright about the plot.

Trigger Warning:

Be warned, I’m going to delve into some dark themes in a very personal way. Including but not limited to abuse cycles, personal trauma, harmful behaviors, and empathy within all of that.

I won’t lie, this work was hard for me. Painful to untangle. I would encourage you to have empathy and compassion for yourself, as well as me, while you read. I tried to put warnings before I go into these themes. Please take care of yourself.

---

To start

Sauron’s narrative, at its simplest, is a cautionary tale: If you let your ambition and drive for power go too far, you turn to evil. Higher values over sinful pleasures. Pride goeth before the fall.

But on a deeper level, being solely a cautionary tale, an overarching villain, a lesson to learn, what does that mean for the complexities of Sauron in The Rings of Power?

Charlie Vickers puts so many layers and so much emotion into his character. Yet he keeps it to a lot of imperceptible movements that, I found out last night, get almost completely lost in low resolution. I can see that being a part of some of the stricter interpretations of Vickers' Sauron. But there’s a vulnerability there that touches on some deeply raw thoughts.

—

So the relentless question in fandom: Does he mean any of it with Galadriel or is he just the Great Deceiver?

I'd like to ask, how much of it is just some deeply relatable ‘human’ behavior? Deflection, defensiveness. Half-truths, twisted truths, fibs.

Because as he says on the raft, he did tell her the truth, that he had done great evil in service of Morgoth. He never lied to her.

(An aside: I personally don’t give the “my ancestor” thing much weight as a true lie, I mean it’s his backstory and he had more reason for it than the Darkling did imho)

But really, who doesn’t try to hide and smooth over the worst ugly evil nasty bits of themselves and their past? We want to shine in the eyes of others—it's a fundamental desire to most.

—

On the other side, touching on influence and ambition:

Aren’t we all trying to sway events and leave an impact in whatever way we’re capable? Don’t we all attempt to sculpt the world like clay? Isn’t that really all we can do in this world?

And don't we often tell ourselves that we’re doing it for a better outcome? Even actions deemed ‘good’ and ‘heroic’ create ripples that have negative impacts, if only just for the orc babies.

I’ve been thinking a lot about orc babies.

—

Galadriel, from their first conversation on the raft in S1E2, backs him into a corner. She’s relentless in her quest for revenge against him and he’s whoops—sitting right there, doing the side eye meme. He’s gotta be self-preservational. And that rings true to me more than outright deceit. (At this point)

But I think over the course of the season, playing as Halbrand, “Lost King of the Southlands”, he’s trying. Trying to be “the hero she seeks”. Trying in the only way he knows how, which is…well, not great, he really toes the line. But he’s trying to ‘choose good every day and choose it again tomorrow’, while he’s on the path she set him on. So it’s a step by step journey towards the light, but the path is ever slippery.

And inevitably, as we know, he fails.

—

TW

So what does that mean for those of us who feel like we’re trapped in the narrative, hurtling toward a doomed end through harmful behaviors we can’t escape? Tied onto the train tracks, staring down what feels like an inevitable fate.

When all you’ve known for ages is subjugation and torment and abuse, what do you become? (Which makes Mairon even more painful, with his origin of beauty and light. Like a whisper of I was once admirable too)

I keep coming back to the image of grooves, well worn. And well, under the influence of an abuser and beyond, I too have done evil.

Holding the good you’ve aspired to and the evil you’ve done in one space; it’s a sharp, heavy feeling like holding coals, like touching a hot pan, something to run and hide from. And looking at my deeply ingrained behaviors from childhood, along with trauma that’s happened throughout my life...I see those grooves echoing in jagged bloody ways that feel comforting, even natural.

For a long while, it’s been the only way I knew how to self-soothe, these behaviors that can cause harm to myself and others. So I’ve been twisting around the question: Can we ever truly be free of the evil we’ve done? If it’s all we’ve ever known, baked and beaten into our bone marrow?

In Sauron’s case, the answer is no. His story unfolds the way it was written. The bad guys perish, the good guys win.

(though there’s the “they meet in Valinor” after canon theory, hope ever shines through)

—

That all brings me into The Good Place and that show’s moral thesis.

Spoilers for The Good Place:

More or less, the show states “people improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don't?” and “What matters isn't if people are good or bad. What matters is if they're trying to be better today than they were yesterday.” (S4E8)

Scanlons’ What We Owe to Each Other and the rabbithole of contractualism that I haven’t fully delved into.

I resonate deeply with what The Good Place says. All with the understanding that you have to put on your own air mask before you help others, don’t set yourself on fire to keep other people warm.

But I do believe we should help each other in what ways we can, rather than writing people off entirely.

So, I struggle with Galadriel’s moments of “shutting the door” being considered wholly empowering. Light prevailing, resisting the allure of darkness and the draw of power. It is indeed all those things, especially for her journey. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame her.

But there’s an itching here for me and I have to scratch it.

—

In S1E8, if we’re assuming he’s genuine, he put it all out there in the raft illusion. It was his biggest, his all, his hope. A leap of faith. Real vulnerability with an internal truth that was like holding coals.

He did what was ‘right’. He reached for support, for understanding, for community, What We Owe to Each Other.

(though we can’t ignore the scene before that where he’s wearing Finrod’s face. But I haven’t followed that thread yet).

He made a play for a better future.

And she—light and goodness and holiness in her hair, denied him.

“You are Morgoth’s friend”, “There is no such future.” Boiling him down to his worst parts, reinforcing his worst fears.

Is that all we ever can be?

---

TW

When do we write off people like Sauron, with all his history of wrongdoing? People like my abusers or even myself? When does the potential for redemption become irrevocably lost?

How much empathy should we show, and what are we obligated to offer? What do we owe to each other? All of this while carefully balancing the line of not condoning or becoming an apologist, along with taking care of yourself first.

It’s mind-boggling.

---

The answers are out there: self-compassion, self-forgiveness. Change comes from within. Balance. But it's the same way people say go outside, exercise more, drink more water to fix depression. When you're in the throes of darkness, those words feel hollow, trite. And that glossy sunlit path is more than treacherous when you walk it, especially alone.

So again, I say, I scream: Should we not still help each other?

It's not just internal and external separately, we need both. I have to believe that. Internal change and external support.

—

Conclusion

In the end, I'm really only left with more questions. This barely scratches the surface of what I've been brewing on, I could go round and round for days. I mean, that’s what I’ve been doing this week.

Regardless, all the typical takeaways feel hollow. Choose light, choose hope, every single step, no matter how hard.

It’s never quite that simple, on a very visceral level. And for some of us, like Sauron, it never materializes.

It all just eats and scratches and twists inside me. Ultimately though, I think Caitlin Seida said it best about hope and redemption and the struggle in her poem, Hope is Not A Bird, Emily, It’s a Sewer Rat. Which I greatly hope you’ll read and find what I have in it. (link)

So I guess we keep being scrabbly little sewer rats, hoping to claw our way out of the dank dark cave. And y’know, it may not mean much, but I’ll be here, down in the muck. Right there with you.

Maybe that’s all we owe to each other.

Follow-up

[liveinfarbe]

Adar and Galadriel reminiscing about their Beleriand days…

These are clips from episode 4 and 7 of season 1. Notice the knife/dagger-parallel.

I've been researching the Silmarillion a little bit, because I think it gives hints about time and place in Adar's flashback account. This got lengthy. I write about the questionable Moriondor assumption by Galadriel and the esteem for flowers, blossoms, willows, glades in the lives of Galadriel and Celeborn, in Beleriand and beyond, and a possible path for hope, forgiveness and growth after trauma, that would lie in a dark Celeborn meets dark Galadriel story: Adar informs Arondir that he's been young in Beleriand once and used to walk down the banks of the Sirion river for miles and miles. He noticed sage blossoms, apparently liked the view, because it left a lasting impression. What I get from this (given the cosmology of that world is actual history and not just mythical) is that it must've happened after the sun and the moon appeared and pulled Middle-Earth out of its darkness, or else there wouldn’t be miles of sage blossoming. It thrives in full sunlight. This puts the account at the end of the First Age, after the Years of the Trees. Interestingly, this is after the "creation" of the Orcs by Morgoth.

Whatever bond and similarity Adar has with the Uruks, he’s apparently not one of those Moriondor that Galadriel talked about to him. I assume the Moriondor concept reflects Tolkien’s idea (he had several) that elves were captured by Morgoth after their awakening in Cuiviénen under the starlight and before Oromë found them and then got corrupted and twisted and thus became the first Uruks. While Adar shares certain physical traits with them, he can’t be one of those first Uruks, because 1.) he lived far in the West, in Beleriand, 2.) the sun had risen, 3.) he’s lived among elves that spoke Sindarin and Quenya, since he speaks it too and not some Avari language, though he could've learned all that in Angband during idle hours, I don't know, he learned black speech too. Anyway, the first mentions of Orcs roaming Beleriand is in Y.T. (Years of the Trees) 1330, but Melkor (at this point in time he's not yet given the name Morgoth by Fëanor) is incarcerated in Valinor. Sauron is in Beleriand though, hiding out in Angband, waiting for Melkor's return, "breeding" Orcs apparently, because their numbers grow and they "roam" Beleriand. This is 200 Valian years before the sun. I'm no loremaster, but I know this is a long time. At this point and later, Adar is still, as he describes himself, young. So Orcs were breathing living creatures before that elf-man became Adar. "Young" I see as meaning before he got captured and tortured and then brainwashed by Sauron as part of the “13 of us” (ep. 2x2).

So something doesn't add up, and Adar implies that in his interaction with Arondir in ep. 1x4. Are the tales of Moriondor a widely spread myth created by Elves, since all accounts about Orcs mostly stem from Elvish chroniclers? Maybe this is what Adar hints at. He says to Arondir

“You have been told many lies. Some run so deep even the rocks and roots believe them. To untangle it all would all but require the creation of a new world.”

He thinks only gods can do that, and he ain’t one���yet. Unlike Morgoth who raised mountains, or other Valar whose wrath sank a whole landmass like Beleriand, and later Númenor. He's just doing what he must, realizing Morgoth's terraforming plan and resettling the Uruks so they can live freely.

The "many lies" that he mentions are reflected in the things that Galadriel - who’s famous as "the scourge of the Orcs", even in Númenor - says to him when she interrogates him in episode 1x6. She’s full of hate and delivers a truly genocidal speech to him that shocks herself in the aftermath. (She acknowledges that somewhat self-critically to Theo in ep. 1x7, and it might be one of the reasons she rejects Sauron's offer later)

The truth about Adar's origin story isn't yet revealed. I think it will be, because the writers put some effort in it, dropped cues and hints in excellent dialogue and made him a multilayered character. Finally, let’s come back to the flowers and blossom mentions in the clips above because they could very nicely tie back to Galadriel and Celeborn in Beleriand and beyond. Adar says he “went down that river once”. Let’s see, if he, for example, came from Doriath and went down the Sirion towards its mouth and saw a lush amount of flowers blossom, he could have come through a region called Nan-Tathren or Tarsarinan that is literally called Valley of the willows. Possibly the home to Galadriel’s “glades of flowers” she danced in.

Why would she dance there and not in Doriath? I don't know, but there's a clear hint that she was in that region and even made meaningful personal connections there. With Ents. And Celeborn, too. Tarsarinan, Valley of the willows, means something to the couple and Treebard, as mentioned in a passage in The Lord of the Rings. The memories of Celeborn, Galadriel and Treebard of that place are intimately entangled.

Then Treebeard said farewell to each of them in turn, and he bowed three times slowly and with great reverence to Celeborn and Galadriel. ‘It is long, long since we met by stock or by stone, A vanimar, vanimálion nostari!’ he said. 'It is sad that we should meet only thus at the ending. For the world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, and I smell it in the air. I do not think we shall meet again.' And Celeborn said: 'I do not know, Eldest.' But Galadriel said: 'Not in Middle-earth, nor until the lands that lie under the wave are lifted up again. Then in the willow-meads of Tasarinan we may meet in the Spring. Farewell!

“Many Partings” - The Return Of The King - LOTR - J.R.R. Tolkien

Okay… 1.) Treebard's “It is long, long since we met by stock or by stone” sounds a lot like Adar’s words to Arondir "even the rocks and the roots believe them", 2.) A vanimar, vanimálion nostari! is translated as "Oh, beautiful ones, parents of beautiful children"

That last point reminds of Adar's relationship to the Uruks and the rhetoric surrounding it: Adar whose name translates as "father" calls the Uruks "my children", "my sons and daughters", main difference is that they’re not that beautiful, neither is he — but that lies in the eye of the beholder. Does Adar imply the propaganda about Uruks is so pervading that even the eldest Ents believe them? Possibly his old friend Treebard… ?

I mean he's certainly wreaked havoc in the woods, forced the felling of trees, displaying not much respect for the Ents. On the other hand, Adar is shown planting Alfirin seeds, that grow into flowers. He's still very Elvish, full of respect and longing for "new life, in defiance of death".

Finally… Lothlórien, Galadriel and Celeborn's later safe space, is literally meaning "Lórien of the Blossom". Treebard calls it "Dreamflower".

With all that cherishing of flowers - I think even his chain mail shirt displays flowery ornaments - could Adar be Celeborn in a rather depressing and long-lasting dark phase of his life in ROP? Explaining where he’s been all that time since she last mocked him as a “silver clam”? And if he is not, wouldn’t that be a really good story if he was? Adar doing the work could be an arc about hope and the possibility of healing and changing — it’s what Galadriel needs, too, in the long run.

At this point she’s confused and hurting after the betrayal by Sauron, because she liked him more than anyone in ages, but also because she had to witness herself being unreliable and, frankly, unwise. Yes, she’s vindicated for having always been right about Sauron, but the way she went about it fills her with shame, it’s gnawing at her, not primarily because of wounded pride, I believe, but out of compassion for the victims of her actions. Not unlike Míriel after her return to Númenor. It begs the question to them both if it was all needless, if there really is a greater good in what's unfolding now? At this point in the narrative, the Númenorian intervention that Galadriel pressed for must feel like a Pyrrhic victory with grave consequences and implications for the future of Middle-Earth as well as Númenor. It has caused immense trouble and pain already to many other people that Galadriel gave Sauron a clap on the back and an army. She still has to fully confront herself about that, she's still vulnerable to the darkness inside her, because she's hurting. She has Elrond to help and guard her, but other than that, who's there for her? I mean, in the end she has to accept that it's not her who can slay Sauron, she needs to come to that understanding. It's a battle within herself she hasn't yet had the courage to take up because she still can't face her lingering grief at this point in any other way than turning it into anger.

[neyafromfrance95]

You are right about elves being able to marry once and for a life being a legal issue than an emotional one.

Elves canonically have fallen in love more than once. Galadriel's grandpa Finwë is a famous example who remarried after his first wife died. Then there is the case of Gil-galad's sister Finduilas who fell for a Man even after loving and being betrothed to an Elf prior to that.

So there is nothing wrong with Galadriel developing feelings for Halbrand/Sauron because, in TroP's continuity, Celeborn is presumed to be dead. Now, if she wished to marry him then the formalities would need to be untangled and sorted out. It also depends on whether Celeborn is actually dead or not. But that's a topic for another day.

All things said and done, nothing about Saurondriel on the show defies the worldbuilding rules as such for none of it is unprecedented. Elves have fallen in love more than once. An Elf did get married again. Another Elf fell for a Maia and married her. In an AU where Sauron didn't side with Morgoth and his path crossed with Galadriel in Valinor, the two might have hit it off for good.

What's most alluring about TroP's approach with Saurondriel is that they met under unlikely circumstances and, within a short while, forged a bond so intense that it left its mark on them. And since both are immortals who have existed for millennia, it is really special because they don't develop a connection this powerful often and with just anybody.

I think the “Elves love only one their entire immortal lives” is quite a narrow view of the lore. Elves, mainly the Noldor, don’t divorce. And they don’t because of their History. Much of the turmoil of the Noldor is blamed on Fëanor’s parents divorce. So Fëanor’s father asked the Valar for permission to remarry after his wife (Fëanor’s mother), tired of giving birth, went to the Hall of Mandos to sleep. She went like “you know what? F*ck this sh*t!” on her husband. The Valar accepted and Fëanor’s half-siblings were born, and Morgoth used his jealousy to drive a wedge in the family that eventually led to disaster. So, yeah, just because the Elves don’t divorce doesn’t mean it’s some kind of “eternal love” or “true soulmates” type of situation. That being said, it’s not lore breaking for Galadriel to have romantic feelings for Sauron while being married to Celeborn. Tolkien didn’t write it, sure, but it’s not against the lore he created 🤷🏽‍♀️

👆

[fictionfordays]

Flowers

Main Masterlist | Tolkien Masterlist

Maedhros enjoys flowers. So much so that he takes it upon himself to study them, pressing flowers on a page in a special journal with notes written about it.

While he doesn't study herbs the way someone like Tyelkormo would, he does study the edible and medicinal uses of flowers, making it a point to include flowers in some of the pastries he makes. Topping salads with sugared dianthus, tea cakes made with a creamy chamomile tea, mixing lavender with blueberries in a dish similar to a soufflé pancake, even rose and apple scones.

He loves to look at them. He doesn't mind picking enough to make a seasonal crown, or getting his hands dirty in his own personal little garden. He doesn't mind the thorns on the rose bush that seem to always catch his hair, untangling it from the loose braid he put it in earlier. Or the way raspberry thorns snag on his clothes. They can be mended, after all.

If you prick your finger, he'll dote on you: kissing your little scrape with a small smile. He'll affectionately tell you to be kinder to the roses next time so you won't get pricked again~

Join the Taglist! || Ko-fi || Artistree || ArtStation

Tags: @a-contemplation-upon-flowers @asianbutnotjapanese @eunoiaastralwings @manjirwo @stopisa @wandererindreams

I do not own these characters. All rights to the original creators. All content—created rights are reserved to Wallabypirate©2024.

[fingolfinwiththesteelchair]

Mightiest Elf Fight Club - ROUND 2, SIDE B

See side A for more elf options

BELEG IS OUT - condolences to his supporters in the notes. Rest assured, he fought bravely

These elves are competing in a tournament! We're speeding things up, so the two elves who get the most votes in each poll - for a total of four elves - will be eliminated in this round. Select the elf in this group that you think would come in LAST, I repeat, vote for the elf in LAST PLACE. The elf you vote for will be ELIMINATED from fight club.

There was some confusion in the last round, so I want to clarify that magic is 100% allowed. Taking magic away from an elf seems a bit like removing a person's liver and kidney before putting them in a fight club; magic and Songs of Power cannot be untangled from the Eldar, especially those born in Aman who have it oozing out of their pores. Steel and arrow and magic and song are all allowed in fight club; the crowd wants blood. If someone wants to dance their opponent to sleep or rapbattle them into submission, more power to them

Find propaganda and mighty deeds below the cut

Maglor: Maglor was one of the best bards in Middle Earth - which is very important in a world where Songs of Power exist. Maglor held a breech against Morgoth, known as Maglor's Gap, for four and a half centuries, and fought in countless battles against Morgoth. Last son of Feanor standing. Weaknesses: Silmarils, oaths.

Glorfindel: One of the few beings to successfully slay a Balrog, Glorfindel died and came back to life (he did it before Gandalf made it cool). He spent his time in The Fellowship of the Ring gleefully chasing down the ringwraiths, who were so scared of him that between the choice of Glorfindel and a magically-pissed off river, they chose the river. Weaknesses: needs a haircut

Rog: One of Tolkien's earlier characters, Rog was the chief of the Hammer of Wrath. Rog led his people against the forces of the enemy during the Fall of Gondolin. He was said to be the strongest of Ñoldoli. Weaknesses: getting cornered, but who isn't

Gil-Galad: The elf so cool no one knows who his parents are. The Last High King of the Ñoldor, Gil-Galad held the ring Vilya. He fought against Sauron's armies in the second age, and then again during the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, where he engaged Sauron in single combat and won, driving him back. Weakness: fiery hands

Maedhros: Maedhros has fought in countless battles against Morgoth, including orchestrating the Union of Maedhros. He's known for his ferocity with the sword. He held the fort of Himring against the tides of Morgoth's forces for nearly all of the First Age. Everyone wants him carnally. Weaknesses: Silmarils, oaths.

Galadriel: A Ñoldor straight from Aman, Galadriel is said to be the greatest of elven-women. The bearer of the ring Nenya and a member of the White Council, Galadriel aided in the Battle of the Field of Celebrant and helped drive the shadows of Sauron from Dol Guldur. Weaknesses: temptation

Finrod: Finrod has fought in the Dagor Bragollach, and later joined Beren in his quest against Morgoth and Sauron. Finrod got into an epic rap battle with Sauron, and then, completely naked, Finrod killed a werewolf with his bare hands and his teeth. Weaknesses: Beren

Fingolfin: A High King of the Ñoldor, Fingolfin braved the Helcaraxë, fought in the Battle of Sudden Flame, and then rode out alone to Actually-demigod-Satan's house, knocked on his door, and told him to come out and fight him one on one. And then he almost killed Actually-demigod-Satan, dealing seven devastating blows that would never heal. DILF. Weaknesses: Hammers

[feyhunter78]

hii if it's okay could i request 10 with elrond? obsessed with hair brushing/combing/braiding as a love language or form of intimacy for the elves

You most definitely can!!! I'm also so obsessed with the forms of intimacy that Tolkien created for Elves, it's all so romantic and beautiful!

Wedding Braids

This crosses #10 off the list for Elrond!

You sat in front of the mirror, fingers working quickly to undo the complex braid you’d done. Letting out a frustrated sigh, you placed your hair clasp down on the vanity.

You were good at braiding, always had been, but the stress of planning your upcoming wedding had begun to get to you. All that was left was to choose a wedding braid, but no, you suddenly found yourself hating every hairstyle in existence.

Simple braids, twists, crown braids, braids with flowers, or gems placed within them, nothing felt right. You were on the verge of tears as you pulled the remaining pins from your hair. You just wanted everything to be perfect, but your hair did not want to cooperate.

You ran your hands through your hair angrily, wincing when your fingers got caught in a knot.

“Starlight, everything alright?” Elrond asked from across the room. He was seated at his writing desk, his back to you.

“Everything is perfect.” You said, all emotion drained from your voice as you attempted to untangle your now unruly hair.

You saw him turn in the reflection of the mirror. His eyes fell on your despondent form, and he stood quickly, making his way over to you. “Do you require assistance?”

You let out another sigh and nodded.

He eased you out of your chair and then sat with his back against your shared bed, motioning for you to sit between his legs.

You looked down at him, feeling utterly exhausted. “What are you doing?”

“Come, sit between my legs. I will comb your hair.” He said gently holding a hand out to you.

You grabbed your brush and comb, handing it to him before sitting, staring blankly at the legs of your vanity’s chair.

Elrond’s fingers ran through your hair, swiftly untangling the knot that had you so frustrated, before he picked up your hairbrush and began running it through your hair.

The tension in your shoulders melted away with each gentle stroke, and you shivered when he swept your hair aside to press a soft kiss to the nape of your neck.

“You do not have to do this, I was merely frustrated, I will figure out my hair for our wedding soon.” You reassured him, feeling a thick slab of guilt settle in your chest.

He had been so patient, so kind, and so helpful, throughout the entire planning process, even though he had his own duties to tend to, and now instead of working on the High-King’s speech he was brushing your hair. A simple task that even a child could do, and yet you had failed.

It felt like all you did was fail as of late, Elrond always had to swoop in and fix something, or comfort you. You swallowed hard, blinking back tears, he was so perfect, and you? You were a mess, a failure of an elf who couldn’t even decide on which braid to wear.

“I wish to do this; I enjoy spending these moments with you.” He said, his steady voice and kind words opening the floodgates.

You buried your face in your hands, curling in on yourself as you sobbed.

Elrond’s hands were on you in an instant, pulling you into his chest, cooing soft words of comfort, as he turned you to face him.

“You are perfect, and you have ensured that our wedding will be perfect, but I am a failure, I will ruin the day.” You refused to look at him, spilling your thoughts as quickly as tears spilled from your eyes. “You should leave me and marry someone more worthy.”

“Y/N, why do you say such things? Who has put these terrible thoughts in your head?” He asked, gently removing your hands from your face, and tilting your chin up to look at him.

“No one, they are mine alone, and they are true, you know it.” You sniffled, hands fiddling with the beading on your dress.

“They are not true.” He said firmly. “You are divine, y/n, there is no one more worthy than you.” He shook his head, warm hands cupping your face, his thumbs brushing away your tears. “If there is any here who is not worthy, it is I.”

“How could you say that? My love, you are the kindest and most excellent man, I am honored that you have chosen me to share your life with.”

He gave you a soft smile. “And you are the most beautiful, and intelligent woman I could ever have the privilege of marrying. These thoughts of inadequacy, yes, are in your head, my starlight, but that does not make them true.”

“But I cannot even choose a braid for the ceremony.” You said, voice small.

Elrond nuzzled his nose against yours. “My starlight, you could appear with twigs and leaves in your hair and I would still find you as radiant as the sun.”

“I wish to look perfect for you, I know you will look so handsome, and I do not want people to talk and say that—”

He kissed you gently, cutting off your anxiety fueled words, his soft lips stealing your distress and replacing it with a warm fuzzy feeling and the taste of blackberries.

“You need not fret about what the others may say, I will drown them out with your praises.” He pressed a kiss to your forehead, one hand leaving your cheek to stroke up and down your arm soothingly. “And there is no way you could adorn yourself, good or bad, that would change my love for you. It is as a river runs, relentless and headless of any obstacles in its path.”

Your eyes found his. “I just worry.” You admitted softly.

He kissed your forehead once more. “I know y/n, but you must have faith in me, faith in our love. Does your heart still ring as true as it did the night we first kissed?”

You nodded, memories of your kiss in the gardens rose up. You’d seen fireworks behind your eyelids, and felt as if you were weightless, floating into the night sky with only the feeling of Elrond’s warm lips against yours to ground you. “Of course, my heart has not ceased ringing for you since that night.”

He turned you back around, picking up your ivory comb. “Then trust in the song that sings in both our hearts.” He began combing through your hair, sending shivers down your spine.

You closed your eyes and began to relax, placing your worries in Elrond’s diligent hands.

His fingers deftly sectioned your hair, twisting and braiding, before you felt him place something on your knee.

You opened your eyes and gasped. There on your folded knee was a beautifully crafted hair clasp. Made of gold with emerald inlays, it swirled and curled forming a complex pattern, the small emeralds nestled within the pure gold like stars in the night sky.

“I am aware that I had already given you a clasp when I proposed, but I asked Celebrimbor to make this.” He sounded shy, and a smile tugged at your lips. “The clasp I proposed with was rushed, I would not feel right having you wear it on such a special day.”

You picked up the clasp, eyeing all the intricate details with quiet awe. “It is…so beautiful, Elrond, thank you.”

He took it from your hand and clasped it to the end of your braid. “Now, tell me if my soon-to-be bride favors this braid or another.”

You stood and held up your hand mirror, angling it, so you could see what he had created. “My love…” You trailed off, speechless at the masterpiece he had brought to life. It was elegant yet simple, and he had left two strands loose to frame your face.

“If you do not like it, I can do another one.” He said, shifting his weight nervously.

“I love it, and I love you.” You said, a bright smile blooming across your face. “Of course, I may add some flowers, but besides that it is perfect.” You embraced him, breathing in the scent of evergreens and parchment.

“It is perfect because it was done on the most beautiful of hair, and by hands that adore you beyond all others.” He said, lightly running his fingers over the braided tresses, and resting on your marriage clasp, as he leaned in to kiss you once more.

Tag list: @nyctophilic0vitnir, @elronds-pointy-ears, @elrondscalaquendi, @dilf-superiority

[shelleysmary]

embrace more silliness.

yes, this post is lowkey about trop, but in general i've been reflecting on the way i "cringe" a lot more than i used to, even at things i used to genuinely love. i mean, one of my favorite traits and therefore one of my favorite words used to be "earnest," but now, even if i don't mean to, i find myself observing moments of genuine vulnerability, connection, or plain stupid fun and pointing them out mentally as kind of uncool. "that was low-hanging, that was silly, that was unsophisticated, inelegant, obvious, sentimental." even when i try to go into things with the best of intentions, the instinct is there; i flag the moment, i'm taken out of the scene - and yes, i think about "ah, this is a line certain other people will hear and call dumb."

i've noticed that even people who like trop feel the need to say it kind of behind the cover of their hand: "it's a silly show, but—" "it's unserious" "i know it's fanfic" "i'm aware that it's cheesy" "i know the general consensus is—" and, idk, but i find it kind of sad. i think a lot of us have internalized cynicism. it's hard for me to untangle because i want to retain my critical thinking, i want to go beyond the surface, notice little details, evaluate the storytelling, but sometimes that feeling of something being "off" isn't actually "this is bad," it's "this made me uncomfortable." this line was too sincere, the plot device was too simple or felt too contrived (an aspect of the source material's storytelling, if we're being honest, but frowned upon ~now that we know better~ and have gotten used to realism). delight is met with suspicion, laughter curbed by an urge to roll the eyes. there was a desire for nostalgia once, and then we all decided that unoriginality is a crime (both moral and commercial), and that homage must be lazy plagiarism.

it's exhausting! i miss laughing at the joke, taking creative choices at their face value, being utterly unaware of whether or not i'm "meant" to have a certain opinion. there's something about middle-earth in particular that makes the cognitive dissonance impossible to ignore because, as a world, i don't think it was built with an ounce of bad faith or cynicism or self-deprecation, and yet i bring it with me. i'm almost certain i'm not the only one.

so that's why i'm saying "embrace more silliness." sometimes you'll feel the call to engage with a story in a straightforward, sensory way. maybe it doesn't make sense all the time, but something about it feels right. that feeling should be enough. if i think back, that feeling used to be enough, and it used to be everywhere, easier to find, easier to access without defensiveness or intrusive logic. i miss sentimentality. sincerity. even cheesiness, which is often vulnerability. i miss the ease with which i used to hold space for all of those things.

so i'm challenging myself, and anyone else, to tap into a previous update, or at least to be more mindful of the ways we might be resisting joy, delight, connection, wonder... i think tolkien's world is a good, safe place to try it out.

[tyklianzi]

Hii love your translation to pieces! How have you been? Have you been reading/watching any other media (aside from TYK) recently that u would rec?

Hello! Thank you so much for your message! I'm kind of in the mud trenches rn but I am very happy to be remembered ❤️❤️❤️

I am going to ramble a lot so sorry about that and thanks for giving me permission to do so.

I would have a hard time putting together "recs for someone who enjoyed TYK", because I think it's an unusual type of story. It's about a protagonist who's so tired of being a main character (or even a secondary character). All he wants is to be a side character who enjoys himself and isn't important enough to get hit by plot shrapnel. I remember @specialability making the astute observation that TYK has a lot in common with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. What do side characters do, when the main characters aren't on stage? But TYK emanates joy that you don't find in the other existentialist stories I've read (which may say more about my own deficiency than the genre itself). Zhou Zishu is dying, but he finds a lot of happiness in spending every day exactly as he wants to. Taking care of Zhang Chengling, untangling the Glazed Spiral mystery, and messing around with Wen Kexing: this is all meaningful to him because it's how he wants to spend the rest of his life. However short that life may be.

That being said, since you gave me permission, I'm going to talk about what I've read recently!

One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcìa Márquez) left a really strong impression on me. I guess because the characters in the Buendía family (the novel tells this family's story) trap themselves into lives that they don't enjoy at all. Some of them live for a hundred years or more, but they never find the companionship and happiness that they crave. I wish I could say more about this story, but it really made me want to read more magic realism, and learn about Latin American history to understand the context.

I watched AMC's Interview with the Vampire and it ate my brain. One similarity between the Vampire Chronicles and Faraway Wanderers is that their television adaptations tore apart the source material to make something new. And I love what they did with Interview with the Vampire, because they kept what was so interesting from the books: the struggle between a vampire's murderous, predatory nature, and their moral sense as a sapient being. The show also makes explicit the parallel between this struggle and Louis' struggle with his queerness: should he live in hypocrisy, condemning his true nature even though he can't change it? Or should he abandon the moral scruples that (in his mind) connect him with his vestigial humanity? It makes sense to me, and I love the story of the show. There are some elements I miss from the books, but to me, the show surpasses the sum of its parts.

I'm currently reading Tolkien's Silmarillion! I guess one thread that unites the three works I've mentioned today is "unbelievably messy family drama". Which again, is notably missing from TYK...but it is one of my personal favorite ingredients. Elf aristocratic infighting goes off the chain like nothing else. The Silmarillion is a tragedy, you know? When you read the Lord of the Rings, you feel that the most spectacular days of this world have passed already. You see those splendors in the Silmarillion and know that they're doomed. It's a lot more gothic than I expected. I have to space out how much I read at a time. I've just started Beren and Lùthien, which promises to deliver something of a breather.

Sorry again for this massive wall of text. I love to chat. Come back again anytime. Haha!

[theworldsoftolkein]

Beren & Lúthien 101 - Why This Story Matters! | Tolkien Untangled

Welcome to Tolkien's most cherished tale! The "kernel of the mythology", the "chief of the stories of the Silmarillion", the tale of Beren & Lúthien. Today we'll explore the earliest origins of this story, all the different versions of it, and all the reasons why Beren & Lúthien matter so much to Professor Tolkien & his wife Edith.

[melestasflight]

The world is aging, and Fingon entreats for Maedhros in the Halls of Mandos. It is simpler than he believed, but somehow it makes nothing easier.

On the rare occasions when Fingon allows himself to think of Beleriand, one image takes shape in his mind’s eye above all others. The last moments of sunset spilling down the prairies of Ard-galen.  If one was to wait for the exact hour and find just the right angle, its hue matched to perfection the color of Maedhros’ tresses under bright daylight. The dark reds coming alive with the gentle swaying of tall grasses in the breeze, Fingon would wade between them with his palms spread open and believe that a beloved braid was untangling between his fingers. He recalls longing for those memories with throbbing intensity, his renewed body unwilling to scar over the notches upon his fëa. Yet time is a potent balm, and time they have now in agonizing abundance. So he had learned stillness, the humble act of quietly remaking oneself age, after age, after age. But no peace has ever lasted long enough in any of Fingon’s lives, and neither does this one.

with much thanks to @searchingforserendipity25 for the brain sparks

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

Why Eru Didn’t Trip Gollum: Providence, Free Will, and Con-creation in The Lord of the Rings—Part 4 of 5

| PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 (this post) | PART 5 |

[Go back to PART 3: Untangling the Knots]

Part 4: Examining the Threads

Active and Passive

Both of the interpretations of the book’s climax we have explored thus far reframe what appears upon first reading in the text to be a passive event (Gollum falling by accident due to misstepping) into an active one (Gollum being tripped or compelled to fall). Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Return of the King likewise reframes (or perhaps transforms) the climactic scene. In the film Gollum’s fall is not presented as purely “accidental”—as a result of his careless dancing. Instead an injured Frodo rises to his feet, clutching his bleeding hand, and wrestles with Gollum; during this fight both fall over the edge into the chasm of fire. Frodo (with the help of Sam) is able to hold onto the rock face and climb out; Gollum, however, is not and plunges into the fire, carrying the Ring with him just as he does in the book. 

Though it isn’t clear who was initially responsible for suggesting this change, Peter Jackson has described his concerns that the scene as written in the book would be “a major disappointment” in the “dramatic context” of film:

We felt that audiences – a lot of people haven’t read the book, of course – would feel very let down and would actually judge Frodo badly for just sitting there watching as the ring got accidentally destroyed. (…)  They’d feel that Frodo would have failed essentially in his quest, and it was an accident that stepped in. We had to be careful in the movie to keep Frodo from looking bad because of that. (qtd. in Sandwell)

In fact according to Jackson the first version of the scene that was shot included even more direct action on Frodo’s part:

When we originally shot the scene, Gollum bit off Frodo’s finger and Frodo pushed Gollum off the ledge into the fires below. It was straight-out murder, but at the time we were okay with it because we felt everyone wanted Frodo to kill Gollum. (ibid)

Jackson apparently told Elijah Wood to play his attack as it appears in the final film ambiguously so that the viewer is left to wonder what Frodo would have done if he had succeeded in reclaiming the Ring from Gollum (Sandwell), thus maintaining the plausibility of Frodo’s “active role” in the Ring’s destruction.

Jackson is not the only person to have considered different and more “heroic” endings to this scene. Tolkien, himself, in earlier drafts of the scene, explored a very similar scenario to the one that appears in Jackson’s film. In The History of Middle-earth volumes VI—IX, Christopher Tolkien presents a number of his father’s early drafts of The Lord of the Rings, including outlines of the climactic scene. In an outline likely dating to 1939 and appearing in the ninth volume, Sauron Defeated, Tolkien writes: “At that moment Gollum — who had seemed to reform and had guided them by secret ways through Mordor — comes up and treacherously tries to take the Ring. They wrestle and Gollum takes Ring and falls into Crack” (3). According to Christopher it is clear that as early as 1940 Tolkien knew that “when Frodo…came to the Crack of Doom he would be unable to cast away the Ring, and that Gollum would take it and fall into the chasm. But how did he fall?” (37).

As Christopher suggests, while his father may have known from early on that the Ring would only fall into the fire along with Gollum, he seems to have been uncertain of the cause of Gollum’s fall. As his work on The Lord of the Rings continued over the decade and a half, Tolkien considered his options, pondering heavily Sam’s involvement—by turns Sam hurls himself into Gollum throwing them both into the fire (4), wrestles with Gollum and then throws him into the fire (4), sneaks up on Gollum while Gollum is dancing with glee and pushes him into the fire (5)—and even the possibility of Gollum jumping into the fire intentionally in a kind of ritual suicide meant to keep the Ring from anyone else. Yet Tolkien eventually ended up back where he started: simply that Gollum falls—no push, no shove, no wrestling. Indeed, according to Christopher the primary draft of the chapter “Mount Doom” (that is, its contents first put in prose and not in outline) is both complete and only differs from the published version in very minor ways:

It is remarkable in that the primary drafting constitutes a completed text, with scarcely anything in the way of preparatory sketching of individual passages, and while the text is rough and full of corrections made at the time of composition it is legible almost throughout; moreover many passages underwent only the most minor changes later. It is possible that some more primitive material has disappeared, but it seems to be far more probable that the long thought which my father had given to the ascent of Mount Doom and the destruction of the Ring enabled him, when at last he came to write it, to achieve it more quickly and surely than almost any earlier chapter in The Lord of the Rings. (37)

As with many aspects of the novel, Tolkien’s choices here were the result of long and careful consideration. But did Tolkien view the destruction of the Ring as “accidental?” Perhaps we should return to those letters and let Tolkien describe the forces in action in the scene himself.

The Supreme Value and Efficacy of Pity

The following are excerpts from four of Tolkien’s letters published in The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien that mention Frodo’s failure and the forces that lead to the completion of the quest in his stead:

[Frodo] (and the Cause) were saved – by Mercy: by the supreme value and efficacy of Pity and forgiveness of injury. […] I did not ‘arrange’ the deliverance in this case: it again follows the logic of the story. (251)

But at this point the ‘salvation’ of the world and Frodo’s own ‘salvation’ is achieved by his previous pity and forgiveness of injury. At any point any prudent person would have told Frodo that Gollum would certainly betray him, and could rob him in the end. To ‘pity’ him, to forbear to kill him, was a piece of folly, or a mystical belief in the ultimate value-in-itself of pity and generosity even if disastrous in the world of time. He did rob him and injure him in the end – but by a ‘grace’, that last betrayal was at a precise juncture when the final evil deed was the most beneficial thing any one cd. have done for Frodo! By a situation created by his ‘forgiveness’, he was saved himself, and relieved of his burden. (234)

In this case the cause (not the ‘hero’) was triumphant, because by the exercise of pity, mercy, and forgiveness of injury, a situation was produced in which all was redressed and disaster averted. (252)

Frodo had done what he could and spent himself completely (as an instrument of Providence) and had produced a situation in which the object of his quest could be achieved. His humility (with which he began) and his sufferings were justly rewarded by the highest honour; and his exercise of patience and mercy towards Gollum gained him Mercy: his failure was redressed. (325)

Two things here are very obvious: firstly that Tolkien places responsibility for the completion of the quest on Frodo’s choice to extend pity to Gollum, and secondly that he describes the action of the climactic scene in consistently passive ways.

Pity is an idea that is addressed several times in The Lord of the Rings; its first appearance comes in chapter two of Book I, only moments before Frodo tries and fails to throw the Ring in the fireplace. Conversing with Gandalf about the likelihood that Gollum has exposed the names “Baggins” and “Shire” to Sauron, putting Frodo and all he loves in danger, Frodo exclaims that it was a pity that Bilbo did not kill Gollum during their encounter in The Hobbit. Gandalf, however, sees things differently:

Pity? It was Pity that stayed [Bilbo’s] hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity. (59)

Our knowledge of Gandalf’s true nature is limited in The Lord of the Rings; it is only in The Silmarillion that we learn he is a maiar who has studied under Nienna, the vala of pity, mercy, compassion, and sorrow. The “supreme value and efficacy of pity and mercy” is likely something Gandalf knows quite a bit about, and he impresses upon Frodo its importance early on. It’s a lesson Frodo will have learned by the time he first meets Gollum; by that point he, too, will have suffered under the strain of the Ring, and will have come to identify with Gollum’s own tortured experience, finding him easy to pity at last. His pity for Gollum will prevent him from killing Gollum during their first meeting and many times afterwards. In fact, Gollum’s survival and presence at the climax is the result of a long string of acts ruled by pity. First is Bilbo’s pity that spares Gollum when Bilbo chooses not to kill him during his escape from the goblin tunnels in the pages of The Hobbit[6]. Next is an act of kindness (almost certainly engendered by pity) by the Elves of Mirkwood from whose custody Gollum escapes; this act of kindness leads to a planned ambush by orcs and the death of several elvish guards, but it also sets Gollum free to track Frodo and the Ring. Frodo’s continuous acts of pity will follow, as he refuses to kill Gollum despite recognizing Gollum is untrustworthy and likely to endanger the quest. Frodo will even plead with Faramir to spare Gollum’s life, despite the fact that Faramir, like Frodo, knows Gollum cannot be trusted. Lastly it is Sam (whose own bungled treatment of Gollum likely prevented Gollum’s full repentance) who will finally feel pity for Gollum: having at last experienced the weight of the Ring, himself, he refuses to kill Gollum on the slopes of Mount Doom just before the climactic scene. 

These acts, as Tolkien says, are folly. No reasonable person would decide that the most prudent course of action is to spare Gollum’s life, especially not once Frodo and Sam have entered Mordor and have the Cracks of Doom in sight. And yet it is clear that without these continuous offerings of pity, grace, and mercy the quest would have failed. Frodo would have claimed the Ring. Sauron would have found him and taken it. The armies of the West would have been crushed, and Sauron’s dominion over Middle-earth would have been final. Gollum’s actions in the Cracks of Doom are ignoble, no doubt—they are driven by lust and total corruption—but they nonetheless inadvertently bring about the Ring’s destruction and the “salvation of the Cause.”

Abnegation and Plain Hobbit-sense

Frodo and Sam’s choices, both as they relate to Gollum and to the Ring, also express an incredible humility and awareness of their position relative to the enormity of the rest of the world. As Gandalf says during chapter two’s pity speech: “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends” (59).

Douglas Blount in his paper, “Uberhobbits: Tolkien, Nietzsche, And The Will To Power” describes those characteristics which Tolkien most closely identifies with heroism and moral authority: strength, according to Tolkien, manifests itself most clearly not in the exercise of power but rather in the willingness to give it up. “The greatest examples of the action of the spirit and of reason,” Blount tells us, “are in abnegation” (98).

It could be argued that hobbits, perhaps more than any of the “races” in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, reflect the virtues of humility and the abnegation of authority which is not theirs to claim. They are simple people who, on the whole, want to be left alone and do not seek domination of either people or of nature. And while their ignorance and small-mindedness are not traits to be looked up to (and everyone from Tolkien to Frodo to Gandalf does fault them for this), I would argue that they, as a group, represent the closest thing in the novel (outside of Tom Bombadil) to the antithesis of Sauron and the Ring.

Though Frodo does fail the final test, Tolkien assures us that it was a test outside Frodo’s (and indeed any person’s) capability to pass. In the heart of Sauron’s domain, at the fire where the Ring was forged, where all other powers were dimmed, no incarnate creature could have brought themselves to destroy the Ring. Tolkien is clear that in this sense Frodo’s failure was not a moral one, as he had been pushed beyond his capacity and had maintained his moral integrity up until that moment—which, to go back to the discussion of Gollum being cursed, further undermines the idea that Frodo at any point actively used the Ring to curse or compel Gollum to his death. Added together, these themes of pity and humility are part of why I would argue some of the changes made in Jackson’s adaptation of The Return of the King obscure some of the most important themes in The Lord of the Rings—in their effort to add additional dramatic tension or to give Frodo the appearance of more agency, they repeatedly dilute either Frodo’s sensible nature or the chain of pity that runs through the story[7].

Two of the film’s choices stand out in particular: a significantly altered scene while the heroes are climbing the Endless Stair in which Gollum tricks Frodo into believing Sam has turned against him leading Frodo to send Sam away, and the climax when Gollum falls into the fire as a result of struggling with Frodo over the Ring. The former, I would argue, works most strongly against both of the two important themes we have been examining in this section: pity and humility (or “plain hobbit sense”). Frodo’s “plain hobbit sense” is called into question here by his ability to be deceived so easily (in a moment which, as written, I would also argue is simply dramatically unbelievable.) More importantly, his deception in this moment interrupts the important chain of mercy and pity that is responsible for leading to the Ring’s destruction. The compassion and mercy that Frodo shows to Gollum only maintains its thematic power if Frodo remains aware of how dangerous Gollum actually is. A Frodo who can be so easily tricked into believing Gollum over Sam—to the point that he would actually tell Sam to leave him—is no longer keeping Gollum around despite knowing he is untrustworthy. Hence, Frodo’s actions regarding Gollum are no longer acts inspired by pity of him. Additionally, the reworking of the final confrontation at the Cracks of Doom, which places far more agency (albeit agency born of desire and rage rather than righteousness) on Frodo in the destruction of the Ring, muddies the still waters of the moment and reveals a lack of trust in the power and virtue of Frodo’s choices and actions prior to the moment, the choices and actions that Tolkien very explicitly tells us are responsible for the Ring’s destruction.

Now it’s time to bring these threads back together and explain why it is that Eru didn’t trip Gollum—why it is deeply important to the thematic and dramatic unity of The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien’s wider Legendarium that Gollum’s fall was not the result of a singular, direct, and unilateral intervention by Eru.

Notes in Part 4

6. This choice of Bilbo’s did not appear in the first edition of The Hobbit: Tolkien altered the book to reflect the new, more powerful, and far more malevolent nature of the One Ring, and it is worth noting that he felt it important enough to include this act of pity in his alterations.

7. To be absolutely fair, Jackson wasn’t unaware of the pity issue, and states as much in the same interview. However, he presumably felt the theme wouldn’t be communicated sufficiently in the medium of film so as to override concerns about the audience’s reaction to Frodo’s passivity.

[Continue to PART 5: Reweaving the Tapestry]

[fourgondor]

After nearly a decade away from the more hard-core aspects of Tolkienien literature (if you know, ya know lol), I decided to jump back in. I found a wonderful channel on the webs, Tolkien Untangled (highly recommend!!), and some thoughts materialized.

Tolkien stated that "death and the desire for deathlessness" is one the most important themes of his works. The fact that the OG Numenorean kings willingly embraced death at the end of their terms underscores that death is a blessing, the gift of the Secondborn. Elros, the first king of Numenor, saw the torment tied to immortality firsthand, for the demise of his so-called "kidnap dads" taught him that very lesson.

Maedhros and Maglor, after three kinslayings, countless Beleriand wars, and the deaths of most of their family, realize that everything they dedicated the latter years of their lives (centuries!) to was all for naught. Their cumulative deeds tipped the scales in favor of damnation, regardless of their mercy towards the twins of Sirion, Maedhros' hesitation at the ship burning, and his later gifting his Noldorian right to kingship to Fingolfin's line. As a result, the Light of the Two Trees immortalized in the Silmarils rejected the sons of their maker.

The eldest brother sees no path forward, only the bitter taste of futile failure, and subsequently ends his life in a blaze of torment. Maglor, now the only remaining descendant of the untied lines of Finwë and Míriel, will forever walk the shores of Middle Earth, lamenting his role in the scarring of a once pristine Arda.

So, TLDR... having witnessed the evils of a) a life of pain only death can relieve and b) a continued existence of self-hatred and eternal repentance, Elros understands that death is a gift. Perhaps this very understanding makes him wiser than the Loremaster himself, his twin brother who chose the path of the Eldar, Elrond.

[runawaymun]

5 Things You’ll Find in (Most Of) My WIPs

tagged by @niennawept! Thank you! It was so fun to read yours & this is such an unique prompt! I am very bad at talking about my own work so this is good practice for me lol.

I write across a very vast expanse of genres so this was difficult to narrow down but here we go: 

1) Explorations of Trauma and Healing: I think in this way I am looking for myself, but if there is one through-line that permeates every last square inch of my work, whether it’s a short story set in cyberpunk futuristic Egypt about a veteran exacting revenge, a retelling of the myth of Medusa in a Steampunk universe, a historical novel about Nine Years’ War in 1603 Ireland, a socio-political behemoth of a sci-fi/fantasy series, a borderline chic-lit romance novel, a gothic romance in the highlands of Scotland, a thriller set in Victorian London, or just my Tolkien fanfic...I’m nearly always exploring various types of trauma, how it affects our lives (especially when left ignored to fester), and how we heal from it. I’m very interested in untangling the mess trauma and trauma-informed attachment styles create in our lives, and very interested in writing stories in which characters heal. 

2) Light Wins, Always: I do love me a good tragedy sometimes, but I have simply found throughout my own life that, in the words of Samwise Gamgee: there is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for. Even if it’s in the smallest measure...if there is still good and light left, then darkness hasn’t won -- and for me that is a very encouraging thought. I am never very interested in stories in which evil wins. For me, if evil has won then I’m not done writing. Even if outwardly everything is lost it’s my job to find the place where the mushrooms are eating through the corpses & bringing new life. Evil is boring. I think that’s why, while I do love Ari Aster’s filmmaking, I personally think Doctor Sleep is ultimately a much better story (and film) than, say, Hereditary or Midsommar which I find to be, idk, a cheap thrill but ultimately uninteresting (apologies if anyone loves those!). Evil winning is the obvious route. Especially when it has the upper hand. Give me the story about the underdog and give me the un-obvious triumphs. The little wins. Even when it looks like absolutely everything everywhere has gone wrong...show me the light. Show me the crocuses pushing through the dirt after a hard winter. The two little hobbits who beat all the odds to carry the Ring to Mt. Doom. <3 But also, these things aren’t easy. Show me the cost. The time. The tears. I think that’s why I love Tolkien so much. Good endings aren’t perfect endings. They aren’t simple endings. I like that about them.

3) Eldritch Horror, or something: I think this one really speaks for itself. I love finding ways to sneak in the eldritch, the weird, the incomprehensible. It’s just a flavor, like a specific spice that I just eat up in stories even in the smallest amount. Even if it’s just in the description of an old building! Or, you know, down to the way magic is described & utilized. It’s so juicy. 

4) Coming of Age: I suppose this goes hand-in-hand with #1, but this is what I like to call this theme for lack of a better term, even though so many of the characters I write who are “coming of age” aren’t children or teenagers, but really much, much older people who have perhaps been stifled for the vast majority of their lives and then are, all at once through the course of a novel, are pushed into actually finding out who they are, what they’re made of, what they want, and who they’re going to be in the future. An altering of the status-quo, I guess -- and usually a great deal of standing up to one’s abusers and learning to be your own person. I love those kinds of stories, especially when it involves older people and especially when it involves older women. 

5) This Very Obviously Got Out of Hand: it’s not that I’m not an obsessive planner. Really, I am. Especially when it comes to my personal WIPs. But if you’ve read pretty much any of my longfics you’re very aware of the fact that these things have a tendency to get away from me -- whether that’s in characters who wouldn’t leave me alone (Fram, for one. In an ancient tradition stemming back to the MC of my first novel, who pretty much did the same thing), plots that got way too big for their britches with moving parts & worldbuilding (Boundless...Sky...), or stories that were supposed to be much shorter but ended up growing exponentially simply because I either couldn’t leave it alone or because the character development needed way more time to feel natural (Partake...) -- yeah. I keep doing this and it’s frankly so ridiculous but so, so fun to be simply accosted by a story that gets me in a chokehold. Thrilling tbh.

No pressure tags for: @jaz-the-bard @the-commonplace-book @valasania-the-pale @ellrond @raointean & tbh anyone else who sees this and wants to. Tag me :) I want to see!! 

[tiofrean]

I feel I need to add to this because I have another bone to pick with reading assignments. Not getting to the end of the book and only analyzing fragments is a problem, yes, but have you considered how absolutely goddamned awful the books are?

Like, maybe it's only a thing in my country, maybe just our powers that be are completely bonkers when choosing them... but for the love of everything that's holy, why would you make people read something that's not only boring but also blatantly outdated?

I was 9 and I was forced to read a fully mature book about knights and history, and not in a fun way. My 9-year-old self didn't give a shit about the history of my country and the political views of the 15th century. Who gives a shit? I was a kid, I wanted to have FUN, read something adventurous, not try to disentangle the political ramifications of a stupid king's decision of getting the whole Teutonic Knight Order into my country a few centuries before.

I didn't care about Great Gatsby or the Mockingbird, and you can keep your Moby Dick, thank you very much. I know there are people who like them, and all the power to you. But to a kid, those books are outdated and boring, and if someone makes them read them as an assignment, what the hell do you expect to happen?

I'm an adult now, I consume over 50k words daily on the internet reading fanfiction, sometimes a lot more than that. I read books, too, but now that I'm curating my experience, I actually enjoy it. I was fortunate not to burn myself on the system, or rather, I was fortunate to have those burns healed so I could come back to reading. I still hate "The Knights of the Cross" (an epopei-thing in my country) with wild passion and I want to tear every single copy I come across to pieces. I can't stand the movie made about it. This is what system did to me. Very often it's not the question of kids not interested in reading, but not interested in reading your particular brand of books.

Tastes differ, even in kids. Yes, I know, there are texts that need to be talked about. But you can talk about them and show examples, without boring everyone out of their skull and assigning them shit to read they will hate till the end of their days. And before you go "oh, but how am I supposed to talk about XYZ without mentioning ABC book?" You are the fucking teacher. Figure it out. I'm a teacher, too, and I have to figure shit out. And I've seen other teachers do this the right way. They were supposed to talk about supernatural elements in writing? Great, the whole class was reading Tolkien, not a medieval poem nobody gave a shit about. Fragments from the poem still appeared, sure, but the bulk of it was on something the kids could actually relate to and not find it boring to death, something they didn't have to check in the dictionary every second word of the text.

Also, not sure how it works in other countries, but in here, schools give you an assignment and expect you to read the book. So you do, you grit your teeth through it, it's boring, old, written in a language that gives you a headache... and then you come to class and try to untangle the meaning. And it's only AFTER you've read it that the actual era-assessment comes in, and the things you were supposed to pay attention to are revealed. And you realize that you were hanging onto your sanity through the reading by latching onto the only interesting plot arch you've seen in that abomination that your assignment was, just to hear that it was not what you were supposed to pay attention to. You were supposed to focus on the historical difficulties of building a community. And you sit there, staring blankly at the text like a dumbass because you have nothing. And you start hating reading assignments a little more.

Don't kill kids' love for stories, I beg you.

Why Kids Aren't Falling in Love With Reading - It's Not Just Screens

A shrinking number of kids are reading widely and voraciously for fun.

The ubiquity and allure of screens surely play a large part in this—most American children have smartphones by the age of 11—as does learning loss during the pandemic. But this isn’t the whole story. A survey just before the pandemic by the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that the percentages of 9- and 13-year-olds who said they read daily for fun had dropped by double digits since 1984. I recently spoke with educators and librarians about this trend, and they gave many explanations, but one of the most compelling—and depressing—is rooted in how our education system teaches kids to relate to books.

What I remember most about reading in childhood was falling in love with characters and stories; I adored Judy Blume’s Margaret and Beverly Cleary’s Ralph S. Mouse. In New York, where I was in public elementary school in the early ’80s, we did have state assessments that tested reading level and comprehension, but the focus was on reading as many books as possible and engaging emotionally with them as a way to develop the requisite skills. Now the focus on reading analytically seems to be squashing that organic enjoyment. Critical reading is an important skill, especially for a generation bombarded with information, much of it unreliable or deceptive. But this hyperfocus on analysis comes at a steep price: The love of books and storytelling is being lost.

This disregard for story starts as early as elementary school. Take this requirement from the third-grade English-language-arts Common Core standard, used widely across the U.S.: “Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.” There is a fun, easy way to introduce this concept: reading Peggy Parish’s classic, Amelia Bedelia, in which the eponymous maid follows commands such as “Draw the drapes when the sun comes in” by drawing a picture of the curtains. But here’s how one educator experienced in writing Common Core–aligned curricula proposes this be taught: First, teachers introduce the concepts of nonliteral and figurative language. Then, kids read a single paragraph from Amelia Bedelia and answer written questions.

For anyone who knows children, this is the opposite of engaging: The best way to present an abstract idea to kids is by hooking them on a story. “Nonliteral language” becomes a whole lot more interesting and comprehensible, especially to an 8-year-old, when they’ve gotten to laugh at Amelia’s antics first. The process of meeting a character and following them through a series of conflicts is the fun part of reading. Jumping into a paragraph in the middle of a book is about as appealing for most kids as cleaning their room.

But as several educators explained to me, the advent of accountability laws and policies, starting with No Child Left Behind in 2001, and accompanying high-stakes assessments based on standards, be they Common Core or similar state alternatives, has put enormous pressure on instructors to teach to these tests at the expense of best practices. Jennifer LaGarde, who has more than 20 years of experience as a public-school teacher and librarian, described how one such practice—the class read-aloud—invariably resulted in kids asking her for comparable titles. But read-alouds are now imperiled by the need to make sure that kids have mastered all the standards that await them in evaluation, an even more daunting task since the start of the pandemic. “There’s a whole generation of kids who associate reading with assessment now,” LaGarde said.

By middle school, not only is there even less time for activities such as class read-alouds, but instruction also continues to center heavily on passage analysis, said LaGarde, who taught that age group. A friend recently told me that her child’s middle-school teacher had introduced To Kill a Mockingbird to the class, explaining that they would read it over a number of months—and might not have time to finish it. “How can they not get to the end of To Kill a Mockingbird?” she wondered. I’m right there with her. You can’t teach kids to love reading if you don’t even prioritize making it to a book’s end. The reward comes from the emotional payoff of the story’s climax; kids miss out on this essential feeling if they don’t reach Atticus Finch’s powerful defense of Tom Robinson in the courtroom or never get to solve the mystery of Boo Radley.

... Young people should experience the intrinsic pleasure of taking a narrative journey, making an emotional connection with a character (including ones different from themselves), and wondering what will happen next—then finding out. This is the spell that reading casts. And, like with any magician’s trick, picking a story apart and learning how it’s done before you have experienced its wonder risks destroying the magic.

-- article by katherine marsh, the atlantic (12 foot link, no paywall)

[ao3feed-tolkien]

Cold Pressing Pathway 2

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/l5teCdg

by Alex_Quine

Arwen is determined to untangle the thorny future of one small boy.

Words: 8584, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, M/M

Characters: Aragorn | Estel, Arwen Undómiel, Boromir (Son of Denethor II), Beregond (Guard of the Citadel), OC-Arin/Nan/Orack

Relationships: Aragorn | Estel/Arwen Undómiel, Aragorn | Estel/Boromir (Son of Denethor II)

Additional Tags: Post Mpreg

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/l5teCdg