#after the war. everything would happen after the war. after the nirnaeth even! their last alliance that BURNED with hope.

[brynnmclean]

#turgon supremacy #i also love everybody but also TURGON IS BETTER #no offense but what has fingon done for me lately? #turgon built not one but TWO cities for his people #and he is tall and dadly #also Aredhel went with him and not Fingon so there's THAT #brynnmclean it's ONNNNN

Oh, it's on???? IT'S ON??????? FULL OFFENSE, YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT FINGON DID FOR YOU?????? HE COMMANDED ARMIES AND CAVALRY DECISIVELY ENOUGH THAT TURGON COULD BUILD THOSE BEAUTIFUL CITIES.

Can't have a flourishing Beleriand without someone beating back Morgoth's forces, including (baby) GLAURUNG.

Also rescuing Maedhros from Thangorodrim wasn't just an act of love (though I'm sure Turgon thought of it as some kind of betrayal at the time), it also was USEFUL in that it healed (at least some of) the estrangement between the Nolofinwëans and the Fëanorians-- like, NEED I REMIND YOU that Maedhros gave up the crown of the High-king to Fingolfin after the Rescue and that took tensions between factions down significantly. So that the war could be FOUGHT. So that the periods of peace COULD BE POSSIBLE. (We needed Maedhros to do this because Maglor and the rest of the Sons would have never, lmao)

I rest my fucking case, xoxo

I am SURE someone has already done this or something similar but a friend and I got into a shouting match over Fingon vs. Turgon yesterday so Nolofinwëan stans, I summon you for a v serious poll. Please show your work in replies/tags. 💜

[animatorweirdo]

Imagine being a legend in Gondolin

(This was born after reading The Fall of Gondolin. Pretty good book, but god Tolkien had an intense love for describing nature and everything)

Warnings: mentions of Nirnaeth, thralls, orcs, surviving harsh wilds, getting chased for three days without rest, wounds, violence, collapsing, Turgon being protective of his city, Tuor being a nice cousin, Maeglin being sus and reader being a bit shy.

---------------

- You were known as the shadow, the ghost, the hidden enemy of Morgoth. No one knew who you were, nor have ever seen you. You were just as much of a phantom to the elves as to the orcs, who feared your wrath. 

- The elves of Gondolin learned about you through escapees, who had found their way to the secret path and spoke about a shadow, who had helped them escape from the orcs and the other servants of Morgoth. During their direst need, someone had sent arrows upon the enemy, killing them with incredible precision and causing the rest of them to flee in terror. 

- They never had the chance to thank their rescuer because their rescuer was long gone before they could even catch a glimpse of them. Those who did– described the shadow wearing dark robes, hiding their face like a walking phantom. They first believed the shadow was a wraith, taking their vengeance upon Morgoth’s servants if it was not for the arrows that were very real and clearly man-made. 

- The news baffled the elves of Gondolin as they couldn't think of anyone who would openly go against Morgoth, not after what happened in Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Most took the shadow as a madman since it was suicide to fight Morgoth alone, regardless of any skills they may possess. But when more escapees arrived at Gondolin, their views began to change.  

- Some brought more news about the shadow, like how the shadow would sometimes appear and leave food to the elves when their food supplies were running out or how the shadow would come to them and treat their wounds after a violent confrontation with orcs. 

- The shadow knew their language even though they didn’t talk much and would always leave without receiving thanks or goodbyes. It was thanks to them that most of the elves dared to venture to find the secret path and enter Gondolin for safety. 

- The elves of Gondolin began to find respect for the shadow and feel gratitude since most of the escapees were Noldoli and relatives they thought they had lost during the battle or to Morgoth’s slavery. 

- They felt assured the shadow was an enemy of Morgoth even though the shadow’s ambition to fight Morgoth still baffled them. They could only guess Morgoth had done something so horrible to this individual that they were determined to cause as much trouble for him as possible and create fear among his servants since they do not dare to linger in lands where the shadow might be hiding – out of fear they would become the shadow’s next prey. 

- They then gave you a nickname that meant Orc’s terror, but mostly, you were known as the shadow. In other nicknames, you were also known as the ghost. 

- The shadow’s identity had become a guessing game, especially among the lords of Gondolin, who made many guesses about the shadow’s past and who they were. 

- A son of a farmer who lost his family and land after the war. A former elven thrall, who in their hatred decided to rebel as a shadow. Or a woman who lost many things and decided to fight and care for the mistreated. 

- There were many guesses, which sounded reasonable or laughable, but none of them really sat right with them, so there was no solid guess on the shadow’s identity. The shadow was mostly known for their exceptional archery skills and their righteous mind to help escapees and those in trouble outside Gondolin’s mountains. 

- Some suggested they would try to find the shadow and invite them to live within Gondolin’s safe walls as they didn’t think shadow would last forever outside in Morgoth’s polluted lands. However, most rejected the idea since it would be too risky, and they knew very little of the shadow and where they could find them, but they would allow them to enter if shadow ever found their way to Gondolin. 

- After several months, the identity of the shadow was finally revealed when another group of escapees found their way to the secret path, and they brought someone else with them– you, the shadow itself. 

- They told them that Morgoth had learned about your whereabouts and sent an army of orcs to burn down the forests in an effort to sniff you out and capture you, only to be killed if you put on resistance and resistance you did. 

- For three days, you had run and used traps you had set up to fight back, only shooting arrows from the shadows upon chance till you had none left and had to retreat to another one of your safe places to retrieve more. 

- You succeeded in reducing the orc army to half while constantly chased and without rest, and it was on the last day when you used your final trap and collapsed from your injuries and exhaustion. 

- The elves who were nearby and hid in the shadows were quick to take you away before the enemy could find you and take you as their prisoner. You had helped them many times to hide from Morgoth’s eyes, so they felt they owed their help to you. 

- The elves of Gondolin were surprised by the news but decided to let the group enter and have your wounds treated. 

- You were not what they expected when they took your hood and robes away to clean your wounds. To their surprise, you were a human. Most of them had taken you for an elf since you knew their language and nearly had nonhuman skills. 

- Turgon and Tuor had a spark of recognition when they saw your face. To Turgon, you bore a resemblance to Hurin and had a suspicion that you were one of his children even though he knew the tragic passing of all of them. To Tuor, you resembled the strange man he had encountered with Voronwe. Despite their suspicions and desire for answers, they patiently waited for you to recover from the coma the battle had induced you in. 

- It took you a week to wake up, and when you did, you were startled to find yourself in an unfamiliar place and had put the nearest poor elf in a chokehold, demanding to know where you had been taken since your last memory was collapsing with the enemy on your tail. 

- Luckily, someone you knew was there to calm you down and explain what happened. When you heard you were not in the enemy’s territory or were in any danger, you apologized to the elf in your arms and released them before sitting down since your wounds were still aching. The elf was startled away and wasn’t seen around you after that. 

- Turgon and Tuor decided to come to see you after they heard the news of your sudden wake-up. Tuor was nearly excited since there weren’t a lot of humans in Gondolin. 

- You were calm and patient when they presented themselves and their questions. You were surprised to hear how highly respected you were in Gondolin. You never knew about the city’s location or its existence. And when Turgon asked for your name, you saw no reason to hide and introduced yourself as (Name) and your father as Hurin. 

- Turgon was surprised since he had heard what became of all of Hurin’s children, including his wife Morwen and Hurin himself, so he questioned you since you were told to be dead after you fell from a cliff during your escape from Dor-loming with your mother and sister. He felt reluctant to believe even if you did share a strong resemblance. 

- You confirmed what happened to be true but instead of dying, you survived the fall with broken bones. You were found by an elf, who nurtured you back to health and taught you the skills you had now. You decided to take the chance of being dead and become a shadow, being too late to intervene with your family’s fate. 

- Tuor questioned you about a dark-dressed man he had once encountered with Voronwe and if you had any relations to him. You confirmed the dark-dressed man to be your brother, Turin, who had fallen under the dragon’s enchantment after Nargothrond's fall. You knew of his coming to Dor-loming and killing the Easterling leader. However, he disappeared before you could catch up to him, and heard later he had died after defeating the golden serpent. 

- Turgon felt pity for your family’s fate and offered you to stay in Gondolin since you had cared for many of his kin – only that you remained in Gondolin and did not dare to leave since you now knew of its location. 

- You accepted the offer even though you don’t remember ever coming to Gondolin. You were brought by the elves when you collapsed during your chase. 

- You recovered under the healer’s care and began to settle when you were well enough to walk. However, despite being offered a high status due to your family, acts, and feats of defeating half of an orc army sent after you, you humbly declined and decided to join Tuor’s House of the Wing since he was your cousin and one of the only humans in the city. 

- Getting to know Tuor was a bit of a challenge since you did not often socialize with others while living in the wilderness, but listening him talk about his journey and life before Gondolin was delightful and you felt pity for those he had lost. Even he did not have an easy life since the Nirnaeth. It was perhaps an icebreaker that finally helped you two find something you can relate to. 

- Tuor was happy to help you settle and introduced you to his wife Idril and close friend Voronwe, who welcomed you with open arms. You were a bit shy to receive such a warm welcome, but you tried to express your gratitude, which did not go unnoticed. You were a bit teased, but you were comfortable. 

- Now came the challenging part as most lords of Gondolin were interested in meeting you, the infamous shadow. The problem was that you were not keen on meeting so many people so soon. 

- Glorfindel and Ecthelion, two well-known and loved elven lords were the first curious to meet you. Glorfindel was especially thrilled to meet you. He was nearly bright as the sun and his enthusiasm was rather overwhelming. But you did find him rather charming. 

- Ecthelion was calm and polite – he was interested in learning how you knew their language and how you managed to survive on your own for so long. Discussing with him was rather pleasant, so you didn’t mind sharing. 

- You were then greeted by Rog, who had taken many escapees and former thralls under his care. He was respectful toward you and grateful for how helpful you were toward those who couldn’t help themselves. 

- Duilin and Egalmoth were then curious to meet you as they had heard about your remarkable archery skills with your crossbow. 

- You were a bit shy to demonstrate any of your skills and protective of your weapon, but you didn't mind sharing how you managed to build your crossbow to shoot more than one arrow and attached a blade to it for close combat. 

- Your weapon impressed many, and your timid nature might have made you an easy target for teasing and such, but the elven lords never took it far to make it uncomfortable for you. 

- Sometimes, elves you had helped in the past came to greet you. You were surprised by the amount, and the sudden interactions did not help your social skills to improve. You were glad for Tuor to be there most of the time to help you. 

- Maeglin was one of the only ones who seemed less pleased by your presence in the city. You do not know why, but you had heard he was not very fond of Tuor, so maybe it was because you were his cousin. You had also heard that he once desired Idril's hand in marriage, which sounded weird because they were first cousins. 

- Whatever the reason, you made a habit of staying clear of him because he made you feel slightly uncomfortable with his looks and glares. 

- Living in Gondolin was peaceful, but soon you grew restless and decided to join the patrols around the mountains. You were familiar with the enemy's patterns and managed to make scouting much more efficient with your knowledge and skills. 

- Your ways made the elves curious since they were unusual, but they didn't complain since it made their jobs easier and helped them be less worried about spies and orcs hiding in sight. 

- After living in Gondolin for some time, you managed to make a few good friends and even gained feelings for someone. You and Tuor had become family in a way and you were there when Earendil was born. You became his honorary aunt/uncle. 

- You sincerely hoped Gondolin would last like so many claimed, but you couldn't shake off the feeling that something terrible was going to happen in the future. It whispered of death and doom to your ears, and from that, you knew that the peace you have found in Gondolin will eventually-- come to an end.

[feanorianethicsdepartment]

five+-season quenta silmarillion tv show outline:

or, what i would have done if jeff gave me all that cash

season 1: how we all got into this mess. the first few episodes cover All That Noldorin Nonsense as an elaborate political costume drama, and then right in the middle of everybody’s arcs the trees get eaten. things in valinor take a turn for the apocalyptic, we get new points of view in beleriand and angband as everyone reacts to the return of the dark lord, the full scope of our story is revealed and events keep getting faster. we follow the chaos train up to... say the mereth aderthad? about the point when the status quo of the long siege sets in, in any case. might be a bit of a squeeze fitting everything in, might have to leak into season 2

season 2: tales of beleriand. we need a season or two set during the long siege, to establish what it is that gets lost when it’s broken. i kinda wanna do a long story arc about the arrival of men, but at the same time there’s other stuff we gotta set up that wouldn’t timeline easily with that. maybe one season-length arc surrounded by a bunch of one-off specials? one about finrod, one about maeglin, one about haleth, this’d probably the best place to insert original characters and storylines to flesh out the world. we get nice and used to how beleriand works, and then dragons

season 3: the quest for the silmaril, extended remix. we start from beren coming across lúthien in that grove, and from there we build up a portrait of beleriand after the bragollach. the old man and his wife’s self inserts are definitely our focus characters, but there’s a ton of b-plots weaving through the background, lots of flashbacks, lots of cameos from characters we’ve already met. we see the sincere hope that runs around the continent after the power couple do the impossible, and once they retire from the stage we follow that hope riiiight up to the nirnaeth. season ends with a panning shot of the hill of tears

season 4: everything goes to shit. our starting point is, of course, túrin too-many-names, but from his misadventures we chain into the ruin of doriath and the fall of gondolin, a three-part story in which basically the entire continent gets trashed. we’d probably need to fudge the timelines a little to make things flow dramatically, have stuff that’s actually a year or two apart happen simultaneously, but i feel like we could make it work, and it’d really emphasise how interconnected these three tragedies are. we end at sirion, first with the survivors building a new home together, and then, just when everyone’s had a chance to breathe, we smash cut to the third kinslaying

season 5: the war of wrath. we’ll start from the arrival of the hosts of valinor, with some conveniently placed flashbacks to fill in on how everything’s somehow gotten even worse since we last saw everyone. i kind of want to have post-war elrond doing a frame narrative kind of thing? certainly him and elros coming of age in a dying world would be a good throughline. we’re going to drown this thing in everything that’s left of the effects budget, and we’re going to make it very clear that despite all the heroics there’s almost no one and nothing left in beleriand to benefit. how i want to play the series finale, i’m not exactly sure, but we’re definitely going a little past the theft of the silmarils, enough to see the utter devastation

the seasons (and the s2 specials) are meant to function as full stories individually, forming a grand epic narrative as a whole but also providing a satisfying tale within themselves. at the start of each season we’ll have an abstract animated short film going over whatever background lore you need to know to understand what’s coming and also looking very pretty. once we start having human characters we’re gonna have to change them all every season, but it’s apparently been done before, i think we could make it work. the dwarves we can slowly put in old-age makeup, the elf actors are going to age but we can blame that on the war. outside of our heroes of legend and myth, i feel like we should have a few ‘touchstone characters’ (or families, for humans) that recur across seasons that we can check up on and see how they’re doing in each new period, relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things but providing a barometer for How Things Are Going. there’s enough space in the margins of the quenta silmarillion that would allow you to tell some really good stories around the ones we already have, yanno? that’s the kind of silm adaptation i’d love to see

[maaruin]

Anyways, here is how I would have made a TV show based on the Silmarillion.

Most importantly, make it several shows that can stand on their own, because otherwise the tone would be all over the place. Those shows are produced an aired one after the other and each has between 3 and 5 seasons. In this order:

1. Beren and Luthien

This is the best point to start, because it is a self-contained story. Happy but also sad. Beren can be the starting point-of-view character, so that we first see the elves from the outside. It allows for slowly introducing the world and the sons of Feanor. Mostly happy ending, but Melian can add the sadness that is to come.

2. The Oath of Feanor

A prequel about the events before Beren and Luthien. The framing device is Maedhros bringing together the Union of Maedhros for an attack on Morgoth. Different people are recounting what has happend until then. Events from the awakening of the Elves to the death of Fingolfin are told. After that all is concluded, the events of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad take place. Feeling of impending doom throughout and sad ending.

3. The Children of Hurin

Yeah, all those sad events that happen to Hurin’s family and him in the end. Very sad all throughout.

4. Earendil the Mariner

The Fall of Gondolin, the end of Doriath, the Third Kinslaying, Earendil’s voyage to Valinor, the War of Wrath, the last attempt by the sons of Feanor to take the Silmarils. Has the everything-get’s-worse-until-the-gods-intervene-but-even-they-can’t-undo-the-bad-that-has-happened feeling Silmarillion has in the end.

[iminye]

hey! yo! you mind talking a bit more about the extended fëanorian family ocs you have? how many there are, how they’re related, when they’re born, the rough arc of their life?

Hello thank you for your ask! No I don't mind talking about them at all! I love them all very much but please be prepared that this is going to be a long one and that I couldn't even fit everything I want to talk about in here

I have talked about Maglor's, Caranthir's and Curufin's wives before so I left them out on purpose. So I'm just going to talk about the third and fourth generation here.

If you exclude Elrond and Elros Maglor and his wife Cellin have four children and in order of their birth their names are Gilloth, Nelladon, Gilrin and Belegur. Gilloth has a son named Arrod, none of the other three are married or have children. Curufin and his wife Aiwë have one more child besides Celebrimbor, Aracundo. Celebrimbor himself has a son named Aenion. Caranthir and Calairie remain childless. I'm not sure yet where Gil-Galad belongs family wise in my headcanon but let's just assume he's Orodreth's son for convenience.

I don't exactly have stories for them all. Aracundo, Nelladon and Aenion are probably the most fleshed out one's when it comes to their stories but I love them all regardless.

A badly drawn family tree for reference. If you want some more details there are about 2k words of bullet points under the cut :)

Gilloth

Daughter of one of Maedhros's guards and Maglor's second in command

Born some time before the Nirnaeth Arnoediad

Both her parents die in the Nirnaeth, and she is taken in by Maglor and his wife Cellin and is raised as their daughter

Loses her voice during the War of Wrath but refuses to tell anyone how it happened (possible Trauma related?)

Helps Celebrimbor run Eregion in the S.A

Is very interested in architecture and has great talent

Also helps with the construction of Rivendell and moves there after Eregion falls

Has great impact on her siblings upbringing

She and Erestor start courting after Glorfindel locks them in a room together and only allows them out after Erestor confesses his feelings

They marry mid Third Age

Their only child is called Araráto or Arrod in Sindarin

Because Maglor has given all his children a father name (be they his real children or not) she got one as well

It's Tintanárë (Sparkling Fire)

She's very close with Aracundo especially during the latter half of the second Age and the early Third Age

Her favourite people in Middle Earth are dwarves. She gets along well with them and even learns some Khuzdul from Narvi because she can't just reveal the secret

She is very strong at Oswanë and uses is constantly to communicate

Elrond has a lot of headaches because she directs her absurd thoughts at him to annoy him

Arrod is her sunshine and she would die for him

Not a very good warrior but she's doing her best

Aracundo

Second Born son of Curufin and Aiwë of the Teleri

Fathername: Artafinwë (Exalted Finwë)

He's my depressed disaster gay

Tall boy™ (maybe even taller than Maedhros?)

Born: 464 F.A (same year as Turin because reasons) in Nargothrond

He doesn't remember his dad because his parents parted ways after the Lúthien incident

He grows up in Cirdans care because that's where his mom took him

His best friend growing up was Ereinion even though the other is several years older than him

He doesn't have a lot of temperament and is more like his mother, calm and sensitive

Fights in the War of Wrath as Ereinion's second in command but is more known for his strategies and not for his actions on the battlefield

He and Ereinion get married early into the Second Age (yes he's Gil-Galad's husband and they love each other very much fight me)

He goes absolutely berserk once he sees his brother used as a banner of Sauron's forces after Eregion falls and probably takes down half their army by himself

People who knew Maedhros had a very very vivid flashback that day

When his mother sails not long after he remains in Middle Earth to fight Sauron

He gets much more quiet and reserved after losing his brother, mother and nephew in one go

He is very much pro Last Alliance and openly supports Elendil but mostly because he wants to avenge Celebrimbor's death

Uh… you know who dies during that battle? Ereinion and Aracundo blames himself for it

He stops speaking and becomes a shadow of himself afterwards

Refuses both the crown and Vilya

Lives with Cirdan for some time but moves to Rivendell after Celebrían sails to support Elrond

Has no big part in the second ring war

He sails alongside Cirdan and Celeborn

His life gets from good to worse to tragic to suffering

But he gets reunited with Ereinion in Valinor so it's not a total tragedy

Nelladon

Maglor's and Cellin's first biological child

Born: 1700 S.A

Died: 2770 T.A.

Has Nerdanel's signature red hair but otherwise full on takes after his mother's side of the family

His fathername is Russanáro (copper fire)

Aso has the epithets Copperhead from the dwarves, Pityatinto (Little Sparkle) from his grandfather and Tyalmahto (Toymaker) from the Numenorians

Self sacrificing idiot (we'll get to that later)

His passion is toymaking but also woodworking but he's also a great singer and loves storytelling

For every new baby family member he makes an abundance of toys and when all of them grow up he travels the world to make toys for the children of other families

The only members of his own family to never receive a toy from him are his younger brother Belegur, as well as his cousins on his mother's side of the family (all of them are born after his death)

A very good boy, only wants to make the people happy

He finds Aenion again with the dwarves of Erebor after they establish their kingdom there

Tries to talk him into visiting their family but stays unsuccessful until his death

Speaking of his death and self sacrificing

He dies during Smaugs attack on Erebor while he tries to make time for Thrain and Thror to escape. He faces Smaug in the throne room with nothing more than a iron shield on him

And burns

He fully knew he was going to die but he did it for his friends

Probably aroace

Also the first member of the House of Fëanor to get re-embodied

Gilrin

Maglor's and Cellin's only biological daughter and Fëanor's only biological granddaughter

Born: 20 T.A.

Like Celegorm she takes after Miriel in terms of appearance but inherited her grandfather Tinwës blonde hair

Not the tallest but still like half an inch taller than Fëanor and Curufin

Has a lot of artistic talent and can paint life like images

She painted the wall painting of Isildur cutting of Sauron's finger only with a very bad sketch from Glorfindel and a mental image provided by Galadriel as a reference

Basically always happy and smiling

Hates it when she has one-sided conversations, feels like she's intruding somehow

Celebrían is her big idol and she was devastated when she got hurt and had to sail

Was even more devastated after Nelladons death and isolated herself for a while

Starts traveling with Gildor and his group from that point on to get some distraction and is among the elves who meet Frodo, Pippin and Sam in the Shire

Will not sail until her parents do

Does her best to support Aragorn as the new king of Gondor because she feels like that's what's she owes to Elrond and partially also Elros even though she never met him

The most Avarian out of her siblings

Belegur

Finwë 2.0

Seriously the boy looks like Finwë as much as Arwen looks like Lúthien

People find it quite disturbing (People are Maglor, Glorfindel and Cirdan)

Fathername: Cuináro (living fire)

Born: either 3019 T.A. or somewhere between 10 and 50 Fourth Age

Youngest member of the House of Fëanor even younger than his youngest nephew

Elladan, Elrohir, Arwen and Arrod call him little uncle and he hates it (he loves it but pretends he hates it)

Spends most of his childhood in Gondor because his parents moved the like almost immediately to be with Aragorn and Arwen

Has a deeper connection to men than all of his other siblings (aside from Elros for obvious reasons)

He feels weird when he sees his best friends from childhood grow up, get children and then see those grow up and have children of their own all while he himself is still a child/teenager/going adult

When Elfwinë's son Éomund II. who he was closest with dies, Belegur is devastated

His relationship with mortality becomes rather complicated afterwards

Dedicated scholar and historian

Also only sails when his parents will

Has a very easy time befriending people

Probably the best warrior out of his biological siblings just because Gilrin hates fighting and Nelladon just doesn't care about weapons

In possession of the one Feanorian Braincell might as well have inherited it from his mother)

Aenion

Celebrimbor's son

Born somewhere between 1620 and 1680 S.A

I have no idea who his mother is, any suggestions?

Thought about making him the love child of Tyelpë and Annatar but this feels kinda weird but also hilarious

Looks like Curufin acts like Caranthir

Cantëacurufinwë™ (blame the fact that Tyelpë is called Nelyacurufinwë)

Aenion probably isn't his real mothername but he calls that himself and everyone just does the same

Grumpy cat™

Raised by dwarves after Eregion fell and stayed with Durin's line until the Sacking of Erebor (Thrain brought him to Rivendell)

Speaks almost no Sindarin but is fluent at Westron and Khuzdul

Has no interest in learning Quenya

Creative use of swear words

A Smith like almost everyone else in his father's line

If he is Sauron's child, he has very much cat eyes and you can't convince me otherwise, also the Ring would probably love him

He goes back to Erebor after the dwarves retake it and helps them rebuild it

Feels very guilty for Nelladons death because he couldn't convince him to flee with him

Can't look Cellin or Maglor in the eye because of this

Fights during the War of the Ring alongside the Dwarves of Erebor

Sails with Gimli and Legolas

Arrod

Son of Gilloth and Erestor

Born sometime after his parents wedding

Takes more after his father in terms of appearance but has been influenced a lot by Glorfindel growing up

A total goof

One of the elves who 'greet' Thorin and company when they arrive in Rivendell

Gets into unnecessary fights very often

Very protective

Loves Estel to death and is very sad when Aragorn grows up and doesn't want to be carried around piggyback style anymore

Does it anyways

Idk I have not thought about him a lot

Here and here are Picrews that visualise them :) || Tolkien OC Overview here

[ambarto]

Finwean Ladies Week Day Two: Lalwen

Headcanons again today, and this time I’d like to talk about my headcanons for Lalwen, which I think I have mentioned a little in the past but what better occasion than @finweanladiesweek to ramble about all my thoughts. I can tell you Lalwen is definitely one of my favorite characters to think about.

Lalwen was what we could call a biologist. She was fascinated with animals, and in particular with all the kinds of bugs, spiders, and various little creatures that crawl on the ground. She liked other animals too, although still of the small kind, and usually animals most people don’t overly like (think lizards, snakes, that kind of stuff). She maintained that those small and often unseen parts of the ecosystem were much more fascinating than the macroscopic world of large mammals and birds. She described many species, and while animals were her favorite field of study, she was also the first in Valinor to posit that mushrooms were not plants, which was a rather controversial statement at the time.

Out of all her siblings, she was the one who got along the best with Feanor. She was quick to brush off any unkind words he might say, and had a sharp enough tongue to put him back in his place. She actually rather enjoyed talking with him, as he was also a scholar, and could keep up with her discussions of the efficiency of spiderwebs even if it wasn’t really his field of study.

Regarding her other siblings, Lalwen’s favorite was Fingolfin. They argued a lot, but it was usually the kind of sibling spats that got forgotten quickly. He was always the most willing to engage with Lalwen’s interests, and to go with her on rides exploring Valinor. Findis and Finarfin, on the other hand, both had a fairly different temperament than Lalwen, and different interests too. While all four siblings loved each other, usually Findis and Finarfin stuck in one corner talking about one thing, while Fingolfin and Lalwen sat in another talking about something else.

Despite being a Princess, Lalwen’s presence in the politics of Valinor was almost non-existent. She learnt early on that all the occurrences of court didn’t interest her, and if she could avoid being present at any given occasion she did. Findis used to scold her sister much for this, calling her irresponsible, as she thought as members of the royal house it was their duty to engage with politics. Fingolfin, on the other hand, usually enabled his younger sister, thinking that there was no need for her to be as involved as the rest of their family.

Lalwen was always, and especially in her youth, a very restless spirit. Already as a child she was the kind of kid who was always outside and running around, and would hate having to be in the house for an entire day. Growing, she became that sort of girl who her parents almost never saw, so much she spent with her friends, and partying, and going on trips. And since she was old enough to travel on her own, she would so often take her horse and leave Tirion for days or weeks, or sometimes months too, to explore all there was to see in Valinor. It was because of this restlessness that she followed Fingolfin out of Valinor - the idea of an entire other continent she had never seen before was too big a temptation for her to stay behind, no matter how much her mother begged.

In Beleriand, she never had a land to rule over, because she never had any interest in ruling. Not only the various details and politics involved were things she had no interest into, but governing would also mean that she’d have to spend most of her time still in one place. For the most part, she made herself a home in Fingolfin’s lands, but would often travel around. It actually made her brother worry himself sick, as Lalwen had the tendency of leaving whenever and without sending letters or word of where she was, until six months later she would write him saying that she was staying in Himring for a while and also did Fingolfin know about this cool worm she had found?

She survived the Dagor Bragollach, but not easily. She was wounded on the field, and was carried out unconscious as Fingolfin’s forces retreated. She lost her hearing in one ear, and one of her legs was wounded in a way that left her with a heavy limp. The impaired mobility in particular wasn’t easy for her to deal with, as it made traveling so much harder. Not that she had much wish to entertain herself, not right after her brother had been killed. She remained in Fingon’s lands until the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, at which point she instead moved to the Falas with Cirdan, and later followed him to Balar. While she couldn’t fight on a battlefield, she had developed a great knowledge of poisons thanks to her studies on various venomous animals, and she helped develop cures for many of the poisons Morgoth used in his weapons.

After the War of Wrath, Lalwen decided she wouldn’t stay in Lindon under Gil-Galad. Part of the reason was that by then she had seen so many of her loved ones die that it brought her genuine pain to be around Gil-Galad and remember that he was almost all the family she had left, let alone have people call her ‘Princess’, as if the title meant anything by then. There was a loneliness in Lindon that could only be cured by being more alone, or at least, not with people who would constantly remind her of everything she had lost. But also, Lalwen’s desire to explore had never really stopped, and by then she had learnt how to deal with her disability, so she took a horse, and left.

Eventually, after much traveling, she realized that she was turning into an old lady, as Men said. She had traveled through all of Middle Earth, much of Harad, and had even decided to go look if she could Cuivienen a couple times, and she was growing tired of always being moving around. When she was a girl, that would have been the ideal, but after many thousands of years Lalwen found herself wishing to find a place to settle in. Not to mean that she would never travel again, just that she would have liked to have a nice house to go back to and rest, and know that there were people she knew waiting for her there. That being said, she also still wanted nothing to do with politics, not to mention that everyone else seemed to be handling things well, and she didn’t feel the need to upset any political balance with her reappearance. In the end, she decided to settle in Greenwood at some point during the Third Age. She did come clear to Thranduil about who she was, and he allowed her to stay so long as she did not cause trouble, which was alright by her. Other than him, very few people knew or suspected who the eccentric Noldo with a cane and a lot of opinions about taxonomical classifications was.

Lalwen had had through her life many romantic stories and affairs, and definitely more than many would deem appropriate for a Princess. With some Elven ladies, occasionally she’d fell in the bed of a mortal, and maybe once or twice in that of a Dwarf. The longer she lived the more she found old Valinorean ideas on marriage and courtship and so on rather stuffy. That being said, she had never really ruled out a wedding altogether, and the day she realized a Silvan hunter of Greenwood was starting to mean a lot to her, she decided maybe she was old enough to leave her amorous adventures behind and get herself a wife. Fortunately, her lady didn’t mind finding out that Lalwen was a mostly forgotten Noldor Princess, and Lalwen’s proposal was accepted with enthusiasm.

Eventually, Lalwen sailed back to the West with the Last Ship, together with Cirdan and Celeborn. She had seen as much of Middle Earth as there was to see, and while she did love the land, she had long since started thinking back about her homeland. Her wife, while not Eldar, had also started to get weary of a land that was more and more mortal and less and less suited for Elves, and decided that like many others of her people she also would have liked to follow the gulls.

Now, Findis, firstborn of Finwe and Indis, Princess of the Noldor, sister to the High King Arafinwe, known poet and debater, was as a general rule against violence, but when she saw her sister hop off a ship after six thousands years of no contact with a wife and apparently uncaring of having basically disappeared, her fist might have just happened to collide with Lalwen’s nose.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

The Silmarillion as a TV/Netflix Show (Part 2)

Part 1 is here.

When I discussed this in my last post I thought everything from Maedhros’ abdication to the Dagor Bragollach could fit into one season, because there weren’t a lot of huge events and if you broke it in two there wasn’t a good moment for a climactic season finale on the same level as the Bragollach or the Nirnaeth. Taking a more detailed look at things, that was a ridiculous idea. You could easily get at least 2 seasons out of this, meaning the series as a whole extends to 6 seasons rather than 5.

The events we have are:

- The Noldor begin to scout through Beleriand and make contact with others there. Angrod acts as an emissary to Thingol; Caranthir quarrels with him. Feel free to expand the argument to inclide other points of conflict from other family members, such as Elenwë’s death on the Helcaraxë and various Fëanorians (I recommend Celegorm and Curufin, to lay groundwork for later events in Nargothrond) being less than happy about the abdication. Maedhros, recognizing that his brothers are going be trouble, moves the whole family to East Beleriand (which is also the least defensible part of the frontier surrounding Angband). These events can take up the first 2 episodes and establish early on that, even though the Fëanorians no longer running things, they’re still a source of potential trouble, though for the moment Maedhros has a handle on it. If viewers had hopes that everything was nicely resolved following the rescue from Thangorodrim and Maedhros’ abdication, they’re now disabused of that notion.

- 20 years later, Fingolfin hosts Mereth Aderthad, the Feast of Reuniting, as a celebration/council/treaty negotiation between different groups of Noldor and Sindar (the Sindar include Laiquendi from Ossiriand, Círdan and his people from the coasts, and very, very limited participation from Doriath). This can be episode 3. (The timelines can be treated fairly loosely - keep the sequence of events, but don’t go out of your way to emphasize the amount of time between different events.)

- 30 years after that, Finrod and Turgon go on a backpacking trip, have strange dreams courtesy of Ulmo, and begin planning secret strongholds. Finrod asks Thingol for advice, gets help from the dwarves, and begins construction (or rather, excavation) of Nargothrond. Ulmo shows the future location of Gondolin to Turgon and Turgon begins city planning. Episode 4. (Oh, and we’re definitely going to want a GOT-style geographical intro sequence now that the number of locations is increasing.)

- At various times during these early years, a variety of alliances and meetings happen. 1) Caranthir and the dwarves become acquainted and become, if not friends, solid business partners. 2) Galadriel takes up residence in Doriath and she and Celeborn fall in love. 3) Finrod visits the Laiquendi of Ossiriand and becomes friends with them. 4) Finrod also becomes friends with Círdan. These events can happen at various points throughout episodes 5 through 8, along with plenty of the scenes of the building of Nargothrond, Gondolin, and the front-line fortifications in Hithlum and at Himring and Aglon. Add some small skirmishes with orcs to keep things interesting. Add suplots to episodes for characters who don’t get attention in the Silm during this period, like Aredhel. And during the events taking place in Doriath, introduce and characterize Lúthien and develop her relationships with Galadriel, Finrod, etc. The First Battle (of the Sindar against the orcs) can be described and shown in flashback at some point to emphasize to the Noldor that this war was already being fought before they showed up.

- About 10 years after the backpacking trip, Morgoth attempts to attack the Noldor with a massive army of orcs and gets his ass thoroughly kicked. The Noldor name this Dagor Aglareb, the Glorious Battle. After this, there are no major battles for the next 400 years. Still too early for a season break - there aren’t enough dramatic/conflict-based events before this to fill an entire season. Good place for a strong mid-season episode, maybe episode 6 or 7.

- Galadriel tells Melian about the Silmarils, the murder of Finwë, and that the Noldor returned to Beleriand against the will of the Valar, but does not tell her about the Oath, the Kinslaying, or the burning of the ships.

- Via rumours spread from Angband, Círdan hears about the Kinslaying, and Thingol hears from Círdan about the rumours and confronts Finrod and his brothers (who are visiting) about it. Angrod, unhappy about now having been yelled at by both sides of this fight, tells Thingol everything. Thingol sends Finrod and his brothers away (temporarily) and bans Quenya.

- Nargothrond and Gondolin are completed and become the home bases of Finrod and Turgon.

This is a good place for your season break, with the reveal of the Kinslaying and the deteriorated relations between Noldor and Sindar being your end-season conflict (in Episode 9, after the manner of Game of Thrones), and the final establishment of Nagothrond and Gondolin occurring in Episode 10. Episode 10 can also include the Fëanorians’ reactions to Angrod revealing the Kinslaying and to Thingol’s ban on Quenya; these are not described in the Silmarillion, but we can be sure they weren’t pleased.

That gives you a strong set of themes running through the season. First, Noldor-Sindar relations and their deterioration, bookended by Angrod’s first diplomatic mission to Thingol in the first episode (and resultant argument with Caranthir) and his reveal of the Kinslaying at the season’s end. Secondly, the negative repercussions of the Fëanorians’ current attitudes and past actions, bookended by those same events. Thirdly, the establishment of Nargothrond and Gondolin, with Ulmo’s warnings adding an ominous note for the future. At the same time, some major high points, both in terms of the Dagor Aglareb and in terms of Nargothrond and Gondolin being absolutely stunning (let the SFX people go all-out). The general tone should be that the Elves are doing very well against Morgoth, but not so well against their own internal conflicts.

Given the size of the cast, Season 2 is also a good time to ensure that everyone is more fully introduced and characterized. The Finarfinians have plenty to do and lots of opportunities for showing their personalities, given the centrality of relations with Doriath to the season’s themes. This is good because the previous season’s coverage of the Unrest of the Noldor would have focused more heavily on the Fëanorians and Fingolfinians. Finrod in particular has a large role - even before the arrival of Men, it’s pretty clear that he is the linchpin of Beleriand diplomacy: he’s the only one on close terms with all the major non-Noldor players: Círdan’s people, the Laiquendi, Doriath, and the dwarves. On that last note, the construction of Nargothrond and the establishment of relations between the Fëanorians and the dwarves are good points to introduce some dwarven characters and viewpoints; you’ll want them later.

Next season: Glaurung, the arrival of Men, Aredhel and Eöl, and the Battle of Sudden Flame.

[russingon]

“MIGHTY AMONG THE PRINCES OF THE NOLDOR”:  REDEEMING MAEGLIN LOMION

the more i contemplate it, the more i feel that maeglin is actually as much a victim as anyone is in the silmarillion and that, in the tragedy of gondolin’s fall, he was the chosen scapegoat. despite the title, this isn’t an essay, but i’ve compiled information on this topic below the cut for me and anyone else interested in this argument. what exactly the canon tells us and what, i think, can be easily extrapolated from it. here’s a very, very long sort of master-post to put it all down in one place!

(note: this is based only upon the contents of the published silmarillion and not the fall of gondolin)

(tw: inexplicit discussions of eöl’s canon mistreatment of his wife and son, the sketchy nature of aredhel and eöl’s marriage, inexplicit mention of canon torture)

WHAT DOES CANON SAY ABOUT MAEGLIN? THINGS TO CONSIDER:

1. maeglin was mistreated by his father long before arriving in gondolin. as is the habit of the silmarillion, we often only see small scenes and the rest is left implied, but there’s enough in the canonical text to tell us this. i don’t think it’s a stretch to say he’s an abuser. when maeglin dreams of leaving his father’s home and finding a way to gondolin and to see the sons of fëanor, the following unfolds:

 “but when he [maeglin] declared his purpose to eöl, his father was wrathful. ‘you are of the house of eöl, maeglin, my son,’ he said ‘and not of the golodhrim. all this land is the land of the teleri, and i will not deal nor have my son deal with the slayers of our kin, the invaders and usurpers of our homes. in this you shall obey me, or i will set you in bonds’”

here eöl not only says pretty awful things about half of maeglin’s heritage, which, while anti-noldor sentiment might be understandable because of the kinslaying, are cruel to a half-noldo boy, but also threatens physical harm against his son. maeglin, to be clear, is at the oldest possible maybe seventy or eighty when this happens but likely younger. elves come of age between fifty and one hundred, so maeglin is canonically a boy or barely of age when this happens. this is the most direct instance of eöl’s ill treatment of him, but there are some other details of interest. maeglin’s response to the above is not to argue, but simply to grow silent and mistrust his father. aredhel (and thus presumably maeglin) “at eöl’s command must shun the sunlight” which speaks to a kind of commanding rule over them, that they are not allowed to go outside during the day. eöl gives his son no name until he is twelve years old and maeglin, quote, “loved his mother better”.

2. then comes the actual flight to gondolin. maeglin and aredhel are fleeing, largely to get away from eöl. they leave while they think he is away, they give only half true directions about where they’re going to servants (they say they’re seeking out celegorm and curufin, when they really seek gondolin). the text actually says that while eöl was gone maeglin and aredhel were “free for a while to go where they wished” further implying eöl’s autocratic rule over them. maeglin actually says to aredhel:

 “what hope is there in this wood for you or for me? here we are held in bondage”

when aredhel discovers eöl has followed them to gondolin she says: 

“alas! eöl has followed us, even as I feared”

thus further showing that maeglin and his mother are trying to get away from eöl specifically and not just seeking out gondolin on a whim. then, of course, eöl chooses to die in gondolin and to kill maeglin and calls him “what is mine” like a possession. as we know, he kills aredhel instead as she leaps to save her son. maeglin then watches as his father is executed for the crime. eöl curses his son as he falls, all but calling him a bastard (“ill-gotten son”) and telling him all his hopes will fail and he’ll die. maeglin has just seen his mother murdered by his father in front of him and his father then executed, cursing him all the way.

3. maeglin is so young. maeglin is just eighty years old at this point. again, he is barely of age. he is a child compared to any other elves present. in fact, it is important to remember that even at the fall of gondolin, maeglin is just 190. that is incredibly young compared to pretty much any elf even mentioned save the peredhil, whom we’re lead to believe come to maturity faster than standard elves.

4. there isn’t reason to believe maeglin behaves badly to idril in his youth. as it is described in the silmarillion, we’re led to imagine maeglin as this jealous watcher who violently covets idril, but as far as the silmarillion is concerned we don’t know that he ever actually does much of anything, other than bear the fact he has an unrequited love for her in silence, knowing that idril doesn’t feel that way. it’s also important to remember that even in the last years of maeglin’s life, idril is at the very least twice his age but potentially more. i cannot stress enough that maeglin is all but a boy. up until he is taken into angband, there is nothing to suggest maeglin is an aggressor. 

5. maeglin is a great and noble lord, especially for one so young: 

“but maeglin prospered and grew great among the gondolindrim, praised by all, and high in the favor of turgon; ... wise in counsel was maeglin and wary, yet hardy and valiant at need. and that was seen in after days: for when in the dread year of the nirnaeth arnoediad turgon opened his leaguer and marched forth to the help of fingon in the north, maeglin would not remain in gondolin as regent of the king, but went to war and fought beside turgon, and proved fell and fearless in battle ... maeglin, who had risen to be mighty among the princes of the noldor, and greatest save one in the most renowned of their realms.”

6. he is supposedly turned to morgoth’s side while in angband. maeglin was taken as a captive to angband, where “the torment wherewith he was threatened cowed his spirit” (do with that what you will) and he gives up gondolin’s location in exchange for being king of gondolin and having idril, supposedly. i question this, which will be discussed further down the post. we know the rest where canon is concerned, folks. maeglin returns, doesn’t warn people that gondolin is doomed, “lays hands upon” idril and eärendil during the fall and is killed by tuor.

SPECULATION/HEADCANON TO CONSIDER:

a number of aspects of this canon narrative don’t quite add up.

1. as shown above, maeglin, when given the opportunity to be regent of gondolin turns it down to fight by turgon’s side. that’s strange coming from a man who supposedly sells out to be leader of gondolin. furthermore,  the whole deal with morgoth doesn’t seem to make sense. morgoth promises maeglin the possession of idril, but, given his background, maeglin would know that’s never going to work. morgoth also promises maeglin “lordship of gondolin as his vassal”. beyond the fact that it doesn’t seem maeglin would actually want that, what would maeglin actually be lord of? in order for the city to be taken it would have to fall and likely be utterly destroyed and it’s warriors slaughtered. even if somehow some elves lived to be lorded over by maeglin as morgoth’s vassal in a ruined gondolin, they would hate him. maeglin is called wise in the text, he would know all this. why would maeglin, who lost everything to be free of the darkness in nan elmoth, willingly choose to rule over a land that would be swathed in morgoth’s darkness?

2. as i said, maeglin, above almost all other elves on arda, would know that a marriage in which the elleth was “not wholly willing” or “stolen” as was said of his mother could never be right. he lived with his mother and father and saw what that did and risked everything to escape. it doesn’t, in my eyes, make sense that he would seek to have that, even if we take for canon that he has this languishing desire and love for idril. given that so little is said of him actually falling in love with her or doing anything, just that he does love her, i think it’s even possible to call this doomed love ever having existed at all into question if the headcanoner or writer likes, but that’s just me.

3. the idea that, as the text says, as soon as eöl falls idril instantly knows maeglin is bad news and that fate wills what happens to him and idril always mistrusts him just doesn’t track given that turgon loves and trusts maeglin!!! why, unless he’s just an awful father, would turgon so love and trust maeglin if his beloved daughter was uncomfortable with him and disliked him or really felt he was a creep? it also doesn’t make sense to me that, even if maeglin was in a one-sided love with idril and she knew about it, she would hate him for it as the silmarillion says. elves, from both the laws and customs among the eldar and the silmarillion, love truly and don’t get to choose who they love, even if it’s someone forbidden to them (read: beren and luthien). as long as maeglin isn’t bothering her, which there’s no reason to suggest that he is given that it’s never mentioned and turgon has no issue with maeglin, it would be rather cruel of idril to hold it against him and we have no reason to think anything ill of her. also, if, as the silmarillion says, idril instantly mistrusts maeglin after seeing him watch his abusive father die, that seems uncharacteristically unkind of her and, again, there’s no reason to think anything bad of idril. 

4. i think it is important to remember about maeglin’s character that because of the way eöl talks about the noldor, both to maeglin and to turgon, we know he not only hated the noldor, but hated the idea that maeglin would be in any way like them or one of them. however, there’s enough to suggest the noldor don’t like that maeglin is eöl’s son either and not just because he killed aredhel. there’s, of course, the feud between the noldor and the sindar with ill on both sides, but i mean eöl specifically. we know that other marriages between noldor and sindar happen without much issue, so it’s not that eöl is a sinda. no, i think it is because of the, to say the least, dubious nature of eöl and aredhel’s marriage. they are considered married, both because of the laws and customs of the eldar and because aredhel declares them so, albeit reluctantly. however, eöl canonically trapped aredhel and there is no way, because no one heard from aredhel for many years after she went missing in nan elmoth, that any noldorin customs about marriage could possibly have been observed save the, um, wedding itself. curufin goes so far as to say that aredhel was “stolen”. not that the sons of fëanor have any great love for the sindar, anyway, but curufin, who, along with celegorm and his other brothers, was a close friends of aredhel’s in ancient days, hates eöl rather violently and quite personally. this, to me, further implies a potentially dubious marriage. now, there is of course the classic line that aredhel was “not wholly unwilling” but that implies she isn’t wholly willing either. as a result of all this, i think it quite possible that the noldor of gondolin see maeglin as almost an illegitimate child. eöl himself calls him an “ill-gotten son”. if this is true, maeglin is caught in an impossible situation. his sindarin father hated that he was noldorin in a way, the noldor see him as all but a bastard and, from the way the silmarillion talks about him, don’t like how sindarin he is. this is an impossible position.

5. supposedly, maeglin is only threatened by morgoth before he breaks but the way it’s phrased “maeglin was no weakling nor craven, but the torment wherewith he was threatened...” implies that whatever was threatened against him was something truly awful. it’s really no far stretch to suggest maeglin was, indeed, tortured. you can even read that line that way. knowing what we know about every other major character who ends up in angband (maedhros, gwindor, húrin, etc.) it’s not far-fetched, either. in fact, it seems almost more unlikely that maeglin walks out unscathed. consider: if maedhros fëanorian, thousands of years old and one of the most powerful of all the noldor, could be made to beg for death at morgoth’s tortures, i don't think there’s any real limit to what a 180 something year old maeglin could be made to do or promise. maeglin had, by that point, survived the nirnaeth and his childhood and everything else, he is not weak. and to break under morgoth’s torture would not make him weak.

6.  maeglin being somehow unable to tell anyone what’s coming in gondolin, but forced to watch it happen, would actually be very in line with what happens to húrin, who was also kept captive in angband because he wouldn’t reveal gondolin’s location. he’s forced to watch, powerless, as his children’s doom unfolds. maeglin, made to return and watch gondolin fall, would parallel it directly. that idril senses all is not well with maeglin when he returns is potentially evidence to this possibility.

7. the way that the silmarillion talks about maeglin, like his fate is an inevitability of his birth, like he’s the singular traitor to blame, that it was just and that everyone knew he was bad right from the start sounds exactly like something a heartbroken people looking for someone to blame would say. the general tone of “we never liked him!” is too convenient a line. it’s too convenient for them that they have reason to think maeglin is somehow partially an outsider and that, because his father mistreated his mother, he was just bound to turn out that way. it doesn’t acknowledge anything else we know about him. 

in short, i don’t know what happened to maeglin, exactly, but i think there’s fair evidence it didn’t go down as the silmarillion tells it.

[arofili]

tfog commentary #6

“Tidings Turgon heard of Thorondor concerning the slaying of Dior, Thingol’s heir, and thereafter he shut his ear to word of the woes without; and he vowed to march never at the side of any son of Fëanor, and his folk he forbade ever to pass the leaguer of the hills.

Gondolin now alone remained of all the strongholds of the elves. Morgoth forgot not Turgon, and knew that without knowledge of that king his triumph could not be achieved; yet his search unceasing was in vain. Nargothrond was void, Doriath desolate, the sons of Fëanor driven away to a wild woodland life in the South and East, Hithlum was filled with evil men, and Taur-nu-Fuin was a place of nameless dread: the race of Hador was at an end, and the house of Finrod; Beren came no more to war, and Huan was slain; and all the Elves and Men bowed to his will, or labored as slaves in the mines and smithies of Angband, save only the wild and wandering, and few there were of these save far in the East of once fair Beleriand. His triumph was near complete, and yet was not quite full.”

(The Fall of Gondolin, p. 133-4; “The Story Told in the Quenta Noldorinwa”)

This passage gave me several things to think about. First: Thorondor is basically Turgon’s only way of getting news in Gondolin. He tells Turgon about the fall of Doriath, specifically about the death of Dior. Did Turgon know about Thingol’s death? How often did Thorondor give him news? Did he learn about the fall of Nargothrond, which happened before the fall of Doriath? Did he learn about the death of Finrod even before that? – Well, I know he knows Finrod is dead, but did he know before the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, or did he have to find out from Fingon? Gosh I’m just. Very emo about Turgon and Finrod in general, so the idea that Turgon was hoping to see his buddy on his One Vacation From Gondolin and then finding out that not only did Nargothrond barely send any warriors but that Finrod is dead and Orodreth is now king... OOF. Worst family reunion ever!!

Second: The mentions of the Sons of Fëanor. First it says that Turgon utterly forsakes his cousins, which tbh seems pretty in character for him already. Like, I doubt he ever liked them much, but after they failed to save Aredhel (twice!) and then this...yeah, I don’t really blame him. He’s already cut himself off from the outside world pretty completely, but this utter rejection of even hearing news from outside Gondolin is still kind of shocking, and definitely a symptom of his growing pride.

2a: The Fëanorians are “driven away to a wild woodland life.” I was about to say that Celegorm would be okay with that, but then I remembered that C&C&C died at Doriath so...yikes. Especially in these early drafts, the Nirnaeth was so devastating that literally every elven stronghold except for Nargothrond, Doriath, and Gondolin (+Sirion, kind of) was destroyed, so I would think that the Fëanorians were already outlaws in the wild? I don’t think Mae could have stood to go back to Himring, and IIRC Maglor’s Gap was overrun... the twins/just Amras (depending on your fav version) were already sort of wanderers, and C&C&C lost their lands in Bragollach so...yeah. The image of the Fëanorians wandering aimlessly, unwelcome in any place be it inhabited by elves or enemies, is depressing but again, absolutely justified.

Third: “The race of Hador was at an end.” That was a pretty fucking short run my dudes. They were already the last of the Edain to arrive in Beleriand, and the lineage literally went Hador > Galdor > Húrin > Túrin. Yall did not last long!! Also, was the entire race decimated or just the ruling line? I honestly can’t remember, but I don’t think that when Aerin burned down the house of Brodda that all her people died...

Fourthly and Finally: Chrissy T talks about this in his notes accompanying this section, but it really is hard to overstate just how much Morgoth’s victory in the Nirnaeth ruined Beleriand in these early drafts. It wasn’t just a depressing and scant existence – he had COMPLETE control. There was no possibility of Túrin just chilling in Dor-lómin until Morwen was like “Yikes, this getting bad, off to Doriath with you” – idk how COH worked in these early drafts, but Tuor was literally a lonesome outlaw at about the same time who couldn’t trust anyone. Except for the hidden elf kingdoms, rapidly falling all around, Morgoth ruled EVERYTHING and enslaved EVERYONE, even the elves. Really puts Gwindor’s (& Voronwë’s, in some of these drafts) captivity in perspective, even when the outcome of the Nirnaeth was softened a bit in later revisions.

[doegred-main]

If you could possess one single object that appears in the Silm/hobbit/Lotr/HoME, which one would it be? Here I am torn: on one hand I’d love to have the Palantìr to comunicate with others and see ahead during travels. On the other hand: the Silmaril would be an awesome energy source and scientific conundrum. Probably I would “settle” for a Silmaril. There are a lot of things you can do with a black body, even though I fear I would not like the “moral radar” placed on it by Varda at all.

As a mortal man arriving in Beleriand during the first age, would you have trusted the Eldar? I would have been incredibly fascinated and probably I would have given an arm and a leg to learn their technology, still I would have been very wary of their cultural perspective. At least of the one of the “very good guys”. I would have guessed that all the Noldor and Northern Sindar, were serious about defeating Melkor, but even in the best case scenario I would have seen a lot of possible problems arising from the afterward of a victory. A well respected vassal is still a vassal, especially when it is substituting its culture for the one of a more powerful people that claims to have seen and know more than any of my people could ever experience in their lifetime. I would have probably advocated for lending help to the Noldor in the war against Morgoth, quite vehemently once seen the situation in Beleriand and the Amlach scheme, but beyond that I would have guessed that even a victory would have meant an uncertain future for my kind and kept rather wary of them all. 

You are on a long errand and eventually find yourself in Lothlorien. Before you leave, you are given to choose between Miruvor or lambas bread. Which one do you take with you? Miruvoir, naturally! Even uncooked root vegetables taste better if you wash them out with great booze! 

Any opinion about the “petty-dwarves” and the way they were treated in Beleriand? The Petty Dwarves are a people that I feel a lot of sympathy for; they are the lowest of the low, the ones anyone feels entitled and justified to mistreat, thus I cannot help being rather fond of them despite their glaringly obvious flaws. I think that their position shows the ugly side of Khazad society. The dwarves are secretive and clannish, which leaves their exiled individuals (wether they are scapegoats or have definitely earned their punishment) without any help in the outside world, especially a feudal world like Beleriand. I think the history of the petty dwarves is very poignant because it is the story of the oppressed that aren’t “perfect” and “blameless”, it is the history of “guilty” people punished horribly and persecuted, left to be used by anyone as the convenient “victim”, to the point that the punishment itself ended up making them much worse than they were. Which only makes the petty dwarves more realistic and all the more worthy of a sympathy they will never be given in a world of moral absolutes like Tolkien’s. To feel for the “innocent lamb” is not praise-worthy, it is normal, what gives the measure of a person is how much they can see the injustice perpetrated on the ones who have committed their fair share of crimes. Sadly in Beleriand there is almost none that quite rises to this standard, except for (and even here: only up to a point) Tùrin.

What did you like the most the first time you read The Silmarillion? Wow.. it was so long ago! I was 15. I think the thing that I liked the most was the enormous scope of the story, the fact it was a history book of an inexistent world. I was positively overwhelmed by the multitude of people and histories, the glimpses of different cultures and their complexities. 

Do you think a Sauron-Smaug partnership could have been possible if the dragon hadn’t been destroyed? Any opinion about it? Possible? Yes, but depending on its goal and its scope. I do not doubt Sauron would have tried to make use of the dragon, after all Sauron is SMART, to the point that the only way he is beaten is by concocting a plan that relies on “providence” rather than tactics. Stiil, exactly because Sauron is smart, I do not think he would have honoured his agreement with the dragon to the bitter end if he had thought it too “limiting” of his own power; Sauron is not keen on loosing control. As for Smaug he would have undoubtedly seen the possible advantages in allying with Sauron, but he might also have seen the possible drawbacks thus he might not have thrown all of his lot with the Maia. I think an alliance could have been indeed possible, but its scope might have been limited, both because Smaug is an indolent slob, and because Sauron would not have liked to promise too much to the dragon knowing of its greed. Likely the dragon would have been “used” to completely vanquish the Khazad and people of Dale, but not much more. As a trump card Sauron already had the Witch King, who was of comparable power and completely under his control: a much safer bet.

Should we talk about the portrayal we get of Finrod in the debate with Andreth? Absolutely! Everything should be talked about XD. All jokes aside, I think that analysing his positions in the Antrabeth is paramount to understanding Finrod. I do not like them at all, but it is exactly because of them and a few other details that make his character definitely much more gray than the author probably intended, that I find Finrod interesting. To be completely frank I find the idea of ”St. Finrod the wandering hippie” absolutely boring and a disservice to a character that canonically has a side that doesn’t appear, in my opinion, as flatly cardboard-cut likeable or accepting of others as it might seem at first glance. Tolkien to me is all more fascinating and engaging because I do not share many his values on a fundamental level and seeing them exposed and argued for helped me grow as a person. I considered the position he presented, thought about it, and, no matter the conclusions I reached, I think my inner life was richer for it.

Can you share one headcanon about Celebrimbor and Narvi’s friendship? I ship them with the brightness of a thousand burning swan-ships. Despite really liking each other they are more often than not challenging each other’s abilities and theories. Even as they worked together they were adamant about having each their own lab and started their own private “underground war” by snaeking in each other’s work space and leaving “corrections” on each other’s notes. Which quickly escalated in the forged being used to craft new and better locks to protect their doors. The fight ended when Narvi found Tyelpe knelling on the floor in front of his new lock, desperately trying to pick it. Sadly his triumph was short-lived as he realised that even his own key was NOT getting the door open. Two hours passed like that: with Tyelpe insisting that his colleague had just made a lock impossible to open, and Narvi replying that Tyelpe had just “messed it up with his butcher-like attempts at finesse”, until they both capitulated and ended up getting roaring drunk together and taking turns axing down the door with Narvi’s ceremonial weapon after a solemn promise of never invading each other’s work-space anymore. Narvi gifted Tyelpe with the lock they recovered from the splinters as a “sign of peace” and to “prove the elf that you are never too old to be wrong”. Years and years after Narvi’s death, in the time when Annatar was becoming more and more shady even in his own eyes,  Tyelpe was playing around with the lock out of sheer nervousness and ended up dropping it. The impact dislodged a tiny piece of metal that had broken from Tyelpe’s lock-pick, unbeknownst to the elf. The lock opened immediately. Narvi adopted his young, brightest, dwarven apprentice and Tyelpe was adamant about “getting to be dad n.2 know the kid and be involved in his life”

Any thought about the idea of Maedhros wearing the dragon-helm? Why giving it to Fingon if it had already been given to him? Isn’t it rude? Is it even a good gift-idea? Here I’m biased.. XD Let’s say I do not think it was rude, but a sign of both friendship and a reminder to the Western Noldor that Himring had very important allies that knew how to make fire-proof armours, which the westerners had not and sorely needed. Smarmy gift, not exactly rude...

According to you, in The Silmarillion, which action is the most meaningful(/heartbreaking) token of loyalty? Bòr’s children and their people fighting to the end by the side of the Fëanorians.

If you could be fluent in one single tongue of Arda, and be clueless about all other languages, which one would you choose? (pick the age you prefer) I am already very much bothered by the fact I only know three languages and a half rather than “all of them”... Knowing only one would probably drive me to insanity. Yet: fair is fair,  I have to answer. I would like to be a Noldorin Quenya speaker that got accidentally shut in the scientific section of Formenos’ library. Imagine all the books, project, technology, and ideas that could be found there!

tagged by @atariince (thank you so much! <3) 

My stupid questions:

What do you think of Hurin and Huor’s last stand? 

Thoughts on Maeglin going missing for so long and then being just allowed in  with no questions asked?

Considering the events that ended WWII, Tolkien’s words in his preface to LOTR, and his “scientists on the slippery slope”:  do you feel any sympathy for Saruman?

If you were an Hobbit of the Shire would you have voted for Sam as a major? Why?

If you could visit one and only one location in Beleriand which one would it be? Explain

How much do you think Gondolin’s nostalgia for Tirion influenced the depiction of the Exiles as eager for a chance to go back to Valinor?

If you could either be Galadriel or Elrond which one would you choose? Would Celebrian like that? 

What do you think would have happened if “the Noldor had won the day” in the Nirnaeth?

First thought of Thorondor as Maedhros and then Fingolfin bled all over his plumage. 

Your favourite Caranthir’s moment, can either be your head-canon or canon.

Would you like to have the Gaffer Gamgee as your father in law? Why? 

tagging: @feanoriel, @eldochflamma, @hwarang, , @morgholoth @gultgull and whoever is interested and has not been tagged yet! 

[violinclad]

can i ask who're your fave silm characters and why?

Of course you can! I love questions like this. And sorry I didn’t answer you yesterday when you asked, but being the procrastinator that I am, I had left many homework assignments to be done and didn’t want to half-ass my response. Anyway, here they are, roughly in order, but it’s a fluid structure and I might favour one over the other at different times. 

So, it’s probably very obvious, but Sauron is my absolute favourite character (his position on this list is the only one that never changes). He’s just such a compelling villain. Although Tolkien didn’t go terribly into detail about him, you can track his life throughout the ages of Arda and he’s always right in the middle of things (usually making them much worse). It’s notable that he was seduced by Melkor pretty much after the sides had all been decided, and it makes that conscious choice to fall into evil ways that much less redeemable, in my opinion. But then he does repent for a while, you know, before rising up like a shadow of Morgoth’s malice. I just never get tired of reading the various interpretations of him.

Then comes Fëanor. He was brilliant and talented and struck out his own path. Once he committed himself to an action, as ruinous as they may have ended, he never backed down. “Let those that cursed my name, curse me still, and whine their way back to the cages of the Valar. Let the ships burn!” That passage in the Silm where his father, Finwë, sat beside the body of his wife by the silver willows and called her by her names and he alone of the blessed realm was unhappy (this is all heavily paraphrased, so I hope the readers can forgive any inaccuracies) is one of my favourite quotes in the whole thing, it’s so beautiful and melancholy. The loss of his mother had such a lasting effect on how he viewed his family, and I certainly believe he loved them all (not so much on the half-siblings and step-mom) and the fact that his actions tore them apart makes it so much worse. And that oath, I mean, goddamn.

Next, I would choose Celebrimbor, the poor bastard. He tried so hard to overcome the doom of his family. He was one of the few Noldor, and of elves in general, to befriend the Dwarves, I still tear up when they come to the doors of Durin in The Fellowship. And yet, even with all of his efforts to avoid making the mistakes of his family, it just wasn’t enough. He was too trusting, and so he fell along with his city and everything else he loved. Eheu. Emotionally, I just can’t take it.

Though I love all the sons of Fëanor, the only one I’m going to talk about in full is Maedhros (but, collectively, they all sort of occupy this spot). He literally went to hell and back. And it didn’t break him, he reforged himself and became an even better swordsman, and positioned his fortress directly in the path of Melkor’s forces to hold them back from the rest of Beleriand. Then, as if this weren’t enough, he and Maglor are the only ones who survive long enough to fulfill their oath and after everything he’s been though, the silmarils reject him and burn his hand. And just the crushing disappointment and realization of this is what drove him to suicide, not anything that happened in the, I don’t know the exact length of time from leaving Valinor, roughly 600 shitty years of constant war. Not even the death of Fingon and the Nirnaeth did that. 

Túrin Neithan Gorthol Agarwaen son of Úmarth Adanedhel Thurin Mormegil Turamabar the Wildman of the Woods and the Bane of Glaurung comes next (yes, I had to look up all those names, you can’t reasonably expect someone to remember all of his nicknames when he gives himself a new one every other page). I called Celebrimbor a poor bastard, but this guy clearly beats out anyone in the silm I can think of for ill-fated. And he was the cause of the deaths of so many of his loved ones, cf. BELEG, and he had to live with that sorrow. All of his actions turned against him and he fell into outlawry. He’s another emotional rollercoaster.

Finally, I will name Maeglin to my list of faves. I can’t believe his dad didn’t give him a name for like ten years, who does that? Even if you hate him for the betrayal of Gondolin, he lived a really sad life. Perhaps his time in Nan Elmoth wasn’t too bad, but the moment he sets out on a new life, where he might be happier and meet more elves and know his mother’s kin, he loses both his parents and his father curses him with his dying breath and he’s suddenly alone in a large city with no support system. And this evil beginning begets an evil end, he dies on the very rocks where his father did, after betraying the city and being tortured by Morgoth himself. It fucking sucks. The scene during the fall where he is with Earendil and Idril, and Tuor confronts him has always played out in my mind very vividly, since I first read the passage. I wish Tolkien had written dialogue for that part, because I would dearly love to have a detailed account of the scene.

Anyway, these characters are my favourites, but here is a short list without explanations of other characters that I really liked, but just didn’t quite make the cut: Beleg, Fingon, Finrod,  Eonwe, Thingol, Aldarion, Morwen, Haleth, Orome, and Namo.

(Sorry it was so long)

[feanorianethicsdepartment]

the last of my thoughts on the homecoming au, the au where maedhros and maglor are taken back to tirion at the end of the war of wrath and proceed to be relentlessly abused by elves more interested in them being ‘normal’ than happy. it’s pretty much exactly as dark as you’d expect from that description, lots of medical/caretaker abuse towards the mentally ill, just a horrible situation in general. one last time, @sunflowersupremes wrote the original au this is an extrapolation from, and @outofangband listened to me blather on about this for ages and contributed lots of ideas of their own. part 1 is here, part 2 is here. this the last part, it isn’t quite as intense as part 2, but it’s a lot more hopeless. also there’s some off-screen torture

on the first post i made about this au, i got some comments to the effect of ‘oh this will only last until person x bails them out’

there were several suggestions - fingon, nerdanel, any of the ainur. it seems like there are a lot of people who’d want to get maedhros and maglor out of this nightmare

seems. these aren’t necessarily my usual interpretations of their characters, but for the purposes of this au i can easily imagine a finrod who already bore a grudge over the whole letting-their-younger-brothers-steal-his-kingdom incident and subsequently heard the version of the nirnaeth where the fëanorians left everyone else to die. he is the only other person in the palace who knew beleriand, and he loathes them so viciously he can barely stand to look at them. they’re lucky he doesn’t do worse

i can easily imagine a nerdanel who was already having trouble processing what her husband and sons did at alqualondë when eärendil and elwing told her every awful thing they’d done since in the span of half an hour. she smashed all their statues, burned all their gifts, and curled up sobbing in a ruined house, wondering why she was such a terrible mother her children grew into demons

and this isn’t long after that, that wound is still fresh. whatever vain hopes she held that the boys she loved were somewhere in there are shattered when she sees them, and they’re talking and laughing just like they did when they were young

like nothing had happened. like nothing had changed. like the monsters had always been waiting patiently for their chance to strike

(they just didn’t want her to see the things they’d become)

i can easily imagine a fingon who is blazingly furious with maedhros over the later kinslayings. he spends most of their only meeting railing at maedhros, and the apologia his caretakers offer up only makes him angrier

so does the fact that maedhros won’t defend himself, won’t even raise his voice. does none of this matter to him? did it ever?

(it does. but maedhros knows what will happen if he yells at his cousin, and he is just so exhausted)

fingon is eventually asked to leave. maedhros’ minders tell him that if he can’t keep his temper around their patient, they’re going to have to cut off contact until maedhros is in a better mental state. fingon snaps that that’s just fine by him, and storms off into the city, trying to hold back his tears

the ainur, now, the ainur would definitely drag them out of the palace and haul them up to the máhanaxar. finarfin’s managed to get as much out of eönwë

what would happen to them after that, eönwë refuses to say. finarfin suspects he doesn’t know, and none of the valar will until they’ve had a chance to actually, like, hold a trial

even so, it becomes pretty obvious to finarfin fairly early on that the noldor simply can’t give the brothers the help they need. it’s plain to see that they’re very unhappy and they’re recovering slowly if at all. whatever the valar decide to do with them, odds are good they’d end up in some permutation of elf afterlife therapy, with well-practiced carers and the family they’ve lost. for their sake, and the sake of the people around them, handing them over to the valar would clearly be the best option

except finarfin doesn’t. he keeps his nephews in his palace, where they break things and make messes and generally give their caretakers constant headaches. when asked why, he always talks about the soul-deep terror on maglor’s face when he asked him not to give them to the valar

he’s not lying about that. but he does have other motives

there’s lots of suppositions in finarfin’s reasoning. there’s every chance the valar would throw them into the deepest depths of mandos until the second music. there’s every chance maedhros would choose to disappear into the woods and never trouble court again

but if the valar do decide to send them to lórien with no limits on their movement, and if maedhros does still harbour nelyafinwë’s political ambitions...

the closest finarfin has gotten to admitting it, even to himself, is saying that the noldor have enough problems right now, they don’t need a succession crisis on top of everything else. sometimes he’ll joke about not wanting maedhros to set up another functionally autonomous military government out in the wilderness

but it’s hard to deny that a maedhros, free to act, with his head screwed on straight, could potentially be the single biggest threat to finarfin’s crown

not that he doesn’t want his nephews to get better! it’s heartrending to see the pain they’re in, he sincerely wants to see them happy

he’d just prefer them to be happy in a way that's... convenient

maedhros and maglor’s contact with the outside world is kept to a strict minimum and heavily monitored when it does happen. they’re only allowed to visit the public parts of the palace when their caretakers know exactly who’s going to be there and if they can be trusted to not make a fuss about the brothers’ presence

it’s all in the interest of keeping the peace, you understand. maedhros’ followers are difficult to handle at the best of times, if they somehow got it into their heads that the last of their lords were being held captive in the palace...

well, finarfin says over tea. maitimo can see the wisdom in not provoking a civil war, can he not?

(he will not bring death to the blessed realm again. not even if his last baby brother is rotting away to a shell, not even if he’s being smothered to death from the inside out. he will not, he must not)

(if he did, there would truly be nothing left but the monster)

and then, one day, maglor gets the chance to escape

his minders aren’t paying much attention to him, he’s been a lot quieter since they put the gag on him. he’s small and fast and good at sneaking around, by the time they notice he’s missing he’s already found a way out of the palace

he jumps out of a third-floor window, bites down the pain, and runs. he clears the grounds and disappears into the city

he makes for - he doesn’t know where. subconsciously, he navigates towards the craft guild districts, where his family’s staunchest supporters always were

except the city’s changed a lot since he was last loose in it, and before he knows it, he’s completely lost. he wanders the streets half in a daze, his raw nerves unused to the bustle and noise of it all. wherever he goes, people stop and start and turn away

finally someone calls him over. ‘hey, you want that collar off your neck?’

it’s a smith of some sort, he can tell that much. they’re smiling, welcomingly and without pity. he’s rushing over to them, nodding his head, before he can even think about

the trouble is, maglor doesn’t remember the faces of most of the people he saw in beleriand, but they all remember him

the trouble is, this smith was at sirion

back in the palace, who gets access to the brothers is very strictly controlled. which isn’t to say that nobody tries to hurt them; finrod tends to put the worst spin on things when he’s asked for advice, there’s all kinds of minor acts of sabotage, and they come across innocuous-seeming harmful objects more often than mere chance would seem to allow

but even their caretakers can tell that letting desperate revenge-seekers get near the brothers wouldn’t be particularly conducive to whatever recovery they’re hoping for. anyone who might randomly come across maedhros or maglor in a hallway is intensely vetted for ulterior motives, and while this process isn’t airtight it does filter out the most obviously malicious

and outside of that bubble, none of that applies. the smith does take maglor’s gag off, purely to hear him scream

soon enough, the palace guard tracks him down. they take him back to the palace, where he’s bandaged up and comforted and then, as a special treat, allowed to see his brother

(they’re kept apart more often than not these days. being around maglor makes maedhros agitated, being around maedhros makes maglor sullen. they’re just more cooperative when they’re alone)

maglor does the same thing he’s done every time he’s seen his brother for the past year, which is immediately bury his face in maedhros’ chest and shudder. it takes him a moment to remember he can speak now

‘we’re trapped’ he whispers. ‘we’re trapped’

because he was screaming for what felt like hours, and nobody came to help. as he was being carried back to the palace, he saw the scorn and the disgust in the passers-by’s eyes

there’s nobody who will shelter them outside the palace. there’s nowhere on this continent they can go

and that - that’s the end, in a way. maedhros remains stubborn and ill-tempered, never quite letting them forget he doesn’t want to be here and doesn’t like what they’re doing, but the fight goes out of him. he does what they tell him just as biddably as he did before they took his brother’s voice

maglor, surprisingly, takes a turn for the better. he starts acting cheerful again, doing everything that’s asked of him with a smile and a wink. he’s making excellent progress, his minders tell finarfin

(they don’t tell him what maglor looks like when the mask starts to crack)

finarfin is very pleased to hear that one of his nephews is finally starting to recover! it’s been a long, painful journey, but it looks like it’s all at long last working out

to celebrate, he decides to give maglor a gift he’s been holding onto for a while

he calls maglor into his office. the tension in his posture is a bit worrying, but his expression is all makalaurë, a casual, mildly disrespectful grin. he swans into the room, flounces into a chair, and asks what his uncle wants

finarfin praises him for all the progress he’s been making, and hands him a letter

it’s from elros

the first line is ‘how are you doing, you old bastard?’ it calls him a kinslayer six different ways in the first three paragraphs. it asks him how many people he’s stabbed since he got back. it closes off by wishing him some fun loud arguments with maedhros

finarfin was a little concerned maglor still not might be in the right emotional state for it, but the tightness bleeds out of his nephew’s frame as he reads. a couple of times he even bursts into snickering that sounds more genuine than any sound he makes in court

he finishes reading with a truly relaxed smile on his face. then he freezes, and looks up at finarfin

in a tiny, quiet voice, so unlike the way he talks nowadays, he asks, ‘may i write a reply?’

finarfin hates to take the wind out of his sails, but maglor deserves to know. ‘that letter is centuries old. i’ve been holding onto it until you were ready to read it.’ he shuts his eyes. ‘i’m afraid elros passed some time ago’

maglor’s head drops. the letter in his hands begins to shake. little whimpers escape his trembling body. finarfin walks over, places a hand on his shoulder. ‘i’m sorry, we -’

that’s not whimpering, finarfin realises. those are growls. his nephew’s head snaps up, face twisted with rage

maglor tries to tear finarfin’s face off -

and that’s all i have. these headcanons have been exhausting to write, i’ll clean them up and put them on ao3 in a bit, but not now, if for no other reason than it’s 3am. again. i hope these weren’t too incoherent. going to try to unbanjax my sleep schedule now

[warrioreowynofrohan]

The Silmarillion as a TV/Netflix Show (Part 5)

Season 5 centres on Túrin, Tuor, and Dior - and, later, Elwing and Eärendil. The last two seasons have looked hopeful for a while but ended on tragic notes (the Bragollach and the Nirnaeth); this season is going to flip things by being almost unremittingly tragic but ending on a hopeful note.

There are a few key things to do here:

1) Draw out parallels and common threads between our main characters. At first I wanted to shift the timeline a little and have key events in Túrin and Tuor’s lives happening at the same time: Túrin as outlaw, Tuor as thrall and then outlaw; Túrin in Nargothrond, Tuor in Gondolin; Túrin and Finduilas, Tuor and Idril. But it felt like there were too many big events happening simultaneously, and it was hard to fit them all in. Still, the parallels between the cousins are present.

Dior needs more characterization in order to be able to hold his own, narratively speaking; we have very little on him in canon.

2) The Fëanorians will be very important in the last few episodes of the season, so they need to be worked into the storyline of at least some of the earlier episodes to keep them in view. I’m going to go with them being based on Amon Ereb for this period; it fits some of Tolkien’s versions, and having them in Ossiriand at the same time as Beren and Lúthien and Dior would feel like a massive Chekhov’s Gun that is never fired.

So, with that in mind:

Episode 1: Túrin is going to take centre stage here, with the episode covering everything from his departure from Hithlum up to the death of Saeros and Túrin’s departure from Doriath. (And the episode will start with the Words of Húrin and Morgoth.) There will also be a few scenes from Tuor’s and Dior’s childhoods, which were comparatively more stable. Since Beren and Lúthien had such a large part in the last season it will be nice to see their experiences of parenthood. Lúthien, never having met mortal children, will be shocked at how fast Dior grows up. (He definitely ages on a Mannish scale - he’s married at 22, a king at 27, and dead at 30.)

Near the beginning, the episode will also include a scene where the Fëanorians attempt to invade Doriath and are turned back by the Girdle of Melian. It doesn’t function as a direct, physical barrier; it causes confusion and disorientation and strange visions and a loss of sense of direction, and you look around and find you’ve ended up outside Doriath again. This eerie, hallucinatory quality fits Melian’s background as a Maia of Lórien, Master of Dreams. (And hey, if you can work some subtle prophetic/ominous foreshadowing into the visions, all the better!) The purpose of the scene is to show that the Fëanorian’s aren’t idle; they do want pursue the Silmaril, but for the moment it is beyond their reach. The brothers will have varying levels of enthusiasm about the plan, with Celegorm and Curufin being the ringleaders.

Episode 2: Heavily focuses on Túrin’s time as an outlaw, from his first meeting with the bandits through to Dor-Cúarthol, the fall of Amon Rudh, and the death of Beleg. This is a lot of material - joining the bandits, becoming their leader, the first meeting with Beleg, finding Mîm and Amon Rudh, Dór-Cuarthol, and the fall of Amon Rudh and the death of Beleg. There may be a need to streamline it, with Beleg only finding the outlaws once they are at Amon Rudh, and staying with them then.

There’s a lot of good characters here, and a lot of good personality confllicts - it’s practically a short movie in itself. Particular care needs to be taken with Mîm, who cannot be allowed to become a caricature.

This episode introduces Anglachel, so it would be good to have a short Gondolin scene with Maeglin (bearer of Anguirel) to establish the symmetry. And also to keep Gondolin in the viewers’ minds. A short scene in Nargothrond showing their reaction to Dór-Cúarthol (positive: it is or was their realm, and he’s doing more to defend it that they are) will set up later events,

Episode 3: The focus splits between Túrin in Nargothrond - particularly his relationships with Gwindor and Finduilas, and his growing prominence, with him becoming de-facto in charge at the end of the episode - and Tuor as a thrall and later outlaw. Tuor’s personality really comes to the fore here: he’s patient, and steady, and kind. He puts up with considerable abuse an a thrall, escapes when there’s an opportune moment, and can’t be effectively pursued because he’s made friends with all of his captor’s hounds. (I especially like that last fact.) The episode ends with him leaving Dor-lómin by the Gate of the Noldor.

This is also a good time to build up the romance between Dior and Nimloth. Nimloth must be Laiquendi, as those are the only other people Beren and Lúthien would meet in Ossiriand; I rather like the idea of them being childhood friends, to offset some of the more love-at-first-sight romances. Dior is now in his late teens and - this is important - very, very good-looking, even by elf standards. He’s also very interested in his Doriathrin heritage, and asking his parents a lot of questions about his grandparents; that sets up his determination to be Eluchíl later on.

Episode 4: Tuor’s meeting with Ulmo and his coming to Gondolin, the Fall of Nargothond, and Túrin in Dórlomin. The fall of Nargothrond and deaths of Gwindor and Finduilas form a nice counterpoint/contrast with Tuor’s meetings with Voronwë and Idril and his arrival at Gondolin. Túrin’s impulsive actions in Dor-lómin contrast with Tuor’s approach in the prior episode as well.

Episode 5: Focus is on Túrin’s story. Journey of Morwen and Nienor to Nargothrond and its consequences, and Túrin in Brethil, through to his slaying of Glaurung and his and Nienor’s deaths.

For extra bonus irony points, parallel the wedding of Túrin and Níniel with the weddings of Idril and Tuor and of Dior and Nimloth.

Episode 6: Wanderings of Húrin through to the Sack of Doriath and Beren and Dior’s fight with the dwarf-army. (Dior isn’t mentioned as being part of this fight in the Silm, but it’s an excellent moment to include him here.) The Fëanorians reenter the scene, attempting to intercept the dwarf army carrying the Silmaril, but arriving too late. This is the best chance they’ve had st recovering a Silmaril yet - they’re not going to ignore it.

The line “while Lúthien held the Silmaril no elf would dare assail her” is typically read as it just being something no one would consider on a moral level - and that’s a valid reading - but I like the idea that the Fëanorians aren’t going after her because they’re freaking terrified of her. This is the woman who defeated Morgoth single-handedly! Holding one of the most powerful artifacts ever created! Who knows what she could do! (The Fëanorians absolutely make concessions to practicality when it comes to the Oath - otherwise they would have attacked Angband sometime in the 400 years of the Siege, or after the Nirnaeth as a way to die pursuing their oath in a decent way rather than slaughtering kin. It’s only the final attack by Maedhros and Maglor after the War of Wrath that they attempt in the face of impossibility, and by that time I think suicide-by-Valarin-army makes up a solid portion of their motivation.)

Episode 7: The refounding of Doriath, the Second Kinslaying, and the capture and treachery of Maeglin. Broad theme of the episode being Bad Elvish Behaviour all round, with elves doing Morgoth’s work either directly (Maeglin) or on their own initiative (the Fëanorians).

My idea on the refounding of Doriath, and on Dior’s title of Eluchíl (Thingol’s Heir) is that this quickly and breifly becomes the core of Elvendom in Beleriand. Dior, as Lúthuen’s son and Melian’s grandson, likely has some degree of ‘magical’ power beyond what is usual for elves. Not enough to reestablish the Girdle of Melian, but enough to provide some general deterrance against evil forces. Doriath is also, for the first time, open to all the other free peoples of Beleriand, and is the only true realm remaining aside from secret and mysterious Gondolin. Not only do the Doriathrin Sindar and some of the Laiquendi and the northern grey-elves unite around Doriath, various Noldor, remants of lost realms and destroyed armies, join them. Dior is becoming in truth what Thingol claimed to be: King of Beleriand. All the more so when the Silmaril comes to him and Doriath blossoms like a memory of Valinor in the Ages of the Trees.

And this would fit with why the Fëanorians would regard Dior as ‘proud’, this would offend them more than anything, because what he’s achieving is exactly Fëanor once boasted that he would achieve, long ago in Tirion. This would fit with the sheer visciousness of the Second Kinslaying, with the abandonment of Dior’s young sons in the forest. Celegorm’s people aren’t even thinking in terms of hostages; they just want to destroy Dior’s entire family line, because his existence, his kingship, what he’s achieved are such an affront.

But Elwing escapes, and the Silmaril is still out of their hands.

(The attack is at Yule, whuch sets up a strong and deliberate parallel - Morgoth’s earlier attacks on the Lamps and the Trees were also at times of festival/celebration, so the Fëanorians’ actions are being deliberately equated with his.)

Episode 8: The Fall of Gondolin. This is your absolutely epic big battle scene. Balrogs! Dragons! Eagles! Maeglin acting like a cackling B-movie villain! (I have not read The Fall of Gondolin, but I’ve hear that Idril swordfights Maeglin in it, and this absolutely needs to happen.) Ecthelion kills a Gothmog! Glorfindel kills a balrog! It’s tragic, but it’s also extremely exciting television (unlike the kinslaying the previous week, which was mostly just really depressing and horrific.)

The episode ends with the survivors of Gondolin making their way to Sirion, where the survivors of Doriath have already settled. I think that the survivors of Nargothrond should also be there, to keep things simple and allow for some extra drama.

Episode 9: This one starts with a timeskip, so we can have adult Eärendil and Elwing. The episode is a quieter one, mainky setup for later events: the departure of Tuor and Idril, the marriage of Eärendil and Elwing, the birth of the twins, and Eärendil’s departure to seek the aid of the Valar. The voyage of Eärendil is dramatic and can take up some of the episode.

Episode 10: The Third Kinslaying, the destruction of the Fëanorian base on Amon Ereb, the voyage of Eärendil and Elwing to Valinor, and the Valar’s decision to go to war. The nain reason I wanted the Nargothrondim in Sirion is so that we can get Celebrimbor fighting against the Fëanorian forces here, because that just increases the level of emotional drama. The whole thing’s a traumatic mess. Fëanoruan solidiers throwing down their swords and surrendering. Fëanorian soldiers switching sides to defend the people of Sirion. It’s hard to overstate how teagic this is - here is almost the last remnant of elves in Beleriand, and they are being destroyed not by Morgoth (from whom they would be protected by Ulmo’s waters), but by their own people.

But at the end of the episode, Valinor is marshalling for war, and things are finally. finally, looking like they could get better.