#amlach

[meadowlarkx]

1 - "On a time of autumn he came in the dusk of evening, and drawing near he saw as he thought a light at the window; and coming warily he looked within."

2 - "But there arose one who seemed to all to be Amlach son of Imlach, speaking fell words that shook the hearts of all who heard him."

Late but heartfelt submission for @tolkienhorrorweek Day 1, "seeth all things crooked." I love the eerie illusion of these Silmarillion moments with Gorlim and Amlach. Although in canon the vision of Eilinel at the window is starving and worn, I have always tended to imagine her alluring and well-groomed, a symbol of the home Gorlim and the Bëorians have lost.

[sallysavestheday]

Why I Wrote It Tag Game

Thanks for the tag, @balrogballs!

Doing this one for Deeper Roots Than Reason. I ALMOST made that bingo...should have taken the premise just one Age farther.

That fic was a TRSB fill for an absolutely gorgeous piece of art, which just set off all kinds of sparks for me. I'm always happy to twist the Oath and the Doom a little more.

My thought process was roughly: what if the Oath and all its related misery was...not contagious, but definitely transmissible? Inheritable, if you will. Mwahaha! What if it was inheritable by MEN? MWAHAHA! What if my beloved tortured idiot Maedhros made another Big Mistake? MWAHAHAHAHA!

And then it became a challenge to see how far I could fill in cracks of canon with this wonderful horrible idea without anything going awry. Amlach? Ideal victim. Elrond and Elros, o noooo! ISILDUR!!! It worked so well I spooked myself. What IF?????

I did in fact have a writer's dream about this one. All the creepies, lol.

Here's an excerpt:

In the turmoil of his furious, seeking mind a memory flared – but not his own: steel under torchlight; eight blades shining. His own grief and hatred and hunger for vengeance rose to meet it, as a faint call echoed: Neither law, nor love, nor league of swords, dread nor danger, not Doom itself shall defend him…on the holy mountain hear in witness and our vow remember. “Yes!” Amlach gasped. “My Lord! My Lord!” Then he was shuddering to his knees with Maedhros’ hand on his shoulder, his mind his own again, his cheeks wet with sudden tears. “Will you serve me, Amlach?” Maedhros asked, with dangerous tenderness. And Amlach drew himself to steadiness and breathed. “Yes, my lord. I and my people, for as long as you will have us. To whatever end."

This was fun! Tagging @polutrope @melestasflight @queerofthedagger @vefanyar @starsuncounted @starspray and anyone else who feels inclined.

Original bingo template is here.

[anira-naeg]

[russandolly]

this is still one of the funniest parts of the silmarillion. morgoth made a catfish account using amlach’s pictures and tweeted a bunch of bullshit and amlach said “BITCH next time i see you it’s ON SIGHT”

[tar-maitime]

back to back, birds of a feather

For @maedhrosmaglorweek Day 3: Himring and the Gap Prompt: Fealty and loyalty

“But my lord...” Amlach swallows hard, then dares to continue his question. “How did your sister come to be the head of your House?”

It is not that it is unheard of among Men for a woman to take up leadership. Lady Haleth of the Haladin is probably the best-known instance - and she went into battle, too, as Lady Maedhros does. But  Haleth had taken up leadership after her father and brother had fallen and there was no one else available. Lady Maedhros has six living brothers, the eldest of whom Amlach had mistakenly addressed as head of the House of Fëanor until Lord Maglor, surprised, had told him he had the wrong person.

Fortunately, Lord Maglor does not seem offended by the question. “The Eldar, for the most part, do not divide the duties of male and female as Men do,” he says simply. “My sister is the eldest of us, and of a mind to lead, and so the headship is her right.” He pauses. “And in truth, even if it were not her right by the custom of our people, I would still cede the command to her, for she is made for it and I am not.”

Amlach considers this. It is not a perspective he had ever thought of before. He has no sisters, elder or younger, but those of his friends who do would not, he thinks, take so easily to such an arrangement.

“Does it not chafe you, to be thus under your sister’s dominion?” he ventures, since Lord Maglor has been so gracious with his queries thus far. “Or does she deal more easily with you, since you are kin?” Or perhaps, he thinks, Lady Maedhros holds no real power at all, and is merely a figurehead while her brother is truly in charge, but he does not say this aloud. 

Lord Maglor laughs, shaking his head. “My sister does not dominate, as you put it. Those who give her their loyalty do so gladly and freely, and while she commands, she is no slave driver - that is the work of the Enemy in the north. As for me, I would hardly describe myself as subjugated to her. She has my loyalty, and I have hers, and it is the same with our brothers, though they are further off and more difficult to manage. And I begrudge her my loyalty no more than I would if she were my brother, if that was what you meant to ask.”

Amlach ducks his head slightly, a little ashamed at having been seen through.

Lord Maglor claps him on the shoulder, and offers him a small smile. “Come, rest from your travel a while. When my sister returns, you shall meet her, and judge her character for yourself.”

Amlach, his thoughts still adjusting, follows, now more curious than ever about the strange Lady of Himring.

[thelordofgifs]

Obscure Tolkien Blorbo: Round 1

Tevildo vs Amlach

Tevildo:

The Prince of Cats in an early version of the legendarium, the precursor of Sauron in the Tale of Tinúviel.

He is the Prince of Cats. Just straight up a huge villainous cat. What can be better than this?

He’s a giant, speaking, evil cat who works for Melkor and he appears in exactly 1 text of the legendarium

Amlach:

A First Age Man who was impersonated by an emissary of Morgoth at a council.

Look he was (rightly) disgruntled when someone pretended to be him in an argument, accepted he was wrong, learned from his mistakes and then became besties with Maedhros. We stan character growth.

I think it’s funny that Morgoth sent someone to impersonate him without doing anything to make sure the real Amlach wouldn’t immediately go “hey that wasn’t me. I guess now I have to join the fight against Morgoth because now I have a personal quarrel with him”

Round 1 masterpost

[silmarillionwritersguild]

Amid the gritty heroism of the Edain, it is easy to think of them primarily as a people who arrived and became allied in the fight against Morgoth, a mission that prefigures Aragorn's role much later in the legendarium. Amlach is an intriguing character because he hints at the complexity of the political situation that lurked behind the rapid-fire and often aggrandized history that is The Silmarillion. Initially a skeptic in Marach's embrace of the Elvish mission against Morgoth, Amlach's mind is changed when he is the victim of a particularly sinister demonstration of Morgoth's dark powers.

In this month's Character of the Month biography, @hhimring explores the character of Amlach. Seemingly a minor character (he is mentioned just four times in the published Silmarillion), his story is not only intriguing in its own right but invites speculation about the political relationships between the various houses of the Edain and the different groups of Elves they would encounter upon their migration to Beleriand.

You can read Himring's biography of Amlach here.

[welcomingdisaster]

thinking about amlach again. like the whole doppelgänger thing that happens to him is incredibly creepy but his response to it is arguably also buckwild.

someone comes to your town and takes your face. everyone mistakes him for you; your closest friends and family accept him as you. he speaks out in a way that angers and upsets you, to evil purpose.

you hear this and you leave the place behind and go to the service of an elf-lord, to join a war where you are likely to die, never to come back to your people or your home. does someone there still wear your face?

[silmarillionwritersguild-art]

call for art!

Our upcoming character of the month will be Amlach, the Man who had been impersonated by a servant of Morgoth at a council, speaking out against the Elves, and who thereafter went to Himring in the service of Maedhros, saying "I have now a quarrel of my own with this Master of Lies, which will last to my life's end".

Do you have an artwork depicting him, or would you like to create one for his bio? We'd love to hear from you!

Thanks!

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Some thoughts on today’s Silmarillion Daily, and especially the debate of the Edain about whether to stay in Beleriand or not.

Doing some of the research for this, especially of people’s ages and Edain family trees, made me realize things I hadn’t before. First, Bereg and Amlach, the two leaders of the movement to leave Beleriand, are relatively young - 29 and 32 respectively. At any rate, young enough to have been born in Beleriand, which means that they could easily have a rosier view about the safety of the non-Beleriand areas of Middle-earth than people who lived through the journey there. Also ypung enough that they might like to strike out on their own, with followings of their own, rather than remain u der the established chieftains.

And on that latter note, they’re also from younger branches of their houses - they’re not people who can expect to succeed to the chieftainship, so proposing something different from what the current chiefs are doing gives them, again, a chance to gather their own following. Amlach is especially interesting in this respect, if you look at his family tree. He’s the son of the younger brother of Malach Aradan. Now, Malach arrived in Beleriand as a young child, and he embraced it - he went off to live in Hithlum with Fingolfin’s Noldor at age 15 and stayed there until he was 29, and the elves liked him so much they gave him his epessë (Aradan, meaning royal/noble man). And he liked the elves and their culture back - so much so that when he finally came back to east Beleriand where the rest of the Edain were and got married, he convinced his wife Zimrahin (btw, you can immediately see the origins of the Númenorean language in the language of what would become the House of Hador) to translate her name into Sindarin (Meldis).

Now, during all this time that Malach was away in Hithlum, Malach’s younger brother Imlach was still with the rest of the Edain in East Beleriand. And now Malach comes back speaking a foreign language and obsessed with these strange Eldar. On top of that, Imlach’s son Amlach is older than Malach’s son. So it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he raised his son with some strong opinions on about who really should be running things. All that’s prospective - Marach, the father of Malach and Imlach and the one who led their people to Beleriand, is still alive at the time of the big debate. But there’s a lot of space in all that for political fractures.

So Amlach is doing pretty ordinary, typical politics - the Edain splitting into different groups under new leaders with different ideas isn’t unusual. (Hador leaving his father’s people in the Teiglin area and moving his family and followers to Hithlum to align more closely with the Elves there is a later example.) And then this phantom or shapechanger apparently shows up at apublic meeting pretending to be him and says all kinds of crazy stuff about the elves being outright evil and Morgoth not existing. Which - nothing says ‘yes, there’s sonething spooky going on’ like someone who can show up looking and sounding like you when you’re not even there! So in reaction to this old-style deepfake, Amlach decides there’s something bigger going on here than ordinary politics, and he’s not going to be played and taken advantage of in this way, and he’s going to get back at Morgoth for it. But he’s also not going to copycat his uncle and head to Hithlum. So he goes north and joins up with Maedhros.

[hhimring]

Chapters: 5/5 Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Maedhros, Amlach Additional Tags: Edain, Noldor - Freeform, Leadership, Cross-cultural, Friendship, Canon-Typical Violence Series: Part 50 of Gloom, Doom and Maedhros Summary:

Amlach seems to be the only one of the early Edain who is explicitly said to have entered the service of Maedhros, so he may have been the first of Men to do so and he may have gone to Himring alone. This story imagines the feelings of an Adan who originally opposed the Eldar and now finds himself spending his life among them, all on his own.

It also tries to answer the question why he picked Maedhros specifically as his prospective leader and whether Maedhros fulfilled his expectations.

This (older) story on SWG here 

Brandnew bio of Amlach on SWG here.

[saurongorthaur9]

Remember that part in the Silmarillion where an unnamed servant of Melkor infiltrates the meeting of Edain and impersonates the chieftain Amlach and makes a speech about how the Elves are deceiving them and the Valar aren't real? We're never told anything about that servant, but here's what we know:

He's important enough to be sent on a pretty big important mission

He's a shapeshifter

He's a skilled actor able to impersonate someone amongst that person's friends and family without them realizing it's not him

He's charismatic and able to sway people with his words

He causes a feeling of dread and doom to fall over those who listen to him

Hmm, he might not have been named, but I'm pretty sure I know someone who meets every single one of those qualifications to a tee.

[polutrope]

Also Hador "and he was loved by the king" Lorindol and Fingolfin.

Disclaimer: Any missing options is due to the poll limitation. I tried to select a variety of people and relationships, because Finrod's and Túrin's relationships alone could fill the poll…

[eilinelsghost]

2024 Fic Roundup

Thank you to @thelordofgifs for the tag!

Total Words Published at end of year: 85,785

Fandoms: only ever Silm so far

Most kudos: In Memory to Dwell (G, 5.5k, Finrod & Finarfin)

Most hits: In Memory to Dwell for this one too

Most comments: Darkly the Sundering Flood !! I'm so glad my dear darling made it on the list. I think this is my favorite thing I wrote this year. (T, 15.1k, Finrod & Beren, background Finrod/Bëor)

New Things I Tried: Thanks to @echo-bleu's incredibly gorgeous TRSB art, I tried exploring disability in a Middle-earth context and it was such a rewarding experience. I was so nervous going into that project and it has ended up being one of my favorite things I've worked on. (In Memory to Dwell)

Fic I Spent the Most Time On: This one is technically a 3-way tie, but I will go with These Echoes We Have Left because I'd also been working on portions of that one in the background for probably 6 months leading up to it, so I think it wins overall. Plus, it was my first time really writing a fight sequence (and wrangling with Orcs up close and personal) and I'm quite proud of it as a result. (T, 13.6k, Finrod/Bëor)

Fic I Spent the Least Time On: Another tie here between And Joined Them Thread By Thread (G, 474, Amarië/OC) that I wrote in a day because I had Ekphrasis Week fomo, and Then Love Like Dawn Awakens (T, 1.6k, Finrod/Bëor) that I also wrote in a day because this art by @nynevefromthelake gave me such brainworms all of a sudden 😂

Favorite Thing I Wrote: I referenced this already, but I think Darkly the Sundering Flood is the winner this year. It was the first time I really got to poke at the Nargothrond coup (and I ended up quite happy with the result) and also it let me really dig into the maturation of Finrod's views on Elf/mortal relationships and philosophy post-Athrabeth. It was one of those installments where I had been holding a lot of the strings for awhile and finally got to pull them all together here, which was so very rewarding.

Favorite Things I Read:

2024 was insanely busy and I had a lot less reading time than normal, so I know there are a ton of amazing fics I am missing here, but a few that I really enjoyed this year:

Across So Wide a Sea by @emyn-arnens (G, 33.1k, Galadriel & Finrod) I've only had a chance to read the first chapter so far because of a truly not ideal couple weeks over the holidays, but I am absolutely smitten by the prose and characterization here. Gorgeous writing, wonderful character building, and such a clever frame. I can't wait to catch up on the remainder!

Right-ho, Edrahil! by @actual-bill-potts (G, 4k, Finrod & Edrahil) A fic about Finrod and Edrahil and Lobelia Sackville-Baggins written in the style of Wodehouse? God I don't think I have laughed this hard at something all year. An absolute delight.

swan song by @thelordofgifs (G, 18.1k, Elwing, OCs, Finarfin/Eärwen) I had the privilege of beta reading this one and it swept me away from the get-go. The fairytale setting is gorgeous, the childhood POV works so well to draw out the themes, and the way each strand is woven so carefully together makes such an incredibly satisfying story.

Deeper Roots than Reason by @sallysavestheday (G, 5.5k, Amlach & Maedhros, etc) Once again, a piece that does an incredible job of weaving so many strands throughout the narrative. Gorgeous prose, rich and multi-faceted characterizations, and a story that echoes like a chord through every chapter. Stunning.

Tagging everyone above if this sounds fun!

[polutrope]

Maedhros 12, 14-16 for character ask game!

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

I am realising I tend not to have set headcanons for characters who aren't Maglor or Daeron (or Amrod and Amras because they are all headcanon). Uh. Okay, well, this is more an Ambarussa headcanon, but I think Maedhros left them to hold Himring in the Nirnaeth instead of bringing them to the field of battle and they resent him for this ever after. All part of Maedhros' plummeting ratings in the brother polls post-Nirnaeth.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Lol I keep getting this question and I have no idea what words I'd even use to describe a fashion aesthetic. Maedhros post-Thangorodrim is bloody and frumpy. In Valinor he's classy but sexy. That's all I can say about that.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

I am annoyed that this is the case, but it's Maglor. Really annoyed at people for writing them so well and converting me. I feel guilty for breaking up my OTP every time I read/write it, but it's soooo friggin compelling. Ugh.

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

Can't think of one I don't like. I've fully embraced Russingon, and all the others are rare enough to at least be interesting. Hmmm. Okay, actually, I'm pretty ambivalent about Maedhros/Fingon/Finrod. There are just so many other people I enjoy as a third for Russingon (Maglor, Hador, Hurin, Amlach, Angrod, Aegnor...), and so many other people I prefer with Finrod (Maglor, Celegorm, Curufin, Caranthir, Turgon, Edrahil, Daeron, entire House of Beor, Amarie, Thingol, Luthien, his siblings... lol Finrod is so shippable!).

Thank you for the ask! Character ask game.

[thelordofgifs]

Obscure Tolkien Blorbo: Round 1 Bracket!

here we gooo! Hopefully the image quality isn't too awful - I can read it alright if I zoom in, at any rate. For round 1 there will be 4 polls a day for 16 days, posted at 4pm UTC starting tomorrow, 18th May. Poll durations will all be one day. I'll post links to all the round 1 polls on this masterpost as they go live below the cut; each day there'll be 1 poll from each "corner" of the bracket.

Feel free to drop any propaganda in my ask box, either before or during the polls! I hope everyone has fun campaigning for their little-known blorbos :)

Frequently Asked Questions

POLLS

18/05:

Bofur vs Tauriel

Barliman Butterbur vs Ancalagon

Berúthiel vs. Mithrellas

The chief dancing bear of Númenor vs. Erutáro

19/05:

Dís vs Beorn

Gamling vs Bill the pony

Pearl Took vs Faniel

Ulbandi vs Miaulë

20/05:

Nerdanel vs Círdan

Nessa vs Caranthir’s wife

Urwen vs Elmo

Random orc of Morgoth vs Narthseg

21/05:

Elros vs Oropher

Erendis vs Tilion

Eärnur vs Mahtan's wife

Bëor's wife vs Múta

22/05:

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins vs Finarfin

Tevildo vs Amlach

Gelmir Guilinion vs Legolas of Gondolin

One (1) Rivendell elf who sings tra-la-la-lally vs Bingo Baggins

23/05:

Amrod vs Idril

Ilmarë vs Tar-Ancalimë

Andróg vs Fíriel of Gondor

Hiril (daughter of Barahir) vs Youngest of Finrod’s Ten

24/05:

Ecthelion vs Huan

Ingwë vs Salgant

Silmariën vs Tata

Viznak vs Ælfwine

25/05:

Olwë vs Edrahil

Eorl vs Meássë

Larnach’s daughter vs Jajax

26/05:

Lightning Disqualification (1)

Pengolodh vs Ioreth

Lothrandir vs Nob

Golfimbul vs Ainairos

27/05:

Lightning Disqualification (2)

Arien vs Egalmoth

Golodir vs Vidumavi

Ornendil vs Meril

28/05:

Haleth vs Beleg

Tom Bombadil vs Beregond

Inzilbêth vs A fox passing through the woods on business of his own

Makar vs Andvír

29/05:

Mablung vs Tuor

Nellas vs Curufin’s wife

Imin vs Tinfang Warble

Beleth vs Findegil

30/05:

Nimloth vs Anairë

Elurín vs Rog

Corunir vs Elulindo

Nuin vs Faramir (son of Ondoher)

31/05:

Rían vs Míriel

Argon vs Eluréd

Hareth vs Belen

Narmeleth vs Horn

01/06:

Daeron vs Andreth

Finduilas of Dol Amroth vs Findis

Eldacar of Gondor vs Gwindeth

Gelmir (messenger of Círdan) vs Bór

02/06:

Tar-Míriel vs Eöl

Thuringwethil vs Mahtan

Ilwen vs Eilinel

Enel vs Hirgon

03/06:

Belladonna Took vs Bain

Finduilas Faelivrin vs Halbarad

Azaghâl vs Lalwen