#beleriand politics

[edennill-archived]

1st age Beleriand dashboard Simulator

🌫️ mithrim-noldo following

Yeah, Thingol kind of flew off the handle with banning Quenya and all that, but why on Arda are people now justifying the Kinslaying in response?? have some nuance and also, that's just plain horrible.

✨ btw-this-is-hopeless following

hope it's fine to copy your tags, mithrim, because they're great:

#I mean I know this is probably because they've taken part in the kinslaying themselves #but #can't you just admit you did wrong and move on? #in so far as it is possible because of course forgetting would be disrespectful and unwise #because the consequences are with us still #but it should be way more comfortable than being on your defences all the time #always ready to rationalize or deny #with a conscience you cannot silence

✴️ eightpointedstar83

I am tired of typing this out again and again but Alqualondë could have been averted had the teleri been less self-centred and readier to cooperate. Thingol is just another example of this attitude. But of course, please deny that the third clan is what it is and pin the blame on the people who saved everyone's skins.

We have done nothing wrong and yet our own people are turning on us. One day you will rue this.

Long live the house of Fëanor!

💝 heart-in-a-box

This is just the sort of behaviour OP was talking about.🤦‍♀️

🌫️ mithrim-noldo following

Admittedly, this seems to be a fanatical Fëanorian and more committed than the average apologist of his/her own actions - but yes.

#current events #thingol's quenya ban #my post

11,062 notes

🧝🏼‍♂️maglorfeanorion following

finished another canto of the noldolante today

🌖 hunters-moon

you have a tumblr account??!

🧝🏼‍♂️ maglorfeanorion following

do I know you?

🌖 hunters-moon

yes :)

🧝🏼‍♂️ maglorfeanorion following

wait - yeah, I do...

which of the twins are you?

🌖 hunters-moon

how did you know😮???

👨🏻‍🦰red-haired-twin

he looked through your blog, nitwit :)

🧝🏼‍♂️maglorfeanorion following

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find you two out of all possible people on here...

so - which is which?

36 notes

🌸 a-flower-in-the-snow following

himring winters are horrible and I hate my parents for bringing me to middle-earth

#rant #children of exilse #i meant #children of exiles #coe

4 notes

🏞️ the-wide-earth-unexplored following

Y'all weren't joking when y'all said the Sirion is impressive...

(more photos under cut)

read more

#photography #nature photography #nature #sirion #falls of sirion

213 notes

🖼️ wonder-the-earth

is it still a secret city when everyone is talking about it?

👰🏼‍♀️ celebrin following

that's a good question

21 notes

👤 incessant-leaves following

It makes me sick to see all those positive nostalgic posts about the Mereth Aderthad. How pretty the pools of Ivrin were or weren't doesn't change the fact that THE NOLDOR WERE HIDING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE KINSLAYING THE WHOLE TIME. Yeah "everyone was kind" back then. You were feasting together with people whose cousins you had killed and have the audacity to complain they don't like you as much anymore. I don't care if you're a Sinda or a Noldo who "didn't take part in it" - if you say anything positive about it I'm blocking you.

#mereth aderthad #the truth about ivrin

159, 307 notes

💎 lord-maedhros-is-the-true-king

Things they don't want you to know about Fëanaro:

read more

157 notes

🏹 huntingprincess following

with all due respect, gondolin is the most boring place in the world.

🌼 golden-flower

it's not. but you're entitled to your opinion.

🌌 daughterofdoriath following

if only all debates on here were as civil...

👤 incessant-leaves

OP is a kinslayer apologist. Didn't you check that out before you started praising them?

🌌 daughterofdoriath following

*throws hands up*

I was admiring that one exchange.

(and this was actually more about @golden-flower's response than about OP)

*sighs*

#this site...

2009 notes

image used for Sirion: link

[feanorianethicsdepartment]

the more i think about it the more i believe doriath not letting the refugees from himlad - even pass through their lands, let alone shelter there, was perhaps a contributing factor to that part of the fëanorian host’s. virulent hatred of doriath

[thelordofgifs]

For the fic prompt explore some third age mannish politics?

Aahhh this is kind of scary BUT about time I tried it I suppose!

-

The King was dying.

The murmurs ran through the streets of Osgiliath, pooling in the taverns and the markets, growing dark and foul in the hidden corners of discontent. Rómendacil II was two hundred and forty years old, but he had always been a man of great vigour, both bodily and spiritually. There had been some who had hoped he would pass three centuries.

"Do none of them ever read?" Lossiel asked irritably. "This is why Númenor fell. All those ancient kings more obsessed with their own mortality than with the actual business of ruling."

"Keep your voice down," Eldacar implored.

His sister tossed her head. "It is true, is it not? For all their preoccupation with being true-blooded Men of Westernesse, they seem to have learned remarkably little from the Downfall."

"Your scholarship is unparalleled, as always, lady," came a deep voice from behind them. Their father's cousin, Urumacil, made a small, ironic bow.

"Princess," Lossiel corrected pertly. "The correct title for the King's daughter is 'princess'."

"Lossiel," Eldacar muttered. Their father was not yet the King, after all.

But Urumacil merely smiled. "Of course, lady," he said. "If you will excuse us. I wish for a word with your brother."

"It will have to be a very quick word, Lord Urumacil," said Eldacar. "My father will have need of me soon."

"A loyal son indeed," said Urumacil, as Lossiel slipped away to the other side of the busy receiving-room with a last pointed glare. "Your father will be very lucky to have you as his heir."

Eldacar managed a sharp-toothed smile. In his sister's absence he must produce his own well-sharpened claws. "My father values my counsel dearer than gold," he agreed. "But I am not to be only his son, you know; to be Crown Prince is to be loved as a son by all of Gondor. To give my life in the service of my country."

"An admirable ambition," said Urumacil, smiling too, "as long as you are quite certain which country you call your own."

Eldacar had left Rhovanion when he was five years old. Would this never end?

"I daresay," he said mildly, "when the crown of Gondor rests on my head, it will be difficult to forget."

Urumacil bowed again. "Let us not wish for your dear father's passing on this, the very day of his ascension!" he said. "You are, after all, a loyal son."

"Quite," Eldacar said. He was growing bored with the conversation, and also restless. Would his grandfather summon him before the end – his grandfather, who loved his son and heir deeply and had never truly warmed to the wife and children he had brought home to Rhovanion? If he did, would he make some fretful remark about whether or not Eldacar would outlive his father?

"A loyal son," Urumacil repeated, sounding amused. "You are not well acquainted with my own dear Castamir, are you?"

"Not really," said Eldacar, "although I am told he is making quite the name for himself in Pelargir."

"Indeed he is," said Urumacil. "In fifty years or so I have high hopes that he will ascend even to becoming Captain of the Ships."

"Fifty years!" said Eldacar. "Surely, if he is as talented as you say, he might manage it sooner than that."

Urumacil smiled. "Why hurry? We have plenty of time." He looked Eldacar in the eye. "Or, I suppose, most of us do."

[deadqueernoldor]

Nghhh chewing on finweans and realizing how self-sacraficial is so deeply instilled in that family, and that that particular trait is prevalent in each generation.

Finwe knew he couldnt win against Morgoth, but he could try and protect his grandchildren. He fought regardless.

Fingolfin knew he couldnt twin against Morgoth in 1-on-1. He fought regardless.

Finrod knew he would die on his quest for Beren, and still fought the wolf to save his friend. He did.

Celebrimbor knew he could protect others by dying, protecting the knowledge about the rings. He did.

It stands to reason that Elladan, Elrohir or Arwen, would have come upon a similar fate.

[yellow-faerie]

In The Sacrifices of a Queen, is Morgoth more active or taking a different strategy? Or does he have a similar attitude around the kinslayings/Feanorian oath, and trust that the elves would do his job for him?

Hmmm this is a very good question - honestly I think he might have been more scared of the Fëanorians than of the Doriathrim, and so when he saw that Maedhros' forces were gathering after Melian's girdle fell, he decided that that would be the best time to strike (since Nimloth and Dior would be distracted by the sons of Fëanor)

Basically he didn't want to end up fighting the Fëanorians for the Silmaril since they had been becoming more fey and wild, and had become the most serious threat to his growing providence in the last few decades over the other peoples of Beleriand, so he was trying to get in there first (and almost succeeded, if not for Nimloth and Dior's quick thinking)

[sesamenom]

he has the energy of a former diplomat who was since shuffled under the rug for a massive scandal (treason against the valar)

[sweetteaanddragons]

Lauriel

When Lauriel is growing up, she knows her older sister is a better singer than her. This is not because she's heard her sister singing all that much; her sister is fully grown and moved halfway across Aman before Lauriel is even thought of. But it is a thing people tell her of, a little awkwardly, a little gently, whenever she mentions her ambition to be a bard. Her sister is a better singer than her, and her sister is a potter. Ergo . . .

Lauriel takes up the flute. Her sister did not play the flute as a child and her rare letters don't mention it now; her sister cannot be better than her at the flute.

Her mother tells her flatly that this does not mean her sister wouldn't have been better at it, had she ever tried.

"It takes a lot of dedication to your craft to be a bard," her father says, a little more gently. "It's a very competitive field."

Left unsaid, but very much heard, is that Lauriel, of course, is far too flighty to have that sort of dedication.

It is not the first time they have had this conversation.

It is the last, because Lauriel vows to all the Valar that she won't set foot on the farm again until she's the greatest bard the Noldor have ever seen.

It does not take her long at the university in Alqualonde to learn that she is almost certainly never going to be so much as one of the best ten bards the Noldor have ever seen. This does not, however, stop people from still enjoying her music - or, for that matter, from enjoying her dancing, her conversation, her skill at the competitions that are all the rage at parties, and so she never lacks invitations to just about any event in town.

She's friends with everyone, and she hasn't written a single letter back to the farm, and she tells herself she doesn't care that none have come from there for her.

She doesn't talk to any of her friends about that.

She does talk to the woman with the tense, tight shoulders at the current party, swooping in to rescue her from the circle of jabbing fools around her; she's not sure why the other woman needs rescuing from the discussion of the night's musical entertainment, but it doesn't matter; she doesn't need to understand to recruit her to make up the numbers at Lauriel's table for cards.

Aranel is laughing when Prince Makalaure, of all people, comes by their table, which is how Lauriel learns that the woman she rescued is Prince Makalaure's wife.

He sees her flute in its case beside her and asks to hear her play.

He compliments her when she's done. Invites her to another party the next week.

Lauriel, of course, says yes.

She's never political. She's never really bothered about any of it.

But she starts to fall into his circle; their music is so passionate, so innovative, and she likes the way they circle around each other. They're dedicated to each other in a way the endless sea of her other friends aren't.

So when she hears someone being rude about his father, of course she speaks up; for all she knows Prince Feanaro is crazy, but that doesn't give anyone the right to be cruel about it.

She gets offered a job at the university in Tirion, and she thinks Makalaure recommended her for it; she finds out later he praised her skill with people as well as her music when asked for his opinion on the posting.

She finds other people start assuming she's political, even though she still doesn't much care whether they're allowed to sail back to Beleriand or not. She does care, though, about people being rude to her friends, and apparently that is political now, so political she is.

One of her friends is shocked that she's gone this long without hearing Prince Feanaro speak, so even though she still doesn't really care, she laughs and lets them drag her along to his next one.

She gets it now.

Why half of Tirion follows him and why half of Tirion thinks he's crazy.

She still doesn't really care. Even after the Incident - well, that was wrong, of course, but she doesn't see why people have to be rude to Makalaure and Aranel about it.

When the darkness comes, she goes with Feanaro's camp, of course. Almost all of Makalaure's circle does.

Partially because at least Prince Feanaro has a plan. Partially because everyone else is doing it.

Mostly because she hears Makalaure swear the Oath, and -

And her oath is not so burdensome a thing. She cannot go back to the farm; she has accepted she will never be able to go back to the farm. But she could still see her parents if they would come to her, if they would meet her elsewhere, if either she or they would ever just send a letter.

She feels it, though. Always, she feels it.

She wishes she had told him. She hadn't, ever; she hadn't known how to look at the actual greatest bard the Noldor have ever produced and admit to her adolescent ambition. But if she had swallowed her pride and told him - if he'd been warned -

She follows him.

(It is four ages later that she tells him at last; when he asks her, as they prepare to sail with Elrond, what she thinks of at last returning home.

"Oh, home's not really a place," she says in surprise. Home has been people for the past four ages of the world, and she has no intention of leaving those people now. "I suppose I'll have to wait and see if my parents choose to visit; I can't go to them unless they've moved."

This catches his attention. "Whyever not?"

"Well," she says, studiously not looking at him. "I swore an oath.")

(It is midnight when Elrond finds a furious Maglor correcting a beleaguered Lauriel's pitch in the garden.

"Are you planning on making our plea to the Valar for your brothers in the form of a concert?" he asks in bemusement. There is precedent, he supposes, with Luthien, but he would have thought Lauriel would have had more patience with the fevered practice if it were the case.

"It is no true teacher who cannot guide a student to surpassing himself," Maglor says grimly. "And it is no true prince who does not return loyalty. Lauriel will be the greatest bard the Noldor have ever produced."

"I don't want to be," she says in some desperation. "I really don't. I don't care if I can't go back to the farm."

"You should have the option," Maglor says firmly. "Now try again.")

[eilinelsghost]

Finrod's gems are about politics not capital

I've seen an influx of posts on my dash over the last couple of weeks with some variation on "Finrod hauled jewels across the ice because he's a hedonist" or "Finrod brought all those gems because he was planning ahead to pay for stuff in Beleriand" and I'm so sorry in advance, but the soapbox is beckoning again.

The version of this I've seen most often has been that he is a metropolitan prince accustomed to operating within a transactional context and that he brings gems out from Aman to whatever awaits in Beleriand out of a shrewd calculation that he will need to buy things once he's there. And...maybe? But here's the thing. That is not what gems mean in the context of Valinor, nor is it the pretty straightforward explanation of Finrod's decision that we're given in the text.

So first off, let's talk about the gems themselves and what those would mean to Finrod in the context within which he decides to bring them out from Valinor. Contrary to the premise that gems are understood to be a source of capital by the princes of Noldor, the two references we have to how they saw their own gems are as follows (emphasis in all quotes is mine):

And it came to pass that the masons of the house of Finwë, quarrying in the hills after stone [...] first discovered the earth-gems, and brought them forth in countless myriads; and they devised tools for the cutting and shaping of gems, and carved them in many forms. They hoarded them not, but gave them freely, and by their labour enriched all Valinor.

Many jewels the Noldor gave [the Teleri], opals and diamonds and pale crystals, which they strewed upon the shores and scattered in the pools; marvellous were the beaches of Elendë in those days.

The gems of the Noldor, then, are not seen as a source of wealth or bartering leverage, nor is there any indication in the text that they used them as such. In fact, the first (and only) reference to gems as wealth in the context of Valinor is when the narrator tells us of how Melkor looks with jealousy upon all the Firstborn:

[Melkor] looked upon the Children of Ilúvatar that sat at the feet of the Mighty, and hatred filled him; he looked upon the wealth of bright gems, and he lusted for them

Pivotally, it is not until after this that we are given any reference to the Noldor themselves seeing their own gems as anything other than a beauty of the earth that was to be shared freely. And even then, that language is only used of Fëanor's disposition after the lies of Morgoth have circulated and he begins to "love the Silmarils with a greedy love."

Second, let's talk about the fairly straightforward explanation for Finrod's actions that we are given in the text itself.

(I know I've talked about this a couple times in ask answers etc, but I want to give it its own standalone post because this never ceases to frustrate me.)

Necessary for understanding the explanation the text gives us is to situate it within the events that preceded it. Key among these is this section of Fëanor's speech to the Noldor:

"Say farewell to bondage! But say farewell also to ease! Say farewell to the weak! Say farewell to your treasures! More still shall we make. Journey light: but bring with you your swords! [...] But when we have conquered and have regained the Silmarils, then we and we alone shall be lords of the unsullied Light, and masters of the bliss and beauty of Arda. No other race shall oust us!"

Whatever the intent of Fëanor's words, they would undoubtably have been heard by Finrod and those others who opposed the march as a call to discard their past, the life and love of Aman, and their loyalty to the Valar. And consequently two pages later we are told that Finarfin and Finrod "carried thence memories of the bliss they had forsaken, and some even of the things that they had made there they took with them: a solace and a burden on the road."

So for Finrod to bring "more treasures out of Tirion than any other of the princes of the Noldor" was not a shrewd economic calculation, but a direct refutation of his uncle's rallying call. He was refusing to be severed from the past, refusing to name their time in Valinor as bondage to be dismissed and forgotten, and refusing to count what they made there as loss in order to gain mastery of Arda. He was carrying memory out from Valinor, not currency.

Furthermore, the memory he carries as his solace and burden is the memory of love and friendship, of wholeness and joy. Finrod grew up as Olwë's grandson and the jewels "strewed upon the shores and scattered in the pools" of Alqualondë were the beaches where he played, the fountains where he splashed as a child. The gems of the Noldor, far from being a quick way to pocket some cash for the road, were for him the visible symbol of the houses of the Eldar living in friendship and not division. (And how bitter that burden must have become when he continued on after the kinslaying at Alqualondë, those strewed stones of friendship now a shoreline washed in blood.)

Having these same gems later placed within the Nauglimir thus becomes a furthering of this same political statement. Whenever it sits about his neck, it is a visual reprimand of two of Fëanor's assertions in his speech atop Túna: Finrod receives it as a symbol of partnership and co-creation between two races, once again beauty that is shared freely, the gems within it once more a symbol of friendship rather than mastery; and it serves as the tangible representation of Finrod's remaining love and allegiance to memory and to the Valar.

He carries the gems out from Valinor in hope - the same hope that he embodies throughout his life, in his friendships in Beleriand, in his love and care for the Edain, in his eventual sacrifice: what I have is my neighbor's; what I love, I give.

[dawnfelagund]

The last couple of days have been heavier topics, with data on who speaks by gender and character group, so today seemed a good day for a post that is only semi-serious!

Because it doesn't actually mean much to talk more than Ilúvatar in The Silmarillion. Ilúvatar has a lot of lines and is prone to speech-making so has a high word count as well, but it's not like the four characters who speak more than him are trying to one-up God or anything. But we're Silmarillion fans and anything related to our characters feels political, so it's fun to consider which of them talk more than God.

In fact, the four characters who do are interesting in part because their dialogue is so different. Melian's dialogue is mostly in conversation, with Thingol or Galadriel. Fëanor has a variety of different dialogue but also makes some lengthy speeches; his speech to the Noldor prior to their exile is the third longest in the book (excluding two instances of "group speeches"). Túrin is the exact opposite: He speaks a lot, but his instances of dialogue are unusually short. The median length of an instance of dialogue across the book is thirty-one words, but the median for Túrin's dialogue is twenty-one words.

Thingol, of course, comes out on top as the character who speaks the most instances of dialogue AND the most words, topping Ilúvatar in both of these categories.

Returning to Melian and continuing yesterday's discussion of gender and speech, the woman who speaks the most after Melian is Yavanna, with ten instances of dialogue (most of them in the Christopher Tolkien-authored "Of Aulë and Yavanna). This means that Melian and Yavanna speak more than half of the dialogue uttered by women in The Silmarillion.

Of course, I'm always interested in pseudohistorical readings of The Silmarillion, particularly thinking about who is telling the story at what points and how the story Tolkien gives us is shaped by narrative point of view.

In this case, Thingol as the top talker makes sense given that the Beleriandic materials were collected by Pengolodh, who counted as a major source the refugees from Doriath who migrated, as did he, to Sirion's mouth. Dírhaval, who is credited with Túrin's story, would have likewise heard much of Thingol (and Melian) from his sources. It makes sense that Thingol, Túrin, and Melian are written with more immediacy than other characters are, who likely felt less accessible to the narrators.

What about Fëanor? The Aman materials were authored by Rúmil and passed to Pengolodh. I've always felt like Rúmil's sections portray Fëanor with more humanity than Pengolodh's sections do, though I've not yet drilled down into the data on this. The dialogue data seems to support that, at least, Rúmil perceived Fëanor as a character important enough that his words were worth preserving. That may seem like a "doh" statement, but consider how many important moments throughout The Silmarillion occur without us hearing dialogue from anyone at all. Multiple of Fëanor's speeches, on the other hand, were preserved.

---

This is part of my ongoing project The Silmarillion: Who Speaks? The data is available under a CC license for others who wish to play with it: View the data | Copy the data

Previous posts:

Dialogue by Chapter Dialogue by Character Group Dialogue by Gender

The entire project is archive on the Silmarillion Writers' Guild.

[ymfingsteadilyon]

There is no power in Ea that could make him admit it even to himself (especially to himself), but deep down he's pretty messed up over the whole "less impressive carbon copy of his father" thing. On the other hand, once he starts seeing signs that Celebrimbor will probably also overshadow him as a craftsman one day, his reaction is one of genuine and undiluted delight.

Hey fellow people who presumably enjoy curufin. Can you reblog with some curufin hcs? I think we truly need more Curufin Attention (either positive or negative but if you hate him why are you even here) in this fandom and I will be the change the world desperately needs. Cheers

[melestasflight]

I’m a Russingon girlie at heart and will never miss an opportunity to read into the romanticism of Maedhros’ rescue from Thangorodrim: ancient friends/lovers coming back together, Fingon finding compassion despite betrayal, all that good tear-jerker stuff.

But what makes Fingon’s heroism massive to me has nothing to do with the personal and everything to do with the politics at Mithrim. The fact that had he not gone to Thangorodrim, the Noldor in Beleriand would find themselves at literal war against each other.

This little passage from the Silm really deserves a lot more attention:

No love was there in the hearts of those that followed Fingolfin for the House of Fëanor, for the agony of those that endured the crossing of the Ice had been great, and Fingolfin held the sons the accomplices of their father. Then there was peril of strife between the hosts

Years later, when Fingon decides to look for Maedhros, the conflict between the hosts comes back as a primary reason behind his decision:

Then Fingon the valiant, son of Fingolfin, resolved to heal the feud that divided the Noldor, before their Enemy should be ready for war

This makes me conclude that the three years between Fingolfin’s arrival at Mitrhim (FA 2) to Fingon’s rescue mission (FA 5) must have been a continuous civil crisis. The hosts are in close proximity, a single lake dividing them, Fingolfin on one side, Maglor on the other, and for three years they cannot find a compromise. This crisis must have gotten pretty bad for someone to decide that braving Thangorodrim might be worth it.

And to me, this is Fingon's greatest contribution he ever made, not his battles, not his chasing of dragons, but preventing civil war among his people.

Of all the children of Finwë he is justly most renowned...

Yes, indeed, he is. Because without Fingon’s deed, there would be no victories for the Noldor, no Long Peace, no meeting of the Edain and Eldar. They would have fought each other endlessly until one group obliterated the other, or alternatively, Morgoth used this division (as the book seems to imply) to destroy them all swiftly. 

Fingon effectively accomplishes what Fingolfin and Fëanor never managed: peace, at least for a good while. Maedhros of course contributes in return by giving up the crown. He meets Fingon halfway, and they stay true to this alliance until Fingon’s death. They cross an impossible bridge no matter how you read their relationship. 

I’ll never tire of it. Ever.

[edennill-archived]

Re: my First Age Dashboard Simulators (Part one, part two, part three)... thinking of general characteristics Beleriand social media would have as compared to irl:

A lot more debate on the morality of "separating art from the artist" given that the second most famous musician they have is a mass murderer.

Way fewer posts informing people about atrocities and war crimes. The orcs engage in those aplenty but no one needs convincing morgoth is bad (possibly any new arrivals, but only them). After all, Tolkien's orcs have become what we compare real life armies that commit atrocities to (see: the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict)

Copious use of a Destiel meme analogue between the Bragollach and the end of the Age when all the disasters are happening in quick succession.

Vicious politics, but since when is that not a thing irl?

Probably a lot of ??? attitudes towards men and dwarves (and dark elves). Was gonna say racist but that's not the right word to be honest. Speciesist? But the differences are often more metaphysical than physical.

Anon hate, yes, but likely with fewer messages of the "kill yourself" variety; I think elves hold life more sacred than we do.

Deep running divides into Doriathblr, Edainblr, Dwarfblr, Gondolinblr etc.

A lot of debate on whether Quenya should be banned on the internet.

I'm assuming orcs don't have internet access because otherwise it becomes a hellscape I don't want to think about.

The most wholesome thing on orc-internet would be videos with the very mean kind of slapstick comedy/practical jokes (the "Hur, hur, he stepped on a nail" type). Apart from that it's mostly a mix of darknet, anon hate and - nomen omen - trolling.

[buttered-milky]

Russingon being an incestuous couple is so fucking interesting to me for what it represents narratively. (Yes, I know they are not canonically a couple. No, I do not care, because I do believe the coding is on purpose. Even if it’s accidental, it’s still there.)

If you don’t have a lot of experience with incest in other fiction (for example: the staple gothic horror), incest usually represents deviance. That’s just what it says on the tin: diverting from norms. Usually in a bad way. Deviance can be narratively treated as bad or wrong, and there is plenty of deviance from our meta societal norms with these two, but I digress. I don’t want to talk about that today.

I want to talk about subversion, and the deviance that is sometimes good, actually, and the message that sometimes you must break norms to do good.

[PS guys if you read all this and want to add your thoughts please do! This is kind of half-baked and I’d love to see more opinions because I’ve not seen anyone talk about this much.]

They are so fucking fascinating, because they are deviant! They are! Their entire relationship is baffling politically because of the Finwëan house feuds. More importantly, they have individual deviances that this relationship is telling you to pick up on.

.

Maedhros is a Kinslayer. Maedhros is also arguably the most heroic one of his siblings.

.

No, we can’t burn the ships. How the fuck are we gonna get Fingon over here?

No, I have to go parley with Morgoth.

I have to abdicate the crown because I’m becoming something I don’t want to be.

No, I have to put myself in front of everyone else. I have to hold Himring so the rest of Beleriand doesn’t get nuked.

I have to summon everyone for the Nirnaeth.

.

And then after Fingon dies in the Nirnaeth, Maedhros (as we all know) goes fully off the rails—which is to say, he becomes fully Fëanorian. He goes back to the norm for his family.

There are more Kinslayings. He tries once to save two twin children, and that’s it. He gives up. There is no more hope. Maglor is responsible for taking in the next set. Maglor also wants to beg the Valar for forgiveness, and maybe Maedhros would’ve seen the sense in that once, but instead he becomes the second coming of his father and dies burning, clutching onto his Oath.

The deviance from Fëanorian standards was the only thing keeping him from becoming a monster for all that time.

.

Fingon is also (very likely) a Kinslayer. He’s also the family extrovert and hope incarnate.

Unlike Aredhel and Turgon, he does not seclude himself for his own protection. He does the opposite.

.

No, we can’t just stay here in Aman. We need to protect the other half of our people??

No, we actually have to get Maedhros. Fine, I’ll do it myself then. I’ll reach out to the gods while I’m at it, since none of you will.

Of course we’re going to join every battle. Of course we’re going to help hold down Beleriand.

If I have to face evil alone I suppose I will, then.

.

And he dies when he’s alone against those Balrogs. Fingon is also like his father in many ways—but in some ways he is not. He is brighter, sometimes. He is hope incarnate in the worst of places.

.

I’m far from the first person to acknowledge that what Maedhros and Fingon have going on is a very strong message to never give up hope. But like—not just that. What kills me is that, you know, the hope and the heroism and the goodness is the deviance.

They like each other while most of the Noldor are off getting doomed or fighting with their relatives. You get to those little bits where it mentions Maedhros and Fingon still keeping up their friendship and you kind of have to think “damn, at least some people still genuinely love each other in the midst of all this horror.” It’s sweet. And yet it’s deviant.

And that’s weird, right? Usually deviance is bad. But I think here it’s more neutral. Just presented as: this is not the common option, not the norm. It’s not the common option, but it leads to one of the kinder relationships in the Silm.

The Silm wants you, the reader, to take away that you should have hope and goodness, even when everything around you is hell. Even when it is the hard option. When it becomes hardest to hold up light and help others, that is when it’s needed most.

It will be scary sometimes to be hopeful, and that’s okay. It will be scary to extend yourself. It will be scary to trust and to defend others. That’s okay. Do it fucking scared and keep doing it.

[polutrope]

Some Celeborn/Galadriel Headcanons

Wrote these as part of the 30-Character Study I'm doing for the @silmarillionwritersguild Jubilee Challenge on my Dreamwidth

Celeborn's Early Life and His Courtship of Artanis

Celeborn, second son of Galadhon, was born on the Great Journey by the mouths of the Anduin near Greenwood (then a much larger forest).

His mother was among those who forsook the journey with Lenwë before the crossing of the Misty Mountains. Celeborn followed his father and brother Galathil onwards, being kin of Elwë, but he never forgot the place of his birth where his family was divided. Regretting somewhat his choice, there was no question for Celeborn that he would remain in Beleriand after Elwë went missing.

Celeborn’s father Prince Galadhon was Thingol’s chief counsellor. While his elder brother Galathil took to a private, woodland life after the First Battle with his wife and their daughter Nimloth, Celeborn followed in his father’s footsteps, gaining much respect and influence in the court of Doriath.

He was sensitive to the needs and thoughts of others and had a gentle manner that put people at ease. For this reason, he often acted as an intermediary between Thingol and the Sindar outside Doriath who still called him King. Celeborn was highly respected among the Sindar, even those who dwelt in the north and did not acknowledge Thingol’s overlordship.

He enjoyed spending time with his brother’s family and being an uncle to Nimloth (and she loved him dearly), but Celeborn had no strong desire to marry or start a family of his own. While he had a few lovers over the years, he was very private about his romantic life and never led his lovers to believe he was interested in marriage.

With his approachable yet regal manner, grace, and handsome appearance, there was no shortage of people in Doriath and beyond its borders interested in marrying him. But he politely declined all such advances.

This all changed when he went with Angrod, who had just visited Doriath for the first time, back to Lake Mithrim as an emissary of Doriath. There he set eyes on Artanis for the first time and was struck dumb by her formidable intelligence and beauty. Literally, he did not say a word to her the whole time he was there. (He did manage to learn some things about her from Angrod, who promptly broke his confidence and told Artanis about the massive crush the Prince of Doriath had on her; but Artanis’ heart at that time was still heavy with grief and her thoughts could not have been further from matters of romance and she didn’t give Celeborn a second thought.)

When, some years (decades) later, Celeborn heard that Artanis would be visiting Menegroth, he got his act together. He would at least talk to her this time.

And he did! They had an enchanting couple of walks through the halls of Menegroth and in the surrounding forest, connecting over all sorts of matters of philosophy and politics, and found they shared the same witty sense of humour.

But it was not to last…. For almost as soon as she’d arrived in Doriath, Artanis made a connection with Queen Melian, spending all her time walking in the forests or locked away in a distant chamber of Menegroth, studying some secret arts. Soon, it was an open secret that the sister of Finrod had become the Queen’s lover. Well, Celeborn couldn’t compete with Melian.

When Artanis decided to dwell in Doriath for a time, Celeborn’s hope was renewed. Eventually, she stopped spending every waking moment with Melian. Celeborn would run into her in Menegroth’s library or in the gardens now and then, and they would talk for long hours and a friendship blossomed.

When the truth about the kinslaying at Alqualondë came out, Artanis became quite isolated for a time. There were those in Menegroth who did not conceal their distrust of her and hatred of her kin, even if she remained in the good graces of Melian and Thingol. Celeborn often visited her during this time and was a great source of comfort.

One day, Artanis confided to Celeborn that she had ended her physical relationship with the Queen. (At which Celeborn was astonished: she had ended it?) She had realised desire was interfering with her ability to enjoy the deeper emotional and intellectual aspects of the relationship. But she needed to take some time away from Menegroth to move on… so she was going to stay with her brother in the newly-completed Nargothrond for a time.

So Celeborn was once again left longing for Artanis’ affection, having made no progress towards confessing this longing to her — even though it was plain to most of Menegroth by then that he was smitten. They kept up correspondence by letters in the time she was away.

To Celeborn’s great relief, Artanis returned to dwell in Doriath after only a few years. Celeborn was terribly nervous about confessing his feelings for her, especially since he had grown to cherish their friendship and did not wish to lose it. But he would be a poor friend to continue to keep the truth from her: that he loved her.

So, not long after she’d returned to Menegroth, he invited her to walk to the top of the hill under which the city’s caves were delved. The trees were thinner there and the stars could be clearly seen. He asked her about her time in Nargothrond, and Artanis shared with him how she’d found it odd to be among the Noldor again; she no longer felt she belonged among them, but less did she feel that she belonged among the Sindar, even though Doriath felt more like home to her than any other place she had lived.

Now, Celeborn had only intended to confide his feelings to Artanis that night, but hearing this he was possessed with boldness and eagerness and told Artanis that, while she was already welcome among the Sindar, if she really wanted to feel she belonged she could marry him.

Artanis laughed at this. And laughed, and laughed, while Celeborn blustered through dozens of apologies. But it was not malicious laughter. When she finally collected herself, Artanis simply took his hands in hers and said, “I thought you’d never ask.”

[Things that are actually canon here: the Teleri pausing their journey near Greenwood; Lenwe forsaking the March; Celeborn's kinship with Elwe and his familial relationships; Angrod being the first of the Exiles to come to Doriath; Galadriel staying in Doriath for love of Melian (though Christopher altered the text for the published Silm to say she stayed for Celeborn); Galadriel dwelling for a time in Nargothrond.]

[sallysavestheday]

Spirit Games

Family feels for @arafinwean-week

*****************

Finarfin’s children are bright sparks, all, at their conception, dancing and shimmering in the depths of his heart. Yet each is shadowed, cradled in opacity that speaks of strange, uncertain futures. Child after child after child after child.

As they grow, he waits, loving them, for the trick of fate or fortune that will overturn the cup of his happiness. He knows too well from his own youth the weight of expectations, the shapes of pain and sorrow that dance beside joy.

Four souls, born of his own yearning.

He loves them, spoils them, shields them. He loses them all.

*****

Finrod loves haying: the sweet scent of the drying grasses, the rhythmic song of the haymakers, the slow trundle of the carts along the windrows as the forage is raked and piled high. He dances atop the ricks, trampling the straw and whistling as the oxen trudge their patient way to the barns.

Until he slips, and falls into the dusty pile, suddenly submerged. It is only a moment until he draws breath again, shivering, but he will swear ever after that it was there that he first heard cries of battle: struggling in the hay, that was the Fens.

*****

Angrod’s palms are pink with dust; the hollows of his eyes stand out from his dirty face as he tugs his father’s hand, hurrying him down to the brickworks where he has been playing.

“Atya, come see!” He is serious, urgent; his usually hasty speech strangely weighted with the knowledge of a task well-done.

The tower he has built has the clean lines and stability so prized by the Noldor: it will outlast a weathering, stand firm against a storm.

Finarfin’s words of praise are strangely stiff within his mouth. The late light bathes Angrod’s thatch of hair in flame. 

*****

The hunt is to be a pleasure trip, a milestone in maturity: riding out with elder cousins into what passes for the wilds of peaceful Aman. Aegnor watches the stag fall – its great head tossing in agony, its hooves tearing the grass – and asks when they may expect it to Return. Ever after, he refuses meat, unwilling to send another life beyond the circles of the world.

In Dorthonion, in love and already mourning Andreth, he raises sheep – for wool, alone. They are sweet, and wise, and shearing is as close to another life for them as he can come.

*****

Little Artanis cannot abide a leather garment. It is like having another skin, Atar, she explains, to his bewilderment, and I already have too many of my own. Watching her grow, Finarfin remembers that aversion as she shape-shifts and adapts: to politics, to sport, to craft. With each mastery some new form of her emerges, striding forth from the split skin of the old.

They meet again in foundering Beleriand, he in a steel carapace, she in silk and linen and the finest, softest wool. Still, no leather. How many selves she has shed by then, he does not know. 

*****

Also on AO3.

[shinraelectricpowercom]

So I was looking at a Tolkien Gateway timeline for the Dagor Bragollach (as you do) and there's an event listed from the Grey Annals in HoME 11, which is Celegorm and Curufin coming to Orodreth's rescue during the fall of Tol Sirion. And I was like "what", because that seems weirdly far north for them to be if they were trying to get to Nargothrond. But then I was like "what" because it's super weird for them to have been trying to get to Nargothrond at all, because it's halfway across Beleriand from where they started and hardly even a friendly city to them (Finrod not being among their avowed enemies but frankly seeming to incline closer to Thingol than the house of Feanor in his political leanings)

Anyways, so the Grey Annals entry (with names adjusted for pubSilm compatibility) is:

§153 [Sauron's] hosts broke through and besieged the fortress of [Finrod], Minas-tirith upon Tol Sirion ... and Orodreth the brother of [Finrod] who held it was driven out. There he would have been slain, but Celegorm and Curufin came up with their riders ... and stemmed the tide for a while; and thus Orodreth escaped and came to Nargothrond. Thither also at last before the might of Sauron fled Celegorm and Curufin ... and they were harboured in Nargothrond gratefully

So I propose: Celegorm and Curufin were trying to make it to Barad Eithel by way of the Pass of Sirion (a much nearer and more friendly location for them to seek shelter at; and, having representatives at the High King's fortress would also have been useful for consolidating power in the wake of the Dagor Bragollach, if they were so inclined). But Sauron's forces prevented them from making it past Tol Sirion and turned them to retreat, at which point they probably joined up with Orodreth's also-retreating forces for mutual protection, and since they had just saved Orodreth, he offered them refuge in Nargothrond as repayment for that rescue.

All of which makes their betrayal of Finrod & Orodreth later kicking them out that much messier.