#i read leithian out loud sometimes to amuse myself

[fangirl-erdariel]

Genuinely one of the most devastating sentences in all of Tolkien's writing to me is this "he came too late" from the Lay of Leithian

i don't even really know what it is about it because i mean. it's self-evident, if you've read Silmarillion, if you know the story, you know he doesn't reach Barahir and the outlaws in time. it's not like it's a major shocking plot twist or anything. but just. like. i don't even know

there's just this absolutely gut-wrenching finality about "he came too late", to me. just. it's so plain, so simple, so final. he came too late. there was nothing he could do. barahir is dead. the outlaws, including two of his cousins among them, are all dead. they were betrayed, and found, and killed, and he wasn't there and couldn't do anything, and now he's here and he can't save anyone. he came too late.

idk if this makes any sense at all to anyone else but just. god. somehow those four words just fucking get me every single time.