#last alliance elrond

[inkdusth]

Don't grieve Elrond... in the west, beyond the sea, we will meet again.

(Credit to: JaneDoemmmmm)

(T.T)

[inthiskingdomwewillendure]

Elrond in his armor in Dol Guldor 4k

[brooksbutler]

It's gonna just gut me when we finally see this in The Rings of Power (credit: Sally Socker)

[fantasyquests]

I want to see Gil-galad and Elrond, and Elendil and Isildur, two gorgeous dads and their sons, all dressed in armour and marching to the War of the Last Alliance.

[raven5056]

●The Slopes of Mount Doom●

Characters:

Elrond Peredhel (The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings, Rings of Power)

How have I naver properly drawn him before- (ignoring baby!Elrond)

Also first non-Silvergifting second age art?

[tathrin]

I'm working on some Background Timeline Nonsense for my Celebrimbor In The Fellowship AU fic and trying to put together stuff in a way that both makes sense and is fun (and reconciles some of the Unfinished Tales mess). I've already blathered at poor @babybat98 about this, but I figure I might as well subject the rest of you all to it share it here too, in case anyone has Thoughts or Suggestions:

A Timeline of the Lords of the Woodland Elves.

506 F.A. Doriath is sacked (about 30 years before the Third Kinslaying at Sirion).

By 511 F.A., refugees from Gondolin and a few Drúadain joined them there, and by 525 Earendil and Elwing were wed and ruling the Havens of Sirion.

539 F.A., the last of the Fëanorians show-up in Sirion and do their usual silmaril-slaughter, and Elwing jumps off the cliff. The Havens are left in ruins, and Morgoth has control of all Beleriand, blah blah blah.

545 F.A. the Host of the Valar land in Beleriad. The War of Wrath begins.

590 F.A. Morgoth defeated, War of Wrath ends, First Age ends. *Galadriel probably doesn't actually marry Celeborn until now, possibly because of the whole "don't marry during war" thing the Calaquendi tend to do? unclear, because everything involving them is unclear lmao

1 S.A. the Grey Havens are built in Lindon, the only place in Beleriand that really survived the War of Wrath.

By 20 S.A. Galadriel and Celeborn leave Lindon, where Gil-galad is now king (probably crowned because of Galadriel's influence somehow? Unclear, again!). Galadriel and Celeborn go to Eriador and dwell near Lake Nenuial, where they are accounted "the Lord and Lady of the Eldar in Eriador" according to one version of the Unfinished Tales. They have a lot of Noldor, Grey-elves, and Green-elves with them at this time. Now for the fun backstory stuff...what if we say that Celeborn, Oropher, and Amdír were all basically BFFs from their youth in Doriath, and will remain thus for many years before the eventual splintering around 750 S.A.?

So, as of S.A. 10-20 when Galadriel and Celeborn leave Lindon, what if we say that Amdír and Oropher are with them also at this point, and with them their sons? They can be part of the company of mingled Noldor and Iathrim who are mentioned there at Lake Nenuial, with Celeborn (relative of Thingol) and Galadriel (sister of Finrod) as the "highest ranking" of their little quartet, and also the ones (especially Galadriel) who care the most about rank/leadership, and thus fall naturally into that role both in behavior and in the eyes of everyone around them, while Amdír and Oropher are more advisors/etc (maybe they end up in charge of guarding everybody, as the Warriors of the group). Amroth could be as young as 110 right now if he was just a wee little lad when Doriath was destroyed, barely an adult, or at any rate easily less than 200 yet. Perhaps Amdir never made it to Sirion at all, and only rejoined his son after the War of Wrath? (Perhaps Amdir's mom died in the Kinslaying, like Nellglind?) Regardless, Galadriel and/or Celeborn could have been doing most of the looking-after of him during the War either way, and thus we get Amroth as sort of "their kid" like he was in that draft, while not actually being their son which wouldn't make sense. Maybe Celeborn looked after both Amroth and Thranduil while the other adults were involved more in the fighting, given that picturing either Amdir or Oropher NOT fighting if they were still in Beleriand at this point is difficult (albeit not impossible: they could always have gone "fuck this shit, this is a Calaquendi Problem, you deal with it") and Galadriel is The Mighty One while Celeborn is more chill (and because I like not having The Woman be the one doing the child-minding lol). Alternatively, they could have all fought to varying degrees, with young Thranduil the one charged with looking after younger Amroth? idk most of the War of Wrath is pretty hand-wavy even in Tolkien's stuff so this can stay vague lol

At any rate, we pick-up the thread with our next Known(ish) event:

300 S.A. is when Celebrían is probably born. At this point, her parents are presumably still in Eriador. So, we could have them all living together as a little found family unit of survivors at Lake Nenuial, with Amroth and Thranduil acting as sort of older brothers/cousins to Celebrian. Perhaps she has more of a brotherly relationship with Amroth, who is younger, and a little more distance between her and Thranduil, because he's so much older (and lived through the trauma of everything more directly)? He sees himself as the Sensible And Mature One who has to look out for the younger/more naive kids, perhaps? At some point, of course, there must be some kind of a falling-out of some sort between Oropher and Galadriel/Celeborn, because we need to have some reason as the driving factor (combined with the increasing numbers of Dwarves in Moria, which we know Oropher wasn't pleased by; hello Doriath Trauma Round One!) for him to do the whole "moved his people north three times" from the original location of Amon Lanc in order to avoid being near Galadriel and Celeborn in Lórien. Perhaps the falling-out can be traced back to Ost-in-Edhil somehow?

750 S.A. is approximately when Eregion is founded, and construction is begun on Ost-in-Edhil. 750 S.A. is also around when we're told that Oropher and Amdir took up lordship of their respective Silvan lands (although I'm already deviating from those details a bit because fuck colonialism lol; but that's easy enough to do and still claim canon-compliance due to the vagueness of all of this in "canon" anyway, so we'll still use that as the rough date of when the Sindar refugees came to Laurelindórenan/Greenwood, and just say the whole "king" thing in Greenwood happened later and the Noldorian historians never caught the nuances, shhh) So if we extrapolate from all that... What if the falling-out happens because of Eregion? What if Amdir and Oropher are not about to accept an open and friendly relationship with the local Dwarves, after what happened to Thingol and Doriath; and Galadriel, with her foresight and her stubbornness and her Noldorin love of craft (and the fact that her first main trauma was Alqualondë long before the Sindar were scarred by the Battle of a Thousand Caves), refuses to let her Goals™️ be held hostage to their grudges and trauma, and insists that the only way forward for this land is hand-in-hand with the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm. Celeborn reluctantly sides with his wife (even though he loathes dwarves as much as any of them) over his friends, and Amdir and Oropher go off in a huff with those others of the Elves of Eriador who aren't interested in More Noldorin Bullshit, crossing the mountains and joining with the Silvan Elves in the east. So:

750 S.A. Amdir and Oropher leave with a group of followers, while Galadriel and Celeborn found Ost-in-Edhil with Celebrimbor, the two of them being taken as Lord and Lady of Eregion while he's (presumably) just in charge of the smiths for now.

1000 S.A. Sauron, not wanting to start shit with the western elves or Numenorians right not because they're too strong (and presumably just not giving a shit about the little Wood-elves in their forests), beings building Barad-dûr.

1200 S.A. Sauron tries to beguile the Elves of Lindon, and Gil-galad tells him to fuck-off. He tries again in Eregion, and despite Galadriel going "big nope!" the Gwaith-i-Mírdain there welcome him.

1350 S.A. Sauron manages to get Galadriel ousted from Ost-in-Edhil, and Celebrimbor becomes lord of the place. Galadriel and Celebrían leave via Moria, and spend a while in Khazad-dûm with their dwarven friends before making their way eventually to their old friend Amdir and foster-son/brother Amroth in Lórien, where they are welcomed, and Galadriel and Amdir reconcile (possibly enthusiastically, possibly awkwardly) but Celeborn, refusing to step foot in a dwarven kingdom, stays in Eregion, where he is "disregarded" by Celebrimbor. So I like to picture him skulking about as That Grumpy Old Man muttering and scowling at everybody as they pat him on the head and go "there, there grandpa" and whisper apologies to whatever dwarf he's offended today.

1500 S.A. by this time, the Seven and the Nine are made, and Sauron leaves to go make the One Ring in secret in Mordor.

1600 S.A. Sauron makes the One Ring and proclaims himself as Sauron, and ready for war. Celebrimbor goes OH FUCKSHIT and runs through Moria to consult with Galadriel in Lórien. He gives her Nenya, and she convinces him to send the other two to Gil-galad in Lindon, and get them the fuck out of Ost-in-Edhil.

1605 S.A. Sauron's immediate attempt to start said war is potentially delayed by the first two of the Istari, the Blue Wizards, who in a much later draft of Tolkien's actually came to Middle-earth during the Second Age, long before the rest of them, rather than all coming over together. Instead, he had them come over with Glorfindel, and while Glorfindel hung around to help Gil-galad et al they made their way East, to try and save the tribes of Men who had fallen under Morgoth's worship, and to discover where Sauron was hiding, and work against him. I think I want to go with that version, simply because I like the idea of Glorfindel coming back with some of the Istari? But I ALSO like the idea of him having fought in the Last Alliance, which means I need him to come over before Gandalf, Saruman, and Radagast do in the Third Age. So this splits the difference nicely! So, as of 1600: the valar have gone "oh fuck!" and thrown two maia and one reborn elf on a boat and thrown them back to Middle-earth to clean-up the leftovers of the mess left by the War of Wrath when they failed to drag Morgoth's most powerful lieutenant back to face judgement in Valinor OOPSIES, presumably because they figured out that Shit Was Hitting The Fan thanks to the whole One Ring Thing being big enough to be Noticed By The Powers lol Anyway, thanks to Morinehtar and Rómestámo being fucking badass, Sauron's plans for war are delayed several years, and Celebrimbor has time to hide the Three and presumably to warn the Dwarves about the Seven. Ooh, what if we say that he's been spending a lot of this time trying to devise some way of un-linking the Rings from the One Ring? He apparently has the Nine with him when Eregion falls, and Sauron just takes those, but the Seven and the Three aren't there; maybe he was working on the Nine, and knew the Seven were safe in Khazad-dûm where his dwarven smith-friends were doing the same there? And that's why he never tried to destroy them: he was still holding out hope they could be saved, be fixed. That he wouldn't have to destroy the greatest things he ever made, and all the hopes he put into them. He just needed a little more time...

1693 S.A. the War of the Elves and Sauron (finally) begins.

1695 S.A. Sauron slinks through the Gap of Rohan, thus avoiding the Elves in the Greenwood and Lórien, and invades Eriador. Thanks to the Númenóreans having cut down many of the Trees of Minhiriath and Enedwaith, the people in these lands welcomed Sauron's conquest and let him pass without trouble. (Well done, Númenor! Didn't anyone ever teach you deforestation is bad?) Celeborn leads the forces from Eregion (presumably having said "I told you so" to Celebrimbor a few times) and they manage to defeat the first wave of Sauron's army, but are then overwhelmed and forced back to Ost-in-Edhil. Gil-galad hears about this and sends Elrond leading a force from Lindon to help, and also sends messages to Númenor pleading for help. Nobody answers (men, pah!). Elrond's force is too small, and can't break-through to get to Eregion to help.

1697 S.A. Ost-in-Edhil falls. Celebrimbor is tortured into giving up the location of the Seven, but dies without revealing the Three. Sauron, not being an entire idiot, guesses that they're most likely with Galadriel and Gil-galad anyway, but is pissy about being resisted, and turns Celebrimbor into a banner that he carries into battle. Elrond's tiny army is about to be overrun when the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm attack Sauron from the rear, along with the force of elves that Amroth has led through Moria from Lórien, (because whatever Issues™️ his father might have with Dwarves, he's not about to let his foster-father die). This allows Elrond to gather the survivors of Ost-in-Edhil, including presumably Celeborn, and flee. The Dwarves are driven back as well, but they shut the Doors of Moria and Sauron can't get in. Haha, thwarted by Celebrimbor and his previous sweetheart, sucks to be you Sauron! The Doors of Durin are apparently not opened again until the Fellowship of the Ring comes to them (although that doesn't make sense, because Gandalf and Aragorn both passed through Moria at least once before LotR, so they must have been opened at some point; but perhaps the text only means they were not left open again after this point, and is not referring to when/if they were ever opened from inside by someone walking through and out?). The retreating elves found the stronghold of Rivendell, to which many of the survivors of Eregion flee. (Celeborn, presumably, says "I told you so" a lot at this point too, but not often enough for them to murder him.) The rest scatter, some fleeing Middle-earth altogether and some disappearing into the Wild with others fleeing through Khazad-dûm (before the Doors are shut, presumably) thanks to their dwarven friends, and make their way eventually to Lórien, where they join their fellows who left Ost-in-Edhil earlier and merge with the Silvans and Sindar there.

by 1700 S.A. Sauron has overrun all of Eriador except for Rivendell, which is besieged, and Lindon, where Gil-galad is also barely holding him off at the River Lhûn and Mithlond. Finally the Nûmenorian fleet arrives, and kicks Sauron's ass all the way back to Tharbad, although he burns the forests of Minhiriath and Enedwaith as he goes. He gets caught in a pincer between the main force and a smaller one that Ciryatur landed at Gwathló behind him, and barely escaped "with his bodyguard" to Dagorlad. It is unclear at this point if Sauron actually HAS any or all of the Seven, or just knows where they are; sources say that Durin at least was given his Ring by Celebrimbor himself, so perhaps Sauron never actually manages to collect all the Seven at this point? but still has his original influence over them. He does have the Nine, we know, because he gathered them up when he came to Ost-in-Edhil and defeated Celebrimbor on the steps of the House of the Mírdain.

1701 S.A. the first Council is held in Imladris, when Galadriel and Celebrían come looking for Celeborn and meet-up with all the other leaders of the various forces of Elves and Men. They decide to make Rivendell the new elvish stronghold in Eriador, as Eregion is in ruins and remains thus. Gil-galad at this point gives Vilya to Elrond (it's unclear when Cirdan gets Narya, because of course is it; he might already have it, or he might not get it until Gil-galad marches to War in Mordor, although wtf was he thinking leaving Narya behind when he went to war just when he would need its power most? Gil-galad wtf mate???) and declares him his vice-regent. This is also when Elrond and Celebrían meet for the first time. (Presumably at this point her foster-brother Amroth teases her mercilessly about her very obvious crush on Gil-galad's pet peredhel, and she probably smacks the crap out of him for being a jerk.) At some point after this, Galadriel and Celeborn (and Celebrían presumably) leave Rivendell to live near the sea, probably because Galadriel was apparently "striken with sea-longing" the moment she put Nenya on. They go to Belfalas, which will be later called Dol Amroth, and apparently visit Lórien at least twice more before the end of the Second Age, but we don't know anything else about them here.

At this point, there isn't much relevant canon information until the Last Alliance happens, since most of what's going on of import now is happening in Numenor, but let's hit the highlights in case we want to expand on any of this later.

2251 S.A. the Nazgûl appear.

3262 S.A. Sauron taken to Numenor as a prisoner.

3319 S.A. Numenor sunk, Sauron flees back to Middle-earth, and the world is reshaped.

3429 S.A. Sauron seizes Minas Ithil.

3430 S.A. formation of the Last Alliance.

3431 S.A. the Last Alliance marches to Rivendell.

3434 S.A. the march to Mordor, and the Battle of Daglorlad, where Oropher and Amdir both die. Siege of Barad-dûr begins.

3441 S.A. Sauron defeated (for now), war is over. Thranduil and Amdir go home with their scant surviving forces.

[raointean]

Rings of Power Celebration - Week 4

I know this PROBABLY isn't what you meant with the "Music" prompt, but I had the thought of Elrond writing "Diggy Diggy Hole" and couldn't not write it

Elrond hummed to himself as he stoked the fire. He and Durin were on their way back to Khazad-Dûm to present King Gil-Galad’s proposal to King Durin III, but unfortunately, it was slow going. In addition to Durin's incredibly short legs, the weather had turned against them, which now necessitated them hiding out in a cave until the storm passed.

"What’s that you're humming?" Durin pulled him out of his thoughts.

What had he been humming? He tried to catch the last few notes before they left his mind, and-Oh no!

"It- it's nothing. Just a little ditty I made up. A bit of silliness, " Elrond tried to brush it off, flushing furiously.

Durin took his pipe out of his mouth, eyebrows raised; his interest officially piqued. "Really? You know, I may be no musical expert, but that tune sounded distinctly dwarvish. I'm curious, and anyway, we could use a bit of levity in the midst of all of this 'doom and gloom and end-of-elven-life-as-we-know-it' business. Sing it for me."

Elrond balked. "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly." He really didn't want to lose his friendship with Durin so soon after they had mended it. And he certainly didn't want to lose it over a song! "It wasn't meant for any ears but my own and... it could, perhaps, be a little offensive."

Durin laughed heartily and took a long drag from his pipe. "The best songs always are! Let's hear it."

Elrond sighed, knowing that Durin could, and would, out-stubborn him on any day of the week. "Very well. But let it never be said that I did not warn you."

Durin simply raised an unimpressed eyebrow and waited for Elrond to begin. He did.

"Brothers of the mine, rejoice!

Swing, swing, swing with me

Raise your pick and raise your voice!

Sing, sing, sing with me

Down and down into the deep

Who knows what we'll find beneath?

Diamonds, rubies, gold, and more

Hidden in the mountain store"

The song went on like that for several verses, and by the end of it, Durin was laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face. In fact, he was laughing so hard that it took him several moments to collect himself enough to speak.

"That was amazing, Elrond. Massive generalization of our culture and absolutely hilarious!"

Strangely enough, there was no sarcasm in Durin's voice; he genuinely seemed to mean it. Elrond rolled his eyes fondly. "You would find that funny."

Silence fell for a few minutes before a new topic arose and Elrond put memories of the song behind them. The topic was laid to rest and he found it unlikely that it would come up again.

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

"As I have already said, your majesty, the dwarves will come. Despite the reticence of the rest of their kind, Khazad-Dûm has pledged an army and I have the utmost faith in King Durin's word." The war was taking a toll on all of them, bringing out the worst in people, and Elrond was frustrated to find King Gil-Galad’s tendency towards mistrust brought front and center.

Gil-Galad sighed. His armor was scuffed and coated with ash from their last battle, the meagar torchlight inside the conference tent reflecting dimly off of it, and he looked as if he carried the entire world on his shoulders. The pressure of leading all of the free peoples of Middle Earth had finally caught up to him, it seemed. "I do not doubt your faith in your friend, Elrond. I only doubt their commitment to help us. Things have been tense between Lindon and Khazad-Dûm ever since... Eregion, as you well know. They may have pulled out of the Alliance."

That was ridiculous, Elrond thought. Durin would never go back on a pledge such as this, regardless of the setbacks. Unfortunately, he had no proof with which to refute his king. Dwarves were known to occasionally flip allegiances at the last moment, and Durin was late.

As he stewed in silence, trying to find another argument in favor of the dwarves, they heard a sound from outside the tent. It was the echo of tramping feet and- was that singing?

Elrond and Gil-Galad shared a silent glance before leaving the tent to investigate. Out in the open, the noise was much clearer, clear enough that Elrond could make out individual words, and he realized with dawning horror and near-delirious mirth that he knew them by heart.

"Born underground, grown inside a rocky womb

The earth is our cradle; the mountain shall become our tomb

Face us on the battlefield; you will meet your doom

We do not fear what lies beneath

We can never dig too deep

I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole

Diggy diggy hole, diggy diggy hole!"

At that very moment, a banner peaked up over the hilltop, quickly followed by a horde of distant, black dots.

"What is that?" Gil-Galad wondered aloud.

The blue banner waved in the wind, seven Fëanorian stars, a hammer and an anvil, and an iron crown upon it. "The army of Khazad-Dûm," Elrond breathed.

Durin had made good on his promise. What was more, he seemed to have taught a new marching song to his men.

@the-southlands

[spicavierge]

In the Dust

After the brutal death of King Oropher at Dagorlad, Thranduil must step into leadership in the last push to overthrow Sauron. Examines the burden of kingship, the balance of self versus duty, and male friendship in a time of great loss. Character studies of Thranduil during the Last Alliance at the end of the Second Age.

Five chapters, completed series.

[silvantransthranduiltrash]

Legolas’s Age

Ok, so i know that everyone has their own hc for how old he is, especially considering that we are never told his age, however-

I strongly reject the common notion that legolas is more than a few years younger than elladan and elrohir.

And just to clarify, you can hc what you want, i’m not saying it’s incorrect, this is simply my opinion.

But for me, it makes no sense to send a legit really young elf on the quest, so that already eliminates the idea of Legolas being really young or the youngest elf in middle-earth.

Furthermore, some people might point out that Legolas’s attitude is very carefree and lightharded and seemingly young, to which i point at book!thranduil and say “yeah, so is this one, and he’s probably the same age as elrond”. The wood elves that we have seen in the hobbit act pretty lively, they like to party, and they know how to enjoy themselves even with the looming shadows encroaching on their forests. Is it really that surprising that Legolas has a similar attitude throughout the quest?

If anything, the way we are shown how the wood elves live, how thranduil is, gives Legolas’ own light hearted and joyous attitude a rather solid foundation, and it is a shame that foundation is ripped away by the hobbit movies. (The mis representation of the woodelves is probably my biggest pet peeve of the movies)

Now, you’re probably wondering “ok, well than how old do you think he is?”

To which i answer that he was probably born sometime during the 2nd age, where exactly i don’t know, but here is my reasoning for this time line.

Legolas refers to himself as a silvan in the books, which likely indicates that he was born and grew up in greenwood after Oropher’s people fleed there after the sack of doriath, and that most likely his mother was a silvan.

I’m fairly certain that we can all agree on at least that.

However, the reason i say he was probably born before the 3rd age is largely speculation on my part, and it actually has to do with The Last Alliance.

Now, we know that Oropher and Thranduil and a good chunk of their military rode to join this battle, which eventually killed Oropher and resulted in Thranduil being king.

Someone had to hold down the fort in greenwood, and seeing as we know literally nothing about either of the two’s wives or where they were, i’m inclinded to believe that at least one of them remained. Now, you could argue that it was Oropher’s wife that remained, which leaves me to my next point-

Why would thranduil, the heir of the woodland realm, ride out with his people to his possible death, when Oropher was still alive and kicking?

My guess?

Legolas was already born, and probably even already an adult by elven standards. That way there would have been an heir kept safe that could lead the people should both Oropher and Thranduil fall.

I don’t think that, with his experiences in doriath and it’s sacking, Oropher would have been ok with his heir riding alongside him to his possible death unless there was someone in place to take over the crown should the worst come to worse, someone who would already be old enough to also take up the duties of the crown and have the experience of leading (albeit only some of) the people that were left behind when the army went to fight.

Now i’m not saying legolas has to be old-old, he could have simply been born only a century or so before the last alliance, but i do think that, due to the reasons i mentioned above, he was born during the second age.

You are, of course, free to think whatever you want, but this is what makes the most sense to me.

[metatomatoes]

Gil-Galad and Elrond at The Last Alliance!

Elrond is exhausting but still swinging, Gil is mid-Song or something idek 🤷‍♀️ 🤣

[annoyinglandmagazine]

Elrond and Gil Galad angst

‘My king,’ and Gil Galad felt his heart grow lighter in his chest yet ache with an inexplicable pain as a very familiar figure came into his line of sight. The army, men and elves alike parted before the two of them. Elrond greeted him with a much lower bow than was necessary, considering the great portion of the army that answered directly to him rather than Gil Galad himself. Ereinion gestured for him to walk by his side as he inspected the ranks.

Elrond took his place by his side and began to speak in that clear melodic way of his, ‘The east regiment is ready, they await on your orders.’ And for a moment it was almost like it was for so many centuries, so many millennia, but it was not quite. If they had been in Lindon Elrond would not simply be walking in measured steps like the soldier he had been in most every way since far too early in his life. He would have been balancing on some tree branch or wall and spinning around on the tips of his toes with his arms extended while humming snatches of things that weren’t quite songs to himself. He’d never seemed quite solid, moving from one place to another so quickly you lost sight of him, like smoke or the spray of sea foam at the prow of a ship.

Now he looked like a soldier, no more than that, no matter how fervently he’d deny it, he looked like a king. And that made Gil Galad more devastated than ever but still more sure that he was making the right decision. If Elrond, who had already suffered so much and was still so visibly changed from the events of Eregion, was still standing here before him now he was more than strong enough to continue without him. And more crucially he looked at his closest friend and knew that he never wanted another to suffer the way he had. He didn’t want anyone else to ever have to be this strong and he knew Elrond wouldn’t either.

‘I’m ready. We ride at dawn.’ He then took a deep breath and felt every inch of all his years at last. They say Valinor’s peaceful. Peace. He supposed he’d never really known what it was really, simply living off borrowed time ever since that crown’s cold weight had settled on his head. ‘I had something I wanted to give you,’ he slowly removed the necklace that had rested around his neck beneath his robes even longer than that crown. He held it in his palm, a simple iron pendant.

‘It’s the emblem of the house of Fingolfin. I promise it’s not some trick to try and make you king or something-’ he broke off with something he tried to pass as a laugh but was really a lot closer to a sob. Elrond looked up at him with sad eyes that had seen too much, and whispered ‘Why are you giving this to me?’ though Gil Galad suspected he already knew.

‘It is the last thing I have of my father, I have no memories of him. I have no wife, no children, nor siblings but I have you. You are the closest thing to family I have on this shores, you always have been and I want you to have this.’ He clasped the small pale hand in his own and laid the pendant in it, closing Elrond’s fingers around it while not breaking eye contact.

‘Elrond listen to me,’ he said softly while reaching his thumb up to brush a tear away from his cheek, ‘Please live. Please be happy. You deserve to be happy, don’t spend your life mourning those who you’ve lost celebrate those who you still have. You will never be alone, you’re too kind to ever not have people who love you or for anyone to ever stop doing so.’

Elrond leaned up and pressed their foreheads together and his eyes closed slowly as he finally began to weep. They withdrew after what felt like an eternity and Gil Galad shakily fastened the clasp around the pendant around Elrond’s neck. In normal circumstances he would have laughed at the sight of a Nolofinwean emblem on Sindarin style armour bearing the crests of various houses of men, by someone wearing Telerin colours, Feanorian braids, holding a Feanorian sword, and marching under Numenorean banners.

As it was he merely smirked at Elrond’s choice of attire and weaponry, ‘Felt like inducing a fifth kinslaying today?’ Elrond laughed through his tears ‘I thought it was a good show of unity. No scratch that, I just wanted to see people’s faces and maybe make Feanor turn in his grave.’ They smiled for a moment and the fate looming over them was almost forgotten. ‘I’m sorry I won’t be able to see your wedding. I’d have liked to be there for you.’ That was the last time they ever saw each other on this side of the sea.

[sandwichmustbetasty]

oh for fuck's sake, the numenor timeline is so fucked, what even is this

is everything going to happen over 1000 years earlier?

wild

I'm not gonna enjoy the whole rings business being so compressed.

I mean it really takes away the whole hapelessnes of war fought for so long, the foe hiding and resurfacing only to destroy what should be the best of men's kingdoms, then building a massive army and laying waste to the last alliance. war won but at what cost.

idk, compressing it really takes away from the story.

that's what I always love about Tolkien's world, the timeline being so long that any average men thinks events of the past to be just memories while the elves are forced to remember.

this is what hits so hard, logically if they knew about fall of eregion happening let's say 10, he'll even 100 years earlier they would be more wary of sauron (probably), but having it happen over 1500 years before makes it all sound more like a legend and not a warning

and I understand the need to compress it if they want to tell the story as the do but in all honesty they literally didn't need to even add numenor and just focus on eregion + Adar

i don't know how they stand with the rights to various Tolkien's works

BUT

mariner's wife

if they did that my soul would be sold in a less than a second, but I think they couldn't do that so :'c

[raisingcain-onceagain]

Afire

(read it on Ao3 here!)

Artist: @maglor-my-beloved (Ao3: maglor-my-beloved)

Author: RC (Ao3: RaisingCaiin)

Elrond has found rest impossible, and ghosts all too familiar, in the wake of the Last Alliance and its losses. Now that he is learning of this, Erestor has many thoughts about the matter.

Rating: Art: G | Fic: M

Warnings: None

Relationships: Erestor & Elrond, Erestor/Elrond, Erestor & Gil-Galad (background/previous)

Characters: Erestor, Elrond

Additional tags: Grief/Mourning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Referenced Canon Character Death, Post-Last Alliance

Word Count: 5,024

Inspired by this lovely art from @maglor-my-beloved!

[eglerieth]

Been thinking about Elrond and Halbarad, and the role of herald.

In the waning of the Second Age, Elrond had the honor of being herald and banner-bearer to Gil-Galad, last of the Noldorin kings. He bore the flag of the elves in the Battle of the Last Alliance. Afterward, he went on to become one of the greats, a lord of elves (and men) and forge deep connections between peoples.

In the waning of the Third Age, Halbarad had the honor of being herald and banner-bearer to Aragorn Ellessar, first king of the Men of the West in a thousand years. He bore the flag of Gondor and Arnor in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. He died there, and his king went on to forge a new age for Mankind, dominant in a world inherited from Elvenkind. I think this truly shows the differing roles of elves and men, especially at that point in time. The elf lives as a wise, renowned, lord of a waning household rich with history, and the man dies for the cause of a new, prosperous age ruled by those that survive him. Elrond leaves Middle Earth at last shortly after, leaving it in the hands of a descendant of his brother- the two lines of the choices of the peredhil fulfilled at last, through heralds.

[ailurinae]

If Thranduil had taken his forces to Elf [war] practice, maybe so many of them wouldn't have died.

someone had to and I will not apologize

[sakasakiii]

when i first designed erestor 3 years back i wasnt totally aware of his potential half-elf status, and since then ive come across some more fanon interpretations of him being haleth and caranthir's kid which i really liked!!!! so ive decided to rework him a little by combining my original lore for him into this concept 👉👈 i ended up getting carried away on whole different tangent with his backstory which ive summarised down below HAHA

tldr to expand on some key points under the cut:

born in F.A. 371 to haleth and caranthir; his parents' romance is short but passionate, and while many of the haladin are initially unsure about the nature of this union, they dont oppose it. for 4 years they live an unconventional but happy life together

haleth leaves thargelion in F.A. 375 and raises erestor with her people once they resettle. he's too young to remember much about caranthir. throughout his childhood she never tells him who his father is, but he also never really feels the need to ask.

he's captured in F.A. 460 (40 years after his mother's death) and escapes in F.A. 510. two years later, he finally finds refuge in Amon Ereb-- six years after the deaths of caranthir, celegorm and curufin in the 2nd kinslaying.

is tasked by maedhros to assist maglor with elrond and elros' education after they're taken in following the 3rd kinslaying in F.A. 538. he becomes a weird mix of a nanny/older brother/teacher figure to them, and a strange but sweet bond forms between them.

entrusted to protect elrond and elros following the break out of the war of wrath. he leads them to the Host of the Valar, where the twins are given the choice of the half-elven; to his surprise, he's afforded this choice as well, and decides to remain elven out of compassion for elrond after elros chooses mortality.

remains by elrond's side to watch over him for most of the 2nd age. during this time he resides in lindon as a healer, translator and archivist; later joins elrond in imladris, and partakes in the war of the last alliance as a combat medic.

in the 3rd age, is beset with sea-longing after what he regards to be a long and tiresome existence; he's also filled with guilt for being unable to help elrond heal celebrian’s psychological wounds, and contemplates following her back to Valinor. ultimately decides to stay back a bit longer, however, and lingers until after sauron’s defeat when the rest of the elves finally depart for the West. 

that's just a very condensed version but one day i hope to explore in some 4th age stuff where he finds out who his dad is...?! or will he?!?! who knows lol