#lay of lethian

[maeofthenoldor]

Imagine, just imagine Finrod is bleeding out in the prison of Sauron, Beren trying to keep him awake but his eyes are starting to flicker and glaze over. Beren is shouting at him, trying to oull him back to reality but he knows he's slipping away. Finrod only smiles, manic, acceptance, but most surprisingly, relief. Beren tries to get him to stop speaking, to stop moving so he could stop the blood flow. Yet Finrod only laughs, that gurgles with the froth of gore at his mouth, and says the single word, “Beor.” 

Beren tries to tell him that he is not Beor, but Finrod only cups his chin and says once more; “Beor”

So he doesn't deny it. He holds onto Finrods hands until his grip loosens, and his ancestors name the last word on his friends lips.

[alicewritingstories]

Febuwhump Day 28: "No... not like this"

CW: mention of death, grief

AO3

---

It had been almost two days. Luthien hadn't slept the whole time. Her head ached. Her eyes burned with unshed tears and she could feel an exhausted tremble through her whole body.

Beren hadn't even stirred for hours.

More tears welled in her eyes, making his face waver. It was so pale and she wasn't sure if she was imagining the sickly green cast. She thought she'd got all the poison out of his wound. But was she sure enough? How would she know? She didn't know what she should have been looking for to be sure and there was such a long time between when he'd been wounded and when she'd been able to start properly caring for him.

Maybe she'd been too slow.

Maybe the poison had spread too far.

Maybe it had never been possible to save him. The wound had always been mortal.

The tears were choking her now and she bent to rest her head on his chest, sobbing, ignoring the smell of the wolf-pelt he was still wearing. He was still. She couldn't even concentrate enough to tell if his ribs were rising and falling under her head. All she could do was kneel beside him, weeping, pleading with any of the Valar that might be listening to Melian's wayward daughter.

"He can't die," she whispered. "No… not like this. He's… after everything he's done… after everything I've done… he can't die like this." She raised her head a little to look at his face. "Beren, don't… don't leave me here. Don't leave me alone."

His face wavered as she blinked away the tears. They kept coming, endless as a river. She couldn't see clearly and in the moment she didn't care. If he was gone, what could she do? Go home? Then what? She'd given up everything for him. She couldn't go home like this, but what other choice was there?

Then, suddenly, she felt a familiar, calloused hand on her cheek, rubbing away the tears.

"Tinuviel?" he whispered.

She gasped, choking on another sob as he clumsily wiped her tears again. The few times he'd regained scraps of awareness, he'd not seemed to recognise her.

"Tinuviel… who made you cry?"

"Y-you did," she said, halfway between laughing and crying.

"Oh. Sorry."

She bent to kiss him. "It's forgiven. I… I love you, Beren. Don't ever forget that."

Her tears were easing a little, enough to see him smile. "I love you too, Tinuviel. I'd go through hell again for you."

"I'm going to make sure you don't have to," she promised.

[leggy-lass]

Lúthien! Arg I can never get her quite right but I think I’m getting pretty close…

[softlysilverfountainsfall]

"But no true Man nor Elf yet free / would ever speak that blasphemy"

Beren and Finrod are willing to blow their cover right in front of Sauron himself rather than repeat these words:

"Death to light, to law, to love! / Cursed be moon and stars above! / May darkness everlasting old / that waits outside in surges cold / drown Manwë, Varda, and the sun! / May all in hatred be begun / and all in evil ended be / in the moaning of the endless Sea!"

So...how do the elves perform this part of the Lay of Lethian? Because these lines are from the Lay, and the elves must sing and perform the Lay fairly often since it's one of their most beloved stories.

I find it difficult to believe that they would willingly and frequently repeat the blasphemous and seditious words that Finrod and Been were willing to lose their lives not to repeat just for a song (however important that song might be). If nothing else, it would be very disrespectful to the heroes they are trying to immortalize who did in fact die in large part because they blew their cover by not repeating those words.

So, my theory is that the words quoted above from the Lay of Leithian are sung and performed but are not actually the words that Sauron and the orcs used. In other words, I believe that the verse in the Lay is a toned-down or altered version (it is a little overdramatic, after all) of the actual oath to darkness because "no true Man nor Elf yet free / would ever speak that blasphemy"

[bunnynoldo]

I have been re-reading Tolkien lately, and I've noticed how you could kind of read everything that happens to Sauron in the Rings of Power as karma for what he did to Gorlim (at least if we assume that he is truly repentive and that he has feelings for Galadriel)

So long story short, Sauron wants information from Gorlim and he tempts him with what he wants most - his wife returned to him and them living in peace away from war. He decieves him, as Gorlim's wife is already long dead, and he kills him in the end.

who with few words might win release

for her, and thee, and go in peace,

and dwell together far from war,

friends of the King? What wouldst thou more?'

And in the Rings of Power:

Oh so now you want to have peace away from war, do you Halbrand? Unfortunately though, no peace for Sauron, no peace for Sauron for a thousand years.

Then Sauron laughed aloud. 'Thou base,

thou cringing worm! Stand up,

Now, being called baseborn isn't that nice, is it Halbrand?

The price thou askest is but small

for treachery and shame so great! (...)

from first false step to faithless end:

he all must answer as he could,

betray his lord and brotherhood,

Guess who'll betray Morgoth and go fighting with Adar and his orcs, riding on a white steed in a shining armour, under elven princess'es commands. That's right, this bitch:

Thou fool: a phantom thou didst see

that I, I Sauron, made to snare

thy lovesick wits. Naught else was there.

So you've saying thay you've played on someone's greatest heart desires, only to tell them there was no hope for them all along and brutally crush their dreams? Okay. Okay.

I guess no repentance and salvation for you after all. And no friendship with the elven princess. That's rough buddy.

Also, Sauron is mocking Gorlim for being a fool in love is interesting if we interpret Sauron's interest in Galadriel as romantic in the show (and there's no way no interpret it another way, even if we think he's just using her). Coming from Mairon, a guy who acts as a knight in a shining armour and a rightous king for her. Who thinks she would forgive him, respect him and rule beside him.

Thou fool, thy lovesick wits are showing.

I think it's probably only a coincidence that those themes match Lay of Lethian, but it kind of fits?

[maybe-thou-shalt-find-valimar]

who wants lyrics for the lay of lethian except more like a modern song that i wrote just now ('now' is two thirty in the morning so it's probably not that good)

[shrikeseams]

on one hand, any live action adaptation of the lay of lethian is bound to be a wretched dissapointment.

on the other hand: luthien celegorm fanvids set to 'No Scrubs'.

[adreamofdoriath]

F, J, N? 😁

Headcanon meme

<3 (。・ω・。)

F. How do they handle conflict?

This depends on the level of conflict. Daeron definitely does not shy away from arguments (starting, joining, ending) and he loves a good battle of witty insults, even when there is genuine hostility involved. He also enjoys writing insulting rhymes about other people, for a variety of reasons, which is naturally inclined to catch him some flak, which he is aware of.

However, if he catches even the slightest hint things are going to turn physical or otherwise get serious, he is immediately scuttling behind Thingol for protection. He does not like physical confrontations. Think of him in general like the painting of the jester on the fence taunting a bunch of dogs frothing at the mouth on the ground. He knows he's virtually untouchable as Thingol's chief loremaster and favorite minstrel and he takes copious advantage of that.

In terms of other people's conflicts--he still generally does not enjoy physical conflict, even where he's not a party. He can tolerate verbal conflict if it's interesting--if he finds it dull, then it's just an annoyance and he's likely to intervene to shut both parties up (which usually involves making fun of both of them and their argument also). If it gets physical he will generally try to remove himself from the incident (again, unless he finds it amusing).

J. What is their greatest weakness?

He has a few, but the greatest? I would say the one that gets him in the most trouble is that he can be impulsive. We see it when he curses Doriath, we see it when he laughs at Beren, we see it when he rats Luthien out to Thingol in a moment of temper, it's possibly what results in his self-exile. When he gets emotional he's liable to do something in the heat of the moment that he very quickly regrets, but sometimes the damage is already done.

He can also be self-centered at times which doesn't do him any favors either.

N. What are their hidden talents?

Hidden? I'm not sure he has any of those 😂 One that we don't see in Silm proper (iirc) that is plot-relevant in The Lay of Lethian is his woodworking abilities--he makes Luthien a working loom on which she weaves her magic cloak to escape Doriath. Luthien says he has "many crafts" besides his music, but she doesn't elaborate on the others. If the use of the word "shaft" is something to go off, it's possibly he's a fletcher? I can only see that being something he would have put to use when Doriath was young and deeply in need of defense though.

I could potentially see him being into pottery or working with clay, possibly some embroidery.

[maeofthenoldor]

 Luthien/Thuringwethil is real! First time that Thuringwethil has shown up in the Lay Of Lethian Rock Opera and she is already gay for luthien. My lesbian heart cant take it. We just keep winning

[alicewritingstories]

Febuwhump Day 12: Semiconscious

CW: None

Continues Day 10

AO3

---

Evening was falling. Luthien had found some fruit and lit a fire to roast some wild carrots she'd recognised from helping Beren forage earlier in their journey. It wasn't much, but these days she had gotten used to much smaller meals.

She shivered with more than cold as she sat by the fire, looking over at Beren. He looked so pale even in the glow of the flames. She'd pulled him as close to the fire as she dared, hoping that the warmth would drive away the chill that had settled in his flesh.

She sighed and ate another berry without really tasting it. She felt exhausted, a shaky weakness in her limbs from hunger and stress and lack of sleep. In this moment she wanted nothing more than to feel her mother's arms around her and pour out everything that had happened.

She sighed again, closing her eyes. She had chosen this. Beren had needed her and so she had set out to find him and now she had him. She wouldn't trade one comfort for the other.

As if he'd heard her thoughts, she suddenly heard Beren stir sad moan faintly. Her eyes flew open and she leaned forward to look at his face.

"Beren?" He hadn't shown any sign of life since she'd finished getting the poison out of his wrist.

His eyes flickered open, glazed and unfocussed, reflecting the dancing flames.

"Beren?" she said again. "Can you hear me, Love?"

"Mom?" he mumbled. "Mom…" He stirred, turning his head to and fro. "W're… had a bad dream…"

"No, Beren, your mom's not here."

He blinked vaguely at her. "But…" He murmured, then his eyes drifted closed again and no matter how much she called his name he didn't stir again.

---

Continued on Day 28

[leggy-lass]

You guys! I wanted to draw the fairest elf-maiden to ever live! So here is my interpretation of Lúthien!

(I hope I put the accent in the right place)

[imakemywings]

Then I alone must go to him and dare the dread in dungeons dim; for none there be that will him aid in all the world, save elven-maid whose only skill were joy and song, and both have failed and left her long.

Luthien vows to rescue Beren from Sauron, The Lay of Lethian, J.R.R. Tolkien

[wolpatinga]

avant le gris, le monde

yea no one's gonna see this or ask about it so i can basically put whatever here

these are all sourced from my own friend/family photos. all the people who've abandoned me. who i've abandoned. and so on. i'm a piece of shit, i know

i miss people. i miss myself. no one in those photos still talks to me except me. not even Heart talks to me anymore. Mind came and went, but it's been painfully empty up here with the new meds. and when they come back, they come back screaming in the twilight and the dawn, begging not to be suppressed. begging not to die

and so i built for them a little game. a war, if you will. a labrynth maze for these would-be murderers to go about their business until i right their wrongs. one way or another i'll right my wrongs

heart is mister moon here because his eyes are moons. mind, a dragon, sunbathes often, hence he's mister sun. these names predate my invention and intervention, but fit well. and soul, soul... mind sees him as the stars, as a distant version of himself, bright all the same. heart, likewise, sees him as made of the same things, but a domineering twin, a lover too long gone. both are right, or will be right, in time

i set a boundary in my mind. heart and mind can duke it out, supervised by my younger self, my soul, and outside is my domain. that beach is my dominion, and here i come in times of crisis. here i lay down my burdens. see them there, when i vivisected them and left them behind on that beach. see how joyful they were, before they realized my plan

memory loss is the next step. without real time, their connections to me faded, their connections to reality faded. heart remained tethered, somehow, but mind completely fell, and soul i have to wipe on every loop. it pains me to douse him in lethian waters, but he's too powerful otherwise

i do have a failsafe, should they learn the truth, one that will occupy them until i can reset them again. there in that crude facsimile of reality, i am LORD. not soul, certainly not mind, but myself

years ago, there was myself. and then there was heart. and the two of us were... good. all was good. i mean, it was shit, and people fucking hated us, and we wanted to die, but heart was good to me. and so i put us on that mental beach, a place to relax the mind, and ensnare the senses. ages 8-13

mind came after. there was the things i were, and the things i needed to be, and he kept heart in check. kept my tongue still. kept me away from others and got things done. and i respect that. he was never so much a friend of mine than a tool, but he and heart had... a connection. i stayed out of it, and still do. ages 13-17

soul came with the big T dreamword. the one i won't say. he's stuck there, he's still that kid i failed, and am still failing. i left him with heart and mind, in my head, to keep things simple. and i built the house for them, and gave them a small arena to play in. i didn't tell them for it to be a war, just that when they were done, to go back into stasis. or rather, i only told them to find a resolution, the stasis was compulsory. and there they play, in that endless loop. it was never about 'finding who was right for me', it was about keeping them silent

[morgulscribe]

I wish Angmar had been able to watch Finrod’s Song and the Lay of Lethian rock opera videos. He always liked the duel between Finrod and Sauron. He even translated it into the fan-created Black Speech, and quoted it often in the chat we frequented.

[queenclaudiabrown]

Unfortunately I know the exact chapter of the Silmarillion and lines of the Lay of Lethian that this is referring to

Ouch.... This is hurt in so many level