#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"

[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'.

[sewn-with-lilies-fair]

Hello in the official post about the lay of lethian it says it is Sunday 28 November, but today is not Sunday

Is there a error?

Yes! Today, Thursday, 28 November is correct! I apologize for the confusion.

The original post has been corrected, but maybe the typo is still going around. Sorry!

[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.

[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

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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)

[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

[tolkienmatters]

Gorlim The Unhappy was a man during the First Age. He served Barahir during the ill-fated battle of Dagor Bragollach, though they fought bravely (and saved Finrod) the battle was a massive defeat and all the land of Barahir fell under Morgoth’s control. Gorlim survived the disaster and returned home only to find his home plundered and his wife, Eilinel, missing. He returned to Barahir’s service during his time as an outlaw. Often times during Barahir’s guerrilla war Gorlim would return to his destroyed home in hopes Eilinel would return as well. This knowledge passed to Morgoth, where Sauron set a trap at Gorlim’s home. Gorlim returned to his home and saw a shimmering light, and his wife Eilinel, However it was a trap and he was captured by Morgoth’s orcs. He was tortured and interrogated but gave no information, and ultimately was brought before Sauron who made a deal with Gorlim; Reveal the location of Barahir and his followers and he would see his wife again. Gorlim accepted this deal and surrendered Barahir’s hiding spot; Dorthonion. Sauron revealed to Gorlim that his wife Eilinel had been dead this whole time, and he would be returned to her. Gorlim cursed himself and was slain. Barahir and his men were all killed save his son, Beren. Beren had been out hunting when the ghost of Gorlim appeared to him, revealing his treachery and warning him. Beren was too late, but would recover the Ring of Barahir from the orcs.

“Thus guerdon shall he have that bore these tidings sweet, O traitor dear! For Eilinel she dwells not here, but in the shades of death doth roam widowed of husband and of home -  a wraith of that which might have been,  methinks, it is that thou hast seen! Now shalt thou through the gates of pain the land thou askest grimly gain; thou shalt to the moonless mist of hell descend and seek thy Eilinel.”

- Sauron’s speech before executing Gorlim. Beren and Lúthien, The Lay of Leithian, Canto 2, Lines 72 - 82 (Extract).

[apaleflame]

so im reading beren and lúthien rn and in some different versions of the story it says that lúthien went to mandos of her own free will after beren died, different from in the silm were she dies of grief, and i really like those versions better. not that the version in the silm is bad, but i seems more romantic to me to have lúthien be like “death will not part us, ill storm the gates of mandos itself to get my man back” compared to just like, dying and ending up there