#legendarium tag

[eri-pl]

When I casually mentioned the "th vs. s" drama to my friend, who is a member (or main guy, not sure) of his university's Tolkien club and does stuff like conventions, his reaction was: "oO What? But that's from some fanfic, right? Or is it an actual thing?"

I think the th controversy is a part of lore that is very Tumblr (and fanfic) specific. Even normal Tolkienists rarely know it.

in reference to this post:

admittedly i'm not the right person to make this meme since i'm not really well-versed in the lore lol

[daily-smol-silm]

Cozy/warm winter drawing idea - Melkor and Sauron toasting marshmallows, but the fire is a balrog

Day #137 - Marshmallows

I mean, the balrog seems pretty happy about the whole deal. They probably get to eat the marshmallows Melkor burns.

[serene-faerie]

One thing that I find really uncomfortable in this fandom is the apparent idea that Quenya is somehow superior to Sindarin.

Like yeah, Quenya is a nice language and all, but Sindarin is just as beautiful. And also, the fact that people will try to call Sindar characters by their Quenya equivalents, or with Quenya spelling, it really rubs me the wrong way. Call me weird or whatever, but just because Thingol banned Quenya in his realm doesn't mean that Quenya is automatically a superior language.

These people will cry about how Thingol is "erasing Noldorin culture" only to literally erase Sindarin culture by spelling Sindar names with the Quenya variant!

Like, can we just stop with the hypocrisy and the Noldor/Quenya supremacy already???

[anghraine]

I've been thinking of strong opinions and headcanons I have about some more unimportant matters, and figure I'd just compile them into a grand unified poll of Things That Don't Matter.

I ran out of room on the ones with asterisks!

*More specifically, Darcy is much more like his mother's family in general than like his father in temperament or appearance. Elizabeth is not inventing his physical resemblance to Lady Catherine out of sheer desire to see it; there really is one (if weaker than his resemblance to Lady Anne when she was alive).

**The ANH script says that Leia is around 16; Luke is explicitly stated to be 18. Other materials use different ages, but they're 18 to me.

***Selecting Gil-galad Fingonion in the Silm was a mistake of Christopher Tolkien's and in retrospect, I think it's perfectly clear that JRR Tolkien had settled on Gil-galad Orodrethion. (No slight intended to Christopher, who had a monumental task—it's not surprising that he'd make a few mistakes, and he acknowledged this one.)

****That is, when Elizabeth tells Lady Catherine that she is not 21, she means that she is currently 20 and not yet 21, but at that point she hasn't had her birthday. Darcy has recently turned 28 at that time, but was 27 early in the novel, like Charlotte.

*****By "discovered" I mean that Romulans also experience pon farr, but figured out the solution long before Spock did for obvious Romulan culture reasons. I don't know if this is contradicted by canon I have yet to experience, and I don't care if it is.

[beatx-mavie-archangelx]

"pronouncing 'Þerindë' as 'Serindë' is not that big of a deal" just say you've always been called right your whole life.

[eri-pl]

So I was thinking about Doriath again, and about how I'm pretty sure C&C never told any of their brothers anything except "we duelled Beren and imprisoned Luthien to stop her from interfering" (which is an obvious understatement, but the others would not compensate enough for it, I think they would imagine some unhonorable fighting and murde attempt, and that's it).

And I thought about Caranthir, who was there with those two (it's a common fanon that 3 Cs died in roughly the same time and place and the other brothers weren't there).

About Dior, charging at Celegorm and calling him out, and Caranthir, the always easy to anger Caranthir, yelling "How dare you!" and running at Dior and getting stabbed by one of the Sindar, and the last thing he sees is Celegorm's extremely guilty face confirming everything Dior just said, :(

And the other brothers never even learned (Elwing did not know, I think, it's not a story you tell to children), maybe Maglor learned eventually, from Elrond's historical notes (let's not even get into Elrond's feelings about it) compiled from fragments of tales of the Sindar who survived.

And then in the Halls of Mandos, "you tried to do what—"

[i-am-trans-gwender]

I swear at least half of all high fantasy is just "We have Tolkien at home."

[eri-pl]

Not really, but ... ok I will admit that I often headcanon that it is part of it. (The other part being: he choses to do the evil thing.) On the other hand (which I still possess, unlike some), his lack of empathy and stuff is a direct consequence of his earlier choices, so...

It's complicated.

But yes, he definitely lacks empathy. And goes into dissociative states. And is evil.

Neither of those is 100% of him.

Nienna, about Melkor: It's not that he's evil. He lacks empathy and he goes into a disassociative state and commits atrocities.

Everyone else: ㆆ_ㆆ

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

'Nonetheless for all your valor, I say again: "what know ye of death?" To you it may be in pain, it may be bitter and a loss—but only for a time, a little taken from abundance, unless I have been told untruth. For ye know that in dying you do not leave the world, and that you may return to life.

'Otherwise it is with us: dying we die, and we go out to no return. Death is an uttermost end, a loss irremediable. And it is abominable; for it is also a wrong that is done to us.'

i've seen takes that aegnor eventually departs from the halls after making peace with his parting from andreth, but imo it's so much more fitting that he chooses to never be reborn in aman and remains in mandos for all eternity (or at least until the end of arda marred). andreth here points out what she perceives as one of the differences between death for elves and death for men: that elves may be re-embodied and live their lives anew, while for men death is the absolute end, from which they have no chance to return. but aegnor voluntarily rejects the ability of the elves to live anew, he voluntarily refuses the chance to return, because to him life has no meaning without andreth whom he loves so deeply. in a way, his death -- being forced to leave beleriand and in doing so being forced to leave andreth forever -- is an absolute end for him

[feydrawings]

since the new season of Rings of Power is out, I've decided to post my own personal interpretation of the last two rulers of Númenor, Tar-Míriel and Ar-Pharazôn.

And last of all the mounting wave... took to its bosom Tar-Míriel the Queen, fairer than silver or ivory or pearls. -- The Silmarillion,Akallabêth

"Ar-Pharazôn the Golden was the proudest and most powerful of all the Kings, and no less than the kingship of the world was his desire." —The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A

click on the pictures for a better quality

[daily-smol-silm]

Day #134 - Another bug

Well look who it is. a smol insect

[eri-pl]

How about: Sauron suddenly feels the urge to seek the Silmarils and return them to Feanor.

Hmmm... This would make a fun fic.

[serene-faerie]

On the subject of Elven perfume-making

The Sindar of Doriath are the experts and pioneers in Elven perfumes and fragrances. Though perfume-making was a popular pastime among female Elves, it hasn't stopped male Elves from making their own fragrances as well.

During the Years of the Trees, many Iathrim women would venture to all the forests of Doriath to study the plants, berries, and flowers that grew. They went to Neldoreth, Brethil, Nivrim, Region, and Radhrim, and using what they learned from trial and experimentation, they would gather and cultivate the flora and herbs and berries with the best fragrances and perfume notes. Then, they would use them to create perfumes by distilling certain ingredients in brandy.

The five most popular Doriathrim fragrances are:

Lavender: while useful as an antiseptic and an air freshener for sick rooms, lavender also has other uses. Sindarin women often use lavender soaps and elixirs for bathing, and it's also a popular fragrance for everyday use. Mothers also use lavender balms to soothe their children and help them sleep. This started when Lúthien was a baby, and had trouble sleeping. Melian made herself smell like lavender, and she would also rub baby Lúthien with a lavender balm to soothe her into sleep. Since then, a lot of Sindarin mothers began using lavender balms on their children; a tradition that would be carried down throughout the ages.

Sandalwood: this perfume is popular for both Sindarin men and women for one particular reason- its aphrodisiac qualities. With its distinctive soft, warm, smooth woodsy scent, it is especially powerful when mixed with a floral fragrance. Sandalwood is frequently mixed with jasmine to reduce stress and enhance arousal. It's common to spray marital beds with sandalwood perfume to enhance arousal in a newlywed couple. In addition, many Sindarin brides wear this perfume on their wedding night, and it's quite common to give a bottle of sandalwood and jasmine perfume as a wedding gift to a newly-married couple.

Orange blossom: this scent is commonly worn in late spring or early summer. It's a sweet, refreshing, and delicate scent, which stimulates the senses and brings a sense of anticipation for the summer months. In Doriath, this scent is associated with youthfulness, and is given to adolescent Elves on their first teenage begetting day. Orange blossom perfume is mostly popular among the Sindar of the Falas, where the coastal environment almost enhances the citrusy qualities of the scent.

Mugwort: while this herb is commonly used in Sindarin herbal medicine, it's also quite popular for male fragrances in Doriath. It has fresh, herbaceous, and bitter notes, and it's often combined with other ingredients like amber and cedarwood to create a comforting and woodsy scent. The march wardens of Doriath often rub themselves with mugwort balms so that they can hide their natural scent and blend into their environment whenever they go hunting. It makes it much easier for them to hunt without their scent being detected by the animals.

Sage: this herb has soothing qualities to it that makes it useful in both medicine and in fragrances. Its distinctly herbal scent has proven to be calming in many ways, and it has also been used in incense as well. During times of war, the soldiers of Doriath would perfume their armour and weaponry with sage incense as part of a ritual, and many would use sage incense to meditate as well. The fragrance allows soldiers to soothe their minds and nerves before battle, allowing them to reflect on the probability of death, on their hope of survival, and the possibility of victory. Following the First Battle of Beleriand, sage became associated with funerary rites and mourning as well, as many fallen soldiers were commemorated with sage incense during lengthy funeral services in the wake of the battle.

[anghraine]

Switching fandoms for today's poll because I feel like it: in Nature of Middle-earth, Tolkien drops the absolute bombshell (for me!!) that Elros's children did get to choose between mortality and immortality, just like Elrond's. Elros's firstborn definitely chose mortality (he died of old age at over 400 years old), but we have no death dates for any of his other children.

If you were going to headcanon that one of Elros's three younger children did choose immortality (and is either keeping a low profile or in Valinor by the Third Age), which child of Elros would it be?

If you want to headcanon that more than one of them chose to be counted among Elves, pick the one you care about the most and tell me who the other one is. If you still don't headcanon that any of them chose immortality, this poll is not for you!

[nightmares-2]

Feanorians

[eri-pl]

Maeglin + Turin + their twin swords = the ultimate city-dooming combo.

I think Maeglin should helped bring about the fall of more cities. I think it would have been funny.