#lotr has so much beautiful male friendship and one beautiful male marriage

[deathdefyinggarlic]

“you would die before your stroke fell”

oh, do you mean “i love you and want to spend the rest of eternity with you”

[dalleyan]

Shattered (1st chapter of new LoTR story posted, 1-20-21)

Eomer thought that his life would be less complicated after the War, but loving a woman he could never have made that unlikely.  Then unexpected circumstances altered everything. Complete in 5 chapters.

 Chapter 1

(Cormallen, late April, 3019 III)

Hearty laughter rent the night.  “Oh, Eomer, I can scarce wait to have you meet the rest of my family.  I am sure they will love you as I do. Already you are like a son to me,” Imrahil warmly told the king of Rohan.

“I am honored!” Eomer responded, humbled by the man’s approbation.

“You know, my friend, now you are king, you will need to think about beginning a family of your own.  I doubt a queen and a few heirs would go amiss in Rohan’s eyes!” Imrahil urged.

Eomer chuckled.  His friends had already been goading him in the direction of matrimony.  It seemed marriage and children were on everyone’s mind in the wake of their victory, and he could not truly deny that the thought had occurred to him how pleasing a family would be.  He would gladly see the hall of Meduseld filled with laughing children, driving back the long shadows of the past.

With a glint in his eyes, he teased, “How may I even consider marriage when you have told me that your only daughter is already betrothed?  Shall I seek solace in some lesser maiden?”

Imrahil laughed appreciatively.  “Had I known I would meet you, I might have required Lothiriel to wait instead of approving her betrothal.”  He sighed, and shook his head before shrugging.  “We live in a new world, one that none of us thought would ever exist.  There are many worthy ladies who will eagerly seek your suit, Eomer.  Choose wisely.  The right woman beside a man, especially a ruler, makes all the difference. Do not let your advisers press you to marry someone in whose company you cannot be perfectly at ease.  Many noble marriages in Gondor are made for alliance rather than love.  I know it is so, but I was fortunate enough to achieve both, and I believe I would not have done half so well with anyone else united to me.  She has given me four beautiful children and a lifetime of joy.”

Eomer nodded silently at the counsel, taking another swallow of ale. Wise counsel, indeed, he was sure, but privately he knew that a wife would likely have to wait a while.  First the Mark needed his full attention in being rebuilt.

xx

Over the next few days, Eomer gave little further thought to his conversation with Imrahil their last night at Cormallen.  The company traveled to Osgiliath and then on to Minas Tirith, where Aragorn was crowned king on May first.  Consequently, he had not given much thought to Imrahil’s daughter, Lothiriel, or that they would soon meet.  Had he done so, he supposed he would have expected her to be tall and dark like the other members of her family. 

The reality, when they came face to face, was far more than that. All of the men in the Prince’s family would be considered handsome, and Eomer had noted appreciative looks cast at them from the ladies.  Not only did the family have Numenorean blood, but it was also rumored that they had Elvish ancestry.  In Lothiriel of Dol Amroth there was every reason to believe the rumors.  Eomer had come to admire the dark looks of Gondorian women, but he thought Imrahil’s youngest child might well be the handsomest woman he had ever seen.  He noted that he was not the only man, upon first meeting her, who took a moment to recover his composure in the presence of such beauty.

More than her looks, though, he found her a pleasant and charming woman, as he would have expected.  While yet young, at only twenty years, she carried herself with grace and dignity that reflected well upon her father and his house.  Eomer was not at all surprised to note her parents beaming proudly as they watched their daughter move about in noble society.

During the sennight Eomer tarried at Minas Tirith before returning home, he came to realize that he could very much regret that he had not met the lady sooner, before she was betrothed.  There had been little time in his life for the pursuit of ladies and romance; now that he had time, even needed to make time, the one that most caught his eye was unavailable to him.

Despite that, Eomer formed as warm a friendship with the lady as he had with the others in her family.  With the defeat of Sauron, Imrahil’s wife and daughter, heir and his family, and Lothiriel’s betrothed had all journeyed to Minas Tirith for the celebrations and the coronation of their new king.

Imrahil’s wife, Sirrin, was a gracious woman, tall and regal, with little gray dusting her hair despite her many years.  Apparently, in her eyes, friends of her husband’s were friends of hers, and she welcomed Eomer cordially into their home.  With the affection that had developed between Eomer’s sister and Imrahil’s nephew adding an extra tie uniting their families, the king found himself a frequent guest there.

Elphir and his family were equally appealing, and the toddler heir was an active boy that kept amused smiles on many faces as they surveyed his antics.

The last member of the party, Lord Gaerost of Edhellond, was a bit of a mystery, not so easily assessed as the others.  Well-spoken and tactful, Eomer watched him socialize with practiced ease.  Amrothos had told him that the man held shipping interests along the coast at the various ports, and was quite wealthy.  His fleet of ships had been employed in protecting the coastline, and thus he had remained in the south during the war.  He and Elphir had long been acquainted, and it was through that connection that he had met and offered suit to Lothiriel.

Perhaps it was just Eomer’s predisposition to dislike the man, but he found something pompous and pretentious about him.  Indeed he was a handsome man, but bordered on being ‘pretty’, and seemed to pay an inordinate amount of attention to his appearance. Eomer had never seen any male preen so much as this man, but at the same time, in comparison, the king felt almost unkempt and rough-hewn.  It was unlikely Eomer’s manners would ever be that refined or particular.

Though Eomer met Imrahil’s family during the course of the day when they first arrived, he spent the majority of his time with Eowyn and had little interaction with them.  Not until the feast that night, did he have an opportunity to speak with them more and get a better sense of them than what casual observation allowed.

The first thing to catch his eye was that Lothiriel was now moving with the aid of a cane.  As she had been perfectly healthy when they met earlier, he could only presume something had happened in the interim.  His eyes narrowed with consternation at how little attention her betrothed seemed to be displaying toward her, particularly given her ailment, but as Lothiriel did not appear bothered by it, he supposed it was none of his business.

 continue reading on AO3:

           https://archiveofourown.org/works/28886217/chapters/70864245

[vardasvapors]

Have you done Aredhel?

Not for this meme! Here:

1-3 things I enjoy about them

-Her adventurousness of course! I feel like that always looks like such a plain sort of characteristic, but she really IMO played a big part in really making me palpably feel how much the Noldor must have enjoyed, between various disasters and wars, exploring Beleriand where the danger of the unknown felt so real. Exploring when you’re immortal must feel quite different than for humans - no need to be hasty in moving to the next thing, etc (also why that thing about Galadriel being the only one woman who rabble-roused when the Noldor decided to go with Feanor is kinda weird - surely at least Aredhel would have too?)

-Her friendship with the Fëanorians (possibly especially Celegorm), which is not really elaborated upon, but is such an interesting tidbit, especially since Turgon hated them so much according to the Shibboleth

-Her reaction to disaster and being thrown into extreme danger (when all her guard is scattered and she’s lost) being so can-do and bold, I feel like this must’ve been a great asset in a person especially on the Helcaraxe etc

Something interesting about them based on tenuous circumstantial evidence

Since she sticks so close to Turgon, she must’ve been pretty involved in the building of Gondolin too! I have been of the opinion she didn’t enjoy Gondolin much, but actually now that I’ve thought about it more deeply, I think she would have LOVED the initial stages of scouting around to find the materials for building it, the whole building process and making the labyrinth paths to hide it, etc

A question I have about them

Why is she always so closely associated with Turgon and appears to be her closest relationship, when Fingon seems to have way more in common with her? I like the idea that their personalities complemented each other, but I would like to know any details

A random relevant line I like

the people of Celegorm welcomedher and bade her stay among them with honour until their lord’s return. Therefor a while she was content, and had great Joy in wandering free in thewoodlands; but as the year lengthened and Celegorm did not return, she becamerestless again, and took to riding alone ever further abroad, seeking for newpaths and untrodden glades.

It’s so beautiful and kind of, the wording reminds me so much of various echoes in LOTR regarding Bilbo and Frodo’s wanderlust?

My preferred version, if there is more than one version of their story (or part of their story)

IDK, on one hand I don’t like the thing with Eol forcing her into marriage and raping her but the enchantment and “not wholly unwilling” thing is bleh too. I mean…usually I would prefer the first one bc at least it’s not wishy-washy but guhhhhh Tolkien is so shit with his multiple-level fridging of female characters.

I guess the second has a little more wiggle room, as like, people trying to save her reputation by making it seem like she was enchanted when actually she just kind of had really shitty taste in guys! (which for some reason people condemn in female characters way more than in male characters, with males they’re all ‘oh poor guy he’s in love with such a horrible person’). However that’s fanwank/alternate theorizing so ehhhh.

Favorite relationship(s)

Turgon, Maeglin, hypothetically Celegorm because all his mentions in her chapter are really intriguing but not really made specific

How would they react to Tom Bombadil

She would probably initially be very interested but after a while get tired of him for sticking to his own little realm so much (though hey, at this point in history he might have still been doing his wandering and adventuring!)

Optional: Something about them that I think people forget

This is not exactly about her actually but this line: “Ar-Feiniel she was called, the White Lady of the Noldor, forshe was pale though her hair was dark, and she was never arrayed but insilver and white.”

Everyone seems to cite her clothing choice for her epesse, but not the fact that her skin color was also a reason. And since nicknames and epesses like that are usually given for unique or unusual traits, it might be a good piece of evidence that very light skin was unusual among the Noldor.