#niënor níniel

[anghraine]

Another Tolkien rant before I (finally!!) go back to BG3:

By and large, heredity and ethnicity in Tolkien cannot be understood through blood quantum logic. I don't think this is even seriously debatable, really—it does not work.

Yes, Imrahil of Dol Amroth is many generations removed from his nearest Elvish ancestor. Yes, he's still visibly part-Silvan to someone like Legolas, and is Silvan-style pretty to everyone else, and his sister was mystically susceptible to Mordor's miasma and died of sea-longing.

Yes, Théoden has as much Númenórean ancestry as Eldacar, a literal Númenórean King of Gondor, and has the same Elvish ancestor as Imrahil. No, Théoden is not a Dúnadan and does not inherit Silvan features. Tolkien specifically contrasted the visible Silvan Elvish heritage of Imrahil and his nephews Boromir and Faramir with Théoden and Éomer's lack of them, though in some versions, Éomer inherited remarkable height from his Númenórean ancestry (but not specifically Elvish qualities like beardlessness).

The only known member of the House of Eorl to markedly inherit the distinctive Elvish appearance of the House of Dol Amroth is Elfwinë, son of Imrahil's daughter Lothíriel as well as of Éomer, and Elfwinë's appearance is attributed firmly to Lothíriel-Imrahil rather than Théodwyn-Morwen.

Aragorn and Denethor are descendants of Elendil removed by dozens of generations, and Elendil himself was many generations removed from Elros. Aragorn and Denethor's common heritage and special status results in a strong resemblance and kinship between these incredibly distant cousins, including innate beardlessness and various powers inherited from Lúthien, and a connection to the Maiar presumably derived from Lúthien's mother Melian (great-great-grandmother of their very distant ancestor Elros).

Galadriel has one Noldo grandparent (half as much Noldorin heritage as Théoden has Númenórean). She has ties to her Telerin and Vanyarin kin and inherits some of their traits (most notably her silvery-gold hair), but she is very fundamentally a Noldo.

Túrin Turambar is a member—and indeed, heir—of the House of Hador via patrilineality. However, he's strongly coded as Bëorian in every other way because of his powerful resemblance to his very Bëorian mother, while his sister Niënor is the reverse, identified strongly with Hadorian women and linked to their father, whom she never met.

Elrond and Elros have more Elvish heritage than anything else, but are defined as half-Elves regardless of choosing mortality or immortality. In The Nature of Middle-earth, Tolkien casually drops the bombshell that Elros's children with his presumably mortal partner also received a choice of mortality vs immortality (and then in true Tolkien style, breezed onto other, less interesting points). Elrond and his sons with fully Elvish Celebrían are referred to as Númenóreans as well as Elves, with Elladan and Elrohir scrupulously excluded from being classed as Elves on multiple occasions. Their sister Arwen, meanwhile, is a half-Elf regardless of how much literal mortal heritage she has but also is identified with the Eldar in a way they never are.

There's a letter that Tolkien received in which a fan asks how Aragorn, a descendant of Fíriel of Gondor, could be considered of pure Númenórean ancestry when Fíriel was a descendant of Eldacar, the "impure" king whose maternal heritage kicked off the Kinstrife. Tolkien's response is essentially a polite eyeroll (and understandably for sure), but it's not like ancestry that remote (or far more so) doesn't regularly linger.

The point, I guess, is that there's no hard and fast rule here that determines "real" ethnicity in Middle-earth or who inherits what narrative identification. It's clearly not dependent on purebloodedness (gross rhetoric anyway, but also can't be reconciled with ... like, anything we see). It's not based on upbringing or culture alone. Túrin and Niënor, for instance, are powerfully identified with the Edain narratively despite their upbringings. Their double cousin Tuor, however, is a more ambiguous figure in terms of the Elves, whom he loves and lives among and possibly even joins in immortality—yet Tuor's half-Elf son Eärendil, whose cultural background is overwhelmingly Elvish, is naturally aligned with Men and only chooses immortality for his wife's sake.

Elladan and Elrohir, as mentioned above, are sons of an Elf, Celebrían, and of Elrond, a half-Elf who chose immortality and established a largely Elvish community at Rivendell. But the twins have a centuries-long affinity with their mortal Dúnadan kin and delay choosing a kindred to be counted among long after Arwen's choice.

Patrilineal heritages are more often than not given priority, which has nothing to do with how much of X blood someone has, only which side it comes from. Queen Morwen's children and descendants are emphatically Rohirrim who don't ping Legolas's Elvishness radar (though Elfwinë might, later on; we're not told). King Eldacar is firmly treated as a Dúnadan with no shortening of lifespan or signs of Northern heritage. Finwë's children and grandchildren are definitionally Noldor.

But this is by no means absolutely the case. The Elvishness of the line of Dol Amroth is not only inherited from Mithrellas, a woman, but passes to some extent to Boromir and Faramir through their mother Finduilas. Denethor and Aragorn's descent from Elros primarily comes through Silmariën, a woman (and also through Rían daughter of Barahir and Morwen daughter of Belecthor for Denethor, and Fíriel daughter of Ondoher for Aragorn). And of course, Elros's part-Maia heritage that lingers among his descendants for thousands of years derives from women, Lúthien and Melian.

So there's not some straightforward system or rule that will tell you when a near or remote ancestor "matters" when it comes to determining a character's identity, either to the character or to how they're handled by the narrative. Sometimes a single grandparent, or great-grandparent, or more distant ancestor, is fundamental to how a character is treated by the story and understands themself. Sometimes a character is so completely identified with one parent that the entire other half of their heritage is negligible to how they're framed by the story and see themself. It depends!

[camille-lachenille]

Finished the Children of Húrin audiobook read by Christopher Lee and…

[theworldsoftolkein]

Niënor Níniel

[anghraine]

I was looking for a different old post on my blog and found your art for the Túrin/Tuor/Niënor AU! I hadn't thought about that AU in a long time, but this is still so cool <3

anghraine: hadorian OT3 

[riding-with-the-wild-hunt]

"In the first beginning of the year Morwen gave birth to her child, the daughter of Húrin; and she named her Nienor, which is Mourning." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, "Of Túrin Turambar"

[ID: an edit comprised of six posters in muted shades of grey, brown, white, and green.

1: A close-up of Charlotte Carey Tampubolon, an indonesian-british model with light brown skin and bleached hair. She is looking at the viewer with one hand raised to her face, and wears a jeweled ring and earrings. White text in the center of the image reads "niënor," and below it in cursive, "mourning" / 2: Rapids and a steep waterfall among outcroppings of rock and a few conifers. Same format as Image 1, but the text reads "níniel" and "tear-maiden" / 3: The hand of a white marble statue, reaching out from beneath sculpted robes. Same text as Image 2 / 4: A tan-skinned person in a white dress walking away from the viewer amidst tall shrubbery. Same text as Image 1 / 5: A close-up of the eye of an alligator. It is yellow with a slit pupil. Same text as Image 4 / 6: Charlotte Carey Tampubolon, this time facing the viewer with her hair fluffed out around her face and a worried expression. Same text as Image 3 //End ID]

[paula-zotter]

Looking down upon Túrin she cried:

'Farewell, O twice beloved! A Túrin Turambar turun ambartanen: master of doom by doom mastered! O happy to be dead!'

[sea-of-machines]

I went to check Níniel's page on Tolkien Gateway and this was sending me although it's not funny

[who-needs-words]

Listen listen. You’ve probably heard of Finduilas/Nienor and maybe you’ve heard of Nellas/Nienor. I’m proud to introduce Finduilas/Nienor/Nellas.

Timelines don’t matter when you have two immortal elves. They [spins wheel] save Elurín and Eluréd and raise them before [spins wheel] Finduilas becomes Gil-galad.

This is coherent and definitely not me throwing darts at a board labeled ‘fun silm AUs’

[bretwalda-lamnguin]

I'm well aware of how horrifying it is, but I'm absolutely in love with how Túrin and Nienor meet. Túrin sees the ghost of a naked woman lying on a grave by a flash of lightning and almost jumps out of his skin, only to then realise she isn't a ghost but a living woman with no memory of who she is. He somehow takes all of this as a good omen, presumably because he has never encountered a good omen before. Nienor immediately recognises Túrin on some level even though they have never met, and is comforted at his touch. It's so unhinged, I'm obsessed with it.

[findekano]

Just wanted to say your tags on that Niënor art are such a gut punch I love them

-@outofangband

i am having a normal one about niënor today... the glue of níniel & its dissolution after glaurung and how niënor can't be niënor anymore without níniel - níniel is the one who loved túrin and married him; her identity is tied up with a self that shouldn't have existed. niënor-níniel cannot be uncoupled without the whole person falling apart but to niënor, níniel is horrific and to níniel, niënor is bereft of a brother and a husband and a child.

who is she? who can she be? who should she be? she can't and won't decide.

[anghraine]

I just cleaned my kitchen and did some boring stuff for class, so that means I get to give myself the gift of another poll I won't vote in:

Vote for the best as siblings, not necessarily as best characters or best people.

[camille-lachenille]

Of Laughter and Tears in the Children of Húrin or the fates of Lalaith and Niënor:

Lalaith was doomed to die young from the beginning. She was Joy and Innocence in a not yet tainted world, in a family soon to be cursed, and her death foreshadowed the terrible events to come, for not joy and happiness can last under Morgoth’s gaze.

On the other hand, Niënor, born after most of her family is dead or lost, lives. She is born and raised in sorrow, she is the embodiment of grief, of all that was lost, in a broken land and family. She never could afford innocence or happiness. And Niënor endures; Grief endures and persists. Even when she has lost everything, even her own identity, she still has her tears left as she becomes Níniel.

Just as her older sister’s life was cut short; a beautiful, short-lived burst of happiness, Niënor’s drags and lasts through the worst, until she actively jumps to her death. Happiness can be taken away in the blink of an eye, but you have to actively choose to overcome grief in order to go on. And Niënor couldn’t live any longer because she was grief, just like Lalaith had to die so young because she was happiness.

The two sisters who mever met each other mirror the other’s life in a tragical way.

And, to paraphrase the Athrabeth, whither may Lalaith go, may she find light and await there for her siblings.

[tolkienosaurus]

If you have a different favourite quote, choose your favourite one of these and then comment yours down below. Only dialogue quotes.

[ladyespera]

Niënor Níniel

[softmoonlightmelody]

Hii I come humbly bearing the concept of parallels between Brant and Turin

They both decided to escape their doom. They both failed miserably. They both harmed many loved ones and themselves in the process. Is this anything

THIS IS EVERYTHING. BRANT AND TÚRIN PARALLELS YOU ARE SO RIGHT.

ahem. who is niënor níniel??? actually i don't want to know.

concept, though: jolie and finduilas parallels

[serregon]

hm narn hair headcanons

Túrin: raven black, thick and curly in texture. wears his hair partially tied back to make his round human ears visible. very pretty, when he actually takes care of his hair. out in the fields his hair is a tangled mess. he runs his hands through his hair when he’s stressed, leading to a lot of breakage. but like it makes him more handsome in a wildman of the woods sort of way. of course, he can clean up nicely when he wants. Beleg braids flowers and wooden beads into his hair. he doesn’t like it when people touch his hair, so it’s a major sign of trust to let Beleg braid his hair.

Beleg: a light silvery gray, silky and slightly wavy in texture. being an archer, his hair is almost always tied up in some way to keep it out of the way. his go-to is a ponytail decorated with several smaller braids, both pretty and practical. he crafts his own little wooden beads to decorate those small braids. he doesn’t wear his hair up too tight, and he often has a lot of loose strands. in a more casual setting, he will typically wear a loose braid or he’ll let his hair down with some small side braid.

Niënor: honey blonde, curly and fluffy and thick in texture. she has fluffy bangs. her go-to style is two low twin braids tied with blue ribbons. in her teen years her hair is a mess and a half due to her insistence that she could cut her hair by herself, and it’s still kind of uneven. during her time in Doriath she learned how to braid her hair in an Iathrim style. though Níniel lost her memory, her muscle memory remained, and she didn’t know why she often defaulted to braiding her hair in this way

Mablung: dark brown, straight yet thick in texture. shaved on the sides, a Sindarin warrior style. his hair is almost always held up in a braid or ponytail. in the three years he spent searching for Nienor, he did not have the time to maintain the side shave style, and his hair started growing in these uneven layers. and he wears Beleg’s beads sometimes, he holds onto them after Beleg dies.

Orodreth: pale gold, wispy and slightly wavy in texture. also very shiny and glittery, actual l’oréal model. his hair care routine is like 10 hours long. he loves braids and he often tucks his hair into a crown, but just loose enough to free his heart shaped curls.

Finduilas: pale gold waves. her go-to hairstyle is to put half her hair in a crown braid with the rest falling in loose curls. she has these little curly ringlets on the sides. following Fingon’s style she braids pink or light purple ribbons in her hair. I also imagine her with some different late medieval/renaissance hairstyles with those pearl nets.

Gwindor: before Angband, his hair was long and slightly wavy, a glossy hue of midnight black. in Angband, his hair was cut short as part of a humiliation/demoralization tactic, and it slowly grew out to chin length when he returned to Nargothrond. the effects of torture on his hröa turned his hair a dull shade of charcoal, and it became brittle in texture