#pretty sure i'm a sinda

[eri-pl]

Silm reread 9: Meanwhile in Beleriand

I need to slow down the queue, I do less posts now. (Yes, I do queue for longer ones; usually post immediately the shorter / low-effort ones)

All the Elves in Beleriand consider Thingol their king. But Melian is not a ruling Queen. Thingol rules, Melian advises the Elves. Makes sense with her being a Maia.

Luthien is born late in first (Valian) century of Melkor's imprisonment, this is also said to be the peak of Valinor's happiness. I would assume Feanor is born short after this, but it's just a guess.

Later: Dwarvrs. Unclear when did they wake up, but they seem pretty new here, so maybe they awake not long after Melkor was imprisoned?

Khuzdul is hard for the Sinda, Sindarin is easy fro the Dwarves. Later it's the same with Quenya. Either:

Sindarin is very easy

Sindar are bad with languages

both Dwarves and the Noldor are great at languages (which makes sense because they are close to Aule and I think it helps)

Elves and Dwarves live in peace, they're friends with Thingol, all is nice. Melian has a foreshadowing foresight that it will stop being nice soon. The Dwarves (very happily and paid more than they asked for) make Menegroth for Thingol. It is entered via a bridge (no Orodreth do not copy this) and is cool.

The Dwarves hate the sea (probably something left from earlier Legendarium when Dwarves were evil). Gimli must have been very brave.

The Dwarves tell thingol that the Valar hadn't fully removed the evil on the North. How do they know this? Also, it reminds me about how the Valar were supposed to do this actually and did not.

Also, if anyone can help me with this (I may later make a separate posr): they mention "two monsters appearing again in the land east of the mountains". It's about Ered Luin. But what are the two beasts??? Not Ungoliant, as she is elsewhere. Maybe Sauron? I'm not sure if he spent all the time in Angband. But with whom? Thuringwedhil? Is she this old?

Or maybe it's just an error in translation. "Two" and "wild" aren't that different words and it would make sense to be wild beasts…

Also, orcs appear.

Thingol makes weapons and chain armor. Also, Denethor (the original one) is a thing.

Daeron was a scholar?!? The most famous scholar in Doriath. And he made the runes.

Ungoliant goes to Doriath, is blocked by Melian, lives in caves and messes up the whole part of map. Still, not clear who ever saw her if anyone.

A sentence about orcs breeding in deep earth, so again, the origin of orcs and quantum canon. they besiege Cirdan. Melian makes the Girdle.

After the Darkening Melian gets no news from Valinor via messengers, dreams nor spirits. Which nicely gives us the list of how she used to get news before, I think.

[redbootsindoriath]

Tag Yourself: Silmarillion Fandom

Maiar chat room moderators // know all the answers (or at least know where to find them) // never seem to sleep // doneTM // met some relative of Tolkien’s once

Vanyar ignore the arguments online // a bit high and mighty but not mean about it // insistent about there being deeper spiritual meaning to everything in Tolkien // not going to stoop to your level

Teleri looooove the ships // no one may touch the ships // no one may say anything against the ships // ships > canon // make more ships all the time // ships are the only reason they’re here // make a lot of the fancontent

Fëanorians start fires in chat rooms // will fite anyone over anything // Fëanor did nothing wrong // Maedhros is bae // buy lots of Silm stuff // live and breathe cosplay

Fingolfinians gatekeepers // Tolkien scholars extraordinaire // probably speak both Quenya and Sindarin // canon purists // have scientifically backed theories about what armor and weapons and fighting styles the elves probably used

Finarfinians poets // a joy to have in any Tolkien community // so many emotions, oh my gosh // no one in the Silm is evil beyond hope // write AU redemption arc fanfictions // please why can’t we all get along

Sindar have a little Tolkien club in real life // RPGers // “No no no, you all are wrong because—” // thrive on headcanons and give no f***s // either get along with everyone or get along with no one // secretly judging everyone else

Avari sometimes aren’t even part of the internet side of the fandom // here before everyone else // sometimes really weird // usually over age 30 // “Oh so you like Tolkien?  Have you read all 12 volumes of the Histories of Middle Earth?  No?  Then you don’t like Tolkien.” Halfelven read the Silm so they could talk about it with that one friend who recommended it // came from LOTR and kinda confused // “Which one was Fëanor again?” // “Why do all the names sound the same?” // “Where are the hobbits?”

House of Bëor chill // kinda forgettable // get along with everyone // favorites of the Finarfinians // eager to learn but gullible

House of Haleth don’t care about anyone else’s opinion // stubborn in their own views // don’t ask for feedback on fanart and fanfictions // don’t leave feedback on fanart and fanfictions

House of Hador relatively new to the fandom // loud // extremely eager to befriend the rest of the fandom // know how to fight really well IRL // mislabel themselves as one of the elf types

Númenoreans a little bit psychopathic // came in pure and optimistic but have ChAnGeD // obsessed with the bad guys and everyone else is lowkey concerned // possibly into dark magic IRL

Dwarves stubbornly refuse to leave the internet even though not compatible with most of the rest of the fandom // kinda rude but somehow they get a free pass because they’re dedicated to Tolkien // make a lot of cool stuff // no seriously, like a thousand projects going at once // you want a glowing voice-activated door? no problem bro, I’ll get around to it sometime this year, here are my rates...

Hobbits what’s the Silmarillion

~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway, yeah.  Tag yourself.  Tag your friends.  I tried to make them all equally insulting (except the Finarfinians, because Finarfinians are pure beans that must be protected at all costs).

My mutual @intea​ originally posted this for me here before I had a blog of my own, but I decided to reupload it with higher resolution now that I can.

[emeraldskulblaka]

As much as I dislike the "Celeborn is a Teler" version of canon, it's a perfect argument to be used against those who pull the "Tolkien would have disapproved" card on one of the fandom's most popular ships - in addition to LaCE, that is, but it can't hurt to see that concept applied to prominent characters, right...?

[crownedwithstars]

Honestly, I don't have an issue with Galadriel deciding to f**k off and do her own thing... because that's what pretty much everyone was doing. They all had self-serving purposes for coming to Beleriand and nobody made them leave Valinor - they were warned against it several times. Fighting Morgoth was not anybody's noble calling, it was a side effect of trying to get back stolen property or wanting to rule a kingdom. They could have gone anywhere in Middle-earth but instead they chose to raise the siege of Angband, and that is not Galadriel's responsibility. By the time she and Celeborn went over the mountains the war was pretty much lost. So I can't see Noldor somehow singling her out and holding her particularly responsible for anything. I'm also not sold over to the idea that she sought Melian's company for protection; after all, she had the physical and otherwise courage to defy the gods' curse and endure Helcaraxë. Even Turgon and Gondolindrim stopped caring about the rest of Beleriand after Nirnaeth, but we don't hear about them being shunned for it. I also have a hard time seeing her marrying a Sinda as a problem, especially when it is a kinsman of Thingol himself. Elrond was notably a lord among the remaining Noldor although his mother's kin were Sindar - and though he also had Men as ancestors on both sides. Sure, she was proud and stubborn, but no more than anyone else among the leaders of Exiles. So what is Galadriel's crime exactly? Being a woman?Would Fingolfin or Turgon or any other major Noldorin have got banned from returning to Valinor at the end of the First Age? We don't know because Galadriel is the only one who survived. There's also the question of which version of her story should be considered canon: was she banned from returning or did she refuse the summons to return out of pride? She WAS politically active in Eregion though, and in some versions even founded it with Celeborn, and at various points had other Noldor following her. So to me this whole idea seems very strange.

Thoughts on Galadriel.

To be honest, I do not think the Noldor who lived in Beleriand and ME after the war liked Galadriel much. (I love Galadriel and loved what Cate Blanchett as her in the movies) But like thinking about the Noldor of Beleriand, excluding those who lived in Gondolin and Nargothrond before both kingdoms fell, Galadriel basically abandoned the Noldor the moment she set foot in Beleriand. She went to Menegroth and stayed there under the protection of Melian for the most part of the first age, all while the rest of the Noldor, her brothers included, were out in the frontlines of war.

Even during the long peace, most of the Noldor in Beleriand had to see orcs attacks and such, their homes were not 100% safe, they didn't have the luxury of being protected by a Maia. The Valar had more or less abandoned the people of Beleriand (not just the Noldor) to their fates. So while the people who lived in Barad Eithel, Dorthonion, Ladros, Himlad, who were basically the ones holding the siege, all those people who died during the fire. Who had to move further south. Those elves could see Fingon, Fingolfin, Angrod, Aegnor, and the Feanorians willing to protect their people and die for them. (and I bet Aredhel would have been there too if she hadn't been kidnapped by Eol but that's another thing). But like Galadriel once she stepped in Doriath she never left until she felt considerably threatened and when she did, she and Celeborn moved east beyond the blue mountains. She wasn't even there when the war of wrath really broke out. Like right now I don't really remember if she managed to see the host of valinor and when the war was done and she did come back to the coast... she was denied passage.

Galadriel couldn't go back to Valinor by the end of the first age because I remember reading that she was denied passage, because she was not humble. The Galadriel we see in LOtR is an older and wiser Galadriel that had perhaps realized that most of her actions in the first age were born of hypocrisy (Hipocrisy was a big theme in the first age but that's also another story).

So what I want to get at is, Galadriel was not named queen of the Noldor and was not included in Noldori Politics at all during the second age (looking at you Amazon), because I don't think the Noldor considered one of them anymore. I think that the moment she decided to marry a sinda and remain in menegroth with the rest of Thingol's people she was 'set aside' by the Noldor as a whole. So yeah, those are my thoughts regarding Galadriel, if anyone else wants to add anything else, I'll be more than happy to read your thoughts <3

[eri-pl]

Oh. This is so right! Brilliant thoughts. As s poet once called it,

Very yes

I voted for the non-cringe, because I think at least some of it is wrong, but I don't like calling it cringe.

Also I would think Elrond sees himself as part of many threads, and (especially after getting to know Celebrimbor better... They did know each other in SA, right?) he would affirm the feanorian part too. Not as in denying his Sinda heritage, but in admitting that he also has Feanorian cultural heritage and that the star of Feanor can mean more than "I support the kinslayings".

Celebrimbor did use the star (doors of Moria) and obviously he must have meant it as "I love my family and reclaim the symbol" and not as "Feanor was right" and I really feel like Elrond would join him in this attitude. So yes, he would openly wear the star, at least to make Celebrimbor not feel alone in it. (By himself I think he would be more neutral about it). And maybe after Celebrimbor's death he would wear the star, I'm not sure how to describe it... Because Celebrimbor would want him to? To remind people that there were parts of the house of Feanor that deserved respect?

He wouldn't wear it so much in the context of Maglor, I think, because I'm pretty sure Maglor hated this symbol at least at some point. And he hated himself, that too.

when people call e&e part of the house of feanor/say that they love m&m more than their birth parents/that they wear proudly the star of feanor it's kind of (very) cringe

/i say this as someone who thinks about m&m literally all the time