#the fall of Gil-Galad

[lairesta]

Gil-galad was an elven-king.

Of him the harpers sadly sing;

the last whose realm was fair and free

between the Mountains and the Sea.

His sword was long, his lance was keen.

His shining helm afar was seen;

the countless stars of heaven's field

were mirrored in his silver shield.

But long ago he rode away,

and where he dwelleth none can say;

for into darkness fell his star

in Mordor where the shadows are.

-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Ring, The Fellowship of the Ring --

.

[kindlythevoid]

Book One of The Fellowship of the Ring is Done!

In honor, I made a list (a playlist if you will) of all the songs!

The Road Goes Ever On

The Road Goes Ever On (Reprise)

Edge of Night

Elbereth

Rain Song

Bath Song

Misty Mountains (Shire Remix)

Old Forest Song

The Song of Tom Bombadil

The Song of Tom Bombadil and Goldberry

Fair River-Daughter

Errand Running (The Ballad of Goldberry)

Ho! Tom Bombadil

Barrow-wight Song

Banishing Song

Awaken

Horses

Another Hobbit Drinking Song

All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter

The Fall of Gil-galad

Lay of Luthien

Sam’s Troll Rhyme

The Lord of the Rings is a Musical

Song Counter: 19

Poem Counter: 2

Total: 21

Bonus (times singing was mentioned but not spelled out): 11

[self-destructinganimal]

"Sauron was the only one who offered Galadriel any agency"

Apparently there is an ongoing conversation on twitter about how Sauron was the only one who ever offered Galadriel any agency and both Gil-galad and Elrond were "worse to her than Sauron". Usually I stay away from these kinds of conversations but I couldn't this time. Ya caught me at the wrong (or right) time.

All the elves in the show have had misunderstandings through S1&2. Some of them pretty ugly.

In S1:

Gil-galad is not truthful with both Galadriel and Elrond.

Elrond is not truthful to Galadriel, to the point of sending her away.

Galadriel flaunts the king's orders and her obsession has come at the cost of lives and friendships.

S2:

Gil-galad gets better

Elrond is harsh on Galadriel. He recognizes this and asks for her forgiveness when in Adar's camp. He heals her when otherwise she would have died, and they reconcile.

Galadriel failed to tell the truth end of S1 about Halbrand and the ramifications continue into S2 leading to Elrond feeling betrayed and Celebrimbor dying. She realizes it is not strength but light that defeats darkness and through that experience she overcomes her own darkness and ends up being able to lend guidance to the other elves (reconciling with them) and peace to Celebrimbor before his death.

They're messy. But they love each other and are all firmly in each other's camps.

Sauron never offered her any agency. He wanted to manipulate and control her power. He would have used her skills as a leader and commander as he used Celebrimbor's skills as a smith. It was never about her agency in any capacity, it was all about him.

[souredfigs]

"The countless stars of heavens field were mirrored in his silver shield" ass shot

[misspermitted]

I’m on board with the “Adar was/is Celeborn” theory purely because I want this crack exchange -

Adar/Celeborn: You cheated on me with Sauron!

Galadriel: Well you also cheated on me with Sauron so the scales are balanced

Adar/Celeborn: What?? In what-

Galadriel: You left me, your wife, for 1000 years, to have a family and children with him

Adar/Celeborn: Okay, well, you fell in love with him. Which means you weren’t even in love with me in the first place. Which is worse

Galadriel: YOU LITERALLY HAD HIS CHILDREN

Adar/Celeborn: You married me for all eternity wiTHOUT EVEN BEING IN LOVE WITH ME

High King Gil-Galad, to Elrond: Still think he’s fake and they’re not married?

Elrond: Oh no, I take it back, they’re definit- oh my god Galadriel do not challenge him to a duel there is nothing wrong with your womb gods above

[group-dynamic]

Bartender: Hey, man, how's it going?

Me: Yeah, you know, it's good. Just thinking about how Gil Galad's kingship was haunted by Elrond. Like his first great failure after being crowned when he'd barely come of age was showing up too late to stop the destruction of Sirion. How he probably felt a deep personal responsibility to find Elwing's missing boys at least but couldn't even do that. Like, I know he probably got redirected by Cirdan toward all those refugees and stuff, but he probably really wanted a win, especially because he was kinda orphaned by then himself and knew how cruel fate was to the sons of greater destiny. Like all his family who'd been king before him died, like, horrifically? And then when Elrond returns all fine and he comes to Lindon and he's chosen the fate of the elves, Gil Galad's physically haunted by him again. See, but this time he chooses to be haunted by Elrond. Because I think he wants to fix what he sees as his first great failure by restoring a bright future for this kid which was robbed from him when Sirion fell--and it's probably like he wants better for him than what he got, too, because he got this kingship in exile thrust upon him when all he was doing was hanging out with Cirdan making ships or something with the other non-combatants and refugees like he and his mother who were fleeing war and violence and he was like fourth in line to the throne so he probably found out in one fell swoop that all his family's dead and oh, you're king and your destiny's out of your hands. So he's like, I'll make Elrond herald and give him all the experience and guidance on this leadership stuff I never got while also giving him better control of what kind of future he has. Then--get this--he never even marries or has kids and when his reign is coming to an end. . . Which, by the way, he probably foresaw his own death which is fucked-- because he gives Elrond his ring before the war of the last alliance, metaphorically making him his heir and also giving him the opportunity to shape his future. . .Yeah, yeah, cause Elrond wouldn't have been considered suitable to be a lord or a king or anything after he was raised by wolves the sons of Feanor. So when Gil made him herald it was like helping him gain political experience and any status he lost. So anyway, then Gil Galad dies, but in some ways he's spent a greater part of his life dedicated to the act of restoring Elrond to the path he should have been on in an alternate reality where he was raised as Earendil and Elwing's son and like correcting that first failure--but also changing Elrond's fate because Elrond has the ring, like, he literally has Gil Galad's legacy and power in his hands, something he wouldn't have had (or needed?) before. But he decides he won't be king. He'll use that power to guard the place that fulfills the legacies of both him and Gil Galad. He's rebuilt the home he lost, something Gil Galad was trying to give him, and then he makes it a place for all the orphans and the wounded and the refugees--like he even fosters a bunch of future orphan kings and like--

Bartender: Like the ending of Hamilton?

Me: *mumbling into my empty glass* Yeah, exactly like the ending of Hamilton.

[theoneringpop]

The Dad Energy™️ in the way Gil-Galad says “Dwarves” when they show up is off the fucking charts 11/10 choices made

[anetherealpoetess]

shoutout to robert aramayo's blistering agony at elrond having to kiss galadriel. it's not possible to hate that moment more than he did but i sure am doing my best.

[sesamenom]

handful of reverse gondolin doodles, this time featuring lomion, tyelpe, and baby gil!

[tanoraqui]

The Rise and Fall of Empires

Chapter 2: Of Middle Earth, its Realms and People

So, first jot down that when Celebrimbor and Annatar disappeared into the woods in SA 2241, literally zero people were surprised when they came back married. All surprise was reserved for a) it only took 59 years, and b) the whole…Sauron thing.

By this time, Ost-in-Edhil was the center of a thriving, technology-supported soft power empire of trade and culture. Celebrimbor was not, to be clear, unaware of this....

[keep reading on ao3]

[an-eldritch-peredhel]

The thing that draws me most to this fandom, and the things that makes it unique, is that by the mere nature of the works we love, everyone's Arda is different. And not just in the usual headcanon-y ways that are typical of every story, but even down to important plot and characterization points.

Who is Gil-Galad? What is the Oath and what does it have power to do? What really is the Dagor Dagorath? How do the Laws Of The Universe work?

And beyond that- what parts of HoME do you pick and choose? LaCE? Does anyone try and work with Tolkien's horrendous math? Have you taken parts of your Arda from older or other worlds, with the Cottage of Lost Play and the exile of the Gnomes?

Have you given names to the wives and daughters? What do they mean- who are they? Mother-names or father-names for those who only had one?

I just really love how even when two interpretations of the same world seem utterly incompatible, they aren't. I'd love to see other additions/headcanons!

[the-writing-warg]

Something I've noticed that I haven't seen others talk about very much is this

The armour elrond wears in the hobbit is the base for the armour he wears in the war of the last alliance.

And it's not cause its his only suit of armour because in the first hobbit film we see him wearing this suit

He really went and pulled out the fancy armour to go rescue gandalf.

[deer-with-a-stick]

The more time I spend explaining Tolkien lore to my brother the more I realize that Tolkien was just batshit insane

[queerofthedagger]

generally i don't have super strong opinions about gil-galad's parentage like i can get behind any version to some extent, but him being the son of finrod would add such weight and angst to his fierce determination to fight sauron, his dying while fighting him, to his alliance's (partial) success, and to his and galadriel's relationship, like!! there are immediately five new layers to all of it and i want to poke at each and every one of them

[ibroughtyoumybullets]

been listening to the audio books of lotr while working and i honestly just need to get jrrt on the phone. i need to ask him my questions. like i love the films and i love the text but listening to the text as a living thing is making my brain melt out of my ears while im supposed to be working due to the sheer overwhelming power of literature.

like i was listening to boromir's attempt to take the ring / frodo on the seat of seeing / the breaking of the fellowship during the last hour of my shift today and several times i stopped working completely to just stare slawjawed at my computer.

im not a tolkien scholar by half but i dont think its super out of the park to say theres a clear element of oral storytelling tradition in his style. which ironically when reading isnt something i enjoy a lot. but HEARING IT makes me connect with those parts of the text and appreciate it like 100x more. the songs and the BLANK son of BLANK and the epithets and history/lore dumpage in particular, which when reading can be a little like, yeah man i know this, you dont need to tell me again. but they make sense and actually really serve the story when told orally. it puts you in the universe.

also credit where credit is due andy serkis did a good job on these. i think hes supposedly kind of an ass but he still did a good job. his boromir is a freakishly good sean bean impression. like to the point that when boromir first came in i was like??? is sean bean here now? however im starting TTT tomorrow and i know i will not feel as much good will to him then bc gollum freaks me the fuck out and i dont want him in my ears.