#the kinslaying at aqualonde

[maybe-thou-shalt-find-valimar]

I just finished chapter 15 of the silmarillion and what? what is going on someone help. like, did thingol really just ban quenyan because.... because what? "oh by the way my uncle killed a whole bunch of ur family" and you ban a whole fucking language? that's a bit of an overreaction, don't you think? there's a fucking reason galadriel didn't tell melian about the kinslaying, curse, and burning of the ships. goddamnit

[imakemywings]

Hey, are you still bitter about the treatment Thingol gets in the fandom? Because I am, even if it's 2023. The fact that people have such visceral reactions and threw a huge hissy fit in response to Thingol banning Quenya as if his banning is equivalent to a mass slaughter when said mass slaughterers are claiming lands in Beleriand and mocks Thingol's kingship is funny to me. And the fact that people mock and shit on Thingol for being pissed at the kinslaying at Aqualonde because he wasn't even there, like hello? That's his brother's people tf? Who wouldn't be pissed when you find out your brother's family legit got slaughtered? He has flaws but like so do many characters in silm, yet he gets so much hate and is never written with justice because he's against the noldor/feanorians.

Am I still bitter about [X]? yes. The answer is always yes.

People's attitudes towards Thingol in this fandom are a perfect illustration of character-centric morality: the things the Feanorians do are excusable because they're liked, and anything Thingol does is worthy of scorn because he is not liked. That's how you get people acting like the Quenya ban is on par with literal mass murder (and no, I don't think his asking for a massive number of foreign troops coming into the area to show him respect as the local ruler, as a display of good faith if nothing else, was unreasonable).

Look, I get why Thingol is not a big fan favorite. He suffers from "show not tell" where although Tolkien tells us he was a wise and beloved king, most of what we're shown in detail are things he fucked up. He also plays the King Triton role with Beren and Luthien, and no one likes a guy who stands in the way of ~true love~. Additionally, some of his most likeable moments come in Children of Hurin, which is, of course, not a part of the core Silmarillion. We get a lot less detail in Silm about Turin's time in Doriath, which is when we see a lot more of Thingol in CoH and where we see his attitude on mortals make a complete 180 (he is in fact the only Elf lord to ever foster a Man). But even within Silm, it's rarely acknowledged that in the end, he does support Beren and Luthien's marriage.

"And it seemed to Thingol that this Man was unlike all other mortal Men, and among the great in Arda, and the love of Luthien a thing new and strange; and he perceived that their doom might not be withstood by any power of the world. Therefore at last he yielded his will, and Beren took the hand of Luthien before the throne of her father."

He seats Beren at his left hand--it's hard to overstate the significance of that.

"Then Thingol's mood was softened; and Beren sat before his throne upon the left, and Luthien upon the right, and they told the tale of the Quest..."

I think it is relevant to remember that in accepting Luthien's marriage to Beren, Thingol is necessarily accepting her death--the death of his only child, whom he holds dearer than all the land and wealth of Doriath. That doesn't make his actions in B&L right, but I think it makes them understandable.

Later, when the forces of Doriath go to hunt Carcaroth, Beren and Thingol hunt together.

"...Huan leaped from the thicket upon the back of the Wolf, and they fell together fighting bitterly; and no battle of wolf and hound has been like to it, for in the baying of Huan was heard the voice of the horns of Orome and the wrath of the Valar, but in the howls of Carcaroth was the hate of Morgoth and malice crueller than teeth of steel...There they fought to the death; but Thingol gave no heed, for he knelt beside Beren, seeing that he was sorely hurt." (Emphasis added)

But also, simply because he repeatedly comes into conflict with the sons of Feanor, he was doomed to be recast as a villain by the fandom because the sons are so popular that anyone who dislikes them is going to get shafted by the fandom. Hating on Thingol is so accepted in this fandom people don't even seem to regard it as character bashing to come onto posts or fics about Thingol and share how much they don't like him/think he's an asshole/whatever.

I really don't think there is an overreaction to hearing about unprovoked mass murder. I really think most of us would react very badly to finding out that someone we'd had dealings with had slaughtered a bunch of people, whether or not we were related to the victims. It's been said before but I'll drag it out again: Thingol had to do something. As king, he did not have the option of not reacting to that--that it happened, or that the Noldor tried to conceal it. The Quenya ban was arguably a mid-level response (Furthermore, it was a pretty deft display of Thingol's soft power--Maedhros scoffs at his claim to be king of Beleriand, yet look how instantly and totally the Sindar adhere to this directive. With this one move, Thingol displays for the Noldor how far his power reaches. If they were thinking about armed conflict with Thingol and Doriath, they now know how many of the Elves of Beleriand they would have to deal with.) It's not like Fingolfin was going to turn his people over for a trial, and accept whatever punishment Doriath's court ruled on, not least because Fingon himself was a significant part of the Kinslaying at Alqualonde. The Noldor, hand their crown prince over to a foreign justice system? Not gonna happen.

I will link to my tag for Thingol metas, if you want to see more of what other people have stated more eloquently about his character and his actions!

Long story short: I like Thingol, flaws included, and it's kind of laughable that of all the characters in the book, THIS is the one people find irredeemable.

[softlysilverfountainsfall]

Exactly how awkward was it for Finarfin to show up again at Tirion--after turning away after the Doom and not after the Kinslaying--and try to say hello to his wife, who probably lost family members and definitely lost friends and many, many people to his brothers and nephews and people?

[the-archives-of-memery]

[celebregol]

no, you see, finarfin dying in aqualonde while trying to stay the violence would’ve been great, actually. first, because then the kinslaying is not just kin as in other types of elves, but also kin as in your own family (i imagine feanor goes to make the first strike and finarfin sees, pushing the target out of the way and becoming the second elf killed in valinor). if that wasn’t enough, it’d create a lot more strife within finwe’s family. finarfin didn’t want to go, he only followed as long as he did because his sons were encouraging it. how many of his sons would turn back and how many would stick steadfastly to their position because now that their father is dead, they’ve lost too much to just turn back? what of fingolfin? in his perspective, two members of his family lost their lives because they paid more attention to feanor (finwe went with feanor because he loved fenaor the most, and if finwe was not in formenos he may not have been killed; finarfin wanted to keep the peace so of course he’d focus on trying to mediate between feanor and the others, which cost him his life). is he the one who now returns to valinor, or does he continue on, too? when he dies and he meets his brother again, what words can be passed then? finarfin died in an attempt to stop this doom, and yet it wasn’t enough to prevent anything.

[sakasakiii]

Hey so here's a question. I love the interactions between Anairë and Eärwen, but I was wondering do you think Nerdanel was their friend?

hhihi!! thank you for the question! i'm sorry it's taken me SO long to finally get back to this, but i'm slowly making my way through asks and yours is a prompt ive loved since i first saw it, so i had a lot of fun with this 😚

certainly, i do think that nerdanel would have been friends with anaire and earwen! although, at first glance you would not think she's close with them at all, given her gruffness... but i really like the thought of the three wives being close friends bc in a family as problematic as Finwe's, i adore there being solidarity between the ladies who married into it 😂 here is a little relationship chart of my hcs to explain better!

obligatory sketch page WOO

now AFTER the exile and the first kinslaying, i have a whole array of hcs about how their relationships may evolve that didnt make it into my sketches... but to condense: nerdanel is a pillar of strength for anaire who is distraught especially by nolo and irisse leaving her. she, however, dares not to face earwen for the shame and guilt that feanor's (her husband!!!) actions against earwen's own people have brought about. earwen leaves them both (temporarily) to return to aqualonde and mourn, and from there... well i havent thought about it, but tl;dr i dont think it'd end sourly for them three, really!

[sunflowersupremes]

Heyy, first of all, I love your destroying-the-ring-releases-Melkor-au-idea. The concept is great and hilarious!

I was just wondering if Gil-Galad being Maglor's son was based on any personal headcanons or just ideas of yours?

I must admit that I was kind of surprised (not negatively) by this choice since you majorly write Maglor/Eönwë (at least atm).

Yessssss. Hello, I am always glad to get questions. Particularly about Maglor.

‘Gil-Galad as Maglor’s son but Fingon raised him because Maglor wanted to protect him from the Doom’ is mostly because of @nikol-nikiforova.

We have this running idea that Maglor gets mistaken for Fingolfin’s son a lot, because he hangs out with Fingolfin and looks the most like him (of Fëanor’s sons). So when Maglor knocked a girl up he took the kid to Fingolfin for help (he didn’t want the Oath to hurt his child, and at that point his brothers were still 100% into thinking the Oath was a great idea, so he couldn’t go to them). Fingolfin considered claiming the kid was his own, but he couldn’t bring himself to claim that he hadn’t been faithful to Amarië.

So while Fingolfin and Maglor are stressing out over what they’re gonna do with this kid, Fingon waltzes in and Fingolfin has an idea. You see, Fingon had been away for a while, exploring Beleriand, and he got back late at night, so there wasn’t a huge party to greet him. So they just tell everyone that Fingon knocked someone up while he was exploring and brought Gil-Galad back with him.

And it sort of works. For a few years it goes great. Maglor comes by often to visit, or Fingon takes Gil-Galad to the Gap, and everyone is happy. Maedhros eventually figures out that the kid is definitely not Fingon’s, and then he sees Maglor playing with him and goes ‘ohhhhhh’ but other than that the Feanorians don’t know.

The plan was to tell Gil-Galad who his real dad was eventually, but then Fingolfin and Fingon died and Maglor went east with the sons of Fëanor, so Gil-Galad is raised thinking Fingon is his dad.

The next time Maglor sees his son is when he’s taking Elrond and Elros to Balar, and by that time Gil-Galad hates him. He blames the Feanorians for Fingon’s death (The Union of Maedhros) and he saw Sirion after the Kinslaying and saw the destruction there.

Elrond and Elros were never told of Maglor’s connection to Gil-Galad, but they figured it out (or, Elrond figured it out and told his brother). They saw how Maglor would react whenever someone mentioned Gil-Galad (and they saw his face when Gil-Galad spat at him and called him a Kinslayer and a monster).

And then Maglor leaves at the end of the First Age, and poor Elrond doesn’t know how to go about telling Gil-Galad his suspicions. He has no proof, after all, and everyone agrees that Gil-Galad looks like Fingon, so no one questions that he is Fingon’s son.

Also, for bonus angst: Gil-Galad would have inherited Maglor’s voice, but they couldn’t explain where that came from if he was Fingon’s son, so he was never taught to wield Songs of Power. After his death, Maglor is left wondering if his son would have lived if he had been brave enough to face him and teach him to Sing.

Maglor and Eönwë

Maglor & Eönwë is definitely my favorite ship at the moment, but I typically write Maglor as being something of a ladies’ man, particularly during the First Age (its how he deals with his trauma).

So Gil-Galad is probably just the son of Maglor’s girlfriend of the week (because I ignore LACE and NOME, clearly, because thats fun).

Maglor’s Wife

Canonically he has an unnamed wife. I believe Tolkien’s phrasing was something along the lines of ‘he is most likely married’ which, to me, says even Tolkien was like ‘this man can GET IT’

But I don’t (usually) use her as a character.

I once joked that Maglor’s wife doesn’t exist, that he just made her up because he wanted to tell some mortals about Elrond and Elros, but he didn’t want to explain how he acquired them, so he just said ‘no they’re mine and my… my wife’s? Yeah, I have a wife. Definitely’ and then whenever he told stories he would just swap Maedhros out for an unnamed wife.

It started as a joke but now it’s my personal headcanon.

Gil-Galad as Eönwë’s Son?

It is likely? No. Does it make sense? No.

Would it be amazing? YES.

Even funnier if it’s Fingon trying to pass off a half-Maia child as his own.

Although then I would have no idea how they GOT Gil-Galad since Eönwë was in Valinor during the First Age.

Actually, no, I do know, Fingon ran into Eönwë and got ahold of baby Gil-Galad shortly after Aqualonde, promising to take him across the sea to Maglor. Except then the boats burned and Fingon had to take the fucking Eldritch horror half-Maia kid across the Ice, while trying to convince people it was actually his own kid.

Fingon: No this is mine

Argon: it… it has feathers

Fingon: Can you prove I don’t have feathers?

So they get across the Ice with this horror child and Maglor is the depressed and borderline suicidal Prince Regent, and Gil-Galad is pretty happy with Fingon, so Maglor and Fingon end up splitting custody.

[seawitchkaraoke]

I talk so badly about Tolkien’s characters so often and I’ve had people yell at me to defend them before but here’s the thing: I love them. I love every single one of them. Even the worst ones, even Melkor and Sauron and Saruman, even Grima and Gollum and definitely Denethor, I love them I love them I love them, there isn’t a single character I wouldn’t happily read a redemption fic for, I love them so much, even the ones I roast, even Manwe “yes, let me just free my definitely still evil brother and then refuse to go after him for several ages” Súlimo, even Elwing “yeah sure I’ll jump to my death instead of giving up this jewel and staying with my sons” the White, even Námo “I’m gonna judge you so incredibly harshly and give you absolutely no pity” Mandos.

I love them, because I understand. I get it. For each and every one of them I get how they could have gotten there, why they made the choices they did or why they might have made them. I get it. I understand. I love them. You don’t have to come on this post defending Elwing, I know y’all want to, but I know. I love her. She did her best

On the flipside, even for my favourite characters (especially the Silm ones) I am entirely aware of the things they did and how fucked up they were. You’re not gonna hear me defend Maglor and say “oh but it was all just the oath”, sure some of it was, but he chose to swear that oath. And considering how much time he does spend on not pursuing it, surely he did not, in fact, have to kill all that many people about it. He’s a mass murderer. So’s Maedhros, even if he has the additional excuse of “pretty much mad and traumatised to hell and back” for the later kinslayings. They’re among my favourite Silm characters and they are Horrible.

But even the less obviously terrible ones. Finrod! Beautiful, joyfull, golden, beloved Finrod! He would have taken the ships too, even though they were stolen. That’s how Sauron gets him, he points out the kinslaying at Aqualonde and Finrod falls, because he realizes “oh fuck I am actually not blameless in this”

But I love them. I love them so much. All of them, no matter whether their sin is murder or naivety or liking jewelry too much (actually a lot of their sins are probably liking jewelry too much).

Almost every single Silmarillion character is a problematic fave. There’s hardly anyone in there that you could say “they did nothing wrong!!” about. And I love them. I love them so much

[amethysttribble]

general-14, galadriel

Thank you so much for the request !!!

The prompt was Galadriel, general 14: “What happened to us?”

This one ended up angsty, I was sad writing it for her. A note of clarification, I'm imagining that Galadriel gives the Ring of Barahir to Dior when he ascends the throne. In this snapshot, she has currently owns it, and hates that.

Beren had given her the ring.

With solemn eyes and a drawn face, with a heavy beard and craggy lines around his eyes, Beren had given her Barahir’s ring. Finrod’s ring.

Galadriel did not appreciate it, but couldn’t- in that moment- find it in herself to refuse. She hated this ring, cursed this ring. But even now, lost in Menegroth’s twinkling halls, alone and grieving and desiring no destination, she held fast to that ring.

Looking up to a wide crevice which let in starlight, Artanis pressed Ingoldo’s ring to her lips. The emerald was cold on her skin, the silver as well, though the gold warmed quickly on her breath. The golden crown of flowers, her father’s symbol, their father’s symbol.

Her father’s symbol, hers alone on this shore. She was alone now.

Shaking quietly from the rage of it, tears streamed down Galadriel’s face. She couldn’t- wouldn’t let anyone see her like this, not even Melian or Celeborn. Both were good, firm friends- perhaps more, perhaps her a mother, perhaps him a different kind of love in time- but she did not want them now. She did not need them. She didn’t-

Galadriel had never needed, never wanted anyone. Or rather, she’d never wanted to need anyone. When her mother would catch her crying over skinned knees and elbows, over broken toys and trinkets, Artanis had always been trying to hide her tears. She’d wanted to be like her brothers, her older, stronger brothers.

Fierce and fiery Aikanaro, loud and eager to make trouble, even more eager to make amends and laugh, and laugh. She had never seen him cry- except when exceptionally merry and drunk- on the far shore. He’d not been the same after the kinslaying at Aqualonde, even less after meeting and leaving… What had been her name? Andreth. Finrod mentioned it was Andreth. Aegnor had died wanting her. She died waiting for him.

He had died with Angrod. Sweet Angrod, gentle Angrod, her nearest and dearest brother. He had been a dancer, often away with Nessa when she was young, and he had only expressed sorrow through movement. She still had never seen him cry, but he painted such inconsolable sadness while dancing on this shore. Galadriel had barely been able to look at him sometimes, Angrod had been so open, so free with everything, including his mind.

She’d felt it when he silenced.

And then there was only her and Findarato.

Ai, Finrod Felagund, so bright and beloved. Galadriel had never hated him, could never hate him, but many days she begrudged him, and was jealous of him, and scorned him because of her jealousy, and he would always laugh at her stuck out tongue.

He was… Finrod, their Findarato Ingoldo, her brother, her last brother, he had always been of such good will.

Good will, which turned her father’s ring into the Ring of Barahir and murdered her big brother.

Galadriel placed the ring between her teeth and bit down on it, tasting the metal, grinding the gems. It muffled her screams, her sobs, and she wanted to break it. She hated this ring, she hated this pretty little piece of Valinorin craftsmanship. She hated her father’s crest, she hated Finrod’s favored emerald, she hated the snake that was eating itself- had eaten itself.

She hated Turkafinwe and Curufinwe, a part of her hated Beren and Luthien, her worst instincts hated all of Nargothrond, she hated her father with the silliness of a child, she hated Morgoth with the bitterness of an adult, she hated Sauron so much it burned her, she hated the Valar and the doom and Mandos; both the place and the person. She hated Finrod.

But as she bit down so hard her jaw ached and she cut her lips on the inlays, Galadriel hated that she was alone.

“What happened to us?” she sobbed aloud, words garbled and choked but clear to her, clear to the sky.

Though it galled her, though she was ashamed, Galadriel wanted her words to be clear to Elbereth. To Manwe’s wind. To Yavanna’s growth around her and Aule’s walls encasing her. She wanted one of them to hear, and to bring the words to her mother and father, so that they would know to come and wipe away her silent tears as the once had.

She wanted the Valar to hear so that the words would make their way to Mandos, and maybe then her brothers would hear of her grief and know how angry she was that they had thrown away their lives and left her.

And if they could hear how she cried and wept, they would pat her head and hold her close and laugh and soothe her anger and pain and fear away.

Wash away the loneliness.

But no cries would reach them, and no one was here.

[matchasparrow]

Exploration of a Maglor AU - part 1

Part 2 Part 3

Been thinking about a fem!Maglor AU lately, because Nerdanel deserves more representation in her flame-consumed children. (And come on, the Feanorians deserve one sister, I don’t care that seven sons alliterate better.)

It could either make a huge difference to the story, or not make a difference at all.

About half the Elleth in the House of Finwe stayed, and half left Aman. Fem!Maglor would have no doubt left as well, though there would have been quite a bit of guilt about leaving - Nerdanel would likely have pleaded for Maglor to stay, rather than just the twins.

Maglor is, canonically, more similar to Nerdanel than he is to Feanor, in that he too desired to understand minds rather than to control them. Fem!Maglor would be even closer to Nerdanel and absorb more of her influence, being the only other girl in the crazy-cozy-nest of fiery-tempered Feanorian boys.

Her loyalty being torn between her parents might lead to her having slightly more reservations about Feanor's mission, though she chose to follow him. It might prevent an involvement in the first kinslaying - or at least, she would stand aside with Maedhros at the burning of the ships. She is no less furious and vengeful about the death of Finwe and the theft of her father's jewels. But she would be more inclined to listen to Olwe's words and persuasion, or at least understand enough from his POV to not want to, you know, start killing the innocent Telerin at Aqualonde - whom she has studied and befriended over past few centuries.

Or perhaps she does, inevitably, stain her hands red in the chaos of the first kinslaying. Terror-stricken Telerin picked up the fallen swords of the Noldor, desperate to protect themselves and theirs. They may not know how to use it, but hard steel cuts all the same. It's kill or be killed. Maglor is a warrior, or she would be, by the end of the first age. She is a survivor. The fighting instinct is in her blood, just as much as the mighty song of power and the song of healing is. She fights back. She kills.

This guilt gnaws at her. It has gone too far - the road beyond will be darker and become more twisted, she realised, as she stared at the remorseless faces of her father and brothers. They are drunk on righteous fury, but she is too clear-sighted, too much of Nerdanel for that.

She does not swear the Oath. Does not swear to forgo love, nor law. Does not swear to everlasting Darkness.

Fem!Maglor does not get cold looks of betrayal from her family as much as Canon!Maglor would have gotten.

Though elves would scoff at the gender discrimination of humans, there is still some gender expectations in elven society, (though much more flexible than in human society) - you cannot tell me that her 6 brothers, (and Feanor) would not be relieved that their only sister - calm, gentle Maglor, who’s always there with a sweet lullaby or a Song of great tales to excite them - is going to be free from this damning burden.

I think this would change a lot of things in the story. Maglor will be no less involved in the fierce defence of Beleriand, no less a warrior or pillar of her family, no less in the regards of her brothers. She would be even fiercer, more desperate in the war against Morgoth - it’s not just about getting back the Silmarils or face damnation - it’s that if she does not defeat Morgoth and get the Silmarils - her brothers will either face everlasting darkness, or stain their hands and souls dark beyond recognition in their attempt to regain the cursed gems.

It’s even harder to thread through dirt and blood and fire to get the Silmarils and walk out relatively clean than it is to claw and dig through the curse of Middle Earth, careless of how much grime and red they will come out stained with.

I think having a free-from-the-oath Feanorian that’s desperately involved in the events will give a very interesting journey through the first age. Hopefully, it’ll give a Maglor different ending than the grieving elf that does not believe himself deserving of forgiveness and redemption, condemning himself to instead forever wander the shores of Middle Earth.

Light and purity and honour have a place in Tolkien’s world. So I hope this AU might too.

Stayed tuned for more of my fem!Maglor ramblings - and I’ll love to hear your thoughts on it too!!

Part 2 Part 3 ( the main part)

[irmolorienasks-imagines]

The Valar and their unerstanding of the Elves

From my experience in the Silmarillion fandom I observed that there has been a discourse on the Valar and whether they are the real villains or not for trying to take away the ability of the Elves to make decisions of their own, and being ignorant about their wants and needs. And my stance on that discourse is that the comparison between the two is plainly unfair.

See, the Ainur are a vastly different species than elves. They are spirits and spirits alone; the fact that they can take a physical form is something most of them choose (it is CANON that Ulmo, for instance, rarely used a physical form), but even so, the Fana is different than the Hroa. It is a mere materialization of an Ainu’s fea and it has the needs a fea has; not hunger, thirst, sleepiness and libido, but the need for love, caring and protecting. They are eternal beings that do not change overtime and were created for a specific purpose- to carry out a specific mission each; which would, as a whole, serve Eru’s Children (the Eldar and the Edain). Time does not affect them like it affects Elves and Men, and free will is a mystery for them. Yes, they are allowed to have thoughts of their own and their unique ways to carry out their work, but, unlike Elves, their fate was determined the moment Eru created them; they are his tools and nothing more. They do not have a choice in what pleases them or what they want to do with their lives; they cannot even try something new and different from what they have been doing or give up their current occupation for another. They cannot even take a break and go on holiays. Eru has taken all the decisons for them, they have nothing that they can call “their own”, not even their thoughts, because they, too, stem from the part of Eru’s mind that gave birth to them. Their whole existence is devoted to serve a plan that wasn’t even their own. They were not even granted vision before they created Ea with their song. If it didnt exist, or the Children were somehow extinguished, then they would be at a loss, for their sole purpose of existence wouldn’t be anymore.  So, back to the point, the Valar did not try to take the Elves’ ability to decide for themselves away because they were villainous or self-serving entities. They just had no idea what “having the ability to decide for oneself” is. They thought that since Eru had taken all decisions for them, they should do the same for the Noldor’s sake, as they saw that the decision they made would lead them to destruction. Still, they did not forbid them from leaving, either. Manwe sent his fair warning and Feanor did not heed to it. And after the kinslaying at Aqualonde, Mandos cursed them (and rightfully so) -not for not doing what the Valar said, but for the crime of killing their fellow people to steal their ships. 

Granted, there are some Ainur that have better understanding of the Elves than others. The Ainur that have been closer to the Elves, for instance, must have been taught some things on how they think and act, so it is pretty safe to assume that Aule’s and Orome’s Maiar have a better understanding to the Elves than, say, Manwe’s Maiar, because they have been closer to them and helping them develop their skills in hunting and forging. Also, Irmo and his Maiar must have a profound understanding of the conscious and unconscious functions of the fea of elves, men and ainur alike, because of the nature of their work that has to do with that knowledge. Even Namo and his Maiar must have picke something up regarding the Elves, since they tend to the fear of the dead. Ulmo and his maiar, on the other hand, might be worshipped widely by people like the Teleri, but since they rarely leave their native place, let alone take a physical form, they scarcely know anything about them.

However, the Ainur (or the majority of them, at any rate), although can try to understand the Elven ways, free will is a concept so out and agaist their nature that is totally incomprehensible to them. The few of them that can understand it, inevitably are lead to an existential crisis (Melkor is a good example, and I have experimented a lot with the Idea of Irmo being led to a form of passive cynicism about it, which, to me is canon, since the unconscious is a deterministic force that constantly delves and motivates the conscious). An interesting question might be whether free will is possible at all in Tolkien’s symbology when it comes to the Ainur, since Melkor represents the self-destructive and all-powerful part of Eru’s mind whose free will is to destroy and rule over the world he strives to create, and Irmo represents the crushing truth that we will never be fully aware or capable to control the source of our own thoughts, but that is a meta for another time. 

@elf-in-a-mask @valinkeye @bodhvild @morgause1 @temple-of-the-valar @glorfinrod

[lendmyboyfriendahand]

The entire album “All This Bad Blood” by Bastille is 1000% about the Silmarillion. Complete track listing and which character/event each song goes with under the cut.

"Pompeii" - The fight against Sauron echoing the fight against Morgoth. 

'And the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we love,’ the destruction of Formenos and Gondolin and Ost-in-Edhil

‘Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all,’ refusing a powerful spirit’s offer of knowledge and throwing him out the city.

‘Does it almost feel like you’ve been here before,’ the High King of the Noldor rides out to fight the Dark Lord

‘How am I going to be an optimist about this’ no actions of elves did anything more than buy time last Age

"Things We Lost in the  Fire" - Fingolfin’s host watching the burning of the ships at Losgar. ‘We were born with nothing / And we sure as hell have nothing now’ but we’re not going to turn back just because it’s hopeless

"Bad Blood" - Fingon and Maedhros. ‘That those are the days that bind us / Together, forever’ and ‘All this bad blood here / won’t you let it dry.’

"Overjoyed" -  Feanor swearing the Oath and convincing the Noldor to follow him across the sea, taking vengeance rather than grief for Finwe. ‘ When you listen to my words / I see them sinking in / Oh, I see them crawling underneath your skin.’

"These Streets" - Maeglin in Gondolin, the city his mother told him all about, the city where Aredhel and Eol both died. ‘We have stained these walls / with our mistakes and flaws’

"Weight of Living, Pt.  II" The sons of Feanor and the second and third kinslayings.  ‘Oh, tell yourself this is how it's going to be’  ‘Now that you are here, suddenly you fear / You've lost control.’ Doriath falls, and Sirion falls the same, and this will keep happening.

"Icarus" - Feanor, obviously ‘You put up your defenses when you leave / You leave because you're certain / Of who you want to be.’ as well as ‘Icarus is flying / Towards an early grave’

"Oblivion" - Nienor when Glaurung reveals who she really is. ‘Are you going to age with grace? / Or only to wake and hide your face?’

"Flaws" - Nerdanel and Feanor. ‘You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve / And I have always buried them deep beneath the ground.’ Nerdanel, the wise, strong willed but seeking to understand. Feanor, the greatest of the children of Illuvatar, never admitted he had a single flaw.

"Daniel in the Den" - Finrod, both for the title and ‘Felled in the night by the ones you think you love’ re: Curufin and Celegorm leading Nargothrond against him

"Laura Palmer" - Turin, realizing he’s caused yet another tragedy and going to start a new life under a new name.  ‘The night was all you had / You ran into the night from all you had’

"Get Home" - Celegorm and Curifin after being kicked out of Nargothrond ‘To the morning we're cast out but I know I'll land here again / How am I gonna get myself back home?’ Fleeing somewhere that was supposed to be safe for the second time in a decade.

 "Poet" - Maglor, author of the Noldolante ‘I have written you down now / You will live forever’

"The Silence" Miriel, fading from exhaustion in Lorien as her husband and son wait for her to get better. ‘Now you've hit a wall and you hit it hard’

"Haunt (Demo)" - Fingon and Maedhros. ‘I will try to love you / It's not like I'm above you.’ They both fought at Aqualonde, Fingon won’t put that all on Maedhros.

"Weight of Living, Pt.  I" - Sons of Feanor and the Oath and the kinslayings. ‘Your albatross, shoot it down, shoot it down / When you just can't shake the heavy weight of living.’ Forswear the Oath, or argue that you should wait, or maybe you can’t live with yourself after all.

"Sleepsong" - Elrond and Elros with captor/foster father Maglor, who is at least better than being lost on your own in the wilderness at age six. ‘All you want is someone onto whom you can cling / Your mother warned of strangers and the dangers they may bring.’

"Durban Skies" - Celeborn showing Galadriel around Menegroth. ‘It’s alive / Now I understand your lives’

"Laughter Lines" - Finrod and Amarie. He crossed the sea and she stayed in Tirion. They expected defeating Morgoth to only take a few years, and then he’d come back for her. ‘I'll see you in the future when we're older / And we are full of stories to be told.’

[ofsirion-blog]

@dryhtenhold replied to OOC

My preferred non-canon answer is Findis was his mother since... it makes NO sense that Gil Galad, son of the son of the third son of finwe, would be the king when Elrond and Galadriel have so much more right by blood to the throne. mAN... TOLKIEN REALLY COULDN'T BE BOTHERED WITH THIS... but yes, Findis as his mother would make some semblance of sense

but thats... not even an option Tolkien even considers

That’s because Tolkien doesn’t give a shit about 90% of the female elves.

Well Elrond may not have been born yet when he took the throne and his parents were a bit pre-occupied by the Silmaril to have ruled themselves, and later its not unreasonable to say that the Noldor wouldn’t have wanted someone raised by a kinslayer to be king, not until they get to know him, by which point Elrond is like “I DON’T WANT THIS”. And they may not have been too fond of Galadriel at this point because she hung out with literally everyone but the Noldor for a while and maybe they were like “hey, lets trying picking someone who DIDN’T participate in the Kinslaying at Aqualonde and see if they have better luck.” 

But that’s just me trying to explain what’s going on if he is Orodreth’s son. I mean my personal favorite is probably him being the son of Fingon, but I know the fandom pretty much hates the idea of Finno being not 100% gay. Any which way I think literally everyone has a better claim to the throne at this point, so I imagine its more a game of “hey this guy hasn’t said he doesn’t want the throne so quick, let’s crown him before he realizes this is a terrible idea.” 

[silverwingsandoceanthings]

Eöl’s Execution

Or, How Idril Learnt to Stop Trusting and Accept her Doom

Note: this post is very much not about the event itself. This is largely me spewing onto the internet thoughts about what Idril thinks about it, and why she did what she did.

For want of somewhere to start, let us start with what I think is the question that leads to everything I wanted to say - why did Idril speak in Eöl’s favour?

Because, at first at least, she did. “Aredhel and Idril moved Turgon to mercy” [1] the silmarillion says. Aredhel makes the most sense, but Idril? There are sort of four ways I can think of this happening - she thought the severity of punishment should be Aredhel’s choice as she was the victim, she was convinced by her aunt to do so, she didn’t think the punishment was appropriate, or she thought there would be consequences. I tend to think on the last one, and at this point I do think she would have honestly petitioned her father with not only what she thought but all of it. This tends to be the point that I mark her as starting to keep secrets.

Onto this quote: “Then they cast Eöl over the Caragdûr, and so he ended, and to all in Gondolin it seemed just; but Idril was troubled, and from that day she mistrusted her kinsman.” [2]

So to everyone in Gondolin, presumably Idril inclusive as it does say all and she was certainly in Gondolin, thought the punishment was just. However, Idril seemed to have some issue with the situation. It could be that she was troubled by Eöl’s words, but to me it is not just that. The other thing is... I’ve never managed to convince my brain to read that as mistrusting Maeglin, for all logic says that from the fact the next words are “But Maeglin”, and the words before were a curse upon Maeglin. I’ve always read it as Turgon.

I’m fairly certain she never trusted Maeglin, in a way which was not to my ooc thinking fair to him. But Maeglin had already been there at least one day, probably a little more, so it was not from that day she did not trust him, but a few before.

But why would she stop trusting her father for enforcing his own law? Especially if she did also think the punishment was just?

Because Eöl, for all his crimes, was still one of the Eldar. More than that, he was Turgon’s brother-in-law. Which covers about all of the definitions of kin except close blood relative. Turgon ordered his death. The people of Gondolin willingly participated. Before even the Dagor Bragollach, the Eldar of Gondolin had slain one of their kin.

“For it seemed to her a thing strange and crooked in him, as indeed the Eldar ever since have deemed it: an evil fruit of the Kinslaying, whereby the shadow of the curse of Mandos fell upon the last hope of the Noldor.” [3]

 “And Ulmo warned Turgon that he also lay under the Doom of Mandos, which Ulmo had no power to remove. 'Thus it may come to pass,' he said, 'that the curse of the Noldor shall find thee too ere the end, and treason awake within thy walls. [...]’” [4]

“Thus it was in Gondolin; and amid all the bliss of that realm, while its glory lasted, a dark seed of evil was sown.” [5]

I want to talk about 3-5 at once, so they’re all just above rather than integrated. So 4 gives us that the Doom is on Turgon and at the very least the Noldor of Gondolin, if not also the Sindar who followed them. However, Ulmo seems to be in doubt as to if the reprocussions of it will fall on Turgon or not. 3 implies that, once everything was known, that Maeglin was in some way responsible for the Doom falling upon Gondolin... But 5... the evil did not exist at first. The seed of evil was not in Maeglin until he came into Gondolin. 

To Idril’s mind, one of two things happened. Probably both. Her father drove Eöl to curse Maeglin, and the curse became an agent of the Doom, or - and even more damningly, because it should have been apparent and my Idril at that point in the narrative would have told her father such in no uncertain terms - by ordering the execution of Eöl, Turgon ordered the executioner to commit the crime of kinslaying, and so attracting the attention of Mandos and damaging some of the protection and secrecy they had been given. Yes, Eöl had already killed Aredhel, but he was not of Gondolin; that was a tragedy from an external force,whereas  the death of Eöl was sanctioned and accepted by their own people. He was an elf who did pose a threat, but who was not at the moment he died actively in the process of being such. He had killed one of them, but he had no knife to anyone’s throat. Should they not show him the mercy they wished to be shown, here with the eyes of the Valar upon them? Prove to the Valar that there could be consequence other than death for those who slew kin? That the Noldor were not thoroughly damned by Aqualonde, that there was worth in them still? That they valued mercy? That they were worth redeeming, and would not fall into the same ways again?

In Idril’s mind, Eöl was a test of the integrity of the people of Gondolin - were there circumstances under which they, too, would be driven to kill kin? It was a test they failed. And in failing it, the people of Gondolin sealed their own doom. 

And her father didn’t even have the conviction to damn his own people with his own hands, rather ordering them to damn themselves.

She still loved him. She still thought it was the just outcome. She no longer trusted him to listen to her, or to put the needs of their people first.

She no longer saw the point in telling him anything.

References: 

1-3, 5 - The Silmarillion, Chapter 16: Of Maeglin

4 - The Silmarillion, Chapter 15: Of the Noldor in Beleriand