#um... they are almost all about doriath

[ladysternchen]

End of Year Fic Recs

Thanks @polutrope for tagging me 😁!

Recommend up to 5 series or multi-chapter fics from 2023 that everyone should read (multi-year WIPs count, if the last update was in 2023)

Recommend up to 5 single fics/one-shots (long or short) from 2023 that everyone should read.

Recommend up to 5 fics NOT from 2023 that everyone should read (oldies but goodies)

Recommend up to 5 of your own fics (completed or WIP) from 2023 that everyone should read. (oooohhhh damn. I'm gonna SO fail at this, because I actually read so little myself- I tend to re-read the same stories over and over and over again, but I'll see what I can do)

Multi-Chapter

'Tis the Season (To Be Tea-la-la-lally) by polutropos (Teen And Up, WIP, AU) I'm not one for modern AUs normally, not at all, and I honestly didn't want to read it at the start, but then I did (here on Tumblr) and got sucked in LOL. It's just great, and I love the Holiday Spirit! (I won't tag you here again, as you're tagged in the entire post anyway 😄 brilliant story)

Rising as if Weightless by StarSpray (Gen) The story of Elwing suddenly becoming the big sister/foster mom of her older brothers. This is so tender and beautiful and has so much character growth and so many bitter-sweet reunions, and above all so much depth.

A Pair of Stars by Magicfeather205 (Teen And Up) Pre-historic Elves, and the birth of future kings. That was honestly the most interesting story I read this year, with wonderful and very accurate world-building and a beautiful story (and thank you, author, I now can't get the 'Elwë and Olwë were indeed the first set of twin-boys in that family' out of my head where it fights a raging battle with my own headcanon) Also, I want this fic to be read by every single midwife (and, more importantly, other obstetrician). THAT is how you treat a birthing mom. That's how you handle unforeseen events. I loved this so so so much. It would have felt perfectly natural to have Trixie and Nurse Crane walk in there- sorry about that fandom-mixup)

As Flowers From the Sky by Beleriand Death Trip (E) Fingolfin/Elu Thingol... this is honestly a ship I would never ever have thought of myself, or seen a way in which this could work, but this story DOES work within canon, and beautifully so. It has it all, from very interesting world-building ideas to mild- (and VERY funny) horror-elements, and from foreshadowing and tensions to being wonderfully wholesome. You'll feel better after reading this, I promise!

The Unforsaken by @ceescedasticity (M, WIP) Last but definitely not least. I'll again link the first part of the series in the before-2023-part, and probably say more about it there. But yeah, absolutely a must-read! Go! Go, destroy the Orc-bank! (But don't blow yourselves up!)

One-Shots

Bloodied by ohboromir (Gen) Just a little First-Battle-story. I love to see Elu and Beleg and Mablung together so so so much (who would have thought, ey?).

Unstoppable Winds by LadyBrooke (Teen And Up) The destruction of Númenor as viewed by a few of their ancestors. I really loved this because I have never actually seen a story about the Fall of Númenor written from that POV and it did (or rather does) inspire me quite a lot in my own WIP. (I have to apologise here for not having more, I read so many great one-shots here on Tumblr that I just failed to save in some way. I may add to this list if I find the time to scroll through my timeline and see which of those I reblogged)

Before 2023

elves, once (M) by @ceescedasticity The part one of the series The Unforsaken belongs to as well. And for me the most recommendable story there is (though I would guess most who see this post will know the story already). The name says it all, really, as it is the story of all those canon-characters who ended up as Orcs. This is the sort of fic I really enjoy because it actually gives an answer to a question canon rises. The Orc-bank has since so much passed into my own headcanon that I sometimes forget that it is not actually canon (which leads to very awkward situations sometimes at our monthly discussing-Tolkien-gatherings, I tell you that)

across so wide a sea (Gen, WIP) by Adwen Unfinished, but one of the most hilarious stories I've ever read. I hope so much that author continues writing it one day, but even if they don't, it's a great laugh to read what is written, and ah, the possibilities!

The Carriage held but just Ourselves (Teen and Up) by StarSpray The story of how Melian and her descendants deal with death when they finally come to face it. I don't know when I last cried so much when reading a fic. It's not just that it's so so so sad (because yeah, go kill us all even in the one chapter that should be somewhat 'happy' 😭), but also incredibly beautiful and written perfectly in-character. It's looking into those women's minds. One of my bed-time-stories. (hmpf. All the others are multi-chapters form this year. ah well...)

My own

Yet Were Its Making Good, For This (not rated, but mature:ish; WIP) Ah, my problematic WIP. I wanted that story so so so so so badly written that I forced it, and it cost me MANY nerves. Mablung of Doriath/Elu Thingol. (How is it that nobody ever wrote that ship before?????????????) Works within canon if one squints one's eyes a bit. I'm currently working on the Epilogue ind Valinor, which might, MIGHT, for once give one of my stories a truly happy ending.

Into Oblivion (M) The smut-part of Yet Were Its Making Good, For This. Elwë/Mablung/Beleg. (Well, what do you all think they got up to during the journey?) Doesn't interfere with later canon.

Why, It Asks (Gen) It's a very short read, but one that is super dear to me for some reason. Elmo's thoughts as he stands by and watches his brother's grave being dug.

Moving On-series (Gen) Is this cheating, now? As it's really three one-shots? If it is, pick the last one to read. I'm just so fond of what my imagination spat out there world-building-wise LOL. It's the story of the time Elwë was missing to his and Melian's coronation, as mostly told from Elmo's POV.

Eyes In The Dark (Gen) I just had to put it here, as it's quite sweet to read, but given the hardly-mentioned-in-canon-characters it's hardly read by anyone. Give it a try, though. I bet you like it. Little Denethor is frightened by eyes in the dark, and runs for Lenwë for help. And Lenwë is being just about the best Dad ever.

And now we come to the bit I always dread. I suck at tagging people, because I always forget who enjoys such things and who doesn't, and because everyone's probably been already tagged. So let's do this differently, then- all writers who read this and want to share their recs, please do! (Cheating again, I know)

[thelordofgifs]

beren and luthien in dor-lomin is not something i wanted but definitely something i needed :D

thingol can. um. eat shit. yeah. you don't get to assign your daughter's boyfriend a deadly quest with all that follows and leave unschatched :) though i am sad for melian. she needs a hug or maybe two. i also love how b&l waltz into doriath, spend exactly the minimal amount of time there, and waltz right out like they are So right for that

poor morwen my baby almost fainted there( i'm looking to her & beren's dynamic a lot. do you think beren could teach turin & lalaith beorian customs alongside with morwen? (also i know at least 1 person who will be so very glad with this development)

curvo ran away and he's either having mental breakdowns in a row or he's brooding and plotting. seeing how brooding and plotting worked out the last time i'm betting on breakdowns. also seeing how noone even stubbed their toe in this chapter, i officially proclaim curufin the bearer of bad tidings. turin turambar of tfs, if you will. everyone associated with him Will suffer the consequences.

i loved this chapter a lot beloved you did a spectacular job <3

Beren and Lúthien in Dor-Lómin is going to be SO MUCH FUN are you ready!! As for Thingol… yeah tbh I don’t think this was even much of a departure from canon. Lúthien deliberately chooses to disappear from civilisation after her return to life – hard to see that as anything but a deliberate rejection of her father and his actions imo.

I’m very excited for Beren and Morwen too! Although tbh I haven’t thought too much about how he’s going to interact with the children yet – I mostly got excited to explore that actually quite complicated history between Beren and his little cousin. But in the next part we’ll be focusing more on Húrin and Lúthien actually – and also on Fingon, Maedhros and Maglor! Lots of politics and tense conversations to get through.

No word on Curvo!! (And I mean literally no word because I still don’t know where he is. He’ll be back at some point probably)

Thank you for the ask beloved 💕 so glad you enjoyed!!

[procrastinationonvacation]

I hope your exams go well! I have some right now and I have done approximately 45 minutes max of voluntary revision :/

As for the asks, can you please tell more about Daeron? You mentioned (way back in the Daemags post) that you head canon him as a son of Melian and Thingol and I love that idea if you would like to run with it?

- Captain Anon

Hi!! Yessssss! And yeah same for the not really studying thing (does it show in my activity on here?) 

Ok three primary arguments for him being their son: 1. Eldritch vibessssss 2. an interesting character that way (as opposed to the other where it’s mostly just snape-ey and weird) 3. the ULTIMATE middle child.

Eldritch vibes:  The world is made of music and Daeron is the foremost singer/ musician in the world. That tops both Luthien and Maglor (bringing up Luthien because we all know the shit she pulled with the Song).  And I imagine that power is even more magnified in Doriath: Daeron would sing and the forest would stop. Just to listen. The same way Thingol fell asleep for however long from Malians enchantment, you could die listening to Daeron’s music and your corpse would keep on listening. Just- super scary eldritch children, ok? Not to mention the classic teeth a little too long, eyes a little too bright, voice a little more musical with every word is sculpted in the air. Thank you and good night.

-

Story line: Ok so one of the reasons I like the siblings is because all the other siblings seem to get along so well, even if they dont particularly like each other all that much. And also before I continue this, just fair warning it’s practically a whole ass AU.

We start of this au/canon/whatever the hell im saying and the two siblings are really close, and (in part to being weird eldritch childs and in part because they actually get along) spend almost their time together.

This continues as they grow older, certainly they make other friends as they go into their separate roles in the kingdom, but mostly it’s those two together. In the forest singing.

I think Beren shows up, and I mean at first they ran away because um scary? but obvs Luthien gets over that really fast, Daeron not so much. They’ve been raised in an isolationist country, I feel like he’s not to happy with the *new person.*

And hey I get to mirror that Maia obsessiveness I was chatting about for Annatar and Melian when I say Daeron is that way about Luthien. Which. Creepy. but still much less creepy in my opinion than as a random courtier, ya know?

Daeron makes bad decisions pt 1:  he spies on the couple for Thingol because a)weird outsider mortal is sketchy, and Daeron Does Not Like and b) no that’s his sister, who’s supposed to hangout with him, not Beren. So yeah, maybe the idea that beren is Dangerous is just a justification of that but really, thats no one’s buissiness but daeron’s.

Daeron makes bad decisions pt 2: Ok listen telling Thingol Luthien was gonna go to rescue Beren is actually a decision I could get behind. Cause.um. deadly quest designed to get people killed is not for siblings. Still, over all bad idea.

Daeron is helpful: on try 2 it’s like ok fine. Go be with Beren.

Luthien is lost and Daeron goes for a hike pt 1: Ok i briefly mentioned this, but I think at some point he realized he had to return to Doriath, and then just… decided not to face a home that was missing his sister and also held his parents and whatever they were going through.

Luthien is lost and Daeron goes for a hike pt 2: I think when he hears Luthien’s dead it’s really upsetting, and that’s the point at which he actually departs from the areas of the forest he knew.

Anyways, I find the version of the story interesting because if he really *did* intentionally loose himself in the dark forests/places of the world, that’s 300 years and the repeated collapse of his country (which like… more guilt). It reminds me a lot of maglor, just sans all the murdering, which is why I think Daemags is an interesting ship.

-

Middle child:  I dont think I need to explain this one. His other siblings (Luthien and Turin) get whole books on them. They are followed by the narrative to their death and beyond. Daeron runs off to the forest and is never Once mentioned again. Iconic.

-

Also, the unfortunate truth is I don’t have permission to buy the not lotr tolkien books. And since my family’s very paranoid about covid, I can’t check out physical books from the library... so long story short if my canon in any of my posts is a little wack that’s why.

Thanks so much for the ask!!! Have a great day <3

[on-a-hill-by-the-sea]

Silver - Beleg Cúthalion x human!reader

In which the reader, of our world, finds herself in theirs-- capturing one night the attention of a certain archer.

A/N - I'd like to think that this was during a small slice of a happier time, despite the impending doom that made up the First Age.

I'm not quite sure where I originally planned to go with this, considering I wrote the first half about a year and a half ago (procrastination at its finest), but I wanted to finish it aand here it is!

(Also, I know it’s very unlikely that Beleg had silver hair due to his ethnic group but I've always pictured him with it. So..for once, my stickler self is bending the likely-canon. Just a little.)

Sindarin Translations: Hiril vuin- my lady

The night was clear and calm in Gondolin as I gazed up at the vastness of the sky; a light breeze whispered over my fingertips while I raised an arm to trace through constellations. After several moments I let it land back at my side with a quiet sigh. From where I sat overlooking the city, nostalgia was already beginning to set in with an intensity I did not anticipate. I was to leave in the morning. Beleg Cúthalion, a Sindarin Elf who, as I was told, was once a Marchwarden Chief of Doriath, had arrived in Gondolin not six days ago to deliver important news to King Turgon that he had overheard in his travels; I was drawn to him immediately and he, it would seem, to me.

Perhaps it was his attire that first caught my attention—always ready for travel, for adventure, life on the road, each day an adornment from a seemingly different land; his lack of flowing robes and elegant embroideries that I was so used to seeing in the Royal House was a refreshment to say the least. It reminded me somehow of home. Maybe it was even his hair—always tied up in some way, whether in a topknot, a plait slung over his shoulder, a tail hung down his back with strands framing either side of his face. Such a comparison to the free-flowing locks laced with intricate little braids and twists that I saw everywhere around me. He was wise and brave, though his spirit light, and always kind. The lingering smiles and lengthy conversations we had already shared was something I was trying to keep off of my mind. My decision came earlier this day. He was to set out from Gondolin on the morrow, heading to meet up with Túrin, his closest friend and companion; a man he taught from childhood. It was for similar reason, Beleg had said, that he first took notice of me. I was human. After much heavy pondering over the course of his stay, I made the choice to go with him, to the quiet dismay of the King and his daughter; Turgon had taken me in as his ward when I was found all those months ago lost and confused with no way of getting back home nor a House of Men that would claim me. It saddened me to leave him now. He realized, however, that it was something I needed to do; I didn't fit in here among the Elves, couldn't find my happiness, no matter how much I loved the city and those residing in it. The time was come to search elsewhere. Unable to get any sleep, I had come outside to a quiet area where the light of the moon and stars were my companions and a fresh spring breeze wrapped me in its arms. 'I really will miss it here', I thought to myself, and was so lost in pondering that I didn't even notice the figure that now sat at my side. "Hello." The sudden sound of a quiet voice sent me nearly jumping out of my skin; I turned with widened eyes towards the Elf, whose own brows were lifted. "Forgive me. It was not my intention to frighten you." Amusement was tugging at his lips. "Beleg," I sighed, releasing a breathy laugh. "You were so quiet..I didn't hear you." He shrugged, turning his gaze to the stars with a small smile. "Such is the nature of Elves." While his attention was focused elsewhere I took the time to observe him; he was adorned in a simple sky-blue tunic and dark breeches, feet bare, and for the first time since meeting him I realized his hair was free of any plait or twine, a cascade of flowing silver waltzing with the breeze. The light of the moon reflecting off of it made him appear almost as a star itself, handsome face glowing, grey eyes gentle and bright. I was in awe. My staring must have been a bit too obvious, or perhaps it is just too difficult to be sneaky in the presence of an Elf—or probably both—because again he smiled and cast his gaze from the stars to meet mine instead. "What is it?" He asked, as if he already knew. He did that often. "N-Nothing," I stammered. My eyes flitted to the fidgeting hands in my lap. "It's just, um.." I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as I glanced back up at him. "You're just..very beautiful." His serene, almost teasing expression changed to one of surprise. "I—I mean, forgive me, I-" Sputtering like a fool, I mentally scolded myself for even saying anything in the first place; my awkward spiel was interrupted, however, as he reached out a hand and delicately tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. I stared. My mouth was probably still open. "You are very beautiful as well." He said, gently, and with the softest smile. I snapped my mouth shut. A beat of silence passed and thus I offered my most clever response yet—well-thought-out indeed, masterfully planned—I looked directly at him and said: "What?" The unexpected bout of laughter that bubbled grandly past his lips had me thinking some sort of enchantment was at work; and I swore in that moment that it was the most melodic sound I had ever heard. He was grinning widely now. "I believe the proper response would have been, 'Thank you.' Although I suppose yours works as well." My cheeks were on fire. I suddenly became very interested in the fabric of my skirts as I mumbled in weak defense, “It would do you well not to fluster me, Beleg Strongbow.” The smile was still on his face as he leaned back on his hands to gaze once more at the stars. “I only jest, my lady. Although there is no doubt of your beauty—in that, I speak true.” My heart fluttered at his words and suddenly I was nervous for the coming week. With him and his compliments as my only companions until we met up with Túrin, I could only hope I wouldn’t become like a bumbling child in his presence. My thoughts traveled back to the reason why I came out here in the first place. As if reading my mind, Beleg said, “You should be sleeping. We have a long day ahead of us on the morrow.” He looked over at me, able to tell that my night had been restless. I answered his questioning gaze with a sigh; “I know,” I murmured. “I just...can’t seem to wrap my head around things.” I shook my head to myself as my eyes passed over the ethereal city. “Since waking up with no idea where I was or how I got here, and being found.. Gondolin is all I have known of this world. Turgon and Idril, my only sense of family. And now..” Beleg’s brows were gently furrowed, a tender look in his eyes as he listened. “Now I am leaving it all behind. Leaving it for a road I can’t even see the end of. A place that I am not sure I will even be able to find.” The following silence was only broken by the soft breeze, and suddenly a warm hand took hold of mine. “Whatever may come of this journey, hiril vuin, know that I am with you for every step. You need not be afraid—“ I looked at him, and our eyes met— “There is a place for you.” The wind carried his warmth towards me, the smell of trees and fresh air and flowing rivers, and his eyes shone with starlight. There is a place for you. His voice, soft and strong, was in that moment almost as mesmerizing as his laughter. “I am glad to be with you, then,” I whispered after what felt like an eternity. He had told me some days ago of the story of King Thingol and his Queen, how they remained for long years sustained by nothing other than each other’s gaze—the fact that I was reminded of this, sitting there, looking at Beleg, made me feel almost foolish. Yet the way he looked at me in turn began to tell me otherwise. “I must admit,” he spoke very quietly, “in this short time since our meeting, I have grown very fond of you.” It was almost as though he were speaking to himself, his words not meant to be heard by my ears; his eyes so focused as they moved across the features of my face, yet in likeness to a trance all the same. I sat with baited breath. Finally his eyes came up to meet mine again and with a sudden but subtle switch—as though waking from a daydream—he said, in normal tone this time, “I have noticed your interest in the stars.” He released my hand and I shivered at the quick loss of warmth, yet his smile made up for it as did his closer shift in my direction while he looked up towards the sky, and I did my best to ignore how his hair seemed to glimmer beneath the moon. Elves really are something else, I thought in bewilderment. “Look,” he murmured, pointing upwards with a slender hand, “Do you see that grouping of stars just there?” I followed his sight and nodded. “That is Soronúmë. Eagle of the West, in the common tongue. And over there—“ he leaned closer, “is Telumendil.” He turned a wide smile down at me, his face inches away, and I therefore kept my focus trained on the sky. I could already feel the heat rising to my cheeks. I finally did look at him, however, when he continued, “I can tell you everything about our stars as we travel.” The joy shining in his grey eyes made him seem—somehow, bizarrely—even younger, so full of the starlight he spoke of that he almost appeared to be glowing with it. My fascination with the Eldar’s love for the night sky never ceased, even in all the months I’ve aboded with them. Beleg somehow made it all the more beautiful. “I would like that very much,” I grinned back at him, suddenly hoping that I would never have to lose sight of that smile. The simple kiss he then placed on my cheek filled me with such a burst of warmth that I nearly fell over. As he continued to point out constellations, the names of them rolling smoothly off of his tongue, I couldn’t bring myself to tear my eyes from his face; the way his lips formed each word, the elegant structure of his jaw as it moved, eyes bright and smile soft, hair caressed by the breeze. He smelled of the earth and the good that is in it. When the night drew on and a comfortable silence had settled, and he idly sat tracing my fingers with his own, I breathed deep and allowed myself, finally, to not be afraid. ‘There is a place for you.’ Perhaps I would not have to look so far after all.

[gurguliare]

Galadriel/Melian! >_o

When I started shipping them: Like… the @aeromachia joke art probably

My thoughts: It’s a good ship! I mean, it’s one of my favorite background relationships in the Silm, it’s such an interesting characterizing detail for both of them… the fact that in Middle-earth Galadriel, former revolutionary agitator and tomboy prodigy, seeks out the tutelage of ~Melian the Queen; the fact that Melian nevertheless seems to treat it as a meeting of equals, at least superficially; the absurd dissonant mix of Melian’s human-seeming nostalgia for Valinor (and Galadriel catching her up on all the gossip) vs the fact that the reason Melian NEEDS Galadriel to catch her up is that her angelic omniscience is glitching, weird. As far as its shippy potential goes, it’s almost impossible for me to imagine Galadriel not being swept up in the romantic aspects of having even part of a god’s attention, especially after the Darkening, the helcaraxe, etc.; it’s this salutary mix of safely familiar and probably-safely unknown, and the closest she can get to the kind of relationship the Noldor had to the valar in Aman while still being manifestly different, and lonelier, and more precarious. Plus if she gets spooked by her own inappropriate fee-fees she can always redirect onto Celeborn.

As for Melian’s side, I mean, idr buy romantic but I can imagine her having a passionate concern for Galadriel only MOSTLY as a vector of doom/danger to Doriath… the analogy I want to make here is to Irisviel from Fate/Zero, who is simultaneously like, a created puppet with the sole purpose of protecting a certain object until a certain critical time, but who also has a measure of free will, tastes and preferences, etc., kind of in service of that assigned purpose; I imagine if Melian went through a period of focusing closely on Galadriel, it was on the highest level for Doriath’s/Thingol’s sake, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t manifest as a personal interest.

What makes me happy about them: If we’re going by the elaborate headcanon detailed above, eh, I love unequal levels of romantic involvement (without it necessarily being a ONE-SIDED romantic involvement)

What makes me sad about them: Galadriel’s such a fucking coward… that’s not true, I love her cowardice-in-Doriath. um. I do find her uselessness during the Lay/after, during the fall of Doriath, sad to think about, assuming she was… still there… at the time… “bunked off to blue mountains” is sad but DIFFERENTLY

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: I am not personally that into Melian the sexy enchantress inducting galadriel into her sexy arts, intentionally and seductively (accidentally and to mutual awkwardness is another matter.) although ‘annoyed’ really is too strong, it’s just not my thing

Things I look for in fanfic: A Melian characterization that falls closer to mine I guess, or generally galadriel/melian fic that’s also interested in Melian’s weird circumstances outside her role as mentor. don’t get me wrong, I love blinkered and confused young Galadriel, but even through the filter of her pov it would be nice for some of the domestic complexities of Doriath’s royal family to trickle through. Also tbh I could do with some modulation of “young Galadriel”—I feel like I typically agree with people on the basics of Galadriel in Aman and Galadriel post-First Age, but Galadriel in Doriath sometimes gets lumped in with her pre-Darkening self in a way that ignores… newfound Arafinwean trauma and the fact that they’ve all been “seasoned” to a certain extent by the trudge across the ice… my favoritest favoritest part of the silmarillion. obviously. not really. but sometimes

My wishlist: Stupid transhumanist AUs

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: lmao, I love both canon het pairings! very much. Also I think it’s cute how the Galadriel and Gandalf convo about the elessar in unfinished tales is like a neat inversion of Galadriel and Melian chatting about Aman. an acceptable galadriel/gandalf one night stand pretext

My happily ever after for them: Galadriel after setting up shop in the woods just outside Mandos finds out that Thingol and Melian live in a cave system they dug down next to where the hills buried the Numenoreans and she’s like “ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh outclassed again”

[vardasvapors]

"I was at the council I speak of, for I was the minstrel and counsellor of Gilgalad." ~ Elrond, "At Rivendell", Return of the Shadow, presented without comment because it's perfect as is

AIUDSFIDJHDJG…MINSTREL OF GIL-GALAD….I’M…FUCKIGN—

god, i thought i had run out of moments (and fingers and toes to count them on) in the HOME where I had some vague theory about “hmm i mean this is probably really Out There but what if it was like ___?” only to then read Tolkien ALMOST LITERALLY ECHOING EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING.

Ok it’s not THAT close to what i was thinking since the context of that line is:

‘You remember?’ said Bingo [Frodo], looking astonished at Elrond. ‘But I thought this tale was of days very long ago,’‘So it is,’ said Elrond, laughing. ‘But my memory reaches back a long way [>to long ago]. My father was Eärendel who was born in Gondolin seven years before it fell and my mother was Elwing daughter of Lúthien daughter of King Thingol of Doriath, and I have seen many ages in the West of the World. I was at the council I speak of, for I was the minstrel and counsellor of Gilgalad…

– i.e., about the Last Alliance era and therefore not entirely in-line with tolkien’s later narrative of the Eregion Incident, unless elrond is being consciously facetious here, in a, idk, alfred pennyworth vein, but even so, i wanna….finagle it into canon, like amroth-less galadriel. IT’S CUTE. even if he was actually describing an earlier phase of his lifetime, it’s cute! um. because i have a stupid sense of humor, one of the vague theories i had WAS definitely the whole ‘what would post-apocalyptic loremastery even LOOK like’ idea described here but ran out of room to speculate if this entailed, fucking, reciting all the perfectly-remembered stories he had heard from far and wide whenever he came home. but THANKS, TOLKIEN, FOR ENABLING MY DUMBEST DESIRES.

anyway uh. what was the first thing i wanted to respond with. oh yeah ‘flakey aristocrat minstrel pipes up suddenly that this annatar person is Bad News Bears and then shapes up into a general over the course of the next 500 years’ is a fun character arc. someone who can write multichapter stories write it.

[garden-ghoul]

misc from HoME

“mostly tinuviels”

this first bit is from the framing story before music of the ainur

Then said he: 'Your pardon, sir! I marked you not, for I was listening to the birds. Indeed sir you find me in a sour temper; for lo! here I have a black-winged rogue fat with impudence who singeth songs before unknown to me, and in a tongue that is strange! It irks me sir, it irks me, for methought at least I knew the simple speeches of all birds. I have a mind to send him down to Mandos for his pertness! ' 

At this Eriol laughed heartily, but said the door-ward: 'Nay sir, may Tevildo Prince of Cats harry him for daring to perch in a garden that is in the care of Rumil. Know you that the Noldoli grow old astounding slow, and yet have I grey hairs in the study of all the tongues of the Valar and of Eldar. Long ere the fall of Gondolin, good sir, I lightened my thraldom under Melko in learning the speech of all monsters and goblins -- have I not conned even the speeches of beasts, disdaining not the thin voices of the voles and mice? -- have I not cadged a stupid tune or two to hum of the speechless beetles? Nay, I have worried at whiles even over the tongues of Men, but Melko take them! they shift and change, change and shift, and when you have them are but a hard stuff whereof to labour songs or tales. Wherefore is it that this morn I felt as Omar the Vala who knows all tongues, as I hearkened to the blending of the voices of the birds comprehending each, recognising each well-loved tune, when tiriptilirilla here comes a bird, an imp of Melko -- but I weary you sir, with babbling of songs and words.'

This is really cute. But also like... Rumil wants to kill this bird for speaking a language he doesn’t know... ANYWAY I think it’s a really cool backstory, he was imprisoned by Melkor so to make himself useful he learned EVERY LANGUAGE THERE IS. But human languages change too often, how troublesome.

Also, ‘may Tevildo Prince of Cats harry him.” If Tevildo is really Sauron mk 1 this is a really funny curse. PRESUMABLY Rumil has met him, if they both worked for Melkor. is he scary or is he just... a cat.

Here’s an extract from a poem called ‘the man in the moon.’ I didn’t read the intro carefully enough to figure out what it has to do with anything, but look at Tolkien’s vocabulary:

And at plenilune in his argent moon He had wearily longed for Fire -- Not the limpid lights of wan selenites, But a red terrestrial pyre With impurpurate glows of crimson and rose And leaping orange tongue',

Mr Rolkien you can’t rhyme “plenilune” and “moon,” they’re the same thing. It’s cheating. He also used the word “inaureoled” a couple stanzas earlier. Anyway I LOVE internal rhymes it’s the best thing ever.

OKAY I skipped to the tale of tinuviel (for my own reference, page 222), because I want to see my great kids and also the prince of cats. In the framing story Eriol is hanging out with a bunch of kids and telling them his own stories, and he asks them to pay their debt with a story in return. Within 15 seconds of beginning the story they start arguing over the name of Tinuviel’s father (apparently it’s Tinwelint), which is very kids and very cute.

'Hush thee, Ausir,' said Veanne, 'for it is my tale and I will tell it to Eriol. Did I not see Gwendeling and Tinuviel once with my own eyes when journeying by the Way of Dreams in long past days?’

'What was Queen Wendelin like (for so do the Elves call her), Veanne, if thou sawest her?' said Ausir.

They can’t agree on ANYONE’S name. G/wendelin/g is Melian btw. Apparently she has dark hair; I don’t like it, I think she has fire hair. So there’s a short recounting of how Tinwelint and Wendeling met, and then we note that they had two children, Dairon and Tinuviel. Interesting! Dairon is the third best musician ever, after Ivare and Tinfang Warble (pffft). “Tinuviel's joy was rather in the dance, and no names are setwith hers for the beauty and subtlety of her twinkling feet.” TWINKLETOES. I’m going to call her Twinkletoes from now on.

Beren, one of the gnomes of Dor-Lomin (and if I’m reading this right he’s of the people that were imprisoned by Melkor?) turns up (Veanne doesn’t know how, just that he liked wandering) and stares at her, even though gnomes and elves don’t get along. Yr all eldar, guys. There’s this really cool bit though where Dairon sees Beren and flees, but Tinuviel is too confused and she doesn’t think she’s very good at runnin (she’s a dancer! probably has better stamina than her brother!) so she just... melts into a puddle of moonlight. What it actually says is that she hides under a hemlock with large flowers, but Beren is literally watching her the entire time and he still doesn’t get where she went.

she slipped suddenly down among the white hemlocks and hid herself beneath a very tall flower with many spreading leaves; and here she looked in her white raiment like a spatter of moonlight shimmering through the leaves upon the floor.

Then Beren was sad,

So she gets away. He keeps wandering around looking for her and watches her dance a few times. She’s not afraid of him any more because she realizes he just likes her dancing. And she’s great at it! She should be proud! So he asks her to teach him to dance, and she like, cruelly makes fun of him for not being as good at dancing as she is? And she brings him into whatever they’re calling Menegroth these days and is like “:D hey everyone this wanderer wants to learn to dance! that’s pretty funny right!”

Tinwelint asks if he has ever hurt her and she’s like nooooo he appreciates my dancing more than ANYONE else. And when Tinwelint asks why Beren is here Beren says “I want to marry her.” everyone laughs at him, because that was totally unprompted and extremely rude. after Beren storms out, promising to get a silmaril, Tinuviel chides her father, saying “now no-one will ever appreciate my dancing as much again!” I am really enjoying how she’s clearly not in love with him at all yet, and thinks of him more as a captive audience for her GREAT DANCING than any kind of equal.

Beren is captured by orcs and taken to Melkor, cos he’s beefy and they think Melkor might appreciate it. Melkor is actually mad because he can tell from Beren’s phenotype that he should already be a slave. But Beren says he’s sooo tired of hanging out with humans (who Melkor hates) and would rather work for Melkor as a huntsman and trapper to get him food.

Melko marking his hardy frame believed him, and was willing to accept him as a thrall of his kitchens.

Scullery maid is much funnier, but it’s also more true than I was expecting...

Now he gave orders for Beren to be made a thrall of Tevildo Prince of Cats. Now Tevildo was a mighty cat -- the mightiest of all -- and he was in Melko's constant following; and that cat had all cats subject to him, and he and his subjects were the chasers and getters of meat for Melko's table and for his frequent feasts. Wherefore is it that there is hatred still between the Elves and all cats even now.

I’m so tickled by the image of the hugest domestic cat ever chasing down an elk. Alternately, Melkor eats only mice and rats. It’s just to make it harder for the cooks, who have to peel them individually. Anyway Beren goes to Tevildo’s house, which is full of “growling and monstrous purrings.”

All about shone cats' eyes glowing like green lamps or red or yellow where Tevildo's thanes sat waving and lashing their beautiful tails, but Tevildo himself sat at their head and he was a mighty cat and coal-black and evil to look upon. His eyes were long and very narrow and slanted, and gleamed both red and green, but his great grey whiskers were as stout and as sharp as needles. His purr was like the roll of drums and his growl like thunder, but when he yelled in wrath it turned the blood cold, and indeed small beasts and birds were frozen as to stone, or dropped lifeless often at the very sound.

I have to quote Tevildos extensively because everything I hear about him is just so good. I love when cats do a yell. Anyway Tevildo immediately narrows his eyes at Beren and says “I smell a dog,” and dislikes him forever because he used to have a dog. Which he hasn’t seen for months probably while he’s been in Doriath. Tevildo can smell his doggish personality. So he tells Beren that he’s probably an AWFUL hunter and trapper and tells him to catch three mice. But Beren has nothing to make traps with, so he can’t, and Tevildo sneeeers at him.

OH. OH. HE IS LITERALLY A SCULLERY MAID. WHEN HE COULDN’T CATCH THE MICE TEVILDO SET HIM TO SCRUBBING FLOORS. He is a general dogsbody for the cats (ha!) and doesn’t get much food or sleep.

Meanwhile Tinuviel realizes she actually misses him as a person, confusingly? And she asks her parents to let her go rescue him. Which is really absurd, considering they talked for all of ten minutes and he’s just some random guy from the forest. Her father shuts her in a house up in the boughs of HIRILORN, my favorite tree (queen of beeches!) and she has a great time there actually. I think she likes making people bring her stuff, and her brother spends a lot of time playing for her at the base of the tree.

The hair-growing spell actually fits in with this version of the story way better, because this whole thing is a fairy tale. That’s why I like it better than the final version tbh. Beren as a scullion for the prince of cats! That’s good fairy tale material! The cloak she weaves is also imbued with sleepiness, which rocks.

We now learn of Tevildo’s deep personal grudge against Huan, captain of the dogs, who almost caught him once chasing him away from the dwellings of humans. Tinuviel meets him in the forest and tells him she is looking for Beren. What luck! Huan and Beren have been friends for a long time! Double luck, Huan already hates the guy Beren needs rescuing from! Huan advises Tinuviel to go to Tevildo’s house at noon, when everyone is having their catnap in the sun on the terraces. Holy shit. I love thissss

She meets Umuiyan (umunyan) the doorkeeper and flatters him into letting her see Tevildo. And she dares to pet his head and he purrrrrs. He is much bigger than her, big enough to ride, so he carries her to where Tevildo is and then goes off to take a nap because of her Slumbersome Cloak. Tevildo takes her into the castle (she implied that she has news of his Enemy Huan) and she sees Beren carrying stuff around in the kitchens, so she tells her story to Tevildo REALLY LOUDLY. Beren drops everything he’s carrying. Now Tinuviel says that Huan is lying injured in the forest and is a REAL JERK so she thought she’d tell Tevildo and get him killed, which he deserves.

Blah blah Huan almost kills Tevildo, tries to ransom Beren and Tinuviel for his own safety. I want to note here that Tevildo says Beren is probably being scratched by the cook, Miaule. They have.... cat names.... they all have cat names.... this is like that fucking episode of Naruto where they have to infiltrate the cat fortress. anyway Tevildo is forced to give his golden collar to Tinuviel, and she also gets to use the spell that binds cats to his will and makes them huge and scary. So a bunch of normal sized scared cats come running out of the fortress. Huan takes the golden collar, which has “a great magic of strength and power.” Guys. It’s the one ring, but it’s a cat collar. I’m so fucking tickled.

Tinuviel and Beren wander around in the woods with a whole bunch of dogs for a while until Tinuviel gets homesick. Well there’s nothing to be done about it! I don’t want to live in the woods forever, and Beren can only come home with me if I get a silmaril! Apparently Huan has been carrying around a dead cat this entire time as a trophy, which he donates to Beren as a disguise:

Now doth Tinuviel put forth her skill and fairy-magic, and she sews Beren into this fell and makes him to the likeness of a great cat, and she teaches him how to sit and sprawl, to step and bound and trot in the semblance of a cat, till Huan's very whiskers bristled at the sight, and thereat Beren and Tinuviel laughed. Never however could Beren learn to screech or wail or to purr like any cat that ever walked, nor could Tinuviel awaken a glow in the dead eyes of the catskin -- "but we must put up with that," said she, "and thou hast the air of a very noble cat if thou but hold thy tongue."

Beren is a REALLY GOOD CAT THOUGH LOOK

Tinuviel's heart became lighter awhile than it had been for long, and she stroked Beren or pulled his tail, and Beren was angry because he could not lash it in answer as fiercely as he wished.

CUTE!!!

They go in to talk to Melkor. Although Tinuviel looks the same as normal, Melkor tells her to stop “flitting around like a bat.” So we see where the business with Thuringwethil came from! Anyway Tinuviel pretends she is a teen runaway and hates her dad and wants to come live in Angband because like, that’s the MOST OBVIOUS place for a teen runaway to get a job. He’s like, eh, but he lets her dance anyway because he’s bored. Beren uses his kitchen knife from Tevildo’s house to pry a silmaril out of the iron crown, which I think is very charming. He has no other weapons!

When they make it back to Huan, he says Tinuviel to ride on his back and Beren to run beside. Sorry, who just had their hand bitten off? Was it Tinuviel? Let the boy ride! So they go back and everything else happens pretty much as normal, except after going to Mandos both of them become mortal Also they do Many Great Deeds after this, which is good, because in the final version they just settled down with their 15 dogs and had a kid.

[gurguliare]

CONGRATS @vardasvapors​​ YOU’VE UNLOCKED UNASKED-FOR FOURTH OPTION ‘liveblog the entire Wanderings of Húrin, because I haven’t read it in nearly two years’

Twenty-eight years Hurin was captive in Angband, and at his release was in his sixtieth year, but great strength was in him still, in spite of the weight of his grief, for it suited the purpose of Morgoth that this should be so. He was sent under guard as far as the east-marches of Hithlum, and there he was let go free.

None that had known him [in] youth could mistake him still, though he had grown grim to look on: his hair and beard were white and long, but there was a fell light in his eyes. He walked unbowed, and yet carried a great black staff; but he was girt with his sword. Great wonder and dread fell on the land when it was noised in Hithlum that the Lord Hurin had returned. The Easterlings were dismayed, fearing that their Master would prove faithless again and give back the land to the Westrons, and that they would be enslaved in their turn. For watchmen had reported that Hurin came out of Angband.

'There was a great riding,' they said, 'of the black soldiers of Thangorodrim over the Anfauglith, and with them came this man, as one that was held in honour.'

Hey do you think the flamelike spirit that burns in Maedhros and makes him heal rapidly is ALSO a Morgoth bequest. Like does he heal super fast because his strength was of the ancient world or because Morgoth just unlocked that key in his genome before hanging him up on the wall and never got a chance to turn it off

...anyway how great is hot indelibly recognizable 60yo Húrin, forever. He has exactly his dashing younger self’s button nose.

Also I can’t believe he left Angband with an escort of hundreds of orc riders. After going into Angband still plastered in the orc hands he lopped off. Hey? Remember that? What’s up, Húrin? Do you think when they left him outside Dor-lomin one turned around and waved

Thus freedom only increased the bitterness of Hurin's heart; for even had he so wished, he could not have roused any rebellion against the new lords of the land. All the following that he gathered was a small company of the homeless men and outlaws chat lurked in the hills; but they had done no great deed against the Incomers since the passing of Turin, some five years before.

Of Turin's deeds in Brodda's hall Hurin now learned from the outlaws the true tale, and he looked on Asgon {3} and his men, and he said: 'Men are changed here. In thraldom they have found thrall hearts.'

God I just. cannot. believe. Hurin picks up the refugees that Turin fucking ditched in the mountains, and that they’ve now been downgraded from the bravest survivors of the Dor-lomin occupation to, meh, outlaws. No great deeds since Turin went off. Gotta love that Hurin’s-eye-view: well, what use to me?

'Fear not!' he said. 'I should have needed no companions, if I had come to fight with you. I am come only to take leave of the lord of the land. I have no liking for it any more, since you have defiled it. Hold it while you may, until your Master recalls you to the slave-tasks that fit you better.'

Then Lorgan was not ill-pleased to think that he would so soon and easily be rid of the fear of Hurin, without crossing the will of Angband; and he came forward.

'As you will, friend,' he said. 'I have done you no ill, and have let you be, and of this I hope you will bring a true tale, if you come again to the Master.'

Hurin eyed him in wrath. 'Friend me not, thrall and churl!' he said.

FB FRIEND REQUEST DECLINED. Also I love Lorgan, um, instantly recognizing the cocktail of tsundere threats characteristic of normal Angband introductions. sigh.

‘Fare you ill!'

'Tol acharn!' said Hurin. 'Vengeance comes. I am not the last of the Edain, whether I fare ill or well.' And with that he departed, and left the land of Hithlum.

HAHAHAHA I LOVE HURIN GETTING IT RIGHT... KIND OF... but unfortunately “I am not the last of the Edain, whether I fare ill or well” goes both ways. vengeance will come whatever happens to him but. whatever happens to him will still be awful and unchanged regardless of the survival of his peopleeeeee

[Some have said that] maybe he knew not that Glaurung was dead, and hoped in his heart distraught to take vengeance on this evil thing - for Morgoth would conceal the death of Glaurung, if he could, both because the loss was a grief to him and a hurt to his pride, and because (from Hurin especially) he would conceal all that was most valiant or successful of Turin's deeds. Yet this can scarce be so, since the death of Glaurung was so bound up with the death of his children and revelation of their evil case; while the rumour of the assault of Glaurung upon Brethil went far and wide. Certainly Morgoth fenced men in Hithlum, as he was able, and little news came to them of events in other lands; but so soon as Hurin passed southward or met any wanderers in the wild he would hear tidings of the battle in the ravine of Taiglin.

ahahahahahaha of course part of Húrin hopes that Glaurung survives. I mean I agree it makes no sense but: Of Course He Does. He’s Húrin Thalion, greatest warrior of the Edain! Why else was he released?

His heart is hot against Thingol. He passes it [Doriath] by and goes on to Nargothrond. Why? To seek news, plunder, --- he had been an admirer of Felagund.

w h a t  t h e  f u c k

Sorry nothing to say here just. AN ADMIRER OF FELAGUND? EXCUSE ME? OH MY GOD... DO YOU THINK TURGON TOLD HIM (EXPURGATED) STORIES

When Hurin stood again in the high places he descried far away amid the clouds the peaks of the Crisaegrim, and he remembered Turgon; and his heart desired to come again to the Hidden Realm, if he could, for there at least he would be remembered with honour. He had heard naught of the things that had come to pass in Gondolin, and knew not that Turgon now hardened his heart against wisdom and pity, and allowed no one either to enter or to go forth for any cause whatsoever. Therefore, unaware that all ways were shut beyond hope, he resolved to turn his steps towards the Crisaegrim; but he said nothing of his purpose to his companions, for he was still bound by his oath to reveal to no one that he knew even in what region Turgon abode.

Nonetheless he had need of help; for he had never lived in the wild, whereas the outlaws were long inured to the hard life of hunters and gatherers, and they brought with them such food as they could, though the Fell Winter had much diminished their store. Therefore Hurin said to them: 'We must leave this land now; for Lorgan will leave me in peace no longer. Let us go down into the vales of Sirion, where Spring has come at last!'

I love: Húrin constantly half-consciously aping ‘human capable of hope’ speech patterns just so he can better lie to people. He’s good at lying now. He spent thirty years thinking Morgoth’s hand-me-downs, why wouldn’t he be. Also I love how explicitly negative earlier drafts are about Gondolin and “at least he would be remembered with honor,” another relatively normal human desire among the many parading ostentatiously in Húrin’s surface thoughts, and I love Húrin not able to cook OR farm. Amazing. Sucks to have social stratification, huh, honey.

Also the fact that he has this company of people following him and then he just ditches them to go find Gondolin adds SO MUCH RICHNESS to his plea outside Gondolin? Like whoa oh oh I’m so alone in the world all have spurned me and btw I basically catfished six guys until THEY would teach me how to fish

'The old man's wits are wild. He speaks with strange voices to shadows in his sleep.'

'Little wonder if it were so,' said Asgon. 'But who else could stand as straight as he, after such woe? Nay, he is our right lord, do as he may, and I have sworn to follow him.'

'Even east over the ford?' said the others.

'Nay, there is small hope in that way,' said Asgon, 'and I do not think that Hurin will go far upon it. All we know of his purpose was to go soon to Brethil, and that he has an errand there. We are on the very border. Let us seek him there.'

'By whose leave?' said Ragnir. 'Men there do not love strangers.'

'Good men dwell there,' said Asgon, 'and the [Master >] Lord of Brethil is kin to our old lords.' Nonetheless the others were doubtful, for no tidings had come out of Brethil for some years. 'It may be ruled by Orcs for all we know,' they said.

'We shall soon find what way things go,' said Asgon. 'Orcs are little worse than Eastrons, I guess. If outlaws we must remain, I would rather lurk in the fair woods than in the cold hills.'

The Rohan/Lothlorien/Fangorn mix with Brethil is real intense, though I mostly feel the Rohan parallels. But I also like the reminder that the Hadorians and the people in Dor-lomin really have the most human-centric existence of any society in Beleriand. The Haladin don’t necessary have close ties to particular elves but they’re tangled up in Orcs and a front line of defense against Orcs from the moment of their introduction, and they therefore feel more meshed into the fantastic wild of Beleriand as a whole, whereas the Hadorians really, almost, sorta had a self-contained fortified society from which to look out at the uncanny world, for a while there. Anyway, then with “Orcs are little worse than Eastrons” you got that simultaneous tasty racism and hard-to-resist humanization of Orcs from back at the beginning of time before Species Divisions were formalized beyond hope of unlearning, so, \o_o/ I guess

'To those of proved faith,' said Hardang. 'To be Edain is not enough alone.'

[...]

'This is my judgement. Here Turin son of Hurin dwelt for a time, and he delivered the land from the Serpent of Angband. For this I give you your lives. But he scorned Brandir, right Chieftain of Brethil, and he slew him without justice or pity. Therefore I will not harbour you here.'

LOL REVERSE OF Húrin’s propaganda machine “I am not the last of the Edain, whether I fare ill or well.” idk that I have much to say about the completely unstable shifting identities here but <3

Asgon, therefore, turned and went back towards Brethil; and the others followed him, for he had a stout heart and men said that he was born with good luck.

[...]

'Well, thy luck has held,' said Ragnir, 'for at least we are not slain, though we came nigh it. Now what shall we do?’

Rasgir/Asgon is a good ship I hope they had a nice time being lost in the woods forever

Thus Turin was the second cousin of Brandir on the 'Hadorian' side, and he was also his second cousin on the Haladin side; while in the 'Beorian' line he was Brandir's second cousin once removed - a genealogical situation to delight the heart of Hamfast Gamgee. Pointing out these relationships in an isolated note of this time, my father observed that 'Turin would be more readily accepted by the Haladin when his true name and lineage were known or guessed', since he was akin to their lords in these ways.

I’m very ... Emotion ... about Brandir being this barely-tolerated lord, son of a Beorian mother with a great big polarizing Hadorian strain as well, alternately prized by the other anxious part-Hadorians and viewed as an outsider by scared, bitter Haladin rival branches. Do I headcanon that Beldis put him on the Wise track at all?? I don’t know! I think I do! I don’t think she was a Wise-woman though she probably just gave him like, five poison berries once and a pat on the head

The only obscure point concerns the failure of Asgon's party to encounter Hurin on his return. My father was in two minds about this. The rejected fourth paragraph in C (p. 267) shows him (having decided that Asgorn and his men were not imprisoned) taking the view that they were ejected from Brethil near the Crossings: it is 'the captain of the Taiglin-guard' who restores their weapons; and they remain lurking in that neighbourhood. Thus they missed Hurin, 'who entered out of Dimbar' (i.e. came into Brethil from the north after crossing the Brithiach, as Asgorn had done). Hurin, he wrote, must not enter Brethil at the Crossings and be found lying beside the Haud-en-Elleth (as the story was already in the draft manuscript).

But he at once, and understandably, thought better of this, and (in the fifth paragraph) retained the existing story that Hurin was found by the guards near the Crossings; he said now that Asgorn and his men were put out of Brethil in the same region as they entered, and that they lurked 'near the eaves in that region' - hence their failure to meet with Hurin. But in the replacement passage B 2 (p. 265) he has them decide not to stay near the north eaves of the forest, and they go down towards the Crossings.

Tbh this. impossible continuity fuckup is my FAVORITE and instantly enshrined as Fairy-tale Meaningful in my mind, for no particular reason. Hurin went to the Crossings! Asgorn and his men headed down to the Crossings! HURIN IS TAKEN CAPTIVE AND THEY NEVER MEET AGAIN. Thanks, Connie Willis.

...he halted and looked about him in little hope. He stood now at the foot of a great fall of stones beneath a sheer rock-wall, and he did not know that this was all that was now left to see of the old Way of Escape: the Dry River was blocked and the arched gate was buried.(28)

Then Hurin looked up to the grey sky, thinking that by fortune he might once more descry the Eagles, as he had done long ago in his youth.(29) But he saw only the shadows blown from the East, and clouds swirling about the inaccessible peaks; and wind hissed over the stones. But the watch of the Great Eagles was now redoubled, and they marked Hurin well, far below, forlorn in the failing light. And straightaway Sorontar himself, since the tidings seemed great, brought word to Turgon.

But Turgon said: 'Nay! This is past belief! Unless Morgoth sleeps. Ye were mistaken.'

Obviously this is all in the Silm-silm but man the... stereoscopic movement from Húrin staring up at the mountains from way down below the cloud layer TO THE EAGLES, watching from ABOVE the clouds, seeing everything illuminated. What the fuck. Also I love the repeated “Unless Morgoth sleeps” phrase, ha ha ha ha, like Morgoth is a dragon and Húrin is his FAVORITE goblet (tru)

As darkness fell Hurin stumbled from the stone, and fell, as one aswoon, into a deep sleep of grief. But in his sleep he heard the voice of Morwen lamenting, and often she spoke his name; and it seemed to him that her voice came out of Brethil.

//

The waters of Cabed Naeramarth roared on, but he heard no sound and saw nothing, and he felt nothing, for his heart was stone within him, and he thought that he would sit there until he too died.

But there came a chill wind that drove sharp rain into his face; and he was roused, and anger rose in him like smoke, mastering reason, so that all his desire was to seek vengeance for his wrongs and for the wrongs of his kin, accusing in his anguish all those who ever had dealings with them.

He arose and lifted Morwen up; and suddenly he knew that it was beyond his strength to bear her. He was hungry and old, and weary as winter. Slowly he laid her down again beside the standing stone. 'Lie there a little longer, Edelwen,' he said, 'until I return. Not even a wolf would do you more hurt. But the folk of this hard land shall rue the day that you died here!'

So of course the “anger rose in him like smoke, mastering reason” passage is the only rival for Fingolfin’s last ride in my affections, I should have listed it as an alternative because they really are just, The Two Favs, but anyway: other things I’m into here include the... kind of... the relatively innocent-seeming childlike oblivion of grief, interrupted by a perhaps braver (?) and more adult/heroic (??) impulse to answer Morwen’s call---his love! that takes priority!---and then the same process happening again after she dies, except now all that’s summoning him is his grief, and it’s soured completely in his absence. But like, the repeated habit of ‘shaking himself awake,’ the shape is the same, the feelings that fill it are the reverse

Also I can’t. can’t. BELIEVE the ... seamless transition from the factual, wrenching, sweet gallows humor of “Not even a wolf would do you more hurt” --- he’s looking at her, he’s flirting a little, he sees her clearly, she’s a corpse! --- STRAIGHT into “But the folk of this hard land shall rue the day that you died here.” He was calm for as long as he’s talking directly to his dead wife, it occurs to him he can hurt someone, it’s time to hurt someone. No one can hurt her now. What does that have to do with it? He wants to hurt someone!

'Shame upon you!' cried Manthor the captain, who coming behind had heard what they said. 'And upon you most, Avranc, young though you are! At least you have heard of the deeds of Hurin of Hithlum, or did you hold them only fireside fables? What is to be done, indeed! So, slay him in his sleep is your counsel. Out of hell comes the thought! '

'And so does he,' answered Avranc. 'If indeed he is Hurin. Who knows? '

'It can soon be known,' said Manthor; and coming to Hurin as he lay he knelt and raised his hand and kissed it. 'Awake!' he cried. 'Help is near. And if you are Hurin, there is no help that I would think enough.'

'And no help that he will not repay with evil,' said Avranc. 'He comes from Angband, I say.'

'What he may do is unknown,' said Manthor. 'What he has done we know, and our debt is unpaid.'

God Manthor you male feminist. I mean, uh, I, ‘out of hell comes the thought’ / ‘ and so does he’ put this on my .... portfolio website, also... the hand kiss.... the unintentional brain-cleaving accuracy of ‘and if you are Hurin, there is no help that I would think enough’ ... I do legit love What he may do is unknown. What he has done we know, and our debt is unpaid. Manthor is a good, rationalizing, sleazy kid who has already had TWO prophetic dreams :(

Then Manthor gave him a little bread and meat and water; but they seemed to choke him, and he spat them forth. 'How far is it to the house of your lord?' he asked. 'Until I have seen him the food that you denied to my beloved will not go down my throat.'

[Húrin after having his mouth scalded by a bite of lembas] ‘Hmm, must be because THINGOL and MELIAN mistreated my WIFE’

the food that you denied to my beloved. holy shit. he’s an evil slam poet.

Then he turned towards Hurin, who sat meanwhile bent on the low stool; his eyes were closed, and he seemed to take no heed of what was said.

LOVE HÚRIN’S FUCKING... SHITTY-ASS COMBINATION THEODEN-DENETHOR-GANDALF VIBE... WHATS UP. IM A HARMLESS OLD MAN. BUT I HATE YOU. BUT IM CRAZY MAGIC SO

Then Hurin looked at him and the wrath left his eyes; and together they drank and ate in silence. And when all was finished, Hurin said: 'By your voice you have overcome me. Never since the Day of Dread have I heard any man's voice so fair. Alas! alas! it calls to my mind the voices in my father's house, long ago when the shadow seemed far away.'

'That may well be,' said Manthor. 'Hiril my foremother was sister of thy mother, Hareth.'

'Then thou art both kin and friend,' said Hurin.

'But not I alone,' said Manthor. 'We are few and have little wealth, but we too are Edain, and bound by many ties to your people. Your name has long been held in honour here; but no news of your deeds would have reached us, if Haldir and Hundar had not marched to the Nirnaeth. There they fell, but three of their company returned, for they were succoured by Mablung of Doriath and healed of their wounds.’

1) Seriously the amount of time Húrin spends on offhand, awful, overwhelming flattery 2) I REMEMBER BEING EXACTLY AS WOWED BY THE MABLUNG CAMEO LAST TIME. “Oh, shit, they got healed by Doctor Who!” Fuck I just realized Mablung visited again ~2 weeks ago and probably talked to none of those people. Amazing.

Soon all the Moot-ring was filled. This was shaped as a great crescent, with seven tiers of turf-banks rising up from a smooth floor delved back into the hillside. A high fence was set all about it, and the only entry was by a heavy gate in the stockade that closed the open end of the crescent. In the middle of the lowest tier of seats was set the Angbor or Doom-rock, a great flat stone upon which the Halad (40) would sit. Those who were brought to judgement stood before the stone and faced the assembly.

... Then he stood facing the assembly and hallowed the Moot according to custom. First he named Manwe and Mandos, after the manner which the Edain had learned from the Eldar, and then, speaking the old tongue of the Folk which was now out of daily use, he declared that the Moot was duly set, being the three hundred and first Moot of Brethil, called to give judgement in a grave matter.

I don’t have anything to say about this it’s just the best and I regret not including it in my Nienor fic. Take me to turf ampitheater. Btw Niniel definitely spoke on that doom-rock right, that’s where she convinced the folk of Brethil to go rubberneck with her, right

also NAMED MANWE AND MANDOS AFTER THE MANNER WHICH THE EDAIN LEARNED FROM THE ELDAR and then goes straight to the old largely-ceremonial human language I. just. I love it so much. I love Beleriand.

The horn sounded twice, but for some time no one entered, and the sound of angry voices could be heard outside the fence. At length the gate was thrust open, and six men came in bearing Hurin between them.

'I am brought by violence and misuse,' he cried. 'I will not walk slave-fettered to any Moot upon earth, not though Elven-kings should sit there. And while I am bound thus I deny all authority and justice to your dooms.' But the men set him on the ground before the Stone and held him there by force.

Sorry I included a lot of Húrin quotes that I don’t even have anything to say about I Just... the vision... Húrin’s slightly fake flailing and perfect enunciation/projection techniques....

But when Hardang stepped down and Avranc came to the Stone there was a loud murmuring like the rumour of a coming storm. Avranc was a young man, not long wedded, and his youth was taken ill by all the elder headmen that sat there. And he was not loved for himself; for though he was bold, he was scornful, as was Dorlas his father before him. And dark tales were whispered concerning Dorlas; for though naught was known for certain, he was found slain far from the battle with Glaurung, and the reddened sword that lay by him had been the sword of Brandir.

But Avranc took no heed of the murmur, and bore himself airily, as if it were a light matter soon to be dealt with.

My secret favorite WoH thing is not even the Hurin garbage, it’s just the indiscriminate revengelike murder mystery consequences of Brandir’s death on This Entire Small Community. Also, Avranc is cute. Cuter than Dorlas because I cannot imagine Dorlas behind the bench in an Ace Attorney game. Pats.

‘We gave him food and he spat on it. I have seen Orcs do so, if any were fools enough to show them mercy.’

[vs Manthor:] ‘Yet as for despising our food: he took it from my hands, and he did not spit upon it. He spat it forth, for it choked him. Have you never, my masters, seen a man half-starved who could not swallow food in haste though he needed it? And this man was in great grief also and full of anger.’

Anyway okay I joked earlier but obviously the moment with Húrin spitting out the food/these successive interpretive frames are just... so... again like, this is as close as we get to textual acknowledgment of like... the HORROR of those scenes where Gollum is burned by the elf-rope and the moon, the fact that what’s spoken of in the abstract as a sure sign of evil reads on the page as just this terrible, wasteful injustice, that no one’s actively inflicting but that people have some duty to correct. And like. come on. the only explanation for orcish allergies that makes sense is that they’ve been deprived for so long that they just can’t handle [radiance/nutrients/silky touches of elf-hair]. Avranc and Manthor, I have great news, you think you’re making different arguments and through my sciences I have discovered, it’s ONE argument

'Prisoner, will you not speak?' said Avranc, and still Hurin gave no answer. 'So be it,' said Avranc. 'If he will not speak, not even to deny the charge, then there is no more to do. The charge is made good, and the one that is appointed to the Stone must propound to the Moot a penalty that seems just.'

But now Manthor stood up and said: ‘First he should at least be asked why he will not speak. And to that question reply may be made by his friend.'

'The question is put,' said Avranc with a shrug. 'If you know the answer give it.'

'Because he is fettered hand and foot,' said Manthor. 'Never before have we dragged to the Moot in fetters a man yet uncondemned. Still less one of the Edain whose name deserves honour, whatsoever may have happened since. Yes, "uncondemned" I say; for the accuser has left much unsaid that this Moot must hear before judgement is given.'

'But this is foolishness,' said Avranc. 'Adan or no, and whatever his name, the prisoner is ungovernable and malicious. The bonds are a needed precaution. Those who come near him must be protected from his violence.'

Sorry I just... really like Avranc...

Hmm I was going to put this observation somewhere else but I don’t really feel like attaching a quote: it is always soothing to me when Tolkien doesn’t quite know how to translate his ideas into an archaic register either. Like with the whole subplot of Hurin’s food being drugged. “IDK, HIS FOOD WAS DRUGGED.” Or when he tries to backdate idioms? “Third time shall thrive best!” mmhmmm

But the gathering and counting would take much time, and meanwhile Manthor saw that with each moment the mood of Hurin grew worse.

'There is another way more simple,' he said. 'There is no danger here to justify the bonds, and so think all who have used their voice. The Halad is in the Moot-ring, and he can remit his own order, if he will.'

'He will,' said Hardang, for it seemed to him that the mood of the assembly was restive, and he hoped by this stroke to regain its favour. 'Let the prisoner be released, and stand up before you!'

Hardang also a pretty great prototype of other doomed Tolkien politicians :[ from chilling in his chair with a bleeding headwound to bursting out petulantly about REMEMBER MY HEADWOUND? DO YOU THINK THIS IS A FANCY HAT? in court. He’s just... “trying his best”... I, too, suck at catering to the crowd while wishing to do nothing except cater to the crowd, Hardang.

'Ashamed ye may be. But this is not my charge. I do not ask that any in this land should match the son of Hurin in valour. But if I forgive those griefs, shall I forgive this? Hear me, Men of Brethil! There lies by the Standing Stone that you raised an old beggar-woman. Long she sat in your land, without fire, without food, without pity. Now she is dead. Dead. She was Morwen my wife. Morwen Edelwen, the lady elven-fair who bore Turin the slayer of Glaurung. She is dead.

[...]

Now Hardang was aghast at this turn, and his face went white with fear and amazement. But before he could speak, Hurin pointed a long hand at him. 'See!' he cried. 'There he stands with a sneer on his mouth! Does he deem himself safe? For I am robbed of my sword; and I am old and weary, he thinks. Nay, too often has he called me a wild man. He shall see one! Only hands, hands, are needed to wring his throat full of lies.'

With that Hurin left the Stone and strode towards Hardang; but he gave back before him, calling his household-men about him; and they drew off towards the gate. Thus it appeared to many that Hardang admitted his guilt, and they drew their weapons, and came down from the banks, crying out upon him.

Now there was peril of battle within the hallowed Ring. For others joined themselves to Hardang, some without love for him or his deeds, who nonetheless held to their loyalty and would at least defend him from violence, until he could answer before the Moot.

L M A O I JUST FUCKIN. THE NEGGING. “Not that I expected you to be braver than my son!” The as if just-remembered other detail: you killed my wife, though. Remember when you totally killed my wife, as I decided when I realized I needed someone to have killed her, because I wanted a reason to live? Remember that? Oh, okay, I’m walking forward now. No rush. I’m just briskly walking forward to strangle your leader. Everybody with m---oh look, he’s running away. After him! On your own time.

Now she is dead. Dead. She was Morwen my wife.

'Out of the dark days of our past it comes,' he said, 'before we turned our faces west. A shadow is upon us.' And he felt one lay a hand on his shoulder, and he turned and saw Hurin who stood behind him, with a grim face watching the kindling of the fires; and Hurin laughed.

'A strange folk are ye,' he said. 'Now cold, now hot. First wrath, then ruth. Under your chieftain's feet or at his throat. Down with Hardang! Up with Manthor! Wilt thou go up?'

'The Folk must choose,' said Manthor. 'And Hardang still lives.'

'Not for long, I hope,' said Hurin.

a. strange. folk. are ye. now cold. now hot. down with hardang! up with manthor! wilt thou go up? Hurin, I know you can’t, but listen to me, I have to ask: can you control your jollies for even a second. Until the house is ashes? If you recall, your wife is dead and not here and can’t unsmilingly appreciate your shit

'You are a mightier man than I, Hurin of Hithlum,' he said. 'I had such fear of your shadow that all wisdom and largesse forsook me. But now I do not think that any wisdom or mercy would have saved me from you, for you have none. You came to destroy me, and you at least have not denied it. But your last lie against me I cast back upon you ere I die. Never' - but with that blood gushed from his mouth, and he fell back, and said no more.

I know you haven’t read ASOIAF and you are the only person who might conceivably have scrolled this far down, but, god when people claim GRRM is more grimdark in his interest in deflating backhanded anticlimax than Tolkien, I ... I just...

‘I must go to the Field of the Worm and the Stone of the Hapless, where Morwen their mother lies untended. Will any come with me?'

Then ruth smote the hearts of those that heard him; and though some drew back in fear, many were willing to go, but among these there were more women than men.

<33 <3 they loved Nienor

But Hurin said: 'Nay, Nienor is not here, but it is fitter that she should lie here near her son than with any strangers. So she would have chosen.'

[...] But it is said that after that day fear left that place, though sorrow remained, and it was ever leafless and bare. But until the end of Beleriand women of Brethil would come with flowers in spring and berries in autumn and sing there a while of the Grey Lady who sought in vain for her son.

I have to single out every time someone mentions “Nienor is not there,” also the implication that obviously Morwen would MOST want to be buried where Nienor is, um, soothing to me. Personally. Not because I don’t care a ton about Morwen and Turin, it’s just, the Morwen-Nienor relationship is like... you know. Anyway I can’t believe how lovely and unqualified this is even though Brethil is on fire in another tab.

Now Manthor sat gasping with his back to a tree. 'It is a poor archer that will miss his mark at the third aim,' he said.

Hurin leaned on his staff and looked down at Manthor. 'But thou hast missed thy mark, kinsman,' he said. 'Thou hast been a valiant friend, and yet I think thou wert so hot in the cause for thyself also. Manthor would have sat more worthily in the chair of the Chieftains.'

'Thou hast a hard eye, Hurin, to pierce all hearts but thine own,' said Manthor.

THANKS HURIN. THANKS FOR THE SOFTWARE UPDATE. THANKS FOR RUNNING A DIAGNOSTIC ON THIS DECEASED MAN. great job leaning on your staff for effect, you maniac

‘...I would weep for thee, Manthor; for thou hast saved me from dishonour, and thou hadst love for my son.'

'Then, lord, use in peace the little more life that I have won for thee,' said Manthor. 'Do not bring your shadow upon others!'

'Why, must I not still walk in the world?' said Hurin. 'I will go on till the shadow overtakes me. Farewell!'

Final thoughts on Wanderings of Húrin: it’s super weird how Homer wrote the softcore flanderizing fix-it AU of Morwen/Húrin thousands of years before Morwen/Húrin ok ok it doesn’t actually bear that much resemblance to the Odyssey/the slaying of the suitors, I just think I’m funny

[gurguliare]

OKAY SO ADVISOR DID IN FACT APPEAR and i got a lot more of these than i was expecting, i will do them in batches.

first off, predictably, tolkien headcanons

@thelioninmybed asked for saeros: I have to say saeros’s personality makes more sense to me if you imagine the crushing, evergreen disappointment of realizing all over again that daeron was straight, or if not straight then, worse, single-minded.

@vardasvapors asked for mablung: he seems closer to the royal family than beleg, and more, uh, conventionally loyal; i imagine that luthien probably preferred beleg’s slightly unpredictable style but spent more actual time with mablung. it makes me pretty sad thinking about mablung suddenly throwing himself into human relations stuff again after beleg dies, given that prior to that he seems to have... respected beren but taken that whole clusterfuck as definitively “above my paygrade”....

@crocordile asked forrrr

- idril/tuor: i guess it’s what i wrote that ficlet about, but i imagine idril as 1) the ‘aggressor’ in their early courtship, compared to tuor’s nonstop but in-denial flirting; and 2) i imagine her being pretty covert about it, at least at first. maegln and idril are both implied to be Skilled Legilimens so like, the fun thing about whatever cold war one imagines between them in gondolin is they probably spent a lot of time. defensively compartmentalizing? idril: only remembers she’s building a secret tunnel at specific times of day, because of the weird telepathic valves she’s set up in her own brain

ok this isn’t memento but still

- hurin/morwen: NOT HEADCANON: IT KILLS ME THAT SHE SPENT HER WHOLE LIFE WAITING FOR HIM TO COME BACK AND WHEN HE DOES COME BACK ISN’T SURPRISED. she sticks to dor-lomin half on that unspeakable ... not hope, expectation ... and probably like, in the full certainty that if he did come it would be as some kind of shambling monkey’s paw apparition, right, released of morgoth, but that doesn’t mean he’s NOT coming BACK---anyway when she did leave i bet there was a brief period there where she was like, well, at least i’m free of that delusion. but then in doriath she still.... almost hears his horse’s approach. morwen in the back of her mind, up at midnight: “ah, so i never had to worry about him finding me. he’ll find me anywhere.”

meanwhile hurin heard all fingon’s stories about thangorodrim years before he was captured, he’s ridden on eagleback himself, and he has dreams where she comes to rescue him on the mountain

- finrod/andreth/aegnor: u h h h h h man i can never decide what i think the funniest option is in terms of, ordering, when did finrod befriend andreth vs when did he find out she’s aegnor’s ex. i tend to differ from people who think andreth and aegnor’s affair was public knowledge, tantamount to a betrothal... um, because finrod has that line 'Dost thou think that I do not know? Is he not my brother dearly loved?’ i hope he found out, like, A WEEK before they have their athrabeth conversation

joking. mostly joking. an elf week. anyway, i also think finrod was the only one of aegnor’s siblings who ever knew and it meant aegnor basically never talked to him in the fifty years before he died, lol. or like, probs aegnor SOMETIMES seized the opportunity to vent, and then fucked off for the front Immediately

@plinytheyounger asked for:

- gimli: oh man i love gimli’s courtly ambassador shit so much but i especially love it as like, ONE GENERATION REMOVED from, you know, thorin’s semi-itinerant company in the hobbit... do you think gimli has heard a lot of somewhat sanitized versions of the events of the Quest. does he make slightly embarrassing but also touching efforts to connect with his dad over authentic dwarf-in-exile cuisine, like, “mutton looted from trolls”

- eowyn: i, uh, literally JUST remembered that she has a grandkid named barahir. wht the fuck ever. anyway, as a parent she must have been really intense and if she didn’t teach her son to fight then she presumably taught him to heal, even more terrifyingly. i... oh nooooo wait eowyn and aragorn working together as on-site healers in gondor’s later suppressed rebellions is really good... i hope she traveled a lot and learned a lot about various humanoids’ organ layouts... she’s a late-blooming telepath it’s only fully under her control at 30

@chestnut-podfic asked for:

- earendil/elwing: have i got a hc for these two i haven’t immediately aired. i imagine as a kid elwing loooooved idril and tuor and basically didn’t know earendil existed (except as a convenient packhorse/default ally in territory disputes with other children) and then had The Buttercup Moment (tm) when she was 18 and saw earendil save a frog from a heron, even though she had been rooting for the heron. then she spends six months under the impression that she’s pining horribly and meanwhile earendil is like, OH MY GOD, WHY IS THE GIRL-QUEEN FOLLOWING ME

...

then elwing forgets all about it and they spend another very normal six years as casual adult friends before idril comes to elwing and asks if she thinks a marriage to consolidate their two peoples would make sense, and elwing is like, i’ll consider it

[vardasvapors]

Either Nienor or Turin!

Apologies for the super-late reply, but as I mentioned, I wanted to finish re-reading CoH again first in order to do them justice, bc I haven’t read it in ages and when I did, I did it super fast and amid a jumble of other shit. SO ANYWAY:

Turin:

1-3 things I enjoy about them

-His whole smorgasbord of kindness, pity, empathy, fairness, as such strong character traits, which he’s quite open and outspoken and insightful about in words as well as actions, but which constantly get either tangled and tripped or just trampled and drowned by his other more negative traits due to the triangulation of circumstances that is basically the whole book

-His…desperation? The way he’s like, fleeing, fighting, challenging, silencing, struggling, scrambling, with every choice-persona-name-disguise and down every route and in every direction and into the middle of every arena - anything, anything, to not be caught by the doom, though what the doom means, and what being caught by it means, isn’t even a concrete thing or anything that can be properly contrasted against an alternative, but it involves the most human things, the horror of senseless misery, and of the unfathomable forces of the world hunting one’s footsteps, and he eventually winds up doing so many bad things and causing so much collateral damage but never calculated, just incapable of changing the circumstances of the world including the Doom in which he exists, and incapable of changing everything about himself as he exists, and incapable of avoiding the conflagration the combination makes

-The way that the existence of the narrative of his life turns almost everything he says and does into a terrible tasteless pun or something. The number of lines next to which you could write “ba-dum-tish!” like an asshole if you really wanted to

Something interesting about them based on tenuous circumstantial evidence

Like. He and Galadriel probably knew each other in Doriath? It just feels like such a weird combination, but with distinct overlaps as well.

A question I have about them

How did he feel about his unborn child? Was he more afraid about something that dependent and helpless being entrusted to him of all people, or more hopeful that things might work out better now that he wasn’t so unattached, or more in denial, or…?

A random relevant line I like

Just one? Goddddd okay fine how about one that’s kind of off the beaten path:

“Therefore, out of sight in the underwood, Turin made a great noise of stamping and crashing, and then he cried in a loud voice, as if leading many men: ‘Ha! Here we find them! Follow me all! Out now, and slay!’

At that many of the orcs looked back in dismay, and then out came Turin leaping, waving as if to men behind [...]

[…] At last they halted on the bank, and Dorlas, leader of the woodmen, said: ‘You are swift in the hunt, lord; but your men are slow to follow.’

‘Nay,’ said Turin, ‘we all run together as one man, and will not be parted.’”

Guhhhhh I can probably count the number of funny moments in this book on like one hand and I love this one so much given that it follows one of the bleakest parts

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

The full version is better, ofc.

Favorite relationship(s)

Ev…ery…one…? No really, his relationship with basically every character he meets and interacts with meaningfully is pretty much the main point of a lot of the book. I guess I would just say more emphasis on the non-Beleg characters! I mean, I love his relationship with Beleg too, but I think the fandom overemphasis on it in comparison to the other characters is unwarranted. Oh yeah, also I want to know more about his relationship with Thingol and Melian!

How would they react to Tom Bombadil

I think he’d be, kind of disturbed actually, maybe even obscurely offended. Especially with Tom’s, attitude, worldview. Wow. Um. Have we found the most polar-opposite characters in the legendarium?

Optional: Something about them that I think people forget

How smart and reasonable and genuinely insightful a lot of his speech is. It tends to get drowned out by his drama and his….stuff but I think the contrast makes things better, the drama doesn’t diminish the meaningfulness of his other lines.

Nienor:

1-3 things I enjoy about them

-Her boldness and stubbornness and clearness of thought (which makes Glaurung’s wiping of her memory all the worse, I think, for the contrast)

-As Niniel, her delight and curiosity and eagerness in learning about the world all around her - especially given the time and place of this story, and how there is war and desolation and fear and ugliness all around, but the world is still the world, and has so many things!!! Good things!! And ofc, the inwards reference, to the Awakening of Men etc.

-I love her trick to follow Morwen, and I feel like she did this kind of thing more than just the once, especially back in Dor-Lomin where they had to traffic in a lot of sneaking and secrecy for survival

Something interesting about them based on tenuous circumstantial evidence

Even though she never met him, she was probably taller than her dad :)

A question I have about them

What was her life in Dor-lomin like? Given her personality, I don’t think she would have coped by outwardly diminishing herself like probably Aerin, but of course she also probably couldn’t do all the things she felt like doing or she’d have been dead long ago

A random relevant line I like

“Mourning you named me, but I shall not mourn alone, for father, brother, and mother. But of these you only have I known, and above all do I love. And nothing that you fear not do I fear.”

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

The full version shows her character a LOT better

Favorite relationship(s)

Morwen, Turin, Mablung

How would they react to Tom Bombadil

Ooooh before or after the memory wipe? Before, I think she’d be interested but after a while get impatient. After, she would get along with him really well and try to convince him to tell her everything.

Optional: Something about them that I think people forget

“Tall and strong she seemed; for of great stature were those of Hador’s house, and thus clad in Elvish raiment she matched well with the guards, being smaller only than the greatest among them.”

SHE BIG.