elesianne

[elesianne]

The admirable

"But why did you leave this form?" Celebrimbor asked. "It's magnificent."

Annatar stood there, looking oddly desaturated. A pale echo of the vibrant being he'd been moments ago. He smiled at his question.

"I know. But it's not true anymore."

[elesianne]

ooh if you haven’t found your six characters yet - can i suggest nerdanel? she’s my favourite female character in the silm, i’d love to see some more art of her and she would look magical in your art style 🥰

i pulled a year old sketch of her out of my drafts to finish. mahtan, curufin, and celebrimbor all have myopia and wear glasses too, but i imagine nerdanel and fëanor came up with the design and craft of eyeglasses together.

thank you for the suggestion!

[elesianne]

yes, yes, yes finally some Sauron/Mairon stuff. I held back some of that stuff because I'm not super happy with the design. I'll probaby have to to a lot more sketches/drawings until I'm happy.

@perlen-gold @artist-owl asked for it, and @i-gwarth asked for it some time ago

[elesianne]

MERIADOC AND THE HORN OF EORL

JRRT has a tendency to give the most amazing payoff to the tiniest of things. I'd talk about Ëarendil and the light from the Silmarils that helped Frodo and Sam get past the watchers at Cirith Ungol, but many have written about this particular discourse.

Instead, I give you: Merry and horns.

1

Here's JRRT's set up:

Merry is feeling alone and useless in the middle of great events. He learns that Minas Tirith is surrounded by foes. Pippin is in Minas Tirith! Merry thinks to himself:

Merry wished he was a tall Rider like Éomer and could blow a horn or something and go galloping to his rescue.

2

Reinforcing the idea of horns blowing, and people coming to the rescue:

At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before:

Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!

With that he seized a great horn from Guthláf his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.

Later

But Pippin rose to his feet, as if a great weight had been lifted from him; and he stood listening to the horns, and it seemed to him that they would break his heart with joy. And never in after years could he hear a horn blown in the distance without tears starting in his eyes.

3

Merry mourns the fallen and thinks back to the battle where he won renown but lost Theoden his friend:

[T]he horn of Helm was loud in the mountains, until the Darkness came and King Théoden arose and rode through the Shadow to the fire, and died in splendour, even as the Sun, returning beyond hope, gleamed upon Mindolluin in the morning.

Out of doubt, out of dark, to the day's rising he rode singing in the sun, sword unsheathing. Hope he rekindled, and in hope ended; over death, over dread, over doom lifted out of loss, out of life, unto long glory.

But Merry stood at the foot of the green mound, and he wept, and when the song was ended he arose and cried:

‘Théoden King, Théoden King! Farewell! As a father you were to me, for a little while. Farewell!’

4

Éomer and Éowyn give Merry the horn of Eorl the Young, who importantly helped save Gondor the first time around.

'My sister begs you to receive this small thing, as a memorial of Dernhelm and of the horns of the Mark at the coming of the morning.’

Then Éowyn gave to Merry an ancient horn, small but cunningly wrought all of fair silver with a baldric of green; and wrights had engraven upon it swift horsemen riding in a line that wound about it from the tip to the mouth; and there were set runes of great virtue.

‘This is an heirloom of our house,’ said Éowyn. ‘It was made by the Dwarves, and came from the hoard of Scatha the Worm. Eorl the Young brought it from the North. He that blows it at need shall set fear in the hearts of his enemies and joy in the hearts of his friends, and they shall hear him and come to him.’

Then Merry took the horn, for it could not be refused, and he kissed Éowyn's hand; and they embraced him, and so they parted for that time.

5

MERRY BECOMES THE GREAT WARRIOR BLOWING A HORN AND RIDING TO THE RESCUE OF THE ENTIRE SHIRE.

‘Raise the Shire!’ said Merry. ‘Now! Wake all our people! They hate all this, you can see: all of them except perhaps one or two rascals, and a few fools that want to be important, but don't at all understand what is really going on. But Shire-folk have been so comfortable so long they don't know what to do. They just want a match, though, and they'll go up in fire. The Chief's Men must know that. They'll try to stamp on us and put us out quick. We've only got a very short time.

They rode back to the middle of the village. There Sam turned aside and galloped off down the lane that led south to Cotton's. He had not gone far when he heard a sudden clear horn-call go up ringing into the sky. Far over hill and field it echoed; and so compelling was that call that Sam himself almost turned and dashed back. His pony reared and neighed.

‘On, lad! On!’ he cried. ‘We'll be going back soon.’

Then he heard Merry change the note, and up went the Horn-cry of Buckland, shaking the air.

Awake! Awake! Fear, Fire, Foes! Awake! Fire, Foes! Awake!

~

Merry blew a horn-call after them as they rode off into the gathering night. The people cheered.

~

Merry blew a loud horn-call, and there were answering calls from a distance.

‘They won't get far,’ said Pippin. ‘All that country is alive with our hunters now.’

~

Ted gaped, for at that moment he first caught sight of the escort that at a sign from Merry now marched over the bridge. Dashing back into the mill he ran out with a horn and blew it loudly.

‘Save your breath!’ laughed Merry. ‘I've a better.’ Then lifting up his silver horn he winded it, and its clear call rang over the Hill; and out of the holes and sheds and shabby houses of Hobbiton the hobbits answered, and came pouring out, and with cheers and loud cries they followed the company up the road to Bag End.

6

And that is why I fucking love Lord of the Rings.

[elesianne]

Old Man Willow

Mini lino print

[elesianne]

[elesianne]

you shall not go west just yet

[elesianne]

Fingolfin`s family. Continuing with fanart portraits for elves from Tolkien`s universe.

[elesianne]

Manwë and Varda as the painting "The Kiss" - Gustav Klimt

[elesianne]

[elesianne]

Elrond Half-elven and Celebrian the silver queen

click on the pictures for better quality

[elesianne]

Fell and fey

[elesianne]

Lord of Werewolves, Lord of Torment

[elesianne]

Ringwraith - mini lino print nr 3

[elesianne]

Tuor hears the music of Ulmo

From the Lost Tales

[elesianne]

"Lúthien Tinúviel, more fair than mortal tongue can tell."

I'm so excited to share the first photo from this magical shoot of my Lúthien cosplay at Zenkaikon! My photographer did such an amazing job with the direction of the shoot and the edits- with the magic of photography, red brick Lancaster can look like Middle-earth ✨️

I'll be bringing Lúthien to Otakon when I host the Tolkien Meetup Fri 10-11am! Hope to see you there! ❤️

📷 @ brittanylee.artistry (IG)

[elesianne]

I was rereading some Silm passages and I was caught by Círdan as a Warrior. We tend to perceive him as the wise, foresight-full elf, but in the Silm he faces battle so often. During the Years of the Stars there's fighting which severs him for Thingol, the Falas are besieged by Orcs, later Círdan's ships come to Fingon's aid after the Bragollach, and Elves of the Falas even fight at the Nirnaeth.

I'm curious about your thoughts on this, Círdan being your blorbo blorbolis. How do you envision him in this role as a warrior/commander? Any design ideas?

ah i’m glad you asked! i drew him in armor a while ago, so this was a fun refresher sketch :)

i usually draw him with a trident (which i hc was gifted to him by ulmo) though i imagine it’s used more often as a status symbol than as a weapon.

i’ll put the rest of my thoughts under here

i do not consider my opinions and ideas canon or the end all be all, so take it with a grain of salt!

i believe círdan is more of a defender and a strategist than a fighter. he tends to send aid via his ships and people but rarely participates in battles himself. the only three instances i can recall when círdan is said to have participated in battles were coastal raids against morgoth, the last alliance (where he was gil-galad’s lieutenant), and the battle of fornost. even then, some descriptions of his roles in these wars are vague

this is not to say i think he is an inexperienced warrior! his age and the fact that he was surrounded and enveloped by war, separation, and loss his entire life mean he most likely has fighting skills. it was also said that he and his people, unlike the rest of the sindar, worked with the dwarves and the noldor early on to turn his his realm into a place of defense rather than domesticity, meaning he must have devoted much time preparing for war, perhaps due to his gift of foresight.

however, círdan’s role in arda was to provide wisdom, aid, and refuge for the sick, the injured, the weary, and the forsaken. he never passed on the opportunity to provide support or guidance, even if his words went unheeded or his forces failed. círdan is a prevailing resistance figure in the legendarium, and that’s likely why tolkien gave círdan narya, the ring that inspires hope, as that was his duty for several millennia.

i could go on muuch longer because i love him so much but that’s all i’ll say for now! thank you for the message!