gwaedhannen

[gwaedhannen]

It’s a seal, Eärendil tells himself, absurdly, frantically, as Vingilot approaches the shoreline. A seal, serene and satiated, taking her repose on the rocks. But Sirion is in ruins, and something glows beneath the moveless form. 

In leaden silence, Eärendil rolls his wife onto her back. The Silmaril washes his vision white, blinds him to her face. He yanks it from her neck and her head snaps forward with the force of it; lolls back lifeless. Eärendil screams: regret and rage and grief so grand it might swallow him. 

When he stands at last, it is with a star upon his brow and vengeance burning in his breast. He sets a westward course.  

Eärendil’s demand for recompense never reaches the ears of the Valar. For he dies alone in the empty streets of Tirion, feet scored and bloody from the diamond dusted streets no mortal was meant to tread. 

The Silmaril has returned to the land of its creation. Eönwë bears it to the King and Queen of Arda.

Varda sets it to sail the skies; calls it a sign of hope.

In Endor, the armies of the West with their golden banners allow the lie to take root; myth spreads like wildflowers in a scorched land, and the hearts of Exiles are lifted up. 

And is it not right that it should be so? Have they not suffered enough? 

[gwaedhannen]

Last of all Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed; and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood of the troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered, and each time that he slew Húrin cried: ‘ Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!’ Seventy times he uttered that cry; but they took him at last alive, by the command of Morgoth, for the Orcs grappled him with their hands, which clung to him still though he hewed off their arms; and ever their numbers were renewed, until at last he fell buried beneath them. Then Gothmog bound him and dragged him to Angband with mockery.

Thus ended Nirnaeth Arnoediad, as the sun went down beyond the sea. Night fell in Hithlum, and there came a great storm of wind out of the West.

[gwaedhannen]

Ónen i-Boop Edain, ú-chebin boop anim.

[gwaedhannen]

yet booped ye may be, and booped ye shall be: by mutual and by follower and by random;

[gwaedhannen]

Sometimes I feel like "Why did Thingol ask for a Silmaril?" is in the same tier of question as "Why didn't they fly the eagles to Mordor?"

[gwaedhannen]

Death of Celegorm

We are not going to talk about how long this took... anyway I´m actually surprisingly happy about it :)

[gwaedhannen]

[Excerpt from Sorrow Beyond Words: Collected Testimony of the War of Wrath, 4th Edition; ed. Elrond Peredhel. Archive of Cîw Annúminas, inaugural collection]

“Simply reaching Menegroth was a struggle. Doriath had become a twisting nightmare of overgrowth and rot and mists, as Morgoth’s power warred with the remains of the Girdle and our old songs. Ai, our home, our haven! I know the name of every holly in Region, before the exile. We found deadfalls surrounded by dozens of animals who’d lain down beside the trees and rotted before they died. Blind moose more antler than flesh staggered towards us even after a dozen arrows. Vines covered in dripping thorns reached for our eyes. The cherry trees were overladen with fruits that smelled like gangrene. Deildhod stumbled into a nest of maddened vipers, and only escaped because their tails were all tangled together into a festering mass and could hardly move. We never saw or heard a single bird. I’m amazed we lost no one in that whole push through Region. No, I speak a lie. I know how we passed through with nothing worse than scrapes. Elrond was with us, and the ghost of Melian’s love still recognized her kin.

“Esgalduin had nearly been dammed by one of Hírilorn’s fallen boles, but the bridge still held. We crossed and reached the ruined gates, wrought twice and broken twice. Within there was only darkness to be seen; we knew not what manner of horrors Morgoth had sent to infest the city, but Ingwion was unwilling to leave them at the rear of his forces as he moved north, if it could be helped. Celeborn stood at Elrond’s right and myself at his left. Far less an honor guard than the heir of Elu Thingol and Melian Besain deserved. Yet in those dark days it was all the honor we could muster. King Dior Eluchíl had known thirty-six summers when he was unrighteously slain. Queen Elwing Nimaew thirty-five when despair took her to the sea. Lord Elrond Peredhel beheld the city of Elu for the first and only time in his twenty-ninth summer.

“Elrond stood before his inheritance and Sang. He sang a lament, for the lost endless years of joy and peace, for deep halls lit by birdsong and echoing with wisdom, for the Forsaken People who awoke the forest and earth with many voices, for the works of beauty never to be seen again on this side of the sea. He sang a promise, that the glory of Menegroth will be remembered in the songs of Middle-Earth for as long as its children endure. He sang thanks, for the protection the halls granted us until it could shelter us no more. As his song at last ceased, I thought I heard nightingales answering him.

“Stars shone on his brow, and his hair glistened as the vault of night, and the memories of our once-eternal bliss in the woods of Thingol’s realm under Elbereth’s gifts arose in my mind. Let Oropher dream of a deep hall for his own; let Celeborn reign where he will at his wife’s side! I knew in my heart, as the echo of nightingale songs faded, that there was no lord or king I would ever stand beside save Elrond Elwingion.

“The living stone in which our kingdom once thrived knew his voice, and at long last laid down its burden and passed. The darkness over Menegroth was lifted, and we went forth into its corpse, and no beast or orc could stand before us. I do not sing of what we found and left behind when we cast down the bridge and gave leave for the river to flood the caves. It is not worth remembering.”

[gwaedhannen]

"im not doomed! im not doomed!!", i continue to insist as i slowly diminish and transform into a shadow of regret

thinking of getting into the motivational images market

[gwaedhannen]

One of the interesting things about Tom Bombadil is that his words have a very poetic rhythm even in prose. Take his first speech:

Whoa! Whoa! steady there! Now, my little fellows, where be you a going to, puffing like a bellows? What's the matter here then? Do you know who I am? I'm Tom Bombadil. Tell me what's your trouble! Tom's in a hurry now. Don't you crush my lilies!

It also fits very well with the "Hey dol merry dol" he often sings.

[gwaedhannen]

What she says: I’m fine.

What she means: The constant woobification of Fëanor and his sons and the constant Noldor bias in the fandom has really made it difficult for me to actually enjoy the Fëanorians and most of the Noldor as characters. It really doesn’t help that a lot of people like to demonize the Sindar for so many reasons. These fans won’t extend the same grace they give to the Fëanorians to Sindarin characters like Thingol, who made mistakes but at least tried to make amends for them, unlike Fëanor and his sons. In addition, their need to demonize Beren and Lúthien is honestly appalling, because it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of their story and the broader themes of the Silmarillion— that there is hope in the world that’s worth fighting for. And furthermore, the constant demonization and victim-blaming of Dior and Elwing is genuinely unsettling, especially when the Fëanorians are pitied for the crimes they committed. Lastly, their obsession with property rights and the Silmarils, and their willingness to justify the Kinslayings shows that these people have not truly read or understood the text, and they probably don’t want to properly understand it.

[gwaedhannen]

I don't personally think this is even a particularly hot take, although you might think so judging by how much you see Noldor bias in the Silm fandom, but just hear me out:

Olwë doesn't owe the Noldor and/or Fëanor shit. His refusal to give the ships doesn't mean he doesn't care about his kin in Middle-earth. He has every reason to be suspicious of Fëanor and his company just showing up at Alqualondë, demanding for ships. He is not and never was involved with the unrest of the Noldor and at this point probably has only a vague idea of what has happened. He probably thinks something ought to be done about the attack on the Trees and undoubtedly is sorry for Finwë's death, but is that going to be managed by a crazed Fëanor leading only a small group of Noldor? Yeah, that's weird. If this were a Valar-approved mission, then it would be more orderly, Eönwë or some other high-ranking Maia would be commanding it, and the rest of the Noldor and Vanyar would be there, too. Or, they would not just show up requesting passage - there would be messages and planning and preparations, not angry and heated demands.

Olwë and Teleri were never involved in the Morgoth debacle because Morgoth thought about them as useless, so the atmosphere at Alqualondë would be very different than in Tirion. They are content in their circumstances and are not interested in going back to Middle-earth. They don't want to go on a potentially dangerous journey on a moment's notice, their ships are as precious to them as the Silmarils are to Fëanor, and they probably want to hear what the Valar say about this all. Perhaps they even have concerns about whether their ships can sail all the way to Beleriand.

Look, I like Noldor as much as the next person but not everything is about them.

[gwaedhannen]

Maedhros and Finrod are a study in contrasts when it comes to oaths.

Maedhros despairs while Finrod hopes, this is the core of it, and why they have two very different outcomes.

The oath of Feanor is an oath of vengeance and grief, while Finrod's is made out of friendship and gratefulness. The first is an act of ownership, the second one of service.

Both move within the heroic context, in which being and oathbreaker is shameful and will have both moral and physical consequences, so for both of them giving up on their word is not an option.

Feanor's oath pursues the Secondborn, while Finrod's oath is to their service. Feanor's oath destroys relationships, isolates the oathtakers and drives them outside of society - they become kinslayers. Finrod's oath, instead, bridges the gap between the Eldar and the Edain, supports the first union of the two races that gives birth to a line of kings that will rule Middle-Earth, while also representing the union of all the great houses of the Eldar and of the Edain.

Finrod has estel, Maedhros has lost it completely. For Maedhros, the light of Earendil announces his doom and compels him to pursue the oath to utter ruin. For the rest of the Eldar, that light represents the hope that shines despite the darkness that threatens to swallow up the world.

[gwaedhannen]

No law, nor love, nor league of hell, No might of Gods, no binding spell, Shall him defend from hatred fell, Jolene!

[gwaedhannen]

controversial opinion, but characters are so much more interesting when you are able to forget about shipping them for a moment and actually appreciate their unrelated personal plot/arc. if the most interesting thing you can think of about a character is the ship you like them with, then I don't think you actually like that character very much

[gwaedhannen]

Glaurung the golden.

[gwaedhannen]

headcanon: "i have decided that this is true about the character, and it doesn't matter to me if the canon text supports my idea or not."

interpretation: "after considering elements present in the canon text, I have decided that this might be true about the character and here's why."

subtext: "I can show you strong evidence in the text and context of the work that this interpretation could be the actual authorial intent."

[gwaedhannen]

Tolkien Tolkien Tolkien Tolkien i'm begging of you please don't kill my man