#Azaghal

[tolkienosaurus]

Yeah, there is only twlve options I can ask for, so here we are.

[ethanray]

Maedhros receiving the Dragon-helm from Azaghâl

For @feanorianweek Day 1

[youareunbearable]

Thinking about the Nauglamir, as one does, and just, like I know I have a bias as an Indigenous woman who's historical artifacts are often stolen and who's peoples' treaties and promises are typically disregarded by other authority figures and whose ancestors were treated like animals and hunted for sport but God Thingol fucking sucks in that tale (and in general)

Like I've always kinda disliked Thingol, gives off major White Settler vibes but this whole tale is so tragic when you look at it through an Indigenous lens

We start off with a friendship. Good old Finrod Badger man himself, hears about his cousin Caranthir doing business with a new type of people that Love Gems just like the Noldor! Hes Thrilled!! He meets with the people, Dwarves, and while they are a lot shorter and got more hair than the Men he met, they become fast friends.

He talks about his travels and mentions that he fell in love with the art style of Thingol's domain. The Dwarves are uneasy, cause they have bad history with Thingol's people, but inform Finrod that Actually We Made That. Finrod is Over The Moon and commissions them to make one for him too. As a show of faith, they allow him to build it on a mountain that has history to them and Finrod, you know he would be, is respectful of this and pays them their due and more through Elf goods and more trade then they normally would have

Nargothrond is done and Finrod is super impressed with their skills and commissions them again. This time, to make a necklace of the gems he personally carried over from Valinor. The Dwarves would understand the importance of these gems, they're literally Family Jewels and one of the only things Finrod has left of his homeland

So the Nauglamir is made. From Noldor gems and Dwarvish skill and shared friendship and memories of both parties. Its an agreement, a contract, a visual showcase of the friendship and alliance between the Dwarves and the Noldor.

(My people did this to. We made visual agreements. Wampum belts. Each shell bead took 1 whole day of hard labour to make and these belts had hundreds of them. They're symbolic and important as well as a beautiful showcase of skill and craftsmanship. They are almost always made between friendly nations)

Then we have Azaghal. Who was saved by Maedhros and had a great friendship with him. They exchanged gifts, worked together on an alliance, and probably traded tales with each other. Azaghal and his people would have known why the Noldor are here in Beleriand. They would have known the importance of the Silmarils to the Noldor, to the Feanorians especially. They could avenge their fallen kings, stop the evil from spreading, complete their Oath, and go home. Azaghal was even willing to give up his life, and the lives of his men, to help Maedhros get a Silmarils back.

Finrod is dead. The Noldor are weak and scattered. Maedhros is displaced from his home in Himring, and all the gossip they hear about him is that he's a shell of the Elf he used to be before the Noldor High King died.

A group of Dwarves are ordered to come to Doriath on Thingol's behalf. "Add this gem to this necklace" theyre told. Its a beautiful necklace. Its a beautiful gem. They start to do as they are told but things aren't sitting right with the Dwarven smiths. An older one notices first.

On the necklace with the beautiful and feather light gems, they notice a little sigil on the clasp. Its a Dwarven Smith sigil. They know the only work that smith did with Elven gems was Finrod’s Nauglamir. The smiths whisper amongst themselves in a frantic hiss. Why would the king of the Sindar Elves, one who has vocally stated his dislike and distrust of the Noldor, have Finrod’s necklace that THEY made for him out of friendship?

They turn to the strange gem they've been told to set within the Nauglamir. Its brilliant, beautiful, and glows with an inner light that is so very Elvish. One smith mentions the tale of Finrod, how he died helping Beren and Luthien get a Silmaril. The same Silmaril that the Noldor, and the Feanorians, need. The one their kings died to help them get.

One of the Dwarves feels sick. These are stolen goods. Goods literally taken from a grave and from their allies enemy and given to another that literally wouldn't even spit on them when they burned. Thingol cannot have these goods, from the perspective of the Dwarves, they aren't his. The Silmaril, well, maybe you could make an argument, but the Nauglamir? No way, it was stolen from a literal graveyard of a Noldor city and the person who gave it to him had no right or claim to it ever.

So the Dwarves tell him this. And Thingol is furious. He says, and I quote: "How do ye of uncouth race dare to demand aught of me, Elu Thingol, Lord of Beleriand, whose life began by waters of Cuivienen years uncounted ere the fathers of the stunted people awoke?" And goes nuts. He's throwing out slurs, he's trying to pull a Karen, definitely claiming Manifest Destiny which is so wild and kicks them out without even paying for their labour. For their craft, their skill, their time. He doesn't acknowledge the unwritten treaty of friendship by completing this craft of unimaginable skill.

So they take it back. Sure Thingol died, but he is a thrice over thief at this point and no friend of the Dwarves or their allies.

Then Mr vegan "ill never harm or eat a living being" murders all the Dwarves that are trying to go back home with their rightful due. But what would Beren know about that anyways, he clearly has no head or mind about whats right or wrong as he himself finds it easy to cash in a favour from a king not to help resettle his displaced people, but to ask this king to sacrifice his own men and life to help him get married.

When Doriath is sacked by the Feanorians, oh I bet the Dwarves were pleased. I bet some of them even joined, what with being allies of the Noldor and all. The Dwarves hate the Elves, but not the Noldor who were loyal and trustworthy friends. Who paid and honored their skills and craft, who were cheated by the Sindar just as much as they were. Who fought and bled and died fighting evil while the Sindar stayed behind in their girdle

It was Silverfist Celebrimbor himself, a Noldor and a Feanorian who continued with their relationship. Who gave them rings of power to solidify that relationship. Shame he was betrayed, be he didn't mean harm.

By the third age its a shame the Noldor are the smaller group of Elves in middle earth. They would have helped Durin’s Folk more. The Elves and Dwarves might of had a better relationship. I'm sure Elrond tried, and some Dwarves were warmer to him on account of being adopted sons of Maedhros and Maglor. Buts hes also Thingol's blood, and that is a blood memory type of mistrust.

[aka-seco-svart]

0071

Azaghal 🇫🇮 (black metal) left to right:

Thirteen: vocals

Narqath: guitars, bass, keyboards, clean vocals

Lima: drums

[aotearoa20]

The Union of Maedhros after a late meeting

Bór: The stars are beautiful tonight

Azaghâl: They sure are

Fingon: You know what else is beautiful?

All three in unison: Lord Maedhros

[lvpvs-tenebris]

Azaghal - nemesis

[stacytea]

Okay, but hear me out:

Lord Azaghâl of Belegost

with a silly little crush on a certain Lord of Himring

and then he meets a certain prince of Noldor

and then we have Azaghâl with a silly not-so-little heartbreak after he finds out that Mae and Finno are married

(and then he supports them during the Nirnaeth)

(be like Azaghâl)

[thelordofgifs]

Obscure Tolkien Blorbo: Round 2

Azaghâl vs Belladonna Took

Azaghâl:

The Lord of the Dwarven city of Belegost. He was a friend and ally of Maedhros and died covering his retreat at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

DWARF RIGHTS!! he Compels me is all. cmon “guy who died driving glaurung off the field at the nirnaeth” is ICONIC AS HELL and also i love his & maedhros’ friendship that i made up in my head. they are leadership besties.

Belladonna Took:

Bilbo Baggins’s mother.

She’s Bilbo’s mom. She’s named after a poisonous plant. She most likely went on adventures before she was married.

Round 2 masterpost

[eleneressea]

☮️ for Maedhros and Azaghal or/and any dwarf-elf friendship you like (bc I am a sucker for tall-short people friendship)

Maedhros & Azaghâl

Azaghâl loved giving gifts, and his gifts to Maedhros included the Dragon-helm, Narsil, and several pieces of armor; they joked that Azaghâl was going to outfit him entirely as a dwarven warrior. Maedhros sent him gifts in return, which initially caused some miscommunication about what sort of relationship they were having. Maedhros visited Belegost a few times as well, though usually Azaghâl visited Himring instead, because Maedhros disliked leaving the March during the Long Siege.

Celebrimbor & Narvi

Elrond introduced them, since as Gil-galad's herald he would be doing a lot of his diplomacy; Narvi was not expecting to have more than a working relationship with him, but then it turned out that they got along really quite well, and one thing led to another between them until they were living practically in each other's back pockets until Narvi's death. Celebrimbor designed her tomb and largely stopped working with stone after that.

[polutrope]

Prompt from the List! 2.0

Curufin (of course)

Himring, post Nargathrond BS

12. enduring grief and anger in silence

Thank you 🥺

So, um, this didn't really go the angsty direction you may have been expecting with the prompt, but I was highly influenced by my recent recollection of this Shibboleth passage.

Curufin and Maedhros and alliances. 480 words. On AO3.

It had not taken long for Curufin to map out the geography of his grief and anger; to flatten it into something he could observe, plot battles upon, or roll up and shut away in a drawer. In this, at least, he would not be his father. He would not be overcome by ugly, consumptive passions.

Unlike Celegorm, who raged and railed and put himself in the way, Curufin patiently endured the distrust of his lord and brother. Maedhros could not drink forever from the font of Maglor’s hope. That font, Curufin observed with the benefit of the distance that Maglor’s simmering resentment set between them, was running dry. 

While Curufin waited, he directed his mind to other things. In these, he was like his father. To the improvement of their weaponscraft, the tools that they would need to launch their great assault upon the Enemy. But to finer things, also; to adornments that Maedhros would say they do not need—yet is not the strength of the Noldor held and guarded in their gems? 

Yet it is none of these pursuits that Maedhros at last takes note of. It is a misplaced page of runes; a draft of a treatise on the Dwarvish tongue. 

“This is yours,” his brother says, not a question. He sets the paper down, then seats himself, one leg crossed over the other. Curufin cannot recall the last time the Lord of Himring sat in his presence. “How did I not know you were familiar with the Dwarvish language?”

Because you never cared to know, Curufin does not say. He replies coolly: “The Khazad do not lightly share the secrets of their tongue with those of alien race.”

“And yet they shared it with you.” It is not said with cruelty or skepticism, merely curiosity. 

“They did.”

Maedhros rises and draws in a long breath, working his jaw around his next words. After they are spoken, Curufin knows that the words he had considered, the ones he could not yet speak were, ‘I forgive you.’

What Maedhros does say is: “Do you know the paths to Belegost?”

~

The Dwarves keep their cities in the mountains well hidden, especially in these dangerous days, but Curufin remembers the way. The rising sun slants through a splinter in the rock, its sharp beam illuminating the figure on the great stone-hewn throne of Gabilgathol. 

Curufin bows and greets the king in the manner and tongue of the Khazad. 

A twinkle of recognition alights on Azaghâl’s brow, and he addresses Curufin by the secret name he was given here, long ago. “And what,” he says next, “brings an old friend through danger to our halls?”

“I come,” says Curufin, “on behalf of my brother the Lord of Himring, whom you also knew of old, to renew that friendship and make alliance against our common foe.”

[matrose]

azaghâl and his daughter akhdel (oc) ca. F.A. 400

[arofili]

dwarves of middle-earth △ firebeards and broadbeams △ headcanon disclaimer △ @khazadweek day one △ first age // family

          Azaghâl was the King of Belegost during much of the First Age of the Sun. He earned his use-name from his prowess in battle, and proudly wore it all his days, though his decision to take an outer name in Khuzdul was unorthodox. Yet so widely beloved was he by his people that few spoke against this choice, and the Firebeards of Gabilgathol defended him fiercely against the few Broadbeams of Tumunzahar who dared comment on Azaghâl’s name.           The spouse of Azaghâl was Thalor, a lesser prince of Nogrod who gained his name, and great wealth, in his travels in the eastern lands later known as Eriador. Thalor boasted even of having visited Khazad-dûm, though many doubted the truth of this tale in particular. Thalor’s dowry to Azaghâl upon their marriage was a grand helm crafted by none other than Telchar himself, greatest of Nogrod’s smiths, and a friend of his father. Upon this helm was a golden figure of the wyrm Glaurung, symbolizing Azaghâl’s power in combat. Thalor bore Azaghâl two sons, and the pair were deeply affectionate with one another.            Often Azaghâl and Thalor would travel together into Beleriand, trading with Caranthir the dark and Elu Thingol and later the Edain as well. On one such journey along the Dwarf-road Azaghâl’s grandfather had constructed along the River Ascar when their company was assaulted by a legion of orcs. Though Azaghâl and his folk put up a mighty battle, there were simply too many enemies for them to take down, and after a pitched battle through the night, more than half of the dwarves had been slaughtered.           They would all have perished had not Maedhros the tall, Lord of Himring and brother to Caranthir, come suddenly to their rescue. Maedhros’ mounted elves descended upon the orcs, slaying many and sending the rest scattering only to be chased down by the warriors of Himring. Maedhros himself saved Azaghâl’s life by taking a blow meant for the dwarven king, and in deepest gratitude Azaghâl gave to him the Dragon-helm and pledged a life-debt to him.           Thus began a lifelong friendship and alliance between elf and dwarf. Maedhros and his soldiers escorted Azaghâl, Thalor, and the surviving dwarves back to Belegost, and attended the solemn burials of those slain in battle. Afterward, Maedhros and Azaghâl spent many days in conversation, learning much of each others’ peoples and becoming fast friends. It was Maedhros who gave Azaghâl’s sons their use-names, Sacha and Fimli, though these pronunciations were likely an alteration of the original Sindarin words.            When the Sudden Flame descended upon the peoples of Beleriand, Azaghâl left Thalor to fortify Gabilgathol and himself set out into the elven lands seeking battle. His unexpected arrival to Caranthir’s settlement upon the shores of Lake Helevorn allowed the elves there to hold their siege for three more nights, ensuring many of their goods and people could escape southward to Amon Ereb. In the coming years, Azaghâl was one of the first lords and kings to enter into the Union of Maedhros, ever eager to wage war against the Enemy and further prove his skill in battle.            When the fateful Fifth Battle dawned, Azaghâl and his warriors marched with the eastern contingent. As the battle turned ill, he refused to flee, and his stout-hearted soldiers stood with him against the mighty wyrm Glaurung, whose likeness adorned the very helm Azaghâl once bore. As the elves fell back in retreat, the dwarves of Belegost hewed away at the dragon’s scales, for the make of their axes was so sharp and strong that nothing could withstand their blows.            Yet when Glaurung turned the force of his rage upon the dwarven king, Azaghâl was at last struck down and the dragon crawled over his body to defile it. This would turn to the wyrm’s undoing, for with his last breath, Azaghâl drove a knife into Glaurung’s belly and so wounded him that he fled the field with many of the dismayed beasts of Angband following. Thus died Azaghâl, King of Belegost, and his people raised up his body and bore him away with slow steps and dirge of deep voices. Such was the power of dwarven Song that even though they heeded not their foes, none dared attack them, and they did not halt until they returned to Gabilgathol to intern their king in his mountainside tomb.            Sacha, eldest of Azaghâl’s sons, was crowned King in the days following. Thalor his father retreated in grief and lived only a few years longer before he wasted away in sorrow. Blaming his fathers’ deaths on their friendship with the elves, Sacha turned Maedhros away from Belegost in his hour of need and closed the doors of Gabilgathol to any outsiders save their Broadbeam kin in Tumunzahar.            Now Sacha was handsome and lordly, with a beard of flame, and some whispered that he was Linnar come again, the first reincarnation of their Firebeard forefather. Fimli his brother was craft-wed, and happy to throw himself into the forges rather than rule, and so all of Gabilgathol looked to Sacha alone for guidance.            When Gabilgathol received word from Tumunzahar of the theft of the Nauglamír and the slaughter of those who worked upon it, Sacha was eager to answer the summons of his fellow king Naugladur to march to war against the Grey-elves. But Sacha’s rashness betrayed him, for the Firebeards were weary of war and had no quarrel of their own with Thingol’s kin, and the king’s council overruled him. Sacha was furious and swore to embark on this mission alone, if he must, and with three of his closest followers he departed to join Naugladur and the dwarves of Nogrod in their campaign.             With Thingol slain and his Maia queen departed, the dwarves faced no opposition as they stormed into Doriath. Only in Menegroth did they face resistance, and there a great battle was fought before the treasury. Though many dwarves were killed, including Sacha’s three companions, in the end Naugladur’s forces were victorious and claimed the Nauglamír for their own, along with many other treasures.             But the conflict was not yet over, for that very night Sacha was overcome with greed and jealousy, desiring the Nauglamír for himself. He crept to Naugladur’s side with the intent to steal the precious necklace, but even as he struck Naugladur awoke, for the King of Nogrod had feared such treachery and kept a dagger by his side as he slept. Thus was Sacha slain, though Naugladur kept his prize only until the morrow, when he and all his company were killed in battle with Beren Erchamion and his allies among the Green-elves and the Ents.           No dwarves survived that battle, but an advance party sent ahead to prepare for a feast upon the king’s return to Nogrod witnessed the utter destruction of their kindred, and brought word of the whole tale to both Broadbeams and Firebeards. The dwarves of Tumunzahar lived many generations in enmity toward their kin in Gabilgathol, cursing Sacha as a traitor and naming him Bodruith, the vengeful one, and hating those Firebeards who refused their aid as cowards.            But amid his sorrow for his brother’s death, Fimli, now King of Belegost, determined Sacha had lacked the wisdom to truly be a reincarnation of Linnar, and rising to the occasion of leadership he ruled Gabilgathol well for the rest of his days. Though he did not fight in the War of Wrath, he rekindled Azaghâl’s friendship with Maedhros the tall, fostering the peredhil Elrond and Elros for a time. When the Valar’s war against Morgoth drowned Beleriand below the waves, Fimli led his people to the eastern eaves of the Blue Mountains until the stormy seas calmed, whereupon in his old age he returned and began restoration of the great halls of Belegost.

[swanmaids]

brothers in arms

for khazad week day 1, i combined the prompts “family” and “first age” to write this triple drabble about azaghal and family.

warning for major character death - it’s the nirnaeth. 

Here is the truth that Azaghâl knows. To be a Dwarven warrior is to be alone.

He has taken no wife, though there have been Dwarf women he has loved from afar in days past, nor will he take one. He has never been a father, nor will he be. For what purpose would it serve? Any child he might sire would come into a world scorched and marred by the wrath and might of the dread enemy, to a father who will surely be torn from them by sword. He would not force such a fate on a child. 

Azaghâl has already lived far longer than he had ever expected. He has survived orcs and beasts and petty-dwarves all. He has outlived good men and boys. His line will die when he does. 

Azaghâl has made his peace with that. 

To be a hero of war, you must be prepared to die for your cause- to buy time for others, to protect the weaker. And when the dragon crawls over him, poised to crush him like an insect, Azaghâl knows- he will die. But he has had more time than Mahal grants to many, and no kin will grieve him. And with that thought, the Lord of Belegost raises his sword with the last of his strength. 

Here is the truth that Azaghâl does not know. For his deeds in life and death, he has been beloved by Elves and Men, and by Dwarves most of all. And when he dies in one last act of courage, his Dwarves will bear up his body with greatest devotion, and sing of their love, and take him from the battlefield to rest at last. And Azaghâl’s line will die with him, but in that moment, the Dwarves will all be brothers.

[monumental-darkness]

[trueblackmetallegion]

[thelordofgifs]

Obscure Tolkien Blorbo: Round 1

Azaghâl vs Lalwen

Azaghâl:

The Lord of the Dwarven city of Belegost. He was a friend and ally of Maedhros and died covering his retreat at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

DWARF RIGHTS!! he Compels me is all. cmon “guy who died driving glaurung off the field at the nirnaeth” is ICONIC AS HELL and also i love his & maedhros’ friendship that i made up in my head. they are leadership besties.

Lalwen:

The youngest daughter of Finwë and Indis, also known as Írimë. She accompanied her brother Fingolfin during the Flight of the Noldor.

The mystery! Where did she go? What did she do? Where is she now? We don't know, and that makes her a mysterious blorbo!