#Noldor family trees

[tathrin]

Is there a better feeling in the whole world than your best friend asking you to share/explain world building details about a fandom that you know and love but haven’t really done much with in ages (and frankly have forgotten a lot of the details of oops) that she doesn’t really know, but wants to learn about and maybe more importantly wants to watch you talk about?

[prymaraa]

dysfunctional elves (in vyshyvankas (in valinor)) sketches

maglor and maedhros

caranthir, celegorm and curufin ft huan

aaand amrod and amras (designs by @heathcliffgirl2002 because they're amazing)

so, feanorians in ukrainian embroidered shirts, I put in this more thoughts then I probably should have, so some fun facts

the main parts of embroidery is their names, in ukrainian embroidery you can encrypt words, dates, even family trees into patterns and this thing was so interesting to me that I encrypted feanorians names in embroidery

also these names are not their sindarin names, they're mother-names (aka amilessë) because it's very common symbol in ukrainian culture "a mother embroiders a shirt for her child as a protecting charm" especially before said child going to the long adventure and i feel some sad parallels about noldors adventure to the middle-earth

also amrad and amras's mother names are the same, so on their shirts there are two different varieties of "writing" the same name

[the-writing-goblin]

We know that canonically, by the Third Age, there mortal stories about Galadriel, telling of the creepy elf-sorceress whose powers are unknown and undefined. That those who enter her woods do not leave again the same.

Personally, I suspect elves have the same ideas, they're just not stupid enough to say them out loud because she might hear. Yes they're currently in Imladris and she's in Lothlorien, what's your point?

Like, I really feel like it's important to note how utterly alien Galadriel would be and feel to pretty much everyone else by the Third Age. Even other elves.

The most obvious difference would be that she's looked upon the trees, but I also think the fact that she was born and raised in Aman is... actually probably a big deal?

Like: she grew up near the only direct source of light in her time, and much of the food she was eating was probably blessed by Yavanna, Vanna, or one of their Maia. The men in her family, Turgon and Maedhros most famously, are notably tall. Galadriel herself is described as 'no less tall than' her husband Celeborn in lord of the rings. I take this to mean they're the same height but... the wording doesn't technically rule out her being taller? She could be a damn giant.

And she's the only elf who we know looks visibly Vanya. Elrond, the only other named elf who we know had Vanya heritage seems to take after his mother (probably, at least in coloring). Even if there are other elves with some Vanya looks kicking around by the time the fellowship roles up pretty much all of the elves any of them would have seen would be some combination of Sinda, Silvan, and Noldor. We know that canonically her coloring is quite different from these, with her hair being closer to Vanya gold than Teleri or Noldor colorings. It's not clear exactly how different these groups are in appearence, but it could be dramatic. Certainly, her hair is... ya know... kinda a big deal. In the books. Just a bit.

Basically, she is tall, stunningly gorgeous in a deeply unfamiliar way, powerfully magical in a way no one else in middle earth is and her eyes are fucking glowing because of the treelight. She learned magic from the Middle Earth equivalent of a minor god and she's at least somewhat telepathic.

Everyone with any sense is afraid of this woman.

[thesummerestsolstice]

Concept: Finarfin is exhausted after the War of Wrath. He goes with his family after Alqualonde and all the ties between him and his wife and law-family are cut. He turns back and does much the same to his Noldor family. He spends centuries trying, desperately, to keep whatever is left of the Noldor in Tirion together, even though it doesn't really work, and reaching out to his family– his wife– the Valar– none of whom seem interested in listening. And then, he finally goes to Beleriand, sees only the horrible, bloody end of it, fights a war against a mad god for decades, and then goes home. With none of his children.

Before the War of Wrath, Finarfin was at least capable of masking his problems, but afterwards, it's clear that he's heading towards some sort of nervous breakdown. He stops talking with basically everyone, sleeps and eats far less than he should, and spends more and more time in his study, pacing and muttering to himself. Eventually, Finrod manages to convince his father that he needs help– that he should go rest in Lorien and recover from the stresses of the First Age. That things won't fall apart if he leaves for a bit.

Though Finarfin is nervous– and isn't he always, these days?– he still has faith in the Valar, and so he goes to Lorien. And it is nice there, nicer than he could've imagined. He is able to relax in the gardens, in a way he hasn't been able to since the Two Trees still shone over Valinor. It is so nice there, and so peaceful. It's so easy to let his worries and cares drift away, to rest, and to sleep. It's so, unimaginably nice there. Really, he's glad he came, and he's starting to feel better. How could he not, in such a wonderful place? How could he not, when his nightmares and visions have been replaced with such wonderful dreams?

(In the gardens of Lorien, an empty body sits under a tree, surrounded by flowers, lost in an endless dream. It is not Miriel.)

[tanoraqui]

Lalwen caught everyone's attention by slamming a fresh wine bottle onto the center of the table.

"Alright, new game," she said. "'The Worst Thing I Ever Did To You Was...' It's like The Worst Thing I Ever Did, but it has to be specifically to someone else in this room, and you have to apologize for it. And you only get to drink if everyone else agrees that your apology was good enough."

Fingolfin raised one finger. "Point of order: what if you need to be drunker in order to apologize for something?" He didn't look at Fëanor, but his gaze was sliding around a bit, so in order to achieve this, he turned his entire head to the right.

"Tough luck," said Lalwen.

"Point of order," said Findis. "What if we don't want to play this one, either?"

"Then you have to sit here and endure it without getting to drink any more. Because - " Lalwen forestalled Fëanor's imminent query - "the door is still locked and no one is leaving until Family Game Night is over."

The boys all radiated rebellious pedantry, probably still not over how she'd lied to get them all here. But they didn't say anything, so Lalwen smiled brightly and said, "Great! I'll do an example to show you how it's done."

She retook her own chair, wobbling only a little as she moved from standing to sitting, leaned toward her youngest brother and said earnestly, "Ara, I'm sorry that I lied to you that Gil-galad was Fingon's son and your foster-great-grandson. It was politically expedient but essentially an orc move, and mostly I just did it because I was bitter at you for swanning in with all your golden armor and righteousness and optimism, when we had none of any of that. That was wrong of me. Also, obviously it fell apart as soon as he and his parents were all re-embodied."

Fëanor still had half a glass of wine from the now-lost bottle. He'd started slipping it slowly while glaring pointedly at Lalwen, to prove that he didn't need her stupid game.

He nearly spit it out.

"That's why a random half-blood became High King of the Noldor?" he demanded. "You just lied that he was part of the House of Finwë? And nobody challenged it?"

Lalwen was laughing too hard to answer. Findis was also laughing, more quietly.

"To be fair," Fingolfin offered, swallowing his own snicker in favor of loftiness, "from what the elf himself has told me, at the start of the Second Age, Galadriel, Elrond, and Celebrimbor between them could have crowned an unwoken tree High King if they'd all agreed on a candidate. Support from each of our lines, you know."

"Fëanor, how did you think Gil-galad became High King?" Finarfin asked curiously.

"I hadn't thought about it much - I've been busy, you know. I suppose I assumed he'd been elected, as we do now."

Fëanor tipped his head back to drain his glass, then rather slammed it down on the table. Yet again, the jewel-grade goblets proved themselves the right choice for the evening.

Lalwen could barely breathe for laughing. "No Noldor on either side of the Sea did that until nearly the end of the Second Age!"

Fëanor scowled.

Findis smiled serenely, and twisted the top off the new wine bottle. A melodious scent swelled forth of sweet grapes, bruised peaches, and warm summer sun.

"Well, that seems well-apologized to me." She refilled Lalwen's glass - though she paused before handing it back, and asked, "Ara?"

Finarfin nodded grandly, and for good measure took Lalwen's hand and kissed it. "We are well-reconciled, sister, and have been for many years."

"Good, good, gimme!" said Lalwen, grabbing at her well-deserved wine. "Ahh..." The Yavannandil wine was soft and soothing against her laughter-dried throat.

When she'd downed a good third of the glass, she gestured broadly and declared, "There! You see how it's done! Your turn!"

She pointed to Fëanor, then jabbed her finger at his chest. "And you're not allowed to say 'burning the ships', that's too easy."

[a-hundred-musings]

You know, here's a small rant from me: I hate it when Celebrimbor is shown to be a "softie-boy" or a "naïve child" or just... someone condescending and stupid. Like, yeah I'm guilty of it too (who isn't?) but it just makes me wonder why he's presented as that in fics anywhere.

I read this fic on AO3? Celebrimbor is a stupid duck. Or he's just very naïve and easy to prank. I read another fic? Celebrimbor is a whiny baby who can't stand up for himself. I read another one? He's a man-child.

Look, I get why he's presented in that way, but can we not do that? Especially considering the things this boy has gone through which really wouldn't make him a "child-like" person, but more of a mature adult who has experienced things no one should ever experience.

Before and during the First Age, he's experienced so much:

Nerdanel and Feanor falling out -- that basically messed up entire Aman back then, but mainly their kids, so imagine how Curufin would have reacted to that.

The feud between Feanor and Fingolfin and Finarfin

The time when Feanor threatened Fingolfin

The time when the Two Trees were destroyed

The time when Melkor killed his great-grandfather Finwe.

Feanor going Mad™

The uprising of the Noldor

The First Kinslaying

His grandfather going feral and his father and uncles swearing an oath on a literal suicide-mission

One of his youngest uncles getting burned and basically died (or lived, depends on which version you follow)

A time of literal darkness. Like, no light at all. It really messed up the psyche of so many people.

Feanor abandoning his brother on the shores of Valinor -- that would mess up anyone really.

A literal battle. Like, more blood is being shed -- not only of elves, but of other creatures Tyelpe has probably never seen or heard of before.

His grandfather being so consumed by his fire and spontaneously combusting. That too, he either saw or heard of Feanor literally bursting into flames -- that is pretty traumatising.

The crossing of the Helcaraxe -- no seriously, that would mess anyone up knowing that people they love are literally walking on glaciers and over deathly waters with a 50% chance of survival.

Maedhros being crowned King of the Noldor, and an unspoken fact that there is more than one king of the Noldor -- the political implications here...

The abduction of Maedhros. Need this be explained further?

His uncles and father being concerningly close to starting a whole world-war

The rising of the Sun and the moon (like, what are those big spheres in the sky? Are they something from Melkor? Are they a sign of the End™? What is it?)

The arrival of Fingolfin's group, with more dead and furious people.

The mental health of everyone deteriorating. No, I won't explain because this era was filled with bad times.

No one knowing what to do now, since Maglor was naturally crowned the Regent King of the Noldor, and he has his own problems.

After 34 years of wondering what on earth has happened to Maedhros, he returns scarred with no right hand, and presumed torture marks.

Everyone literally holding their breaths for what will happen next.

Maedhros surrendering his crown to Fingolfin. That would hurt bad like a blow.

Literally only a few years of peace filled with tension.

Fingolfin decides to kick Melkor's arse and dies.

The Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

The Second Kinslaying.

The Fall of Gondolin

Making the decision of abandoning his father and uncles, going on his own separate path.

The death of so many of his family members and father and uncles. That is messed up. The amount of psychological trauma he's already been through...

Like, imagine his guilt of not being there with his father, imagine how much he second-guessed his actions...

The Third Kinslaying. The deaths of more elves, his uncle (or uncles), and really, just more death.

The crown of the Noldor being passed on so many times until it reached Gil-Galad. Imagine the humiliation and just the shock of the realisation of the number of people who have been crowned within a span of a few centuries.

The kidnapping of Elrond and Elros. While it probably wouldn't harm Tyelpe's psychological health, it must have been pretty messed up to find out that your two remaining uncles have committed a few more war crimes.

The War of the Wrath. Now, while it was mainly against Men, there is no doubt that some elves have been killed due to the war (given Gil-Galad's camps etc), so imagine him getting into some stray fights with the orcs or those Men who follow Melkor.

The Fourth Kinslaying. No need to further elaborate.

The death of Maedhros, and Maglor becoming a cryptid. Who wouldn't that mess up?

Surviving the First Age. Like, give this Tyelpe the recognition he truly deserves. Give him a few rings and trophies for enduring so long and he still hasn't gone down to insanity. That too, all this happened within the span of like, 600 years.

The Second Age:

Beleriand is under the sea

His "cousins" (Elrond and Elros) going their separate ways

The death of Elros (I think this is pretty self-explanatory, given the numerous HCs on the twins and Celebrimbor)

No one has any idea what has happened to Maglor. Is he alive? Is he dead? Who knows.

Rumours of a sinister evil lurking in the shadows and really, some tensions are visibly arising.

He finds this very powerful and alluring stranger who knows quite a bit about the art of smithing. They collaborate despite warnings from Galadriel, Gil-Galad, Elrond and a few others.

After giving thought to make powerful rings, Annatar watches over as Celebrimbor makes the rings for Men and Dwarves.

Newsflash: Annatar wants the rings, and he tainted them.

Celebrimbor makes the 3 Elven Rings in secret so Annatar can't get to them, but he gets kidnapped and tortured.

Like, really badly tortured. Annatar wants those 3 rings.

Celebrimbor eventually is killed, and is impaled on a spear, then given to Gil-Galad's camp after years of torture.

He went straight to his family. Can't tell if this will add to his trauma, but still.

While he didn't survive the Second Age, this boy went through so much pain, and... really, I feel like he doesn't get much of the appreciation he deserves.

Thank you for coming to my little rant as to why we need more fics that paint Celebrimbor as someone who isn't a stupid and naïve child, but more of a wiser version of Feanor and Curufin. He is not a tantrummy baby, for Ilúvatar's sake!

[tilions]

I had a nice, heartbreaking conversation with @armenelols where we talked about Finarfin right after Finwë died and his brothers, Lalwen and literally 95% of the family decided to go across the ocean for various reasons, including but not limited to starting a fist fight with Morgoth for Revenge™.

Like?? He returns to Tirion and is on good terms with nobody. Those who haven’t left are probably not very happy about him being there, Valinor is currently going into a lockdown so the Valar are not going to help him fix this mess, his mother has left to be with her brother and so has his only remaining sister, his sisters-in-law won't speak with him either, he is lucky when the Vanyar reply to a message once in a blue moon (sike! that one doesn’t even exist yet, everything is just pitch black because the trees are dead) and he doesn’t even expect his wife to return to him given what his family did to her people, who probably never want to see a Noldor ever again.

So it’s all on him essentially.

And what does he have to start with? Properly burying his father, of course, because I don’t think either Fëanor nor Fingolfin had the mind to even do that. Finwë is probably still laid out in the throne room with a white cloth covering his body and nobody really knows what to do with him because they do not know if he is ever going to return. Now, I do not believe Finarfin or anyone really knows the concept of a funeral. That’s something the elves over in Beleriand and the Teleri, who do not talk to him, are currently figuring out.

What does he do? Lay down his father in Lórien next to Miriel, the mother Fëanor yearned for and Finarfin never knew, because that’s the only reasonable thing to do, right? Right? Reunite them in death at the only place he knows is the right one, where Este’s handmaiden are going to take care of, heal and preserve his father’s broken body just like they did with Miriel’s. The one place his brother ever admitted feeling completely at peace at. Over time, it becomes such a place for him too. And as his visits become more frequent, he starts telling his father, who in death looks like he is simply sleeping, about how he slowly starts to mend the broken ties of his people, how there are two new lights in the sky that illuminate the whole world and how Earwen has come to talk to him, how Indis has finally responded to a letter of his and things are going to slowly get better and how he feels like he is getting a hang of being king after so many years of stumbling on a path he was not cut out for.

He comes to his father’s dead body the night before they depart for Beleriand and apologises that he is leaving now too. He speaks one last wish, that his father may be there, awake, alive, when he returns from war because Finarfin does not intend to die too.

[winterpinetrees]

Okay yeah I’m still thinking about logistics. I am aware that lord of the rings is whimsical and I don’t care.

There must be so many people in Rivendell. It’s the Last Homely House, the last decent place before you go off into the deep wilderness. It’s at the bottom of a valley in the middle of nowhere. They aren’t getting everything imported. Elrond must have a full sized settlement there to produce most of the food, even if we are assuming that preserving magic makes it an easy place to live. Rivendell is a refuge too. It’s home to Elrond, his family, a significant number of Noldor like Glorfindel, and who knows how many wanderers. Elves don’t die of old age, and in the Third Age they don’t get murdered particularly often either, so I have to imagine that the population is large and just keeps growing. I don’t get the sense that many travel across the sea until after Sauron falls, and there really isn’t anywhere else for them to go. Lothlorien, maybe? There’s got to be thousands of people in that valley, supporting the Last Homely House and keeping the forces of darkness at bay.

More than that, it’s a huge place fit for the most powerful people in Middle Earth. Rivendell can easily accommodate Bilbo’s entire party in the hobbit and all of the visiting diplomats for the Council of Elrond. Do you have any idea how much manpower (elf power?) it takes to keep a place clean, well-lit, and functional without modern technology? It takes an absurd amount of work. There is nothing in the legendarium that I’m aware of to suggest that elves use magic as a labor saving tool. That means that people are doing all of that work by hand.

Are there elven servants in Rivendell? What about in Valinor? In the Silmarillion, we only ever really read about noble bloodlines, and in LoTR, elves are kept very mysterious. There’s craftsmen who make silmarils and magic rings, but who is forging gear for the average soldier? We know that there are a whole lot of average soldiers. Lord of the rings is a story of battles between armies. Is there upward mobility in an undying land? Whoever is cleaning clothes in Valinor, have they been doing that since the age of the two trees?

Maybe Valinor is more equal than that. Maybe in a place where everyone expects to live forever, they’ve found ways to share the load. But they did have a high king, long ago, and Feanor uses the argument that the elves should go to Beleriand to find freedom and treasure. He’s not a reliable narrator, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about.

What must it be like to be one of the other Noldor? To be a common elf and go east seeking freedom and adventure, only to find suffering like you cannot imagine? To watch that land sink beneath the ocean, to see Numenor be corrupted and fall, to fight Morgoth and Sauron and Sauron again? To finally leave it all behind as everything, even Rivendell and Lindon and Lothlorien, fades? Or maybe you die in combat and spend an eon in the halls of Mandos before reawakening in Valinor. Either way, you’re back!

And someone needs to do the laundry.

[thelordofgifs]

Obscure Tolkien Blorbo: The Final!

Nerdanel vs One (1) Rivendell elf who sings tra-la-la-lally

Nerdanel:

Nerdanel, called The Wise, was the wife of Fëanor, and known as a great sculptor. She refused to follow her family to Middle-earth in the revolt of the Noldor.

Best known as the woman who looked at the hot mess that is Fëanor, went “is anyone going to marry that?” and did not wait for an answer, Nerdanel is also so much more than just the beloved wife of Fëanor. Most notably, she is a sculptor (apparently a male-dominated field in Noldorin society) - her statues are so life-like that the friends of the depicted would go up and talk to them! She is also wise enough to land the epithet Istarnië, which means Wise One, and she is the only person Fëanor ever listened to, which borders miracle territory. Although when she married the pretty young crown prince of the Noldor, people said she was not good-looking enough for him, Fëanor begged to differ, as they had seven kids together, which is the largest amount of kids any Elven couple ever had. There must have been a lot of passion there (or maybe they just really wanted a daughter?). Although Nerdanel always seemed to have wise counsel for her husband, apparently she did not put up with his, as she was close friends with Indis, his stepmother he did not like. Unfortunately, their marital bliss did not last; when Fëanor pulled a sword on his half-brother Fingolfin (Indis's son) and was exiled, she did not come with him and instead stayed with Indis. This is often seen as her inventing divorce, although a more boring reading could simply suggest she disagreed and did not fancy accompanying him (LaCE does say Elven couples could keep separate households for extended periods of time). She also did not think about coming to Beleriand with him after he swore his terrible oath, although she did beg for him to leave her at least one of her kinslaying spawn sweet adorable baby boys (preferably the one she very ominously tried her hardest to name The Fated as a baby). I suppose the resulting, kind of permanent, separation, could definitely count as divorce.

she is a sculptor and an artisan so skilled that Feanor’s love for her competed with his own love of craft and creation. She raised seven sons and pleaded for their fates with Feanor because of how much she loved them and even though she loved him too, she stuck to her own beliefs and refused to leave Valinor….she’s so girlboss and she said you can go be a tragic archetype but our children don’t deserve that and also I will stay right here. We love a woman who refuses to give up her joys and her home even for a man she loves and ESPECIALLY since it was Feanor….the strength of her will is insane. I love her.

One (1) Rivendell elf who sings tra-la-la-lally:

One of the Elves of Rivendell who sing tra-la-la-lally in The Hobbit.

This one specific elf sings tra la la lally with the rest but he is slightly off key and the other elves bully him for it

they’re SILLY!!! We need NEED more silly elves!! Like who are these weirdos just hanging out in the trees of Rivendell? Did they know the dwarves were coming and gather their friends to specifically climb those trees to sing nonsense at them? Do they just normally sit there and sing about every little thing they see? Is this a traditional Rivendell thing or are those elves just really strange? I’m obsessed with them they’re everything to me. Elves are oft portrayed as being Too Serious in this fandom and silly elves need rights too! Silly elf rights!!!!

Final masterpost

[novemberthecatadmirer]

Something I recently realized is there actually is a convincing explanation for Eol’s action at Gondolin without going for “well he’s just an evil sadistic rapist”

What we know is:

A good amount of Sindar elves in Nevrast came to love Turgon as their leader and proceeded to follow him to Gondolin

Here is the issue:

It’s very unlikely those Sindar elves who left for Gondolin would be allowed to tell their kin who left behind where they went.

From the rest of Sindar elves’ pov, their kin who lived in this Noldor prince’s realm just disappeared (Said Noldor prince’s brother was a famous kinslayer)

Thingol and his court must be notified of this mass disappearance of population.

They must tried to ask Fingolfin about it and Fingolfin would be like “well I don’t know where my son and daughter are either”

How much is the chance for Thingol-who-grounded-his-daughter-in-a-treehouse to believe that as an answer.

Likely over the years there were multiple speculations about what happened to the disappeared population.

When Eol married Aredhel, he must have asked her about the matter. (And Thingol would order him to. There was no chance for Thingol to not know his vassal & kinsman & best smith went crazy and married a Noldor princess.)

Aredhel would tell him those Sindar elves went willingly and were happy and well in Gondolin.

(I really think Eol believed it was okay to marry Aredhel because he believed she was different; she left her kinslaying family to travel alone after all.)

Then Aredhel and Maeglin left for Gondolin, and Eol went out to look for them; and out of everyone he could possibly meet he met Curufin

Who basically called him an ethnic slur

(You cannot convince me “dark elf” is a perfectly neutral word for Noldor to invent to call those who never seen the tree light. It’s so very hard to imagine Sindar elves who loved the star light and suffered from Morgoth to appreciate being associated with “dark”.)

When Eol really reached Gondolin, it was heavily suggested by the text that he would be dealt with in some way if he did not announce he was the husband of Aredhel. Which rather confirms Curufin’s words about facing death.

When he got taken into the city, he must find that the Sindar elves who disappeared really were living in Gondolin. (There was a line in the book about him silently observing the city.)

And immediately after he was offered the choice between staying and death.

Now this is really a perfect situation for misunderstanding:

How much is the chance for Eol to assume that Turgon forced all the Sindar elves in Nevrast to move to his city? Or WORSE, abducted and enslaved them to build this distinctive Noldor city?

Like, Eol was not allow to left even when he was vassal & kinsman of Thingol and husband of a Noldor princess. He was basically threatened with death to stay in the city.

How much is the chance for him to assume that all the other Sindar elves faced the same choice or worse, never a choice?

I do believe Turgon was a good king. He was the only one out there who won over loyalty of both Noldor and Sindar. Gondolin in Silmarillion (not the one in “Fall of Gondolin” where people called Meglin half orc) was a good city with a mixed ethnic population and some Sindar elves as lords.

He also condemned Feanorians and likely had complex feelings about his brother jumping into fight and starting murder for redhead bestie.

Out of all the Noldor princes he was likely the one who thoroughly abandoned the idea of building fair & glory kingdom. If there was any thought about that the idea was squished when Elenwe disappeared in icy water. Most of his time in Beleriand he was trying to protect and preserve, until he got overwhelmed by the sheer hopelessness of the situation.

If he and Thingol ever met post reembodiment they might even come to respect each other.

But during his meeting with Eol Turgon was doing absolutely nothing that was not escalating the situation

Which was sadly reasonable.

Turgon was being a Noldor king in front of a vassal of Thingol (who refuse to recognize his right to rule).

When accused of kinslaying and stealing land his reply was “but we Noldor protected you from Morgoth with our swords.” Yeah but the same swords killed Teleri and you all stole ships over dead bodies to come establish your kingdoms. The worse response out there. It’s like saying “yeah we killed your relatives and build kingdoms over your land but you’ll be dead anyway without our protection so suck it up.”

(I believe his real thought was “I regret ever coming and I hate my brother for being stupid and I would love to just stay in Tirion with my nice family.” But that’s not something he could say in this situation.)

Once those words were out there was no way for Eol to trust his words anymore. Out of political reason Turgon basically took the stand with the kinslayers he actually hated.

Actually it was reasonable for Eol to assume the worst. He might even assume even if he chose to stay, it would not only be a betrayal to Thingol and his heritage, but he would also be enthralled or even murdered anyway.

Then of course he would try to murder Maeglin. In his pov his son just decided to side with his maternal kinslayer family and serve the king who abducted and enslaved Sindar elves. How could he tolerate his son turning into murderer and slaver?

Of course he would stay silent about the poison and let Aredhel die. People did not stay in Gondolin willingly. She lied and covered for her evil brother.

Of course he would call Maeglin out for “forsaken your father and kin.” Because that was what he believed.

Of course he would curse Maeglin, because how could a half-Sindar be treated as a Noldor prince when the city abducted Sinder elves and forbid them to leave? It was not a curse; what he meant was Turgon would turn against Maeglin and executed him in the same way due to his Sindar blood.

Which was all very wrong. But I don’t think anyone could convince Eol that Turgon was not an evil colonist after the “stay or die” was out of the bag.

[swanmaids]

silm tumblr simulator

[mutual 1]: I NEED Luthien eldritch fairy black hole pussy NOW

[mutual 2]: Maglor the storyteller is literally the last one standing, cursed to wander the earth telling the tale of the doom of the Noldor forever, and who can blame him if he’s never going to finish the story? If he never finishes the tale then maybe it doesn’t have to end the way it did -

[mutual 3]: do you guys think Melian ever shapeshifted specifically for the purpose of railing Thingol with Wolf dick

[mutual 4]: Gil galad parentage joke

[mutual 5]: to what extent can we expect the Valar to work alongside or even understand the Children, when they exist on such different levels of consciousness, not to mention when Melkor is actively working to turn all their works to evil?

[mutual 6]: the in-universe mythic framing and lack of significant spoken lines or in depth characterisation for many characters means multiple interpretations of silm characters can be valid. That said, you’re all WRONG about my Blorbo

[mutual 7]: Gil galad parentage joke

[mutual 8]: do you ever cry about Elrond?

[mutual 9]: just a little doodle from today haha :) [exquisitely detailed and characterised family tree of the whole house of Finwe]

[mutual 10]: just a quick Russingon pwp! [emotionally devastating work of literature with 11 footnotes on Quenya]

[mutual 11]: Maglor is literally sad and soggy and wet at the beach. Does anyone care that he’s SAD and SOGGY and WET at the BEACH

[mutual 12]: I NEED Celegorm slutty blonde war criminal hole NOW

[mutual 13]: she unnumbered tears on my mound of the slain till I come again

[echo-bleu]

I got it in my head for some reason to do a series of Finwëan portraits. The original reason was to figure out Elrond and his children's appearances through their ancestry, but it quickly devolved into "let's do a family tree". Six hours of drawing over five days later, I am reconsidering my whole life.

Anyway, here's Anairë (because I had to start with a character mentioned once, of course), Fingon and Fingolfin.

I have a lot of hair braiding headcanons for the Noldor but I regret everything.

With bonus sketch and flat colours pictures.

[ID: three digital portraits. Anaïre is a black elf with long black hair in cornrowed twists and golden loop earrings. Fingon is a mixed race (black/white) elf with long (and very thick) black hair in cornrows and braids in a high ponytail, decorated with golden ribbons and beads. He has a golden loop earring and several ear and eyebrow piercings. Fingolfin is a white elf with long dark hair in a complex braided hairstyle with blue beads, with the length loose, wearing a silver circlet with a blue stone, and several ear, eyebrow and nose piercings. They all wear blue tunics. The second and third picture are the same as a pencil sketch and flat colour drawing.]

[elvinye]

scenario time

you are a Noldo living in Tirion. you are actively avoiding the worst face any elf in Aman ever has to face: an awkward conversation with your loved ones

suddenly, it goes dark! word comes that the Trees are dead and may Noldor are leaving. you know your super devout family will remain behind. this could be your chance to avoid that awkward conversation you've been dreading!

[thesummerestsolstice]

During the Years of the Trees, the House of Arafinwe has a weekly family breakfast together– Arafinwe bakes pancakes for everyone (with his kids helping of course!) Nolofinwe and his family come to spend time together, Findis and Lalwende show up every week, even if they are a little late, and Finwe and Indis almost always make time for it as well. (And if some of Feanaro's kids show up, Arafinwe always makes a little extra) It started when Findarato was really little, and always begged for pancakes and jam, and has been going for centuries by the time Feanaro gets exiled to Formenos. They put all sorts of toppings out on the table and spend the morning catching up and laughing with each other. Treelight pours in through the windows of the house, and all is right with the world.

And one day, not too long after the Darkening, Arafinwe wakes up, disoriented, and, pretty much on auto-pilot, goes to make pancakes. Look, it takes a lot of batter to make enough pancakes for fifteen people– you have to start that early to get in done in time for a reasonable breakfast. So he makes the pancakes alone, not really thinking about things, probably unconsciously assuming that he's just woken up early and that his kids and wife are still sleeping. He sets the table, because he knows where everyone will sit. He gets everything out, because for all that's happened the pantry is still full.

And then he sees the way the slightly eerie red-tinted lamp light reflects on the silverware. And then he remembers that his children left, and so did his brothers, and sister, and nieces and nephews. He remembers the horrible, half-regretful, half-knowing look he'd seen on Findarato's face before he'd left over the Helcaraxe, the breathless, fruitless argument he'd had with Nolofinwe. He remembers that his wife won't talk to him, and neither will Findis. That his father is dead and that his mother left for Lorien after his death and isn't taking visitors.

And he just sits there, in the big, dark, silent, empty room. And the pancakes get cold and the fruit toppings begin to rot. He leaves– he's not sure when, without the treelight to tell time– and locks the room.

He moves out of his house the next day, and into the palace in Tirion, which, to be honest, feels just as haunted. He stops baking. Being high king of the Noldor in Valinor doesn't leave him with a lot of spare time for his craft. Or his grief. And as long as he keeps it locked away in a house he never goes to, he can almost live with that.

[g-m-kaye]

Here are six varied sketches I made for unrelated projects or simple, fun warm-up exercises! I think they look pretty together :)

What I was thinking for each sketch:

1. Noldor elves/ Feanor/ 2. I love oak trees!/ 3. I love storms/ 4. THRANDUILION! Legolas and another brother riding through the woods. Inspired partially by encountering and reading the lovely deep-lore fics of @sotwk which centre around Thranduil and his family/ 5. Yes Uve been re-reading the Iliad and re-watching Troy (2004) and it shows lol/ 6. I was thinking about the Anduin river and how it might look from a boat, near the wide shore.

[sotwk]

I've always thought that the reason for Tolkien elves losing interest in sex after having the kids that they want is a by-product of his Catholicism. My mum was raised Catholic and she says that she was raised to believe that children were the thing that redeemed sex and that ideally sex wouldn't happen at all. (Idk if that's a universal experience but it was hers) So it makes sense that Tolkien's elves, as 'higher' more spiritual beings would be less sexual beings and so would not partake in sex after they'd had their kids. (Which is why I ignore that particular titbit of Tolkien lore😉)

Ooof! I'm quite familiar with Catholic teachings on sex, and it sounds like the values your mom grew up with were quite extreme! (Religious values and beliefs run across a very wide spectrum, but let's not invite debates on that!) That sounds a lot more like something Mrs. Kim from Gilmore Girls would say. LOL.

I admit I lean more towards the puritan, "higher being" interpretation of Elves, especially the Calaquendi who have seen the Light of the Trees. There has to be something that distinguishes them from the other Middle-earth races, and temperance when it comes to carnal needs and urges (i.e. sex, food), is one of those characteristics. So yes, Elves are less interested in sex than Dwarves, Hobbits, but especially Men, but even their appetites vary within their race.

When it comes to the SotWK AU's interpretation of Thranduil and his Elvenqueen wife, Maereth, here is a rundown of my take on it:

(My headcanons are mostly guided by what was written in the LaCE, because I'm a Type-A nerd who likes rules and manuals, but these are just MY interpretation of it. It's not hardline LaCE compliant either, and regardless, my takes are neither canon nor law!)

Thranduil and Maereth are descendants of Calaquendi, but had not made the journey themselves. Technically, Maereth is closer to the Light of the Trees and arguably more "blessed" in that manner, since her mother was born in Tirion (Valinor), as opposed to Oropher who never completed the journey.

Thranduil was always more free-spirited ("as wild as one of Araw’s Kine", Oropher described him in my fic "The Crown") than the average Sinda, and over the years became even more alike the Silvan people he ruled over.

Silvans are culturally more sexual than the Sindar or Noldor, not necessarily in the sense of being promiscuous, but rather that they take more pleasure in the act itself as way of bonding with their partners, not just for the sake of begetting children.

The Silvans do not lose interest in sex even after thousands of years, and are able to retain monogamous relationships with their partners because Elven bonds (platonic, familial, romantic, etc.) are as enduring as their physical immortality.

This is what helps the Silvan/Greenwood population endure through the millennia, throughout the "Mirkwood" dark ages, and into the Fourth Age and beyond in Eryn Lasgalen. They keep having sex, keep reproducing, and their population is sustained even through attacks and wars.

Oh, and culturally, the Silvans also love children and celebrate the process of raising them as a community. That's a key factor in their population growth too.

Thranduil and Maereth are, foregoing more eloquent terms, absolutely bananas for each other. Epic, epic, love along the vein of Professor Tolkien's love for his wife Edith, and its parallel romance--Beren and Lúthien. Could you imagine Lúthien replacing or loving anyone other than Beren? (I guess you can imagine anything in fandom, but I hope you get my point.) Well, it's the same with Thranduil and his Elvenqueen. It's a rather unpopular take on his love life, but that's how it is at least in the SotWK AU.

So yeah, they never tire of each other and never stop wanting each other, in any way, by any definition. They naturally stop begetting children after Legolas (their 5th), but the lovemaking definitely continues.

Sorry for the delay in this response, Anon--I hope you're still able to see and read this. And I hope the uncalled-for infodump makes it better, not worse! LOL. Thank you for the Ask!