#anything involving gold rings ??? sauron

[beyondxarda-moved]

i’ll never fail to be amused by how the Tolkien fandom can shove itself into ANYTHING

like... black hole ??? yup that’s the eye of sauron, folks

[sunflowersupremes]

Random Erestor headcanons that no one asked for

I’ve written about Erestor a few times, but I wanted to share some of my own ‘Erestor as a follower of Feanor’ headcanons. 

His name in Quenya is Culodur (Culo (Gold) + dur (Servant of)). This is because he is a servant of Maglor (aka Makalaurë, the ‘gold-cleaver.’)

Erestor’s name - meaning lonely brother - was originally a joke that Maglor made up (Erestor has no brothers, and that is the entire joke. Maglor has a strange sense of humor). But Thingol’s Quenya ban started right after that so everyone just rolled with it.

Erestor was not high born, but he was Maglor’s friend from a young age because they both enjoyed manipulating language and wordplay (they are masters at subtly insulting people).

Although he does not feel any particular loyalty to Feanor himself, he followed Fëanor from Aman because of his friendship with Maglor. He was Maglor’s chief counselor during his years as Regent and again when Maglor was Lord of Lothlann. Maglor’s favorite thing about him was his willingness to tell him when he thought something was a dumb idea.

He speaks with a Fëanorian lisp in every language he knows, including Sindarin. This has caused multiple diplomatic incidents and is the reason he is not allowed to be in the same room as Oropher.

Erestor was at all three Kinslayings and participated in them as Maglor’s Herald (he was involved in pretty much every battle Maglor was involved in and nearly died during the Dagor Bragollach where he was badly burned). He doesn’t actually like fighting, despite being pretty good at it.

At Sirion, it was Erestor that killed Egalmoth.

Additionally, he wasn’t enthused by the ‘let’s keep the kids’ idea, mostly because said twins were absolutely terrified of him (Elros bit him). The twins would not eat anything he touched or sleep if he was in the general vicinity. Eventually, Erestor won them over simply by being more terrifying than orcs (the enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all).

When Maglor sent Elrond and Elros to Gil-Galad he sent Erestor with them to prevent his friend from getting involved in any more attempts for the Silmarils. Somehow Elrond talked Gil-Galad into letting Erestor stick around (this is mostly because Elrond was good at fake crying and convinced them that Erestor was all he had left)

Gil-Galad secretly loved the fact that everyone was fucking terrified of Erestor because it made him very useful for getting things done.

Erestor won’t touch alcohol because he saw the effect it had on Maglor (who, in my headcanon, struggled with addiction).

Celebrimbor entrusted Erestor with the Three Rings to take them from Eregion to Gil-Galad in Lindon. After that, Erestor refused to ever have anything to do with them ever again (he also remembers when Celebrimbor was born, and calls him ‘kid’ up until his death because he knows it annoys Celebrimbor)

Glorfindel is aware that Erestor killed Egalmoth because Erestor told him. This makes their relationship interesting, to say the least.

The only children he has ever liked are Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen. He did not particularly like Elrond or Elros until they grew up. He still will not admit to liking Elrond well into the Third Age, despite the fact that he followed Elrond everywhere he went and almost died for him on several occasions (he swears all of this was out of loyalty to Maglor)

It was widely believed that Erestor has contact with Maglor throughout the Second and Third Ages. In fact, everyone believes this to be 100% a fact. Erestor encourages the rumors even though they are entirely untrue and he has no idea where Maglor is (he hopes that Maglor will eventually hear the rumors and come find him)

Erestor suggested ‘giving the Ring to Tom Bombadil’ because is is 80% sure that Tom Bombadil is Aulë and Goldberry is Yavanna (whether he is right or not is a point of great debate in Rivendell. Glorfindel opposes this theory on principal). He thought it was only fair that Aulë should fix their Sauron problems since Sauron was Aulë’s pupil to begin with.

Glorfindel’s ‘throw it in the sea’ suggestion was mainly to pick on Erestor (referencing Maglor’s Silmaril), not because he thought it was a good idea. Erestor was very close to calling him out on that when Elrond changed the subject.

Erestor’s wedding present to Arwen was a book of extremely sexual poetry Maglor had written in the Years of the Trees. He thought it was hilarious.

Elrond got Erestor to Valinor just by dragging him on the boat with him when he sailed (he figured the boat probably wouldn’t sink since there were five Ring Bearers on it and he ended up being right). The Valar just pretend he doesn’t exist and let him stay on Tol Eressea as long as he doesn’t cause any trouble.

[youareunbearable]

What if Hobbits aren't creations from Yavanna like everyone thinks?

Sure they like growing things, and sure their home is a beautiful little paradise of green and goodness, and sure, I love the parallels of Dwarf/Hobbit ships because they reflect Aule/Yavanna

But Yavanna already created the Ents, she already made her creatures to protect her beloved trees and green things.

But shes not the only Vala to live in a beautiful, nature filled garden

So I'm suggesting another Vala made the hobbits: Irmo

Irmo is the Vala of Dreams and Visions, he lives in the Gardens of Lorien with his wife is Este, the Vala of healing and rest for the weary.

He is never called upon during times of war or strife, but he would still work behind the sceens and in subtle ways to send hope amongst the Children of Illuvatar. He is associated with hope, inspiration, love, desire, dreams, sleep, and visions.

Don't a lot of these traits sound familiar? Aren't all of these traits the roles hobbits play in every story they're involved in?

Dwarves are going on an impossible mission to reclaim their home from a dragon? you are gonna need a lot of hope for that, and here is Bilbo, noticing things that need to be noticed (like the Hidden Door) and is always working behind the scenes to get the Dwarves to the mountian, and to find their stone, was the only not to be corrupted by the Gold Sickness, and inspired love and dreams of a better future to so many during the quest (like Thranduil, Bard, Thorin, Gandalf, Elrond, etc)

Being a symbol of hope and inspiration is literally Frodo's role in the LotR. Along with Merry to the Rohirrim, and Pippin to Faramir and Gondor, and both of them to the Ents. They become these types of mascots because people feel joy and love and hope when they see these cheery little folk

Hobbits are just friend shaped. Bilbo stole 13 Dwarves from Thranduil's dungon and he was so charmed by him that he called him Elf Friend. You just see one and wanna adopt them. They just emit these vibes of hope and love and dreams of a better world where everyone could just live as peacefully as Hobbits do

None of the Hobbits (besides Gollum) are really tempted by the visions and desire the Ring pushes forward, and if they are they shake it off fairly quickly, and I think this is because of Irmo. Of course he would make HIS children impervious to wicked temptations/desires/dreams, which is why none of Sauron's evils really tempt them, and if it does they don't really do anything with the power given. Like Gollum had it for a couple hundred of years and all he did was sit in a cave and look at it. If ANY OTHER race had that ring kingdoms would have fell.

I like to think that Irmo saw how fell whispers, temptation, greed, and hope was used against the Elves in Valinor, so he created his people (Hobbits) and their perfect little pockets of peace in Middle Earth for them to find rest and care.

But he messed up.

The Garden of Lorien is located very far away from everything else in Valinor, to help make it a peaceful getaway, so he does the same thing with his Hobbits. Except that no one knows where they are and now can't find them. This becomes a habit of his people, that since Hobbits were so isolated when they were born, they don't really like to interact with others. Of cource they'll accept any that comes to their land, but making them leave it?? naw nice try.

But they do have some interactions with others during the First Age, as they live between the Greenwood and Moria in the Gladden Fields, they probably talked with the Avari and Durin's Folk. Then in the Second Age they had Oropher's Sindarin people too. Then in the early Third Age they travel Westward. They befriend human Kings and the Dunedain and settle in the Shire, and it becomes a Haven, one that Gandalf recognizes. Oh sure it doesn't have the splendor of Lorien, nor the echo of delicate voices in the air to calm you, or the brilliant beauty in its landscapes, But it is a place to recuperate and even the air seems lighter in this lands then any other he's been within Middle Earth.

(If Maglor was found and rested in the Shire, he would heal there just as he would in the Gardens of Lorien in Valinor, for only he, with his mastery over Song and Music (for an Elf) could hear and understand and appreciate the strings of the Song of Irmo within the heartbeats and breaths of the Hobbits, as it dances around their Party Tree, burbles in the Brandywine, and echos from the branches of the Old Forest)

The Shire doesn't hold the same beauty of Lorien, but it holds a beauty that suits the peoples Middle Earth, and it still a haven for all that come across it, the people that dwell within, and to those that meet it's inhabitants .

For Hobbits follow in their Creator's footsteps and bring love, dreams, visions, desire, inspiration, and most importantly, Hope to the peoples of Middle Earth

One little, subtle, sneaky Hobbit at a time

[absynthe--minded]

Beren, the Nauglamír, and Editorial Oversight

this is gonna be a long one, guys.

so one of the things that makes Christopher Tolkien’s contributions to the greater legacy of the Tolkien Legendarium so complex is that he, as the posthumous editor of his father’s works, essentially was able to declare what is or isn’t “canon” in a way that no amount of scholarship (fannish or professional) will be able to truly successfully challenge. it’s his vision of Arda that was published as the Silmarillion, and his interpretations of the Professor’s works that have come to act as the standard and the baseline. after all, the Silm’s been traditionally published and translated into many languages; it’s far more accessible than out-of-print/print-on-demand copies of the History, and reading it doesn’t require you to slog through pages and pages of commentary or to have a good solid understanding of what the story is so you can follow along with lists of bullet points outlining events timeline-style.

of course, Chris also made mistakes, and those mistakes became enshrined in canon just as surely as anything else. I and many others have discussed the Gil-galad problem (namely, that Gil-galad’s parentage is oblique and strange at best and downright contradictory at worst, and Christopher’s choice to make him Fingon’s son was an admitted error) but it’s not the only case of a decision later proving to be the wrong one.

with that background, let’s talk about Beren.

Beren and Lúthien are in an unusual position in the Legendarium as a whole. Not only are they the sole author-insert characters, they’re also uniquely positioned as moral compasses - every other person in the Silm is morally ambiguous to some degree, or does bad or questionable things; not so with these two. If Beren or Lúthien does something, it’s explicitly the right thing to do, and this is confirmed by the narrative. If someone else opposes them, that is the wrong course of action. They’re not merely protagonists who make a lot of good choices, they’re good people, and the things they do are right because of their moral fiber and nobility. Of the active agents who are developed to any great degree, they’re the least complex and the most clear-cut, and the narrative itself treats them differently from other characters, validating them and framing them as the sort of spotless heroes that are in short supply in this Age.

This characterization runs headlong into the actions Beren takes in early drafts of the story and in the published Silm, where after dwarves kill Thingol and sack Menegroth, Beren (with the help of some allies, usually either Green-elves or Ents) ambushes them and duels the Lord of Nogrod for possession of the Nauglamír, a necklace originally owned by Finrod in Nargothrond that Húrin brought to Doriath after his release from Angband. Thingol commissioned dwarven artisans to alter the piece and create a setting in it for the Silmaril that Beren and Lúthien had won for him from Morgoth, and there was a dispute about payment that escalated to violence and ended in his death at dwarvish hands. The battle, later called the Battle of the Thousand Caves, was more or less a victory for dwarvish forces, as they escaped both with the Nauglamír and several other treasures from Menegroth and they defeated Sindarin forces that set out to stop them.

In most versions of the story, Melian sends Mablung to Ossiriand to warn Beren and Lúthien of what’s happened, and essentially asks them to do something to stop the retreating dwarvish forces from reaching Nogrod, where they came from. Beren does this, killing the Lord of Nogrod himself and taking the Nauglamír and the Silmaril home to Lúthien, who then gives it to Dior, who takes it back to Doriath when he takes the throne there. This is the version of the tale that’s in the published Silmarillion, and the one that’s consistent throughout the earlier drafts that Tolkien himself wrote.

But it’s not the only version that exists.

In The War of the Jewels, which compiles versions of the story written late in Tolkien’s life, we find The Tale of Years. This is not a cohesive narrative, instead functioning (like many of the writings that make up the bulk of the History of Middle-Earth) rather like a series of bullet points mentioning and summarizing key events. It progresses chronologically, giving a sense of passing time and organization to the First Age, and it has this to say about the Nauglamír and the battle at Sarn Athrad:

“The Dwarves of Belegost and Nogrod invade Doriath. King Elu Thingol is slain and his realm ended. Melian escapes and carries away the Nauglamír and the Silmaril, and brings them to Beren and Lúthien. She then forsook Middle-earth and returned to Valinor.

Curufin and Celegorm, hearing of the sack of Menegroth, ambushed the Dwarves at the Fords of Ascar as they sought to carry off the Dragon-gold to the mountains. The Dwarves were defeated with great loss, but they cast the gold into the river, which was therefore after named Rathlóriel. Great was the anger of the sons of Fëanor to discover that the Silmaril was not with the Dwarves; but they dared not to assail Lúthien. Dior goes to Doriath and endeavours to recover the realm of Thingol.”

(This quote is taken from the latest and typed version of the Tale of Years, an earlier handwritten version exists that is shorter but includes the same relevant details.)

Christopher Tolkien elected not to use this version of events, instead choosing to maintain the earlier tale where Beren had an active role; he was never truly satisfied with this, or with the Ruin of Doriath as a whole. In the commentary to the Tale of Years he wrote that “It seemed at that time that there were elements inherent in the story of the Ruin of Doriath as it stood that were radically incompatible with ‘The Silmarillion’ as projected, and that there was here an inescapable choice: either to abandon that conception, or else to alter the story. I think now that this was a mistaken view, and that the undoubted difficulties could have been, and should have been, surmounted without so far overstepping the bounds of the editorial function.” We have, for a second time, an admission of error, though unlike the Gil-galad question there is not a specific choice singled out as a flaw.

Why am I talking about this? Well, simply, I think that the version of the story where Celegorm and Curufin attack the Dwarvish host is the one that makes the most sense, and I’m here to make my case for its adoption as fanon. I’m not trying to take a purely scholarly view - I can’t prove that Tolkien’s true vision was for this version of the text, and of course it’s only in the one draft - but as a fandom we’ve reached the consensus before that specific versions of the story are preferred, even when they only appear in a single draft (Amrod’s death at Losgar stands out as the best example).

So here’s my argument. 

1. Beren is not a violent man, and having him act as a murderer is out of character.

This one is pretty simple - Beren is an outlaw fighting against Sauron, a defender of his family’s land, a nobleman in his own right, and a vegetarian who is keenly aware of what it is to be hunted and pursued. The man we’re introduced to in the other versions of the story is not someone who would answer violence with violence unless there was no other choice, and in fact he becomes less violent as the story goes on. Putting him in a position where he’s acting militarily against the Dwarves introduces elements to his character that simply don’t exist before this story. It’s inconsistent, and it also ends his life on a strange, sour note - he’s not an uncomplicated hero anymore, he’s also got blood on his hands.

2. Beren is one of the moral compasses of the Silmarillion, and having him be the one to spearhead the ambush of the Dwarves frames that act of violence in a very troubling light.

Like I said above, Beren and Lúthien are good people who do good things, and those things are good because of who’s doing them. If Beren kills the Dwarves and the Lord of Nogrod, that act becomes justifiable, and perhaps even the right thing to do, simply due to the fact that one of the two true heroes of the First Age is doing it. The narrative never frames this as a downfall or a moral event horizon for Beren, either - he made the correct decision and the consequences that come afterward aren’t things that can be blamed on him. But wholesale slaughter, even slaughter of people who do bad things, is not something Tolkien ever condones or paints in a truly positive light, so it makes more sense for it to come at the hands of people who aren’t solely positive forces. It’s thematically in line with what Tolkien does through the rest of the text, and it feels more like Arda, at least to me. I think an argument could be made that Tolkien realized that making Celegorm and Curufin the responsible party would achieve this end, and that’s why this version exists in the first place, but there’s no proof of it.

3. The Laiquendi are nonviolent, and it makes no sense for them to be involved in this fight. The Ents being involved at all is somewhat nonsensical based on what we know of them in The Lord of the Rings.

Another simple one - we don’t know much about the Laiquendi, but we know they’re not really keen on warfare or on any undue violence, so having them be Beren’s backup is a weird divergence from their presentation in the rest of the Legendarium. And the Ents are pretty universally depicted as uninvested in the wars of the incarnates, only taking action against Saruman when it becomes apparent they have no other choice - why should they care about Thingol’s death, or care enough to murder dwarves?

4. Melian’s actions make far more sense in a version of the story where she doesn’t merely abandon Doriath once she realizes Thingol is dead.

If Menegroth is already sacked, and she cannot hold the realm together on her own as its Queen without really fucking shit up with reality-warping shadow magic, her choice to abandon it after delivering the Silmaril safely to her daughter and warning her that Dior will be needed soon is far less irresponsible.

5. Celegorm and Curufin ambushing the dwarves makes more sense than any other alternative.

Of course Celegorm and Curufin were actively watching Doriath for any sign of weakness. Of course they noticed the dwarves leaving with stolen treasures, and heard rumors that Thingol was dead and his killers had the Silmaril. Given the choice of following Melian (if they even were aware of Melian’s departure) and following dwarves, of course they picked the dwarves. Their ambush and attack and slaughter is consistent with their past behavior, as is their refusal to attack Lúthien because they were scared as fuck of her.

What’s more, this also explains the Fëanorians’ refusal to attack Doriath immediately after the dwarves do - they were unsure of whether or not Lúthien was in Menegroth and ruling as its queen or acting in some capacity as Dior’s defender. Celegorm in particular isn’t the type to hesitate - he’s impulsive, and rash, and rushes into bad decisions without considering their consequences, it’s even in his name. But they waited for years, giving Dior time to marry and have children of his own, and then even sent letters rather than attack directly - and yes, some of this might have been Maedhros’s influence, or an attempt by all of them to stave off the Oath, but it’s also plausible that they were trying to figure out whether or not they’d have to take on the same woman who made fools of them before.

I, at least, think this version of the story makes the most sense, and I’ll be adopting it into my personal canon. I obviously think it’s worth advocating for on a larger scale, and I hope I’ve made a good argument for its widespread adoption.

[sweetteaanddragons]

For Want of a Nail

“But the children of Indis were great and glorious, and their children also; and if they had not lived the history of the Eldar would have been diminished.” So says chapter 6 of the Silmarillion, and it would be hard to argue with it just on the basis of “I gave Morgoth seven wounds” Fingolfin, much less everyone else. 

But I’ve been kind of wondering for awhile - what happens if we have no child of Miriel? @cycas‘s excellent story Aftershocks touched on that issue a little by debating just how much of Sauron’s later work can be blamed on Celebrimbor, and it finally pushed me into sitting down and trying to map it out.

Warning: this got a little long.

Starting in LotR and working our way back: Frodo and Sam don’t have the captured light that Galadriel gives them, or at least they don’t have the same light because the star that light was captured from no longer exists.

And, while we’re talking about that, a star no longer exists. Which is a unique kind of impact to be responsible for.

Speaking of things that no longer exist, do Frodo and Sam even need that light? Are they questing at all? Because if there’s no Feanor, there’s no Celebrimbor.

And if there’s no Celebrimbor, is there a ring?

I’m inclined to say no. There isn’t. On the one hand, this is great! There’s no Ringwraiths, the dwarves may have more cities still standing since their leaders wouldn’t have been corrupted by the rings and drawn down dragons with their lust for gold (although then again . . . maybe not. Dwarves still love gold, and so do dragons), and Isildur was never corrupted by the One.

In bad news, they don’t have the One Ring, which is a problem, because the One Ring is their one-hit kill for Sauron. Without it, I’m . . . not entirely convinced they’re winning that one without outride, possibly continent breaking intervention.

Also, we definitely don’t have the three rings of the elves, which means that Gandalf’s doing without, and that Elrond and Galadriel’s realms may be in a similar state of constant attack that Mirkwood is. Which is not ideal.

Of course, all this is assuming that we still have the Battle of the Last Alliance like we did last time. Which we might not.

Because without Celebrimbor, we have no Ost-in-Edhil for Annatar to come to. Sauron either goes to the dwarves, to the Numenoreans, or gives up and just attacks everyone.

Speaking of no Ost-in-Edhil, we also have no city where the Noldor and the dwarves can collaborate. The doors to Moria are made by Narvi alone, and, while we’re on the subject of the dwarves, Caranthir never traded with them, and Maedhros never saved Azaghal’s life and subsequently talked him into fighting in the Alliance of Maedhros, an alliance that now may not exist at all. 

Do the dwarves still kill Thingol? Maybe. The Nauglamir would still exist, and it would still be cursed dragon treasure. On the other hand, there’s no Silmaril to be fitted into it.

Speaking of which, what’s Beren’s task this time, does he complete it, does Finrod die in the attempt, and do Beren and Luthien manage to produce Dior and start that line of descendants?

Actually, what’s going on in general in war-torn Beleriand? Who’s in charge of the defenses in the places the sons of Feanor once were?

We’ll have at least two less kinslayings, which is good, but we also have the question of just how anyone’s getting home to the Valar because this time, there’s no Silmaril to sail with.

And if Sirion falls while everyone waits, I don’t think the orcs are going to be so kind as to raise up Elrond and Elros.

Of course, all that’s assuming that Beleriand has anything close to the history it had before. And it might not.

Because Feanor arrives in time to save Cirdan’s forces because he had the boats. Boats Fingolfin was not involved in stealing.

If Fingolfin doesn’t steal the boats and just walks across the Ice, then fewer people might turn back.

But he’ll also show up far too late to help Cirdan.

Which assumes Fingolfin shows up at all. But will he?

Fingolfin goes because Finwe dies. Finwe dies because Morgoth wants the Silmarils.

Which don’t exist.

So Morgoth still kills the trees . . . but Finwe’s probably alive.

Presumably, Morgoth’s still been stirring up trouble, but between who? Fingolfin and Finarfin? The Noldor and the Vanyar? Everyone and the Valar? Or if we accept that Findis exists, maybe between Fingolfin and Findis about whether the firstborn or the first male is the proper heir?

All of this, of course, assumes we have Indis’s children at all, and we might not.

Because without having Feanor, Miriel might not die. 

She still could. She could have another kid a bit later, Not-Feanor, whose birth is still too much for her, but she could also live and have several Not-Feanor’s, and who knows what they’d be like?

So who knows what Morgoth will do.

Except we can’t actually keep calling him Morgoth because Feanor named him that.

In short: Not all of Feanor’s legacy is good, but it’s undeniable that the history of Middle Earth would be pretty much unrecognizable without him to a degree that I didn’t realize until I sat down to write this.

[silver-grasp]

Okay so I had a dream the other night and it was very heavily Tolkien-inspired and also super weird, so I’m gonna share it here.

The early parts of the dream are really fuzzy, but it seemed to involve a party with basically all the third generation Finwions there - the ones I can sorta remember are Maedhros, Fingon, Finrod, and Maglor. There seemed to be some sort of conflict going on, naturally, but I can’t remember what it was.

Then cut to the members of the Fellowship (minus Gandalf and Boromir) bursting through a stone wall. The setting is kinda like Weathertop in that it is a grim looking hill with dramatic ruins at the top - my dreams generally have excellent cinematography. First comes Legolas, leaping through all dramatically and he goes running off to fight someone. Gimli is right behind him with a similarly impressive entrance, followed by Aragorn. Next are the hobbits, who don’t come leaping through but instead scramble up and drop down. Aragorn waits for them and they all end up in a line, swords drawn. Sam is last and fumbles his sword (sorry Sam). They they do this dramatic synchronized thing with brandishing their swords and looking around, like some sort of modern dance, but they’ve wasted so much time that there isn’t anyone to fight: the hilltop is empty and Legolas and Gimli are nowhere to be seen.

The main conflict seemed to revolve around Gandalf trying to lure Sauron into a swimming pool. He had this log, like a literal wooden log, and he enchanted it somehow to turned all black and charred looking. He threw it into the swimming pool and somehow it was supposed to lure Sauron into the pool. Anyway, Sauron wasn’t buying it. I was perched on this cliff-face which led down to the pool, and was kinda clinging to the rocks trying to look inconspicuous because Sauron was standing right behind me. Also there were a whole bunch of orcs on the cliff face as well, but they were just standing there and not really doing anything. At one point, I grabbed the orc next to me, cut off its head, and dropped it into the pool (Why? No clue). Nothing happened as a result of this, even though Sauron was still standing right behind me.

At some point a little later, we’re all in the pool (a different part of it) just kinda swimming around, and finally Gandalf manages to lure Sauron into the water (Gandalf is also swimming around in the pool by now). Then Sauron got run over by a truck. (Yes, the truck was in the pool. It was kinda driving around like a boat. I have no idea where it came from). Somehow this was part of the plan, or maybe it was Sauron’s plan backfiring on him.

We still had to deal with the Ring though, but in my dream-verse the Ring was this sort of melty gold paint that was dripping down the side of this weird futuristic vending machine (my brain informed me that the object was a vending machine but it looked nothing like one. Go figure). Everyone was kinda hypnotized by the gold paint, including some of the Valar who were there (like Varda and Mandos I think?). So then someone, I’m not sure if it was Elrond or Mandos but I think it was Elrond, starts scraping up the gold paint and eating it. Just. Fucking eating it. Then the dream ended.