#arwen web weave

[atlantablack]

Jane Austen / Charles Bukowski / Gabrielle Bates and Jennifer S. Cheng / Ada Limón / Henry Miller / José Olivarez / Antoine de Saint Exupéry / Sarah Manguso / Zinaida Nikolaevna Gippius / Erika L. Sánchez / William Goldman / Amirae Garcia / Vladimir Nabokov

[eri-pl]

So I was thinking about vampire, scion-of-Ungolianth Luthien from Unfinished Tales (as you do), and about Arwen as Luthien 2.0 and Elrond running a hotel, and about Beren being Just a Guy and I got some hotel Transylvania vibes. (it is something my kids watched)

Also, Luthien and Ungolianth, weaving shadows and stealing lights (to recap a post I saw a couple days ago); but also Miriel and Vaire weaving; Miriel and Luthien dying when they should theoretically not die. Also, Ungoliant almost ate Morgoth and Luthien pulled out a heist on him (both cases over the Silmarils).

There is something in there. I don't know what but something.

Also, we aren't told explicitly who sang what in the Ainulindale and I would assume many of the Ainur did at least some discordant notes, it wasn't a clear split through it all, it was confusion and sort of a clear split near the end. But Ungolianth being sung into (I won't say "existence" yet but... the draft of existence?) by Melkor, and in smaller amounts Vaire and Melian fits with all that.

(And even if we are told that "All the Ainur sang properly except those few that are now evil", it's elven censorship and simplification, and of course it isn't a fact.)

Also, wait, wait! Miriel. weaving and textile arts. Health problems. What if during the march West they passed a place where Ungoliant had lived before and Miriel found a lot of beautiful, fine webs, that were totally not subtly toxic, and gathered them for her crafts?

Health tip: spider venom is not safe for pregnancy. It can cause preeclampsia, post-partum depression and is mutagenic to the baby (for example making them a genius, but also emotionally instable and giving them fire powers).

And then in the Third Age we have Shelob, which... I have no idea if this gives us something interesting.

It could be interesting to have a fic where Arwen (for some reason, like "help my bf in his quest") joins the fellowship, but then splits with Aragorn, ends up in Cirith Ungol (somehow) and she can sort of command Shelob. Because. IDK why exactly, but because she looks like Luthien and something...? especially Arwen with the phial. Meanwhile, Aragorn isn't doing as well as in the books, so Arwen has to provide a distraction for Sauron. the distraction is a spider. (And also a dog. She should really, really get a dog.)

Some more crack: If Miriel was a spider, she'd eaten Finwe after Feanor-making and the world would have less problems. Hmm... Maybe not doing it was why she got sick?

Miriel the descendent of Ungoliant (Metaphorically, ok? Ungoliant bit her, Spiderman-style)! Feanor being part-spider! All Feanorians being part-spider! Maedhros would have more hands, this would help. Celebrimbor with a venomous bite. Spidermanelf Celegorm.

[camelotsheart]

Once and Future Queen + Snow White inspired by @tyalangand​  Scenes and quotes from BBC Merlin and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)

[fallout--alley--youth--zone]

QUINN GAITHER & LANA ARWEN LAZAR, a.k.a “THE DOOMED LOVERS”

martha gellhorn (X) / lauren oliver / richard siken / a burning hill, mitski / south and west, joan didion / poem in which the vulture flees, silas denver melvin / the opposite of a haunting is something very lonely, katie maria (X) / underbelly, nicole homer (X) / sue zhao (X) / john green

[thebookoflosttalesproject]

The Tale of Tinuviel

The Tale of Tinuviel starts with linguistic discussions, as usual :) And with the story of Tinwelint (Thingol) and Gwendeling (Melian), which is pretty much as we know it from The Silm: Tinwelint gets lost on his journey from Palisor, falls under Gwendeling’s spell, then they build their kingdom, have a daughter Tinuviel, who dances in the woods, gets spotted by Beren, kinda starts liking his attention...

Arwen and her ancestors: seducing innocent elves/men in forests since the Great Journey from Palisor (Cuivienen) :D

* * *

I love that Tinwelint’s place (Artanor) is described a bit like a wild and unpredictable fearie court:

(…) many a wild and woodland clan rallied beneath King Tinwelint. Of those the most were Ilkorindi – which is to say Eldar who never had beheld Valinor and the Two Trees or dwelt in Kor – and eerie they were and strange beings, knowing little of light or loveliness or musics save it be dark songs and chantings of a rugged wonder that faded in the wooded places or echoed in deep caves. Different indeed did they become when the Sun arose, and indeed before that already were their numbers mingled with a many wandering Gnomes, and wayward sprites too there were of Lorien’s host that dwelt in the courts of Tinwelint, being followers of Gwendeling, and these were not the kindreds of the Eldalie.

* * *

Okay, so Tinuviel had a brother, Dairon (sounds familiar :)), who was one of the most skilled Elvish musicians. He played musical instruments, and she danced.

Beren was a Gnome (which may or may not have been even worse than being a man at that time, because, fear and politics...)

* * *

Tinwelint's first meeting with Beren went just like in The Silm:

“O Beren son of the Noldoli, what dost thou desire of the Elves of the wood ere thou returnest whence thou camest?”

translation: what can I do to make you go

And then a classic:

Tinwelint: you want to wed my daughter? Sure, just do a small thing for me - bring me the silmaril from Melko’s crown

Beren: watch me

#LegendsOnly

* * *

Beren... hadn't really thought this endevour through, though... Eventually he got caught by the Orcs and was brought before Melko; but then he survived by flattering his way through exactly like Fan Xian in Northern Qi lying through his teeth about wanting to marry the Saintess :D

Now the Valar must have inspired that speech, or perchance it was a spell of cunning words cast on him in compassion by Gwendeling, for indeed it saved his life, and Melko marking his hardy frame believed him, and was willing to accept him as a thrall of his kitchens.

Enter Tevildo, the Prince of Cats! Who has his own palace, in which Beren is now supposed to work:

(...) those halls were ill-lighted and were full of growling and of monstrous purrings in the dark.

(I don't think Tolkien liked cats...)

Anyway - it's like this:

A cat. Employs a human. To catch mice in his palace. But the human sucks at this, so he gets relegated to washing the dishes and such.

#what :D

* * *

Meanwhile, in Artanor:

Dairon is a snitch, Tinwelint learns about Tinuviel's plans to go after Beren, so he imprisons her in a luxurious tower. Surprisingly, it works for a while, but then Tinuviel misses Beren again, and magics her way out of the tower (I love the descriptions of her weaving her spells!)

After Tinuviel finally escaped, Dairon went looking for her and never came back.

#what

#WhyIsThisSoDark

I also love that some time after her escape Tinuviel actually had a moment of “what am I doing???”

Same, girl. Same :)

* * *

Okay, so, there are like gang wars between the Cats, led by Tevildo, and the Dogs, led by Huan. Fortunately, Tinuviel met Huan on her way, Huan turned out to be friends with Beren, so together they laid a trap for Tevildo, and everything played out as if it was a Diana Wynne Jones story :D (yes I know she was JRRT's student)

Seriously, this story has such fairy-tale vibes, I love it ^^

Melko's reaction to Tevildo being defeated by Huan:

(...) afterward Melko heard all and he cursed Tevildo and his folk and banished them, nor have they since that day had lord or master or friend, and their voices wail and screech for their hearts are very lonely and bitter and full of loss, yet there is only darkness therein and no kindliness.

(I don't think Tolkien liked cats: exhibit no.2)

* * *

Now, onto the silmaril theft!

This time it was a well-thought plan (kind of).

Beren impersonated a cat. Tinuviel danced and sang everyone to sleep, incuding Melko. It is implied she could make LORIEN sleep.

#what

Then Beren used a stolen KITCHEN KNIFE to pry the silmaril out of Melko's crown. Yep, it went just as well as it sounds. In the end Beren's hand (with the silmaril) ended up inside the biggest baddiest wolf's stomach.

Beren and Tinuviel managed to escape into the woods and just... lived there, until they learnt of the unforeseen CONSEQUENCES of their deeds:

(...) the king had been distraught with grief and had relaxed his ancient wariness and cunning; indeed his warriors had been sent hither and thither deep into the unwholesome woods searching for that maiden, and many had been slain or lost for ever, and war there was with Melko's servants about all their northern and eastern borders (...)

"(...) for long has the Queen Gwendelig sat aloof and smiled not nor spoken, looking as it were to a great distance with haggard eyes, and the web of her magic has blown thin about the woods, and the woods are dreary, for Dairon comes not back(...)"

"(...) there has broken upon us raging from the halls of Evil a great grey wolf filled with an evil spirit, and he fares as though lashed by some hidden madness, and none are safe."

yeah...

So Beren and Tinuviel go back to Artanor, make peace with Tinwelint, a hunt for the wolf is organized, the silmaril is regained, the wolf slain, but in the process Beren sacrifices his life for Tinwelint. They bring him back to Artanor and Tinuviel has like 5 minutes to say goodbye to him. THE END

#WHAT

#ATrueC-dramaEnding

Then the storytellers go into headcanons/fan fiction teritory :D There are two versions of what happened later (a fix-it and an angsty fix-it):

- Tinuviel’s magic kiss healed Beren and they lived happily ever after, or

- Tinuviel died of grief not long after Beren did, and then the two of them got reincarnated as mortals because Mandos took pity on them.

* * *

So that's the story! The core is always the same as in the later versions, so it's all about the details :) I really liked this fairy-tale-esque early take, with its dark elements (like Tinwelint and Gwendelig losing not only their daughter, but also their son at the same time...).

[lukes-writing]

Chapter 2: Out of Body

Project introduction | Previous chapter | Next chapter

Word count: 2900 Warnings: Soft drugs usage

September 22nd, 10:33 AM, Great Moors district, Trinity Gate

The blinds of the large room are impenetrably closed, all the lights are switched off. The only source of light is the flickering flame of a scented candle in front of the girl who is the only person in the room. She is sitting in a lotus position with hands resting on her lap. She inhales the heady smell of the candle, helping her to relax even more, to let go of all the tension and focus only on her own thoughts.

The room is silent except for an occasional screech coming from one of the four budgies which reside in a large aviary occupying the corner of the room. The girl has them named - Godric (pink), Rowenna (blue), Helga (yellow) and Salazar (green). It’s no wonder she chose such names - another prominent part of the room is a massive wooden bookshelf carrying hundreds of books.

However, the girl doesn’t focus on either the birds or the books. When she feels completely relaxed, she lays on a soft carpet like a plank and starts to detach. She soothes her mind to get on the verge of sleeping, but she doesn’t fall asleep. Instead, she starts to visualize two versions of herself - her physical body and her consciousness as two separate entities. It took years to master and the first attempts were usually unsuccessful, but now, at nineteen, she’s able to detach rather easily.

She already doesn’t feel her body, but not in a numb way. It’s almost like her body was something unnecessary she can leave behind freely. Then, something starts to happen behind her closed eyes. A light, almost like an open gate. When she saw the gate for the first time, she backed off and woke up immediately, afraid to go further. Now, she just embraces it and completes the detach.

The girl’s astral body, or a soul, as some people prefer to call it, slips out of the body, almost like peeling a sticker off a surface. Then, when the last bit of her astral body leaves the material body, she slips through the light which guides her into the Astral Plane. The girl can see again, even though her physical eyes are closed. The room she sees is seemingly unchanged, except for the unexplainable feeling of unreality it gives now.

She looks down and sees her sleeping physical body, visible only faintly in the candle’s glow. The thing that glows brighter is a rope made of silver light which emerges from the belly of her physical body and ends in the same spot of her astral body.

The two parts of her being are now apart, but still connected. The girl’s astral face smiles. Now she’s not restricted by the limitations of the physical body. She can… fly! She spreads her arms and, with a mere thought, ascends through the roof, above her house, into the morning sunshine. The silver rope, called a “lifeline”, extends according to her needs, always connected with her physical body.

This never gets old, she thinks as she looks at her surroundings from above. She sees the solar panels on the roof of the eco-friendly mansion her family owns, the garden in front of the house, the greenhouses, fields and farms typical for the Great Moors district.

She can roam anywhere she wants. Just a thought is enough to carry her into any direction. Maybe today, she will make it all the way to Hestia, the capital of the Commonwealth of Great Moors located on the borders of Montana and South Dakota. A few days ago, she made it all the way to Iowa before her physical body started to get restless and violently sucked her astral self back into it.

She has heard about people who can cross thousands of kilometers in a blink of an eye while in the Astral Plane, but she hasn’t reached such levels yet.

After spending a little longer floating above their mansion, the girl’s astral body starts flying to the west. Like always, her detach is accompanied by feelings of happiness and absolute freedom. The slight toothache she suffers from is also gone - the tooth is a part of her physical body she left behind.

“I’m going on an adventure!” she shouts even though nobody in the material world can hear her and the Astral Plane is usually empty. She accelerates, flying towards the fence which creates a border between the city of Trinity Gate and the state of Indiana, a part of the Commonwealth of Great Moors.

Then suddenly, her astral body is violently taken back into her physical body. In a matter of seconds, she flies all the way back to their mansion, through the roof and into her body. Her soul is screaming the whole time.

Whisper Johanna Archer-Gutenberg sits up, gasping for breath. Her head is spinning and it takes her a while to get oriented - like every time her soul returns to her body too abruptly. After she settles up a bit, she realizes the blinds in her room have been open and there’s someone in the room with her.

“Libby!” Whisper yells at the girl who woke her up. “Just… just how many times do I have to tell you not to wake me up when I’m out of body? It can be dangerous! You have to be crazy!” She hates that her voice is ridiculously high-pitched and keeps changing tone when she’s angry. It makes her sound… less intimidating.

Her sister sneers at her. “Out of body? Sure. I bet you were tripping on this,” she looks at the remaining half of a joint resting in a small ashtray on Whisper’s bedside table.

Whisper already gave up on explaining the astral travel to her sister who is a skeptic just like their parents. “Are you going to judge me for that?” Whisper spits out.

“Nah, that shit is legal for some time now, isn’t it?” Libby replies. She is a slim, pretty girl with short, blonde hair and intelligent brown eyes. Judging from her outfit, a skirt suit which subtly accentuates her curves, she’s heading to work soon. She is twenty-five, six years older than Whisper.

Her full name is Liberty Camilla Archer-Gutenberg. The Archer-Gutenberg siblings discussed their parents’ strange name choices countless times - the two sisters have an older brother who goes by the name Knight Edward. They came to a conclusion their parents wanted to somehow compensate for the fact their names are Jack and Mary, the most basic names anyone can think of.

“I hope you at least have a good reason for waking me up,” Whisper mutters when she finally gets on her feet. The four budgies in the corner of the room greet the sun with an apparent whistling contest and Whisper strides towards them to feed them.

“I do,” Libby replies. “Uncle John is here to speak with you.”

“Do you mean uncle Wiccan?” Whisper corrects her.

The older girl rolls her eyes. “No, I mean uncle John. Maybe you play along with him, but I refuse to deal with the bullshit he sticks to since he married that Ophelia woman.”

Whisper once again ignores her and leaves her room. Wiccan Salisbury was born as John Archer, younger brother of Jack Archer, Whisper’s father. Later, he took the surname of his wife and changed his first name, too. Wiccan fits him much better, Whisper thinks.

The girl descends the stairs to the large, airy atrium of the Archer-Gutenberg mansion where she’s greeted by the three dogs the family owns - a female golden retriever, a corgi and an especially large specimen of the Irish wolfhound. They follow the same naming pattern as Whisper’s budgies - Arwen, Frodo and Gandalf.

Wiccan is already standing there, just like every time - casual, smiling, dressed in a leather jacket, white T-shirt, basic jeans and sneakers. “Wisp, good to see you!” he greets her with his trademark, slightly breathy voice, probably affected by the fifteen years of smoking he quit some years ago.

“Uncle Wiccan!” Whisper cheers and her voice grows into falsetto once again, this time out of joy. “What brings you here? I haven’t seen you in a while!”

“That’s for a longer talk,” Wiccan replies. “What would you say about a short walk?”

After looking at the uncle and the niece together, one has immediately an idea which one of her relatives has the biggest impact on Whisper.

Just like her uncle, the girl wears her hair braided into long, fair dreadlocks, long enough to reach her waist. She’s wearing an airy green sleeveless dress with floral pattern, soft and thin like a spider web, ending above her knees. On principle, she always walks barefoot unless the situation asks for some kind of shoes. This is, however, not the case, so the girl walks beside her uncle with nothing on her feet.

It would be unfair to say Whisper is not pretty, but not all people can appreciate her authentic type of beauty. She doesn’t wear any make-up and her face usually shines with a smile some people may consider strange or even uncanny. Her dreamy eyes usually have a spaced-out look. They are hazel-colored, fluctuating between brown and green according to the lighting.

This combination can make the girl appear a bit like a lunatic, but those who know her know it’s nothing but a part of her complex, dreamer personality.

Whisper and Wiccan walk together through the Great Moors district. They pass several eco-friendly, futuristic-looking houses and mansions similar to theirs. They also see large greenhouses whose glass walls reflect the golden sunlight. The gardeners are working on the fields and garden beds inside. The greenhouses can simulate any type of climate thanks to advanced technology, allowing them to grow many types of fruit, vegetables and crops. Outside the greenhouses, there are also vast animal farms and ranches which successfully combine traditional methods and modern technology.

The girl loves this district - besides the farms and greenhouses, there are also beautiful parks, forests, lakes, adorable ponds and natural swimming pools. Whisper is a nature lover and taking a long way in the woods is her everyday ritual. She sometimes meditates or practices violin there when nobody is around.

Whisper picks a flower from the flower bed lining the pavement they’re walking and weaves them into her hair - that’s what she frequently does. Then she turns to Wiccan. “So? What did you want to discuss?” she asks him with a smile. While she loves all of her family, she always prefers the presence of her alternative uncle over her boring, materialistic nuclear family.

“Where should I start,” Wiccan thinks out loud. “Wisp, remember when I taught you the techniques of astral traveling? Have you been perfecting this skill?”

“Of course I have! I once made it to Iowa before my physical body disturbed the travel!” Whisper boasts. She speaks with a singsong voice which frequently changes tone and loudness. It makes her sound like she was a part of a theatrical play even though she’s just shopping for groceries.

“Very good,” Wiccan nods. “The thing is - me and some of my friends, including Ophelia, are trying to assemble a team of people with special talents and abilities for… a certain job.”

“Really?!” Whisper’s eyes brighten up; they appear green in the sunlight. “Like… a Hogwarts letter? Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters? Like the…”

“Not really,” Wiccan interrupts her before his niece can overwhelm him with fictional schools and academies. “In order to join, you have to give up some romantic ideas about such things you have from books.”

Whisper scowls. “Why so?”

Wiccan looks at her with a strange expression. “I haven’t interacted with you much lately, did I? Now I can tell you it was because one of my closest friends died in action. Even though it’s not the first time, it’s always an off-putting experience.”

His niece looks at him with a betrayed look in her eyes. “Uncle Wiccan! Since I was little, you kept telling me you’re working as a researcher in AgriCo Trinity Gate,” her voice starts low, but once again escalates into much higher pitch as her emotions grow stronger. “And now you’re just casually telling me you have a job which involves people dying? Have you been lying to me all this time?”

“Well,” Wiccan sighs, “it’s not the kind of job I can talk about. I’ll try to explain.”

Wiccan examines his niece with his eyes and, for the first time, he feels doubt. Does he have a right to expose his niece to the dangers of working for The Society involves? Whisper is tiny. Rather short, with a thin frame. Not slim or lean. Thin.

Her limbs look gentle and fragile. There are only slight hints of feminine curves underneath her clothes - people often find amusement in comparing Whisper to her beautiful, tall, curvy sister. It looks like God forgot to distribute certain things evenly here. There is also a running joke claiming Whisper changed the way she looks and acts because she likes the nickname “Hippie girl” more than “Surfboard”.

On the other hand, the man knows Whisper is intelligent and headstrong. And her ability to detach her soul from her body can make her a valuable ally.

Whisper catches the look he’s giving her. “No need to worry,” she says with a firm voice. “People think I’m weak, but I’m not. Whatever job you have for me, I can do it.”

This is not the first time Whisper appears to be capable of mind reading. However, there’s not anything supernatural about it. The girl is naturally empathetic and can read anyone’s body language like one of the many books she has in her room. She can work as a natural lie detector with surprising accuracy. It can be both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes people feel things that make Whisper hurt.

“Are you sure about this, Wisp? You don’t even know what does it involve.”

“Look, uncle. I was born as a third daughter of the Archer-Gutenberg family, the founders and owners of Sagittarius Plantations, the biggest agricultural company in Trinity Gate. They expect me to study economy, something I hate with all my heart, and they also expect I will be as successful as Knight and Libby. Which I can never be, at least in the fields our parents consider important.”

Wiccan silently listens to the girl’s vent. This is the first time she talks so openly about her position in the family. So far, she always seemed ready to do what she has to do, but now it seems she has doubts.

Whisper continues: “They don’t see I’m… yeah, it’s a cliché to say this, but I’m different from them. I don’t give a twig about the company. I… I just want to be myself, nothing more, but they want to mold me into a businesswoman, an heiress of the empire. Like they didn’t already have two.” She looks at Wiccan. “You are the only one who understands this. So I’m willing to follow you no matter where you take me.”

First, Wiccan has to resist the urge to laugh at the girl’s habit to replace profanity with innocent words - Whisper’s legendary phrase Egg this! successfully made its way into his own vocabulary. Then, he gets overwhelmed by Whisper’s sincere loyalty.

He knows that Jack and Maria, Wiccan’s brother and sister-in-law and Whisper’s parents, are boring people with money on their minds. But he wasn’t aware they make Whisper this unhappy. She seemed reconciled with her fate which involved studying at the First University of Trinity Gate and then starting to work in the company alongside her older siblings.

But now, she probably saw a chance to escape this fate and grasped it firmly.

“But first,” Whisper says, “so we can be sincere with each other, I have to know who you really are and what you do. It seems that everything I know is a lie, isn’t it?”

“Not everything,” Wiccan replies. “The only thing I lied about was the true nature of my job. But as I already said, it’s not something I can talk about with people who don’t need to know.”

“And do I need to know now?”

“I guess so. In fact, I’ve been preparing you for this moment for some time now - it cost me many arguments with Jack, but screw him. He blamed me that I’m attempting to steal his daughter away, like you were some kind of commodity. From the start, I knew you’re destined for something better than sitting behind the desk and counting money. Now it’s your turn to prove I was right.”

The girl’s eyes are once again shining with zeal and enthusiasm. Maybe she’s a bit too eager, Wiccan thinks. He didn’t allow ELIPSA to create a file about her, just like they did with Parker and yeah, also about him when he was a new recruit. Even without the file which would contain everything from the girl’s privacy, he decided Whisper is perfect for the job.

“I can’t tell you much right now, but if you follow my instructions, you will know everything soon,” Wiccan tells the girl. “Now let’s just continue the walk, should we?”

Whisper seems that the idea of waiting isn’t pleasant to her, but she doesn’t object.

Author’s Note

I hope you enjoyed meeting Whisper, one of my favorite characters I’ve written :)

I also wholeheartedly thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, please leave a comment, send me a message or share and let more people know about this story! You can also consider a small donation at www.paypal.me/lukassladky. Have a great day and stay tuned for the next chapter!

[tolkienuntangled]

Fact for Fans #2 - The Tragedy of Lord Elrond

Picture that moment on the shores of the Grey Havens. Picture Frodo, Bilbo, Galadriel, Gandalf, and Elrond standing on that White Ship, and picture them departing Middle Earth in the final minutes of the Third Age. Now I've already done a fun fact about sailing West from the perspective of Bilbo and Galadriel, and I'll certainly write one about Gandalf in the next few days, but today's fun fact is going to focus on Elrond, and I hope to try and untangle what this moment truly means from his perspective.

Now I have to be honest, in my opinion Elrond's character is a little short-changed in Peter Jackson's movies. That's not to say I don't enjoy Hugo Weaving's performance, but I feel that by the power of the butterfly effect, changing Aragorn into a more reluctant king, changed Elrond into a more stern and less sympathetic version of himself. My favourite quotation of Tolkien's, about Elrond, comes from The Hobbit, and it goes: "he was as noble and fair as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer." Now I'm not sure that Hugo Weaving's Elrond is quite as "kind as summer," in fact I can't think of any Elf in the movies who truly embodies Tolkien's idea of Elven kindness and compassion. They're all a bit too severe.

Anyway the reason I flag this up is because in Tolkien's tales, Elrond is strong, wise, and noble, but he's also warm, and loving, and kind. And these traits lie at the centre of his character. Now the reason that I think Elrond's kindness is so significant, is because it's not something we should automatically take for granted. After all, Elrond's long life is not a particularly happy one. When we think of immortals in Middle Earth we tend to think of timelessness and of preservation, but to an extent, in Elrond's case, he's defined more by the abundance of things that he loses. Yet he's also defined by what he doesn't lose. And he never loses his kindness.

So in order to fully understand this, we're going to have to go back to the very beginning of Elrond's life; right at the end of the First Age. Now Elrond and his twin brother Elros, were born to two very important characters in the Legendarium. And yet neither one of them was a particularly active parent. When Elrond was only two years old, his father Eärendil went off to sea, and Eärendil never saw either of his sons again. Only four years later, when Elrond was six, his home came under attack, and he and his brother were carried off by their attackers. And Elrond's mother Elwing threw herself into the ocean to avoid the same fate. Now technically both Eärendil and Elwing did survive this, Elwing turned into a bird and Eärendil turned into the planet Venus (no joke, things were weird back then), but neither of them ever returned to their children. And for all intents and purposes, Elrond was orphaned when he was only six years old.

Now it wasn't entirely a case of doom and gloom for young Elrond and Elros, as both twins were eventually adopted by the brother of the guys who attacked their home in the first place. But as with many of Elrond's familial relationships, this one didn't last. You see, only forty-nine years later, Elrond's adoptive father, an elf called Maglor, simply disappeared from the annals of history, and his fate remains one of the great mysteries of Tolkien's Legendarium. But we can be sure that he never saw Elrond again. And so for the second time in his relatively short life, Elrond endured the loss of a beloved family member. Which, if you think about it, must be especially traumatic for an immortal!

Anyway, after the loss of Maglor, a new Age began for Elrond. The Second Age. And this was the Age in which Elrond would truly make a name for himself as one of the key players in the fate of Middle Earth. And his twin brother Elros would do the same. But despite the fact that Elrond and Elros came into the world together, they would not leave it together.

So due to a complex web of Elves and Men making babies in Elrond's family tree, both he and Elros were given the choice to either live as Elves, or as Men. Now obviously Elrond chose to be counted as an Elf, and thus he was given an immortal life, but his brother Elros made the opposite choice. He lived as a Man. He lived a (very) long life as a Man, and he ruled as the mightiest King of Men that Arda had ever seen. But he did not live forever. In his five hundredth year of life, Elros gave up the Sceptre of the King, and he allowed himself to die.

Now Elrond certainly isn't the only Elf in the Legendarium to lose a brother. Galadriel loses all three of her brothers in the space of ten years, but they're not gone forever. Usually when an Elf dies, their soul (their fëa) departs to Valinor where it will be held, and judged, and eventually rehoused and set free; to live an afterlife in the Undying Lands. So when Galadriel sails West, she's sailing to be reunited with her brothers. But this isn't the case with Elrond and Elros. Elros chose the fate of Men. His fëa does not depart to Valinor to be rehoused like an elf's, instead it eventually departs Arda entirely. The soul of Elros simply disappears from the world, and his fate is a mystery to all. Such is the Gift of Men. And so even in death, Elrond and Elros will never be reunited. Just like Eärendil, and Maglor, and (possibly) Elwing, and of course Arwen, Elros is lost to Elrond forever.

But Elrond kept on going. He had responsibilities after all, and throughout the Second Age he became a close advisor, and even closer friend, to the Noldor's High King; Gil-galad. In fact throughout all the drama of the forging of the Rings and the first war against Sauron, Elrond became Gil-galad's "vice-regent" in Eriador, the founder of Imladris (Rivendell), and eventually, Gil-galad even bestowed upon Elrond his own Ring of Power - Vilya, the Ring of Air. But once again it did not last. Gil-glad was slain in the War of the Last Alliance, and Elrond was forced to enter the Third Age without him.

However Elrond wasn't entirely alone, and his story is not entirely tragic. You see, in the 109th year of the Third Age, Elrond finally married the love of his life. The Lady Celebrían; the daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn. And Elrond and Celebrían represent one of the happiest Elven unions in the Legendarium. At least for a while. Celebrían inherited from her mother the Elessar, the Elfstone, the same stone that would eventually be given to Aragorn. And this is a beautiful detail, because the original Elessar was first given to Elrond's father by his grandmother, so it's a really lovely family heirloom. And together, in this period of peace, Elrond and Celebrían build a really lovely family.

First Celebrían gave birth to the twin hunters Elladan and Elrohir, and then 111 years later, she gave birth to Elrond's beloved daughter, Arwen Undómiel. And for the next two and a half thousand years, everything was wonderful. Well I mean, the Witch-king did his thing in Angmar, and there was a terrible plague, also Uruk-hai were invented at this time, but in Rivendell, between Elrond and Celebrían, all was good.

Until it wasn't.

So in the year 2509 of the Third Age, tragedy struck Elrond once again. In this year, Celebrían made the journey from her home in Rivendell to her parent's home in Lothlórien, (a journey she'd done many times before), but on this occasion something terrible happened.

Whilst crossing the Misty Mountains, Celebrían was waylaid and captured by orcs of the Redhorn Pass. And Celebrían suffered misery and torture at their hands, which forever changed her. She was tormented and she was poisoned by the orcs, but they did not allow her to die. Instead they kept her prisoner in their dens, and her spirit was broken.

Now from the orcs' perspective this was probably the most foolish thing they could possibly have done, because by torturing Celebrían they'd brought upon themselves the unbridled wrath of not only Elrond, but of his sons Elladan and Elrohir. And so with a magnificent fury, the twins rode up into the mountains, and we can only assume that they would have slaughtered every single orc in that Pass. And when Lord Elrond found his wife, he freed her, and he held her, and he healed her body, but he could not heal her spirit or her mind. The torment was simply too great.

The following year, Celebrían's despair of life had grown so great that she departed Middle Earth, and she sailed away, leaving her husband and her children behind her. And for Celebrían and her daughter Arwen, this would mark the final time they'd ever meet.

So let's fast forward now back to that moment on that ship at the end of the Third Age, where Elrond and the other ring-bearers prepared for their own departure. We know that this was a bittersweet moment for Elrond, after all he was not only leaving his realm of Imladris behind him, but also all three of his children. Even at the very end, Elrond had one more great loss to endure.

So as we all know, Arwen faced the same choice that Elrond and Elros faced all those years ago, and just like Elros, Arwen chose a mortal life. She was blessed with love and happiness, but she was doomed to be parted from her father forever. Just like with Elros, even in death, Elrond would never see his daughter again. Nor would he ever meet his grandson. And this is made even more poignant, because not only does Elrond lose his daughter, but he loses Aragorn, an orphan not unlike himself, who he'd adopted and raised just as Maglor adopted and raised him. And we don't know the fates of Elrond's sons, but we know that for a long while they too remained in Middle Earth, sundered from their father, and perhaps they too chose a mortal life, and they too were lost to Elrond forever.

So picture yourself in Elrond's position. Picture yourself looking back towards the East, as the White Ship sails into the West. Imagine all the things that Elrond is losing, and all the people he will never see again. But now imagine Elrond turning around and looking forward. Looking west. Imagine that bittersweet emotion as the lands of his children disappear behind him, and he faces the direction of his wife. The direction of Celebrían. For although Elrond had so much to lose by leaving Middle Earth, there was someone waiting for him on the other side. After more than five hundred years apart, in the West, Elrond would find Celebrían. And after a lifetime of losing that which he'd loved, he'd finally be reunited with that love which he'd lost.

From the perspective of a more prideful character this may seem like a sad ending, but from Elrond's perspective I don't think it is. I find that from this perspective, Elrond is an incredibly optimistic character. More so than most Elves, he'd experienced permanent loss many times over, and yet he never loses his kindness. Perhaps at the end of all things, Elrond is not defined by who he lost in Middle Earth, but by who he found again in the Undying Lands.

So, thank you all for reading. Over the course of this year’s lockdown I’ve been working on a series of Tolkien themed YouTube videos called Tolkien Untangled. So far I’ve uploaded 10 episodes explaining the beginning of the Simarillion, the Beginning of Days, and the tale of Fëanor and the Silmarils. I’ve also released four episodes about the differences between the Lord of the Rings books and movies, and I’m currently releasing a weekly series of Tolkien lore videos. So check out Tolkien Untangled on YouTube if you’d like to learn more.

Thanks again everyone. Much love and stay groovy ❤️