#heirs of middle earth

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

I got a Q that came accidentally as a DM vs. an ask, so I'll just re-state it here and then answer it: "Why do you think Rohan wasn't concerned about Théodred being single and without children? Shouldn't they have wanted another heir to keep his line going if/when Théodred died?

So, first off, this does seem weird on the surface, at least relative to how many actual monarchies have worked. Queens have lived or died, wars were fought, and entire nations fell when a monarch failed to produce a clear heir. So you'd think that Théodred, being in his 40s, would be considering that need. But maybe not! As shown in the Théodred fic I’m in the middle of rolling out, my personal HC for him is that he held out against marriages of convenience or alliance to have a real love match instead, and he didn't find that until close enough to his (untimely) death that the marriage itself never happened. But he also just didn't feel the call to parenthood—not all of us do!—and was more than happy to pass everything to Éomer and his descendants when he died. After all, he loved Éomer as something between a brother and a son, and that's classic heir territory. So he didn't need to rush into marriage or kids because he was comfortable with Éomer as his own heir and had made that clear enough that it was accepted.

Canonically, of course, there's no evidence for that. But there's also no evidence that Théodred's situation is all that odd in late Third Age Middle Earth. There's almost no one of any significance in the story who is married or actively raising children until the very end of ROTK. Galadriel, Bombadil, some minor hobbits, Beregond...these folks are the exceptions, not the rule. Everyone else is unmarried or widowed (or whatever you call what happened to Elrond), and the younger generation is childless—even the other hereditary heirs to power: Boromir, Aragorn, Legolas, Elladan & Elrohir, Pippin, etc.

There’s a range of reasons for that. We're told dwarves just don't put a lot of priority on marriage. The elves are fading, so they've got other things on their minds, and they tend not to have children during times of war and strife anyway. Gondor is described as a land “falling into dotage” and decreasing in population so there’s almost an element of fading there, too, though of a different kind. The Shire is the one place where there does seem to be a lot more marriage and childrearing happening, so it's probably more of a coincidence that our 5 main hobbit characters (incl. Bilbo) just happen not to be among them at the time of the story, either because of age or queerness or some other reason particular to just those individuals vs hobbit culture as a whole.

That leaves Rohan, and I'm not sure I have a super satisfying answer. Théoden's family does appear much less uptight about issues of inheritance and power and heritage than you'd think. His father very nearly abdicated the throne, and Théoden himself is kind of shockingly casual about the transfer of power when he tells the Rohirrim to just "choose a new lord as you will" should both he and Éomer die in battle. (Were we one hot nephew away from Rohan having the first democratically elected head of state in all of Middle Earth??) If the royal family felt that way, perhaps they were just reflecting a broader culture that was more comfortable with the idea of power not always going linearly from father to son and so setting up those lines through marriage and babies was not as important to them. In that case, Théoden might have been willing not to force his son into a marriage he didn't want, and Théodred may have felt more free to take his time deciding on things. All of which brings me back in the direction of my own HC, so I guess that feels satisfying enough to me!

[theworldsoftolkein]

[sesamenom]

co-high kings galadriel & celeborn

since elrond doesn't want the kingship, galadriel & celeborn are the eldest in middle-earth of the lines of Olwe and Elmo respectively. olwe is older but hes the king of the teleri not specifically doriath sindar so there might be some dispute between which line the sindarin high kingship jumps to, but they very conveniently happen to already be married and so can skip all that and just be twice the headache for sauron

[berryblu-arts]

Pt 2!!!

Some glow stage doodles, mainly Nat/firefly + Ara with a lil cat ^^, I was honestly having kind of a bad art day on these hahah, but eh, might as well post em :3

Some Iris sibs ^^, they're actually Akemi's neice and nephew, that family is a disaster lmaoo

[hecckyeah]

“if this is love I do not want it” GIRL CALM DOWN. GOOD HEAVENS you knew him for a DAY at most

[pochapal]

interesting to contrast jessica's ribbing of battler with what the adults were doing in the prior scene

[silostosstuff]

I'm still mad that they cut out that funeral scene in the BotfA bc in my opinion it makes the deaths of Thorin, Fili and Kili so much sadder and brings the watcher to the conclusion: "Oh Lord they're DEAD. NONONONONONO."

But noooo we definitely needed that fight scene bc there weren't enough ones.

[torchwood-99]

Imagine that. You're Aragorn. You're Isildur's heir. You inspire loyalty wherever you go. All who know you love you. Your people will follow you into the gates of hell. You're a deadly and valiant soldier, yet your hands also have magical healing powers. You save Middle Earth and become a great and beloved king.

You're own creator still says you're not good enough for Eowyn

[eglerieth]

Some of y’all are not appreciating Bilbo Baggins enough. I am here to remedy that. This guy has:

• somehow managed to establish himself as a respectable, staid hobbit by the time he was fifty, despite being both a grandson of Bullroarer Took and the Shire champion of pretty much every aiming-game known to hobbitkind

• had an in-depth debate on pleasantries with a random guy passing by in the street, who turned out to be GANDALF

• collapsed in front of his own fire shaking and muttering “struck by lightning” over and over again in response to hearing about dragons and danger

• mind you, this was after he screamed loud enough to startle a roomful of Dwarves

• signed up for a dangerous quest completely outside of his league out of spite

• when told to scout out a mysterious light, saw some trolls, and instead of reporting back with the information, decided to PICK THE TROLLS POCKET

• arrived in Rivendell for the first time and said it “smelled like elves”

• upon meeting a strange creature that visibly wanted to eat him, he decided to play a riddle game with him- and guessed pretty much every one, and made up his own riddles, afraid and alone, that not only were good and full of linguistic puns, but actually stumped the other guy- AND THEN CHEATED AND WON WITH A QUESTION

• showed mercy to said strange creature who wanted to kill him, and was now standing between him and freedom

• eavesdropped on the dwarves arguing over whether to try to save him, then popped up casually smack in the middle of them just as they were debating

• somehow managed to sleep like a log at the really really high eyrie full of wild predators

• found himself in a bad situation, said eff it, and turned around and antagonized and fought off an insane amount of man eating spiders, like enough of them that fifty was a small portion, by singing at them with incredibly complex and punny insulting songs composed on the spot, while simultaneously slaying them in multitudes despite having zero combat training. Seriously, we don’t discuss enough how epic the spider scene is.

• broke a company of dwarves out of the very secure prison of the Elvenking by inventing white water rafting with barrels

• charmed his way out of being eaten by a dragon

• stole the frickin Arkenstone from the guys who employed him, one of whom was a king

• took part in an epic battle, only to be knocked out in the first ten minutes and miss the entire thing

• was named elf-friend by the guy who’s prisoners he sprung

• wrote his own autobiography, complete with all the narrative recognition of his own heroics

• spent 60 years writing said autobiography

• taught his lower class neighbor’s kid how to read

• taught his nephew Elvish- not only Sindarin, but Quenya too

• spent decades telling his cousins his own story as fairy tales, complete with character impressions accurate enough that one of them was able to fool a servant of the Enemy with a second hand impression

• used the One Ring of Power to hide from his neighbors

• planned an elaborate feast with multiple social faux pas to mess with his neighbors, complete with a purposefully bewildering speech and culminating in him vanishing into thin air in front of everyone

• left his cousins and neighbors very unsubtle passive aggressive gifts in his will

• settled into Rivendell, randomly befriended the heir to the throne of like half of Middle Earth, and apparently spent his time writing very personal poems about his hosts and reciting them to crowds of elves

• after being invited to a Council of basically every major kingdom in the continent, spent a quarter of the time reciting vague poems about his friends, a quarter of the time telling anyone who would listen about his heroic past, and half the time interrupting to ask when lunch would be

• volunteered to bring the ring to Mordor

• became one of only four or five mortals in history to live in Valinor

Seriously, Bilbo Baggins may well be the most chaotic, insane person in the entire legendarium, and that includes the likes of people like Finrod “bit a werewolf to death to save the life of guy who he just met and gave up his kingdom for” Felagund.

[halftametigers]

that part in fellowship where gimli isn't allowed to walk without a blindfold through the Naith of Lorien and Aragorn understands that it is not about the blindfold but about being alone, and so all of the fellowship agree to be blindfolded so that they are all treated equally. That is allyship. aragorn is heir to the throne of gondor and a powerful person in middle earth but he would rather they all be blindfolded so as to point out how outrageous it is that gimli would be blindfolded. As long as the world is unfair we stand with those it is unfair to, and we deny the privileges the unfair world would give us to separate us from our friends

[chocmarss]

One of my favourite hcs I like from the Tolkein fandom is when the dwarves would insist that Bilbo is, in fact, a prince. A lord, at the very least. That is taking into account that they’re comparing with Middle Earth’s standards of who rules what in a country, and Bilbo Baggins of Bag End of Underhill, grandson of ‘Old Took’ Thain —who is essentially a chief hobbits would seek counsel from— is (the dwarves can’t stress this enough) in some matter, a prince. Which also means Bilbo’s more or less a royalty of the hobbits.

Thorin, very interested in this but would rather have Smaug burn off what’s left of his beard than admit it: Oh?

Bilbo tries to wave it off by saying the hobbits don’t have the same kind of monarchy most species would have (i.e. men and dwarves), and that their ways are much simpler in that sense. Sure, they have a council, and the Thain would usually elect his heir to take over, but that’s just how leadership is, lads, honestly, there’s no fuss of royalty, or whatsover in the Shire.

Fíli: Bilbo, you own several lands. All of which had been passed down in your family name

Bilbo: Well, that’s because I’m a landlord, and those lands once belonged to my father, so I can’t possibly abandon them—

Kíli: You’re also a grandson to the Thain, who is, might I remind you, a leader of your people, and is someone respected the hobbits would look up to when making decisions for the best of internal or external matters

Bilbo: Well, yes, I know that—

Fíli: We heard you’re also richer and have the best and fanciest smial out of everyone else here. You’re also someone people have considered in high regard, from the look of things

Bilbo: Ye—

Both of them: So, you’re royalty!

Anytime one of the company dares to address him as ‘Your Highness’ or anything just as redundant, Bilbo threatens to U-turn back and abandon them to Smaug. Absolutely none of that nonsense, thank you very much, and good evening.

Dwalin, muttering to Balin: He has the royal audacity down to pat

Bilbo squawks and Thorin, who Dwalin had been looking at while he put out that insult, only glowers at him from under his broody slouch.

[camille-lachenille]

I was thinking about how, in fanfictions and in the fandom in general, Elrond is often depicted as a pure Noldorin lord, if not a die hard Fëanorian. And while I do enjoy Fëanorian!Elrond, the more I think about it the more I am convinced Elrond is not the fëanorian one of the twins. Elros is. Elros who adopted seven eight pointed stars as the heraldic device of his whole dynasty, a symbol still used 6000 years after his death. Elros who had Quenya be the official language of Númenor. Elros who decided to leave Arda for an unknown fate after his death; not Everlasting Darkness but not the rebirth in the bliss of Valinor either. He choose to go to a place Elves aren’t supposed to go, just like Fëanor and his sons went back to Beleriand. Elros, the mortal man, who decided to forge his own path in the world.

And I am not saying Elrond didn’t, because Eru knows how much strength, patience and stubbornness Elrond must have to become who he is in LotR. But when I first re-read LotR after reading the Silm, he did not strike me as Fëanorian at all (except for the no oath swearing rule that seems to apply in Rvendell). In fact, Elrond, and all three of his children, are defined by being half-Elven. Elrond is so much at the same time they had to creat a whole new category for him. He is described as kind as summer in The Hobbit, but also old and wise, and his friendly banter with Bilbo in FotR show he is also merry and full of humour. Elrond is both Elf and Man despite his immortality, and this is made quite clear in the text.

But. If I had to link him to an Elven clan, I’d say Elrond is more Sinda than Noldor, and even that is up to debate. Rivendell, this enchanting valley hidden from evil thanks to his power, is like a kinder version of Doriath. Yet, the name of Last Homely House and Elrond’s boundless hospitality make me think of Sirion: Rivendell is a place where lost souls can find s home, where multiple cultures live along each other in friendship and peace.

In FotR, Elrond introduces himself as the son of Eärendil and Elwing, claiming both his lineages instead of giving only his father’s name as is tradition amongst the Elves. It may be a political move, or it may be a genuine wish to claim his duality, his otherness, or even both at the same time. But from what is shown of Elrond in LotR, he seems to lean heavily in the symbols and heritage from the Sindar side of his family, rather than the Noldor one. I already gave the comparison with Doriath, but it seems history repeats itself as Arwen, said to be Lúthien reborn, chooses a mortal life. Yet Elrond doesn’t make the same mistake as Thingol by locking his daughter in a tower and sending her suitor to a deathly quest. Yes, he asks Aragorn to first reclaim the throne of Gondor before marrying Arwen, but this isn’t a whim on his part or an impossible challenge. Aragorn becoming king means that Middle-Earth is free from the shadow if Sauron and Arwen will live in peace and happiness. Which sounds like a reasonable wish for a parent to me.

Anyways, I went on a tangent, what strikes me with Elrond is his multiple identity. Elrond certainly has habits or traits coming from his upbringing amongst the Fëanorians, and he loved Maglor despite everything. The fact he is a skilled Minstrel shows he did learn and cultivate skills taught by a Fëanorion, that he is not rejecting them. There is a passage at the end of RotK, in the Grey Havens chapter, where Elrond is described carrying a silver harp. Is this a last relic from Maglor? Possible.

But while Elros choose the path of mortality and showed clear Noldorin influences in the kingdom he built, Elrond is happy in his undefined zone he lives in. He is an Elf, he is a Man, he is Sinda and Noldo and heir to half a dozen lost cultures and two crowns. He is the warrior and the healer, the only one of his kind in Middle-Earth. And that is why I will never tire of this character and I love so much fanworks depicting him as nuanced and multiple yet always recognisable as Elrond.

[theworldsoftolkein]

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

I deeply love all of the little echoes between the Silmarillion and LOTR, but this is one of my faves:

Last of all Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed; and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood of the troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered, and each time that he slew Húrin cried: ‘Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!’

-Húrin at the Battle of Unnumbered Tears (C. 20, the Silmarillion)

"Hail, Lord of the Mark," said Éomer. "The dark night has passed, and day has come again."

-Éomer at the Battle of Helm's Deep (C. 6, Two Towers)

Naturally, I adore the fact that Éomer is the echo of Húrin, almost definitely the single most badass human of the entire First Age (and arguably of the first two ages!). What an honor for our horse boy! The echoing quote could easily have gone instead to Aragorn or an elf, both of whom are descendants of traditions that go all the way back to those First Age events where Húrin did his thing. But instead, the line went to the heir of a newer, younger people—a people who are, in many ways, more representative of the future of Middle Earth than the old, historical communities that have been in decline or fading for some time. So I love that choice of pairing. Húrin and Éomer feels less expected but more fitting to me.

Of course, the outcomes for these two are starkly different. Húrin is facing a crushing defeat and is about to be subjected to the wrath and punishment of Morgoth himself, which leaves him permanently destroyed emotionally. Éomer has just come out of an unexpected victory and is headed for another, at the end of which he can rebuild a happy life and even come to carry the royal title of Éomer Éadig, the Blessed. But I think that's the point of the echo.

Húrin did all that was possible (and arguably more!) for a human to do in the circumstances he faced, and in the end it wasn't enough. He never gets to enjoy a new morning. But that doesn’t mean he was wrong. Day does come again. It comes for Éomer. Because if there is one thing Tolkien wants us to know, it’s that you never give in to despair. You keep going and you try again, because eventually someone will find that sunrise and live to enjoy its warmth and brightness.

[sotwk]

Thranduil simply does NOT get enough credit for his endurance (physical, mental, and emotional) against Sauron. Pretty much all the other kings and warriors across Middle-earth's history and races who faced off against the Dark Lord lost and/or died or went insane and/or killed themselves.

Thranduil endured through Sauron's harassment of Mirkwood from TA 1000 till TA 3019--for 2,000 years! He kept his kingdom, his throne, his sanity, and was still a benevolent ruler hosting feasts for his people and lending aid to Men in the thick of all that drama.

This isn't even a headcanon; it is a pretty solid analysis of Tolkien's canon that those with an interest in the character would bother to do. If only the good Professor had taken his writings of Thranduil and Mirkwood further, he would have come to the same logical conclusion: Thranduil was the biggest Elven badass of the Third Age, in essence the real heir of Gil-galad in the role of "King of Elves". (Don't be mad, Elrond stans, Elrond made it clear he didn't even want the title. Galadriel and Celeborn were pretty much conservators.)

I will die on this hill and always shout it from the rooftops as hard as I can.

[everythingacotarbxm1012]

They're Mates

Summary - Feyre meets Rhys's Inner Circle and witnesses the strength of the mating bond.

Warnings - abusive family mentioned

Other Notes - 1k words; Please note that most of these lines/plot points are inspired or directly quoted from ACOMAF; I gave reader the name 'Vee' because I know y/n can be obnoxious and i also think it adds to the Az x Reader story.

Part Two

✨💫

Feyre looked up to see the same two males from earlier standing in the doorway, grinning, and a new presence. A beautiful female with wings like the others. She wore a deep blue gown that reached the floor––her hair resting over both her shoulders. The two males wore black leather with a sword strapped against their backs. Feyre noted the power each of them seemed to hold.

The male who was a bit large than the other, spoke up with a light chuckle. “We don’t bite. Unless you ask to us to Feyre.”

The female shot him a pointed look. “Last time I checked, nobody wanted to take you up on that offer, Cassian.” The male who stood between the female and Cassian let out a light, short, laugh before whispering something into the female’s ear making her eyes twinkle subtly. Feyre watched as Cassian gave his own pointed look.

“No secrets in front of our guest, Az,” Cassian said with a grin.

The light danced across their faces allowing Feyre to observe their physical features for a moment. Similar to Rhysand, all three were dark-haired. Both males had tanned skin and hazel eyes. Feyre couldn’t quite tell the eye color of the female standing next to Az, but she gave off an heir of beauty and power.

Cassian grinned again, looking Rhys and Feyre up and down. “You made poor Feyre dress up, brother,” he said before winking in her direction. His features were rough like someone had molded him, from the earth.

The second male was more classically beautiful, though hard to read. He was certainly the one who would be a surprise in the dark, the hidden knife. Feyre noticed the light sparkle in his anytime he looked at the female to his left. It piqued a curiosity in Feyre.

Rhys said, “Azriel––my spymaster,” indicating the one in the middle. He then indicated the female. “Vee. An emissary for the Night Court.” A name, Feyre later learned, Az had adopted for the emissary after she declared she did not want the name her abusive family had given her.

She immediately offered her hand with a warm smile. “Welcome, Feyre.” She gently squeezed Feyre’s before she quickly let go and Feyre does her best to not seem eager as she stepped back to stand next to the High Lord of the night Court, again.

“You’re brothers?” Feyre asked. The two males before her looked similar. The kind of similar where people who come from the same place do, not familial similar.

“All bastards are brothers in some sense,” Rhys responded, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Before Feyre could ask Cassian said, “And I command Rhys’s armies.”

Feyre nodded, shifting on her feet slightly before her eyes glanced to see Azriel taking another glance in the emissary’s direction. She looked right back with a smile that showed a clear fondness for the spymaster. The moment went as quickly as it came when Az turned his gaze to Feyre. “Cassian also excels at pissing everyone off. Especially amongst our friends. So, as a friend of Rhysand, good luck.”

Feyre was giving more attention to not being recognized as the girl Under the Mountain. She wondered, for just a moment if they knew––maybe they didn’t. That was quickly  answered when Cassian nudged past the Night Court’s spymaster requiring Az to flare his wings to keep himself balanced. Feyre watched Vee’s hand fall to Azriel’s lower back to assist. Feyre noticed the fleeting moment of eye contact between the spymaster and the emissary, but it quickly became a second thought as Cassian asked his question about how Feyre had made the bone ladder in the Middengard Wyrm’s lair, when as he put it, “you looked like your own bones could snap at any moment.”

Vee shot Cassian another pointed gaze, but it turned into a grin after Feyre made a sarcastic comment of her own. The general laughed and Azriel’s eyebrow lifted with approval as the shadows swirled around him, tighter. Feyre’s need to understand the gift only furthered when the shadows swirled up and around Vee’ wrist playfully, before weaving around the ends of her hair.

Her curiosity once again was pushed to the side when Feyre heard, thankfully, a familiar voice…Mor. “I hope Cassian’s howling means Feyre told him to shut his fat mouth.”

Vee quickly whispered something into Az’s ear, his shadows lightened slightly from around him. Feyre’s curiosity about the nature of their relationship increasing.

“I don’t know why I forget you two are related,” Cassian told Mor, while glancing over at Rhys for just a moment. “You two and your clothing.” The High Lord rolled his eyes, but Feyre had her own focus on the emissary and the spymaster who were both standing in silence, stealing glances at each other.

“I wanted to impress Feyre. You could have tried to make an effort to comb your hair,” Mor responded.

Cassian braced his feet a little farther apart on the floor in a fighting stance Feyre recognized, perhaps too well. “Unlike some people, I have better things to do with my time than sit in front of the mirror for hours,” the general bit back.

“Yes,” Mor said, tossing her hair over her shoulder, “since swaggering around––”

“We have company,” Azriel said in a soft warning, spreading his wings as he tried to herd everyone.

“Relax, Az,” Mor said as she dodged the spymaster’s outstretched wing. “We won’t fight. We promised Rhys.”

Feyre barely noticed Az stop in his tracks, letting out the smallest of huff and his shadows seem to become thicker. She then watched as Vee took one of Az’s hands in her own, gently pressing her lips to the back of it. His shadows lightened around him. Apparently the question about their relationship reached Feyre’s face because Rhys leaned down slightly to say, “They’re mates. Azriel and Vee. They’ve known each other a little over 500 years and been mates just under 500.”

Feyre considered that fact, thinking there was something delicately beautiful about nearly 500 years of commitment between the two. Now she just had a few thousand more questions about the court’s spymaster and emissary. Question she decided were for another time as Mor indicated the empty seat beside her. Feyre knew the image of Az whispering into his mate’s ear and the twinkle in her eye would be etched into the back of her mind forever.