#legendarium kids

[swanmaids]

feeling deeply unwell about celebrimbor and huan’s friendship btw...

huan being super protective of curufin’s wife when she’s pregnant. sometimes he sits with her and puts his forepaw on her bump and sometimes he stands in front of her and goes grrrRRr when someone not in their “pack” approaches

tiny toddler celebrimbor riding on huan’s back to travel. huan’s not too proud to allow it

celebrimbor’s favourite activity outside of the forge is to run across the plains of himlad with huan, the wind in his hair, feeling truly ALIVE.

in nargothrond when celebrimbor is feeling so confused and alone, no longer able to trust his father and uncle, he turns to huan for comfort. he’s upset when huan leaves but understands why he did it. when he later learns of huan’s death he’s devastated.

when celebrimbor is rembodied after his death, he goes to the gardens of lorien to try to heal from his torment. and huan is there, having waited for him, knowing he would come, and he stays by his side throughout his healing

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

SPOILED FOR SOME OF THE BEST DUST JACKET COVER ART IN FANTASY HISTORY.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on 1962 dust jacket cover art for Swedish and Finnish editions of the "The Hobbit." The same artwork was later used for the 1973 and 2012 editions of the beloved fantasy/children's book written by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Artwork by Finnish-Swedish artist, Tove Jansson, most famous for her creation of internationally beloved children’s characters, the Moomins.

Resolution at 2056x2055 & 800x1138.

Sources: www.openculture.com/2021/09/tove-jansson-beloved-creator-of-the-moomins-illustrates-the-hobbit.html & X.

[mxliv-oftheendless]

Ok I know we all like to joke about how the Battle of the Five Armies is only a page long in The Hobbit but like. Sometimes I think about how what if Tolkien wrote it that way because he didn’t want his kids to hear about war.

[eri-pl]

Another Silmarillion poll

[eloquentsisyphianturmoil]

Good warlord Maedhros

[anghraine]

I love the Númenóreans for a lot of reasons (peak problematic faves!), but a big one is how much they love the Edain.

[iii-days-grace]

sometimes i crunch the numbers on my writing like hm. by my calculations, all this worldbuilding lore means that Elves = Vampires.

are we doing anything with this? no not yet, but if you look at the themes of sub-creation in Tolkien's legendarium - awwwwwwww where are you going

[swanmaids]

👀 if you're still doing the tolkien horror prompts, may i request uncanny/i do not know you/came back wrong? <3

Nimloth’s husband and sons have gone where she cannot follow. But she can still be with her daughter.

—

About half way between Menegroth and the Mouth of Sirion, Elwing smiled for the first time since her nurse roused her in the dead of night.

“Mummy”, she said in her soft little-girl voice, “Mummy’s here.”

The now-refugees did not respond. The poor child had just lost everything. If imagining her mother by her side gave her some comfort, there was nothing to be gained by breaking her illusion.

—

“But why am I the queen,” Elwing sniffled through tears, “when Mummy’s still here? Mummy should be the queen!”

All of a sudden, Círdan felt very, very old. He knelt before the child, still in her pink nightdress and with the violently bright jewel looped around her neck like a noose. “Child, I know this will be very hard to understand-”

—

“My mother likes you,” lisped the thin, wide-eyed child that the Iathrim had introduced to Idril as their queen. “So be welcome, Idril Silverfoot.”

Idril, thirsty and exhausted, bowed to the girl-queen and thanked her effusively. She had no energy left to wonder what she meant. She wished she had something more than thanks to offer her- and later found out that she did.

“The circumstances bringing you here are indeed terrible,” Círdan the shipwright told her, “but one small silver lining is that Elwing will at last have a friend her own age. She has so many responsibilities, and I am afraid the fall of Menegroth still hangs heavy upon her. Often, she speaks as though her mother is still with us. I think she must be very lonely.”

Idril nodded. She thought she could understand - hundreds of years after the fact, she still missed her own mother with an ache that waxed and waned, and the recent loss of her father was a raw wound. “I’ll introduce Eärendil tomorrow.”

—

Eärendil and Elwing were two-thirds done with a bottle of stolen rice wine when his best friend asked, “Can I tell you a secret?”

Eärendil was sixteen and in love and would have done anything she asked. “Of course.”

“Sometimes I still see my mum. I know she’s dead. When I was little I didn’t really understand that, but I do now. So I see her…ghost, I suppose? Especially when I’m lonely, or I need help. You probably think I’m insane.” She took a long swig of wine, and Eärendil could see her eyes misting. He fumbled to save the situation- he could not stand to have made her cry.

“I don’t! Actually, I think I understand… when I was ten, I used to see Salgant. Apparently he’d been taken to Angband, after… everything, and I suppose he died there. He’d come to me, and he used to kneel at my feet. He never spoke. I guessed he was sorry for me, for his part in everything.

I didn’t blame him, not really. With my uncle, it’s a different story. But Salgant was easily led… I told him I forgave him, and to go in peace to Mandos. I didn’t see him again, after that.” It was true, though he had not thought of it for many years.

Elwing lunged forward and hugged him fiercely. Eärendil felt hot tears fall on to his shoulder.

“Thank you. I thought I’d never be believed!”

Eärendil smiled. “Of course I believe you. Even if the same thing hadn’t happened to me, I’d never doubt you. You’re my best friend in the world.”

Elwing pulled back and smiled, wiping away the last of her tears. “And you’re mine. I’m glad Salgant found rest, too. But do you think it’s awful that I don’t really want my mum to go?”

“Of course not. She’s your mum!”

—

Elwing tasted blood and her lungs burned as she ran through the burning wreckage of Sirion, the snarling and howling Fëanorians at her heels. “I have it!” She shouted as she held up the hideous jewel, her voice snatched away in the chaos. “Come and take it!” Then she ran on. She knew where to go.

She knew where to go, because her mother was with her, guiding her, as she always had been. In life, she had offered warm hugs and soothing words and kisses to the forehead. In death, the shade who had been Nimloth could not touch her daughter, nor speak to her. It did not matter- Elwing always knew what she meant.

When Eärendil had first come to the Havens, Nimloth had smiled upon him. When the letter from Maedhros Fëanorian had arrived, she had gestured to the fireplace.

Now, Elwing’s mother pointed silently towards the cliffs.

[velvet4510]

I just want to say to my fellow female Tolkien fans that we should not feel ashamed for loving these books that are admittedly male-centric.

It’s tempting to call Tolkien a sexist for including so few female characters in his legendarium - and I admit that yes he was not entirely free of sexism - but we must remember that the women he did include are the epitome of girl power and some of the best role models we could ask for: strong and willful and noble and brave, without sacrificing their femininity to prove themselves.

It’s glorious to me how you can flip through the books and see page after page of men doing everything … and then suddenly:

There’s Varda creating the Stars, Sun, and Moon!!

There’s Yavanna saving her trees by inspiring the creation of the Ents!!

There’s Melian making an Elf king forget his own people and then shielding an entire kingdom!!

There’s Lúthien defeating Sauron himself AND Morgoth himself!!!

There’s Idril preventing the complete annihilation of her people by creating the secret path out of Gondolin!!

There’s Galadriel resisting the One Ring!!

There’s Éowyn killing the lord of the Nazgûl!!

There’s Ioreth saving the victims of the Black Breath through her knowledge that the king will be the healer!!

There’s Arwen bridging the gap between Elves and Men as Queen of Gondor!!

There’s 100-year-old Lobelia beating Ruffians with her umbrella and leaving money in her will to help homeless hobbits!!

There’s Rosie raising 13 kids while simultaneously serving the whole Shire as Mistress of Bag End!!

There’s Elanor guarding and preserving the Red Book so that we can read it now!!!

That’s why I just can’t hold too big of a grudge about this. Yes, Tolkien didn’t write female characters too often, and it would’ve been fantastic if there were more. But when he did write them, they were amazing.

And on top of that, his male characters display literally our dream level of healthy masculinity in a man. Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Faramir, etc. are our wish fulfillment. We have every right to enjoy that.

[edennill]

The thing about the Valar paroling Morgoth is that it's easier to judge in hindsight.

Basically, the reader always knows their trust will be betrayed. Even if you don't know the Silm yet, heck, even if you don't know LotR, you're familiar with the Dark Lord archetype and this right here is Tolkien creating it. This is how Palpatine, this is how Voldemort, this is how Sauron Expy №14 would have acted.

And furthermore, I don't know if it's that obvious to everyone, but to someone familiar with Christian beliefs, it's very visible from the start that Morgoth pretty much represents the devil. Yeah, it's Tolkien, it's never 1:1 - but it's as close to 1:1 as it gets in the Legendarium, and it's pretty darn close. Of course the devil is a liar, that's pretty much in the definition, you don't trust him, how well did you think that could end?

And even if one was to be somehow unfamiliar with both Christianity and three fourths of pop-culture, it's a story, and I think the rules of story in the majority of cultures imply that if someone's been evil without any redeeming qualities for three chapters straight, they're not going to suddenly change allegiance in the fourth. (Also, let's not kid ourselves, we're straight up told he feigned it.)

That said - from the perspective of the Valar? We like to talk - or at least I like to talk - about how many of the mistakes that the Noldor (and the Fëanorians in particular) make are much more understandable in the light of them living at the very beginning of history. Fëanor doesn't know any better than to leave half his army behind, because he really cannot know any better. It's a moral betrayal, sure, yet as a tactical blunder it feels foolish, but can be explained. (And of course, despite ample historical evidence to the contrary, even we, every time there's a war, believe we'll be home by Christmas). They don't have any historical examples of overcharging leading to failure, they don't have any cautionary stories about rash oaths; they're only going to become one for future generations. And the Valar pardoning Morgoth is even farther back.

This is the first instance of treachery within the count of time! Heck, I doubt the Valar even know one of their number can lie at this point! Maybe they understand the concept as something Elvish children do before they know any better; maybe not even that. This is Paradise, and treason intruding into Paradise, and they cannot see into his heart, and he's always been very open about his goals before.

Does the situation scream "this is going to end very, very badly", even without the additional in-text explanations of Morgoth's purposes? Very much so. But is there an easy explanation that does not assume incompetence on the part of the Valar? Also yes.

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

I'm trying to remember whether the whole "Your dad said my life would be in your hands one day" thing ever appears in the Legendarium.

Because if it doesn't, consider: Maybe Celebrimbor made this up.

Celebrimbor is willing to lie to and manipulate people if he believes it's for the right reasons. In his mind, he needs to get Elrond to try harder to get the mithril. The way Celebrimbor sees it, all of their lives are in Elrond's hands in a way. So he throws in the bit about Earendil to make it personal. "All the elves" is a bit of a difficult, almost vague thing to picture. But this one guy right in front of you is startlingly clear.

"Hey, kid, not only is the fate of all the elves in your hands, but my life in particular. But no pressure."

Only, Elrond believed him, and he blames himself for Celebrimbor's death.

[eloquentsisyphianturmoil]

If the character didn’t have black hair, grey eyes, and pale skin Tolkien was too ashamed to tell us what they looked like.

[anghraine]

First of all congrats on nearing the end of your PhD program!!! Woohoo!!!

Second of all, I’m muy late to the party here (been off tumblr for a bit) but WRT these tags ( https://www.tumblr.com/anghraine/749212904253947904/khazzman-tolkien-elendil-was-called-the ) what do you mean the pregnancies were strange lol how strange can they be…?

As for the first point: Thank you! I'm really looking forwards to being done, lol.

As for the second point: anon, I delight in your innocence. In fact, I delight to such an extent that I wrote a long and rambling explanation over on my Dreamwidth account. It's here.

An excerpt:

[shrikeseams]

Can I argue that once Finwe’s three sons split up post-Alqualonde, that Fingolfin’s actions are actually the least responsible?

Like, Finarfin, pretty clear cut. He certainly made the morally courageous choice, and by the morality established in the Legendarium he made the religiously correct choice. He took responsibility for the Noldor in a big way. Very respectable.

Feanor... Look, the thing about Feanor’s decision to take the ships and then burn them is: 1) The people he left behind were the ones who opposed his kingship, and therefore arguably he had less responsibility for them (or by burning the ships divested himself of any responsibility for them). And 2) everyone he ditched? Was still in paradise. Every one of them had the option to take Finarfin’s choice. Would it have sucked? Yes! Was it a supreme dick move? Sure was! But crossing the Helcaraxe was by no means an inevitability, and in fact Feanor thought it was impossible. Feanor had no particular reason to think he was *endangering* anyone he ditched.

Which leads to... Fingolfin. Who chose to actively lead the bulk of the Noldor across the Helcaraxe. And the thing I keep running up against here is...

Like, we all agree that post-Darkening Feanor is at his worst judgment, right? He is mad, bad, and dangerous to know. He’s laughing in the face of gods and defying their prophecies. His confidence is outright manic. AND HE STILL LOOKS AT THE HELCARAXE AND SAYS NAH.

Just. I mean. If Fingolfin had gotten all his kids and nephews and niece and also every single Noldo who went with him killed, it would be entirely unsurprising. It worked out, because that’s The Narrative, but. Damn. He’s every bit as bad as Feanor, in his own special way.