#maglor sing noldolante

[superloves4]

A lil Maglor dress up!

Made with MousePSD

After spending far too much time, I finished it!!! Just what it says folks, a (very not complex) game where you get to dress up Maglor! (and cover up my second attempt ever at drawing abs!)

[thesummerestsolstice]

The voyage west at the end of Return of the King is extremely funny to me, because just look at who's on board. You've got:

Frodo Baggins, hero of the Shire, in need of healing but also excited to see Valinor and meet the legendary elves who live there, a gentle soul

Elrond Halfelven, as kind as a summer, looking forward to peace west of the sea, probably wants to go chill out in a cottage with his wife for the next thousand years

Which seems fine. And then we get to everyone else.

Gandalf, cheeky bastard who's gotten so used to being a weird old wizard in Middle-Earth that's he's forgotten what Maia are supposed to act like, will immediately cause problems

Bilbo Baggins, noted storyteller, definitely planning to break into Aule's halls to see his dwarf friends, will ask all the elves weird questions and then sing about their lives and deaths in front of them, will immediately cause problems

Galadriel, who came to Aman half for Celebrian and Elrond's sake and half to taunt all her cousins about being the only one of them to survive the First Age, enjoys causing problems, will immediately cause many problems

(Also, to be clear, these are not three isolated problem-causers, they absolutely spent the entire trip to Valinor actively planning to give Amanyar society and the Valar an aneurysm.)

I just love the idea of Elrond, now reunited with Celebrian, and Frodo happily having tea with Elwing and Earendil, with nothing to interrupt them but the gentle sounds of the tides.

Meanwhile Galariel, Bilbo, and Gandalf are collectively bullying Mandos into releasing Maglor Feanorian from the halls because:

Bilbo wants to read him his translation of the Noldolante, which is written as a cheery Hobbit drinking song

Elrond always complained about how Gandalf and Maglor were both insufferably vague about advice and Gandalf needs to make sure he's more infuriating than Maglor as a matter of his wizardly pride

He still owes Galadriel money

[youareunbearable]

I dont have my copy of the Silmarillion on hand atm (shameful I know) but I have a memory of something along the lines of when Fingon went to rescue Maedhros from Thangorodrim, he sang a traveling song from his grandfather's era, one that was popular enough that both he and Mae knew the lyrics to sing back

I've been humming and hawing about what that song might be, and I have a list, but the top of the list atm is "Stay, I Pray You" from Anastasia the Musical. Its a nice minor key, when I first heard i thought it was about missing a person, would be easy to sing along in a group, has GREAT foreshadowing depending on how u use it, etc

This is a song I can see one the Noldor sang as they crossed Middle Earth West for Valinor, one Miriel sang at the loom in Valinor, mournful about the life she left behind, Feanor and Nerdanel singing the song in a more major key to their children as they traveled or as a lullaby on the road, one that Maedhros would have sang as a lullaby to his younger brothers and cousins (and to his foster sons centuries later), a theme of which could have been incorporated into the Noldolante/one that Maglor could have sung on the shorelines, and a song I can see Nolofinwe leading as his host crossed the ice, bringing the song full circle as his host leaves Valinor for Middle Earth

Fingon singing this song, something that helped him keep walking on those dark, bitterly cold nights, something that is keeping him moving as he tries to find clues of his beloved cousin. Begging, desperate, he calls:

"You are all I know

You have raised me

How to turn away?

How to close the door?

How to go where I have never gone before?"

And then he hears a voice, faint, singing back word for word, and Fingon is scrambling over rock and leaping over ledges, not caring for anything but that voice that sings along.

"How can I desert you

How to tell you why?

Coachmen, hold the horses

Stay, I pray you

Let me have a moment

Let me say goodbye"

And then he sees him, Maedhros dangling above him, starved and broken but not gone yet, the pale fire in his eyes still flickering. Fingon can do nothing but stare, enthralled as Maedhros whispers the final line, weak voice carrying in the wind.

"I'll bless my homeland till I die"

[searchingforserendipity25]

Can I ask Maglor for the ask game please? :)

Character Ask Game 💚🤍🖤

Maglor

Thank you so much @theghostinthemargins <3

I loved writing this even if it took some time, it was so enjoyable (too many Maglor thoughts to be easily ordered!)

one aspect about them i love 

Everything! Favourite blorbo. I have a big weakness for characters who are very alive to their role in the narrative and try to talk over it while removing themselves from it, the tension of narration as agency/acting as foretold is delightful. 

To narrow it down: I love that he wrote the Noldolante. I love it.  Regardless of the angle you take with it, he was doing something with it, and the vast possibilities of interpretation comes across as playing into the authorial intent of it all - it’s a work of mastercraft to be judged, as the deeds were judged. It’s a fascinating situation from every ethical and emotional angle, and the idea of such a text/work of oral memory/manifesto/epitaph/elegy existing, outlasting him, lingering as his last word and testimony - delicious!

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

 Sometimes exiting the narrative while making a very pointed point that the narrative you’ve composed is over is the best possible choice! 

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character 

Nomadic at heart, and all the time too. Hates cities; genuinely believes Turgon lost his mind in the Ice to think Gondolin is a good idea (laughs about it very tastelessly in public); very concerned about Finrod, hence the regular invitations to hunts outside the caves of Nargothrond. 

The Siege was nightmare for many reasons, but honestly? Mostly because they had to stay stuck in the same side of the Mithrim. Fully aware that Fingolfin was on to something about wanting to attack Morgoth during the Long Peace, but also knew the Gap would be the first place to be sacrificed for that gambit, and simply did not care for that.

This decision did not age well, but got too attached to the freedom and challenges of the Gap (hello fun blood-rituals!) to consider doing anything else. Especially on Fingolfin’s terms. It took a long, long time for him to even be sorry about that, never mind actually regret it. 

as well as

one character i love seeing them interact with

 Maedhros. They bring a fun ‘bros bickering over the camping fire’ energy to every slaughter and divine judgment that I really like. 

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

Fingolfin, actually. The recognition of the second-born is very bitter. 

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

A minstrel isn't just a guy that sings sometimes! It's a fully official position with political, spiritual and religious, life-long implications. I'm not saying he's getting paid to be the spiritual spokesperson of the Noldor, but I'm not saying he's not not getting paid, in the days of Valinor, when competition for the (then mostly decorative) position of leading singer are an outright cesspit of intrigue and political machinations.

 Unrelatadly, Indis was the one in charge of the jury to decide who received the honour; they developed a very intense frenemis situation when Maglor, in the one and only time he set himself to compete with Curufin for Best Son (also to get some pocket money), set himself to the task with all the drama and verse of an ambitious tiny-sized prodigy around 16 in human years. 

 Nerdanel thought it was hilarious, and absolutely refused to put in a good word with Indis for her son. India also thought it was hilarious - he was very short, his stack of scrolls was very tall, and his demands for a dozen organs and a five-hundred singers for the chorus was cute, as if - but never let it on, and that turned out to be a good influence on Maglor. 

To, uh, a limited degree. He definetely learned a great deal about public relations and the backstage production of narratives to go with the diplomacy needed to calm down primaddonas, that’s for sure, if not necessarily for good.

(He did get the big extravaganza, eventually).

[ryoalouette]

Customized Feanorian Stars

So the other day (or week?? Coz the idea has been sitting for quite a while between IRL’s busy af-ness) I had the idea to customize the Star of Feanor for his sons (and grandson). So that’s about what, 7-8 stars, kinda depending on the twins?

First star to be drawn was naturally Maedhros’. And just like every other Feanorians, he makes it hard for me coz... well. He got absolutely no mention about craft. A Discord fren who knows a whole lot of Tolkien more than I am suggested the use of sculpting, in reference of his mother name Maitimo, as in “well-formed”. I actually still have the sketch somewhere, but then I just. Hm, maybe I’d like to look at another angle of Maedhros. Oh I know! His capture, torture, and how he was freed by Fingon by cutting off his shackled right hand. Also the idea of bright flames inside the star being... Well, he certainly died a fiery death so..

And then we have my husbando the Drama King the last Feanorian Maglor. The idea was simple enough; inside the star being some form of water (coz he threw his Silmaril to the sea, and legends say that to this day he wondered near the shore, singing laments and Noldolante), outside being a harp. I was actually debating internally what kind of harp it should be, then pestered several of my discord servers if people there knows the anatomy of a harp (as in, how many strings to harps usually have?). And as I’m apparently a type of masochist (but kind of lazy), I also drew the tuning disks. Lazily. The color gold of his harp is a nod to his mother name. Hint: it have something to do with gold. Maglor’s star: simple in theory but effing troublesome (fondly).

Third to be drawn is naturally Celegorm’s star. He’s a hunter and he got Huan. Admittedly, the center of his star is rather confusing for me to draw coz it’s not like he got “an element” like his 2 older brothers have; he died in Doriath, so that’s trees? But then I didn’t want the brothers to have same “elements” coz if that’s the case, Celegorm, Caranthir and Curufin would have freaking trees as “elements”. So I just. You know what, he’s a hunter, let’s make his star somewhat furry. And you know what? It works. Sort of.

I might not render Huan perfectly, but I did use Irish blood hound as base and just googled how doggos sleep. So walla, a sleeping Huan somewhat surrounding Celegorm’s star. And a bow coz... hunter.

Nao the fourth one is equally as problematic as the first son: absolutely no mention about Caranthir having a craft. Actually, there’s barely anything about him unless if it’s about Haleth or how he manages to trade with the Dwarves and having a relation with Man (outside Haleth), until Ulfang betrays them all in Nirnaeth Arnoediad. So I just throw my hands and just go to that Discord friend that I mentioned, and just pokes him I guess lmao-

Ended up with that greenery in the middle of his star and green cloak (coz Discord fren said that he’s rather attached at the idea of Caranthir and green due to a Silm artist), with Haleth’s coat-of-arms barely visible. Also cloak be rather ragged coz I don’t think Caranthir and his brothers would have the luxury of having brand new items like High Kings would have?

Now Curufin. For the inside of his star, I might or might not be inspired from a fic where Celegorm said that Curufin makes him think of smokes? Eh, I’ll just put the link if someone asks what fic is that. Admittedly I also got to look for it so... And since Curufin is a smith, just go the easy way with anvil and hammer: blacksmith’s trusty items.

Ambarussa! The sixth out of seven stars- tho this one is for two people instead of one like the other Feanorian stars. Especially considering that they seem to never separated (unless in one version of which one of the twins get burned with the ships). They’re apparently also hunters. And for their “element”, well. You know what Havens of Sirion and the Burning of the Ships have in common? It’s near the sea. So if you take a minute to look at the inside of their star, bottom is the sea, above is fire. Yeah. RIP Ambarussa.

Celebrimbor, the last Feanorian Star I modified/made from the original Star of Feanor! At first I was tempted to draw the doors of Moria LOL then the One Ring. And then: oh right, One Ring was created by Sauron; Celebrimbor only does the three elven rings. Inside the star being metal-abstract thing. Am actually unsure if it shows you people that it’s supposed to be liquid silver.

[windmilltothestars]

I was tagged in a thing but the illustrious @general-illyrin!! Thanks, friend! <3

Rules: pick a song for each letter of your URL and tag that many people.

I think I did this one years ago, but I'll see what different songs I think of now!! So I'm going to try and choose ones I didn't choose the first time, not that I can remember it perfectly XD

W - "What More Can I Do?" from Encanto I - "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan Jett N - "Noldolante" by Maglor son of Feanor (that counts, right? XD) D - "Do You Hear the People Sing" from Les Mis musical M - "Maria" from West Side Story I - "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Godspell L - "Lads o' the Fair" - trad. Scottish L - "Luke and Leia" - Star Wars: Return of the Jedi score T - "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy O - "Orinoco Flow" by Celtic Woman T - "That's Not the Man that I Know" from Pride and Prejudice musical H - "Hey Hop" from Lay of Leithian musical E - "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor S - "Scots Wha Hae" by Robert Burns T - "The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came" - trad. Basque A - "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen R - "River of Dreams" by Billy Joel S - "Son of Man" from Tarzan

That was fun!! Though I went crazy on some of them trying to choose different ones than I half-remembered doing last time!

I'm not quite in the mood for tagging, but feel free to participate as the spirit moves you!! <3

[ao3feed-tolkien]

By the Shores of the Dark, Dark Sea

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/HYiO2vL

by TheSummerTriangle

They say of a wraith who roams the beaches, singing endlessly.

Or, Maglor laments. People talk. A special character from Mythology shows up for a bit.

Words: 1000, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 3 of Stories from Arda

Fandoms: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Maglor | Makalaurë, Maedhros | Maitimo, Fionn Mac Cumhaill (The character from Irish Mythology)

Relationships: Maedhros | Maitimo & Maglor | Makalaurë

Additional Tags: Mythology References, no kidding i mean fionn mac cumhaill's literally appears, Noldolante, Angst, Light Spooky Vibes, they should make that a tag, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Maglor (Tolkien) Through History, Kinda

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/HYiO2vL

[deadqueernoldor]

Maglor falling back into the old habit of singing haunting melodies at the beach and Eärwen dragging him back to Nerdanel because there have been several complaints throughout Alqualonde. You can only hear the Noldolante so many times in repeat before you go crazy.

Oh God imagine you're a sailor and you have to go to your king's son-in-law's sister-in-law because you have to listen to some annoying fuckwit cry about his own fuckups for the umpteenth time this month lmao

[sweetteaanddragons]

The Void

It’s a question from a student that first draws him.

It’s the same lecture Rumil gives every year to the bright eyed students in his introductory course at the University in Tirion. He is in the middle of listing the reasons his Sarati alphabet was eventually replaced by Tengwar, and one of the students raises her hand.

“Did you invent the Tengwar too, Professor?”

“No,” he says, a little sourly, because the Tengwar is a better system, but there is still something about the elegant simplicity of Sarati that he misses.

“So who did?” she persists, and -

And Rumil opens his mouth and realizes he doesn’t know.

“A precocious little upstart,” he says without thinking about it, and the whole class laughs and moves on.

They’re young. They don’t remember the endless debates, fierce enough to rival the shift away from Þ. They don’t quite realize how odd It is that he cannot remember the name of the elf whose system of writing replaced his own.

A precocious little upstart, he had said, and for a moment he had inexplicably felt fond.

The moment the lecture is finished, Rumil snatches up his notes and retreats to where he always goes when he needs answers he doesn’t quite dare ask.

The library.

. . 

There are plenty of books analyzing Tengwar. He sorts through them all until he finds the oldest, the one to introduce it. 

This is no scribe’s copy, he discovers quickly as he flips through it; this is the original, written in a hasty hand, every stroke of the quill blazing with excitement. It begins in Sarati before introducing its alphabet and shifting into it with a speed that must have bewildered the original audience. 

Surely he has read this before. Surely he must have, as soon as Tengwar came to his attention. Surely - 

Suggestions for the Improvement of Our Alphabet is written grandly across the first page. A more personal note is scratched underneath: 

To Master Rumil, with my compliments.

To Master Rumil.

The book shakes in his hands.

It takes four attempts for him to notice that no matter how he tries to look at it, his eyes always glance away from the name written beneath.

He rips through the library mercilessly, scorning sleep, until he once again finds a name his eyes glance away from. He snatches it up and keeps hunting until the stack of books and pamphlets totters in his arms.

Suggestions for the Improvement of the Forging of Metals.

On the Making of Jewels.

On the Importance of Þ.

On the Imperative of Journeying East.

On the Statue of Miriel.

Miriel.

There is only one woman in these lands who has ever borne that name.

. . .

The work is - personal. Surprisingly so. 

And passionate, more so than he would have thought anyone would have dared to be once the judgement had been handed down. 

Miriel had died in childbirth, he remembers, and his mind tries to slip away from that thought, but he catches it and holds on with all his might.

Childbirth.

Miriel had died in childbirth.

Yet he can’t remember anyone ever speaking of her child.

He can’t remember.

A scroll containing the genealogy of the House of Finwe is not difficult to find. It all but falls onto the table from his shaking hands, and there they are, the familiar lines: Finarfin, Fingolfin, Findis, Lalwen. Findis and Lalwen’s names stand alone; Fingolfin and Finarfin’s split into long, complicated branches. Off to one side, there is Nerdanel, and her son Maglor, of course, and her grandson Celebrimbor -

His eyes skate away from it whenever he tries to look at it for too long. A blinding pain is building in his head, but he grits his teeth and squints his eyes and looks anyway.

Celebrimbor is the grandson of Nerdanel, but he is not the son of Maglor. He is the son of -

He takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes against the sudden stab of pain.

He is the son of Nirivel, who is not the daughter of Nerdanel, which means Nerdanel must have had another son - 

He bites his lip hard enough to draw blood, but he clings to the thought. Celebrimbor is the son of Nirivel and - someone. That’s all that matters right now.

Nerdanel herself is not the daughter of Finwe, but she’s still on the genealogy. Which means - 

Spikes of pain force him to all but collapse into his chair, but he holds on.

Which means she had married a son of Finwe. A son that is not Fingolfin or Finarfin.

A precocious little upstart, he had said, inexplicably fond.

So. So there had been - someone. Someone who had sired at least two sons. 

Someone who had wanted to go east.

And they had gone east, some of them. They had fought a war against — 

Against Sauron, yes, but it hadn’t been just him, that had come later, there had been, there had been — 

He all but staggers to the section on the war. He needs sleep, he thinks blearily, but he can’t not yet, not until he sees.

There was a war, a war against M̨͠͞͝o̧̧͘͞r̵̸̶͢ǵ̷̨̧͟o̧̕͏t̡̕͡h̵͡. The darkness had fallen and F͏́͘҉e̸̸͟͟a͘͘҉͟n̵̨̕͘͡o̢̡̧͡r̨͞͠  had led his followers to Alqualonde and stolen boats with which to cross the ocean. But F͏́͘҉e̸̸͟͟a͘͘҉͟n̵̨̕͘͡o̢̡̧͡r̨͞͠ had died soon after the crossing, and his son, M҉̀á͜͡e͜͢͜d̴̴̷̡͡h̨̧́r̨҉̕̕͡ǫs͏͜҉, had become king, but he had been captured so Maglor had taken the crown and led his five remaining brothers.

Five remaining brothers.

Rumil tried to wipe away the blurriness from his eyes.

His hand comes away streaked with blood.

His hands feel numb, but he flips back in the book anyway. There had been something. Something about an oath.

To the everlasting darkness, they had sworn and then - didn’t - didn’t -  he almost, almost remembers -

He flips to the end.

M̨͠͞͝o̧̧͘͞r̵̸̶͢ǵ̷̨̧͟o̧̕͏t̡̕͡h̵͡ had been thrown out into the outer darkness, and that meant, that meant -

The book fell from his hands. He clutches his head in his hands as he tries to bite back a cry of pain.

Into the void. They had died and gone into the void, all except Maglor and little Celebrimbor. The first time he had seen the child, little Tyelpe had been twisting pieces of wire together into something that would have been impressive for someone twice his age, and Rumil had turned to - 

  F͏́͘҉e̸̸͟͟a͘͘҉͟n̵̨̕͘͡o̢̡̧͡r̨͞͠-

To the child’s grandfather and said, “That one’ll give you a run for your money one day,” and the man -

Dark hair, blurred face, but he remembered the stress lines that had formed around his eyes, lines that he had never remembered seeing before -

The man had said -

His one-time student had said -

The pain behind his eyes felt like fire.

That was what they called you. The Spirit of Fire. But that wasn’t your name, what was your name, WHAT WAS YOUR NAME - 

“Feanor,” he forces out, and he collapses onto the desk.

. . .

He wakes up later than he should in the morning. He’ll be late for his lecture, but it’s another introductory course; none of the students will dare to mention it to him.

He must have been working far too late into the night, he muses ruefully. He can’t even remember most of what he was looking at, and the quick eye he sweeps over his books selections hardly helps. He has everything from linguistics to the history of the Great War spread before him, and while those could arguably be linked, he can’t imagine what a book on forging is doing among them. 

He has no time for more than the swiftest of glances, though, his eyes just skating along the covers. He certainly doesn’t have time to try to recreate whatever thought process had seemed like a good idea at midnight last night. He ought to know better than to try to work that late.

He’ll ask a library aide to clean it all up, he thinks, except -

He snatches up Suggestions for the Improvement of Our Alphabet on impulse and takes it to the front desk.

Elariel smiles cheerfully at him as she notes the checkout down in her logbook. “This one again, Master Rumil?”

“Again?” he asks absently.

Her mouth opens to answer, but then a puzzled look crosses her face, and she shakes her head. “I thought - For a moment I thought I remembered - “ She shakes her head again, ruefully. “Never mind me, Master Rumil. My dreams are still clinging like cobwebs to my head.”

“I know the feeling,” he says, and he hurries off to class.

The book is still clutched tightly in his arms.

[raointean]

The Noldolante

I think the Noldolante would be such a cool song to do but I’ve never seen it done in the way I believe Maglor would have done it. I would do it my self except I can’t play any instruments (besides the vocal chords) and I can’t write poetry to save my life. I think it would probably be a pretty simple story-song to tell the world what happened in the Years of the Trees and the First Age. It would just be really, really long. It would have like, one instrument like a guitar or a pipe or something of the kind. I also made a plot for it.

Verse 1: The making of the Silmarills. Not what they were made of, but their beauty and who made them.

Chorus: Something really sad and remorseful like Maglor’s thoughts on the whole ordeal? Or maybe an apology? A warning against oaths?

Verse 2: The whole threatening Fingolfin with a sword and getting banished thing.

Chorus

Verse 3: Return of Morgoth, darkening of Valinor, and the Death of Finwë (full of fun stuff, I know)

Chorus

Verse 3: The aftermath of that whole debacle. Fëanor refusing to give Yavanna the Silmarills and mourning his father.

Chorus

Verse 4: Kinslaying at Alqualondë. How the Telari fought valiantly and mourning their deaths.

Chorus

Verse 5: Doom of Mandos, Fëanorians swearing the oath, crossing the ocean, and burning the ships .

Chorus

Verse 6: Crossing of the Helcaraxë. Lament for those lost on the way.

Chorus

Verse 7: Battle under stars, death of Fëanor, and the capture of Maedhros

Chorus

Verse 8: Arival of the rest of the Noldor and the rescue of Maedhros

Chorus

Verse 9: Dagor Aglareb and the beginning of the siege of Angband

Chorus

Verse 10: Aradhel becoming lost and returning to Gondolin

Chorus

Verse 11: Dagor Bragollach

Chorus

Verse 12: The showdown between Fingolfin and Melkor (very heroic)

Chorus

Verse 13: Quest for Melkor’s Silmarill and Finrod’s valient death

Chorus

Verse 14: The Battle of unnumbered tears

Chorus

Verse 15: The Sack of Nargothrond

Chorus

Verse 16: The Sack of Menegroth and maybe a warning against being too obsessed with jewelry

Chorus

Verse 17: The Second Kinslaying at Menegroth, the deaths of Celegorm, Curufin, and Caranthir.

Chorus

Verse 18: Loss and presumed deaths of Eluréd and Elurín (I imagine Maglor feels horrible about dead children so they get a verse all to themselves)

Chorus

Verse 19: Fall of Gondolin

Chorus

Verse 20: Glorfindel and Ecthelion’s face offs against Balrogs and their deaths. Glorfindel’s hair must be mentioned. It’s a law.

Chorus

Verse 21: Third Kinslaying at the Havens of Sirion. Deaths of Amrod and Amras. “Capture” of Elrond and Elros

Chorus

Verse 22: Eärendil and Elwing. Eärendil being a star

Chorus

Verse 23: Destruction of Beleriand pt 1. Mostly the battle part

Chorus

Verse 24: Destruction of Beleriand pt 2. Mostly Eärendil killing the dragon

Chorus

Verse 25: Death of Maedhros and Maglor throwing his Silmarill into the sea.

Chorus

If anyone wants to take this and run with it, have at it (just send me a link or something so I can read it?)

[tanoraqui]

I've really come around to the idea of Maglor being technically-it's-not-'smuggled'-if-you-do-it-openly-(asking-forgiveness-rather-than-permission) back to Valinor by the Ringbearers. It's applicable to a very wide range of headcanons about what he's been doing for the past two Ages - I'm partial to "mentally unstable wandering shore cryptid singing the Noldolante on loop as self-flagellation", but all you really need is for Maglor at the start of the Fourth Age to be

alive

somewhere close enough to find and bring to the Grey Havens in the approx. 27 months between Arwen&Aragorn's wedding and Frodo leaving the Shire

and to ascribe to Elrond, Galadriel, and Gandalf each/all a sufficient combination of

ability and willingness to forgive someone for crimes 6000 years old, and remember them for kindnesses just as old

refusal to leave someone who doesn't want to be left to fade, just thinks they deserve it

a certain willingness to defy the Valar in pursuit of the above (the "5 Ringbearers on a ship, I bet they'll at least let us land, and then we can argue the case" principle)

which I think is reasonable characterization of all!

[thesummerestsolstice]

Fic Concept: Erestor is Maglor, Lindir is Daeron, and Gildor is Finrod. They all live in Rivendell in the Third Age. They're all using elf magic to try and hide their identities, so they don't recognize each other.

Lindir has heard Galadriel call Gildor kin but assumes that Gildor is like, Finrod's son or something because Finrod would absolutely name a child "Gildor Inglorion."

Erestor has heard Lindir sing some very familiar old Sindarin lays but assumes that he must just know them because of how popuar Daeron's compositions were. Nevermind that many of them are lost to history by the Third Age.

Gildor knows Erestor is Feanorian because he's not as subtle as he thinks but he doesn't really sing around people anymore– because singing the Noldolante for thousands of years straight has made his voice extremely dangerous– so Gildor assumes he's just another old Feanorian follower.

Elrond and Gandalf are making bets about when they'll realize. Elrond bet it would happen before the Fourth Age. It's not looking good for them.

[maironsmaid]

I am obsessed with thinking about ghost stories in Middle Earth. And because of that I want to share some of my favourite ideas for tales and folklore told by the Men of Middle earth

The White Rider and his (wild) Hunt: From the time when Oromë and his hunters still roamed outside of valinor exists a warped version. painting him and his followers as a band of lost souls hunting down melkor's remaining spirit, luring the living to join them and hel their cause, with a vengeful spirit/ god as their leader

The singing mist / the mourning wanderer/ Voice of Fog and Storm: various versions of a haunting voice rising through the thick ocean fog, driving everyone who listens into madness. Sometimes you can see a tall and willowy figure on the beach, leaving no traces in the sand. Obviously inspired by Maglor singing the Noldolante

The Lost Lord of old: Another folktale that sprung from Maglor's encounters with mortals. Though the Lost Lord is a figure of haunting beauty and the majesty of long gone ages. A figure that appears to sailors who were swept overboard and washed upon the shore. A lone figure appearing on the beach holding itself with weary regality, healing the sailors and leaving again.

Night of Broken Promises: The nearest villages around the Stone of Erech tell about the one night where the ghosts of the mountains come to steal everyone who broke a promise. One can protect oneself and one's home with light and offerings to appease the spirits

The Seven Devils/ Brothers of Grief: various ghost stories about the sons of Feanor. Tales about their deeds, warped by time and anger. They are the boogeymen of Arda. In a time where neither Morgoth nor Sauron hold power the sons of feanor continue to exist as demons stealing away children, luring them into woods, sparking fires in houses, sickening the cattle or breaking apart lovers

Fire Heart, The Wanderer, The Hunter, The Dark Sorrow, Gold Handed Devil, Barn's Bain and The Hateful Helper. That are their names.

[hopefullystillliving]

On the last cousins left.

I'm having a lot of feelings about Galadriel and Maglor right now. Like, ok. Imagine that you're in paradise. You have 27+ relatives, not counting any in-laws, on just your paternal grandfather's side. Not everything is perfect, but you can walk among the gods and live and never die and no one goes hungry or cold and it is Good.

And then you loose your grandfather, and then your mother, then your father and your home and your safety and you're cursed to fade or die when it should be anathema to your very being. And all your family does. In a matter of centuries out of your eternal life nearly all of that family is lost to you, because you left, or they did, or they ran or fought or stayed and died. Every time you get someone new, they die or leave as well, sometimes before you even knew them. And there are two people from that paradise left, your cousin, and your cousin once removed/nephew, and then he's dead too, because he trusted the monster who tortured your brother.

And you have Gil-galad, who may also be your nephew/cousin once removed or maybe not, and Elrond because Elros is already dead, who is your son-in-law/a child you raised (your son though you don't deserve to be called father), and Celebrian your daughter/cousin once removed (daughter-in-law), and your husband/someone who justly hates you, and anyone else there could have been is there no longer.

And Gil-Galad is dead now too, it was Sauron again. And Celebrian is tortured and must sail to the land you left when you were young and innocent and naive, to your home that you are exiled from. And your granddaughter/(your granddaughter) is going to be mortal, and her brothers may make the same choice.

And you still have your cousin. Your cousin whose father started this whole mess, who is a kinslayer who has killed your mother's kin, and a thief and a coward and cursed. Your cousin who is holy and proud and self-righteous as though she has done no wrong, who sheds her heritage like feathers from a swan for the slightest hope of redemption and yet refuses to ever yield. And hate and love are not exclusive feelings, because how can you not hate someone who has never helped and only caused harm to you (if indirectly) and how can you not love the only person you have left who understands, intimately, what it's like to fall from paradise with everything you've ever loved burning or freezing and dying around you.

And when you both are, perhaps, forgiven to the only extent it matters, who do you hate more? Your cousin, for hating in return? Your family, for dying? Your gods, your people, your heroes, for their best never being enough? Yourself, for surviving?

Galadriel and Maglor aren't soft with each other, I think, but they have no choice but to care. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, so they've forged their own. They aren't siblings, and aren't friends, and at this point after centuries of us-vs-them they probably only distantly think of each other as family. But they are cousins. They have held the corpses of each others's family, and mourned together. They have lived to see the ends of three Ages and the defeats of their two great enemies and gotten drunk together off the gidiness of it. Galadriel still speaks Quenya. Maglor still sings the Noldolante. And they're the last ones left. Just imagine.

[thepinkseat-askthemoonbunny]

Expanding on Maglor’s wide-reaching voice, it just turned into the world’s most heartbreaking game of telephone for me.

He’s on the shores of Arda singing for all eternity, thinking that his lament is his alone. But his voice carries, like when he used to call his brothers to dinner. It carries far over the great salt sea, and the rest of the distance that it can’t reach is covered by the seagulls who imitate his songs. By Manwë’s winds and Ulmo’s waves (my boi Ulmo’s a music lover) until beyond all hope, it reaches the shores of Valinor.

His reincarnated family fresh out of the Halls, finding healing at last...but their family is incomplete. There’s no Maglor with them, and they’ll probably never see their brother and son again. It weighs on them even after all the healing they’ve found, until Tyelko is returning from a hunt and hears the gulls singing like they always do. But it’s a song that’s different than usual seagull singing, almost familiar. He dismisses it as a fluke, until the second time it happens. The Ambarussar hear it too, and one day Amrod is like “hey, that sounds like one of Maka’s songs.”

“It can’t be.” But it is, and the others stand at the shores of Aman and listen, picking up bits of their brother’s old melodies from the birds and the waves and the wind, and it comes crashing down on them like a ton of bricks that Maka’s alive. He’s out there somewhere. Maedhros starts singing part of one of their mother’s old lullabies where he knows the gulls can hear him, keeps doing it until he’s heard them pick it up and they come back from the other side of Arda somehow knowing the other half despite not hearing it from any of them.

Maglor receives confirmation then: my brothers are alive, they’re alive and they’re okay and they...they miss me. He starts singing to the gulls on purpose, old cherished songs they grew up on and even bits of the Noldolante, and they return from across the sea with the rest to complete it. Drawing on Tyelko’s way with animals, this turns into a bird messaging system...they stop exclusively using songs and just start sending messages back and forth, being able to keep in touch in this small way even if they can never lay eyes on each other again.

[valasania-the-pale]

Following your excellent post about Nerdanel, I wonder how would she react had Maglor returned back to Aman. Would she talk to him at all? Even though he was genuinely remorseful? Would she still love and accept him? It's likely her favorite child, but one who had done unforgivable deeds of cruelty. And do you think Maglor would be still at least barely sane? I mean, his lonely wandering and singing to the waves doesn’t seem like he was mentally healthy. Thank you for your answer!

Oh, I absolutely think she would talk to Maglor. I think she would hunt him down at the first opportunity - a tearful embrace, shouting, a lot of pounding his his chest in impotent, aggrieved rage, and a lot of 'I'm sorrys' exchanged, mostly on Maglor's part.

While I'm not convinced Nerdanel would ever take Feanor back if he emerged from Mandos, I don't personally think she has much to hold against her sons. They were young when they took the oath, and they felt is consequences to the very end - I think were she ever to face any of them again, she would want to - NEED to - speak with them, to remind herself that they existed, that their mother didn't hate them and that she just wants them home and safe and free and happy. I think she would hold them accountable, but she's not the one they harmed (relatively speaking anyways); she would probably push him hard to speak with Olwe and whoever else is relevant to any sort of atonement, so that things can be laid to rest.

Personally I think that Maglor is probably Not Okay, but still relatively sane. I've read stuff where he's unhinged, and it just doesn't really fit what I think about him. the point of his long wandering, singing the Noldolante, is that he is filled with regret and grief, but not that he's lost it. It's an intentional act. I think if he truly did snap he'd probably get killed by some wanderer or wild beast, or throw himself in the sea at last like Maedhros. But as it stands, I'd imagine it's more 'I need a thousand year nap and intensive counseling and a goddamn hug' rather than 'I am *this* far from a break in reality.'

Thanks for the ask!