#the sinking of Numenor

[tanoraqui]

(re: this post)

Broke:

Legolas: The world is flat

Gimli: What?

WOKE:

some random Man at a bar in Minas Tirith: Is it true that the world is flat for elves?

Legolas: What? No. The world is round. It USED to be flat, but then Aragorn’s ancestors fucked up so bad that it was turned round.

Gimli: What?!

Legolas: Shit, don’t tell Aragorn I said it like that. Don’t tell Elrond I said it like that! It’s just, the earthquakes knocked down some really great redwoods in the northwest—I never knew them, but my dad says they were very wise, and he still holds a bit of a grudge.

Gimli: I only have more questions now.

[souredfigs]

Nienna feeling the grief and torment of the faithful under her shrine and Ulmo feeling their blood bleeding into his waters... I am not gonna survive to watch the fall actually

[sauronpilled]

He continued to call himself Mairon the Admirable, or Tar-mairon ("King Excellent"), until after Númenor's downfall, although he could not use that name in Númenor, as it was a Quenya name with royal implications. There he was called Zigûr, meaning "Wizard" in Adûnaic.

[sesamenom]

was thinking about post-apocalyptic (post-akallabeth) numenoreans of the group who didn't sail either to valinor or beleriand

[pearlescentpearl]

tonight I dedicate brainspace to thinking about the fact Fingolfin is the last man of his house to receive a respectful burial until Elros

(unless we are counting Gil-Galad. but he dies after Elros either way)

[heyclickadee]

Tar-Míriel’s horrible no good very bad LIFETIME.

[urwendii]

cassy working on chapter 6 live edition:

[thelien-art]

Tar-Míriel as a mermaid?

She´s a fav <3 we all knew what happened after the sinking

It´s a raccoon butterflyfish, because of the yellow/gold, it´s a solitary species, and that they live in the Red Sea, Egypt, and I inspire Numenor a lot by Egypt, 1600-1200 BC and Rome 100-5 BC

[deus-sema]

Sauron after Morgoth's defeat:

Sauron after the sinking of Numenor:

Sauron after his defeat in the War of the Last Alliance:

[winterpinetrees]

Okay yeah I’m still thinking about logistics. I am aware that lord of the rings is whimsical and I don’t care.

There must be so many people in Rivendell. It’s the Last Homely House, the last decent place before you go off into the deep wilderness. It’s at the bottom of a valley in the middle of nowhere. They aren’t getting everything imported. Elrond must have a full sized settlement there to produce most of the food, even if we are assuming that preserving magic makes it an easy place to live. Rivendell is a refuge too. It’s home to Elrond, his family, a significant number of Noldor like Glorfindel, and who knows how many wanderers. Elves don’t die of old age, and in the Third Age they don’t get murdered particularly often either, so I have to imagine that the population is large and just keeps growing. I don’t get the sense that many travel across the sea until after Sauron falls, and there really isn’t anywhere else for them to go. Lothlorien, maybe? There’s got to be thousands of people in that valley, supporting the Last Homely House and keeping the forces of darkness at bay.

More than that, it’s a huge place fit for the most powerful people in Middle Earth. Rivendell can easily accommodate Bilbo’s entire party in the hobbit and all of the visiting diplomats for the Council of Elrond. Do you have any idea how much manpower (elf power?) it takes to keep a place clean, well-lit, and functional without modern technology? It takes an absurd amount of work. There is nothing in the legendarium that I’m aware of to suggest that elves use magic as a labor saving tool. That means that people are doing all of that work by hand.

Are there elven servants in Rivendell? What about in Valinor? In the Silmarillion, we only ever really read about noble bloodlines, and in LoTR, elves are kept very mysterious. There’s craftsmen who make silmarils and magic rings, but who is forging gear for the average soldier? We know that there are a whole lot of average soldiers. Lord of the rings is a story of battles between armies. Is there upward mobility in an undying land? Whoever is cleaning clothes in Valinor, have they been doing that since the age of the two trees?

Maybe Valinor is more equal than that. Maybe in a place where everyone expects to live forever, they’ve found ways to share the load. But they did have a high king, long ago, and Feanor uses the argument that the elves should go to Beleriand to find freedom and treasure. He’s not a reliable narrator, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about.

What must it be like to be one of the other Noldor? To be a common elf and go east seeking freedom and adventure, only to find suffering like you cannot imagine? To watch that land sink beneath the ocean, to see Numenor be corrupted and fall, to fight Morgoth and Sauron and Sauron again? To finally leave it all behind as everything, even Rivendell and Lindon and Lothlorien, fades? Or maybe you die in combat and spend an eon in the halls of Mandos before reawakening in Valinor. Either way, you’re back!

And someone needs to do the laundry.

[ringsreforged]

Surprise! It turns out that a combination of an incredible episode and the two of us (sort of) having a free morning means...podcast time (small note: we did have some issues with Paulina's audio, but we think we fixed it up well enough)!

Episode 5 of season 2 was incredible, and we simply couldn't resist hopping on to give our quick thoughts. Unsurprisingly, those thoughts weren't actually quick...

We kick off with our overall emotions (00:01:00) then head over to Numenor (00:05:00) where we say goodbye AGAINST OUR WILL (00:25:00). We swing back to the Durins and Disa (00:37:00) for a sample of dread before devouring an entire meal of it with Celebrimbor + Annatar (00:49:00). After we talk Silvergifting, we of course have a Haladriel meltdown and Natalie goes on a passionate rant defending 'dark ships' (01:02:00) before we consider Mirdania's role in the narrative (01:17:00). And then we wrap up with a few bits and bobs (01.25.00) before we sink back into a meditative state.

WAKE US UP WHEN EPISODE SIX IS HERE.

(Also, this is Natalie here briefly taking over social media duties because Pau is sunning it up on holiday, so forgive me if I do this ALL WRONG it has been 500 years since I posted on tumblr...)

[shady-swan-jones]

Remember Me Like This

Galadriel/Halbrand. Mature. In Progress [1/3] Chapter 1: As I Am Today

“I feel at peace here.” Halbrand says simply. But heaviness lies on what he omits. His peace cannot last. - Eregion, after Halbrand is healed. The fate of the rings is decided between stolen kisses and promises.

In the meadow of Eregion, peace breeds flowers and roots bask in the last rays of sunlight—everything Galadriel fights to preserve. The singing leaves and dancing winds echo the harmony of nature, tranquility woven into the very fabric of the land, even in the face of decay. It’s a place where ancient trees whisper tales of her people, and in their melodies, Galadriel finds belonging.

Footsteps sound behind her, the soft crush of fallen leaves betraying his approach. 

“Halbrand,” she calls without looking. 

He chuckles and she pictures teeth sinking into his lower lip. 

“You should be resting,” she admonishes.  Turning around, she meets his eyes. They pierce hers like a Valinorian dagger. 

Their journey to Eregion is a blur in her memory. Riding tirelessly day and night, a hollow worry gnawing at her, a fear he may not endure the relentless pace. Urging the horse to unforgiving speed, they raced towards the sunrise, as if her determination could rupture the fabric of time itself. She would ensure his safe arrival, there was no other option. They pursued the dawn, a desperate attempt to outpace the miles and elude the encroaching darkness. Even if her lungs were burning, she would shield him from its looming threat. She fought to get him here, and now he’s standing before her. 

All is in her mind though, he was crossing between unconsciousness and numbness. It’s as if he awoke to another life. 

His gaze lacks the concealed inquiry, it lingers on her without pretense.  

“You are bathed in light,” he murmurs, fixated upon her golden locks radiating like a halo in ethereal glow.

He must be afflicted by the fever, she reasons. Yet as she approaches, he emanates serenity. He stands tall, centered, strong, nothing betraying a man mortally wounded a fortnight ago.

Her touch upon his forehead detects no heat beyond the warmth she had seen in the bodies of men.

He halts it with two fingers on the inside of her wrist.

“I’m alright. Your people’s medicine healed me. What’s the secret?”

"Elven herbs are potent in essence. It heals not only the body but the spirit."

“I feel it.” She believes him. A newfound glow graces his face. 

“I am relieved. However, the High King should not witness you wandering. Return within," she implores, taking his elbow. Yet he stands unyielding. 

"I have fostered the inclination to follow in your footsteps, wherever they may lead," he says softly, the faint sketch of a smile on his lips. 

From the raft to Numenor, to the Southlands and now here, her constant companion. She’d grown accustomed to his presence, vexing at first, then steadfast and resolute, like a shadow. 

She crosses her arms, a half-hearted attempt at cross-examination.

“You didn’t follow me here. I all but carried you unconscious on the saddle.” She injects some light to the conversation, but his eyes fail to spark of mirth. 

It’s not her assertion he responds to. 

“I was lucky to cross your path.” He speaks plainly, but there’s something lingering in his gaze, moving from the dip of her eyes, to where her arms are clasped together. She fidgets under its weight. 

“It was not luck that brought us together.”

“-then I’ll have to thank powers I cannot name, for pulling a mouthy elf out of the water and joining your quest.” He smiles, coaxing the fragment of mirth out of her. 

“Even if I shattered your precious peace?”

He gazes at the greenery, then at her. 

“I feel at peace here.” He says simply. But heaviness lies on what he omits. Hia peace cannot last.  

“Treasure it for you will depart soon. Your place is in the Southlands, by your people.” It’s an assertion to herself too. She feels the weight her sentence carries. Reminding him of his duty is a familiar refrain, only now the gravity settles. Now there are people to guide; what they need is a king.

The corners of his mouth curve into a smile -the sweetest she’s seen from him until now. His lip is still chapped, though the scar tissue has subsided. The dipping sun paints his hair with strikes of auburn, as when he’s facing the fire in the blacksmith’s forge. He finds a lock that sits on her shoulder, plays with it reverently, as if by that golden strand he is deciding his fate. 

“My place is with you.” 

Her lips fall open, a tangled breath getting out. Gleaming hazel eyes giving a simple truth. Whatever thought she entertained evaporates. He waits, his fingers stilling around her hair. She’s glassy waters, waiting for a fish to cut the stillness. He leans down and breathes a kiss on her lips. It’s soft, but lingering. “My peace is with you,” he whispers when he’s close. 

Then lifts her jaw and closes the distance, plunging them both into a bone-melting kiss. 

His lips move around hers with such ferocity she has to fist her hands on his tunic for support. In the warmth of his embrace, she feels alive, the taste of him like beaten metal succumbing to heat. His strong arms circle her, settling on her waist, igniting everything in their path. No one understands the fire inside her, but he kindles it, coaxes it, binding it to his. 

“Galadriel,” he utters her name like a prayer to a forgotten god. "Before you, I was lost at sea. Beyond repentance, a sinner hiding from his past. You brought me to the light, to your light. My power, my crown, my future—I want to share them with you."

She kisses him, swallowing his promises. He accepts and follows, yet when they come up for air, his eyes are begging for an answer. 

She watches as the light slowly leaves his face. 

“I gave my heart thousands of years before you opened your eyes. Now it lies buried under the carcasses of elfs slaughtered by orcs of Sauron. To reclaim it, I must bring about his end."

She has buried enough kin to walk away towards the sunset. She can’t start anew without finishing her quest, ending Sauron’s bloody rule once and for all. Halband can’t offer her absolution, nor flowery words to exempt her from her fate. 

If there is a future as he envisions, one where she’s content and reigning, she doesn't yet deserve it. 

Halbrand holds her tighter, fingers splaying on her back.

"It’s but your grief speaking. It has steered you through ages, but do not let it shape your destiny. You once urged me to release the past; do likewise.” He cradles her head on his palms. “I promise, I will ease your sorrow.”

Her eyes glisten. Temptation tugs at her from deep inside. It would be easy to succumb. Unlace the armor that has been part of her skin, lay down her weapons, rest. 

Her fingers thread on the back of his neck, bringing him down to almost taste her lips. 

“You saved me, Halbrand. You were my raft in the storm. But I long for steady land under my feet and it will take me lifetimes to be worthy of it.” 

She has to keep fighting. His span of life is too narrow to fit her purpose. 

The hand runs circles on the soft flesh under her ear, the calloused pads awakening her skin. 

“Then let me give you eons in a night.” He trails his fingers over her neck, following the chords to her jaw with his lips. “Let me leave a print in the glass of your immortality.”

She touches his chest, feeling the unsteady beat of his heart. The melody, she etches it into memory. She’s already into the future, missing him.

“I won’t forget you,” she vows. 

Another kiss, this time on her brow. 

“But I want you to remember me like this. If I'm a stranger in your future, remember I was good once.”

She seals her promise with her lips. If she can't have an eternity, she will revel in today. A day, a moment, a touch. 

Eyes closed, she captures his mouth again, stifling the silent groan as her tongue brushes his. The hands on her hips shift and she’s lifted off the ground as Halbrand carries her, walking blindly, never cutting the kiss. 

Eventually, he lays her down, and their lips reluctantly part. His eyes, a reflection of countless tales, meet hers, and for a heartbeat, time stands still.

"Remember me," he whispers, voice a soft plea.

She pulls him on top of her and layers of fabric surrender to the urgency -the way layers of her soul are shed one by one. They meet and mold around each other and Habrand brushes the hair out of her eyes softly. The aim was to seal their connection, shutting it forever. But as they dance in the melody of their bond, something happens. The threads that hold them, instead of being severed, grow stronger, entwined with each shared breath and heartbeat. Between kisses, their fates merge. 

End of Part 1

[land-of-holly]

Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 5 Liveblog

Ooh nice landscape shot over the Misty Mountains

The Seven!

Is all of King Durin's bling also gonna fall victim to the Ring's jealousy?

Narviiiiiiii

The King's just going mad with power, nothing to see here

He may have brought the light back, but it's still an OSHA violation

THE DOORS OF DURIN!

If this is all we get of the Celebrimbor/Narvi teamup I will be disappointed but LOOK ANNATAR!

Tyelpe is on to him!

Love the conflict over the rings for Men. This is the kind of development upon previous work I look for in an adaptation. It fits well into the previous themes.

Annatar had NO SENSE OF PERSONAL SPACE

Well obviously Annatar isn't just going to take no for an answer.

NO he's just going to make them himself?? Just disregard Celebrimbor entirely?

Ooh, here comes Pharazon's Elf envy

Damn this guy is hardcore, who says that to their own son?

I do see why people ship Miriel/Elendil, damn

Oh girl, you don't really believe not fighting back is the answer. I can see it. You wanna fight back so bad.

Mass resignation?

Oooh, nope

I love the father-daughter conflict! It's a role women don't get to play very often in this exact way

Political unrest in Numenor!

Just because Pharazon is anti-elf doesn't mean he's anti-power lol

Dead...fish?

Normally I'm against disparaging the wielding of a perfectly useful tool to attain valid goals as "cheating", but one, I can't contradict my wife Disa, and two, that ring is obviously super sus

New taxes??

An extended scene of ball chasing is a little silly but I am not immune to DISA LEGS

She has echolocation??

More dwarf extras!

Okay now King D's just getting nasty

I've made peace with Early Balrog. It's not like they have a 3rd age timeline to fuck up, after all

I guess not even a ring can separate a dwarf from his bling, it's still there

Forge is haunted.

Aw damn he nerdsniped Celebrimbor

Wonderful convo between Celebrimbor and Durin

So Mirdania did see Annatar's true form, and he admits it, but he convinced her not to tell an adult like a FUCKING CREEP

Oh THAT'S why everyone was talking about Annatar rizzing Mirdania up, JESUS

DON'T TOUCH HER

Damn, Kemen, you shouldn't have cultivated such a punchable face

And Valandil, unfortunately, shouldn't have let himself been named after a canon character's future canon kid

The dropping of 'Faithful' and 'King's Men' felt clunky to ME but it's possible I'm biased

Annatar once again proves to be made ENTIRELY out of red flags. Protip, kids: if someone is all "Well now we've been bad together, we have no choice but to never talk to anyone else about this or we'll be in trouble"--RUN

(Seriously)

Elf extras!

Oh no now he's just sinking more cost, trying to make things right. Poor Tyelpe.

Oh, right! What's Adar up to?

Oh the elf armies need help? Whoever could come to their aid?

Everyone wants Galadriel on their team!

Wow there was a bunch about this episode that I liked a lot. Annatar continued to be the absolute star of this show, the fucking creeper

[ellieofthewoods]

I find it interesting that Sam gets what practically counts as a prophetic dream when he looks into Galadriel's mirror whereas Frodo is once again getting "sinking of Numenor" symbolism

to be fair frodo also sees what is probably gandalf the white but the repeat of the 'great wave' motif that echoes his dream on weathertop is interesting. it might be foreshadowing that he's eventually going to sail?

[grey-gazania]

End of Year Fic Recs

Tagged by @sallysavestheday and @polutrope

I tag everyone tagged here and anyone else who hasn't done this yet!

Recommend up to 5 series or multi-chapter fics from 2023 that everyone should read (multi-year WIPs count, if the last update was in 2023).

Recommend up to 5 single chapter fics/one-shots (long or short) from 2023 that everyone should read.

Recommend up to 5 fics NOT from 2023 that everyone should read (oldies but goodies).

Recommend up to 5 of your own fics (completed or WIP) from 2023 that everyone should read.

This was difficult!

Multi-Chapter/Series

We Will Make This Place Our Home by @leucisticpuffin, which is my new comfort fic and has A+ kidnap fam characterization.

Gloom, Doom and Maedhros by @hhimring, which I've been dipping in and out of since approximately 2011 and which never ceases to impress me.

Elegy for Numenor by @elfscribe. Not the kind of story I generally get into, but Scribe's OCs are vividly drawn and have captured my heart.

Maglor is an Eldritch Horror by @thescrapwitch. Who doesn't love a touch of horror in their fanfiction? Part 11 (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) is a particular favorite.

The Importance of Peer Review by @sallysavestheday, a series of Finrod-centric comic stories that never fails to make me howl with laughter.

One-shots

Tender Morsels by @sallysavestheday, which depicts a delicious and unsettling yet tender moment between my OTP among OTPs, Fingon/Maedhros.

As the Hare Flees Before the Wolf by @emyn-arnens. The author's note says "Rest in pieces, Eöl," and that is a sentiment I will always endorse. This also includes some wonderfully perilous Celegorm characterization.

Ilimbë by @thelordofgifs. This is everything I ever wanted out of a Fëanor/Nerdanel courtship story, and the characterization is utter perfection.

A Damnable Spot by @imakemywings. Kidnap fam with an extra helping of creepy! I think Elwing deserves to haunt Maglor a little bit. As a treat.

And a bonus two-for-one, because they're by two different authors but they go together: Desperation and Defeat by @elentarial and Maiar Hate This Simple Trick by @zealouswerewolfcollector. I'm a big fan of both humor and Celebrimbor/Narvi, so these both absolutely delighted me.

Oldies

Home from the War by @hhimring. Himring wrote this as a gift for me back in 2020, and it remains my favorite Círdan character study of all time.

Ain Melir Den Urui by Thranduil Oropherion Redux/Randy_O (whom I don't believe is on Tumblr). This Last Alliance themed send-up of Some Like It Hot dates back to 2011, and it's one of my go-to fics for when I'm feeling blue and need a good belly laugh.

Touch of a Vanished Hand by @elfscribe, from 2010. I love Scribe's character study of a younger, more hot-headed Elrond meeting his brother's descendants in the aftermath of the sinking of Numenor.

Winter's Drums by @lucifers-cuvette, from 2014. I absolutely adore Pandë's take on Sauron and Celebrimbor's relationship, and this deeply unsettling but evocative ficlet is one I've returned to many times.

Trinity, also by @lucifers-cuvette, which is from 2007, pre-dating my entry into the Silmarillion fandom. It was the first of Pandë's stories that I read and was my introduction to her amazing Pandë-verse.

Mine

Ill News, a Second Age kidnap fam aftermath fic that I initially posted as a one-shot in 2022. But an enthusiastic commenter inspired me to expand on it, so I added a second chapter in 2023. There's at least one more chapter to come, assuming I ever overcome my current case of writer's block.

Loyalty: A Tale in Three Voices, which is the WIPmost likely to kill me one day. I have a deep and abiding affection for the House of Ulfang, and this is the result of that.

And They Looked Up and Saw a Star, my ongoing early-days kidnap fam WIP. I'm enjoying exploring the relationships between both sets of brothers.

Maps, my Thangordim rescue Fingon/Maedhros WIP with a heavy serving of Caranthir. I'll readily admit that this fic has been an exercise in pantsing all the way and that I have no idea where I'm going with it, but the journey has been fun!

I made several updates to Woman King this year, which is my fem!Gil-galad WIP (sometimes affectionately referred to as the Girl-galad WIP, because I love stupid puns). This is by far my least popular series but it is also my favorite to write, because like all writers I have tropes that I love, and Rule 63 is one of them. Tolkien's works are an undeniable sausage fest and we need more ladies.

[gnomescarfcomics]

Rings of Power: Episode 7 - The Eye

Rewatch mini review. Chaotic and out of order.

The grief episode.

Southlands: Galadriel's scenes with Theo were surprisingly poignant. It was great to see her slowly coming back to her true self after years of obsession, hate, failure, and grief. I don't dislike Theo, but he was probably one of my least favorite characters. This show finds a way to make good use of every character though. Seeing the world through his eyes helps Galadriel come to terms with how much she's changed since her hunt for Sauron began. I wish they'd spent a little more time with that though, even just another short scene or two. I think it could have softened the blow a little for how people reacted to Galadriel's personality throughout the show.

As I mentioned in my other review, another fake out death for Bronwyn feels extra unnecessary after the events of season 2. But it is what it is. Now I actually miss Bronwyn more than I thought I would. She was another one of my least favorite characters, but her storyline did have a lot of heart behind it.

Elendil's various stages of grief are played out well, even if most people know Isildur isn't actually dead. It's not always about what the audience knows but how the characters react. Miriel's blindness was a creative choice that has some nice symbolic implications, and it was nice seeing it hardening her resolve rather than sinking her into despair.

Halbrand being wounded and needing "elvish medicine" was a little hokey and felt like a lazy way of getting him to Eregion. I know Galadriel later says "we rode without rest", but I would have liked at least one scene with them on the road. Season one suffers from kind of ignoring the time and distance between locations. Even with the inclusion of map cutaways, which I grew to love, there isn't enough traveling for me. Maybe they took the complaints of Lord of the Rings having "too much walking" to heart.

And speaking of maps, I think the Southlands to Mordor visual transition should have been done over a shot of the whole map rather than just showing the text over a wide shot of the land. But that's a bit of a nitpick.

Harfoots/Harfeet: This part feels a little sloppy in some places. How much they fear the Stranger and his magic (and why) feels a little inconsistent at times. As does the sense of community of the harfoots. I get what they were going for: they're a superstitious clan that have become overly obsessed with survival, basically at the cost of their true unity as a people. The Stranger's mere presence fills them with fear, despite his kindly nature and attempts to help them. And when anything goes wrong, it's hard for them not to instinctively blame him. Their decisions are all based in fear, including leaving people behind.

Just as Isildur says Numenor is "not the true Numenor" anymore, I think the same is true of the harfoots. They've literally lost their way. But who they once were still lives on, and it's strongest in people like Nori and her father. Just as the heart of true Numenor lives on in Elendil and Isildur. As Nori says when she refuses to leave the Stranger behind, "That's not who we are." And Poppy corrects her, "That's not who YOU are."

I think Largo's speech and Malva admitting her faults do a pretty good job of communicating this, but it could have been clearer in my opinion. And like Galadriel, a little more clarification and time could have helped alleviate some of the criticisms. Because I think the writers' intent is good and makes sense overall.

Khazad-dum: The smoothest of the storylines. Elrond and Durin's relationship (and Disa) continue to be the heart of the show. Not even the somewhat clunky mithril stuff can hold them back. And to its benefit, this episode focuses more on the emotional impacts rather than the detailed intricacies of how the fading and the mithril supposedly works.

It may not be immediately apparent, but most of the characters on the side of good are "right" in their own ways. Even the grumpy dwarf king makes valid points and is doing what he thinks is best, just as everyone else is. He may come off as harsh, but he's not acting out of malice. This idea of people being both right and wrong in their own ways becomes especially important in season two.

I remember this episode feeling a little disappointing when it first came out. After such an impactful previous episode, it was hard not to want things to keep going at the same pace. But as Sadoc said, everyone needed "a moment to grieve" and regroup before the final reveals of the season came to light.