#this fandom is making me think about Finwe so much more than I ever expected to

[imakemywings]

This has been said by another anon, but you honestly have the best interpretation of the events in the Silmarillion, especially with Elwing's situation which I super super love (I had to unfollow and block other good blogs because of how borderline misogynistic their takes were on her). I wanna know, what is your reaction to Finwe joining Feanor in exile “because of the love that he bore Feanor” which basically makes Tirion kingless, showing his favoritism and cementing Fingolfin as a 'usurper' to most, especially in the fandom? For me, that was the moment I saw how he made such stupid-ass decisions. Like I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt with being considered a 'good' father and king but no way is my response to my oldest son pulling a knife on my younger son at some kind of meeting and getting exiled with 'ah well I’m siding with your brother who almost stabbed you'. He sucks so bad like y'all chose this dumbass over Thingol????

You're too kind, anon (^///^)

Finwe choosing to join Feanor is one of those things that I think was objectively the wrong choice, but I see how he got there. To me, it was one of Finwe's deeply flawed moments, which makes him a real character and not just an idealized Fantasy Elf King. It's also one of those moments where I would love to have more detail, because we get almost nothing on what Finwe's relationship with his later four children was like. Silm virtually only addresses his relationship with Feanor, so I understand why a lot of fans interpret this to mean Finwe showed favoritism towards Feanor/preferred him to his other kids, and the narrative does tell us Finwe paid particular attention to Feanor (however, given their family history, I don't think this is a huge surprise--he has a lot of reason to be worried about how Feanor will handle the family growing). The result though is that we get basically nothing about how Finwe and Fingolfin addressed the "Feanor pulls weapons on his brother in public" incident between them.

However--and maybe you will feel this is splitting hairs--I don't think Finwe chooses to go into exile because he thinks Feanor was in the right, but because he believed the Valar's punishment was unfair. He only has one quote on it:

"Feanor came indeed, for him alone Manwe had commanded to come; but Finwe came not, nor any of the others of the Noldor of Formenos. For said Finwe: 'While the ban lasts upon Feanor my son, that he may not go to Tirion, I hold myself unkinged, and I will not meet my people.'" (Of the Darkening of Valinor)

It's not much, but it's always suggested to me his issue was with the punishment imposed...and I find it hard to believe Tolkien held Finwe up intending him to be "good" and would then have him approve of one of his sons drawing a weapon on the other.

Furthermore, we know how highly Feanor values loyalty and how much he values Finwe's attention, so Finwe would have to know what a significant gesture this would be to Feanor in the wake of his being publicly exposed as having been manipulated by Melkor, and exiled. There's also the fact that Feanor's behavior is increasingly erratic and extreme, which must be an additional concern.

By the other side of the coin though, he must also know how it will look to Fingolfin.

It's true that at this time, Feanor and Fingolfin are both grown adults with families of their own. They aren't little boys chasing after daddy, but clearly Finwe's attention and affection still means something to him. And given Elves' immortality, I've always found it easy to believe that Elven parents maintain a much stronger presence in their children's esteem, simply because they never undergo the slow degradation of mind and body that mortal children expect to see in their parents as they age. But even setting that aside, it would be hard, I think, for Fingolfin not to be hurt by Finwe's choice, even if he understands why it was made. If Fingolfin harbored no resentment about the choice, I'd say we should nominate him for sainthood.

We see that during Feanor's "trial," Fingolfin is already asserting a willingness to forgive him for what was done. I talked about that here, and why I don't find "Fingolfin the usurper" a convincing take. It may be that Finwe and Fingolfin were not in disagreement that Finwe's going with Feanor was best--it may be that even Fingolfin thought it was better to have Finwe there to try to constrain Feanor and make him see sense (This is what he was talking to Finwe about when Feanor originally bursts in with the sword) rather than leave him to fester in Formenos with only his sons, all of whom support him (In Morgoth's Ring, even Nerdanel is not with him in Formenos, one of the few people he actually listened to; they've separated due to Feanor's troubling recent behavior).

When it comes to fights between kids, parents are often reluctant to take sides. This can be true even where one child is obviously in the wrong, even repeatedly. There are any number of reasons Finwe didn't want to see the rift between Feanor and Fingolfin as being that serious, not least of all because I'm sure he wanted them to get along and be brothers, and he loved both of them. When Melkor's hand in Feanor's unrest comes to light, this must have been deeply upsetting for Finwe. Thinking that his child had been targeted by Melkor and used by him to cause these problems among the Noldor would be alarming, and there would be a sense of violation there, probably especially for Feanor. Very possibly Finwe believes that the Valar are punishing Feanor for Melkor's actions.

"Now the unrest of the Noldor was not indeed hidden from the Valar...Then at last the root was laid bare, and the malice of Melkor revealed; and straightway Tulkas left the council to lay hands upon him and bring him to judgement. But Feanor was not held guiltless, for he it was that had broken the peace of Valinor and drawn his sword upon his kinsman..." (Of the Silmarils)

I've said this a lot about the situation of the House of Finwe, but it was complicated. Do I think Finwe made the right choice in exiling himself with Feanor? No, not really. Do I see how he thought it was necessary or would cause less damage? Yeah, I do. People often don't see clearly when it comes to their kids, and I think Finwe has probably always harbored a lot of concern over Feanor because of what happened with Miriel, and possibly guilt over the fact that Feanor never reconciled himself to Finwe's remarriage or his additional children. He may feel that he needs to show this loyalty to Feanor to make up for the other things, or he may feel that leaving Feanor alone at this time will only make his mental condition worse.

Or he may just love Feanor more than his other kids. But I don't prefer that explanation.

Finwe is a flawed person. I certainly think it's possible to characterized him as a little selfish, and willfully blind to his children's conflict, and the scale of Feanor's dislike for his step-mother and her kids. But he'd hardly be the first parent to do that. I don't think there was ever any malice in it, and I don't generally take to interpretations that he openly and heavily favored Feanor over his other children. I think it may have felt that way to Indis' kids at times (although I don't think Feanor ever saw it that way, since he never seems to have managed to feel secure about anyone's affection), but I don't think Finwe genuinely loved Feanor more or wanted better things for him than the other kids. I think he was trying to balance Feanor's huge and volatile feelings with his own desires, and then with Indis' needs and the needs and desires of their children, and he probably was excessively concerned with Feanor's feelings--but Feanor also has a way of demanding people pay attention to his feelings.

In conclusion: Yeah I think Finwe made a subpar choice there, but I don't hate him or think he was awful (although perhaps something of an oblivious father). I think he wanted very much to believe that everything could be fine and good in Aman, so much so that he downplayed actual conflicts among the Noldor and particularly among his children, on the hope that everything would work itself out eventually (And who's to say? If not for Melkor, maybe it would have.) And in the end, he pays for those choices with his life.

[marta-bee]

Marta Rereads the Silmarillion: Of Thingol and Melian

Continuing my great Silmarillion re-read, today I read “Of Thingol and Melian,” which as it turns out is (a) so short it’s kind of cute by that measure all on its own [630 words!], and (b) the most perfunctory of great romances I think I’ve ever come across, and for all that still seems very sweet and powerful, not to mention quite important for later events.

Let me take a step back, though. Most of what we’ve read so far has about the creation of the world and early battles between the Valar and Morgoth. In the last chapter the Elves awoke into this violent, primeval world where the various god-types are still duking it out and Morgoth is still at liberty. Eventually the Valar make war against him, overthrow and imprison him, but there are all kinds of lesser baddies still at work and Middle-earth is still quite dangerous. So the Valar try to convince the Elves themselves to come to Aman, the “Undying Lands” (... sort of) that Bilbo and Frodo set sail for at the end of Lord of the Rings. They’ll be safe there, they’re told. Life will be good.

Problem: herding Elves turns out to be just about as easy as herding cats. See, they really like Middle-earth even as they’re scared of quite a lot of it and like to stay pretty close to the safe spaces they’ve carved out for themselves. They trust one of the Valar particularly, up to a point, and as long as he’s leading them they’ll sorta-kinda move along; but then he’s pulled away on some other errand for a time, they just kind of... settle. And sometimes they like it so much some of them will just stay somewhere along the journey and refuse to move on even when Orome comes back. It’s actually quite cute in its own way, but also explains how you have these different pockets of “native” elves spread out throughout most of Middle-earth. Most of them don’t really build up cities or fortresses but live much more closely with their chosen bits of nature, and tragically they fare exact as well against Middle-earth’s many villains as you’d expect. (Denethor, I’m looking at you. It seems to be my fate in this fandom to mourn over all your namesakes.)

That’s all last chapter. This chapter, the remaining elves have finally made it to very near the sea and are waiting to make the last leg of their journey to Aman. Only one of their leaders has disappeared! See, there’s this lady:

Melian was a Maia, of the race of the Valar. She dwelt in the gardens of Lorien, and among all his people there were none more beautiful than Melian, nor more wise, nor more skilled in songs of enchantment. It is told that the Valar would leave their works, and the birds of Valinor their mirth, that the bells of Valmar were silent and the fountains ceased to flow, when at the mingling of the lights Melian sang in Lorien. Nightingales went always with her, and she taught them their song; and she loved the deep shadows of the great trees. She was akin before the World was made to Yavanna herself; and in that time when the Quendi awoke beside the waters of Cuivienen she departed from Valinor and came to the Hither Lands, and there she filled the silence of Middle-earth before the dawn with her voice and the voices of her birds.

Proper Disney princess, beauty beyond compare, voice that can make nightingales stope in their song and other Valar and Maiar just stop their tasks and stand around staring at her, etc. As someone who grew up reading female OC’s being maligned as Mary Sues I actually laughed at this introduction! Though to be clear she gets a lot more depth as the story goes on and is actually one of my favorite characters.

Moving on:

Elwe, lord of the Teleri, went often through the great woods to seek out Finwe his friend in the dwellings of the Noldor; and it chanced on a time that he came alone to the starlit wood of Nan Elmoth, and there suddenly he heard the song of nightingales. Then an enchantment fell on him, and he stood still; and afar off beyond the voices of the lomelindi [MB =another name for nightingales] he heard the voice of Melian, and it filled all his heart with wonder and desire. He forgot then utterly all his people and all the purposes of his mind, and following the birds under the shadow of the trees he passed deep into Nan Elmoth and was lost. But he came at last to a glade open to the stars, and there Melian stood; and out of the darkness he looked at her, and the light of Aman was in her face.

She spoke no word; but being filled with love Elwe came to her and took her hand, and straightway a spell was laid on him, so that they stood thus while long years were measured by the wheeling stars above them; and the trees of Nan Elmoth grew tall and dark before they spoke any word.

Thus Elwe's folk who sought him found him not, and Olwe took the kingship of the Teleri and departed, as is told hereafter.

So she’s just wandering around in Middle-earth and singing with the birds, and Elwe’s traveling to his cousin’s house and stumbles upon her, and just gets kind of... stuck. Stuck for so long “the trees of Nan Elmoth grew tall and dark before they spoke any word.” Quite a lot of Olwe’s people decide to move on and join up with another tribe and another king; others just stay there in the woods searching and waiting for him and refuse to move on. It’s probably a better motivation than “we just really like this brook, OK” but still, I have to imagine Orome having a little chuckle and an eyeroll at the absurdity of it all.

The romance between Thingol and Melian, as Tolkien describes it, seems to boil down to they were both in the same place at the same time, or maybe that it’s what the narrative requires of a male and female character. There’s actually a lot of truth in that, and if you know your books you probably recognize the blatant similarities to Beren and Luthien, or even Aragorn and Arwen in the LOTR Appendices. There’s this archetype of a great beauty and ethereal singer of a higher ontological order (Maiar to elf, later elf or half-elf to man) causing a great hero to stand still in the woods and be inspired to even greater heroism by his love of her. But there’s very little in the woman herself to inspire a connection with this particular man; or for that matter in the man to explain why she’d want to be partnered to him. It’s fated, and in a very real sense she is an object of devotion and lacking in her own personhood. To quote the Bard, She is a woman, therefore may be wooed; She is a woman, therefore may be won.

It’s slightly more complicated than that, though, even at this early point and with a story told in such cursory strokes. Melian isn’t just a great beauty and creator of beauty that captivates those around her; she’s also an adventurer and explorer of others, going out into Middle-earth even when it was so dangerous not for any particular purpose but for love of it. She could have stayed safe and adored in Aman.

And Thingol isn’t just any elf, even any king. He’s actually seen the light of the Two Trees, which in Tolkien’s verse gives him a certain wisdom and nobility that the rest of his people don’t have. At this point he’s just one of three Elves who’ve seen it. (Orome had shown them Aman to try to convince the Elves to journey there.) So he’s this interesting mix of having seen Aman but not being overpowered by it. Even when he wakes up, he doesn’t try to journey on, he stays  where he is and builds a kingdom with Melian and the people who stayed behind for love of him. They’re both in a sense magnetic to those around them, but not overwhelmed by those drawn to them. That’s a unique kind of role, so I can see why they’d find a kindred spirit in each other.

I really want to talk more about what it means for Melian to settle down into Middle-earth, even to the point she can have a child with Thingol. There’s this fascinating line in the previous chapter: “But already the oldest living things had arisen: in the seas the great weeds, and on earth the shadow of great trees; and in the valleys of the night-clad hills there were dark creatures old and strong.” When I read it I was struck by this idea that “living things” includes included the seas and sea-plants and great trees and what-not, but apparently not the Valar who preceded them. I’m not sure if that’s intentional or not, but it does seem like for Tolkien the Valar and Maiar have this higher ontological role, they’re more real in the sense of  Aquinas’s “Great Chain of Being,” but they’re in some sense less alive. They’re above it all to the point that they’re not really living through everything that’s happened, even as they’ve chained themselves to this task of bringing Ea into being. They’re still not alive; and more importantly they can’t give life, at least not the way Melian can with Luthien.

Or something like that. I’ll try to talk about this more as we get into the later parts of hers and Thingol’s story. But it’s worth keeping an eye on: how is “living” tied up to “being bound up in” the world?

Another thing worth keeping an eye on is, are the Sindar kings, Thingol and those who will claim his lineage later, a kind of colonizers and imperialists? Not quite yet perhaps; the land they’re building their kingdom really does seem to be uninhabited. But as I said there are lots of other elvish communities that either didn’t begin the journey at all or stopped along the way. Spoilers: they’re not going to build great fortresses, they’re going to get for the most part obliterated by Morgoth & Co., and the remnants are going to be absorbed or seek shelter under Thingol.

What advantage does Thingol have? Well, he has the wisdom and strength that comes from seeing the Trees and, until the Noldor return, he’s really the only elf with that. That’s not just skills, it’s a kind of nobility or greatness that (in-text) makes him better than them. He’s also protected by Melian, in a very real sense divinely anointed. On the other hand he’s got this right to rule the elves of Middle-earth instead of the Noldor because he never left. He represents these people, but he’s also better than them. I’m not sure that’s quite imperialism in the real-world sense, but even as a white person who’s not the quickest to analyze the world in these terms, there’s enough going on here that just goes unquestioned to make me very uncomfortable. At a minimum it makes me want to take note.

*******************************

Up next: the remaining Elves (finally!) make it to Aman; we get more dry family trees and entirely too many names; and Ulmo makes another appearance proving once again why he’s one of my favorites among the Valar. He listens to folks, even when it does make things more complicated.

[elamarth-calmagol]

What actually is LACE? (an informal essay)

What’s LACE?

Laws and Customs among the Eldar, or LACE, is the most popular section of the History of Middle Earth books.  It's available online as a PDF here: http://faculty.smu.edu/bwheeler/tolkien/online_reader/T-LawsandCustoms.pdf .  There’s a lot of LACE analysis in the fandom, Silmarillion smut fics are usually labeled “LACE compliant” or “not LACE compliant”, and I’ve been seeing the document itself show up in actual fics, meaning that the characters themselves are discussing it.

LACE is an unfinished, non-canonical essay split into several parts.  It covers the sexuality of elves, which is mostly what people talk about.  It also covers elvish naming (which I want to make a whole different post about), the speed at which elves grow up, changes that happen throughout their lives, their death and rebirth, and finally the legal and moral issues of Finwe remarrying after Miriel’s death.  The discussion about rebirth conflicts with Tolkien’s later writings about Glorfindel’s re-embodiment, but to the best of my knowledge, LACE is the best or only source for most of the topics it covers.

However, LACE is not canon since it doesn’t show up in the Silmarillion.  Counting all of the History of Middle Earth as canon is literally impossible, considering Tolkien contradicts himself all over the place.  It is only useful because it has so much information that is never discussed in the actual canon.  Many people consider it canon out of convenience.

Another important thing to remember is that, other than presumably the discussion of the growth of elvish children, the information is only supposed to apply to the Eldar (meaning the Vanyar, Noldor, Teleri, and Sindar) and not the dark-elves such as the Silvan elves and Avari.

The rest is behind the cut to avoid clogging your feeds.

Problems with LACE interpretations

But because it’s hidden in the History of Middle Earth (volume 10, Morgoth’s Ring), barely anyone actually gets the opportunity to read it.  I don’t think most people are aware that you can get it online, so it doesn't get read much.

I feel like this leads to a handful of people saying something about LACE and everyone else going along with it.  I definitely did this.  I was amazed by all the things that were in the actual essay that nobody had ever told me about, or had told me incorrectly.  For example, most people seem to believe that elves become married at the completion of sexual intercourse (whatever that means to the fic author).  In fact, LACE explicitly says that elves must take an oath using the name of Eru in order to be legally married.  Specifically: 

It was the act of bodily union that achieved marriage, and after which the indissoluble bond was complete… [I]t was at all times lawful for any of the Eldar, being both unwed, to marry thus of free consent one to another without ceremony or witness (save blessings exchanged and the naming of the Name); and the union so joined was alike indissoluble.

I’ve seen a marriage oath being included in a few stories recently, but most writers leave out the oath entirely and just have sex be automatically equivalent to marriage.  What would happen if elves had sex without swearing an oath?  I don’t know, but I’d love to see it explored.

Then there’s a footnote that might explicitly deny the existence of transgender elves... or not, but I’ve literally only seen it mentioned once or twice.  Overall, I feel like all of LACE is filtered through the handful of people who read it, and we’re missing out on a lot of metanalysis and interpretations that we could have because most fans never see the actual document.

Who wrote LACE?

I mean within the mythology of Middle Earth, of course.  Since LACE appears in the History of Middle Earth and not the Silmarillion, we can be pretty sure that J.R.R. Tolkien himself wrote it and it wasn’t added to by Christopher Tolkien.  But that’s not the question here.  Remember that Tolkien’s frame narrative for all of his Middle Earth work is that he is a scholar of ancient times and is translating documents from Westron and Sindarin for modern audiences to read and understand.  The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings come from the Red Book of Westmarch, and I believe The Silmarillion is meant to be Tolkien’s own writings based on his research (though it might also be an adaption of Bilbo’s “Translations from the Elvish”, but I haven't looked into that).  So what does LACE come from?

Christopher Tolkien admits in his notes that he doesn’t know.  He says, “It is clear in any case that this is presented as the work, not of one of the Eldar, but of a Man,” and I agree, because of the way it seems to be written as an ethnographic study rather than by someone who lives in the culture.  Honestly, it talks too much about how elves are seen by Men (e.g. speculating that elf-children might look like the children of Men) to be written by an elf.  This changes once it gets to the Doom of Finwe and Miriel, but that could be, and probably is, a story told to the writer by an elf who was there at the time.

Tolkien actually references Aelfwine in the second version of the text.  The original story behind The Lost Tales, which was the abandoned first version of the Silmarillion, was that a man from the Viking period named Aelfwine/Eriol stumbled onto the Straight Road and found himself on Tol Eressea.  He spoke to the elves and brought back their stories to England with him.  So it makes a lot of sense that Aelfwine would also write about the lives and customs of the elves for an audience of his own people.

Does LACE exist in Middle Earth?

I keep finding fics where first age elves discuss “the Laws and Customs” openly, as if it’s a text in their own world.  I usually get the impression that it was brought by the Noldor from Valinor.  But did the document actually exist in that time period?  For me, the answer is definitely not.

First of all, LACE was probably written by a Man, meaning it could not have dated back to Valinor in the years of the Trees, because Men hadn’t awaked yet.  In fact, the closest thing to an established frame narrative for it is that it was written by Aelfwine, who comes from the time period around 1000 CE (though Tolkien doesn’t seem to have pinned him down).  This is at least the fifth age, if not later.

But what if you don’t believe that it was written by a Man?  It still couldn’t have been written in the First Age, because it discusses the way the relationship between elves’ bodies and souls changes as ages go by.  For example:

As ages passed the dominance of their fear ever increased, ‘consuming’ their bodies... The end of this process is their ‘fading’, as Men have called it.

A lot of time has to go by in order for elves to get to the point of fading.  As a bonus, here’s another reference to the perspective of Men. LACE also discusses the dangers that “houseless feas”, which are souls of elves who do not go to Mandos after their bodies died, pose to Men.  How would they have known about that in the First Age?  It further says that “more than one rebirth is seldom recorded” (which isn’t contradicted anywhere I know of), and that’s not something you would know during your life of joy in Valinor, where almost nobody dies.  That’s something you learn after millennia of war.  This has to be a document written well after the Silmarillion ends.

So what about the sex part?  That’s all we care about, right?  Well, it is entirely possible that this was written down by the elves and Aelfwine translated it (though my impression is that he mostly recorded stories told orally to him and that elves were not very much into writing, at least in Valinor where you could get stories directly from someone who experienced them).  However, why would the elves write this down?  They know how quickly their children grow up.  They’ve seen actual marriages.  They don’t need that described to them.  And if they did have a specific document or story explaining the expectations of them when it comes to sex and marriage, why would they call it “Laws and Customs”?  That’s a very strange name for a set of rules for conduct.  I’m sure they had a list of laws written out somewhere in great detail, like our own state or national laws (that seems very in character for the Noldor, at least).  But I seriously doubt that those laws are what we’ve been given to read. LACE is not an elvish or Valinoran document.

Is LACE prescriptive or descriptive?

Here’s the other big question I’m interested in.  Prescriptive means that the document describes the way people should behave.  Descriptive means that it describes how people do behave.  And the more I worldbuild for Middle Earth and the culture of elves, the more I want to say that LACE is prescriptive in its discussion of sex, marriage, and gender roles.

But wait.  I’ve been saying for paragraphs that I think LACE is Aelfwine or another Man’s ethnographic study of elvish culture.  Then it has to be descriptive, right?

Does it?  How long do we think Aelfwine stayed with the elves?  Did he wait fifty years to see a child grow up?  Did he get to witness a wedding ceremony?  Did he meet houseless fea?  I don’t think he could have done all of that.  Maybe a different Man who spent his entire life with the elves could, but then when was this written?  When the elves were still marrying and having children in Middle Earth or when so much time had gone by that they had begun to fade already?

Whoever wrote this was told a lot of information by elves instead of experiencing it firsthand, the same way he heard the stories from the First Age from the elves instead of being there.  Maybe it was one elf who talked to him, maybe several different ones.  But did those elves accurately describe their society the way it was, give him the easiest description, or explain the way it was supposed to be?  If I was describing modern-day America, would I discuss premarital sex or just our dating and marriage customs?  Maybe people would come away from a talk with me thinking that moving in together equated to marriage for Americans in the early 21st century.  And I don’t even have an agenda to show America in a certain way, I'm just bad at explaining.  Did the elves talking to what may have been the first Man they had seen in millennia have an agenda in the way they presented themselves?

Or did the writer himself have an agenda?  Imagine going to see these beautiful, mythical, perfect beings, and you find out that they behave in the same immoral ways Men do.  Do you want to share the truth back home?  Or do you leave out things that don't match your worldview? Did Aelfwine come back wanting to tell people what elves were really like?  Or did he want to say “this is how you can be holy and perfect like an elf”?

Anyone studying the Age of Exploration will tell you that Europeans neber wrote about new cultures objectively, and often things were made up to fit the writer’s idea of what savages looked like. For example, my Native American history teacher in college told a story of how explorers described one tribe who (sensibly) didn't wear clothes as cannibals, because cannibalism and going around naked went together in their minds and not because of any actual incident.  Unbiased scholarship barely existed yet. Even Tolkien was extremely biased and tended to be imperialistic, as we all know.  There’s absolutely no reason to think that Aelfwine wasn’t biased in his own way.  (Of course, now we have to consider what biases a Danish or English man from the centuries around 1000 would have when it comes to things like gender roles. I assume he would have been more into divorce and female warriors than the elves are said to be.)

But is that what Tolkien intended? Probably not. He probably wanted LACE to be descriptive. But he also never got much of a chance to analyse the essay after the fact, which might have led to him discussing its accuracy and even the exact issues I just pointed out about explorers. Anyway, we know he's biased, and honestly, what he intended has never slowed down the fandom before.

Conclusion

In short, I take LACE to be a prescriptive document describing the way elvish culture is supposed to be, not a blueprint I have to stick to in order to correctly portray elves.  I also don’t believe the document that’s available for us to read existed even in the early Fourth Age, where The Lord of the Rings leaves off.  There maybe have been some document outlining the moral behavior of elves, as a set of laws, but thats not the Laws and Customs we have.

Of course, canon is up to you to interpret.  If you want Feanor discussing LACE with someone back in Valinor, go ahead.  If you want to throw out LACE entirely, go ahead.  It’s not even a canonical essay.  All of this analysis is honestly useless when you consider the fact that no part of LACE exists in any canonical book.

But that’s Tolkien analysis for you.

[alia-turin-fanfiction]

This is for the amazing @mentoskova hopefully that satisfies at least some of your Sauron/Galadriel needs

Fic tile: A Gift for a Favor Warning: Explicit (nudity, some sexual themes, mention of violence) Fandoms: The Silmarillion Relationship: Sauron/Galadriel AO3 Link

She watched the water running down from the cliff and hitting the ground with loud noise. The mist building around the waterfall almost covered the faint sunlight that already had hard time reaching the ground because of the thick tree crowns. The place was the same from her dream, it felt so real then as it was now, vivid, colours bright and mysterious. One thing her dreams were not clear about was why she was supposed to be here. She dreamt of this place for weeks now and every night the images became clearer and clearer. 

Galadriel looked around, wanting to find a sign, what was special about this place, what was the significance of this location? What was so unusual about it in order to bring her here and not give her rest for such a long time. 

“You came.” Galadriel turned around, to follow the voice, the man who spoke, she knew him, she had seen him with Celebrimbor. The smith, yes. Long gold hairs fell freely down his black and silver robes, sharp eyes stared at her intensely. “I didn’t think you would.” 

“Artano.” she spoke his name, coming closer to him, watching every move, why was he here, what was he doing here? She never trusted the man and she knew neither did her nephew recently. She had her suspicion of who the man was, but she could not prove it. Only sensing, guessing. “Why are you here?”

“I had a dream.” His voice was honey, soft, sweet, could melt iron if he wanted it to, but there was strength to it, power that could bend wills, but not hers, she admired him, but did not fear him. “I saw this place in my dreams and I dreamt that I would meet you and I needed to find it. I looked for weeks until I did...here you are, mistress Galadriel.”

He bowed his head slightly, submission? No, his body was submitting, but not his eyes, there was fire in them, nothing humble about that gaze. 

“Here I am.” she said coming closer to him, placing a finger under his chin and lifting his head up. No submission in his gaze, power, so much power. She tilted her head, those were not the eyes of an elf. “What do you want, smith?”

“A favour, and I will pay with a gift.'' He grabbed her hand, so gently, his touch so warm, he moved it closer to his lips, kissing her fingers. Galadriel could not pull away, was that magic or? No, it wasn’t. She felt enchanted but not by him, she was attracted to the mystery and potentially danger. She could sense the power, greater than hers, probably greater than anyone who currently walked Middle Earth.  

Mairon reached for his pocket with his other hand slowly taking out what he had. He did not fail to notice the ring on the hand he was holding, made of mithril and white stone embedded in it. It had power, no greater than his, but could challenge him nonetheless. He smiled, trying to hide his disappointment. Not in her, but Celebrimbor...the little bastard would pay for it over and over again. He would peel the skin off his flesh for his audacity. 

“A powerful gift, for a powerful favour.” He showed her the ring he was holding and then placed it in her palm. All he needed was for her to put it on her finger, even for a moment she would be his, forever, despite the power of her will. He didn’t even need the rest of them, her strength would be enough to turn them all into the slaves they were always meant to be. 

“What is the favour, Annatar?” her eyes pinned on his, as if she was trying to see in his soul. He had no doubt sooner or later she would figure out who he was, but he did not care now. As long as he could get what he wanted, it didn’t matter. 

“A lock of your hair.” he smiled and reached for her head, his finger hooking a strand of her golden locks and curling it around his digit. 

“Better men than you have asked for that and been refused.” the elfess lips curved into an alluring smile, she was challenging him, but he was yet to discover what the challenge was. 

“I wouldn’t go as far to call Feanor better than me.” he challenged her back, if that was the game they were playing he would be more than happy to accommodate. “Besides, the Spirit of Fire wanted to create beauty for his eyes only. I’m not that selfish, whatever my hands create, will be yours as well.” Mairon released her hair and ran his finger through her porcelain skin. There was power in this woman, strength that he admired and hated at the same time. He needed to possess and subjugate. Her kin was manice, but for her...he had a special place for her. “I can make you a Queen, more powerful and beloved than any King history has ever seen.” 

He watched her carefully, her eyes shining at his words, strong willed was Finwe’s kin, but they all could break, one way or another. Same way he broke her brother, he was going to find a way to break her will. He knew curiosity when he saw it, and he knew how to attract. The elves were cursed like that, a blessing for him. 

Galadriel looked at the ring that had been offered to her. Beautiful creation and even if it had just been placed in her hand she could feel the power. Celebrimbor had created the elven rings, but that was different. Strength that she wanted and was attracted to. For years now she had suspected that the nightmare was back. She had seen it in her dreams, less vivid than this one, more cryptic. Could it be that her nephew worked with the one creature on earth that he should have avoided. Galadierl looked in the elf’s eyes, so different. The color was deep and bright but somehow it felt like it sucked the light out of everything. Could it be? 

“You speak of power and you promise power in return, but all you claim to be is a simple smith working with Celebrimor. Tell me, Gorthaur, did you offer him power as well? Knowledge? Or you just played on his unresolved family issues?” Galadriel watched his expression, but nothing changed there. However, he did not deny his name either, was it too late? Was it now the time he was going to reveal himself and she was just the first of many to fall. One thing she knew for sure, if he was after her, she would not make it easy for him. 

“You see further than I thought.” he offered a reassuring smile, she wondered if that was hesitation or he was just pretending. Was that his plan all along? “You are beautiful and smart my lady.”  He moved his finger from her cheek down to her neck. “But what I said is the truth and nothing else. Celebrimbor is weak like his father and grandfather. You might be an elf, but you are equal to me.” what happened next she did not expect, he fell on his knees, his black and grey robes touching the grass as his head was reaching now just to her belly. “I will rule this place and you could be my Queen.” 

She placed a hand on his face, her fingers brushing against the soft golden hair. What if there was truth to his words? He would try to entrap her, she knew it, but what if her own power could be stronger than his? After all he had been hiding for years, pretending to be someone he wasn’t, needed to build his strength. Was he as strong as he was supposed to be or he was still weak, that was why he needed her. Her eyes moved from him to the river behind them, the sun had already set, but there was still some light coming through the thick leaves. There was one place where her power would be stronger than his. 

“Why don’t you prove yourself to me?” Galadriel made a step back, her eyes not leaving his. “You speak of making me a queen, prove that you are willing to submit, the way you say you are.” 

Mairon watched as the elfess stepped away from him and then turned her back. She walked toward the water as her fingers worked on the ivory dress she was wearing, the fabric peeling from her body as she moved further. His jaw clenched realizing what trick she was playing to him. He got up, trying to think through his options. He could turn around and walk away, he needed her power, he needed to understand the ring that insolent whelp had given her, but it wasn’t that imperative. 

He decided he would play. He cleared the grass that had been stuck to his robes, but his eyes were not leaving her shape. One thing he could say without lying to himself was that her beauty was unparalleled. Even just an elf, she was worthy of being a queen, too bad he did not like sharing. Maybe after he was done with the insolent Celebrimbor, Celeborn would be next and he would claim his queen for real. 

The cold water caressed Galadriel’s skin as she walked in the river, step by step, until the coolness reached her collarbones. She turned around, almost sure Sauron would have walked away by now, deciding the risk was not worth it, but he was still there. His eyes fixed on her and he probably had observed every step she made. Neither of them spoke, she waited. 

He made a step forward, his elegant fingers started working on his coat, he wasn’t in a hurry, she wondered if it was the water that was making this less enticing or it was all part of his plan. The top fell and all that was left was his shirt and pants. He untied his belt, letting it fall behind him as he did another step. His hands grabbed the hem of his shirt and took it off revealing the toned body underneath. Then he untied the laces of his pants and took them off as he walked, just before he stepped in  the river and moved toward her. Galdriel knew that whatever body she was seeing in front of herself was not his own. Not really, he had picked a shape and form that was attractive and he had done well. It was all a trick, and she knew that very well, but her eyes could not move away from the strength of his biceps and the firmness of his chest as he slowly sank into the water.

“Here I am.” he said as he came just inches away from her. “We are almost equal now.” 

“Almost.” One thing she did not plan for was him following her. She was stronger here, but not strong enough to defeat him alone. Galadriel was not even sure at that point if she wanted to defeat him. What he offered was tempering. Wrong and sinful, but she could use it for good…

Mairon had to use all his power to keep his face from showing the pain he was feeling. The water was burning him, the form he had created was strong, but he wondered how strong before he was forced to walk out. He knew that wouldn’t kill him, or hurt him for real, but his power was weaker and he had to be careful. 

He reached again for Galadrield’s face, this time with his palm cupping it almost gently. Affection was not something he understood but he had seen humans and elves give it to each other and he could imitate. He did enjoy the way her skin felt against his touch, the softness and the warmth. It did nothing to calm the pain he was feeling, but there was something additicing to it. She suddenly grabbed his wrist, her palm warm despite the coldness of the water and moved even closer to him, her lips pressing against his and kissed him. 

Galadriel was not sure what possessed her to do that, it was like playing with fire, literally, and she enjoyed it. It was just a kiss, innocent but also forbidden. She wanted to taste the power he had and she did. There was strength in his touch, not just physical, but knowledge he could give her. Power he could reward her with. What if she could  have him? What if she could really be equal to him, or better. Her hand reached for his face, caressing the long strands of hair so soft, like silk, she had never felt anything like it, never seen a color like this…

...because it wasn’t real. She took a step back. His beauty, his words, nothing was real. 

“You give everyone what they want, don’t you?” her hand still on his face, so beautiful. “You tricked Celebrimbor with your gift in smiting, more dwarf this one than an elf. You will trick me with power and strength and then I will end up in chains at your feet.” 

“Cruel.” a smile curved on his lips as he burned his head and kissed the hand that was holding his face. “If I chain you at my feet, that will just ruin your beauty.” He moved the hand that was holding her face to her neck and slid it down to her collarbones. “I have held many of your kin on a chain, they all break. Even poor brave Finrod.” 

Galadriel suddenly snapped from what had taken over her. Her brother’s death was in the past and his own oath and actions brought him to Sauron’s door, but that was a reminder for her. This was the enemy and she was not ready, not yet. Curiosity brought her here and she knew everything she needed to know. She took another step back, somehow disappointed as his touch left her skin. Then another one as she started whispering the words, the water raised, the sound from the waterfall became louder, another step back and she could see the confusion on Sauron’s face just before a wave crashed into him and carried him down the stream. 

Mairon managed to get out of the water a few miles down, he crawled into the dirt and rolled on the grass, the relief from the terrible burning sensation feeling better than anything else. He had been so close to get her, she was going to give herself up, but she was not as stupid as the rest of her kin. It was not all loss. The power in Celebrimbor’s rings was great, now he knew that and all he needed was to find a way to create greater power. 

“Until next time, my radiant lady.” he whispered to the forest as he knew there was going to be next time.