#underrated elves of the silmarillion

[elficially-done-with-life]

Forever Together

Pairing: Argon x Reader

Summary: You and Argon share a quiet moment together while travelling over the Helcaraxë.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

You felt like your skin was on fire as Argon's warm hands stroked over your exposed skin. It seemed so long ago since you had last felt his warmth.

It had been a long time. You had set out on the ice several weeks ago, but you had rarely rested, and when you had, Fingolfin had assigned your husband some sort of task. Of course you understood that this was important for your survival, but you still felt cold and abandoned sometimes.

Argon seemed to notice that. While you continued to fight your way through the snow during the day, Argon, who always walked in front next to his father, fell further back to take your hand for a moment. His fingers clasped yours and the ice no longer seemed so cold to you.

After a while, Fingolfin had decided that you would have to take a longer rest, as all of you were getting slower and slower due to your exhaustion, making you even more vulnerable on the open road than you already were.

So you put up some tents to protect you from the cold and you tried to get some sleep.

When you fell asleep you were freezing, but when you woke up you could smell Argon's familiar scent and feel his hands gently rubbing every bit of skin they could find to keep you warm.

You kept your eyes closed for a moment. You had missed his gentle touch so much.

The warm days in Valinor when you had picnicked or gone swimming in the lake together seemed centuries ago.

"I know you are awake," he whispered and kissed you gently on the forehead. You could hear the smile in his voice. He pulled his hands away and let himself slide under the covers behind you.

You whimpered softly and snuggled back against Argon. "Please do not stop."

He laughed softly. "Do not worry, my love, I will prevent you from freezing to death." He wrapped his strong arms around you and turned you round so that the tips of your noses were touching.

His warm breath brushed over your face and drove away any feeling of cold. "Do not worry, Melda." Argon whispered and kissed you softly. His hands gently stroked down your body, from your cheeks to your hips, where he pulled you even tighter against him. "Tonight I am all yours."

He winked.

"Arakáno!Turukáno, Elenwë and Itarillë are right in the tent next to us. So we won't be doing anything like that." you said, but you had to smile.

When Argon saw your smile, he let out a pleasant sigh. One of his hands travelled back up to your face and gently stroked your lips to trace your smile.

Then he leant forward and kissed you again. At first his lips brushed only lightly over yours, but soon his kisses became firmer and more passionate. He pushed himself off the ground a little and carefully rolled onto you.

Your hands stroked through his hair and soon found their way to his cheeks.

You let out a surprised noise. "Arakáno?" You broke away from him. "Oh, why are you crying."

His cheeks were full of tears.

Argon's fingers gently stroked your cheek as he looked down at you.

"Because you are only here because of me. You deserve better than a tiny tent in the cold, wet snow. I am so sorry that I cannot give you more."

"Oh Arakáno." You gently took his face into your hands and began to brush away his tears with your thumbs. "Do not blame yourself."

"But it is true." His other hand found its way to your hair and stroked softly over it.

"Yes," you said softly, "I am here because of you. I am here because I love you anb because I cannot bear to live apart from you. I would make that decision again if it meant having you by my side. Because Valinor would be colder than the Helcaraxë without you, Arakáno."

He looked at you from his gentle eyes as more tears ran down his cheeks. "Thank you," Argon finally said, "Thank you for being by my side."

"Let us always stay together, no matter where we go," you said softly, wrapping your arms around him.

Argon lowered his head onto your chest, a position you don't normally lie in as he was so huge, while you gently stroked his hair.

"It will be all right, my dearest Arakáno."

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

[justpostsyeet]

Underrated elves polls

Part7

[doodle-pops]

Hello everyone and welcome to this first time ever event!

As stated in the title, this event primarily focuses on the underrated and underappreciated characters in the Silmarillion reader insert community who I write for. The focus will be on the elves.

The event will run through the month of August. Over the course of the month, a mixture of headcanons (group and individual) and fics will be released for the following characters, in no particular order:

Curufin | Amrod | Amras | Turgon | Argon | Finarfin | Angrod | Aegnor | Galdor | Rog | Egalmoth | Thingol | Beleg | Gwindor | Gil Galad

Themes can range from angst to fluff to romantic and AUs, for the sake of providing a wider range of content. Furthermore, this event will feature SFW content with a sprinkle of suggestive themes, but no explicit content. Tags and warnings will be added accordingly.

This event is also opened to other reader insert writers who would like to contribute and boost the content. If you do participate, use the tag #underratedcharacterevent and tag @doodle-pops. I will reblog your work here and add them to the Masterlist constructed for this event along with your blog's name as credit.

[sparrowsarus]

LOTR for the fandom ask

Aw yeah! I'm going to keep this to the LOTR trilogy, or we will be here all day.

Who I want to be friends with: Glorfindel. Tell me about Valinor in the Light of the Trees. Tell me about Gondolin before its fall. Give me all the House of Finwe dirt. Alternatively, Tom and Goldberry. They took one look at the whole ring business and noped right out.

Who I don’t like: Don't get me wrong--I respect Denethor. He was doing his best. But he was a bad father. Don't tell your kid the wrong son died! What the fuck!

Overrated character: In the trilogy, none of them. All those spicy opinions are Silmarillion related.

Underrated character: Frodo. I read a post the other day that pretty much said that, if you can't see that Frodo was hurt and scared and vulnerable? If you think he's just whiny and boring? Then you have either never been through trauma, or you haven't come to terms with your trauma. Frodo is doing the best he can.

I hope people who knock Frodo are kinder to the people they meet in real life who are ill or in pain.

Who I LOVEEEEE: My boy Sam! Look at my boy! He's a grubby little farmer who loves the earth, and cooking, and is utterly ride-or-die for his friends. He's a little judgmental, but he's also kind and poetic! He spends weeks planting grains of dirt at once-beloved trees across the Shire so they might regrow! Sam puts in the work!!

Also Gimli! Gimli who loves gems as others love flowers--because they are beautiful. Gimli, who has contests with backwater Elvish princes! Gimli, who grieves the loss of Kazad-dum, and the friends who died there trying to reclaim it. Gimli, who was ordered by one of the oldest elves of Middle Earth to ask for a gift, and he named a strand of her hair, without assuming he would get it because it's so audacious. Gimli, who's like "sure Legolas, I'll go to Elvenhome with you, where mortals aren't actually allowed to go. I might see Galadriel again!"

Who I would give a hug: Elrond. If anyone deserves a hug it's him. Poor chap has had a rough life.

My OTP: Sam and Rosie, hands down. The symbolism of them! Like, Aragorn and Arwen, and Faramir and Eowyn? Those are great romances.

But Sam and Rosie are just....I love them, your honour.

Thank you for asks!!

[ao3feed-tolkien]

The Numenorean Letters

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/0T8duo5

by Chisscientist

Words: 663, Chapters: 1/5, Language: English

Series: Part 4 of The Saga of the Second Age

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

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Major Character Death

Categories: Gen

Characters: Ereinion Gil-galad, Tar-Telperiën, Tar-Minastir, Tar-Ciryatan, Celebrimbor | Telperinquar

Relationships: Ereinion Gil-galad and Numenor, Ereinion Gil-galad and the Line of Elros

Additional Tags: Epistolary, Gil-galad is scared and frustrated, the war of the Elves vs Sauron is actually really interesting, And underrated, Ignores Amazon entirely

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/0T8duo5

[so-mitzycal]

Y'all remember Fankil? That one guy who has Lieutenant issues @ Sauron for taking his place? The one who started the Battle of Palisor? That guy who some think was THE Dark Hunter?

You probably don't but I love this Mairon wannabe fucker so now he has a design

[tolkien-feels]

Happy Tolkien Reading Day!!

I don't remember when I first began doing this, but the way I celebrate Reading Day is by choosing a relevant passage each from the Silm, the Hobbit and LotR, and then I think a little bit about why I like these passages in particular. I also strictly forbid myself from choosing a passage longer than three paragraphs or so, to prevent myself from picking entire chapters.

I really LOVE this year's theme (Love & Friendship) so it was very, very difficult to choose my passages, simply because I wanted to pick like ten for each book. In the end, I went with these.......

The Silmarillion

I know what you're all thinking. Of course I'm choosing Blorbo from my war crimes. But actually, no, that's not why I chose it. I chose it because I trust people will bring up lots of moving tales of devotion, but this is a passage I'm extremely fond of and that I find to be pretty underrated.

The Silmarillion. The story of the Silmarils. Most priceless of jewels, most prized of subcreations, keeper of the Light even gods long for. "What do the Silmarils do?" is a common question with many answers, but my view is that they're dear. They're wanted, they're beloved, they are impossible to substitute. When Beren says a Silmaril is a small price for Luthien, we are all suitably impressed.

But here is how the tale of the Silmarils begin - with the loss of another person who is more beloved than them. The Silmarils have but a fragment of Treelight - Finwe is dearer than the Trees themselves, and Feanor weeps not for their destruction, but for Finwe's death. The Silmarils are but Feanor's favorite subcreation - but Finwe matters more to him than all of his creations. For the Silmarils alone, Feanor dares the mightiest of Valar. What would he do for all the works of his hands and all the Light of Aman? That's difficult to imagine, given that Feanor's love for the Silmarils is tainted by possessiveness, so it's nearly impossible to take a guess at how Finwe's death would have impacted him if the Silmarils hadn't been stolen, and if he hadn't already been corrupted by himself and Morgoth's lies.

Still, I find it heartbreaking (soulcrushing, actually) to interpret the Silmarillion through these lenses. As dear as the Silmarils prove themselves to be, Finwe was dearer, like Luthien was. There's such a thing as love that says "You are dearer to me than the best creation of the gods captured within the best creation of elves" - how can you read that little section and not understand why the Noldor wept seeing Feanor's pain? I definitely can't!

The Hobbit

The Hobbit was... Weird? I immediately knew I wanted this section, because I love it, but as I tried to figure out what other options I had, just in case I was overlooking something, I realized how weirdly loveless this book is? Don't get me wrong, friendship is still a major theme, but it's specifically as opposed to disputes. The Hobbit doesn't have huge moments of impossible devotion like Tolkien's books usually do. As I tried to think of why, I realized that Tolkien actually treats The Power of Love and Friendship not as something childish, but as something adult. Even in the Hobbit, the reader has to grow up with Bilbo before this passage can land. The greater the darkness, the greater the devotion. When you put it like that, it's almost silly we think of friendship as being a theme naturally suited for children's books? (I mean I can see why it is, but I can also see Tolkien's point!)

Anyway as for the passage itself, the line that made me cry when I was 10 and still makes me stop for a moment whenever I read it, is "I am glad that I have shared in your perils." Bilbo, who wants nothing more than comfort and peace the entire adventure, is actually glad not just to have known Thorin, but to have shared in his perils. That's something I could see Beleg saying to Turin, but coming from Bilbo Baggins it just takes my breath away.

Thorin says Bilbo's friendship is of more worth than all his treasures - his gold and his silver - and Bilbo says Thorin's friendship is of more worth than all his treasures - comfort and peace. I was expecting Thorin's arc even at 10 years old - "love is more important than riches!" is a cliche - but I truly did not expect Bilbo to turn around and say "yes, but love is also worth facing darkness for." I couldn't word it like that at the time (I don't think I worded it like that until I first read Beren and Luthien and it hit me like a freight train) but it taught me an important lesson for life, and prepared me to read Tolkien in the way that I do, which is always looking for what people are willing to give up and for what reason.

The Lord of the Rings

LotR was the hardest to pick. Not because there were no good options, but because nearly every page is about love and friendship. Decision paralysis is so real.

A Conspiracy Unmasked is one of my favorite chapters (maybe the very favorite, even) so I thought I should choose something from that... But as I was leafing through my book I remembered this moment, and I knew it had to be it. This exchange here is so foundational to Tolkien's themes. The one in danger, who wants to protect those he loves from his dark fate. Those who love him, unwilling to be left behind.

"We are envying Sam, not you" is one hell of a line. I daresay this can be applied to so many situations. I'm sure Maglor does not envy Maedhros - but does he envy Fingon? Luthien certainly doesn't envy Beren, but she noticeably takes over Finrod's role after his death. These are people who very very very famously know a thing or two about danger.

It's that theme again - "I am glad to have shared in your perils." It's also the Feanorian "Between Light and you, I choose you." The Shire, Rivendell, Valinor - there's no place that can bring you any comfort if the one you love is comfortless. An ideal world would give all who love the opportunity to spare their loved ones any pain - Frodo and Merry both say "I don't want you to suffer" and so do Sam and Pippin - but if that's an impossibility in Arda Marred, then facing darkness together is the one consolation left for both parties.

Even though Pippin is Pippin and I doubt he's carefully considering his words, I think he's onto something. To be allowed to "share in your perils" is a reward. Frodo cannot see it just then, but it is. I mean, what wouldn't Hurin have done for the possibility of suffering alongside his wife and children? Not for lifting the Curse, just for being there. Powerlessness is torture, even away from Morgoth - ask Eowyn.

I can't help but think of Frodo's struggle when he leaves the Fellowship only to find Sam has come after him. The horror of having to lead someone you love into an evil fate is only surpassed by the comfort of not being alone. On the other hand, the horror of letting someone face an evil fate alone is greater than the comfort of being safe yourself. Either way, if you do the math, sticking together if at all possible is the wiser option.

You know, I don't enjoy reading about pain for the sake of it. (I can understand the appeal, it's just not for me.) But the reason I find pain in Tolkien so meaningful is just this. Every pain can be matched by equal devotion, and both the one helping and the one being helped consider themselves equally lucky. I know that's not always how it works in real life, but it's so satisfying to see in a world where Evil (not evil, Evil) can be overcome by love and friendship, a world where coming together is always the right thing to do, and - and this I find the most touching - accepting help is as wise and brave as giving it.

In conclusion I love today's theme ✨a completely normal amount✨

[kazz-brekker]

OH also the Silmarillion because you seem to have lots of thoughts on that?

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

I think I have to say Maedhros just because I find his tragic arc SO compelling. I'm just very impressed by the absolute tragedy of making a spur-of-the-moment oath to avenge your father's death and then being driven to do worse and worse things to fulfill it until you've finally succeeded but can't live with yourself anymore.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Baby Elrond and Elros because I MUST protect them and their backstory makes me so sad. Like, first your mom turns into a bird and you dad turns into a star, then you're raised by the people partially responsible for that, and then you choose separate paths in life. I just want to give them a hug. Yes I know that's two characters but as children they're pretty firmly linked.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

I feel like everyone in the Silmarillion is underrated by the simple virtue of the fact that no casual reader of Lord of the Rings knows that any of them exist? I like Aegnor, though, mostly because I'm interested in Galadriel's siblings and he's also the only male elf ever written to have a romance with a human woman (which did not have a happy ending, alas).

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

Haleth! She's only in like 2 pages of the Silmarillion due to being a human rather than an elf and therefore not living as long but I think she's neat and I liked that she decided to strike out on her own with her people rather than live under the rule of elves. Also, I personally think she maybe had a thing with Caranthir because there is one (1) whole line of dialogue in the Silmarillion about how he admires her.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

Maeglin. Listen, I know he was kind of a weirdo towards his cousin Idril and also betrayed the city of Gondolin, leading to its fall, but have you considered: he had a bad childhood. Seriously, I don't think ANYONE could be a well-adjusted person after watching his father attempt to kill him and instead kill his mother.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Probably Celegorm because it was Not Chill of him and his brother Curufin to try and capture Luthien, and then he had to follow that up with killing Luthien's son in a duel a few years later. I would enjoy reminding him that his magic dog left him because he was such a bad person.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

I know there are obvious choices like Sauron and Morgoth but I really have to say Eöl. Not only did he manipulate Aredhel into marrying him by making sure she couldn't leave his forest, he was also a suuuper controlling and awful person who tried to murder his son when he left him.

[arofili]

@oneringnet underrated characters event ☆ GELMIR & ARMINAS

Now it came to pass, when four hundred and ninety-five years had passed since the rising of the Moon, in the spring of the year, there came to Nargothrond two Elves, named Gelmir and Arminas; they were of Angrod’s people, but since the Dagor Bragollach they dwelt in the south with Círdan the Shipwright. From their far journeys they brought tidings of a great mustering of Orcs and evil creatures under the eaves of Ered Wethrin and in the Pass of Sirion; and they told also that Ulmo had come to Círdan, giving warning that great peril drew nigh to Nargothrond.

—The Silmarillion, “Of Túrin Turambar”

[faustandfurious]

part 1 / 2: mate in this moment is full of silmarillion songs!!!! (I just didn't want to go overboard, but now that you've suggested you like the songs)... "Sailing Away" is 100% about the elves and the sea-longing (but also the Noldor first coming to middle-earth + earendil leaving elwing, just... so much). "Comanche" is like. every major battle, but feeling esp nauglamir/doriath conflict), "Scarlet" is doomed lovers (beren/luthien as well: “knew we'd die before we lived”)...

part 2 / 2: “Blood Legion” is Nirnaeth (the build-up of it until the end is!!!), “Fighter” is also heavy Mae-feelings imo, “11:11” is just... so many characters for me. Anyone who's lost and loved. “The Promise” (Andreth and Aegnor? Tbh can be for any doomed lovers.. there's enough to choose from. Also there's a joint scream in it at some point that I love more than anything) “Twin Flames” (yet more lovers, but I wanna say Feanor/Nerdanel) - ITM is so underrated for silm feelings tbh!!!

Ooooh, I like these recommendations. Just going to leave the youtube links here for people to check out

Sailing Away

Comanche

Scarlet

Blood Legion

The Fighter (this one is sooo good)

11:11

The Promise

Twin Flames

[justpostsyeet]

Underrated elves poll

Part8

[nyarnamaitar]

You know what I think is a bit underrated in the Silmarillion Fandom? Manwe and Ingwe's friendship. They have been friends since the arrival of the elves in Valinor and basically live together because the Vanyar love their birb just so much but still people in this fandom seem to be convinced that there's no positive or warm interaction between Manwe and the Elves...

I WANT TO GIVE YOU AN AWARD FOR THIS ASK. so wrong on so many levels (as is shown by, amongst others, Ingwë and Manwë’s friendship). I can’t believe so many Tolkien fans fall for Melkor’s lies… The irony is real.

Like, idk how to make it any clearer, but the Noldor =/ THE Eldar. And the Fëanorians and their supporters =/ THE Noldor. Let’s just stop assuming one group’s anti-Valar feelings are valid for the entire Noldorin population – never mind for the Eldar as a whole. Then again, this fandom’s always had a thing for placing certain characters’ feelings and thoughts above what the other characters feel and think. *shrug* 

[doodle-pops]

Hii mina! Mae-duh-whores anon here if you remember me! First of all sorry for the thirst tweet ask that turned out to be a request, I really hope that wasn't annoying!

And second I read the elves reading thirst tweets posts you linked in the response and please they are so funny,, exactly how imagined they would be like !! the obliviousness yet also the awareness that they're indeed hot, yep they'd definitely react like that!

also can i just say thank you again for introducing me to silmarillion and fuelling the obsession, it's literally all I've been thinking for the past few months and honestly, loving every second of it! well except for when I'm reminded of what actually happened to all them but i try surpress that shit because who'd wanna think bout that lmao

oh also, I would like to really thank you for the underrated character event! after reading the books and fanfictions i fell in love with all those underrated characters,, i was so sad when I found out there isn't much work of them on here but im really greatful for this event! they deserve all the love!! and so far I've enjoyed all the recent fics and I hope you write more for them in the future! I honestly wish I knew how to write properly, i would have loved to participate in this event because i have so so many ideas and I can plot and everything but the actual writing and dialogue part, not my strongest suit haha

Why don't you just come here so I can just give you a massive squeeze 💕💕💕

Ah, I'm so happy that I've decided to do this event. That was my initial reason to begin with. I would say, “What if someone ended up liking these characters and came looking for content and found none or little?”, which motivated me to pursue the event, and it thrills me to learn that you're enjoying it! I don't know if I'll do this event again since the purpose was boosting their content to make them less underrated, but if they still are after all this and more, then I'll do it again 😁

As for the Silm and our favourites, if you don't think about all the horrible stiff that happened to our favourites, do you really love them? You gotta remember their pain and hurt with them, it's about creating a bond and loving them more 🥲. And remembering all the stupid stunts some of them did smh.

[lifeinmiddleearth]

Militant Tolkien purists/racist fans in general: ‘But the Feanorians aren’t supposed to be black! There were no black people back then!’

Me: 

Anyway this is my depiction of the Feanorians as they were in Valinor, in a more noble getup. Partly inspired by the amazing photography of James C Lewis, I think their clothing is also more practical for the warm Valinor climate. I wanted to practice different hairstyles too. I think my shading could have been better in places, and the colouring in some areas looks awkward. I also still draw the necks too long and I can’t draw hands to save my life. I think it turned out okay overall though, I just wish my scanner could have done it more justice.

Top: Amrod and Amras. Character wise they are the least interesting of Feanor’s sons in my opinion (at least in canon), but it’s probably because we don’t see them in the narrative all that much. Design wise however I think they look good enough.

Middle left: A rather dashing looking Celegorm, and by the looks of things the only one who enjoys posing here. I wanted to capture especially his free spirited attitude, as well as him being a dog person. I really like how his design turned out and if it were not for his later actions in the story he would probably be one of my favourites.

Centre: My favourite bad tempered elf, Caranthir and easily the most underrated of the seven (seriously he is the only one of Feanor’s sons to lack his own wikipedia page). In my version of the Silmarillion he actually has a bad limp, due to a childhood accident which I hope to go into later, also I like the idea of having more disabled elves in the mix.

Middle Right: Curufin, aka Feanor Jr. His expression just states, ‘I’m too important for any of you!’. In all seriousness though I wanted to show his father’s likeness and demeanor. Like Feanor, he also loves his bling, so I decided to reflect that too. Again, it’s a shame he turned out villainous, because he looks pretty damn fabulous here if you ask me.

Bottom left: Maedhros. Despite him being described as ‘the tall’, he is not actually the tallest elf in Tolkien’s world. However I like to imagine him being the strongest, only being rivaled by Argon. I can imagine only an elf with his strength can survive the kind of trauma he endured :( As you can possibly see, I partly based his design on a lion so he is a little bit chunkier than the others. Like a lion he is also pretty grumpy, unless he is hanging around with Fingon of course.

Bottom right: Maglor. I have a headcanon that Maglor is water as Maedhros is fire. While I imagine him being down to earth for the most part, in battle he can be terrifying, his mood kind of resembles the sea in that sense. I also like the idea of him (along with Maedhros) being a strong family man, helping to guide his younger siblings through all walks of life, as well as being close to his mother, that is likely what inspired him to take Elrond and Elros under his wing.

Again, sorry for not posting for so long. I may do the house of Fingolfin next if I am feeling up to it. Either way I will guarantee more Middle Earth art coming soon.