lords-of-arda

[lords-of-arda]

One of my favorite things in the LOTR books is Sam being obsessed with Elven magic and wanting to see it and when Galadriel finds out she basically tells Sam "I don't know what the fuck magic is but I can show you the future in this bowl of water if you want" as if that's just a normal ass thing to be able to do.

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They don't even give advice often if Gildor Inglorion is to be believed

Reading the Silmarillion, the elves seem so active and full of life.They’re always doing things. When you get to the Lord of the Rings, they just seem so tired. Elrond holds a meeting and then he’s out. Galadriel has some guests stay with her. They’re so done. They just wanna leave.

[lords-of-arda]

god willing someday I will write a fic where Feanor gets to groundhog day the swearing of the oath. except instead of unswearing it he keeps thinking that if he just adjusts the wording a little bit it’ll all work out perfectly

[lords-of-arda]

You know, I used to be neutral on the Mairon debate, however overexposure has turned me into a firm hater. Quenya wasn’t even extant when Sauron left his kin! His “real name” isn’t Mairon, it’s Precious (abstract concept directly telepathically communicated). And he shows no objection to being called Sauron—this is the guy who embraced the villain aesthetic so hard his evil tower is next to a volcano and all his horses are black. He’s a cackling tormentor who leaned hard into being Gorthaur, the Lord of the Werewolves, the Necromancer of Dol-Guldur. Tar-Mairon is a personal in-joke from the one of the comparatively minuscule periods when he wasn’t playing up the dread sorcerer look, it’s not representative of what he’s regularly called (no, not even by his followers).

[lords-of-arda]

No idea what it means but I was reminded of the Balchoth, a group of Easterlings in the 3rd Age who waged war on Gondor until Eorl the Young helped them out.

i am trying to dig for this info yet cannot find it, but might you happen to know what “belcha” means? i know it’s associated with melkor but :/

Ok anon here’s what I have for you:

Balch, a word in Noldorin* means cruel and shares the root bal with balrog.

*The Noldorin language Tolkien conceived is a proto Sindarin language, at this point in his writing, only the Vanyar spoke Quenya

There’s also belectha which means to extol or magnify in Gnomish, a Proto Noldorin language. That has some commonality with the name Melkor itself

I couldn’t find the exact word you were looking for but I’ll post this in case anyone smarter than me can!

[lords-of-arda]

p.o.v. you're a newly re-embodied Noldo Exile and you walk into an Amanyar party

[lords-of-arda]

Arwen didn't outlive Aragorn by much, actually. As they were getting older she complained a bit about how much it sucks to know you and everyone you love is going to die. A bit after he died of old age she said good-bye to their children, travelled to Lothlorien (much lessened now that Galadriel had sailed and wasn't magicing up the place), complained some more IIRC then laid down and died. I forget if anyone buried her there but let's hope so.

Their biggest predecessor mortal man x immortal elf pairing did something similar; make elf wife mortal, have kids, grow old and die together. A couple of the others in the same era didn't end as happily; in one the elf (a dude for once, and Galadriel's older brother) was hesitant to commit since he'd be immortal forever and mourning her once she and their children passed. Ironically he died in battle some years later. For various reasons going mortal wasn't an option for him, so his ghost is sticking around the elf afterlife forever instead of respawning like they normally do, since the grief of fumbling a baddie like Andreth is simply too much to be endured.

what is thor going to do once Jane grows old and passes away? Is he ever going to date someone else?

I. DON'T. KNOW. 😭

No one lets them be together long enough to explore that later and bitter part of the interspecies mayfly december romance trope - "growing old" together raising a family and one partner being destined to lose the other while staying exactly this young.

As far as I know, it's never done in the comics or any other media. The MCU surprisingly has the best shot at actually doing it. Because it did show that sweet domestic life AND how much he's willing to move heaven and hel to have it.

How I thought they could resolve it was either extending her life with those golden apples/apples of Idun or have him give up his powers to become a mortal (like he was in Thor1). This option is indeed painful but I think he'd do it in a heartbeat.

But how the MCU actually resolved it was just killing her earlier than she would normally die. So he gets even less time with her. Truly wonderful writing. I'm sure this excellent writer was hired for the next film right away for this brilliant ending. 🤡

Y'all seem really intent on Thor dating someone new. 🤨 My man counted days of separation from her! If the new creative team/direction go for someone new, it's not congruent with my understanding of him.

The other famous interspecies mayfly december romance trope I know is Aragorn and Arwen from Lord of the Rings. @ LOTR fandom, what did LOTR do for this issue with Aragorn x Arwen? Would love to know any hopeful answers.

PS: when you look up 'mayfly december romance' trope on Google, my GIF comes up for Thor and Jane :D

[lords-of-arda]

Could you expand on what Morgoth said about the Valar having harems in Aman??? I’ve never heard that before and whether he’s lying or not that’s wild. Like, was it just something he causally dropped in a generally menacing speech or what, I’m trying to figure out in what context he would even bring that up!

Yeah no problem!

I was half joking about him saying there were harems in Valinor but well, he certainly talks about elves being used by the gods for similar purposes.

Warning: this passage contains sexual harassment and implicit threats of sexual violence. The language is flowery but it’s still in my opinion one of the more disturbing passages from Tolkien, in this regard at least.

From The Lay of Leithan

Of what avail here dost thou deem thy babbling song and foolish laughter? minstrels strong are at my call. Yet I will give it a respite brief, a while to live, alittle while though purchase dear, to Lúthien the fair and clear, a pretty toy for idle hour

In slothful gardens many a flower like thee the amorous gods are used, honey sweet to kiss, and cast then bruised, their fragrance loosing under feet, but here we seldom find such sweet amid our labours long and hard, from godlike idleness debarred

This goes on like this for another few lines before Lúthien interrupts

It’s worth noting that this is not the first time that he makes references to the idle lazy and indulgent atmosphere of Valinor, in Tolkien’s earlier texts. In the Book of Lost Tales part one Morgoth similarly speaks directly to the Valar through their herald, complaining of the brutal labor he must undergo which they are interrupting, accusing them similarly of laziness and decadence.

So yeah something he casually drops in a genuinely menacing speech more or less sums it up in my opinion.

I think he’s probably wrong but I’m actually undecided if he believes himself lying. I could see him truly believing the other Valar partake in this and that he has been cast out from this privilege, or that the other Valar truly treat the elves as he does but are better at papering it over in pretty settings.

On the other hand he could very easily be deliberately painting a cruel and wicked portrait of Valinor and the gods to Lúthien on purpose, he taunts her for being naive earlier in this scene, I can definitely see him spinning this story purely out of malice.



#seems legit to me #would he really do that? open his mouth and just lie like that? #seems unlikely

[lords-of-arda]

Elwing - Silmarillion Extravaganza

Here she is, feathers and all ^^ and now I can add the series title to these

[lords-of-arda]

the angel staying over at my house asked for a nightlight in their room and i told them buddy, don't you produce your own light? what're you gonna do with more? and they said they wanted to see why people like it so much. and also that the nightlight i own is blue and they're been trying to understand color. anyways i think they've stared at it for an hour now

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Eating honey from the comb really is just yes the texture yes the texture oof augh the wax

#seems pretty profound to me

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Okay, slightly unhinged take, but I'd really like to see more of 'Dwarves are super confused what elves problem with the Feanorians is' actually.

Consider:

Gimli: So, they're father was a famed craftsman whose masterwork was stolen.

Legolas: Right.

Gimli: and he made them all swear a very famous and public oath to reclaim said masterworks.

Legolas: Right.

Gimli: and then a different group of elves recovered one, but rather than giving it back decided to keep it, despite knowing about the aforementioned oath.

Legolas: Right.

Gimli: and... the Feanorians are the bad guys for trying to reclaim the masterwork they swore to their dying father to reclaim.

Legolas: Right.

Gimli (trying so hard to be patient): Okay. Nope. Still not getting it. Let's take this from the top.

Like, do dwarves condone kinslaying? No. But on the other hand, I have to imagine they have a lot of sympathy for people trying to reclaim their stolen treasure.

#this on top of the 2nd group ending up fighting with the dwarves of nogrod for a necklace containing that treasure #idk how much they'd care about the petty-dwavres since they got booted out of normal dwarf society for various crimes #but there's that aspect as well

[lords-of-arda]

“Celegorm only kidnapped Lúthien and attempted to rape her as revenge for Aredhel” ok but that’s worse. You do realise why that’s worse right??

#my interpretation of that kind of revenge is that it's less 'women are property of men so to get back at the men you hurt their property' #and more 'they're part of the same faction and their faction did X do us so we're gonna do X to them AT LEAST' #irl there's sexism involved since the factions - villages or tribes or parties or whatever - have tended to be patriarchal #but i don't think it's an inherent part of the reasoning for this kind of situation #i agree however in that i don't think C&C were thinking about avenging aredhel #they wanted political influence over doriath and celegorm in particular was attracted to luthien

[lords-of-arda]

Note: I am posting/finishing this in between two shifts in one day so I’m very sleepy and thus apologize if this needs more work (it definitely does)

I am thinking a lot about Morwen in the minds of others, of those who valorize and praise her and those who hate and fear and dehumanize her

For all that Morwen is likened to the elves, for all that she is literally accused of being a witch, for all the stories and distortions of her she is still so strongly Morwen

I just think a lot about the various lines about Morwen’s appearance and other’s perceptions of her and how so many connect

And other lines too, Sador’s description of her and the description of her legacy in Brethil after her death.

“For the light of her glance and the beauty of her face, men called her Eledhwen, the Elvenfair”

“The light in her eyes, hard to endure”

“He had thought he had looked in the fell eyes of (an elf)”

I just think so much about how Morwen exists in various ways in the eyes of others who praise her and hate her and love and fear and admire and dehumanize her. And at the same time she is so distinctly herself and she holds onto this so tightly, even when it cuts into her as much as others’ views of her.

She is a character who both has such a strong and distinctive identity and personality and also who we see through the eyes of others, in ways that are sometimes accurate but also valorizing or othering.

Like she is the proudest and fairest of mortal women and a hated and feared elf witch and once she was a little girl who was nearly killed by terrible fires and invading armies who became a woman who was proud and stern and sharp also loyal and so deeply loved by those who knew her well.

It goes into a lot of things about gender and culture and cultural displacement/diaspora that I think about so much for her and her story

Anyways I’ll return to this later! Also thank you so much to @elwing and @slightnettles for listening to my ramblings about this and for your own amazing Morwen writing 🩵

[lords-of-arda]

Galadriel for the bingo?

I have to admit that although Kate Blanchett is breathtakingly pretty in lotr I did not care much for Galadriel until I read the silm and since then I feel like the more I think about her the more 👀👀👀👀 I go

[lords-of-arda]

Celebrian

Went with a blue and bronze aesthetic ^^ she’s also looking away instead of looking at the viewer because of her decision to leave Middle Earth

[lords-of-arda]

Even if the sons of feanor had been handed a silmaril freely at any point in Beleriand it would not have helped them. Hey. Are you listening. The silmarils were hallowed. Ever since the first kinslaying they would have rejected the feanorians. Luthien could have walked right up and dumped it on their heads and it would not have saved them. Earendil doing what he did walked a very thin tightrope to an outcome where Morgoth is defeated. But either way, whether or not they knew it, the silmarils were lost to the feanorians almost the entire time they sought them.

"If Dior did this, if Elwing did that," it doesn't matter!!! Not even taking their perspectives and situations and political landscapes into account at all, it didn't matter!!! The silmarils COULD NOT be held by the sons of feanor. They were on an impossible quest and did not know it... only at the end could they see their own mistakes, and then there is little to be done. Self destruction of one kind or another.... they are in the narrative. They cannot escape it.

#to my reading 'cast into the sea' counts as drawing first blood #or at least killing the first people #because the noldor are wearing armour at that point #it's what allows them to overrun the teleri when reinforced by fingon's host #swimming in the sea isn't always easy normally #never mind when weighed down by chainmail and padding