#I’d make Maedhros and Maglor the main character | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thelordofgifs · 1 year

Note

Caught up with tfs a few days ago… Just wanted to say that I absolutely love it, especially how you've depicted certain dynamics (Maedhros and Maglor. They're such complex characters and it's thrilling to see them interact) Can't wait for part 20!

Also, if you don't mind, there's a couple questions for you:

I remember a note of yours saying you were thinking about killing Maglor in the very first chapter of the fic… Do you have any idea of what turn things would have taken if you had done that?

(I hope this isn't too technical) What's your approach in writing? Do you start off with certain scenes already in mind or do you just ask yourself what would the characters do in certain situations?

P.S. Maglor, could you please focus on STAYING ALIVE for once?

This is such a lovely ask, thank you! I sat on it until after I’d got part 20 out so that I could answer it without worrying about spoilers (re Maglor in particular), but it’s been brightening my ask box since you sent it in! I’m so glad you enjoy tfs, and the Maedhros and Maglor dynamic in particular – I love the two of them to PIECES and I want everyone reading to end up as feral about them as I am.

So: killing Maglor! I very much did not want to do that, as this entire second arc has shown pretty conclusively. To be honest I think the fic would have been almost unrecognisable if Maglor had died. He’s one of the two main characters (there are lots of major characters, but Maglor is a main character), he’s appeared in literally every single part, and his arc is one that ties strongly with several of the fic’s important themes. On a practical level, if Carcharoth had killed Maglor, there would have been no particular incentive to bring Maedhros to Menegroth, and so Beren, Lúthien and Thingol would have had a lot less divergence from their canon paths. And the way I see Maedhros is that grief tends to make him completely shut down, so we wouldn’t even have had a feral chaos agent to cause trouble. Although perhaps Curufin, backed up by Celegorm, would have taken the opportunity to pull off a coup in Himring even sooner. But also I wouldn’t have got to write Maglor meeting Lúthien so this would not be as much fun :(

My approach in writing! Kind of a mixture of the two, really. Writing canon-divergence AU actually requires you to be in almost constant conversation with canon, I think. Especially in the first few parts of tfs I spent a lot of time asking myself, Okay, so how would [insert character] react to this situation, based on what they do in canon? As I got more into the swing of the story, and more settled in my characterisations, I defaulted a bit to my more usual process, which is very much “have cool scenes in head and figure out how to get there”. The stabbing (my beloved!!) is a good example of this. I’d set things up in parts 11 and 12 so that Maedhros was obviously in an Extremely Bad Headspace and would not react at all well to Fingon and Maglor’s return. He could try to kill Maglor, actually, I mused to myself. And as I thought through the scene I decided that I liked the image a lot and would now have to quickly contrive a reason for Fingon to not be there so that it could happen. But for the most part I do try to let characterisation inform the plot – less putting little guys into situations than trying to work out which situations the little guys would get themselves into, which I think tends to produce a more plausible plot than the “the image in my head is cool” method. And of course I love writing dialogue and many of the best scenes in the fic are conversational ones: for those I usually have an idea of what plot significance the conversation needs to have, and what sort of dynamic between the characters I’m trying to illuminate, but often when they get talking I lose control of them a little and have to wrestle them back into line! Which is both fun and frustrating. Sometimes characters come up with really cool lines completely out of nowhere (I am VERY pleased with “The iniquity is not written on your bones” like where did that come from), but sometimes they’ve been in my head for ages and I am absolutely dying to work them into a conversation (“Ask me to stay and I’ll stay” !!). So a mixture, again.

Thank you so much for the lovely ask!! ❤️

#asks #justanhopelessnerd #the fairest stars

14 notes · View notes

gossip-girl-of-middleearth · 3 years

Text

You’re making a movie out of “The Silmarillion”

Who are you portraying as the main protagonist?

#I’d make Maedhros and Maglor the main character #lord of the rings #lotrdaily #lotr movies #the hobbit #elves #hobbit #legolas #lotr shitpost #silmarillion #mirkwood #maedhros #Maglor #feanorian

202 notes · View notes

feanorianethicsdepartment · 2 years

Note

🏅 😭 ✏️ 💕

-@outofangband

[an ask game about the fic writing life i reblogged forever ago]

🏅 what is the fic you’re most proud of?

at the moment, probably this drabble collection i did for another fandom? i’ve not completely finished rewriting the notes, but the main text is done. it’s not that i think it’s a masterpiece, but i said i was going to write thirty-one 250-ish-word conversations, and i wrote thirty-one 250-ish-word conversations. feels like an accomplishment

😭 have you ever made yourself cry writing a fic?

i... don’t think so? i’m not someone who cries much in general, it’s just how i am. have written several fics that make my heart clench, usually because they’re related to big fancy musical numbers i have a lot of emotional investment in kinou mo kyou wa seiten de~ for this fandom, i’d say a sky full of stars fits that bill perfectly, writing it was a huge emotional rollercoaster. so was homecoming, for different, worse reasons

✏️ what is your fave fic from another writer?

asddfhdghr what a question! i sincerely don’t think i can pick one, i’ve just got a big pool of fic i really like and reread whenever i dive back into the fandom. there’s a significantly higher proportion of the really good stuff in this fandom too, it’s wild. but here, have a selection of three out of many:

the everlasting song series, by @amethysttribble. it feels almost too obvious to put on the list, this was one of the first fics i found in last november’s fanfic binge and i’ve been eagerly awaiting updates ever since. it’s simultaneously one of the best crossovers i’ve ever read and the isekai i’ve been looking for all my life and and a fully-planned-out novel series i’m eager to see unfold. i started rereading asoiaf just to keep up with the other half of the crossover, it’s great, and i can’t wait to see it complete

never a monster he couldn’t love, by luteoflorien (who i don’t think has a tumblr?) i haven’t been keeping up with the harry potter franchise since before the last movie came out, but i loved this fic anyway. it’s very calm, very detailed, very well-written, and it has a soft boy!mags i can actually buy! i love the way he gets characterised, how he interacts with the other characters, it’s never easy but they’re all trying, it feels so real. it hasn’t been updated in over two years, which is a damn shame, but what is there works very well on its own. it’s a fic i reread when i’m having a bad day and just want to feel better

the heart hides unimaginable things, by softshark (almost certainly not the tumblr user of the same handle.) you guys all know i have Opinions about elrond’s relationship with his parents, and this fic is one of the best takes on his reunion with elwing i’ve ever read. elwing is so painfully scared, elrond is so painfully understanding, it reads like two people who’ve never met trying to forge a personal connection despite everything, and i love that angle. the line ‘As Sauron had reforged Maedhros in his own image, and Maedhros had reforged his brothers just the same, perhaps her sons, too…..’ haunts me, the terrifying au it inevitably spawned lingers in the back of my head. a+ fic

💕 what is the wip that you are most excited about?

i’ve already talked about the songfic songfiggorath several times on this blog and haven’t worked on it since last spring, rip so instead i’m gonna gush about the Big Silm Project i’m actually making progress on, the kidnap-dads-all-the-way-down fic!

the basic hook of this thing is that those jokes about maglor being a serial child abductor are hilarious, but you know what’d make them better? if all of his brothers were like that, literally all of the time. acquiring children under dubious circumstances, raising them with their particular brand of love and care, turning them into treasured little killing machines... they are legitimately good dads. terrible people, but good dads

it’s one of the first of my trademark stupid fëanorian aus, and i’ve put way much more effort into fleshing it out than it probably deserves. you know those fëanorian child ocs i bring up every so often? this is where they’re from, and while only a few of them have names several of them have, like, personalities and sketched-out character arcs and stuff. we’ve got celebrimbor’s younger sisters, maglor’s horrible only daughter, caranthir and haleth’s son-by-adoption-on-both-sides, the original orc culture hero... i have a family tree, it’s wild

i’ve had the bones of this whole au sketched out for... coming up on a year now, but due to various distractions i’m still on the fifth scene of :counts on fingers: nineteen for the first introducing-the-verse fic. that fic is a zoomed out sweep over the boys’ time stealing children in beleriand, with a few flashes forward and back for contextual purposes. i have some other fics i wanna write within the au - something about nerdanel, something about [SPOILERS] - but i wanna get this one done first. it’s very directed at my personal tastes, but i’m having a lot of fun writing it, and i do wanna get it out there!

#ask #i guess i do ask games now #outofangband #post nyanyannya askbox clearout #...should probably change that tag to 'post uni askbox clearout'#heya! not completely done with coursework - i got a sinus infection in the middle of term - but teaching is Over!#i could probably go on for hours about my third gen feanorian ocs #(don't worry they (almost) all die)#still refuse to give them names until i absolutely have to #stupid old man and his stupid conlangs #the elrond-and-elwing fic ain't the most technically polished but the ideas more than make up for it

7 notes · View notes

absynthe--minded · 3 years

Note

please may I hear about The Wife... no judgement at all I just love hearing what everyone thinks

Okay. So.

(obligatory disclaimer: all headcanons are valid, and all fanworks are valid, and my opinions are my own and based on what I see in fandom around me, which is not the full breadth and depth of Tolkien fandom and is only a tiny piece of the greater puzzle. this is salty, and somewhat bitter, and very frustrated, but it’s not aimed at any specific person and it’s not just my negative feelings due to being a Russingon shipper. I’d actually really like to continue conversation about this, with people on all sides of The Wife Debate - I enjoy talking with people!)

the tl;dr is that I really cannot stand how the fandom treats the potentially-existing character of Fingon’s wife.

first off, it’s basically up in the air as to whether or not she exists - we have reference in the published Silmarillion to Gil-galad as Fingon’s son with Christopher Tolkien saying later that he was acting in error in confirming GIl’s parentage that way, and we have a line from The Mariner’s Wife that’s the beginning of a letter sent to Tar-Meneldur (Ereinion Gil-galad son of Fingon to Tar-Meneldur of the line of Eärendil, greeting: the Valar keep you and may no shadow fall upon the Isle of Kings.) in which Fingon’s parentage is claimed by the then-High King, but we also have writing from The Shibboleth of Fëanor that Fingon had no wife upon departure from Valinor and no biological children at that time.

For a long time it was assumed that Fingon’s wife was a Sindarin woman named Meril, but ‘Meril’ is the name of Finrod’s wife as recorded in The War of the Jewels and in this draft Gil-galad is Arafinwëan. The confusion there is easy to understand, as Gil-galad’s departure to the Falas and early life spent with Círdan is present in both the published Silmarillion and the unpublished footnotes of WotJ, but ultimately the canon holds two things to be more or less plausible: first, Gil-galad is Fingon’s son; second, he has no stated wife.

of course the absence of a recorded wife doesn’t mean there was no wife - we only need look at Orodreth’s child/children, or Elros’s, or Isildur’s, to see that Tolkien has a habit of giving men biological offspring without recording the names of the women in their lives who must have birthed and helped raise those offspring - but this actually brings me to the first issue I have with how fandom treats this particular quasi-character (let’s call her Nís, for this little ramble - it’s easier than dancing around the fact that she has no name of her own): she’s assumed to be necessary for the existence of Gil-galad the Nolofinwëan.

Fingon adopting a child, or taking an heir for legal purposes, or fostering someone else’s son, are perspectives on family life that are more or less entirely gone from the fan conversation surrounding this interpretation of Ereinion’s parentage, as is the idea that Fingon might have wanted or had a child without the help of a woman. (and like - not to bring prejudices into this, because I don’t think they’re entirely the motivating factor here, but... sex-repulsed people exist? ace and aro people who don’t want conventional romantic relationships exist? I’m 100% on the “Fingon is grey-ace and 100% gay and only wants Maedhros” train but aspec/arospec, single Fingon is also a valid headcanon and assuming he had to have a wife for the sake of having a child uh. bothers me because of its implications?) and all of this comes down to my larger point of frustration which -

Nobody really cares about this character in her own right. Nobody looks at Nís, or the gap left by her in the text, and becomes invested in her and in what happens to her without some external factor making her a necessity. She’s Gil-galad’s mother so she has to be there, or she’s Fingon’s wife and therefore something that isn’t Russingon so she has to be there. She’s not a personality that anybody gives a damn about outside of what she can do for the men in the narrative, and that pisses me off like nothing else and is the main reason why she’s basically the only woman in the Legendarium I can’t stand. I love Tolkien’s women! I think they’re all great! I’m a lesbian and I’d love to see more ladies hanging around! But she doesn’t matter, in my experience, outside of propping up really narrow-minded ideas of family and giving weight to homophobia.

I would at least be able to grudgingly tolerate and understand and even respect her presence in the fandom if people liked her and respected her and treated her like her own person with weight and import! But she’s not in any of the textual ghost fanworks, she’s never given a shoutout in fanart, she barely registers on anyone’s radar. There are twenty fanfics on AO3 tagged with her relationship to Fingon in them, and eleven of those left when you filter out fics that also include Russingon in some capacity. “Fingon/OFC” yields ten stories total. Out of over sixteen thousand. Nobody - and I mean that seriously - treats her like she matters, even people who believe she exists. She’s not a fundamental part of serious headcanons - I’ve seen more love given to OC wives for Maedhros than this woman who a large subset of the fandom seems to think must have been real in some capacity!

(Just for fun: we have 40 works tagged for Orodreth’s wife, 40 works for Caranthir’s wife, 18 works for Elros’s wife, and 112 works for Maglor’s wife. Branching out into ‘named but with very little known about them’ we have 35 for Eldalótë, 135 for Amarië, and 199 for Elenwë. Everyone else in this story matters more than Nís does. It’s a little absurd.)

basically I’m done taking claims of loving this character or caring about her seriously. I’ve had to fight people using her like a bludgeon for so long that I cannot stomach her; my personal opinion is “I don’t want to see content made for this character who Tolkien himself said didn’t exist” but I’m a firm believer in ship and let ship and in the idea that all fanworks have a place and a purpose so like. people interested, y’all can do what you want if you stop resenting the hell out of Russingon shippers for no reason and keep things cordial? but in the meantime stop pretending you care about Nís for literally any other reason but ulterior motives, you clearly don’t! she’s a convenient person-shaped battering ram and literally nothing else.

(Also, I want to know what exactly Russingon shippers have done that makes us so worthy of everyone who doesn’t ship it hating our guts, you know? Homophobia is obviously part of it in some circles but what the hell happened that makes non-homophobes so damn resentful of us? please do give thoughts on that if you have them I want to know and that is even more salt.)

#anon replies #replies #tolkien #fingon’s wife #absynthe’s salt

52 notes · View notes

atariince · 5 years

Note

What do you think would have happened if Fingolfin had arrived un Hithlum and found his brother still living?

Hi and thank you for your very interesting question! I assume it is for the mun, but if it was for the muse, feel free to ask again – in any case here are the mun’s long considerations on that subject (enjoy), based on what we know of the characters, the situation, and of course on my headcanons.

[Usual disclaimer: Blahblah those assumptions are based on my reading of the texts, my interpretation and my headcanons - therefore it’s totally okay to disagree (and I’d love to have your opinion), just don’t be a dick about it blahblah]

So what do we know? What does the published Silmarillion tell us about Fingolfin at that point?

First of all, at the end of chapter 9 “The flight of the Noldor”, we learn about Fingolfin’s (legitimate) “bitterness”, but also that the main motive behind his decision to cross the Helcaraxë is precisely this bitterness against Fëanor:

“Then Fingolfin seeing that Fëanor had left him to perish in Araman or return in shame to Valinor was filled with bitterness; but he desired now as ever before to come by some way to Middle-earth and meet Fëanor again.”

Now the question would be : Why? What exactly does he have to say to Fëanor? What would he do to him? Fight a duel? Kill him in cold blood? Yell at him? Or does Fingolfin just want to prove his half-brother that he and his people would not surrender so easily? That he and his people are stronger, nobler and much more resistant than Fëanor might have thought? (when you think of the pride of the Noldorin princes that would make real sense, tbh).

And yet.

What is the first thing Fingolfin did when he set foot upon Middle-earth?

He marched on fucking Angband.

When you come to think about it, it is quite surprising, right? He crossed the Ice to meet Fëanor, but although he doesn’t know yet that Fëanor’s dead (unless he met some Sindar before he reached Mithrim – aaaaaaaaand I’ll come back to that bit later), he first decides to knock on Morgoth’s gates. I did find it surprising for quite a long time. But, now I think I’ve come to understand it; Let’s return to this dear Noldorin pride, shall we? Fingolfin and his people have just accomplished a deed unprecedented in terms of resistance, survival, strength and determination. They’re to be admired. And Fingolfin must know it. How could he not acknowledge their own courage, how could he not be proud of their accomplishment?

And how do you think he would feel about the idea of showing up in front of Fëanor crowned not only with that exceptional accomplishment in the Helcaraxë… but also with the Silmarils?

Doesn’t it sound like a good way to avenge himself and his people?

It does make sense if he actually wanted to prove Fëanor that “Loook, I’m so much worthier than you’ll ever be. You might have left us to die, but in the end we found a way, and we didn’t only survive, we also kicked Morgoth’s ass and recovered your stones. Suck my entire cock. bitch.” Well maybe he wouldn’t say it like this, but you see what I mean. Honestly, that’s just one of the ways to analyse his motives, and do you know what makes me think that’s part of his initial plan? This:

“Fingolfin unfurled his blue and silver banners and blew his horns (…) and the Elves smote upon the gates of Angband, and the challenge of their trumpets shook the towers of Thangorodrim.”

Obviously, it’s not like they try to pass quietly through the lands. Obviously they’re not betting on a surprise attack; Fingolfin and his people want to be heard, they want to be seen and acknowledged, they’re showing up as fuck and I do believe that they don’t simply want to challenge and impress Morgoth; the challenge and the impressive display is also a warning (?) for the Fëanorians. (Did it work? Spoilers: Pretty much.)

But Fingolfin eventually withdraws and goes to Mithrim because “he had heard tidings that there he should find the sons of Fëanor”…

[in “The Grey Annals“ (The War of Jewels) Fingolfin learns about Fëanor’s death when he meets his sons in Mithrim. Nevermind.]

So, according to the Silm, when he marched on Angband he already knew Fëanor was dead. maybe that’s why he didn’t instantly try to find his nephews, and walked to Angband instead. Maybe not. Maybe the information about Fëanor’s demise increased his bitterness because:

1. His half brother died. I mean yes he thinks Fëanor’s a dick but STILL.

2. Morgoth’s troops must be freaking powerful if they managed to kill Fëanor - “Must see!”

3. “Who the fuck am I going to yell at if Fëanor is dead?”

So instead of drowning into his bitterness, he attacks. Not the Fëanorians, but Melkor. Best way to express your rightful anger, right? And of course, it’s also a strategic move: he needs to see by himself and test the defence of Angband.

In any case, he was prepared to deal with the sons of Fëanor since According to the Silmarillion, he didn’t learn about Fëanor’s death the moment he met Maglor, but long before. And that point doesn’t invalidate what I said: Since “Fingolfin held the sons the accomplices of their father”, they can also suck his entire cock. And it would still have been AWESOMe to show up with the Silmarils in one hand and Morgoth’s head in the other. YES. Even if Fëanor isn’t here to see it. It’s not as fun but it’s still fun. bitch.

Aaaaand since he judged the sons “the accomplices of their father” I’m pretty sure he dealt with them more or less like he would have dealt with Fëanor. Therefore, with Fëanor alive, the situation at this point would have been pretty much the same ON FINGOLFIN’S SIDE, and probably his followers; “no love was there in the hearts of those that followed Fingolfin for the House of Fëanor”-> Fëanor, the sons, their people… I believe the presence of Fëanor in Mithrim wouldn’t have changed much of their reaction at this point.

But Fëanor’s reaction to his half-brother showing up would have probably led to a very interesting and tragic situation… which I can but try to imagine.

Obviously, when Fingolfin marched forth against Angband with his trumpets and banners, the Fëanorians must have been quite impressed, completely dumbfounded and relatively horrified. That was something they had never expected. I’m certain Fëanor wouldn’t have been less impressed. And quite honestly, I also think he would have been very much admiring. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Fëanor would have reconsidered his judgement and came up with much more respect for Fingolfin and his people (“maybe he’s not that useless after all.”) (I’m exaggerating, yes. But you get it.)

On the other hand, the presence of Fëanor in Mithrim wouldn’t have helped alleviate the tensions between the hosts. We know that “many of Fëanor’s people indeed repented of the burning at Losgar and were filled with amazement at the valour that had brought the friends whom they had abandoned over the Ice of the North”. Would they openly repent with Fëanor around? I’m not so sure. Moreover, “they would have welcomed them [Fingolfin’s people], but they dared not, for shame”. With Fëanor alive, it is not only shame which would have hindered them. As for Fëanor himself, if he repented (which he probably did, somehow. Maybe.), shame and pride and fear of treachery and his claim of the crown would have mingled into something pretty ugly and I’m fairly certain that he wouldn’t have even accepted to withdraw to the other side of the lake. Which would have obviously increased the tensions. Because remember: it’s not only about Fëanor and Fingolfin, but also about their respective followers… which were, well, numerous. And angry. And bitter.

Now, if you ask me: would Fingolfin have killed Fëanor? Attacked his people? I think not. Because if that was his plan he would have attacked the Fëanorians no matter what. And he would have done it with Fëanor dead. But he didn’t. He gave them a chance to repent and to make things better.

But I believe that if Fëanor had been alive, the situation would have eventually escalated into an actual strife, if not war, but only after a moment, an accumulation of tensions. Little by little. Fingolfin would have done the exact same things, yes, but I doubt Fëanor would have had his sons’ reactions as they are depicted in the canon. Not only because Fëanor is Fëanor, but also because of the emotional state of the Fëanorians: in the canon, at this point, the Fëanorians are not only outnumbered, they’re also mourning. Their father is dead. Their brother, if he’s not dead, is being tortured. They’re not in a psychological position to challenge Fingolfin’s host. But with Fëanor alive (and Maedhros still with them), this very situation would have been different precisely because they would have felt stronger. More hopeful, somehow.

Now we must also keep in mind the intradiegetic bias ; Fingolfin is a revered king and most often he’s portrayed as the “good guy” in comparison to Fëanor who is the son of Finwë always associated with wrath. Therefore, the elven chroniclers would not portray Fingolfin as wrathful, if only for a question of relevant narratives rules (one character = one main personality trait -> I oversimplify the thing, but you see my point, right?). What I’m trying to say is that Fingolfin will always be portrayed as noble. We ought to see him as wise, and even when dealing with the worst (i.e. the face to face combat with Morgoth) he must not be depicted like his wrathful half-brother (check the difference of treatment between the last fight of Fëanor and that of Fingolfin and you’ll see my point). And when you have that in mind, you can question most of the elements I’ve expressed so far.

Yup. That’s what unreliable narrations do. I love them.

Actually I do believe that there might have been some use of euphemisms in the depiction of the situation in the Quenta Silmarillion as we know it, and you just have to look at some older drafts to detect some hints; In The Grey Annals, it is not a peril of “strife” between the princes, but of ”war”, a semantic difference which is relevant, if you want my opinion… In the pre-LOTR Quenta Silmarillion, not only “there was little love between those that followed Fingolfin and the house ofFëanor”, but here again “their hearts were filled with bitterness”. The same bitterness that led Fingolfin through the Helcaraxë precisely to find Fëanor…? Maybe. And you know bitterness is a double-edged motive, right?

Besides, if the main reason Fingolfin crossed the Grinding Ice was to find Fëanor, you can be sure that the feud around the lake doesn’t only rely on bitterness. There must be anger, dismay, wrath and a little wish for revenge. And honestly, if it took the rescue of Maedhros + the surrender of the crown by the Fëanorians (that is a complete humiliation) + the gift of their best horses to assuage the feud, then the latter must have been driven by something much heavier, much more dreadful than bitterness. It is not simply a political disagreement, they left them to FUCKING DIE. So thank you for the noble portrait of Fingolfin, but the guy must have felt much more revengeful than the narrator wants us to believe (and honestly, Fingolfin is probably one of the most interesting character to look at through the perspective of narrative bias).

But those are pure assumptions and I wouldn’t base my arguments on that… I just believe it is important to keep it mind.

Another element that is essential (and that will be my last point), is that this episode exists from the very first draft of the Silmarillion (see the “Earliest Silmarillion” in The Shaping of Middle-earth, in which the main difference is that Fingolfin doesn’t march on Angrand after his arrival and goes directly to meet the House of Fëanor). This early existence implies that Fëanor’s death is crucial for the unfolding of the story, and it is crucial for it to happen at this point of the timeline – and when you come to think about it, it makes sense ; if Fëanor doesn’t die, Maedhros would have hardly been taken by Morgoth, so no rescue by Fingon, which is by essence, the tool that healed the feud between the two Noldorin hosts. Without Fingon’s rescue of Maedhros, you can be pretty sure the “peril of strife between the hosts” would have ended in an actual strife, with or without Fëanor - but with Fëanor, Maedhros would haven’t been captured, sooooooo…. No rescue, no peace. QED

After all, don’t forget that “Morgoth arose from thought, and seeing the division of his foes he laughed” and the old pre-LOTR Quenta Silmarillion reminds us that “they achieved nothing” while the feud lasted, although Melkor was hesitating and thus was vulnerable… can you imagine the rest of the story if the Noldor couldn’t have put their bitterness and resentment aside to cooperate?

Basically:

Fëanor survives -> no ambush -> no capture of Maedhros -> no rescue -> no healing of the feud -> no cooperation between the Noldorin princes -> no agreement as to who would be the king -> more tensions (war?) -> victory of Morgoth through the Noldors’ own incapacity to work together…

#fingolfin #feanor #silmarillion meta #silmarillion #headcanons #meta #ooc #Anonymous

52 notes · View notes

sweetteaanddragons · 5 years

Text

Implausible Character Interpretation: Fingon the Cowardly Lion

The fun thing about the Silmarillion is that with so little information about most of the characters, characterization is largely up to the fanfic author. Usually, though, there’s one or two characteristics that really aren’t all that arguable. Fingon, for instance, pretty much has to be valiant.

Doesn’t he?

As a fan of the Ciaphas Cain books, I knew it was possible for someone to have an impressive reputation, an impressive title, a genuine and impressive list of accomplishments . . . and still rather be absolutely anywhere other than the front lines where everyone keeps insisting on putting them.

So I decided to write this.

(If Fingon is your favorite character, please don’t take this as a genuine attack on his courage. Given the evidence, I agree that “valiant” probably is one of his main character traits. This was just done for the fun of seeing how far I could twist canon before it breaks.)

Fingon was six years old and visiting his cousins when he first heard stories about the monsters across the sea. He spent all night huddled up in his bed and watching the door with terrified eyes.

There was an uproar of some sort at breakfast - Ada and Uncle Feanor were fighting about something, he was too tired to really catch what - so Maedhros was the first one to notice the shadows under his eyes and come sit beside him. This meant Maedhros was now between him and the door that led down to the yawning maw of the cellar, so Fingon relaxed enough for the whole thing to come spilling out as soon as his older cousin asked.

He was a bit afraid Maedhros would laugh at him, but he didn’t. He just talked about how wide the ocean was separating them from the monsters, and how the elves had only gotten across it with the Valar’s help.

“And they certainly won’t help monsters cross it, will they?” Maedhros asked reasonably.

Fingon shook his head hesitantly.

“So you’ll probably never even see a monster,” Maedhros concluded. “But even if one did somehow get here, you wouldn’t have to worry about it. I’d never let it get you.”

Fingon had seen Maedhros practice with his sword, and his older cousin was already impossibly tall and might, he’d overheard, grow even more. Maedhros, he was quite sure, could protect him from just about anything.

Much cheered, he turned to his breakfast, but he made sure to stick close to Maedhros for the next few days.

Just in case.

When the light of the Trees went dark, Fingon froze.

Later, when someone else managed to get torches going and it was noticed that he, unlike most everyone else, wasn’t covered in scrapes and bruises from running around and bumping into things in the dark, he was commended on his bravery and sense.

Fingon smiled and deflected the compliments and got to work doing what needed to be done.

Sense, he told himself firmly. It had been sensible. Everyone said so.

He didn’t remember deciding to be sensible, though. He just remembered the choking terror as the illusion of safety was ripped away, and he realized that anything, absolutely anything, could be hiding in the dark.

When they got to Alqualonde, the first thing he saw was the fire.

There was a great mass of fighting on the docks, and Fingon had no idea what was going on - Was Melkor not the only one who had been hiding a monstrous face behind a fair shape? Were their Teleri kin monsters too?

He didn’t know. It was hard to know anything in a world lit only by nightmarish flames, but he saw the bright red flags of his cousins, and he could hear Maedhros calling to rally his soldiers, and if Maedhros was in the middle of it, that’s where he should be too.

It was like the stories, he told himself. Just charge into glorious battle, and victory and heroism would follow. Maybe that would wash away the memory of terror.

He charged forward. His men followed after him and then -

And then -

His sword was dripping red. His arm was dripping red too. That was probably significant.

All he could really focus on was that he’d just thrown up in an alley mostly ignored by the larger battle, and that it was only the way his hand was braced against the stone wall that was keeping him standing.

And Maedhros was there, holding his hair back from his neck, keeping a wary eye out for anyone who might try to take advantage.

“You’re alright,” he said soothingly. “It’ll be alright.”

Fingon stared down at the mess he had made and faced the terrible truth. “I’m a coward.”

“You are not,” Maedhros said firmly. “There is no shame in - We’re fighting our kin, Fingon. There is no shame in feeling the horror of that.”

Yet Maedhros had not been the one to lurch away from the battle to do this.

He couldn’t tell Maedhros that, though. He had no interest in trying to convince Maedhros he was wrong. He couldn’t bear the thought of someone looking at him and knowing about the terrible choking terror that hadn’t left him since the lights went out and knowing him for what he was.

Easier to face a battle than to face that.

He forced himself to pick his sword up from where he’d dropped it like a fool and to push himself away from the wall. “I’m ready,” he said hoarsely. “Let’s do this.”

Maedhros clapped him on the shoulder. “Stay close,” he said. “We’ll watch each other’s backs.”

You mean you’ll watch to make sure I don’t start throwing up on the enemy instead of stabbing them, Fingon thought, but his relief at the idea was far too great to argue with him.

The Valar told them to turn back. The Doom they laid was heavy, and with every word, more of Fingon’s tentative hope that this would get better was stripped away.

There was no point in going. No hope for victory. Just death and more death, and no way out.

Uncle Feanor gave a rousing speech, and it seemed to ignite everyone else.

Everyone but Uncle Finarfin and some of his people, and Fingon badly wanted to turn to his father and say, “Look, they’re leaving, it’s not too late, we can turn back too.”

But his father came up to him and thanked him for everything he’d been doing to help on the journey with weary, grieving eyes, and all Fingon’s courage fled.

“Of course,” he said and got back to work.

Fingon stared across the sea at the distant flames. Beside him, his father said Uncle Feanor’s name like a curse. “He’s abandoned us.”

Abandoned - ?

Everyone else’s angry murmurs clicked together in his head.

He had seen the flames and assumed whatever horrors awaited had burned them, but if everyone else thought it was more likely Uncle Feanor had, Fingon couldn’t argue with them. It did seem rather in character.

Uncle Feanor had burned the ships.

Shameful relief swept through him. They couldn’t possibly cross the ocean now. No one would blame them for not following.

At that moment, he could have happily hugged Uncle Feanor.

“We’ll have to cross the Ice,” his father said grimly.

His momentary shameful exultation fled and was replaced by sinking dread.

Of course. That was the courageous thing to do. They would cross the Ice.

Fingon flung himself into logistics, into supplies, into mediating disputes, into doing anything, anything at all, that meant he wouldn’t have to think.

The Grinding Ice was a slow slog of constant frozen terror kept manageable only by its monotony.

It’ll be better when we get there, Fingon told himself, told everyone who flagged or wept or looked nearly ready to give in. It’ll be better then.

What he kept to himself was the frantic thought that, It has to be.

The sun rose when they arrived, and with it came back some of Fingon’s hope. The light had come back. Surely now things really would get better.

Then Ada marched furiously into the Feanorians’ camp, and Fingon tagged along, blood tinged memories of Alqualonde playing on constant repeat. It couldn’t happen again. Not with such close kin.

Could it?

It was Maglor that came out to meet them, which surprised Fingon a bit, but maybe it shouldn’t have. Everyone knew Maglor had a gilded tongue. He was probably a good choice.

Apparently his father disagreed. “Where is Feanor?” he demanded. “I hadn’t thought he would hide behind his sons.”

Maglor’s eyes flashed. “He did not,” he agreed. “He never once hid. But the enemy’s forces did.”

Fingon’s eyes went wide as the implication hit. His father actually stumbled back a half-step.

“He’s dead?”

“Yes.”

Fingon had no idea how long it had been, but even now, it was plain it wasn’t easy for Maglor to say.

And suddenly it seemed significant that Feanor’s eldest son was also gone. “Where’s Maedhros?” he asked, the cold pit of fear that was always in his stomach now growing larger.

“Taken,” Maglor said with equal grief. “We sent out patrol after patrol to try to take him back. None of them ever - We had to stop.”

There was more to the meeting after that, Fingon knew. There must have been because he knew it ended with shouting and his father stalking off.

He didn’t hear much of it, though.

The monsters had taken Maedhros. And if they could take him, than they could take anyone, anyone at all.

He’d wanted . . . He didn’t know what he’d wanted. Some air. To feel less like he was choking on the anger still boiling in the camp. To forget.

By the time it occurred to him that he’d gone too far, he’d gotten turned around, the sun was going down, and he could hear noises that didn’t sound at all friendly coming in behind him.

Run. He had to run. Even if the only direction free to was straight towards the greatest danger of all.

He ran and ran and ran, till his sides were heaving and his breath was coming in sobbing pants.

The sun was coming up by now. The noises were gone. He could turn around. Go back.

Assuming he could find his way free from this nightmare labyrinth of cliffs.

He sang as he walked. It was stupid, he knew, but the distraction of the music was the only thing keeping him from panicking.

He paused to take a breath, and he heard a faint voice singing back in reply.

Another elf! He hurried towards it eagerly. It sounded familiar, almost like -

Maedhros.

He broke into a run.

He nearly wept when he saw his cousin hung up on the cliff. “I’ll get you out,” he promised. He’d free his cousin and then - well, surely then things would somehow turn out alright.

He went to see Maedhros in the healers’ tent as often as he could. His recovery was swifter than anyone had dared to hope.

“Thank you,” Maedhros said abruptly one day. “I know I haven’t said it before, and I should have. I wasn’t . . . in my right mind then. Thank you.”

On the cliff, he meant. When he’d asked Fingon to kill him.

“Of course you weren’t,” Fingon said in relief. “No one could have been.” Hearing Maedhros say that on the cliff had scared him in a way nothing else had, but this made it better. Of course Maedhros hadn’t meant it. “I’m glad you’re doing better now.”

Maedhros gave him a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, but that would come in time, Fingon was sure.

“You realize this proves me right,” Maedhros said.

“About what?”

“What I said at Alqualonde.” They both flinched a little at the memory, but Maedhros pressed on. “You’re not a coward, Fingon. You never were. You walked up to Angband. Alone. You’re a hero.”

His cousin’s eyes were glowing with pride and faith, and Fingon couldn’t admit the truth now. He couldn’t.

It was an accident. I rescued you by accident, and I’m too afraid to tell you so.

“Fingon the Valiant,” Maedhros said with a smile. It reached his eyes this time. “That was the name you used to use when we played as children, wasn’t it? It’s even more fitting now.”

“Fingon the Valiant and Maedhros the Clever,” Fingon managed to say. “No monster too great.”

Of course, those monsters hadn’t been real.

It didn’t matter, he told himself. Maedhros was back now. Maedhros was overcoming the worst Morgoth could throw at him. If that wasn’t proof they could get through this, what was?

Everything was terrifying and awful, but it was a pretty consistent level of terrifying and awful with the brief exception of the dragon, so Fingon almost got used to it.

Then nightmarish fire erupted again, and his father wanted to go riding out to the very source.

No, Fingon tried to tell him. No, you can’t do this to us. You don’t get to go riding out to certain death and leave us alone.

Or at least, If you go, I’m going with you.

But he couldn’t argue with his father. Not even now. The Sons of Feanor were not alone in that.

His father did not come back, as Fingon had known he wouldn’t, and that meant -

That meant that Fingon was king.

Maedhros came as soon as he could, and Fingon’s first thought was, Oh, thank goodness, he’s come to contest the crown.

Fingon couldn’t possibly be in charge of this mess. He couldn’t even convince himself they weren’t all doomed; how was he supposed to convince everyone else?

Instead, Maedhros swore loyalty. Fingon accepted it glumly.

“I’m so sorry,” Maedhros told him later in private. “I remember - When Ada died, it felt like the end of the world.”

That was exactly the feeling.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Maedhros admitted wryly. “It’s probably why I got caught.” He hesitated.

“If this is your cautious way of leading up to a suggestion of what I should do, I assure you, I’m more than happy to hear it,” Fingon said.

“Not yet,” Maedhros said. “Not yet. But . . . maybe soon. I’ve an idea brewing.”

“Good,” Fingon said in considerable relief. “You’re the clever one, remember. It’s your job to come up with these things.”

If anyone could get them out of this, Maedhros could.

Fighting a a concentrated battle against Morgoth was . . . not Fingon’s idea of a reassuring plan, exactly.

“If we unite everyone together, we’ve got a chance,” Maedhros said as he laid out page after page of facts and figures. “And then this could finally be over.”

Over. Fingon let himself imagine the bliss of that for one precious moment. No more terror. No more monsters. Over.

Surely he could be brave just this once if it meant a chance of achieving over.

“Alright,” he said. “Let’s do it.”

#fingon #maedhros #fingolfin #fic #alternate character interpretation #canon compliant #technically

126 notes · View notes

awesome-bluehair-universe · 6 years

Text

Answers & Questions

@vanimore tagged me - quite some time ago, but December is pretty crazy for me, so I didn’t have the time to do this properly, so...

The rules: answer your set of questions, add 11 of your own, tag 11 people

Questions about the Silmarillion

1) Replace Beren with….?

:D Bacon

2) Open your front door to see what realm of Middle-earth?

Rivendell

3) Silmarillion series? Yay or Nay?

It’s complicated, really - there’s a bit too much of a Catholic guilt and punishment for bad deeds influence in its writing, and yes, although I’m not that much of a feminist, it irks when characters get married, but nobody even mentions the woman by name - but we know the name of the horse, dog and sword of the guy. Sheesh.

Also, I’d see the Fëanorions more like very gifted people/artists, who somehow never are appreciated enough by the society, although they contribute enormously to its development - Benvenuto Cellini would be the perfect Fëanor; da Vinci, Michelangelo - they could be part of the clan. The Medicis would be quite a quintessential House of Fingolfin. 4) Sauron was…what he was, but would he actually have been pretty successful as a world ruler, had the War of the Ring gone the other way?

I think Sauron might have been a sort of Cesare Borgia mixed with Machiavelli - so, yes, depending on the definition of success, he might have had things pretty well in hand.

5) Rescue just one character from the Silmarillion - who and why?

6) After the War of the Ring, one assumes Aragorn would have exterminated all the orcs he could find. Do you look on it as genocide or as in destroying vermin?

It’s both. The fact that we don’t appreciate the anophel mosquito, because it spreads malaria, and exterminated it in quite some places, doesn’t make it anything different than an ecological problem. Even if the orcs don’t have the best of cultures - it’s still mass killing, the main thing in genocide.

7) Do you think, honestly, that had you been alive then, that, if Sauron had offered you one of the Nine Rings you would have refused?

Absolutely not. I like shiny things :P

8) As an Quendi, remain in Cuiviénen or go West?

Go West, see new places.

9) Did you find the Silmarillion hard to read when you first read it?

Very, since English is not my first language, and I have an issue with the older versions of each language I know, including my first. I also tried to read it in translation, and there was a problem there too - the translation was actually very good, so good that you could actually think the book was written in my native language - and that caused severe skewing to my brain. Yes, I have linguistic issues.

10) One sentence from Maedhros after Fingon rescued him from Thangorodhrim

I’ll whoop your ass for not paying attention to anatomy classes - you could have just dislocated the joints in my hand, you know.

11) One thought from Mairon when Melkor returned to Angband with the Silmarils

I can’t think “Magpie and shiny things.” Nope. Nope. Nope.