#Shibboleth of Fëanor

[cirrdan]

So much linguistic drama in Shibboleth of Fëanor.

That one th/s sound change that Fëanor cared about because the th appeared in his mother's name...I adore this detail, so decided to sketch Fëanáro teaching his children to pronounce correctly xD

#shibboleth of fëanor #tolkien universe #silmarillion #feanor #maedhros #maglor #linguistics #the silmarillion #tolkien stuff #digital art #tolkien fandom #silm memes #silm incorrect quotes #lotr #tolkien #feanorians #the lord of the rings #curufinwë fëanáro

[eglerieth]

On the Fëanorian accent

There is a great deal of fandom content on the subject of people like Elrond being said to have a “Fëanorian accent” which is based solely on use of the Thúlè. This is a bit ridiculous, as that is the deliberate pronunciation of a single letter, and therefore hardly an accent.

However, I do think that the Fëanorians probably did have their own accent, one that had nothing to do with the Thúlè and everything to do with the fact that they spent thousands of years exploring Valinor with only each other for company, and hundreds more years in Beleriand more or less shunned from other elven peoples. That’s literally how accents form, people.

the list of people who spoke with a Fëanorian accent is as follows:

• Fëanor

• his sons

• (nerdanel?)

• celebrimbor

• the people who followed Fëanor the closest in the flight of the Noldor

• the people of Himring

• Elrond and Elros

• Aradhel. It was a quirk that her many fans easily accepted while in Valinor; in Vinyamar and Gondolin, people diplomatically pretended not to notice

• because of that, Maeglin had a Fëanorian accent when speaking Quenya when he first arrived at Gondolin, but he quickly picked up on how it made people uncomfortable and learned to speak in a Gondolinian accent so as not to associate himself with their bad memories.

• Fingon is an interesting case. He speaks with the most classically mainstream Noldorin accent imaginable. It’s more perfect and precise than even that of Finwë or Fingolfin. His accent is the one actors study when they want to play a Noldo; you know the type. But when he spends too much time around Maedhros, their accents sort of meld into a weird mainstream/Fëanorian hybrid. No one else experience this. Whenever they returned home after time spent together, there’s a lot of drama, especially in the Fëanorian household. Fëanor freaks out every. Single. Time. “WHY DOST THOU SPEAK IN THE SUBPAR MANNER OF HE WHO IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT MY BROTHER?! HAVE I RAISED YOU TO SULLY THYSELF IN SPEECH?! WHY DOTH MY FIRSTBORN REJECT HIS FAMILY SO?!” And then poor Maedhros is like, “Sheesh, Atya, I just spent some time with my dear friend and cousin. I’m not abandoning our family!” The accent wears off a few weeks later anyway. Every time. When the Ambarussa were innocent little elf-lings, they used to tease Maedhros about it, mocking him in an awfully exaggerated Nolofinwëan accent. He would generally slap them upside the head for it, but he took it in good fun. But after a while Fëanor got more obsessive and the twins got older and wiser, and they stopped. Soon after it became a moot point anyway, as the lies of Melkor had started sowing discord and Maedhros stopped spending time with Fingon. Later, in Beleriand, they never resumed teasing him even after Fëanor died and Maedhros and Fingon reconnected, because after Maedhros’s time in Thangoridrim, no one, not even his brothers, dared tease him about anything to his face, partly out of pity and partly because he was now terrifying. But he and Fingon still had that weird hybrid accent every time they spent time together, which is why Thorondor’s first exposure to Quenya was with an accent that only two people in the world had only some of the time. Much like with Aradhel, the people of Gondolin diplomatically overlook the faint Fëanorian accent the King of Eagles occasionally speaks with.

whoever wants to add, feel free!

@nerdy-catfish, @rouxelf

#eglerieth #lotr #tolkien #silm theory #silmarillion #silm #feanorians #feanorions #sons of Fëanor #quenya #accents #fan theory #Shibboleth of Fëanor

[urwendii]

OK but it's canon Fëanor has adhd 🤷‍♀️

#yes im rereading the Shibboleth #fëanor #hes just like me fr

[sauronnaise]

I've never read 'shibboleth' properly. My brain resorts to 'chipotle', or, in worst cases, 'shitpotle'.

Lo and behold:

The Shitpotle of Fëanor

#the shibboleth of fëanor #tolkien #shitpost #silmarillion #chipotle #shitpotle #i need help #oromë would be proud #feener is a weenus

[shiroandblack]

I know I tease Fëanor a lot for being Fëanor in general and his whole Shibboleth. But I do understand where he's coming from when he says that people calling Míriel 'Serindë' instead of 'Therindë' (I'm sorry I don't have the thorn), are dishonouring her.

Iirc Míriel made it clear that she preferred the 'Therindë' pronunciation and it's technically just being respectful and polite to call someone the way they prefer their name to be pronounced. When the transition happened from the thorn to the 's' sound, I imagine that people started recording Míriel Therindë in history books as Míriel Serindë. In Fëanor's perspective, his mother is dead and people can't be bothered to pronounce her name the way she wanted. And as someone who clings so desperately to any thing that remains of his mother, Fëanor likely sees the transition as his mother being forgotten in favour of Indis.

While Indis is certainly not to blame the whole transition as she is a foreign queen trying to ingratiate herself to her husband's people, Fëanor immediately blames her despite the Vanyar not getting rid of the thorn. While it might seem that this is an instance of Fëanor being petty despite the Vanyarin dialect, perhaps in his mind it only fueled his idea. To Fëanor, despite her marriage to his father the High King of the Noldor, Indis was of the Vanyar and the Vanyar had not abandoned the thorn and yet Indis had. While I do not think that slighting Míriel was any objective of Indis at all, Fëanor perceives Indis changing her dialect to match the Noldor's as encouraging the wrongful pronunciation of Míriel's name.

It certainly does not help that Finwë seems to do nothing to correct his son's perception of events. And it is certainly a blow to Fëanor when Finwë does not correct their people when it comes to pronouncing Míriel's name. Because Finwë made no comment on the subject (that I remember of), it would not be an illogical leap for Fëanor to assume that this is due to the influence of Indis.

#thinking about the shibboleth and fëanor and indis again #fëanor #indis #the silmarillion #tolkien

[anghraine]

The rivalry between Fëanor and Fingolfin is honestly kind of funny to me, because ... I mean, Fingolfin can't really compete with Fëanor in terms of either Finwë's love or Tolkien's more loosely defined sense of greatness. But there is someone who can, at least on the latter point. It's just someone else entirely.

"Galadriel was the greatest of the Ñoldor, except Fëanor maybe, though she was wiser than he ..."

"Her mother-name was Nerwen 'man-maiden', and ... she was strong of body, mind, and will, a match for both the loremasters and the athletes of the Eldar in the days of her youth."

"He [Fëanor] begged three times for a tress, but Galadriel would not give him even one hair. These two kinsfolk, the greatest of the Eldar of Valinor, were unfriends for ever."

And she's not even Fingolfin's daughter, lol. Her father is Finarfin/Arafinwë, who has to be one of the least threatening people the line of Finwë ever produced, and who has little taste for Noldorin drama. Tolkien says, "She [Galadriel] was proud, strong, and self-willed, as were all the descendants of Finwë save Finarfin."

IDK, there's something deeply entertaining to me about Fëanor seething over Fingolfin while their niece is the real threat to Greatest Noldo Ever supremacy.

#i can't remember anything about her relationship with finwë (if any) #but i choose to believe he'd like. bounce baby artanis on his knee while fëanor is distracted by his siblings' existence #anghraine babbles #deep blogging #legendarium blogging #legendarium fanwank #galadriel #peoples of middle earth #the shibboleth of fëanor #long post

[sirioniel]

'Fingolfin's wife Anaïre refused to leave Aman, largely because of her friendship with Eärwen wife of Arafinwe though she was a Noldo and not one of the Teleri. But all her children went with their father.'

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Shibboleth of Fëanor. In: Christopher Tolkien, ed.: The Peoples of Middle-Earth. London 1996.

Illustration titled Evening Star published in: Camille Flammarion: Astronomy for Amateurs. New York 1904.

#tolkien #antique book illustration #illustration #literature #quote #camille flammarion #astronomy for amateurs #evening star #The Shibboleth of Fëanor #anaïre #anaire #earwen #eärwen #finarfin #fingolfin #the silmarillion #j. r. r. tolkien #friendship #silm #women in tolkien's universe #women in tolkien's writing #women in silm

[lostinmemoria]

There tolkien goes again, calling fëanor the most beautiful boy to have ever lived

And people draw interpretations of him looking wrinkled and stern of face, like, mate... respectfully: WHAT?!

To be noted, tolkien uses the word "fair" as a descriptor for many characters, but this isn't always a reference to appearance, as "fair" can be found throughout the text used majorly as a description for mood and conduct.

But for fëanor in particular, tolkien specifies "fair of face" (QS), and now, here (AAm), saying the most beautiful, too.

I'm sorry, but how am I supposed to not envision what could be the male equivalent of lúthien, as far as beauty? Striking, enrapturing, and all-encompassing; completely—in mind, spirit, and body—in all he is and does.

#filed under: things i'm too scared to post on my other blog #but we needs to rant about fëanor precious #we needs it #i may post this on main sometime in future when i grow the absolute audacity to potentially start a fight #(criticising popular fan interpretations doesn't go well) #but i swear a large majority of the silmarillion 'fandom' hasn't even read the histories #they just follow popular ideas and don't develop their own thoughts #like calling celegorm 'tyelco' for literally no reason #his name is fucking turco you absolute idiots #(aggressively points to the shibboleth) #persona/u

[gwaedhannen]

Funky AU ideas that Tolkien already wrote for us that I feel like I don't see much at all:

Amroth as the son of Galadriel and Celeborn. (Unfinished Tales: Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn)

Nimloth survives the Second Kinslaying, escapes to Ossiriand with Elwing and the Silmaril, and goes to the Havens after the refugees of Gondolin settle there. (War of the Jewels: The Tale of Years)

Orodreth, Angrod, and Aegnor go across to Beleriand on the Swan Ships along with the Fëanorians due to their friendship with Celegorm and Curufin. (The Shaping of Middle-earth: The Earliest Annals of Valinor)

Míriel survives until Fëanor is fully grown, but he still ends up Like That. (The Peoples of Middle-earth: The Shibboleth of Fëanor)

Celebrimbor as a Sindar descendent of Daeron. (The Peoples of Middle Earth: Of Dwarves and Men)

Celegorm and Curufin found Nargothrond after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. (The Lays of Beleriand: The Lay of the Children of Húrin)

Amanyar Noldor Eöl and Maeglin, with them and Aredhel being extremely attracted to Melkor's lies. (The Nature of Middle-earth: Ageing of Elves)

Teleporno.

In all seriousness, Amanyar Teleri Celeborn where he's also a grandchild of Olwë, and he and Galadriel sail separately to Beleriand after fighting for the Teleri in the First Kinslaying. (Unfinished Tales: The History of Galadriel and Celeborn)

(and this isn't even getting into BoLT funkiness)

#silmarillion #tolkien #stormthinken #go write these and poke me about it

[echo-bleu]

Psst what if Caranthir’s “red face” is from a lupus butterfly rash?

HELL YES anon I see your vision

Disabled Tolkien characters series

Assorted headcanons under the cut:

Elves, especially in the Years of the Trees where their conception of disability is... nearly non-existent (I have loads of headcanons about that and I'm writing a whole fic) don't really know about the immune system and autoimmune diseases.

Caranthir starts having symptoms very early in childhood, at first mostly anaemia and some joint pain, and skin issues. His butterfly rash is near-constant, though much worse during flares. Nobody flags this as a single issue, especially since he's also having other troubles (he's autistic, and he has pretty severe IBS-like symptoms).

Celegorm (starting to show symptoms of EDS, which they do know of because Míriel had it first) and Curufin (much more visibly/loudly autistic) are both a good deal more worrying to Fëanor and Nerdanel at that point, so Caranthir's issues tend to be, if not swept under the rug, at least not truly addressed. The parents are doing their best, but raising seven children is a lot, and Caranthir unfortunately gets all the Middle Child Syndrome.

(though in the Shibboleth, it's mentioned that Nerdanel named him Carnistir because he "had the ruddy complexion of his mother." Nerdanel with lupus, anyone?)

Once he's an adult, the symptom that bothers him the most is joint pain in his hands. His craft and his interests are in books, both writing them (he's a historian and economist) and bookbinding. He needs his hands.

Caranthir and Celegorm, because of their otherwise rocky relationship, swing wildly between curling up together for comfort and warmth during flares and shouting at each other because pain makes them both extremely bad-tempered.

The facial rash/lesions remains Caranthir's most visible symptom, and in a society where everyone is beautiful (especially his family), it's not an easy burden. Someone else made a wonderful post about this that I'll just link, rather than paraphrase.

#caranthir #carnistir #morifinwe #silmarillion #silm #the silmarillion #tolkien #silm art #tolkien fanart #echo's drawings #disabled tolkien characters #disabled characters #lupus #somehow he ended looking more like my fëanor than curufin #which is not ideal #but hey #i like him #feanorians

[aracaranelentari]

Please read this Morgoth's Ring quote with me cuz this is PEAK Fëanor and Fingolfin angst potential: [[This is Finwë talking to the Valar about Indis]] "But Indis parted from me without death. I had not seen her for many years, and when the Marrer smote me I was alone. She hath dear children to comfort her, and her love, I deem, is now most for Ingoldo. His father she may miss; but not the father of Fëanáro!"

Those familiar with only the Shibboleth's list of quenya names might assume that this is referencing Finarfin, but no. At this point in the story, Ingoldo was Fingolfin's mother-name. This quote implies that, according to Finwë's observations, Fingolfin was Indis's favorite child.

SO IMAGINE; Fëanor, who loves his mother so dearly and so desperately, but never knew her, and therefore never felt her love in return, looking at Fingolfin, who gets the favoritism and motherly love that he craves yet never got. Imagine how jealous and furious that might make him, especially since he hates Indis so much. I can't help but wonder if Fingolfin's being his mother's pride and joy was one of the reasons why Fëanor seemed to hate him the most of his half-siblings.

#tolkien #the silmarillion #house of finwe #finweans #fingolfin #feanor #indis #finwe #morgoth's ring

[middle-earth-mythopoeia]

Tolkien and long hair: what do the books say?

Any time Tolkien describes the length of Elves’ hair, it’s always said to be long:

- Glorfindel: ‘His golden hair flowed shimmering in the wind of his speed’ (FOTR - Amroth: ‘The wind was in his flowing hair’ (FOTR) - Celeborn: ‘The hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright’ (FOTR) - Elves even made bowstrings from their hair: ‘A bow such as the Galadhrim used, longer and stouter than the bows of Mirkwood, and strung with a string of elf-hair’ (FOTR) - Celegorm: ‘Golden was his long hair’ (The Lays of Beleriand) - The Elves of Valinor: ‘With their gleaming hair in the wind flying’ (The Lays of Beleriand); ‘There blowing free unbraided hair is meshed with beams of Moon and Sun’ (The Lost Road) - The Teleri: ‘With their long hair gleaming like foam’ (Morgoth’s Ring) - Olwë: ‘The hair of Olwë was long and white’ (Morgoth’s Ring) - Thingol: ‘Elwë himself had long and beautiful hair of silver hue’ (The War of the Jewels) - Fingon: ‘He wore his long dark hair in great plaits braided with gold’ (The Shibboleth of Fëanor) - And then there’s this quote which implies that long hair was seen as desirable among the Elves: ‘All the Eldar had beautiful hair (and were especially attracted by hair of exceptional loveliness), but the Noldor were not specially remarkable in this respect, and there is no reference to Finwë as having had hair of exceptional length, abundance, or beauty beyond the measure of his people’ (The Shibboleth of Fëanor)

But it’s not just Elves—Men are also described as having long hair:

- Aragorn: ‘He threw back his hood, showing a shaggy head of dark hair flecked with grey’; ‘His hood was cast back, and his dark hair was blowing in the wind’ (FOTR) - The Witch-king of Angmar: ‘His hair was long and gleaming’ (FOTR); in an earlier draft of the scene, Tolkien wrote that all the Ringwraiths had long hair: ‘Upon their long grey hair were crowns and helms of pale gold’ - Boromir: ‘They combed his long dark hair and arrayed it upon his shoulders’ (TTT) - The Rohirrim: ‘Their hair, flaxen-pale, flowed under their light helms, and streamed in long braids behind them’; ‘Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?’; ‘Their golden hair was braided on their shoulders’ (TTT) - Eorl the Young: ‘His yellow hair was flying in the wind’ (TTT) - Théoden: ‘His white hair was long and thick and fell in great braids’ (TTT); ‘The hair that flowed beneath his high helm was like snow’ (ROTK) - Men from the South: ‘They have black eyes, and long black hair’; ‘His black plaits of hair braided with gold were drenched with blood’ (TTT) - Faramir and Éowyn: ‘And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air’ (ROTK); this would only be possible if Faramir also had long hair - Túrin: ‘For his garb was of the wild woods and his hair was long’ (The Book of Lost Tales)

What about Maiar?

- Gandalf is described as follows: ‘His long white hair, his sweeping silver beard, and his broad shoulders, made him look like some wise king of ancient legend’ (FOTR); ‘His snowy hair flew free in the wind’ (TTT) - Even the Balrog is described as having long hair: ‘Its streaming hair seemed to catch fire, and the sword that it held turned to flame’ (The Return of the Shadow)

Interestingly, I only found a few instances of characters cutting their hair short, and all of them are women:

- Lúthien cuts her hair in The Silmarillion, although it does not say how short, but in The Lays of Beleriand, it says she ‘cut the hair about her ears, and close she cropped it to her head’  - Vána cuts her hair too in The Book of Lost Tales: ‘There follows an account of how Vána...cut short her golden hair and gave it to the Gods, and from her hair they wove sails and ropes’  - In The War of the Ring, Éowyn is described with shorn hair when she goes to war, although this was changed in the final version of ROTK: ‘In the passage that follows, Éowyn’s hair is described as shorn upon her neck’

In conclusion, long hair is clearly the norm in Tolkien’s books. No Elf is ever described as having short hair apart from Lúthien, and no mortal is ever described as having short hair except for Éowyn in the rejected draft. If anyone should have short hair, it’s certain female characters, not male Elves. Fight me!

#tolkien #silmarillion #lotr #my writing #long hair #yes I did in fact do a word search for ''hair'' in a digital copy of LOTR #and looked at all the iterations of it #and then I did a word seach for ''hair'' in a digital copy of all the volumes of HoMe... and there were over 400 mentions #and I looked at all of them #fuck Amazon #and their stupid modern gender-normative aesthetics

[polutrope]

I think about this passage and footnote from the Shibboleth of Fëanor a lot.

[Fëanor] himself perished too early in the war against Morgoth, largely because of his recklessnes, to do more than note the differences between the dialects of North Sindarin (which was the only one he had time to learn) and the Western[22]. 22 His sons were too preoccupied in war and feuds to pay attention to such matters, save Maglor who was a poet, and Curufin, his fourth and favourite son to whom he gave his own name; but Curufin was most interested in the alien language of the Dwarves, being the only one of the Noldor to win their friendship. It was from him that the loremasters obtained such knowledge as they could of the Khuzdul.

#feanor #maglor #curufin #quotes #there is just SO MUCH going on here #I can imagine a whole novelette based on this passage #fourth son fifth son who knows

[thelordofgifs]

Hmm actually as a follow-up to this post, let's rank all of the names Nerdanel gave her sons from least to most fucked up:

Makalaurë (gold cleaver). Literally fine and normal (also pretty). Probably why he ended up among the more well-adjusted of the lot.

Ambarussa (top-russet). Unimaginative, but alright.

Tyelkormo (hasty riser). Mostly ok? If, as The Shibboleth of Fëanor suggests, a reference to his quick temper, possibly a little mean but probably fine.

Carnistir (red-faced). Not exactly complimentary, but whatever.

Maitimo (well-made). Sure let's just name this kid for his looks as a deliberate fuck-you to everyone who wondered at Fëanor marrying someone "not the fairest of her people" that's going to be fine.

Atarinkë (little father). Ever wondered why this one ended up Like That? Hmm??

Umbarto (ill-fated). UM???

#silmarillion #nerdanel #the line of miriel #obviously this is mostly lh since I don't think these were necessarily out of the ordinary by elven naming standards #but in my culture they would all be so so weird so I'm side-eying them anyway

[shiroandblack]

It is a slow and gradual change, but the Noldor have started to abandon the letter 'Þ' in their words for the letter 's'. It was hard to pinpoint the source of this change, as with most innovations in the spoken word, it could simply be anyone deciding to pronounce a word in a particular way and others finding it better and following.

However, it is a conundrum for Indis who is of the Vanyar, who have not replaced the þorn. They would understand, certainly, if she did not speak the way they did. After all, she is of the Vanyar as they are so keen to remind her. To Finwë's people she was ever 'Indis of the Vanyar' or if they were feeling generous, 'Indis the Fair'.

"You have four Noldorin children, Indis," Finwë would shake his head and laugh, "my people have welcomed you for long."

But not all, she wanted to say then. And she wanted to say it now, as she saw Fëanàro's too bright silver-grey eyes piercing her own from across court. Indis swallowed, trying to hold his stare which has always burned.

Not for the first time, she wished Míriel had not died.

She had named all her children in the Noldorin fashion, forsaking the softer dialect of her own people. She had abandoned the soft silks and georgette dresses favoured by her people, replacing them with the samite and brocade of the Noldor. Her hair was no longer left loose to fly in the wind, instead it was braided intricately in a manner which has always been unsuited for her fine strands. The flowers usually woven into them were discarded and replaced with glittering gems.

And still — she is Indis of the Vanyar. They have never failed to remind her that she was not of their kindred. And Indis would always try to prove that she was, that her children were just as Noldorin as any other.

Now, they look at her and wonder how she will speak. Will she retain the þorn as the court of Ingwë does, or will she speak as them? Once again, converting a Vanyarin part of herself into Noldorin.

Fëanàro will take this as an insult to his mother, that is inevitable. Míriel would never discard the þorn in her name, but Míriel is dead and the dead do not make their will known to the living. Indis is Queen of the Noldor now, she must always put that first before her duties towards a dead friend.

So she speaks and it is with the 'sa-sí's her people now favour.

#the shibboleth was fëanor's mommy issues at level 9000 #indis getting blamed for it was so unfair tho #i always found it curious that she names her kids in a very Noldorin way and i wondered why #I'm not a linguist tho #short fic #indis vànima #the silmarillion #tolkien

[silvergifting]

do you ever think about the sheer grief that pervades so much of fëanor's story in general...? his grief and his resentment towards míriel seem to make up such an integral part of his being and what drives him as a whole. for him, even the mere suggestion that something might be perceived as an insult against his mother is just too much to handle. in a sense, he's still so obsessed with protecting her honor, even when she has long since passed into the halls of mandos and vairë.

there's just this profound sense of loss that makes so much more sense when you think about fëanor as an individual who is still grieving the loss of his mother and grappling with the consequences of his father's actions.

in the The Shibboleth of Fëanor from The Peoples of Middle-Earth, there's this lovely little passage that tells fëanor's story a bit differently, amongst a description of his Linguistics Snobbery: it describes míriel's death (which, notably, does not occur soon after his birth, but a bit later on) as a 'lasting grief to fëanor', which influenced many of the disastrous actions he took later on. when she dies, fëanor takes guard of her sleeping body and hröa, for a time.

to me, it's such an accurate depiction of grief: it's not something that fëanor struggles with for a time and then forgets, and it's not beautiful and tragic: it's ugly, it's life-long, and it cuts fëanor so deeply that he never fully recovers from it. it's a shame that this particular narrative of grief doesn't get as much attention as it should; people tend to dismiss fëanor as unhinged and nothing more, but, like... grief makes you do crazy things and it changes you so much. it doesn't justify what fëanor does throughout the silmarillion, of course, but it explains a great deal.

#META TIME; BOYS #behold: my creation! #behold! my creation #the silmarillion #feanor #fëanor #lotr #tolkien #the house of fëanor #silm #silmarillion #tolkien meta