#justice for pengolodh

[aipilosse]

Why Pengolodh of all people is able to stoke such rage within me on his behalf is so bizarre. Like, he's a non-character, a name and some facts Tolkien came up with in his carousel of in-universe authors to keep the layers of narration he loved, but the way he is maligned in this fandom is tragic.

I've touched on before that treating the Silmarillion as if it were written and relayed by a single author is entirely incorrect so I won't go into that here, and honestly I'm sure I've said this all before BUT

The idea that Penny is for some reason *least* suited to write most of the events of the Silmarillion is PATENTLY ridiculous, and I would challenge anyone who says that to a duel, either intellectual or physical (even in my current weakened state... Tulkas is on my side I cannot fail). First of all, the one place where nobody else knows anything about what happened is GONDOLIN, so I think if anyone is going to be writing about most of the events of the Silm, they either need to be from Gondolin or need to live in Sirion with survivors.

OH WHAT'S THAT.... SIRION?!?

Yeah, Sirion! The place where not only are there survivors of Gondolin, but there are survivors of Doriath and Nargothrond AND any remnants of the Beorians, Hadorian, and Haladin. Like, I can think of no other place where the Mannish legends would be able to be recounted, and put on the same level, as the Elvish ones.

"But the Feanorians," you squall. "He's so *unfair* to them, and how could he know ANYTHING about them? That's why we know sooo little about the Feanorians and why they are soooo unjustly maligned."

Ok, first of all, ya basic. Second of all, HE HAS ACCESS TO FEANORIAN SOURCES TOO.

There is Celebrimbor, and all the other former followers of Curufin and Celegorm that could of course tell Penny what was up in Himlad and afterwards while he was in Gondolin. Also, there were probably Feanorians who lived after turning on Maedhros and Maglor during the sack of the Havens who could fill in what happened after The Luthien Incident. So, actually, Pengolodh had multiple sources to literally all of the essential events of the Silmarillion.

OH YEAH THE SACK OF THE HAVENS. Despite living through what is described as the worst atrocity of elf v elf, despite having people we KNOW were friends with him KILLED during that fight, despite having his home destroyed by fellow Noldor, he *really* gives Maglor and Maedhros every excuse. "they felt bad, they're so tired, love grew between them and their victims" etc etc. The Silm is sympathetic to the Feanorians and you can't convince me otherwise (you're not some crazy rebel because you like them!) (They are also Doomed by the narrative, but attributing that to an in-universe author requires getting into the territory of events that occurred not actually occurring and... what's the point if you're going to say that the things that the book is about didn't happen? why are you even here?)

I see people say that the bias is against the 3 Cs, Caranthir especially, which is an ABSURD statement to make in conjunction with the 'Pengolodh, sole conveyer of the Silm' theory. Like, Pengolodh most likely never met any of the 3 Cs or if he did he was very young -- why would he dislike them more than the brothers that massacred his friends? I think the theory here is that he's just such a huge Turgon fan and just absorbed Turgon's opinions on the 3 Cs, which is just conjecture on top of conjecture with no solid footing.

I think there is more credence to him being biased against Maeglin on account of the Fall of Gondolin. But, I ask you, is it really *bias* when the guy is partially responsible for the sack of the city you spent most of your life in and likely the deaths of most of your friends and relatives? And Maeglin too in the published Silm is not without his good qualities! If you hate someone, it can be very hard to admit they're handsome and smart, but Penny does not have that issue.

Anyway, justice for Pengolodh. You didn't write the whole thing, Penny, but what you did write was I'm sure fucking fantastic.

#Pengolodh #justice for pengolodh #pengolodh nation rise up

[muse-write]

Excerpt: “Introduction”, Gold Does Not Always Glitter: Analyzing Friction Among the Noldorin Feanorians, written by Elrond Peredhel (T.A. 120)

‘To be a follower of Feanor’s sons was, by the time of the Second Kinslaying of Doriath, to be, to a certain extent, a conscious devotee of blood-stained murderers.’

So said Pengolodh in his widely-circulated account of the tragic, unnecessary attack by the sons of Feanor on the great kingdom of Doriath, held by King Dior Eluchil. While Pengolodh’s historical record has received a thousand years of fame for many valid reasons, not least of which is his meticulous attention to detail and his reliance upon first-person accounts and interviews which formed the basis of his research, it is nevertheless my intention to prove these words misguided if not utterly incorrect.

The first part of this book will analyze the lives of soldiers, merchants, and artists, all of whom claimed to be devoutly loyal to the sons of Feanor and believed that their service was important and purposeful, but did not necessarily hold uncomplicated and blind loyalty toward their lords. Some of these followers now dwell as refugees in the Homely House in Imladris, and following in Pengolodh’s footsteps I have included extra information for further context, including interviews, first-person accounts, and such small details as these individuals permitted.

I have chosen to focus much of the second half of my record on the lives of Feanor’s eldest sons, Maedhros and Maglor—not out of any sense of personal feeling, it must be made clear, but for the simple fact that, having some first-hand knowledge of the individuals involved, I hope to bring new information to this analysis regarding Noldorin customs, their worldview toward language and creation, and their potential motivations.

I am aware that my unique understanding regarding certain aspects of my subject matter will send my critics rushing to their history books and flinging accusations of personal bias. To these I can offer no satisfying refute, as the knowledge of my upbringing is widely known. This book, I must remind the more opinionated reader, is not an attempt at explaining or examining the psychology or cosmology which drove the sons of Feanor to commit any of the actions for which they have gained such infamy, but the discussion shall inevitably arise in brief. I hope that this book instead adequately does justice to my intention, which is to present an account of the daily lives of the sons of Feanor and their followers in order to deepen our understanding of the diverse, often internally divisive, always creative lives of the Feanorian faction of Noldorin elves.

#what if elrond was a cultural historian? he’d be a good one i think #and also use it to process trauma because he needs an objective look at everything #elrond peredhel #might ​publish/edit this more for #silmarillion #silmarillion epistolary #in april #my writing #fanfiction