#numenorean helm

[sesamenom]

An as-accurate-as-I-can-draw Numenorean!

Face based on Edith (Luthien). Hair based on description of the House of Beor (Numenoreans) and Faramir. Beardlessness from NoME. Helm based on Tolkien's Numenorean helm.

#silm #silmarillion #numenorean #numenorean armor #numenorean helm #*knock knock* amazon open up #numenor

[tenth-sentence]

He climbed up and found Legolas beside Aragorn and Éomer.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" - J.R.R. Tolkien

#book quote #lotr #lord of the rings #jrr tolkien #ttt #the two towers #helm's deep #battle #war #gimli #dwarves #legolas #elves #aragorn #numenoreans #eomer #rohirrim #riders of rohan

[morgulscribe]

His Name is Not REALLY Sauron, but no one really knows what to call him either

Tolkien's use of "Sauron" is infuriating. The character in question did not like that name because it meant "The Abhorred," or even "Foul-smelling and Vile." It was given to him by his enemies as an insulting play on his true name, which was Mairon, "The Admirable." However, Tolkien is an unreliable narrator at times and wrote from the perspective of a Noldorin/Numenorean/Gondorian scribe. Due to the implied bias in the text, the narrator uses every opportunity possible to get a pot shot in on Sauron Mairon.

This makes it very difficult to know when the character in question would refer to himself as Mairon, Sauron, or any one of his other many names and titles. Did he call himself Mairon in Angband? According to "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), the character used the name of Mairon until the fall of Numenor.

I guess the implication then would be that, since the character in question could no longer take a fair form, he decided to go full-on villain mode and accept the insulting title that his enemies gave him. After all, The Abhorred sounds more intimidating than The Admirable.

HOWEVER, Aragorn tells Legolas and Gimli that the "S" rune on the uruk helms belongs to Saruman, because the other "S" character does not permit his "right name" being written or spoken. (I guess this means that Aragorn considers "Sauron" to be the character's "right name" - not necessarily his "true name.")

To add to the confusion, there is also the existence of the Mouth of Sauron. In theory, this character might actually refer to himself as the Mouth of Mairon, but the Gondorian scribes, continuing their tradition of biased reporting, called him the Mouth of Sauron instead. Another possibility would be that the Mouth of Mairon refers to himself as the Mouth of Sauron when dealing with enemies, as the name would seem more intimidating.

This all makes for a very uncertain experience when writing about this character. Should he be called Mairon, when he isn't going by Annatar or Zigur? Or should the writer adapt the perspective of a Gondorian scribe, who would use the name Sauron at all times?

I don't know if there are any answers to these questions.

#sauron #mairon #annatar #zigur #aulendil #gorthaur #the necromancer #the nameless enemy #the great eye #base master of treachery #king of men and lord of middle-earth #elfhild's essays

[vakarians-babe]

27 for each of them! c:

EHEHEHE thank youuuuu for the ask 💗

27. How do they say “I love you” non-verbally?

Lanadhiel and Elladan: Elladan bows to Lanadhiel as a way of saying "I love you" long before they ever confess their feelings. Lanadhiel doesn't really understand it, mostly because she's autistic as hell she thinks it's just something the prince does to be polite, but in reality, he's trying to show his deference and that he would do anything for her. Lanadhiel, on the other hand, says it in the way she serves his grandmother, mother, and sister when they are in Lothlorien. Arwen figures this out first, and Celebrian, before her attack, realizes it as well, and makes much mischief of it. After their confession, Elladan still bows to Lanadhiel, but she only understands it when he bows before they part ways at the Ford of the Bruinen, and she takes to bowing to him, too.

Lathuilas and Narmeleth: When they still live in Eregion, Lathuilas says "I love you" without words by always waiting for Narmeleth outside the smithy at the end of the day, while Narmeleth makes some small trinket or piece of jewelry for Lathuilas every day. After Narmeleth's corruption, however, Lathuilas shows her love by wearing those trinkets all the time, even when Narmeleth isn't there. After they meet again, Lathuilas makes a conscious effort to keep doing this, so that Narmeleth can see that she thought about her every day while they were parted and she thinks about her every day still. When Narmeleth finally fully recalls herself after breaking free, she shows her love in turn one final time by protecting Lathuilas. :)

Duventoliel and Tadan: Their time together is so brief and in the midst of so much chaos that they both end up verbalizing their feelings far more than not, so non-verbal expressions of affection are rarer for the two of them. However! Duventoliel shows her love by making sure Tadan is always comfortable as he watches a certain Numenorean prisoner, often also staying with him. Tadan in turn tries to spend as much of his free time with her, and every time he sees her around Tinnudir, he always has a wildflower from the shore of Lake Evendim to give her. After Tadan's death, Duventoliel keeps his ring with her always. When she, too, falls at Helm's Deep, her last wish is to have her body brought back to Evendim so that she can be buried next to him.

#lotro #lanadhiel #lanadhielladan #elladan #narmeleth #lathuilas #lathuileth #duventoliel #tadan #tadantoliel

[marta-bee]

Marta Rereads the Silmarillion: The Valaquenta

I’m finally getting back to rereading the Silmarillion, specifically the Valaquenta.

If you’ve never read it the Valaquenta is a sort of dramatis personae for the Valar and the more important Maiar, talking about their special domains, their relationships to each other, along with little bits and bobs of their doings from the early history of Ea. A lot of it’s pretty dry stuff, but one character always catches my fancy. Maybe it’s because for a god he’s a bit off the beaten path from what you’d expect. Maybe it’s his involvement much later in the Akallabeth (the Numenoreans along with the Gondorians have always been my first passion). Or maybe it’s just that Ulmo is just so ever-loving cool.

Here’s how Jirt introduces him:

Ulmo is the Lord of Waters. He is alone. He dwells nowhere long, but moves as he will in all the deep waters about the Earth or under the Earth. He is next in might to Manwe, and before Valinor was made he was closest to him in friendship; but thereafter he went seldom to the councils of the Valar, unless great matters were in debate. For he kept all Arda in thought, and he has no need of any resting-place. Moreover he does not love to walk upon land, and will seldom clothe himself in a body after the manner of his peers. If the Children of Eru beheld him they were filled with a great dread; for the arising of the King of the Sea was terrible, as a mounting wave that strides to the land, with dark helm foam-crested and raiment of mail shimmering from silver down into shadows of green. The trumpets of Manwe are loud, but Ulmo's voice is deep as the deeps of the ocean which he only has seen.

Nonetheless Ulmo loves both Elves and Men, and never abandons them, not even when they lay under the wrath of the Valar. At times he will come unseen to the shores of Middle-earth, or pass far inland up firths of the sea, and there make music upon his great horns, the Ulumuri, that are wrought of white shell; and those to whom that music comes hear it ever after in their hearts, and longing for the sea never leaves them again. But mostly Ulmo speaks to those who dwell in Middle-earth with voices that are heard only as the music of the water. For all seas, lakes, rivers, fountains and springs are in his government; so that the Elves say that the spirit of Ulmo runs in all the veins of the world. Thus news comes to Ulmo, even in the deeps, of all the needs and griefs of Arda, which otherwise would be hidden from Manwe.

So if you’re like me an often a bit irked by how standoffish a lot of the Valar are, good news: Ulmo’s not quite like that. He’s more aware of what Elves and Men are going to be dealing with, and while he’s not always hanging out with them, though he only rarely has close dealings with them. He’s sort of carved out his own domain in the waters of the deep.

That’s fascinating to me because it’s really close to what Melkor was after: a domain where he could be his own lord and create things that weren’t preordained by Eru. He wants to be master of his own domain, and because he was sensible enough to find a space no one was all that concerned with anyway, he’s sort of just allowed to do it. What’s he getting up to down there? No one really knows, and weirdly enough they’re okay with that.

(I’m imagining Aule’s crafting of the dwarves, which we’ll get to in a few chapters. For all we know Ulmo’s doing much the same thing. He seems like the type somehow; it’s just that because he’s not living in Valinor, it’s not going to be noticed.)

He’s also flat-out terrifying. There’s an echo of the Christian nativity story, of the angels telling the shepherds in the field “BE NOT AFRAID” as they hover overhead with their massive forms and thousands of all-seeing eyes and the ethereal/transcendent booming voice that is beyond the experience of the created kin. When Ulmo speaks up, you need to be reminded to “Be not afraid.” And speaking as someone who’s heard conch-shells being blown, describing it as music is a very generous description. This is the closest thing the Valar have to an emissary for the Eruhini, the Elves and Men, and isn’t that just lovely; and also, predictable.

For all that, his element of water is still highly connected to Iluvatar’s plan and the Great Song. Tolkien wrote in the Ainulindale how water would carry the imprint, the afterecho, of the Great Song, even long after it was over and the primary world was created. If anything, you’d think the master of waters would have less room to do his own things; but Ulmo’s going to end up more likely to go against the common opinion of the rest of the Valar. He’s not a rebel particularly, but definitely does his own Thing.

Speaking of rebels, no post about Ulmo would be complete without talking about his best-known Maiar:

But of all the Maiar Ossë and Uinen are best known to the Children of Ilúvatar.

Ossë is a vassal of Ulmo, and he is master of the seas that wash the shores of Middle-earth. He does not go in the deeps, but loves the coasts and the isles, and rejoices in the winds of Manwë; for in storm he delights, and laughs amid the roaring of the waves. His spouse is Uinen, the Lady of the Seas, whose hair lies spread through all waters under sky. All creatures she loves that live in the salt streams, and all weeds that grow there; to her mariners cry, for she can lay calm upon the waves, restraining the wildness of Ossë. The Númenóreans lived long in her protection, and held her in reverence equal to the Valar.

Melkor hated the Sea, for he could not subdue it. It is said that in the making of Arda he endeavoured to draw Ossë to his allegiance, promising to him all the realm and power of Ulmo, if he would serve him. So it was that long ago there arose great tumults in the sea that wrought ruin to the lands. But Uinen, at the prayer of Aulë, restrained Ossë and brought him before Ulmo; and he was pardoned and returned to his allegiance, to which he has remained faithful. For the most part; for the delight in violence has never wholly departed from him, and at times he will rage in his wilfulness without any command from Ulmo his lord. Therefore those who dwell by the sea or go up in ships may love him, but they do not trust him.

Maiar were originally described as children of specific Ainur, though that’s not hard and fast, and servants or lieutenants often works as well. And what a duo to have attached to your name! One flat out turncoat (later --and partially-- reformed), one wife restraining and pleading on behalf of said turncoat but never quite managing to keep him entirely in line, to the  point you have to wonder just how hard she was trying. I can easily see Uinen putting a polite face after Osse runs amok and satisfying the social niceties, but quietly smiling at his shenanigans.

It’s a fun pair of minor characters to think about, especially as they’re just begging to be written into the folklore of men and elves along the coasts. I actually did just that: a Dol Amroth drinking song about how they might think of these masters of the shore. More fanfic authors should make use of them because they’re just that much fun.

Secretly, I suspect the only reason Ulmo doesn’t attract more flack is Aule’s Maiar are so much worse; but that’s for a later chapter. I doubt he minds, though.

#tolkien #the silmarillion #marta rereads #ulmo

[jasonblaze72]

Rings Of Power Episode 6 Recap: Mount Doom Erupts On The Southland

Rings Of Power Episode 6 was the best episode so far, at least for me. Some people were complaining that Rings of Power is getting boring and this was Amazon Prime Video's answer to them, a pretty explosive one if you ask me. Anyways, we saw a lot of fighting in this episode, which was nice after a lot of talking. And this episode just focused on one storyline rather than showing you all the stories going on with all the characters of the show. The main focus was Adar vs The Southland people and Neumenor coming to save them. So, Adar wanted that Black sword Hilt that Theo had, and the Southland folks didn't want to give it to him also they didn't want to surrender. Arondir motivated his side and made a plan to take over the number game. Also, Arondir made some progress with his relationship with Bronwyn. We also got an ending which (like I said) would call it a pretty Explosive Ending. Rings Of Power Episode 6 Recap Rings Of Power Episode 6 opens with Adar giving a speech to the orcs. Then he leads the orcs - and Waldreg - up to the elven tower of Ostirith, where they find it empty. After entering, Adar sees the statue depicting the sword and presumably Sauron’s helm, which prompts Waldreg to ask what happened to Sauron. And naturally, an orc interrupts before Adar can answer. Adar says he can smell the elf - again we see his character to be an interesting blend of elf and orc, with more to come. Arondir springs into action, bringing down the entire tower while locking the orcs inside and taking out a number that was still ascending the path. There’s not really anything to dissect here, but I’m a big fan of this sequence and it’s fun to see Arondir do awesome elven things as he kind of seems like he’s the Legolas of this series. Bronwyn and the villagers see the tower fall from ground level and begin phase 2 - preparing their village for an attack by the surviving orcs. Numenor Reaches Southland Next, we are at sea with the three Numenorean ships. Isildur wakes in the early morning hours, passing by Halbrand who is awake in his hammock. Isildur goes to his horse Berek and shares an apple with him before throwing it half eaten into the water - which is like super wasteful - he totally should’ve given the rest to the horse. Also - Isildur is a lefty. Galadriel then approaches Isildur and they go on to talk about his position of stable sweep and Numenor. Isildur reveals he is trying to get away from the place Numenor has become, and questions whether the real Numenor - the one that was faithful - ever existed. Galadriel says it did exist and it exists still - if only in the heart of the lowliest stable sweep. We see Isildur stare in amazement at the coast of Middle-earth before Elendil interrupts. And before revealing that Isildur’s mother drowned, he talks about looking east most of his life to see the sun rise over the sea, and west to see it set on land, so basically it feels backwards to him. This made me wonder how long he has lived in the East of Numenor for this to be the case - for if he lived in the West of Numenor, the sun would rise above the land of Numenor and set over the sea, as he is currently seeing in this scene. The Southlands Folks Vs Adar We transition to Arondir trying to destroy the hilt shard to no avail, so he goes to hide it. The villagers board and seal up all the orc tunnel exits and get their plan in place, including the tavern being where those unable to fight will hunker down. Arondir tells the villagers to do their part and he swears they will see the sunrise again - which seems like a lot to promise to untrained folks about to face off against orcs. The speech itself is pretty boilerplate rah, rah, let’s beat the bad guys - it’s not that the dialogue is like offensively bad or anything, it’s more so just lacking any of the poetry we’ve come to expect from Tolkien’s world. Theo then goes into the shelter to protect the people who can't fight. We see Arondir and Bronwyn talking with each other about planting Alfirin seeds. Arondir says after the battle is over, they can settle down and they have some pre-battle smoochy time. Night falls and the orcs make their way into the town. The villagers have a nice trap setup and corner the orcs between lines of fire. The villagers hold their own pretty well while Arondir goes one-v-one against this level’s boss. We get some good-sized one shots in here, which are pretty fun - I’ll take fight scenes like this over shaky cam quick cuts any day. Boss orc has Arondir pinned and a blade super close to his eye when Broynwyn saves the day - incidentally, I totally thought Theo was gonna be the one to save him, but it was Bronwyn instead. No smoochy this time because Arondir got gross orc blood like all over his mouth just now. You’ve Not Won The Southlands think they’ve won, only for Arondir to realize that many of the orcs were actually the defected Southlands dressed as orcs. Now I don’t think they’re all men by any means because on second viewing I noticed a lot of orc faces in these fights. Now my first thought when seeing this scene was that perhaps Adar truly was Sauron - and his power of creating illusions make all these men look like orcs until this moment. It would be a really cool instance of Sauron using this power we know him to have, but it doesn’t seem like that’s what’s happening here. Incidentally, in the First Age, we see an instance where Galadriel’s brother Finrod disguises himself and his company as orcs, so powerful elves are mentioned a couple of times for doing similar magic. The arrows start flying and Bronwyn is hit. I thought for sure she was toast, but Theo and Arondir save her using the Alfirin seeds and a fiery piece of wood to cauterize the wound. We check in with the Numenoreans who have made it to land and are riding as the sun rises. In Unfinished Tales, it does say that the Numenoreans didn’t use horses in war since all their wars were overseas in Middle-earth. While they had horses in their settlements in Middle-earth - those were typically used only by couriers and archers. While, yes, technically this is a departure from the source material, I think it’s a pretty innocuous one in my opinion. Arondir refuses to give Adar the shard so the orcs start stabbing people. And here we see again this is definitely a more violent version of Middle-earth. Anyway, when Bronwyn is threatened, Theo reveals where the shard is, handing it over to Adar as we hear a thunderous sound in the distance. Adar tells Waldreg he has a task for him and the Numenoreans show up in full force taking on the group of orcs. Numenor To The Rescue In the battle, we see some cool moments, like Galadriel dodging an arrow and decapitating the archer. We see Isildur’s buddies Valandil and Ontomo in the battle and when Valandil stabs an orc and twists we get more crazy gushing blood that honestly looks more at home in the Shadow of Mordor games. Ontomo nearly gets taken out by an orc and we see Isildur is atop the hill with Miriel and he’s chomping at the bit to get into the action, so Miriel tells him to go. Elendil gets into some trouble and gets knocked off his horse before being saved by Halbrand throwing a spear at an attacking orc. Real quick I will say that if Halbrand turns out to be Sauron, he’s saving an awful lot of people that are his enemies in this show. Isildur comes up to Elendil lying on the ground and there definitely seems to be a bit of a parallel between this moment and the moment to come many years down the road when Isildur will come to his father’s side as we saw in the Fellowship of the Ring. Galadriel asks Arondir who the orcs’ commander is and he points out Adar and Galadriel gives chase - during which, Galadriel says “noro lim” to her horse - if this sounds familiar it’s because it’s the same phrase Arwen says to Asfaloth when she is pursued by the ringwraiths in the Fellowship of the Ring film. Halbrand trips the horse Adar commandeered, but we see him get up so he’s alright. Halbrand stabs Adar in the hand as he reaches for the shard package thing, and Halbrand asks “Do you remember me?” When Adar says no, Halbrand almost kills him, but Galadriel stops him. Galadriel Asks Adar About Sauron Back in the village, Galadriel interrogates Adar, talking about elves being taken by Morgoth and tortured into orcs - very similar to Saruman’s speech in Fellowship of the Ring. She says Adar is one of these elves – the Moriondor - a Quenya word meaning “sons of the dark”. Galadriel wants to know where Sauron is and threatens to bring the orcs into the sunlight. Adar says some stories about Sauron and he killed Sauron because he was using the orcs as a slave, but I don't think we should believe him. In response to Adar, Galadriel vows to eradicate every last orc while keeping Adar alive so that he will know all his offspring are dead before she kills him - which is like…super dark. So dark that our season 1 bad guy says “perhaps the search for Morgoth’s successor should have ended in your own mirror”...and let’s be honest from what we’ve seen he’s not entirely wrong. Galadriel’s threat sounds pretty bonkers right after Adar is like “hey, we deserve a breath of life and a home” and she’s like “how bout instead I kill every last one of you”. While I’m not the biggest fan of Galadriel’s revenge kick, it is nice that the show is aware that this is not a desirable thing for the lady of light and seems to be pointing to her need to change. A Halbrand-Galadriel Connection Halbrand stops Galadriel from killing Adar, and we see that Adar had enough of a transformation that his blood is black like the other orcs. He then asks Halbrand who he is, to which Halbrand just walks away. Galadriel and Halbrand thank each other for stopping the killing of Adar. Halbrand starts talking about not feeling he could be free of his past until today and says how the feeling of fighting by Galadriel’s side is something he want to hold on to - and bind it to his very being - which, again, gets added to a long list of Sauron-y things to say. Galadriel says she felt it too and they kind of look at each other before getting interrupted. Ok, so I’ve made it no secret that I have zero interest in some Halbrand-Galadriel romance thing. Now some fans said they didn’t read this scene as romantic at all, but instead that they both had a sense of the other’s power during their fighting - and perhaps this is the first clue Galadriel might have that Halbrand isn’t what he claims to be. Rings Of Power Episode 6 Ending Explained Back in the village, Bronwyn and Miriel exchange pleasantries and Miriel is like - hey, you want this dude to be your king? And Bronwyn notices his pouch and is like “that’s good enough for me” and all hail King Halbrand! Galadriel gives the shard to Arondir, who gives it to Theo so he could get rid of it and be free of it - but psych - it’s just a hatchet. Turns out the errand for Waldreg is to go back to the downfallen tower, where he stabs the sword into the base of the monument. This releases the water behind the tower. Then we see a nice father-son moment between Isildur and his father which is broken up by a loud rumbling, and all the boarded-up tunnel entrances begin to spout water as we see Waldregs work go into effect. Turns out the orc tunnels were a way for the lake to flow into Orodruin and as vast amounts of water flow into the lava - my prediction comes to pass and we have our first eruption of Mount Doom. Galadriel Accepts Her Fate Balls of fire crash all around and all heck breaks loose as people flee. We get a really cool shot of the huge cloud of smoke, ash, and fire comes ever closer to the village. And just when I thought I was onto something tying this lightning we see to the last image of Sauron when the ring is destroyed, I learned that Volcano eruptions can indeed cause lighting within their pyroclastic flow - it’s kind of wild stuff and totally worth a google if you wanna check it out. In our last couple shots aside from people running, we see Adar has escaped the barn before it’s destroyed and Galadriel closes her eyes, seeming to accept whatever fate may come as we cut to black and roll credits. We’re down to just two episodes left of this first season of Rings of Power and next week seems like we’ll be checking back in with The Stranger and Khazad-dum. I thought it was really nice to be following a single storyline for the entire episode this week, and this episode definitely brought some much-needed action and conflict to the table. That being said, I’m always eager to see more of Durin, Elrond, and Khazad-dum so I’m very much looking forward to going back to the dwarven realm next week. Also Read: Rings Of Power Episode 5 Easter Eggs: The Dead Marsh, The Creation Of Mithril And The Wolves Read the full article

[bloodwingblackbird]

I wish you would write a fic where Maglor has to pass through the dead marshes to reach something dear to him

Is this something?

The place smells better than it had the last time he was here, but Maglor is not much happier to have returned. In all fairness, the last time he was here, he had been hiding amongst the Numenorean host, hiding his ears beneath one of their ridiculous winged helms (taken from a corpse) (he wasn’t using it anymore), hiding his eyes with a gaze fixed firmly on the ground.

He’d had good reason to watch the ground. The battle had churned it into a perilous mire, mud that was as much blood as water, accidental caltrops of lost, broken weaponry, and the more mournful obstacle: the dead themselves. It had been the work of long days to bury them all, even as hastily and disrespectfully as they had done. Maglor had longed for the clean fire that had claimed his father, his brothers, but these Men buried their dead, even though the wet was everywhere, seeming to rise up through the very ground.

What Maglor wouldn’t have given for a single, clean stone.

There were marshes already, even then, to the northwest, and during the long battle, they had lost many to their mires, to their own pride and impatience. Still not satisfied, the marshes had sent forth great hosts of biting flies that harried them, worst at dawn and dusk, but never truly leaving them in peace, so that even their rest was punctuated by tiny wounds, every inch of uncovered skin marked by the attacks, even long after the battle had ended.

The battle now is over, the age passed away, and a new one begun. They won that war, perhaps, but now that he looks upon this place again, Maglor thinks that it was the marshes that were the true victor.

He has already been walking for days when he finds himself at their edges, at the strange border of a place not entirely land, not entirely water, the border no more sharp edged than the rest of it. It’s the smell that reaches him first. Again, it is not as bad as when he had worked to bury their dead, muck and blood to the shoulders, feet that hadn’t been dry in months, nose and lungs so full of the stench that he couldn’t even smell it anymore. There’s still a reek in the air, an almost visible fug of green and rot that hovers over the area, a scent like an untended garden at the end of the summer, all mold and rotten vegetation.

The flies are still there, and Maglor wonders if he is truly the first meat they’ve seen in all these long years. No one crosses the marshes if they can help it. There is nothing on the other side, nothing for anyone who values their life and sanity, at any rate.

He slaps at his neck, a little harder than he means to, and pulls his hand away, holding it up to see the little streak of blood in the fading light. He wishes he had an option other than walking, but then, that’s the reason he is in this blighted land to begin with.

Maglor has a horse. Or. Maglor had a horse. Before a party of orcs had stolen it from him.

It had been a good horse, of Rohirrim stock. He had purchased the horse no more than the orcs had, but he treated the horse kindly and the horse liked him, and he liked the horse a good deal more than he liked anyone he had met in several centuries. So it should really have been no surprise when a raiding party of orcs had made off with his horse one night.

The surprising part is that they haven’t eaten the horse yet.

He can still see her tracks, though, her dainty hoofmarks sharp among their heavy boots, and he half-hopes they are working for someone else, someone who would want a horse for more than food, for something that would keep her alive and unharmed for a bit longer. Of course, that sort of something, stirring in the ruins of Sauron’s realm could well be its own sort of terror, but Maglor doesn’t much care to think about that. He just wants his horse back. If there is another war, he promises himself, he and his horse will go back to the coast, will make the stories true, and live out their days (or Horse’s days, at least) running in the surf and eating little crabs.

Maglor finds the edge of the dry land just as the last of the light leaves the western sky. He should stop there, make camp, wait for the dawn, but no one has ever called him wise, and he is not afraid of the place, not with the mountain dormant and Sauron defeated, but neither is he willing to spend an instant longer so close.

It is a dark night. No moon. No stars. The sort of night when the darkness hangs close about. Maglor feels that he can almost touch it, and looking down, finds his own hand extended, as if he means to push it aside.

And that’s when he notices that the darkness has lifted. He thinks that it is not real, his eyes conjuring phantoms to fill the nothingness before his eyes, but no. He moves his hand again and finds the paths of it in the air before him, wan and greenish, but there all the same, as if he has awoken something.

There’s a soft whuff and a light appears in the distance, a light that only serves to make the darkness deeper. Maglor follows. He is no fool (this is a lie, but then, Maglor often says that he is both a fool and a liar. Ask Horse); he has heard the tales of the things that lurk in the marshes. He’ll not be lured further than he means to go, but right now, he means to go a bit further, to see what he is being shown. Maglor doesn’t fear the dead, not here, not when he knows these dead, not when he laid many of them to rest, however poor a job he might have made of it.

Perhaps he should. They peer out at him from their pools, bodies that should have long since gone back to the slime and the dust. Elves, Men, Orcs, in death all the same. Maglor wonders: are they truly here, their spirits somehow held to this place, mired forever in the marshes, holding their little candles in the night, taking their only solace in the brief company of an unwary traveler?

It seems cruel. More cruel, even, than his own destiny, for he, at least, called his own fate upon himself, composed the words that will doom, have doomed, himself, his father, his brothers. These are not innocent. Few are innocent, but they went forth, knowing that while their death might await them on these fields, they knew that that would be an end, whatever end their kind can expect. But they do not deserve this.

Now he stares into the water, the face before him angry, maybe, or maybe only contorted in the agonies of his death (and who will not be angry when death comes for him?), the hands, pale now as fish, and moving in sharp spasms illuminated by the greenish light that now comes from everywhere and nowhere at once. Maglor wonders if he knew this one. Wonders if this one knows him, knows that at the end they had just been piling the bodies together, not even separating friend from foe, wonders if this is why he is unwelcome.

Or too welcome.

He looks up. There is a ring of lights about him, pale and greenish, a stench of rotten cabbage, of latrines, and there is a song. Maglor listens, for he must, because he is a singer, and who else can say that the dead came forth to teach him their songs?

The song has no words, the song barely has a tune. It’s a drone like the insect hosts of the marshes, like the heavy wind scything through the grasses, like the gurgle of mud, like the slithering of the strange foul fish that live within the mires and pools. If rot could sing, this would be its song.

It is not a lovely song, but it soothes, it quiets, it smothers, it numbs. It’s a song like wine, cloying and sweet, and Maglor has always wanted to feel less than he feels, and so he follows, deep into the Marshes, to the edge of a wider pool. His feet are wet now, but he cannot remember having stepped into the water, nor can he remember why he is on his hands and knees, bent over the water, drinking great thirsty gulps of the stagnant pool.

But he is.

He is thirsty beyond imagining, and the slimy water pours down his throat. It is not something to be sipped slowly, something that can only be consumed in gulps and he chokes as he tries to drink, but he does not stop, and the song does not stop either, and he is drowning.

The dead are beside him again, and they reach out their hands to him. They will dance now, however a corpse dances, bones and sinews and slime jerking and heaving in the swamps, and Maglor will learn their song, for he is a mighty singer. He reaches out to the one beside him, but this one is different, his winged helm (grander than the one Maglor once stole) still proud, still tall upon his head, his hair still dark, eyes still bright. He looks like Elros.

At that thought, he is gone, and Maglor is reaching out a shaking hand to the darkness.

In the morning, Maglor is still there. His throat is dry, because he has been singing all night, his chin, his throat, streaked now with silt. The marshes are greedy, because the life of a marsh, he supposes, is one of loss, of tufts of grasses, or reeds and sedges trying to hold fast to their vanishing land. They try to hold the dead, as well, but they cannot, not truly. The marsh holds their memories, though, and it pulls them out of its pockets at night, turns them over, shows them to its visitors, singing to them, “look, see what I once was. See what I still could be. Stay here, with me.” It works, sometimes, and the living become the dead, but even the dead stay only a little while.

Maglor will leave now, though. He has a horse.

#asked and answered #sad elf bullshit #maglor

[aureentuluva70]

Eonwe headcanons:

1. In one version of the story, Eonwe and Ilmare were the children of Manwe and Varda. While I am sticking with the version of the Valar bring unable to have children, I really do like the idea of Eonwe and Ilmare being brother and sister. Eonwe is fiercely protective of his twin, and trust me when I say you do NOT want to see Eonwe angry.

2. He and Mairon were like brothers. They considered eachother Melotorni so you can imagine just how much it hurt Eonwe when Mairon joined Melkor. It was an experience that helped him forge a stronger bond with Manwe.

3. Eonwe can be absolutely TERRIFYING in battle. Usually he just uses his normal form(a more elven form)when he's fighting, but if he gets especially ticked off he can be an absolute NIGHTMARE. You know those quote on quote "biblically accurate angels" from Revelations where they're depicted as having a heck ton of heads and wings and dozens of eyes and just overall being an eldritch abomination? Yeah that's angry Eonwe for you. His voice sounds like hundreds of demons shrieking at once and most of the time he doesn't even notice. It scares everyone so bad the hosts of Valinor can't blame even the BALROGS for shaking in pure terror from this absolute ABOMINATION.

4. The eye insignia used by Sauron was actually originally Eonwe's before Sauron shamelessly stole and parasitized it.

5. Eonwe was especially close to the Numenoreans. Afterall it was Eonwe who taught the Numenoreans and gave them long lifespans and great knowledge. Unfortunately however, Sauron knew this too, and was all too happy to shamelessly destroy Numenor from the inside out. Manwe had to nearly order Tulkas to wrestle Eonwe to the ground to stop him from flying off to Numenor and ripping Sauron to shreds(and accidentally destroying an entire continent again in the process)

6. Eonwe has angels wings(when he wants to) that look identical to those of the great eagles. So yes he can fly.

7. (This one is from @sunflowerssupremes) "The reason Eönwë is NOT mentioned during the War of the Powers is because Melkor ripped him apart to taunt Manwë. He was so badly wounded it took him years to fully reform a physical body (Manwë helped him, and ever since had viewed Eönwë as a sort of child, nicknaming him Fionwë Urion, or Child of the Sun)"

8. The helmets worn by the Numenoreans were actually inspired by the Helm Eonwe wore in battle.

[paradoxcase]

I was mistaken earlier: Dunharrow is important later in the story, but not in the Two Towers - it’s the place where the Dimholt, the entrance to the Paths of the Dead, is.

From what I remember of the movie, the chronology for Theoden et. al. in Return of the King is that they travel from wherever they were when Pippin looked in the Palantir (which I think was not the same place they were in the book at this point, because in the movie this scene happens in some sort of fortified stone building, but in the book they were camped out in the open) to Dunharrow to marshal the troops, and Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are all with them.  Then Elrond shows up out of nowhere with Anduril and tells Aragorn that corsairs are going to be attacking on ships and he needs to go through the Paths of the Dead to stop them, and also he should recruit the dead to join him, which he can do because he has this fancy sword now.  Aragorn seems to know what happened with the Paths of the Dead because when Elrond mentions them he refers to them as cowards and traitors, but it’s Legolas who actually gives the history of it and recites the poem that foretold Aragorn’s coming to recruit the dead to fulfill their broken oath.  This is kind of odd, because Legolas is not really the party member I’d expect to have a deep knowledge of the history of Gondor.  When they get to the Dimholt, Legolas reads “The way is shut.  It was made by those who are dead.  The way is shut.” in some sort of what looks like hieroglyphics above the door, and then their horses get spooked and leave, which was sort of foreshadowed by all of the horses at Dunharrow getting spooked just from being in the general vicinity of the Dimholt.

In the book, when they realize they need to start preparing for war, they all go back to Helm’s Deep first.  On the way, they are met by a bunch of Dunedain on horses, one of which is carrying a gift from Arwen, which is not Anduril, since Aragorn has by this point by carrying Anduril for the past several months, but is instead a standard that is later used to call upon the dead to fulfill their oath.  Elladan and Elrohir, Elrond’s sons, are also with them.  It is at this point that the Paths of the Dead are mentioned for the first time, and the prophetic poem is recited by Aragorn - it may be that Elrond appearing at Dunharrow was meant to be the movie’s version of this, since it doesn’t really make sense to introduce three new characters (Elladan and Elrohir, plus the guy bearing the standard) who are not really important again in the story.  It’s a little mysterious why these guys are here, though - they claim that a message was delivered to Rivendell saying that Aragorn was in need of his Dunedain friends in Rohan, and they just randomly happened to bump into the group of people containing Aragorn while they were looking for Rohan (they did not even know they had found Rohan until Theoden confirmed that yes, this is Rohan).  It’s not clear who sent this message.  The characters seem to suspect that Galadriel sent it, and somehow read Aragorn’s mind that he wanted them to come when he was in Lothlorien, except when the company was in Lothlorien they were still on a mission of secrecy to destroy the ring, for which thirty guys on horseback is not really useful, and also they were not really headed to Rohan, as opposed to how Aragorn is now in the middle of preparing for a big war, for which thirty guys on horseback is in fact quite useful.  So some sort of other Galadriel magic happened, or something.  I don’t think this is ever actually cleared up.

Anyway, they return to Helm’s Deep and Theoden and Merry do some bonding.  Gandalf had given Aragorn the Palantir after Pippin looked at it, on the basis that Isengard did at one point used to be a vassal of Gondor, so therefore the Palantir at Isengard technically belongs to the king of Gondor, which is Aragorn as far as Gandalf is concerned.  Anyway, while they are at Helm’s Deep, Aragorn looks into the Palantir and reveals himself to Sauron as the heir of Elendil, etc. and while doing this, perceives from Sauron’s mind that the corsairs will be coming from the south during the battle.  I believe Aragorn looks into the Palantir in the movie, but not until the end of the Return of the King, after the major battle has been fought.  The companion notes that this happens on the same night that Frodo and Sam spend climbing Cirith Ungol, where they are detected by the Nazgul in Minas Morgul.  But Sauron is distracted by Aragorn using the Palantir and doesn’t respond to the Nazgul reporting this, which allows Frodo and Sam to escape without alerting Sauron.  Anyway, after this, Theoden decides to travel to Edoras via hidden mountain roads that go through Dunharrow, and muster the troops there.  But Gandalf, who left already, has figured out that the muster needs to happen sooner, so on his way to Gondor he sends all of the Rohirrim to muster at Dunharrow, and they are all there to meet Theoden when he arrives.  Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and the Dunedain (+Elladan and Elrohir) see everyone off, have a discussion, and decide that they need to travel to Dunharrow as quickly as possible and then take the Paths of the Dead.  They actually beat Theoden there by a day, because they are not going through the mountains.

At Dunharrow is Eowyn, who has (in the book) been out of the action for some time now.  When Aragorn arrives, she begs him to take her with him, as she wants to do important things and be part of the story and also be close to Aragorn while doing it, etc., and she’s been sort of shunted off for a while now.  Book!Eowyn honestly has a lot more reason to think she’s been locked in a cage than movie!Eowyn, who went to Helm’s Deep and I believe was by Theoden’s side for most of this part of the plot.  The movie is much more direct about Aragorn rejecting her, but he also lets her down softer.  The book does something that I’m sure no modern English speaker would immediately understand unless they’ve been immersed in older varieties of English, where Eowyn uses thou/thee (familiar “you”) to address Aragorn while Aragorn uses you (formal “you”) to address Eowyn, reflecting their differing opinions about the intimacy of their relationship.

When they get to the Dimholt, the horses do not bolt - the Dunedain’s horses are said to love their masters so much that they are willing to go in with them, and the one Rohan horse, the one that Legolas and Gimli are riding, is calmed by Legolas’s magic elf powers.  This is important, because in the book, they actually do need the horses to get where they’re going after they leave the Paths of the Dead - in the movie the Paths of the Dead let out right where the corsairs are docking, really convenient.  “The way is shut...” does not appear at this point in the book - it’s part of a story that Theoden tells about some of his ancestors who poked around up there when he later hears that Aragorn has gone that way.  Also, this part of the story is told from Gimli’s perspective - the companion points out that the viewpoint character is always a hobbit when hobbits are present, but since no hobbits are present here it uses Gimli instead.  This fits with Gimli being the junior member of this particular group.  This is relevant because Gimli cannot actually see the ghosts, he only feels intense fear and horror in proximity to the ghosts and thus guesses that they are there.  Legolas, Elladan, and Elrohir can all see the ghosts and describe them to Gimli, it’s not clear whether or not Aragorn and the Dunedain, who are of “pure” Numenorean blood, can see them or not.  They actually find the skeleton of the ancestor from Theoden’s story, who eventually went into the Dimholt and was never seen again, which is kind of cool.  Aragorn only mentions off-hand that he can hold the ghosts’ oath fulfilled when he is in the Paths - he then leads the ghosts out of the Paths and up to the rock that Isildur actually used to curse them in order to officially call on them to fulfill their oaths.  Meanwhile the people in the nearby town sense the ghosts and react sort of like the people in Corpse Bride initially reacted.

An interesting bit of history about the ghosts that isn’t present in the movie is that the reason why they didn’t come when called to war against Sauron the first time wasn’t so much because they were cowards as that they had been worshipping Sauron in the intervening time between then and when they had made the oath.  So they had actually changed sides, and apparently there are temples dedicated to Sauron in the Paths of the Dead that Aragorn, etc. did not explore.

#lord of the rings #lotr #aragorn #eowyn #the paths of the dead

[sesamenom]

Elrond and Elros, SA 50!

Elrond's outfit is more of a Sindarin style in Gondolidhrim patterns/colors.

Elros' design is based off of Tolkien's Numenorean helm illustration and the Numenorean crest. (below)

#silm #silmarillion #elrond #elros #elrond and elros #e&e #numenor

[tenth-sentence]

'Never did I see an axe so wielded.'

"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" - J.R.R. Tolkien

#book quote #lotr #lord of the rings #jrr tolkien #ttt #the two towers #aragorn #numenoreans #gimli #dwarves #axe #battle #helm's deep

[dragonkingancalagon]

Numenorean Defensive Works

Numenorean architecture was massive. Tolkien states that in the fashion of Egyptians, Numenoreans built very large things. This is shown almost immediately upon the Fellowship arriving to old borders of Gondor: Argonath, two massive statues of kings on Anduin, and the Helm’s Gate – a massive fortress said to have been built with hands of the giants. Argonath was built by Minalcar in the 13th…

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#architecture #defences #fortifications #Numenor

[vakarians-babe]

hello~ your tolkien secret santa here~ would you mind telling me a bit more about your oc ship with elladan? :3

AHHHH hello!!! I hope you're doing well and I'm so delighted to talk about Lanadhiel. I'm sorry I took ages to get around to this!

Lanadhiel is my main for The Lord of the Rings: Online, and over the years I've put quite a bit of lore into her (to the point of...writing out the full timeline of the Third Age so I could write her into it in a weird meta version of fanfic oops). She's born in the early Third Age (TA 352), as is her sister, Duventoliel (TA 551), though they are split up after the passing of their parents, who, after losing so much during the War of the Last Alliance, wasted from grief and lost joy in Middle Earth. Lanadhiel was sent to live with her mother Arwethil's sister in Lothlorien, while it was still under the rule of Amroth, and Duventoliel stayed to be raised in Rivendell as an acolyte in the Houses of Healing there, caring for her father, Findolag's, sister, a casualty of the War.

Lanadhiel trained as a warden of the Galadhrim, and in TA 1324 met the twins Elrohir and Elladan by chance while travelling to Rivendell to visit her sister. After the loss of Amroth and Nimrodel in TA 1981, when Galadriel and Celeborn took the roles of Lady and Lord of Lothlorien, Lanadhiel swore fealty to Galadriel as a warden. She met Elladan more frequently as the twins accompanied their mother Celebrian on visits to Lorien, and slowly the two fell in love. On various visits to Rivendell, Duventoliel noticed this, and attempted to force the two to speak about it, to no avail. After the loss of Celebrian in TA 2510, Elladan and Lanadhiel grew closer through mourning; I HC that Galadriel travelled with a contingent of guards and handmaidens to Rivendell for a time to console and support her son-in-law and her grandchildren, and Lanadhiel was among that contingent. However, Lanadhiel and Elladan still remained only friends, despite Duventoliel's prodding.

Things continued like this for several hundred more years, with Elladan nearly confessing his feelings after travelling with his siblings to Lothlorien, and Lanadhiel again nearly confessing after accompanying Arwen back to Rivendell in TA 2952, spurred by the buzz of Aragorn and Arwen's meeting (but she loses her courage at the last moment).

In the events of LOTRO, Lanadhiel and Elladan grow closer, as they investigate Elrond's premonitions together and then work in the shadows of the Fellowship to speed their way. It is only after the Fellowship has left Rivendell, when Elladan is headed back out to the wild and Lanadhiel is preparing to travel through Eregion with Duventoliel and a now healed Lathuilas, following the Fellowship, that the two finally confess their feelings. They meet in the middle of the ford at the Bruinen, and before they part, vow to wed once Sauron is defeated and the Fellowship's task is done.

Later, when Elladan and Elrohir muster the Grey Company, Lanadhiel, Duventoliel, and Lathuilas join them, and it's sort of an open secret that Lanadhiel and Elladan are in love. Halbarad isn't gonna say anything tho bc he already dealt with Aragorn pining and he doesn't have the TIME or the ENERGY for that anymore. After the Grey Company is imprisoned by Dunlendings under the control of Saruman, it would be kind of hard not to notice, because Lanadhiel won't calm down until they've rescued Elladan. Likewise, Elladan is (not so secretly) distraught after Lanadhiel and Lothrandir are captured and imprisoned in Isengard.

There's a lot of push/pull for them through the plot of the game, because there's periods of time where the two are apart. Lanadhiel is also grieving for a long part of it, as Duventoliel is killed during the Battle of Helm's Deep. Duventoliel had previously fallen in love with a ranger named Tadan, who was killed by a Black Numenorean in the service of the Witch King and buried in Evendim, overlooking Annuminas; Lanadhiel keeps her bow and quiver, along with a ring given to Duventoliel by Tadan, and later places them at his cairn.

Lanadhiel and Elladan end up quietly marrying, with Elrond's blessing, during the celebration of Arwen and Aragorn's wedding in Minas Tirith at Midsummer. They elect to remain in Middle Earth until they feel that their time there is done, and do not have children until they cross the sea.

So uhhhh tl;dr, they have a 1700 year long slowburn and I love them! Sorry this ended up being so much longer than I intended!

Here's some screenshots of my girl!

#lotro #lanadhiel #lotr oc #lotro oc #lord of the rings online

[i-gwarth]

Helm Hammerhand is a Nazgul

Hey kids! Want to know the latest news from the bottomless bucket of Tolkiensanity that Shadow of War is turning out to be?

The latest Gameinformer coverage features this video. And I thought, ok, cool, clearly what I had at first identified as Black Numenoreans are actually just The Nine, the Nazgul, chiefest and darkest of Sauron’s servants, and naturally we will get to fight them. No big deal.

Except they mention in like the first five seconds that this one wraith being depicted is literally the most famous and feared former King of Rohan, Helm Motherfucking Hammerhand.

You might have heard this name in relation to this big-ass horn that Gimli blows at the end of the Battle for Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers; and indeed, he is the Helm whose Deep the battle is for.

His exploits are comically legendary, from killing people with one blow from his since-then-known-as-a-hammer hand to his attacking an enemy encampment during the coldest winter all alone, and rumors of eating men when he could find no provisions. He died, supposedly, standing upright, and people were too frightened to approach him for many days.

Shadow of War re-makes much of his history, as it does with everything else. For starters, Helm lived during the Third Age, while Celebrimbor’s and Sauron’s ringmaking shenanigans took place during the Second, so they could never have met in book canon. But book canon is not what we are following here. And in this fanfic known as Shadow of War, Helm Hammerhand is one of the Nine.

As a final note, I can only suspect that the conflict in the vision being shown at the end of the video is between Helm and Wulf, Son of Freca and prince of the Dunlendings, who really wanted to marry Helm’s daughter. There’s a story in the lore about Freca and his Dunlendings trying to intimidate Helm into this by breaking in on a meeting fully armed, only for Helm to literally one-punch-man the life out of Freca and starting a war with his son.

#middle earth shadow of war #middle earth: shadow of mordor #middle earth: shadow of war #middle earth shadow of mordor #shadow of war #shadow of mordor #middle earth #talion #celebrimbor #sauron #helm hammerhand #nazgul #ringwraith #the nine #rohan #helm's deep #battle of helm's deep #lord of the rings #the lord of the rings #lotr #the two towers #tolkien #jrr tolkien #J.R.R. Tolkien #mordor #video #gaming sauron

[garden-ghoul]

return of the blog, part 2

“...”

THE PASSING OF THE GREY COMPANY

Merry is hanging out with the tracking party, feeling a bit lost and very useless-baggage-y. What’s going to happen, Aragorn? Well, Aragorn is being very dramatic, bless him. “Do not look for mirth at the ending. It will be long, I fear, ere Théoden sits at ease again in Meduseld. Many hopes will wither in this bitter Spring.” Oh, Aragorn.

Four riders are trying to catch up to the Rohirrim; everyone is, of course, very suspicious, but it turns out the leader is Aragorn’s good old friend Halbarad, a ranger and Dunadan! And Elrond’s cool sons are with him! They brought thirty dudes to help in the war effort. Like I’m sure they’re very skilled and all but. Thirty dudes. You take what you can I guess. Apparently they received a summons from Galadriel after Gandalf was resurrected. Everyone is back at Helm’s Deep now (I missed them actually going there), mainly I mention this because there now exists a place called THE DEATH DOWN, where the huorns killed just massive amounts of people.

Theoden is holding one last feast before they all go to war; he tells Merry he shall ride with him!

‘May I?’ said Merry, surprised and delighted. ‘That would be splendid!’ He had never felt more grateful for any kindness in words. ‘I am afraid I am only in everybody’s way,’ he stammered; ‘but I should like to do anything I could, you know.’

He’s such a good kid. Theoden says he’s going to be king’s squire! Not sure why, the eve of a colossal war is not really the best time to be sparing people’s feelings of uselessness. Or maybe he’s trying to free up whoever is his current squire to kill some people? You don’t do that sort of thing for no reason is all I’m saying. Anyway, in a stupendously clear parallel to last chapter, Merry lays his sword at Theoden’s feet and swears fealty. I loove the contrast between Pippin swearing fealty to a lord he doesn’t really like out of obligation and gratitude; and then Merry swearing fealty to a lord he very much admires out of a desperation to somehow be useful. Pippin’s rather awe-filled reception at Minas Tirith contrasts with Merry’s anxieties about being a burden. Then there’s this:

‘As a father you shall be to me,’ said Merry.

‘For a little while,’ said Théoden.

AWKWARD. Merry why must you. Anyway Aragorn comes up and tells Theoden he’s going to take the Paths of the Dead (everyone in earshot shivers) despite having said a couple paragraphs ago that he would have to be REALLY DESPERATE to do that. Theoden’s company rides off; Aragorn is like “wow I love Merry so much, he’s such a good and important person.” And everyone else agrees: “hobbits are super important and I love them.” I think it’s supposed to stand in contrast to Merry’s own poor opinion of himself, but I’m not really sure why they have such a high opinion of him. Just because he’s brave? Shrug. Aragorn also says he looked into the palantir and had a staring contest with Sauron to wig him out. “I’m the heir of Elendil,” he said. “Here’s Narsil! Right here! Remember her, motherfucker?” And Sauron, reportedly, went “Oh fuck.”

Then Aragorn explains why he’s going thru the Paths of the Dead. You probably know already, so I won’t relate it here. There is a seer involved though, which is pretty cool. Some oathbreaking. Very Numenorean honestly, these dead Men of the Mountains remind me of the Faithless, in that the reason for their oathbreaking is a new unexpected allegiance to Sauron. And with that exposition, the “greay company” is off! For some reason they make it to Edoras long before Theoden does, and Aragorn comes to say hi to Eowyn. 

When she heard of the battle in Helm’s Deep and the great slaughter of their foes, and of the charge of Théoden and his knights, then her eyes shone.

I see what gogol means. Eowyn is gay for Deeds. She also conceptualizes being the ruler of Edoras and sorta Rohan as “exile,” because WHY would you want to rule anything when you could be killing people??? The next time we hear a description of Eowyn it’s that “her eyes were on fire.” Why did baby ghoul relate so much to Eowyn? Up until now I thought it was because she was the only TV lady who had freckles like me, but actually maybe it was her nebulous gender dysphoria and frustration. She is SO frustrated. First she offers to ride with Aragorn on his death errand. He refuses her; she’s the ruler of the Mark. BITTER. BITTER BITTER BITTER. WHY DOES EOWYN ALWAYS GET LEFT BEHIND? IS SHE NOT A SHIELD-MAIDEN? This is a good exchange:

‘A time may come soon,’ said he, ‘when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.’

And she answered: ‘All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more.’

Get him, Eowyn. I mean, it IS essential to make sure non-combatants in Rohan stay safe and such, but Eowyn is right that she shouldn’t be forced into the unpraised deeds just because she’s a woman. Before you say such things, Aragorn, maybe start a culture of praising valiant deeds that don’t involve killing anyone?? Then we’ll talk.

Once again as Aragorn’s company rides away we get the same exact image of Eowyn standing and watching them go... this time filled with tension and anger, her fists clenched and tears in her eyes. Aragorn is sad about it. Whatever, dude. We timeskip to the entrance of the Path of the Dead, where the Dunedain are gentlly coaxing their horses in through the awful doorway. Legolas has to enchant his horse to get it to go in. Gimli is left alone outside, possibly the only one who feels so viscerally how wrong this underground passage is compared to what it should be. I think his fear is greater for the fact that he has never felt uneasy underground before; it’s like home, perverted into something dreadful. As they go forward Aragorn calls the dead. No-one answers, but Legolas can see them riding behind. As they ride through Morthond Vale I am getting the impression that there are living humans there? And they are afraid because, like, the king of the dead. Aragorn and co ride hell for leather for the Stone of Erech.

The Stone of Erech is an enormous black sphere, half buried in the ground, that for some reason was brought out of Numenor. Like... you didn’t have anything better to bring on your ships than an enormous black sphere of stone? Anyway this is the site of the oath that was broken, and now the dead are ready to fulfill it and have peace after like 3000 years. “When all this land is clean of the servants of Sauron, I will hold the oath fulfilled,” he says. Which is pretty harsh. Like, what if a hundred years from now there’s just one servant of Sauron remaining? That would just suck for everyone. Also he unfurls a banner Arwen made for him, which is apparently black on black. Love it. Very stylish. So that’s the muster of the dead. What about

THE MUSTER OF ROHAN?

This bit is confusing because I thought it was going to be Pippin POV but then as soon as they mentioned the Rohirrim had made it to Gondor it turned into Merry POV. I never have a good intuition for what things Tolkien will think it’s reasonable to skip... Wait no they didn’t make it to Gondor. They just about made it to Edoras. This is very confusing and I have poor reading comprehension. The point is Merry is sad and lonely because everyone’s speaking Rohir or whatever and he misses all his friends and absolutely everyone he knows. The party reaches Harrowdale and climbs up a super steep path for some reason; it’s lined with Pukel Men, monoliths carved into a human shape. Ahhhh I love standing stones, Heck I love standing stones. They’re from the “dark years” (when Numenor was still going on and thus Real People weren’t in Middle Earth ::P) and some unknown people made this place, Dunharrow. OH. Here’s Eowyn! The reason they’re here is because Edoras has been evacuated, and Theoden wanted to check on his people.

While Theoden and his peeps are having dinner a messenger from Gondor comes in and Merry is like BOROMIR??? WTF. But no, he just can’t tell Gondorians apart haha. Also what was the point of the beacons if Denethor was just going to send a messenger straight to Theoden. Theoden promises 6000 guys (not bad! that’s twice the entire Gondor) in one week, though the messenger says a week will probably be too late. Still, he says sarcastically, maybe you can disturb the orcs feasting on our corpses.

Merry wakes up the next day in the darkness; the sun will not rise today. Or if it does nobody will see it, because Sauron has sent a great wave of black clouds across the sky to embolden his troops. Dreamy. Theoden is releasing Merry from his service (yes, after three days, what a copout) to serve Eowyn here while she rules the noncombatant Rohirrim. Merry is. Sad. He wants to help! Even if he has to be tied to a horse! But no dice. Eowyn takes him off to arm himself anyway. Thanks Eowyn you are a true bro. As Theoden’s company leaves, they sing a song that is clearly based on Anglo Saxon epic poetry, and also I believe was not meant to be sung. So. Minus points, Johnald. It doesn’t sound like a song, it doesn’t scan like a song. It’s a nice poem, though. A nice lad called Dernhelm offers to bear Merry on his horse and hide him since Theoden won’t take him. Thanks for showing us Eowyn’s exact transition goals, it’s good.

#blog of the rings

[tolkienmatters]

Helm’s Deep was a narrow valley in the White Mountains. Within this there was a fortress known as the Hornburg. The Hornburg was built by the old Gondorians (Numenoreans) along with Isengard to defend the Fords of Isen.  Along with the keep was the Deeping Wall to defend the valley and Helm’s Dike to defend the hills outside. Inside the mountain behind the keep was the Glittering Caves, a complex escape route of tunnels. When Rohan became independent Helm’s Deep became a garrison for the Rohirrim, and served them well during a succession war with the Dunlendings. During the War the people of Rohan under Helm Hammerhand withstood a long siege against the men of Dunland, but were ultimately victorious when Gondor came to aid them. Helm Hammerhand died after blowing the great horn in the keep and leading a sortie against the Dunlendings. During the War of the Ring it was used as a last refuge for Rohan’s people as the forces of Saruman attacked. The garrison of Edoras, The Three Hunters, Rohan’s royal family, and refugees from the countryside all went to the fort, Gandalf went to seek the disbanded Rohirrim roaming the countryside and promised to return with reinforcements. Saruman attacked with an army of Uruk-Hai, Orcs, Dunlendings, and siege weaponry including rams, ladders, and “blasting fire” (possibly or similar to gunpowder). The Battle of Helm’s Deep consisted of a skirmish at Helm’s Dike, the prolonged fighting at the Deeping Wall ending with a large breach in an open culvert (courtesy of Saruman’s "devilry”), and the final battle for the keep. With the remaining Rohirrim and the Three Hunters trapped in the keep defending the women and children in the Glittering Caves, they sallied forth once more under the horn of the Hornburg to meet the enemy. They rode out into the horde as Gandalf returned with an army of Rohirrim. Saruman’s forces were routed, and the retreating orcs and Dunlendings were destroyed by the Huorns (Ents) of Fangorn. The uruk-hai and orcs were piled into a large mound while the dead Rohirrim were buried. The fortress was rebuilt with dwarven stonework, a new gate, and the Glittering Caves became a dwarf colony under Gimli. 

“’This is more to my liking,’ said the dwarf, stamping on the stones. ‘Ever my heart rises as we draw near the mountains. There is good rock here. This country has tough bones. I felt them in my feet as we came up from the dike. Give me a year and a hundred of my kin and I would make this a place that armies would break upon like water.’” - Gimli upon inspecting the fortress before the battle. The Two Towers, Helm’s Deep.

#lotr #tolkien #helms deep #rohirrim #rohan #gandalf #aragorn #gimli #legolas #two towers #saruman #glittering caves #info