video game and film fandoms will come and go for me but the Silmarillion fandom will never die. because that book came out like 50 years ago and we're all still trying to figure out what the hell is going on there.
Would elves even bother to invest in gravestones? Like… you’re going to see them again. You know you’re going to see them again. What would even be the point?
Night furies are actually perfectly evolved for hunting and killing other dragons and the only reason they aren't a dragon-hunting species like the death song or deathgrippers are is because DreamWorks couldn't have their adorable main character dragon be a "cannibal"
(below I'm gonna try to summarize what we've figured out in a convo with friends on discord)
(also tw animal death via predator)
First of all yes I'm aware that pretty much every decision made about their design was with consideration of the effect it would make on human audiences but hear me out
Night furies are most iconically known as dive-bombers. They are built for speed, high maneuverability, night-time camouflage and for striking targets from above. If we remove human settlements out of the equation (which would not have existed long enough to actually influence night fury evolution, come on), what does that leave us with?
They aren't built for catching fish for sure, they aren't very hydrodynamic and their head is round, wide, and their teeth are dull. Honestly, the monstrous nightmare is much better suited for catching fish, with its long neck, almost pelican-like jaw and rhamphorhynchus teeth
Compare to
Yeah the jaws look kinda like a porpoise of some sort but for that the whole body would have to be a lot more aquatic imo. The light fury looks a lot closer to an aquatic diver, it has a sleeker body, rounded fins instead of spikes, and a long neck.
I don't really see them hunting land animals either, they just don't look like they're adapted for that minus the resemblance with large felines and even then, they're too large to effectively hunt in forests.
The one thing I can kinda imagine them hunting is large mainland megafauna, but we're working with a setting that takes place pretty much exclusively on islands. And overall, dragons are the only abundant species there with the exception of fish and human-bred sheep and chickens.
In general, night furies have duller teeth, smaller claws and are smaller than most dragons. Disregarding the movies making Toothless weirdly OP, a night fury would be disadvantaged against most dragons in a 1v1 fight and besides, it has four huge weak spots that would highly discourage it from a direct physical fight - the primary and secondary tail fins. One unlucky rip in the membrane and the night fury is fucked.
The night fury however noticeably resembles falcons, given their dive-bombing ability and high maneuverability.
Falcons too have smaller beaks and weaker claws compared to most birds of prey, and for that they compensate by simply picking up speed, balling up their talons and Punching. Really. Hard.
And they use that ability to kill other birds, even much larger ones, by knocking them right from the sky.
Here, the night fury's plasma blast works the same way as a falcon's punch. Dragons are fire-resistant, so what the plasma blast does is really just a densely packed bolt of energy that has the effect of either stunning or outright killing prey by damaging its spine. And what the plasma bolt doesn't do, rapid contact with the ground would finish. And if even that doesn't do it, the night fury's wide jaws and dull teeth are just fine for simply clamping around the unlucky dragon's neck and strangling it, like a lion or a pitbull.
The night-time camouflage allows the night fury to soar for extended periods of time perfectly unnoticed in the night sky, and by the time it strikes, the dragon wouldn't even know what's coming.
Unless
Say the hunting night fury is aware of other dragons sleeping under the trees, as most dragons probably would at night (village raids aside, most dragons seem to be diurnal), so how does the night fury get them in position where it can use its signature attack? Well, there's That Iconic Screech Of Death. Since in the movies it tends to appear not just during dive-bombings but also when charging up a blast, I imagine it's something the night fury is able to control to some degree. So by simply fake-diving in close proximity to sleeping dragons, it can effectively terrify them into leaving their hideout and fly out into the open where it can easily take them out.
I dunno, the possibility of night furies as predators to other dragons just makes so much sense to me, I really don't know what other reasons there would be for them to evolve these particular adaptations.
And one more little headcanon to add to this whole rant - since night furies are significantly smaller and less equipped for dragon vs dragon fights and are primarily speed-based predators, I imagine there is this very likely scenario:
There is one dragon who resembles a hyena, a lil bit
I am once again disappointed that the httyd series seems to have completely forgotten about Toothless being a nightmare nocturnal stealth bomber after the first movie
Okay seriously though can i talk about how night furies are the most perfect dragon because like, look at them, their size, the perfect balance of not too large and not too small, big enough to be fucking terrifying but small enough to not feel oversized, just right for their kind of life style which is Speed™, their color making them an absolute nightmare to deal with, even on the ground in the dark you wouldn't know they are there unless they moved, and in the air combined with their speed they're pretty much undetectable except that HORRIBLE FUCKING SCREECH OF DEATH, just, Stuka dragon my absolute beloved, perfect psychological horror effect. Also their fire, it's not too extra, not super bright nor any crazy colors, but just enough to make you think "oh fuck shit yeah shit just got real"
Also this is literally the most perfect introduction of a Mysterious Deadly Creature in cinema history and you can fight me about it
The httyd franchise terribly underutilized the absolute horror that a night fury is, they should've had a nighttime scene where Hiccup ends up in danger and everyone gets reminded of the exact reason why that blank page in the dragon lexicon was thousand times more terrifying than any other dragon described
I think everyone should have a couple different projects going at a time so if one starts to cause problems you can do a whole spin and jump routine to do something else
I think it’s reasonable to assume that during the crossing of the Helcaraxë, there were some elements of cannibalism. It was described as such a desolate location that I sincerely doubt there were any actual life forms there, much less enough to sustain the group of people travelling.
Also could open the door for elven funeral practices that had to be developed when everyone started dying in Beleriand.
Now, while Frodo, Sam, and Gollum absolutely did not pass through Osgiliath in the book, having Frodo struggling with the ring directly in front of a Nazgûl IN OSGILIATH, likely cemented the fact that they took the Ring to Gondor.
A key part of the actual success in destroying the Ring is that Sauron genuinely never thought anyone would have the willpower or desire to even attempt destroying it. Obviously it would stay with the elves or be taken by man in a foolish attempt to use it (thus allowing for Sauron to regain it and eradicate the free peoples of Middle Earth) and this scene practically confirms that for Sauron!
Do I think this is what Peter Jackson was planning when he added these scenes, no, do I think it makes for an interesting addition, yes.
As much as I love seeing all the cousins and children being close in age, seeing as elves are an immortal species and do not have a limited fertile window in their lifespan, I believe it is much more likely to have huge age gaps between children.
Especially keeping in mind Míriel and her fatal exhaustion after childbirth, it’s probably heavily recommended to wait until the first child is close to, or already, a fully grown adult before having another child, to ensure the safety and optimum health of the parents.
We are also aware that most elves don’t have may children to begin with, likely staying at the 1-3 range, with 4 being seen as a little more than average but still respectable and 7 being insane.
Before moving on with the rest of the post I am going to start by saying that while I do love math, I am not fond of the math Tolkien put into his wonderful universe because it makes me want to tear my hair out. I will instead be grouping ages as “they likely had considerable overlap between childhood/adolescence” and “that elf was a Complete Adult who (probably) knew what they were doing”.
To start with, Finwë marries Indis during the early teenage equivalent years of Fëanor. Part of the reason was Finwë needing a partner to help with the ruling of an entire people, peacetime notwithstanding, and hoping for Fëanor to have a grounding maternal influence in his life. Spending much of his early life seeing these rumors and the Statute of Míriel coming into existence had a more lasting impact on Fëanor and his desire to dislike anything Indis related on principle outweighs the potential help that Indis tried to provide in the early days of their relationship.
Findis’ is born around Fëanor hitting his late adolescent period, which drives him to spend more time away from this family and leads him into Nerdanel’s path. They marry shortly after reaching adulthood, and the rest of Findis’ childhood passes away without much note.
On the next topic of ages, I faced a lot of difficulty on deciding who would be the olde, primarily from Maedhros’ line in the Silmarillion: “Still the kingship would rightly come to you, the eldest here of the house of Finwë, and not the least wise.” I put a lot of thought into this, and will be placing Maedhros as older, if only by what amounts to several moments, than Fingolfin. The line Maedhros speaks will then refer less to physical age and more so to being among the older generation and closer in bloodline to Finwë.
After the courtship and marriage of Fingolfin and Anairë Lalwen is born, and as she is over the halfway point to adulthood Fingon is born. It’s near this point where the rivalry between Fëanor and Fingolfin starts, though it will take several centuries before it reaches the animosity noted at the end of the Years of the Trees. Maglor then has a gap of several years between him and Fingon.
Before Maglor has reached maturity, Celegorm and Caranthir are born, being near scandalously close from the current traditions of waiting until the child is near, or at, adulthood before having another child.
Turgon is born as Caranthir firmly reaches adolescence, and as an unfortunate side effect of getting dragged to the House of Fëanor often as a child (in no small part due to Maedhros and Fingon’s friendship) has developed no love for the sons of Fëanor, as Caranthir was closest in age to him and had no desire to spend time with his half cousin, and certainly made that known.
Finarfin is born among the same time as Curufin, though they do not spend much time mingling through their childhood.
Turgon and Elenwë wed at a similar time as Finarfin and Eärwen, and to round out a very joyful time among the House of Finwë, Aredhel is born! Despite the increasing tensions among Fëanor and Fingolfin, and Turgon’s horror, she becomes fast friends with Celegorm and learns much of hunting from him during her childhood and adolescence.
There’s a notable gap between the time Aredhel, the current youngest, reached adulthood and the birth of Finrod, and later, Idril. Not soon after, Curufin is married, much to the delight of Fëanor and his brothers.
Orodreth is born just as the House of Fëanor takes a backseat in terms of childbearing, and there is another long pause before Angrod, Argon, and Aegnor are born within respectable times of each other, with Argon falling close in age to rod.
There is another long gap before Celebrimbor is born, and shortly after Galadriel. As she reaches her maturity Ambarussa are born, and thus ends the generations of Finwë in the blessed lands. Of special note, though I am still undecided in terms of parentage, the following birth order remains: Gil-Galad, Ëarendil, Elros, Elrond, Celebrían, Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen.
If you didn’t want to read through my musings and explanations, here is a list from oldest to youngest of the House of Finwë:
dailybridgerton
ellievsbear
kianamaiart
germansingergirl
gracieabrams
stormborns
andulkaphoto
2087
snowghoul
