Mal's thought dump

One dumbass reblogs shit with occasional posts of actual content. (18+)

[mal3f1cent]

For new people to this blog...

I have a lot of interests and I'm just here to do my own thing. Don't expect me to do shit, and have a great time!

20 years old, haver of periods and all of the pronouns 🩷

Masterlist below the cut!

(ps: if you're seeing this on your dashboard, take a break. get some water. get a snack. take a screen break! just take care of yourself please)

Citizen things

Alis original post: https://mal3f1cent.tumblr.com/post/665420736177045504/alis

[cocoondreamlike]

sorry but i blame orodreth because if some guy rolled up to my realm calling himself “the bloodstained son of ill-fate” i would simply have not given him command of my military forces and decision-making

[kisses-in-the-void]

I don’t know whether it’s funny or tragic that Orodreth literally doomed his kingdom because he relied on the advice of some human kid....

Why would you think he was wiser or more experienced than you? 😭It’s like listening to your cat telling you how to run your household.

Maybe Orodreth was in love with him, just like Finduilas…🤷‍♀️

[easterneuropeangirliedotcom]

feanorians got doomed by their oath arafinweans got doomed by being horny for 'em humans

I think it was really unlucky for both of them that Turin has just accidentaly killed his long term blonde elf bf and that Orodreth came from a long line of blonde elves with a tendency to fall head over heels for humans

[easterneuropeangirliedotcom]

I mean , if we count Arafinweans from Finarfin to Celebrian we have 8 (Finarfin, Finrod, Galadriel, Twin, Twin, Orodreth, Finduilas, Celebrian) elves out of which 5 fell for a human (Finrod, Twin, Orodreth, Finduilas, Celebrian) which gives us 62,5% of them if we count celebrian halfway since Elrond isn't fully human we still get over 50% of the family.... guyz sth was really up with arafinweans and their human fetish :(

[bad-writer]

My love for Maedhros comes on some level from his having been so many different people. Like he has had too many adaptations in identity to the point where by the end of it all he is basicaly no one at all. He has been a prince, beautiful and fair. Brilliant and strong! He has been a King, a brief King, a failure of a King. He has been a slave, sapped of beauty and made frail and hollow. He has been an invalid, learning to remake himself. A warrior, fierce and heroic! A criminal, a murderer, a monster.

He has been a brother, watching each of his five brothers die horribly. He has been a lover, rescued from the mountainside, a son with no parents, a ghost looking toward the chasm.

He has been too many people.

[nerdanelparmandil]

I love that Fëanor is so eclectic. He's remembered as the greatest craftsman of his people, maker of the Silmarils, the palantiri, the feanorian lamps. But he's also a linguist, and not just one of the many, but he has revolutionized an entire mode of writing! And on top of that, he's an orator, he can move people and persuade them to follow him into the unknown. His flaws are his downfall but his greatness is still remembered with longing in the later ages. He's the embodiment of all the potential of the Quendi – and of the human race in our world. A Renaissance man, if you want, someone who thirsts for knowledge and always strives for more, someone whose skin can barely contain them.

To me, he's the most human-like elf in the legendarium, and sometimes I think that if he had met Men in Middle Earth, and had tried to understand them like Finrod does, he would have loved them, and even envied their Gift - a death that takes them beyond Arda - more than anyone else.

[guildofscribes]

I think I have hit upon the difference between "rides after Ringwraiths with bells on" Glorfindel and "shoots a fell beast down in the dark" Legolas.

It's the approach.

Glorfindel has killed a balrog, and when he died he was sent back because he had more to do and of course Glorfindel would get it done. He's big and powerful and useful and capable and wise enough to be sent back to Middle Earth, and he's earned the confidence to put tinkling bells on his horse as he hunts wraiths and seeks for Aragorn and the Hobbits. It's like an echo of Orome riding across Middle Earth in search of the elves when they woke, and the sound of his hoofbeats caused dark things to quail before him. And make no mistake, evil things take care to avoid Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower, Balrog-Slayer... the elf that puts bells on his horse to herald his coming and give hope to friends and knell death to any that make themselves his enemy. His whole air is "Come on, try me! I dare you!"

Legolas' has lived in the fight of a losing battle for his entire life in a forest perpetually under attack by dark things, survived the Battle of the Five Armies, and had Sauron poisoning the very forest he lived in for his whole life. The fight is day by day, in and out, too few people clearing out too many spiders, again and again. They have to be cunning and canny and quiet, and their power is in being fast and explosive on the scene and overwhelming in this way instead of by numbers. Numbers they do not have. His whole air is "Don't try me. Don't."

Glorfindel has fought a fallen angel, and won. With his bright and valiant spirit, he very nearly announces himself by that alone. If anyone deserves to match his enormous presence with bells to taunt all danger that presents itself to his path because he has tasted of death and not blanched before it, it is this elf.

Legolas has survived a slow, creeping, endless fight against a darkness that his people don't have the power to overthrow. His power is the unseen deeds of daily strength, steadfastness in the face of unrelenting darkness, and the purposeful cheer of someone who knows hope beyond all pressing dark.

[angamaite-der-ritter]

I recall that on one post you referred to Fëanorian black. I am curious about your thoughts on Fëanorian heraldry and colors! Many people on tumblr assume that the sons of Fëanor used red as their primary color, which makes sense because of Fëanor’s red plume, but the text never says what color their banners, shields, surcoats etc are.

I have a work for that -- From Charcoal to Nigrosin: Historical Perspectives on the Heraldic Role of the Colour Black in Noldorin Society -- which explains my in-world headcanons about the development of black as the heraldic colour of the High King of the Noldor. Tl;dr, I don't subscribe to the red meta at all, and while you could draw historical parallels with the usage of red by Rome or earlier formal portraiture of medieval monarchs and a masculine, virile, active symbol, I essentially rarely or never see this done. The use of red because it was mentioned one time in the text and which is in contradiction with Fëanor's featured heraldry is IMO simplistic, unimaginative, symbolically tired and thoughtless.

The meta behind my ideas and the piece above is influenced both by historical precedent and by personal interpretation of the text as follows:

Tolkien-specific reasoning:

Fëanor is not associated with a particular colour the way silver and blue is highlighted in connection with eg Nolofinwëan banners. The only mention of an associated colour is a red plume -- and I know the fandom likes its simplistic contrasts, red and blue, fiery and stoic, evil and good etcetera, but plumes historically have not always had a neatly delineated heraldic colour association with the primary heraldic colour of a king or country, and red may as well have been chosen from an accessory colour or something for the easy identification of soldiers in a crowd (many late 15th and early 16th century artworks show a wide variety of plumes in secondary and decorative colours, so I think it is a logical leap missing several steps to latch onto this association without consideration for other sources).

What we do know about Fëanor's heraldics is limited to 2 things: his heraldic device, which is yellow or amber over white or light blue with the Silmaril in all colours of the light, flames, and a black band around the middle (the flames are clearly a reference to his name, and other rainbow and light symbols appear to be references to the Silmarils (which would not have yet existed while he was young, so it's likely this is a later creation that may have been made after he had adopted heraldic colour associations already)). The second is the Star of Fëanor, which on the Doors of Durin is described as made of silver and eight-rayed.

We don't actually see a prominent usage of red and gold anywhere; the flames are more orange, the yellow is too pale and seems to infer light/fire more than gold, when compared to eg the device of Finarfin, the colour of which is far more golden. What we can infer is an association with light, and potentially the usage of silver in Fëanor's earlier heraldry, eg the star.

Elves are said to love starlight, and are therefore more partial to the silver light of Telperion, the child of which (Galathilion) is planted in the King's square. Telperion, and later the Moon, are also both the elder between two disparate sources of light. Therefore an association of silver (or mithril) with the King of the Noldor and with primogeniture can be drawn.

Gold, though loved by the Noldor, is associated with the Vanyar and their golden hair, and features prominently in the heraldry of eg Finarfin. Silver is also repeatedly mentioned first, with gold second, in the prose of the published Silmarillion.

Historical and theoretical precedent:

Black was, on several occasions throughout history, a dye associated with wealth and nobility. The historical period in which I base much of my art and descriptions, spanning between 15th and 16th century, is marked by the switch from rich colours like red or blue to black dominating formal clothing donned by nobility, and marked by such sumptuary traditions as that of Philip the Good, Mary of Burgundy and Maximilian I Habsburg or the Black Protocol of the Spanish Court. Its usage by Philip the Good was initially surprising to the public; however, it would become deeply influential and often repeated afterwards.

This is because black was a markedly difficult colour to produce, requiring a complex dyeing process to achieve a rich, lightfast black, which made it a mark of both wealth and to some extent artisanal pride. Until the 14th century, a consistent rich black dye was exceedingly difficult to attain -- with the perfection of the process came its popularisation among the upper classes and a cementing of black as the colour of nobility.

Black was a colour associated as such with gravity, nobility, power and authority, loyalty, though also death and mourning. The association with visual signifiers of power has an old root.

In the theory of colour, black can be considered to be the sum of all pigments/hues overlaid and multiplied, therefore encompassing the entire colour spectrum. White can be considered the same symbol of unity as a combination of all the colours of light.

This change in fashion coincides with one of the major periods of European history characterised by religious conflict and social upheaval, which is also the historical period I refer to in other elements of my headcanons and worldbuilding

read more on the historical developments of black dye and their societal role

From this, I draw several conclusions:

Fëanor associates himself with silver to affirm his primogeniture and legitimacy as heir, and with clear gems to represent the unity of light, the Unsullied Light, a universal fire

Being able to create good, rich, lightfast black becomes a mark of artisanal pride in the developing sumptuary tradition of Tirion as the science of dye develops

Black, being a complex and laborious dye to achieve, but also associated with the dark hair of the Noldor as well as gravity and nobility, is adopted by Finwë as non-factional; Fëanor co-opts its usage and intensifies it for power-dressing, but also due to its unifying element of showcasing all pigments at once, referencing a certain universal mastery, an unquestionable claim of heritage that is deeply noldorin

Fëanor's wearing of black exists in contrasting symbolism of gravity and authority versus the frivolous masses during the Unrest, meant to paint him as the leader meant to be followed

Black as a colour of mourning creates a subtle parallel back to Míriel's death; a confirmation of Fëanor's lineage dating back to her through mourning rather than its denial

Fëanor would not don gold, associated with the Vanyar and Indis and her children, as his primary heraldic metal, and if he had, I find it unlikely that it would have been picked by Finarfin also

The duality of black and silver/white allows gems to shine more brightly, resembling a night sky; symbolism hearkening back to the origin of elves at Cuiviénen

On a meta level, an ironic parallel and contrast with the darkness of Morgoth is drawn

Its eye-catching element in society becomes widely adopted by Fëanor's followers who seek to distinguish themselves from the brightly dressed crowds to mark their loyalties. This marks a change in the outward indications of worldview among the Noldor as a whole, from bright garments to sombre dyes, which coincides with the societal changes wrt/ kingship, loyalty, primogeniture, private property first and foremost violence, marking a turn in Noldorin thinking as a whole and walking hand in hand with the upheaval of the Darkening as a whole

Red has been used, but as an accessory colour of rich noble garments and an identification element more than a main heraldic colour

Therefore, black and silver are the mainstays of the Fëanorian camp throughout the First Age, although its differing applications and attenuation with other colours and metals varies.

An even more uncompromising usage of black and silver is observed with Celegorm & Curufin in the fashion of totalitarian power-dressing, denoting a more arduous following of Fëanor's ideals and a more extreme application of his ideology and principles

Caranthir adopts additional gold elements in order to distinguish his ranks and commemorate his economic activity and good relations with the Dwarves, but without diverging heavily from the black and silver template

The red is particular to Maedhros, who uses it as an accessory colour to Fëanor's earlier heraldics and functions as a callback to his own ancestry through Nerdanel as well as to earlier Noldorin sumptuary custom (a subtle underhanded declaration of seniority, but also something for the older, less fanatical Fëanárian followers to latch onto)

tl;dr: black and silver has both symbolical meaning wrt/ Tolkien's worldbuilding as symbols associated with the Noldor and with primogeniture among the Elves, and historical precedent in the fashions of late medieval and early renaissance Europe from which I draw inspiration, mirroring this era of social changes, scientific and artistic boom and religious upheaval followed by wars with the Darkening and the First age

[psstwantsomecheese]

So in conclusion...

Maglor writes originals

Fingon does covers

And Finrod is a freestyling wiz

[angamaite-der-ritter]

I don't get why Celegorm, the Fëanárion most implicated in various political and military decisions after Maedhros, gets so often stuck with the "wild himbo doesn't care about court or politics" stick by fandom. If anything, this ought to be the Ambarussa, who genuinely withdraw from executive function in Noldorin politics and their only mention related to decision-making among the SoF is in one draft related to the Third Kinslaying; Celegorm is active and intentionally so, even if his actions aren't always wise, and repeatedly mentioned in relation to military leadership. That man is obfuscating stupidity on specific occasions to avoid doing what he doesn't want to do at best.

[whirlception]

I would personally argue that the enduring Elvish political division in the 2nd and 3rd Ages is not "Sindar vs Noldor" but rather "Sirion vs Balar (and, uncomfortably, Amon Ereb)" -- that is, the remnants of the peoples of Beleriand who were largely isolationist vs those who -- by either choice and ability-- were not.

Notably, Sirion is the explicit destination of:

The refugees of Gondolin, an extremely isolationist polity which did not contribute to the Siege of Angband; did not respond to the Dagor Bragollach, despite their proximity to Tol Sirion; did not admit refugees; and only barely joined the Union of Maedhros. I don't give Turgon much credit for this, because as narratively dramatic as an unannounced relief force is, Turgon denied Fingon and Maedhros the opportunity to plan the battle with the addition of his forces. The western front may not have been the best place for them to be!

The refugees of Doriath, a polity which spent nearly the entire span of Morgoth's residence in Beleriand isolated behind the Girdle, and benefited immensely from the safety brought by the Siege of Angband without contributing anything to it. I am inclined to believe that, considering Thingol's stated distrust of the Northern Sindar, his ban on the Noldor entering Doriath, and the explicit notation that the refugees of Nargothrond were allowed to come to Doriath, that he was not opening his borders to anyone except them.

It is also the likeliest destination for many of the refugees of Nargothrond, who fled to Doriath after Glaurung's attack -- and after Orodreth's ascension to the throne, Nargothrond was increasingly secretive and isolationist and did not join the Union of Maedhros even at Fingon's command. After the Nirnaeth they "did not suffer" other elves to cross their lands, and Annael (Tuor's Mithrim foster-father) ends up in Balar so they were likely turning away all refugees -- and this despite Orodreth's wife canonically being Northern Sindar.

Balar, on the other hand, was the explicit destination of:

The Falathrim under Círdan, who were closely connected to both Nargothrond and the Fingolfinian strongholds in Mithrim

The Northern Sindar of Hithlum, who were vassals of Fingolfin and Fingon (under no known singular leader)

And regardless of whether you accept Gil-Galad son of Fingon or Gil-Galad son of Orodreth, it's very likely that as the seat of the High King of the Noldor, Balar was also home to the Noldorin remnants of Fingon's host that didn't (presumably) get swept up into the Fëanorian forces following the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, which at that point would have included the remnants of the Aegnor and Angrod's forces from Dorthonion, Fingolfin's forces, and Fingon's own forces.

Amon Ereb, which I think is broadly aligned with "Balar" on the "Balar vs Sirion" scale, but probably uncomfortably so (especially after the 2nd and 3rd Kinslayings), was of course host to the remnants of the Noldorin and Sindarin forces of Himlad/Himring/Thargelion, plus a large contingent of the Northern Sindar who were outriders in the plains and highlands of the northeast. The Green-elves of Ossiriand were likely split between the two camps or purposefully neutral.

How does this map onto the political landscape of the 2nd / 3rd Ages? The elven realms east of the Misty Mountains (the Greenwood and Lothlorien) are implied to have a distinctly different character from those west of the Misty Mountains (Eregion, Lindon, and Imladris) despite both being noted to have Noldor & Sindar mixing.

IMO the easiest way to reconcile this is to assume that east of the Misty Mountains, "Sirion" prevails-- this is where the "Sindar princes of the Silvan elves" (Celeborn and Oropher->Thranduil) rule, and most Noldor present are largely Gondolidrim or from Nargothrond. Any Green-elves who were incredibly opposed to the rule of the Noldor likely migrated in this direction to their ancestral homes near the Anduin.

West of the Misty Mountains, on the other hand, I assume that "Balar" largely prevails-- this is where Gil-Galad rules, and where the Sindar of Hithlum, the Falas, and the northern plains --and the remaining Fingolfinian, Dorthonion, Fëanorion Noldor, and some fraction of the Gondolidrim-- spread out in complex ways between Lindon (which encompasses remnants of both Ossiriand and Thargelion), Eregion, and Imladris. It's likely that Harlindon specifically-- one of the last remmants of Ossiriand-- is home to a large body of Green-elves who will not be parted from their homes, but who may have wildly varying opinions on Noldorin rule and ... the 1st Age in general.

(Side note: I do think this works with Gil-Galad son of Orodreth, by the way. It just requires his mother, a woman of the Northern Sindar, to be uncomfortable with her husband's isolationism and refusal of refugees and leave with her son when he's sent to foster/safety on Balar, and for Gil-Galad to identify more with his mother's people -- and by extension, the Fingolfinian and, more uncomfortably, Fëanorian Noldor with whom they had long relationships-- than Nargothrond).

[psstwantsomecheese]

Kinda hard to explain but there's just something about the character deaths especially the Noldors' that make total sense in The Silmarillion. Like of course the Spirit of Fire who could never be truly content with what he had would burn to death whilst ensuring his sons would continue his legacy of vengeance. Of course Finrod friend to all no matter the divide bleeds out in a dungeon defending the love between elf and man. Of course Fingon famed for constantly taking risks eventually runs out of luck and gets buried in the mud like any other common soldier. They may all be doomed but the way it manifests in each character is calculated and perfectly tailored and the only way it was ever gonna end

[easterneuropeangirliedotcom]

Adding Maedhros to the list cause his death always seemed to me a perfect match to his overall storyline

[dionetaofavalon]

Enhanced Interrogation Fail (27/50)

[cycas]

Thing is though, the line of Durin kind of  WAS targetted by an evil Maia, same as Aragorn? “In black anger he turned back to battle; and bearing as a banner Celebrimbor’s body hung upon a pole, shot through with Orc-arrows, he turned upon the forces of Elrond. Elrond had gathered such a few of the Elves of Eregion as had escaped, but he had no force to withstand the onset. He would indeed have been overwhelmed had not Sauron’s host been attacked in the rear; for Durin sent out a force of Dwarves from Khazad-dûm, and with them came Elves of Lórinand led by Amroth. Elrond was able to extricate himself, but he was forced away northwards, and it was at that time [in the year 1697, according to the Tale of Years] that he established a refuge and stronghold at Imladris (Rivendell). Sauron withdrew the pursuit of Elrond and turned upon the Dwarves and the Elves of Lórinand, whom he drove back; but the Gates of Moria were shut, and he could not enter. Ever afterwards Moria had Sauron’s hate, and all Orcs were commanded to harry Dwarves whenever they might.”

Unfinished Tales.

Durin stopped Sauron from killing Elrond (it seems likely that Sauron thought the Three were with Elrond).  Sauron was very annoyed and swore emnity.

See also Maedhros on kingship : “A king is he that can hold his own or else his title is vain.”

See also Finrod: “ Nor shall anything of my realm endure that a son should inherit.” he said and when Nargothrond turned to Curufin & Celegorm, he cast the silver crown of Nargothrond at his feet.  

(OK, those two are Noldor, not Dwarves or Sindar, but I think the principle still applies.)

Thranduil is king of Mirkwood because he can defend it,which is the basic and essential function of a pre-modern king, from the days when kingship was not just about descent but victory and the ability to protect your people.   Thorin literally does need Erebor to be a king. He doesn’t have Moria, he doesn’t have the Blue Mountains or the Iron Hills : he was only able to persuade 13 Dwarves to follow him.  His position echoes Finrod’s as well as Aragorn’s, because that’s how kingship in this universe works. 

[guildofscribes]

One thing that I respect about the way Tolkien wrote his stories and the power dynamics, is how the kings earn that position.

And if they don’t act like a proper king, they do lose power and influence and sometimes even kingship itself. If they are not honorable, they lose. If they cannot hold their power, they lose it.

If they lose their lands, they are no more kings.

A king is known by his deeds, and Tolkien is explicit in whether this one or that did well with their power or did badly. Whether they were strong and wise, or craven and foolish.

There are more kings in the Silmarillion, but those numbers are whittled down very obviously, and often in direct response to what those kings do with evil that comes to them.

The darkness visits, in one form or another, and they have to respond. There is no option to turn aside and ignore the darkness and evil deeds, because the evil will always root out the strongholds of light to see if it can snuff them out.

Every stronghold gets tested. Every king is tested. Every people is tried to see whether they follow the light or the evil. And every king is held accountable.

I do need to go back and read it all again, as well as delve into the myriad other books on the history of Middle Earth, but these themes are strong in the handful that I have read.

Tolkien had some interesting rules about his kings and leaders, and there are reasons some were kings, and others were not.

I’ll probably revisit and pour out an essay on this at some point, but yeah. Tolkien treated his kings and lords in an interesting fashion.

[suzannahnatters]

It's time for another Tolkien Wifeguy Fact. No sorry. This one is a Tolkien Wifeguy Essay.

So first some background. A few years ago I picked up an edition of THE ELDER EDDA, a medieval compendium of Icelandic mythic and heroic poems, from the library. Cool, I thought. I opened it up. The first poem was the Voluspa. It blew my hair off. Tolkien fans know this as the poem where Tolkien found names for many of his HOBBIT dwarves as well as for Gandalf. Turns out it's molten awesome in a bunch of other ways, too.

There are a bunch of other poems in the book, some of which I enjoyed more than others. There are a bunch that are just skiting contests between the gods, with uh. rather a lot of jokes fixating upon the male anatomy. And then there's the Volundarkvida.

This story went through me like a KNIFE. Let me summarise. (CW: mutilation, rape)

Three swan-maidens are flying through Mirkwood when they decide to stop by a lake and do some spinning, as you do. Here they meet and decide to marry three brothers, but after several years they catch wanderlust again and move on. The three brothers are devastated. The two eldest head out into the world in search of their wives, but the third and youngest, a smith named Volund, decides to wait at home for his wife to return. He spends the time forging an arm-ring for her.

One night he's fast asleep when Nidud arrives, a mortal king who has heard of Volund's remarkable smithcraft and wants a bit of it for himself. Volund wakes up thinking his wife has returned, but finds himself in the middle of a home invasion. Nidud's queen advises Nidud to hamstring Volund so that he will be unable to escape. She also takes the arm-ring Volund made for his bride, and gives it to her and Nidud's daughter, Bodvild. Nidud also nicks Volund's sword.

Nidud drags the crippled Volund back to his own palace and installs him in a smithy on an island, where Volund is forced to craft magnificent artefacts for his captor. Volund then lures Nidud's two sons to visit him on the island, where he kills them and forges their eyes and bones into jewels and brooches for Nidud and the queen. A little later Bodvild brings the arm-ring to Volund for mending. He gets her drunk and then, when she's asleep, rapes her. This done, Volund flies away - other versions of the story suggest that he has crafted his own wings, Daedalus style - and leaves the island for Nidud's palace, where he tells the king and queen exactly what he has done to their children: he turned their sons into the fine gems and drinking-cups they've been enjoying, and now their only heir is Bodvild, and she's currently pregnant with Volund's child. Volund threatens Nidud to do no harm to Bodvild and then flies away, leaving the girl to lament, in the final stanzas, that she was unable to resist Volund, whose strength was too great for her.

WHEW.

So first of all, yes - this is a REALLY dark and grisly tale. But it went through me like a knife. The story first grabbed me in a fierce and horrified empathy with Volund, who is so horribly abused - and then ripped that sense of empathy away as Volund's brutal revenge plays out. It's a breathtaking emotional rollercoaster in under 7 pages of terse Icelandic verse. I loved it immediately, and ever since, I've wanted to write a retelling.

Anwyay, so I was rereading THE SILMARILLION last year, and there's a specific story in there that caught my attention, because it struck me as having certain strong parallels with the Volund myth. My interest whetted, I searched online for anyone else who'd noticed the same parallels - and lo and behold, I found this terrific article by Lillian Hammen: "Skilled Smiths and Princes of Elves: The Wayland-legend and the First Age of Middle-earth."

What a read. WHAT a read. Not just because Hammen refuses to follow a certain other academic I also read recently in blaming Bodvild for her own rape (!!!!!!). And not just because Hammen blows my mind by presenting explicit proof from Tolkien himself that the story of Feanor started out originally as as retelling of the Volund myth, complete with a flight from captivity with a female character named Beaduhilde. While the story changed dramatically by the time Christopher Tolkien compiled the SILMARILLION, Feanor clearly retains strong Volund influences. He's a skilled smith, who creates jewels by magic, and who, when those jewels are stolen, reacts with a possessive and irrational rage that leads him to a bloody vengeance.

The tale of Eol and Aredhel is where Tolkien tackles the gender and family dynamics of the Volund myth. In this story, we have another smith who uses magic to lure a princess to his forge, where he takes her as a "not wholly unwilling" (and therefore, not wholly willing either) wife. A son is then conceived, but, like the swan-bride in the original story, Aredhel ultimately abandons Eol. Like Volund, Eol attempts a revenge, pursuing Aredhel to Gondolin and ultimately killing her; like Volund, he exits the story through the air, only instead of a triumphant flight, he is hurled to his death.

IOW, if Feanor is Wayland in his aspect as controlling maker, Eol is Wayland in his aspect as controlling patriarch.

Hammen points out that "Eöl’s actions towards his son largely treat Maeglin as a possession – in Eöl’s final words, he describes Maeglin as ill-gotten, a term better suited to describing stolen treasure than one’s own child – but, crucially, this possessiveness is linked to Eöl’s smithcraft: Eöl regards Maeglin as his own creation."

She further concludes what I had also noticed: that Tolkien's retelling of the Volundarkvida reframes Volund's possessive, vindictive actions as unambiguously bad:

"Tolkien’s handling of his medieval inheritance emphasizes the moral dimension of his sub-creative instincts and the philosophical feelings underpinning his writing. Fëanor and Eöl may have been suffused with Wayland’s characteristics, but Tolkien, in his tales, firmly classifies these personality traits – Fëanor’s extreme possessiveness over his creations and Eöl’s egotistic domination of his spouse and son – as destructive, even sinful."

Here I have to emphasise that I have read a bunch of men on the Volundarkvida, and most of them have had takes that range from mid to atrocious. Maybe they recognise Volund's treatment of Bodvild as rape, but fail to give her as much internality and agency as the poem does. Or, they misread Bodvild's agency in the poem as deserving of rape. Tolkien, always a Certified Wifeguy, does none of this with Aredhel and Eol!!! In his version of the story, there's no explicit rape as in the Volundarkvida, because at some point Tolkien decided he was too classy to write flippantly about rape in Middle-Earth, and on behalf of women everywhere, honestly: bless him for that. The ambiguity is a really refreshing thing: we know that Aredhel probably wouldn't have chosen this of her own accord, but there is room left for her own agency and desires in a situation with limited choices. Tolkien is being kind and merciful to his characters, and therefore also to his female readers here.

But here's the thing that makes me flip out a bit. Even though Tolkien transmutes the Volundarkvida's sexual violence to something far more ambiguous and implicit…he doesn't use this ambiguity to let Eol off lightly for his crimes. First off, he uses it to be kind to Aredhel. When my book club/author group read the Sil last year, we spent a bit of time discussing whether we thought that Aredhel's wayward nature was something she needed to be punished for; whether it was there in the story to suggest that she deserved her fate. But Hammen sees Aredhel's wanderlust not as something for which she needed to be punished, but as a legacy from the Volundarkvida: she is an amalgam of both Bodvild and Hervor, the swan-bride. Wanderlust is in her nature. However much desire Aredhel may have initially felt for Eol, his reclusive, controlling, possessive nature meant that they were never going to be a good fit; he was always going to be a bad husband to her. In other words, Aredhel's wanderlust, in the context of a Volund retelling, makes it very clear that she was ENTIRELY legit in wanting to escape her husband.

Second, by removing explicit rape from the story, Tolkien takes the emphasis of the tale off rape as a sexual/social transgression, and focuses it squarely on the root issue: power, control, and domination. Again, this absolutely blows my mind. Today most people understand that rape is not a crime of desire or passion, but a crime of control and domination. And all the way back in the 1930s or whenever, Tolkien looked at the Volundarkvida and identified Volund's sin as possession, domination, and control, not just over the works of his hands, but also over his own family. If you're a Tolkien nerd you understand, obviously, that this was a really strong theme in Tolkien's works. In his Letter to Milton Waldman in which he explained the foundational themes of his work, Tolkien wrote:

"All this stuff is mainly concerned with Fall, Mortality, and the Machine. …This [creative] desire has various opportunities of 'Fall'. It may become possessive, clinging to the things made as 'its own'; the sub-creator wishes to be the Lord and God of his private creation. He will rebel against the laws of the Creator - especially against mortality. Both of these (alone or toegether) will lead to the desire for Power, for making the will more quickly effective, - and so to the Machine (or Magic). By the last I intend all use of external plans or devices (apparatus) instead of development of the inherent inner powers or talents - or even the use of these talents with the corrupted motive of dominating: bulldozing the real world, or coercing other wills."

I knew all this, of course; and I had seen how Tolkien developed the theme in his work: it is a perennial mark of the bad guys in Tolkien's work, that they seek domination over the wills of others. But it's in the tale of Eol and Aredhel, specifically, that Tolkien extended this theme to abusive, patriarchal family structures, with a crystal clear moral insight and impeccable poetic justice.

My own retelling of the Volundarkvida is going to be quite a bit different to Tolkien's - but I absolutely LOVE his take on the story, and I have already learned so much from it.

[balrogballs]

☕️ + elf reembodiment

SEND ME ☕️ + a topic to hear my take on it!

Oh this is SUCH a delicious question, thank you so much tee hee!

To put it in maths terms as a TLDR:

I am not convinced that [re-embodiment = redemption]

I interpret it more as: [re-embodiment = reckoning] + [reckoning =/= redemption]

So my thoughts on elven re-embodiment and the whole concept of the Halls of Mandos are pretty mixed and messy… but the messiness, for some weird reason, ties in almost exactly to my thoughts on Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung as practice versus as performance in Germany. Although obviously let me just say I don’t think this was in any way intentional on Tolkien’s part because when the guy died, East Germany was literally Stasi central, West Germany was run by ex-Nazis and Americans, and Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung really didn’t exist in the form we know it today… it’s just the paradigm I interpret it through.

This bit is for the non German-speaking folk on my blog, but Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung is essentially ‘the process of coming to terms with your history’, used primarily to refer to Germany’s Nazi past (though in certain cases it’s also used wrt Stasi rule in the East), essentially a mass self-reckoning. In theory, it’s a far-reaching + conscientious mode of understanding, not only studying the horrors of the Nazi period from a detached/historical position solely looking at the actions of the military as separate from the citizenry, but instead accepting and analysing the culpability of hundreds of thousands of ‘normal people’ in the atrocity. 

In practice however, it’s not always like so, and especially in the last couple of decades has turned into more of a public performance than actual historical understanding. There’s a very cool Jewish queer theorist based in Berlin, whose name I am currently forgetting, who actually called it something along the lines of The Great National Atonement Pantomime. Where the goalpost is no longer an understanding and interrogation of brutality but rather a performance of redemption, and the desperation to find “a way to be good again”… a game that is nowadays played to win.

So I certainly am not saying the Halls of Mandos are like Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung, but more that both systems risk being interpreted as a similar type of atonement theater… spectacles of moral seriousness that sidestep the harder questions they claim to address. And I think this again connects to my disagreement with the idea of ‘redemption’ as a linear/upward progression that is required if a ‘bad’ or unpalatable character is to be engaged with in fiction…

 I definitely can understand what’s seductive about ‘pristine’ re-embodiment as an idea: a death that matters but isn't permanent, consequences that exist but are reversible if you try hard enough. But how it actually functions is what I’m confused by, which is of course also related to how vague the source text is about it. Finrod dies heroically and returns; Fëanor remains in Mandos "until the End"; the kinslayers vanish from the narrative, their fates unaddressed; Míriel creates irresolvable theological tangles… but does Finrod’s speedy return mean he’s done nothing ‘wrong’ in Beleriand? Or does it mean that Finrod’s actions in Beleriand is something that both Tolkien’s initial intended audience and the man himself, finds bearable, and thus redeemable? Considering the parallels to conquest and Finrod’s status as something akin to an anthropologist, in the geopolitical environment the legendarium was constructed in, I’m inclined to think about it as the latter…  

The confirmed ‘returns’ are narratively expedient and to me seems to centre around the idea of bearability, where those who would complicate the narrative don't return, those whose fates would require confronting difficult questions about who is forgiving whom. And that ties in to Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung in its contemporary incarnation ie what it is slowly turning into, which is a framework that measures ‘redeemability’ by what the arbitrator is willing to tolerate and what they are willing to overlook… and the arbitrators are never actually the victims of the violence itself. 

And there’s obviously a structural issue at play here as well… which is, what happens when every chucklefuck and their brother is re-embodied but nothing has changed? sisyphus, unhappy is the best and most expansive exploration of this I’ve read… what does Tirion look like after the horrors of Beleriand? What can it look like? Why does it look like that? etc etc etc.

Anyway, what confuses me about the Halls of Mandos and what I’d like to trouble at some point via writing is the way in which the perpetrators are separated from the victims and thus from ongoing consequences and the history they set in motion. And it’s why I don’t personally enjoy viewing the Halls as a therapeutic space, because that concept floats too close to an individualised, dare I say USamerican, notion of personal healing… which is, if the Halls’ purpose is to enact a judgement and consequent rehabilitation, what is the criteria for redemption? Is it just apologising to your family? Is it just an acknowledgment of historical violence? Does every single elf actually want to be redeemed? 

These questions just itch at me when thinking about the sheer scale of it, because at the end of the day Beleriand was a military campaign and a lot of the movements across all elven hosts had more than a little to do with conquest… that means violence and occupation on a mass scale. And obviously we know the fate of Fëanor and can even extrapolate it to his sons, but what of the generals and higher level commanders etc? How far does the criterion of Mandos-offered re-embodiment stretch? 

And that itself throws up another question: if Fëanor and perhaps his sons are the only ones to never get re-embodied, then what does that say about the Valar’s perception of the others who partook in kinslayings? Technically speaking, some of Fingolfin’s men also partook in Alqualondë… and the exile itself was at least in name ‘voluntary’, so you can’t exactly make the argument that Maedhros or Celegorm’s lieutenants were dragged by the ear to Beleriand. Where do these folk sit in the re-embodiment ladder? 

(Not to make a joke in a serious answer but… 😭)

It’s obviously only confusing because Silm and assorted texts are mostly just posthumously collated scraps so there isn’t exactly a Tolkien-certified answer on how exactly the time limits and processes work. And so unfortunately what we do get is outcome-focused, meant to drive the narrative thread of the published Silmarillion. What happens in Mandos? How do fëar change or fail to change? Can you flunk out of the Halls? It's a narrative black box in a way, producing judgments yet not disclosing the process, and I find that VERY interesting to think about and I really want to do some writing about it at some point… 

I think my thoughts on this are actually very similar to my thoughts on ‘kidnap fam’ tbh… as in I like to read the irresolution of re-embodiment not as some kind of authorial flaw from Jirt or curatorial failure from Chrissy, but as proof that some moral situations genuinely can't be resolved through punishment or ‘forgiveness’ arbitrated by a fallible third party… and that there’s very little sense in a ‘redemption’ that centres the perpetrator. As in maybe the discomfort I feel reading about Mandos’ Halls, ie the sense that something crucial remains unclear, is in itself a valid reading of the structure…

And like just to conclude by switching back over to Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung as a genuine structural interrogation as opposed to public performances of guilt… reckoning necessarily resists closure. It's uncomfortable + ongoing, requires sitting with guilt + complicity + irreversibility, without the promise that the act of acknowledging complicity or harm is what pronounces an absolution.

So all this whole ass word vomit essay is trying to say is that my interpretation of the Halls and consequently the journey to re-embodiment, properly understood, isn’t where elves go to be healed or redeemed on a factory line, and neither do I personally view it as a great big group therapy session with reconciliation and self-forgiveness as the goal. I like the idea of it as a place where elves wait in suspended judgment while the world continues without them… and that being healed in fëa doesn’t mean the moral score resets to zero… 

I think that upon re-embodiment, some elves still return carrying their past views and ideologies; others change their mind as people do; others still remain neither released nor condemned. And that perpetual uncertainty / resistance to resolution, is to me the most interesting thing the Mandos metaphysics offers and imo maps onto the theoretical concept of Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung, as opposed to how it’s put into practice.

Instead of viewing the Halls of Mandos as a therapeutic space or a promise that private reckoning leads to public redemption, I think the opaqueness of the Halls and the healing-fëa and consequent re-embodiment processes provides a fun sandpit to engage with the idea that both ‘reckoning’ and ‘redemption’ are unsolvable equations, and in some cases must continue indefinitely without the comfort of conclusion.

OK I WILL STOP YAPPING so sorry for the essay shsjsjsjds

[nerdanelparmandil]

On the name Maedhros

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but there are clear reasons for the names Fingolfin and Finarfin, meaning Finwe - Nolofinwe/Arafinwe, the name of the archaic/mythical first King being used to signify Kingship itself. In this context, what I find fascinating is the name Maedhros.

Fingolfin, is said, purposefully chose to affix Finwe- to his name, and so the Sindar came to know him. His father's name.

Even for Feanaro we are given a reason, of course, his mother's legacy. But "Curufinwe" is recorded and his son uses it too.

So, I was looking at the timeline of the first age, and a few things struck me:

Y.T. 1497: everything happens. Feanor dies, Maedhros is captured. Have the Noldor had time to establish connections with the elves of Beleriand? It seems so. By this point, it stands to reason that Maedhros introduces himself as "Maitimo Russandol". Feanor is still king and there is no crown to claim, having left Nolofinwe on the other side of the sea.

Russandol is an epesse. Did he introduce himself to total strangers with such an intimate name? It seems that elves do, in fact, value more the names their beloved give them. See Galadriel.

After the years of his captivity, he must still prefer to call himself Maitimo Russandol, if that's the name history records.

Thingol's ban on Quenya - all the names must have been Sindarin-ized by this point. This, or the Noldor started doing it even prior to the ban, in an effort to blend in, truly settle in the new lands. No, this does not negate their superiority complex or the fact that in private they surely have kept using Quenya, or that there was a wealth of "high" literature in Quenya imported from Valinor.

In the two years it takes for Maedhros to heal and give up the crown, "Nelyafinwe" doesn't appear. Either Maedhros hated that name or--

The erasure of his "kingly" name has either been a result of his kingship having been too short and shaky, or a purposeful act to signal the legitimacy of the Nolofinwean line to the crown, highlighting the fact that the house of Feanor is, after all, dispossessed.

There's an alternate reality where Feanor is knows as Fincurufin (Fincurfin?) and Maedhros as "Finelfin(?)"

If it was indeed the name Maedhros kept for himself, it speaks volumes about his character and mindset. Feanaro staked his claim on Finwe's kingship and the preeminence of his line above that of Nolofinwe by choosing to name his firstborn Third-Finwe. And yet, this son never claimed that name for his own, actively refused it by giving up the crown. Instead, despite years of capitivity and "the shadow of his pain was in his heart", missing a hand, he still chose to be called Maitimo. He chose his mother's name, kept his epesse, an endearment given to him by his brothers and friends. It signals that he saw himself as that, his mother's son, beloved friend and brother, and not as the Next In Line™.

(And how fun it is to use these four names in fanfiction, exploring how they can be used to signify different things, moods, hierarchies, closeness etc.)

[aisatsaa]

if only Gyatso had run away with Aang

[honeyxmonkey]

Okay, so this post always makes me giggle

But I was thinking just now...

Literally no one in the friend group aside from Aang knows Zuko was the Blue Spirit

So do you think... they're just hanging out in the palace post canon all piled up in one of the rooms reserved for when the royal family wants to chill—and Zuko is voicing his (extremely reasonable) upset about his father for one reason or another

And Sokka just says something like, "So are you gonna just leave him to rot in jail for the rest of his life, or are you gonna give him another punishment?"

And Zuko goes quiet. Thinking. Then he says, "Maybe I should send him on a quest to capture the Blue Spirit to regain his honor"

And Aang just fucking loses it

[its-emimi]

Happy Pride month! 🌈