It May Be That We Fled From A Fear Of The Dark

Tolkien/Silmarillion/The Histories and CoH writing, world building and sometimes edits. Information in pinned post! My icon is Aerin, a gift from ulmondil! background by houndsofvalinor, previous icon by-slightnettles .

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updated pinned post and commissions

Note: for some reason my tag for The Wanderings of Húrin broke so the tag is now 'tol acharn'

Primarily The Silmarillion and The Children of Húrin but I do lots of LOTR and general Tolkien stuff too especially about elven languages! Feel free to ask questions

My username is a reference to The Wanderings of Húrin, I honestly do not remember why I chose it

areas of interest to me are world building (environment/nature/society/culture/etc) of Beleriand, Middle Earth and Valinor as well as Angband ! Please ask questions about this! I now have a masterlist for environmental world building here and one for societal world building here and my Newest Masterlist: Aerin and post Nírnaeth Hithlum HCs with other CoH lists! My tags are often more reliable though because I can be slow to update the masterlists

I am autistic. I get over excited so sometimes come off as rambling, awkward or repetitive. Please tell me if I’m interacting in a way that’s annoying or if I’m talking over you. I do love complimenting other’s works and talking with others so feel free to message me!

My Neologisms

updated note about commissions

My kofi (if you have questions about why I link these feel free to ask but the basics are meds, etc). I do take commissions for writing or world building/research though I am slow at times. Here's an example of commissioned world building! I typically charge five dollars for world building/research and honestly pwyw for writing

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Even word of the day, 422/?

This is a neologism of mine!

Caumaquácë from Quenya

Meaning turtle or tortoise 🐢

The direct translation is shield frog or sheltered frog.

Many real world languages across continents have words for turtle or tortoise that translate to shield frog or shield toad in English. The word I used for shield is somewhat different because it means a shield or shelter rather than just a shield one would use in battle. Sanda in Quenya is the word for a battle shield only

I also made eärcaumquácë for sea turtle!! Thandcabor is the Sindarin cognate though I’m considering making a different one too! I am considering making a separate word for tortoise too.

My neologisms

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I love the idea of the Maiar existing on a wide spectrum of different forms and varieties.

There are Maiar who take on the forms of specific phenomena and might remain dormant or incorporeal when not appearing thus. Maiar might appear as (or leave behind) wisps, colors, smells, emotional or psychological or physical phenomena, flora and fauna, and even geography or dimensional spaces one can enter.

Maiar who take the form of currents or rain clouds or spots of light. Beech trees or climbing ivy or hummingbirds. Shimmering forms that distort space and time, or temporary inhibit the senses of anyone nearby.

They have vastly varying degrees of sentience (or at least what elves would view as sentience) and awareness and communication. Less complex forms can sometimes mean less complex existences, at least in the minds of elves and humans, but there is not a direct correlation.

Some Maia appear to present only aspects of an emotional and autonomous existence, for example appearing fully capable of humor through timing or context but not otherwise able to communicate. Many are mimics. Some can mimic facial expressions but not speech, or the opposite. Some communicate solely through music, through color, or imparting emotions.

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When I’m thinking about Aerin’s suppressed anger and anguish, I’m usually (though not always) writing about the final version of The Children of Húrin where her story culminates in her burning the house she was imprisoned in for years

But there are fascinating glimpses of her anger in The Book of Lost Tales too.

Aerin in the Book of Lost Tales announces to the Hadorians that Brodda was slain wrongfully but “just was the wrath of the slayer”. Especially given the circumstances of the other Hadorians not knowing of her suffering, it’s a very interesting and potentially dangerous line and she says it for a reason.

I think it’s reasonable to assume that wrath is one she knows herself so well. She holds it against her, sometimes spurring her onward and sometimes cutting so deeply.

I love that this is a part of her character that is consistent throughout the versions of The Children of Húrin, even if it’s shown more subtly in places. She is always kind and selfless and there is a deep, furious anguish within her.

I especially love the quote that she “dealt justice with rigour and wisdom”. I do think you see traces of that in the later versions, especially in her words after Sador’s death, even as it’s weighed down by exhaustion and pain.

Anyways I just love her so so much

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Elven words for the moon

Elven words for stars

This is a collection of elven words related to the moon including poetic and archaic words.

More in the linguistic resources and word of the day (wotd) tags! Let me know if there are any topics you would like to see covered!

Rána and Isil are the two most common Quenya names for the moon. Rána means “Wayward” and derives from an archaic word for wandering or straying off course. Isil derives from thil meaning to shine white or silver.

Ránuringwi is an archaic Quenya word for sun and moon.

Isilmë means moonlight in Quenya.

Gilm is an older Sindarin word for moonlight, derived from gili meaning pale shining

Raun, a cognate of Rána, is used most commonly in Sindarin however Ithil, also derived from thil, is used poetically

Istil is the name of the moon in Ilkorin, the Sindarin language of Doriath.

Ceuran means new moon in Quenya. This word has two cognates; cýron in Sindarin and ciuran in Telerin.

Cúran is an older Sindarin word for crescent moon 🌙 from cú meaning arch or crescent and rhan, the older form of raun.

Cú or Kú by itself was used to mean the crescent moon in Quenya

Though Silpilon was the name of the white tree of Tirion, in older Quenya, Silpilon meant red or cherry moon, possibly a reference to the phenomenon of a blood moon or lunar eclipse.

Rincu is an archaic Quenya word for the shape of the moon, derived from rini meaning circle

Important note: Morwen’s sobriquet, Eledhwen, is translated to elf-sheen in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. Though the two primary parts, eled(h), an archaic word for elf and (g)wen, a feminine suffix often related to beauty, do not refer to shine or sheen, it is possible it is related to iþil, the older version of ithil which does relate to shining.

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Springs of Beleriand

One of the final resources before I can post my geographic resource masterlist

Waterfalls

There are so many rivers and streams in Beleriand and their springs and sources sometimes play important roles in the story.

Eithel Ivrin of the spring of Ivrin was located unnamed mountain in the Ered Wethrin , on the southern border of Hithlum to the north. The lands of Nargothrond fell directly south. The river Narog, the largest and southernmost tributary of the river Sirion flowed from these pools to where it met Sirion in the Valley of Willows. They was said to be blessed by Ulmo and were the place of several important events in The Silmarillion and Great Tales. The pool was defiled by Glaurung who also uprooted the beech trees which grew around it

Eithel Sirion was in the eastern foothills of the Ered Wethrin, on the border of Mithrim to the west and Ard Galen to the East. The river Sirion, the largest of the rivers of Beleriand ran from Eithel Sirion to the havens of Sirion and into the ocean. It overlooked the plains of Ard-galen. It was the location of Barad Eithel, the fortress of Fingolfin. 

Rivil’s Well was located the highlands of western Dorthonion. Rivil was the smallest and northernmost tributary to the river Sirion which it met a short ways later at the Fen of Serech. It was the location where Beren tracked, found, and killed the orcs responsible for the killing of his father and other Bëorian men

Shadowy Spring was in The Ered Gorgoroth, which separated Dorthonion from Nan Dungortheb, the dreadful valley north of Doriath. According to Christopher Tolkien’s map of Beleriand, the shadowy spring is located south of the pass of Aglon. Aros and Esgalduin, two tributaries to Sirion, flow from these springs to meet Sirion on the southern border to Doriath

While not named, we also know that the source for Nen Lalaith is in the Ered Wethrin too, upon Amon Darthir. We also know that the source for Gelion is on the southern side of the hill of Himring on the March of Maedhros.

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The Barrowfields of Edoras, where the kings of Rohan were buried beneath white flowers of evermind.

I imagine it to be expansive and somewhat eerie, the only sounds the rushing of the small river to the north, and the wind through the grasses blending together.

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Elven word of the day, 421/?

This is a neologism in honor of world ocean day!

Gaegalar from Sindarin

Meaning “coral” 🪸 the literal translation is sea growing.

I’m working on a Quenya word too! The Quenya cognate would be ëarālan but I do want to come up with a unique one too 🪸🪸🪸

See also uil, the canon word for seaweed in older Sindarin.

My neologisms

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Morwen is such a beloved character to me. She’s a childhood survivor of a horrific massacre. She’s sharp and brave and cunning. She’s literally cursed by an evil god. She has one friend in the world who she trusts with her counsels in every version Tolkien ever wrote (Aerin!!!) She’s accused of witchcraft and terrifies a dangerous man by looking at him. She is constantly trapped and constantly running.

Her husband is one of the people who admires and reveres the elves the most and she’s apathetic at best about them. She lectures and intimidates Mablung, a decorated elven warrior thousands of years older than her. She is more observant than Thingol’s best scouts when it comes to noticing discrepancies. She was not conquered.

She does everything she can to keep herself and her children alive. She is sure to her bones that the only power that matters in Beleriand is Morgoth’s. Is she right in the end?

Anyways I just love her so so much

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Thinking more about the valley, Nan Dungortheb, where it was rumored Ungoliant and her spawn fled to and lived for some time. Beren traveled through there to reach Doriath though we know little about his journey other than that it was a harrowing ordeal.

There is such potential for horrific landscapes, right there in the middle of Beleriand.

The spiders of Nan Dungortheb are not true spiders of course and their forms vary widely as does their size. Some appear as mere shadows. The webs themselves are mildly corrosive and slowly kill the trees they are woven between, creating an eerie landscape of hardened skeletons of wood.

The spinning of their webs produces a lulling sound that is used sometimes to lure prey though most of the elves know enough to be wary.

The presence of the spiders and other monsters was partially contained by the Girdle of Melian for the enchantment that wove and sang it was one they despised and avoided. Starved of prey, their own numbers began to decline. Some of course escaped East and their original forms began to more clearly resemble the spiders around them.

When Ungoliant’s spawn die, their forms become even less defined, spots of darkness that distort or even trap light, further warping the land.

And of course eventually, some of her spawn managed to leave the confines of the valley, ending with Shelob thousands of years later.

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Elven word of the day, 420/?

This is a neologism of mine!

Anarnurtalë from Quenya!

Meaning solar eclipse ☀️🌑

The literal translation is sun hiding, from Anar meaning sun and the present form of nurta, to hide.

For Sindarin, I have anoresgal meaning sun screening or sun covering. Esgal is an old Sindarin word related to shading, covering or hiding. Esgal in Ilkorin, the Sindarin language of Doriath, means a roof of leaves.

My neologisms

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I’m feeling so emotional about Aerin tonight. She deserved so much better. She deserved to set a million more fires but more than that she deserved to never have to endure the years of imprisonment and dehumanisation that she did.

The Children of Húrin is in so many ways about lives torn apart by violence, about denial of autonomy and your life course being set for you and Aerin, while just appearing in one scene, is such a visceral example of that

This of course makes her encounter with Túrin even more frustrating. Aerin is fighting against a cruel fate that seeks to violently define who she is and what her role is. Túrin should empathize with this, in some ways it is is his lot too. But he’s completely oblivious to this. (Seeing only the dark!)

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The Teleri have a yearly festival dedicated to the hatching of sea turtles, on the beaches south of Alqualondë. It pre dates the rising of the sun and moon by centuries. Turtles would typically hatch when the light of Telperion was waning just as they would later learn to follow the moon towards the ocean.

Nests are carefully guarded, marked by rocks with silver spirals painted upon them. Disruption of the nests is forbidden.

Maiar of Ulmo occasionally attend the festival, sometimes among the Teleri and sometimes from the ocean, taking the forms of fish, turtles, or even currents.

Sea turtles themselves are a common motif in Telerin art and lore. Mosaics and murals colored from malachite, ash leaves, and foxgloves can be found within Alqualondë.

The festival didn’t occur for several years after the darkening and the first kinslaying though the practice of marking the nests remained. Although it did finally resume, the absence of some, and the new light from the moon, gave the festival a melancholy atmosphere for many years to come.

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Elven words for twilight and evening

I had a post that tried to catalogue the many elven words for dawn and twilight however there are so many of them and I couldn’t include them all! So I wanted to do two more in depth explorations! 🌠🌌🌒🪐

Elven words for dawn

More in the linguistic resources and word of the day (wotd) tags! Let me know if there are any topics you would like to see covered!

Annûn (S) means sunset or literally, going down. Andúnë is the Quenya cognate

Sunquelë (Q) meant the sinking or falling of heavenly bodies.

Undómë (Q) means evendom or evening twilight. Adual is its Sindarin cognate.

Yúyal (Q) and uial (S) are somewhat lesser used words for twilight, both mean twine or two lights, from the root gal meaning shining. Uial of course appears in Aelin-Uial, the twilight meres.

Dûm is the word in Ilkorin, the Sindarin language of Doriath, for twilight. It derives from the root dom for dim or dusky. Timdûm means starry twilight.

Thîn and sinyë are older Sindarin and Quenya words for evening. Both derive from the root thin meaning grey.

Tinnu is another Sindarin word for evening. It derives from tin meaning sparkle. In earlier Sindarin it specifically referred to starry twilight or early night without the moon.

Mórilanta (Q) means nightfall or the beginning of night.

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I’ve had so much fun seeing the responses to my previous two Tolkien location questions so here’s another for you all! I love the myriad of creepy forests, eerie valleys, abandoned towers and haunting vistas in Tolkien so, I ask you!

What do you think the creepiest, strangest or most mysterious place is? Or, which is your favorite?

Feel free to answer in tags or comments! Location from any source (LotR, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, Histories) including dubiously canon or obscure! Places without a formal name are fine too!

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Morwen does not speak much of her childhood or of the Bragollach to her son in his early years. She does not know how much she wants him to mourn a people he has never truly known. But, she knows too that if he does not mourn, he cannot know and he will not remember.

Morwen is acutely aware that some knowledge that dies with her vanishes forever. Rían was so young when they left Ladros, Lady Emeldir returned to the search and has not come to Hithlum since Morwen was fourteen. Beleth has been sickly for years now. She will not live long. There are other survivors but they are scattered and exhausted and pained by these same questions.

Túrin is an intelligent boy. He knows that she does not look like his father’s people and that he does not either. He hears the way she forms the words of Hadorian Taliska differently than his father does, then how most he knows do.

He senses and then feels and then knows that his mother is treated differently. She is proud of how they are different. And she knows that pride might arm him and it might in turn make him vulnerable.

She teaches him the language her parents taught her. Perhaps he will teach his children, she thinks, and the tongue of her people will last another generation. Perhaps.

Húrin has always been kind in the way he is of what he does not, cannot understand. Not all his kin are quite so kind. Some dislike what is unfamiliar and do not know that what is truly familiar to Morwen has been utterly destroyed. Many dislike her countenance or habits. Their whispers range from curious to accusatory to hostile.

The first, and only, time Túrin sees her scars he asks, as children do. She will not answer all his questions but the ones she does, she answers plainly, without emotion. They are burns. Yes, there was once pain. No, there is no longer. No, they will never fade.

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I headcanon the Teleri have a yearly festival dedicated to the hatching of sea turtles. I will share longer thoughts later but in the meantime, here's a board <3