Ramblings of a Loremaster

And other Middle-Earth nonsense no one asked for

[softlysilverfountainsfall]

The Valar and their action and non-action (especially in the first age and leading up to it) are a complicated subject to say the least, but one part of it, to me at least, is that the Valar so did not sign up for this.

Think about it--Eru shows them a vision of a created world, then they figure out that they have to create it themselves; ok, fine, Manwe and Ulmo have a great time making weather systems, Aule fashioning the mountains, Yavanna her plants, etc. They're having a great time (minus Melkor's interference) literally world-building. This is largely what they are good at and what they want to do.

They did not sign up to deal with political crises, personal/family crises, morality crises, and war, they were probably never intended to have to deal with this in Iluvatar's perfect world, and they are bad at it.

None of this is meant to excuse their, uh...less than stellar decisions, but this post isn't about those, it's about the context of the Valar signing up Minecraft in Creative mode and not only getting thrown into Survival, but also thrown into adjudicating elf drama, elf marriage/life/death metaphysics, and kinslayings.

Admittedly, they put themselves in a position of authority over the elves, but I still don't think they expected all of that, especially not before they entered Arda, when all they wanted to do was create a beautiful world for the children of Iluvatar.

And then it all went to hell.

[novemberthecatadmirer]

You round up a whole group of artists (likely with all their separate, well, artist issues) into working on a giant nice world for some cute little people to live in then BOOM now one of them decides to just sabotage the project and the cute little people start to kill each others

and this group of artists walking disasters now find out they have to do politics and A LOT of damage control

IDK, when you force artists to be rational and organized and do administrative shit some of them WILL go crazy and mess up/run away/start to start fire here and there.

they so much did not sign themselves up for THESE

And yeah, OF COURSE someone would start discord and some others would follow. That’s just so normal artist behavior.

[prattling-she-elf]

Yes! YES!

This is exactly why I can't bring myself to hate the Valar (or even be really that mad at them).

They are just trying their best and making stupid mistakes in the process just like every other damn character in the history of Arda!

[prattling-she-elf]

Can we take a moment to talk about that generation that consisted mainly of the grandchildren of Finwë?

I mean, look at this:

Dead, Good as Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Only Alive Because Her Family Had the Presence of Mind to Stop Her, Dead, Dead, Dead, Survived.

Galadriel really was the only one who survived.

And this hits me hard when I think about it.

Because a writer puts a bit of themselves in every character.

The part of Tolkien that I see the most in Galadriel is the part of him that survived the war.

After all, he was part of the Lost Generation. Two of his closest friends—Robert Gilson and Geoffrey Smith—died in the war. Tolkien and Christopher Wiseman were the only two of their fellowship to survive.

Only Galadriel survived.

That was what the Grandchildren of Finwë were. They were the Lost Generation. An entire generation slaughtered.

The regret, the lamentation, the grief. Galadriel knew it well. She lived it because Tolkien lived it.

And I don't know why, but for some reason, this speaks to me louder than any history book ever has.

[prattling-she-elf]

I was just reading through some of these tags and....

@adibkhorram you gave me a good laugh with those.

I was wondering if anyone would notice that.

So for an explanation:

Yeaaaah, so this post might have come out of the time when I was frantically trying to keep track of the House of Finwë for a fanfic I'm writing.

The fanfic is set (mostly) in Valinor before its darkening, so the family tree I made (to keep track of all these bastards) is labeled in Quenya and sometimes uses their epessë instead as a reflection of the MC's pov.

And @ceescedasticity that's also why Amarië is just kinda hanging out there randomly.

Anyway, there you have it, for anyone who was wondering why that snippet of the family tree is so odd.

[that-angry-noldo]

and just like that, our heroes are gone! finrod is dead, beren is dying, and - OH MY VALAR HERE COMES LUTHIEN WITH A STEEL CHAIR

[prattling-she-elf]

[thethirdromana]

Their horses were strong and of proud bearing, but rough-haired; and one stood there without a rider, Aragorn's own horse that they had brought from the North; Roheryn was his name.

Cheerful thought: Tolkien named all the horsies! 💕🐎💕

Less cheerful thought: Are there more named horses than named women in this book?

[is-it-mungojerry-or-rumpelteazer]

Well, I haven’t checked either, but just going on horses we’ve read about until now, I can count seven horse names (Gandalf’s Shadowfax, Théoden’s Snowmane, Éomer’s Firefoot, Aragorn’s Roheryn, Hasufel and Arod, and Glorfindel’s Asfaloth). Considering there are eight named women in LotR, not counting mythical figures (Éowyn, Galadriel, Arwen, Goldberry, Rosie Cotton, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, Ioreth and Mrs. Maggot),if anyone else has a named horse in the rest of the book, they’re going to tie!

Damn, I just realized. If we count ponies (Bill the Pony, Merry’s Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin and Tom Bombadil’s Fatty Lumpkin), then there are definitely more named equines than women, even if you add Lúthien, Elwing and Nimrodel.

Damnit, Tolkien.

[thethirdromana]

I knew someone would know this!

And there's a further named horse: in this chapter we also met Merry's pony, Stybba.

[prattling-she-elf]

Pretty sure that Éowyn also has a horse named Windfola.

Oh a happier note, I think that if you include the women named in the Silmarillion, The Lost Tales, etc. that you have more named women overall than named equines (including the few that are also named in those books).

I would tally them up, but I feel lazy at the moment.

[mikkeneko]

Frodo Laid a Geas (and other invisible magic)

This was so obvious when I realized it, but I think most people miss it, because we’re so desensitized by D&D-style magic with immediate, visibly, flashy effects, rather than more subtle and invisible forces of magic. When Gollum attacks Frodo on the slopes of Mount Doom, Frodo has the chance to kill him, but he doesn’t. Instead, he says:

Frodo: Go! And if you ever lay hands on me again, you yourself shall be cast into the Fire!

Frodo’s not just talking shit here. He is literally, magically laying a curse. He’s holding the One Ring in his hands as he says it; even Sam, with no magic powers of his own, can sense that some powerful mojo is being laid down. Frodo put a curse on Gollum: if you try to take the Ring again, you’ll be cast into the Fire.

Five pages later, Gollum tries to take the Ring again. And that’s exactly what happens. Frodo’s geas takes effect and Gollum eats lava.

[mikkeneko]

On further reflection:

All the other people in the franchise who were offered the Ring declined to take it because they were wise enough to know that if they used its power – and the pressure to do so would be too great – they would be subject to its corruption.

Frodo uses the power of the Ring to lay a geas, and then five minutes later at the volcano’s edge, succumbs to its corruption. The Ring has gotten to him and he can no longer give it up. Because he used its power.

[mikkeneko]

On further further reflection: I’d have to read the section again, but I recall that after throwing Gollum off and laying the geas, Sam observes that Frodo seems suddenly filled with energy again when previously he had been close to dead of fatigue. He hikes up the mountain so fast he leaves Sam behind – and doesn’t even seem to notice that he’s left him behind. 

Could he have been drawing on the Ring’s power at this point in the story? At this point in the story we’re relying on Sam’s narration, and Sam doesn’t know what’s going on in Frodo’s head, so it’s hard to say for sure. Having used it once, after spending so long holding out against it, was that the breach in the dam?

Which means that the moment that Frodo succumbs to temptation is not the moment at the volcano – it was already too late by then. The moment he is taken by temptation was when he used the power of the Ring to repel Gollum.

If so, this ties in neatly with discussions I’ve seen about how Tolkien subscribes to a “not even once” view of good and evil – that in many other works it’s acceptable to do a small evil in service of a greater good, but in Lord of the Rings that always  fails.

[mikkeneko]

Re-reading Fellowship of the Rings, and I got to this passage in Lorien:

‘I would ask one thing before we go,’ said Frodo, ‘a thing which I often meant to ask Gandalf in Rivendell. I am permitted to wear the One Ring: why cannot I see all the others and know the thoughts of those that wear them?’

‘You have not tried,’ [Galadriel] said. ‘Only thrice have you set the Ring upon your finger since you knew what you possessed. Do not try! It would destroy you. Did not Gandalf tell you that the rings give power according to the measure of each possessor? Before you could use that power you would need to become stronger, and to train your will to the domination of others.’

In other words:

Frodo asks Galadriel, herself carrying a Ring of Power, “Could I, hypothetically, use the power of the One Ring to do something magical aside from turning invisible?” and Galadriel replies, “Yes, hypothetically, you totally could, assuming the magic you want to do involves laying compulsions on others, but I strongly recommend against it, because it would fuck up your brain.”

This was in the first book. At the end of the third book Frodo uses the Ring to fuck Gollum up, forcing him to throw himself into lava if he disobeys Frodo’s commands.

Talk about a chekov’s gun.

[mikkeneko]

Got to this point in my re-read and uh. This was a lot  less subtle than I remembered it.

‘Down, down!’ [Frodo] gasped, clutching his hand to his breast, so that beneath the cover of his leather shirt he clasped the Ring. ‘Down, you creeping thing, and out of my path! Your time is at an end. You cannot slay me or betray me now.’

Then suddenly, Sam saw these two rivals with other vision. A crouching shape, scarcely more than the shadow of a living thing, a creature now wholly ruined and defeated, yet filled with a hideous lust and rage; and before it stood stern, untouchable now by pity, a figure robed in white, but at its breast it held a wheel of fire. Out of the fire there spoke a commanding voice.

‘Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom.’

Then the vision passed and Sam saw Frodo standing, hand on breast, his breath coming in great gasps, and Gollum at his feet, resting on his knees with his wide-splayed hands upon the ground.

…

Yeah.

[kyraneko]

Interestingly, I feel that there is another layer to this, and that is Frodo’s mercy (mirroring “the pity of Bilbo” which Gandalf said would prove significant) at play, tangled up in his use of the Ring and the chain of events that would play out.

Frodo is sparing Gollum’s life here, and shaping that into his curse. He is only cursing Gollum—can only curse Gollum—as an effect of this mercy; if Gollum were dead, he could not be cursed by Frodo or the Ring; his survival makes the curse possible and serves as payment for the curse: they are in effect making a bargain here, wherein Golllum’s life and his sentence of dying in the Fires of Doom should he take the Ring again are as one, a package deal, which Gollum “accepts” by retreating with his life.

Then, once Frodo comes to Mount Doom, he cannot cast the ring into the fires; the Ring has him in thrall, since he has used it. Now into the picture again comes Gollum, whose greed for the Ring has surpassed his love of his own life—even having been cursed with death should he touch it again, he craves it and demands it for himself, taking it from Frodo by force.

Thus we see the Ring’s power divided against itself—it has defeated both Frodo and Gollum, and its defeat of Gollum inspires Gollum to fight Frodo for it, invoking the curse. And thus Sauron, who has it, now, by virtue of both its erstwhile Bearers falling under its (and therefore its Lord’s) sway, is cheated out of it by the effects of Frodo’s act of mercy.

Frodo spared Gollum, and used the Ring’s power to set a curse, and when Frodo faltered, it was Gollum whom he spared who took the Ring from him and invoked that curse, falling into the Fires of Doom and, due to the same greed that defeated Frodo, taking the Ring with him.

If there had been no sparing Gollum, there would have been no curse, and Frodo would have had the task Isildur failed at—destroying the (beautiful, useful, lovely ring)—set before him alone, and he may have succeeded, or he may have failed, or he may have tarried too long in the struggle for Sauron’s destruction to come in a timely fashion, or the resolution and the Ring’s destruction may have hurt him far beyond the loss of a finger.

Instead, there was Gollum, in thrall to Sauron yet doomed by Frodo, to take from Frodo both the Ring and the burden of destroying it. Frodo, in his mercy-tinged use of the Ring, effectively shifted the impetus behind the Ring’s destruction from himself to the doom laid on Gollum—and Sauron’s hold over Gollum made it a near certainty that the doom would come to pass: Gollum would die, and not surrender the Ring, and thus the Ring would fall with him into the fires of Mount Doom.

And Frodo … like Indiana Jones in the Chapel of the Holy Grail, could avoid falling himself by either a willingness to let go, or the presence of a loved one to hold him back. Or, y’know, Gollum deciding to bite rather than just grab. A few more options here.

[lieshipwreckedandcomatose]

This really hearkens back to old Celtic mythological geasa, and how so often someone dies because of a forced contradiction of a geas’ rules. A geas essentially allows for an easy setup of a no-win situation.

The warrior-poet-king Cú Chulainn was, eventually, brought down because he was bound by a geas. His geas was to never eat the flesh of a dog (I believe by Culann, but I’m not sure on that). Well, he got served some dog stew. He couldn’t eat it, because it was dog. But he couldn’t not eat it, because that would be extremely rude, according to cultural custom at the time - a custom so strong, it might as well have been a geas on its own. Either way, he was breaking a geas’ rules, and this magically weakens him before an upcoming battle. He - and his charioteer and horse - are slain

So, yeah, this all tracks with how geasa work. Gollum had such a strong desire for the ring that he, quite literally, had no choice but to attack Frodo for it. But, in doing so, he contradicts the geas Frodo laid upon him, and so falls.

[entanglemindfully]

Just came across this while reading The Two Towers:

[Frodo to Gollum]: “’I did not mean the danger that we all share,’ said Frodo. ‘I mean a danger to yourself alone. You swore a promise by what you call the Precious. Remember that! It will hold you to it; but it will seek a way to twist it to your own undoing. Already you are being twisted. You revealed yourself to me just now, foolishly. Give it back to Smeagol you said. Do not say that again! Do not let that thought grow in you! You will never get it back. But the desire of it may betray you to a bitter end. You will never get it back. In the last need, Smeagol, I should put on the Precious; and the Precious mastered you long ago. If I, wearing it, were to command you, you would obey, even if it were to leap from a precipice or to cast yourself into the fire. And such would be my command. So have a care, Smeagol!’”

[aragornsrockcollection]

If we consider that Glamdring was made for Turgon… who is in the running for Tallest Elf, a title with steep competition that must put him at 8ft+… well, I’m not a weapon expert, but Glamdring must be long as hell?

And Gandalf is tall… but we’re never told that he in his Istari form is freakishly tall amongst men.

So I kind of wonder… was it a shortsword for Turgon, or does Gandalf wielding it just look slightly comical?

Anime style huge sword on an old man.

[golwenlothlindel]

[Speculation based solely on LotR and historical evidence] Well, there is a problem with making your swords extra long because you're tall: which is that they would also weigh more. But, making your sword as long as possible does have the advantage of letting you hit your enemy before he hits you. This would make designing a sword for someone like Turgon an interesting challenge. Part of the trouble here is that men over the height of six feet rarely used swords historically: so there actually aren't very many examples of oversized swords. If you have the height to take advantage of a battleaxe, giant fuck-off mace, or massive club, why wouldn't you? The ones that do exist, I must point out, don't look like cartoon swords because they are merely long rather than being both too long and too wide. They actually tend to look very delicate, because they are longer and skinnier than is typical for their design. Think a sport epée (which are in fact deliberately too long in order to make hits less likely) rather than anime sword. Turgon's armorers would have two options for dealing with this problem of weight versus reach:

1) make the blade a standard length, but put it on a longer handle. Handles, being made of wood, aren't as heavy. This is how you get something like the naginata, or the Chinese dao swords. The downside of these is that they require two hands despite their low weight.

2) make the blade and edge out of different materials. The edge of a sword has to be made of a certain type of steel: otherwise it won't stay sharp. However, the rest of the blade can be made from a different alloy: perhaps involving something like titanium. In the real Middle Ages they couldn't melt titanium, but we can handwave that with Songs of Power.

I must point out here that the movie's depiction of Glamdring as a medieval longsword is wildly inaccurate to the text anyway. Tolkien repeatedly uses Byzantine and Japanese motifs in his depiction of Gondolin. As it happens the Byzantines and Japanese both converged on using single-edged sabred longswords (the παραμηριον and katana are more or less the same concept differing only in materials and manufacture), so if Glamdring was made as a longsword it would definitely be single-edged, and it would be curved rather than straight (that's what distinguishes a sabre). The Byzantines used a double-edged shortsword (spatha), the Japanese made their shortswords single-edged (wakazashi) but that was mostly because of lacking good steel. Since Gondolin doesn't seem to have a shortage of good steel, they would likely use a type of spatha. Something to keep in mind though is that spatha-type swords are intended for stabbing more than slashing, so they really need to be used with either a main hand sword or a shield. [end of speculation based solely on LotR content and history]

[Silmarillion-based speculation] Now, the way the Silmarillion describes the Nirnaeth makes it sound like Turgon is leading his infantry. His infantry which is specifically described as a "phalanx", which is the only use of that word in the entire Legendarium. This is one of those Byzantine motifs. So, let's equip Turgon as a σκυτατος (skoutatos) and then modify his kit for a commander. He wears: a padded shirt and skirt, a mail hauberk, and a lammellar cuirass, with a surcote or jupon (you know those things that video games insist on calling "tabards"), and a helmet of course. He carries: a longspear, a single-edged longsword, a double-edged shortsword, and an oval or kite-shaped shield.

Now, as a commander, Turgon likely dispenses with the spear and shield most of the time (i.e. he would probably have them in a saddlebag or being carried by a squire, so he wouldn't bother naming these weapons). He's smart enough to realize that commanding from the back ranks of the phalanx is more effective (you can see the entire formation), and those guys aren't carrying spears and shields (they wouldn't do anything). So, Turgon's typical loadout is a shitload of armor and two swords. This means he's not using a naginata-like weapon. So we could give him an oversized katana and σπαθιον (spathion) made principally from a lightweight alloy with standard weapons-grade steel used only for the edges.

As it happens, there is another sword in the Legendarium said to be Turgon's: Hadhafang. Though to be fair this is only mentioned in the Etymologies, which aren't necessarily compatible with Silmarillion-canon. Hadhafang means "throng-cleaver", and Glamdring means "cold shout". So, it's a pretty safe guess actually that Hadhafang was the longsword and Glamdring was the shortsword. So yes, the goblins are totally shitting themselves over Turgon's offhand sword (at least in one version of the Legendarium). [end of Silmarillion-based speculation]

[aragornsrockcollection]

Hadhafang is a movie only creation, and was actually even then supposed to be Idril’s sword, not Turgon’s.

Also, for the weight vs reach problem, I propose two reasons this should be disregarded: First, Tolkien’s Elves are stronger than regular people. And second there are numerous elven crafts that are just made SOO well that they are thinner but stronger than human counterparts, including rope. Also the swords are magic. Like, the magic is supposed to be in how well crafted and with how much passion they were crafted (they glow with their creators hatred of orcs) but still amounts to magic. I think

Also I don’t know where you got that Glamdring means cold-shout? Multiple times it is called “foe-hammer” in the text.

If you break it down on Elfdict, which I just did to make sure I wasn’t being super stupid, Glam can mean shouting kind of, it’s better translated as “din,” as in confused noise. Glamhoth, or “din-horde” means orcs. I am obsessed with learning that elves basically just call a body of orcs “noisy crowd” as an alternate name and everyone gets what they mean. Anyways, “Glam” without the -hoth can also refer to body of orcs.

In a punny way, if you want to ignore the implication of Glam as meaning orcs, Din-hammer, far from encouraging more noise, seems to be the hammer that silences the din. Which I can’t help but think of in terms of my personal opinion if Turgon as the type of person who’d get really heated about noisy neighbors.

“Dring” obviously means hammer, or more precisely a strike or hammer blow. But fair’s fair, “ring” does mean cold, like it is used in Turgon’s father Fingolfin’s sword, “Ringil.” But that does rather orphan the ‘d’ in the middle, as ‘Glamd’ is not a word, and since ‘dring’ is, it’s hard to argue for cold being the intended meaning.

Anyways realism is not at play when you are a magical elf with a magical sword that ends up being wielded by an angel down the line.

[prattling-she-elf]

First off, I love the combination of realism and "come on, we are talking about magic" when speculating on what Glamdring would have looked like, but I do have a crucial point to make here.

We can definitively say that Glamdring is a straight blade (more like the aforementioned spathion) and is not curved in any way (like a katana).

How can we deduce this?

By taking a look at Egalmoth's weaponry.

Egalmoth favored his bow slightly over his sword, and "his sword was bent (none of the other Noldoli carried curved swords)", according to the Tolkien Gateway (Referencing The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, "III. The Fall of Gondolin").

Basically, no one in Gondolin was carrying around anything that remotely resembled a katana, besides Elgamoth.

Anyway, I am personally in love with the idea of Glamdring being a magically oversized spathion.

[skyeventide]

@prattling-she-elf Oh yeah, Fëanor for sure made the right call with this one. But I need to know, which twin regretted the kinslaying? That's a juicy tidbit of info I somehow missed.

hey, so this is based on a draft that's published in the Shibboleth of Feanor, inside the 12th volume of Histories of Middle Earth. so as far as the story goes, you can take it or leave it — there's earlier versions where both twins are specifically called out for being nasty in the third kinslaying, their characterisation as it is in texts isn't exactly the most consistent. that said! this is the exact passage:

so in fairness it doesn't say that he regretted the kinslaying, but you could infer it. he's shocked by the deed. as for which twin that is, it's the youngest, who is Telufinwe Ambarto/Umbarto/Amrod. in the the very next sentence Ambarussa/Amras says that the dead twin is the youngest of Feanor's children. additional note: the story of who is youngest is confused, Tolkien changed the names and reversed the order himself.

note 63 on "shocked":

[prattling-she-elf]

Ah, of course, the Shibboleth of Fëanor! I don't actually own anything that contains the Shibboleth (I think) so that's probably part of the reason I missed it (although I am not unfamiliar with that text, which raises the question of where did I read that).

I have to say, I love that interpretation of Amrod regretting the kinslaying! Now that you have pointed it out, it seems like such an obvious conclusion to make from reading that passage. I'm not sure how I glossed over that before.

I think I must have been too distracted by Fëanor's outwardly flippant reaction of "whoopsie-daisy I burnt my own son to death" to pay much attention to why Amrod insisted on staying with the ships.

[thelordofgifs]

Stupid decisions in the Silmarillion - the finals!! I'll leave this one open for a full week.

Remember, we're thinking of the stupidest decision based on information the decision-maker had at the time, not what necessarily ended up having the worst consequences. Some of these were unfortunate more than stupid - think carefully!

Stupidest decision anyone ever made in the Silmarillion?

Fëanor swearing the Oath

The Valar unchaining Morgoth

Finwë favouring Fëanor over his other children

Fingolfin challenging Morgoth to single combat

Thingol insulting the Dwarves he'd hired with racial slurs

Maedhros going to the parley with Morgoth

Finrod accepting Celegorm and Curufin into Nargothrond

Túrin advising Orodreth to build a bridge

Celegorm and Curufin attempting to kidnap Lúthien/kill both Beren and Lúthien

Glorfindel not tying his hair up

Voting ended onFeb 26, 2023

Because of the way I set this series up, there are, of course, a lot of stupid decisions missing from this final poll! I personally thought Thingol asking Beren for a Silmaril was the single stupidest thing anyone had ever done, but "insulting Dwarves" won out on his poll (which... fair enough really). Yesterday, in a grave error of judgement, I included Glorfindel's hairstyling choices on the "miscellaneous stupid decisions" poll and inadvertently created the equivalent of a vanilla extract option. Oops. Thankfully, most of these do have a solid claim to being really stupid decisions (with the sole exception of Finrod imo).

Do reblog for a larger sample size, and share your reasoning in the tags! There are a lot of good options here. I'm not fully decided on what to vote for myself.

[maeofthenoldor]

Which Silmarillion women deserves a gun

Nerandel

Elwing

Findulias Faeverlin

Haleth

Andreth

Aredhel

Galadriel

Idril

Mirel

Nienor

Voting ended onFeb 16, 2023

[prattling-she-elf]

Oh by the Valar, the absolute chaotic imagery this evokes is unparalleled.

Nerandel would have shot Fëanor for trying to take her sons from Valinor and for generally being a dick to her.

Elwing would have shot all four sons of Fëanor who attacked the Havens, keeping both the Silmaril and her sons.

Findulias would have tried to shoot Glaurung only to find that guns don't work so well on dragons.

Haleth would become a sniper.

Andreth would have shot Morgoth directly in the face to put an end to that bullshit so she could marry Aegnor.

Aredhel could have saved herself a lot of trouble and shot her asshat of a husband.

Galadriel.... yeah. Don't give Galadriel a gun. I get the feeling that would be a bad idea.

Idril would have found a gun very useful in the Fall of Gondolin. Alternatively, she could have just shot Maeglin and saved everyone a whole lot of trouble.

Míriel. What would Míriel do with a gun? Shoot Finwë for 'cheating' on her? Idk.

Nienor probably should not have a gun for her own safety. I don't see how a gun would have helped her against Glaurung.

I like how Lúthien isn't even included. She didn't need a gun, but oh, could you imagine? Lúthien would have taken all three Silmarils right then and there.

[prattling-she-elf]

Andreth is the funniest damn mortal to ever grace Middle Earth. She fell in love with Aegnor, an elf, and because of the elvish customs, he would not wed her, for his people were at war. Since the act of sex itself, for elves anyway, is the creation of marriage, they of course were abstaining. Andreth then gets pissed at Aegnor because she is mortal and isn't getting any younger, after all, and she wants some elvish dick before she dies.

Poor girl doesn't get any, either.

[sauronnaise-deactivated20260515]

Bots, stop following me, or Gollum will bite your anus.

You've been warned.

[prattling-she-elf]

Reblog if you too want Gollum to bite their anus

[prattling-she-elf]

Can we take a moment to talk about that generation that consisted mainly of the grandchildren of Finwë?

I mean, look at this:

Dead, Good as Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Only Alive Because Her Family Had the Presence of Mind to Stop Her, Dead, Dead, Dead, Survived.

Galadriel really was the only one who survived.

And this hits me hard when I think about it.

Because a writer puts a bit of themselves in every character.

The part of Tolkien that I see the most in Galadriel is the part of him that survived the war.

After all, he was part of the Lost Generation. Two of his closest friends—Robert Gilson and Geoffrey Smith—died in the war. Tolkien and Christopher Wiseman were the only two of their fellowship to survive.

Only Galadriel survived.

That was what the Grandchildren of Finwë were. They were the Lost Generation. An entire generation slaughtered.

The regret, the lamentation, the grief. Galadriel knew it well. She lived it because Tolkien lived it.

And I don't know why, but for some reason, this speaks to me louder than any history book ever has.

[stilltrails]

This is true, but Maglor is still alive and well and living arguably worse than Galadriel. Not to take the point away from Galadriel, but Maglor is very much still living. Alone and lamenting due to his deeds.

[prattling-she-elf]

See above "Good as Dead" for more details.

But yeah, Maglor is the flip side of the survivor coin. He's all those people who really did not fare well after the war. Galadriel, like Tolkien, managed to find a life after the war and heal. I'm not sure we can say the same about Maglor.

When I called Maglor "good as dead" I meant narratively, seeing as afterward, he falls out of the knowledge of the elves and out of their histories.

Overall, I just see more of Tolkien in Galadriel.

While I'm sure Tolkien poured his own trauma and regret into Maglor, I see Maglor more like the vets that slip through the cracks and don't receive the help they need. And I'm sure that's what Tolkien saw too.

[stilltrails]

Oh thank you for the explanation. I think I misread. I now see what you mean, and apologize if I came on strong.

I like your interpretation of Maglor and the vets that slip through the cracks. I too see him like that

[prattling-she-elf]

It's all good! I'm honestly glad you said something because I hadn't thought too much about the Maglor perspective until you did.

And I think it is no accident that the only two survivors, Galadriel and Malgor, are the way they are.

[prattling-she-elf]

Can we take a moment to talk about that generation that consisted mainly of the grandchildren of Finwë?

I mean, look at this:

Dead, Good as Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Only Alive Because Her Family Had the Presence of Mind to Stop Her, Dead, Dead, Dead, Survived.

Galadriel really was the only one who survived.

And this hits me hard when I think about it.

Because a writer puts a bit of themselves in every character.

The part of Tolkien that I see the most in Galadriel is the part of him that survived the war.

After all, he was part of the Lost Generation. Two of his closest friends—Robert Gilson and Geoffrey Smith—died in the war. Tolkien and Christopher Wiseman were the only two of their fellowship to survive.

Only Galadriel survived.

That was what the Grandchildren of Finwë were. They were the Lost Generation. An entire generation slaughtered.

The regret, the lamentation, the grief. Galadriel knew it well. She lived it because Tolkien lived it.

And I don't know why, but for some reason, this speaks to me louder than any history book ever has.

[stilltrails]

This is true, but Maglor is still alive and well and living arguably worse than Galadriel. Not to take the point away from Galadriel, but Maglor is very much still living. Alone and lamenting due to his deeds.

[prattling-she-elf]

See above "Good as Dead" for more details.

But yeah, Maglor is the flip side of the survivor coin. He's all those people who really did not fare well after the war. Galadriel, like Tolkien, managed to find a life after the war and heal. I'm not sure we can say the same about Maglor.

When I called Maglor "good as dead" I meant narratively, seeing as afterward, he falls out of the knowledge of the elves and out of their histories.

Overall, I just see more of Tolkien in Galadriel.

While I'm sure Tolkien poured his own trauma and regret into Maglor, I see Maglor more like the vets that slip through the cracks and don't receive the help they need. And I'm sure that's what Tolkien saw too.

[prattling-she-elf]

Can we take a moment to talk about that generation that consisted mainly of the grandchildren of Finwë?

I mean, look at this:

Dead, Good as Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Only Alive Because Her Family Had the Presence of Mind to Stop Her, Dead, Dead, Dead, Survived.

Galadriel really was the only one who survived.

And this hits me hard when I think about it.

Because a writer puts a bit of themselves in every character.

The part of Tolkien that I see the most in Galadriel is the part of him that survived the war.

After all, he was part of the Lost Generation. Two of his closest friends—Robert Gilson and Geoffrey Smith—died in the war. Tolkien and Christopher Wiseman were the only two of their fellowship to survive.

Only Galadriel survived.

That was what the Grandchildren of Finwë were. They were the Lost Generation. An entire generation slaughtered.

The regret, the lamentation, the grief. Galadriel knew it well. She lived it because Tolkien lived it.

And I don't know why, but for some reason, this speaks to me louder than any history book ever has.

[prattling-she-elf]

Nooooooo noooooooooo, that's totally not a snippet of the complete family tree of Finwë that I made using Azalea's Dolls LotR dollmaker for my Silmarillion fanfiction so that I could keep track of all his damn descendants!

[prattling-she-elf]

Can we take a moment to talk about that generation that consisted mainly of the grandchildren of Finwë?

I mean, look at this:

Dead, Good as Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead, Only Alive Because Her Family Had the Presence of Mind to Stop Her, Dead, Dead, Dead, Survived.

Galadriel really was the only one who survived.

And this hits me hard when I think about it.

Because a writer puts a bit of themselves in every character.

The part of Tolkien that I see the most in Galadriel is the part of him that survived the war.

After all, he was part of the Lost Generation. Two of his closest friends—Robert Gilson and Geoffrey Smith—died in the war. Tolkien and Christopher Wiseman were the only two of their fellowship to survive.

Only Galadriel survived.

That was what the Grandchildren of Finwë were. They were the Lost Generation. An entire generation slaughtered.

The regret, the lamentation, the grief. Galadriel knew it well. She lived it because Tolkien lived it.

And I don't know why, but for some reason, this speaks to me louder than any history book ever has.

[deadqueernoldor]

Love to think that the sons of Fëanor had weird ass pets during their time in Beleriand. I'm talking "letting each of these things walk around their halls and if possible curl up in their bed beside them" pets.

Maedhros: big fat moose. Not to ride a la Thranduil in the hobbit, just to have it around Himring and pet it occasionally, has been the reason Maedhros bedroom is on the ground floor, has been found twice IN his bed before

Maglor: the most ugly donkey you will ever find, bits, kicks, screeches every time it takes a breath, eats straw hats in summer and everyone hates it, Maglor shares the ends of fresh bread with it

Celegorm: Huan is canonically big enough to be ridden by a (HC) 8ft Lúthien, everyone is terrified of that bastard, will watch you take a piss in the woods if you leave a campfire

Caranthir: mountain lion, let's it prowl around the lake, keeps unwanted visitors away because Caranthir is the only one it will listen to, has a ceiling-high log of wood in Caranthir's sitting room as scratching post, loves butt scritches

Curufin: hawk that stares at everyone like it's the next meal, has attacked several people including but not limited to random Sindar and Eöl, steals underwear from clothesline and builds nests with it

Amrod: weird little pet rats that gnaw through everyone's shoes but the ambarussar's, built them a fun labyrinth between the walls, one time pissed off Curufin and suddenly the rat was gone and his hawk didnt need dinner

Amras: goats he trained to climb houses and trees, if you have a solid roof you will wake up to goats on your house often, finds it hilarious when they play dead

I just think they deserve weird stupid pets that make their other brothers concerned for their mental well-being

[prattling-she-elf]

Just to add to this:

The brothers would absolutely give their weird ass pets names that just state what the animal is to make fun of Celegorm for having a dog named "dog".

Example: Curufin's hawk would just be called "Fion", the Quenya word for hawk.

[dorwinionwhining]

I misread someone’s “I don’t own the Silmarillion” disclaimer as “I don’t own the Silmarils” and legit my only thought was a heartfelt “good” as though the Silmarils are a real thing and all of us are in constant danger of being murdered by the Sons of Fëanor if we don’t tell everyone on the internet we don’t own them

[stareyemoth]

For the record, I’m neither hiding nor hoarding, neither in my hand holding nor casting aside any Silmarils over here, so don’t y'all come looking.

[faustandfurious]

“By being in this fandom, you confirm that you are not hoarding the Silmarils, you are in no way affiliated to people who have hidden Silmarils, you are not following the fandom on behalf of someone who hath in hand taken a Silmaril or an associate of someone who afar has casteth a Silmaril. To the best of your knowledge, information and belief the Silmarils will not make their way into the hands of Morgoth or Anish Kapoor.”

[immortalsins]