#aranrúth

[aureentuluva70]

Concept art of Aranrúth, Thingol's blade, from Weta Workshop's Artstation profile for the Rings of Power.

"...and a sword of dwarven steel brought from afar was halted with bright gold and damascened in gold and silver with strange figurings wherein was pictured clear the wolf hunt of Karkaras Knife-fang(Carcharoth), father of wolves."

-The Book of Lost Tales Part Two Chapter IV: The Nauglafring

[squirrelwrangler]

Silliness

"Elrond remained among the Elves and carried on the lineage of King Elwe.(19)

19. And also that of Turgon; though he preferred that of Elwe, who was not under the ban that was laid on the Exiles.”

- HoMe XII “Problem of Ros”

So looking at Elros and early Númenor and I swear I can't figure out which one of the twins was more of the Elu Thingol fanboy and wanted to emulate him. There must have been a huge fight over which one got to hold onto the Aranrúth - Elros playing the 'I'm mortal, I'll die' card. But Elros also names his royal city Armenelos and that's a little suspiciously like Menegroth and he names his daughter Tindómiel the Evening Star (Eärendil) but then again it could translate to Daughter of Twilight because Tindómiel is also the Quenya translation for Tinúviel, and then I can see Elrond deciding thousands of years later his daughter is going to be Undómiel the Evening Star and then she falls in love with a mortal and Elrond gets to issue his own betrothal challenge. And he shouts across the void to his brother, "Top that!"

[squirrelwrangler]

Dior Eluchil(Cover Illustration) by *daLomacchi

Same artist. She explained the blonde hair was due to a translation error in the Japanese version, which she fixed for the final cover piece.

But I don't care, but it's Dior fan-art. Dior Elúchil. My baby proud king, looking so lovely and powerful. ♥

[squirrelwrangler]

croclock said: oh im dumb, i thought both aranruth anglachel and maeglin’s were all eol’s, whoops!

  Aranrúth could have been Eöl's work though! Damn, which one do I like more?

[squirrelwrangler]

Telchar -dwarven smith of Nogrod, whose master Gamil Zarik was also great and had many pieces in Thingol's treasury -also who I peg as the smith of Aranrúth. Telchar is responsible for Angrist, Narsil, and the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin.

[squirrelwrangler]

On Maglor and Maedhros taking the twins- yes I do believe there was affection and some decent parenting - which is why I have the Bór in the camps still at this time, because need some humans around (Dirheal, the human author of the Narn i Hurin, dying during the Sack of Sirion proves there was a strong human presence in Elros and Elrond's early childhood). But it started from a very ugly place and the boys were hostages first, and I think that tends to get glossed over. And that the heirlooms of Elros's house were the Ring of Barahir and Tuor's ax and Thingol's sword, so there is this strong connection to their birth parents and Elrond is noted as Earendil's son and yes I can see them thinking of Maglor as a second father and having complicated feelings towards their parents but I've gotten tired of the focus being on how Maedhros and Maglor raised them and let's blame Eärendil and Elwing.

I think it also depends on which of the two I see, Elros or Elrond, having a more friendly relationship with M&M on whether Elros takes -even steals- the sword when they leave, or if Maglor presents the sword as sort of congratulations for coming of age (and then the twins being silently horrified because how dare the Fëanorians who they've even grown to love, sort of, with still those Stockholm-y tinges, handle and think entitled to bequeath the weapon of Thingol and their slain Sindarian kin.)

But the boring route is sword sent with Elwing, in Círdan and Gil-galad's keeping, got it then- which is probably what was supposed to happen in canon if it was thought about.

And yes- I totally think mid and late Númenor -and even early Númenor- would have been all over the human heroes (Adunaic names for Beren, Túrin, and Tuor?). That the Narn- written by a human, no less- would have been the cultural epic- but in earlier years the mariner Eärendil (stressing his humanness) and Tuor (who, they say, became counted among the elves and is Aman) were the venerated ancient heroes. So this very Ancient Greek-like worship of past heroes and ties to them by blood being very important, and that this warped versions of the tales to fit late Númenórean kings' agendas would have been important to them. And definitely Pharazon twisting in his head that he is like these First Age Edain heroes re-born.

[squirrelwrangler]

croclock said: FUCK, i had never considered any of this!! what a great post omfg!!! option 2 is my favorite as well even if its not canon i’m just accepting it anyhow, also i actually am thinking now of fucking pharazon having a black sword and SO MANY THOUGHTS

Option two is what I believe too (and hey, no one has called me out for basically implying the Fëanorians robbed a corpse?). But Pharazon was implied to have been wielding the Aranrúth, which really upsets me (yeah, he should have had one of the Dark Sisters for appropriateness.)

  (heget attached to a sword no one cares about)

[squirrelwrangler]

Aranrúth

So that sword which I think is the third coolest blade in the Silmarillion (after the Dark sisters, of course). I'm not sure why, because I like it even before I realized how much of a Thingol fan I was. I think it might be the name- "King's Ire" how it would have been the symbol of the role as a king as defender and avenger of his people, the traditional investment of royal authority in stories.

Also, it was the only sword Beleg couldn't have, and as Thingol was the tallest elf ever, you know this sword must have been a massive thing (and probably the best work of if not Telchar then his master Gamil Zarik).

But the sword becomes important because as the second footnote in Unfinished Tales on Númenor says- this is the King's Sword of Númenor, the blade that Elros had descended from his mother Elwing. Narsil was another Telchar blade- but the all-important sword of the Kings of Númenor was Aranrúth.

And here is where I face a muddle of headcanon.

Because how is Elwing rescuing the sword from the Fall of Doriath? The Silmaril makes sense- sending it away to keep it out the Fëanorians' hands, but a sword is not a treasure in the same sense. And Dior is Elúchil, Thingol's Heir, trying to fill those shoes and that role in a Menegroth that has been badly attacked and gutted, needing all the symbols of authority and confidence and hope to give his people strength. He should be wielding the sword of his grandfather when the Fëanorians attack his kingdom, it would lay at his side when he falls. It's not like Elwing -or actually whoever is carrying her to safety because she's a baby girl; at this point-  is going to go back to the destroyed husk of Menegroth when the Fëanorians are tramping around afterwards releasing children into the winter woods to die of exposure and then searching vainly to rescue them. So I can see two options: either Dior was wielding the Aranrúth or he wasn't. If he wasn't, I see only because he psychically couldn't, otherwise the symbolic authority of kingship demands he use it (Again- look at Aragorn and Narsil). So maybe Dior was actually a slender, short, frail-looking guy, thanks to the Bëoring side of his ancestry. A sword made for Elu Freaking-Giant Thingol would be too unwieldy for him to use properly. Thus the sword would sit in the armory and be sent along with the Silmaril with Baby Elwing. -This scenario still has a problem I'll get to with the other option.

Chatting with minuiall put another idea in my head.

Option two has Dior wielding the sword, and it's still besides his body when he dies (in the process of killing at least Celegorm). And thus the only possible people which would pick up the sword and save it from joining a troll hoard like Glamdring and Orcrist (well, since the forces of Morgoth never attacked Menegorth, all of that elven city's riches would have been destroyed by Dwarves or Fëanorians, not orcs. So anything that wasn't saved by the refugees and such would have been sunk with the rest of Beleriand, not carted off by orcs and trolls) would be Maedhros, Maglor, and the twins and their surviving people. And frankly I can imagine them taking the sword as a symbol of salvaging something from Menegroth as to not go home symbolical empty-handed, as a prize, because the blade stole their brothers from them. This trophy from a fallen foe feels more realistic to me. Thus when Maglor and Maedhros take the twins back as hostages ("love grew after between them, as little may be thought" indeed, but they came into Maglor's hands as war hostages and Theon feelings if the Greyjoys weren't shitty family), Elros learn about the sword that should have belonged to his mother and is his by right. Either Maglor gives the blade to him when he's older out of guilt, or Elros takes it when they leave or get left by the Fëanorians. Even if Elwing did have the sword with her when fleeing from Doriath, there's still the question of how the sword survives the sacking of Sirion. In this scenario the Fëanorians pick up the blade when taking what they can after Sirion and thus the same thing with Elros. The only way to avoid this connection would be for Dior not to use the blade, send it along with Elwing to safety, sacking of Sirion and it's one of the few objects the few survivors of Sirion who make it to Gil-galad carry with them, and thus when Elros and Elrond are reunited with Gil-galad and Círdan, Gil-glad presents Elros with the rightful sword of his family. Which is how I see Tuor's Great Ax, the other heirloom weapon of Númenor that doesn't survive it's destruction, surviving. That Tuor would have left his weapon with his friend Círdan before he and Idril made their voyage (maybe in trust for his son, which then because Eärendil isn't a warrior, Círdan just holds onto it until the right descendant comes along).

Thus more words written about a weapon sort of glossed over. (Damn you, Pharazon, for misusing that sucker.)