#narnposting

[serregon]

I need to rotate this footnote from unfinished tales more. everything goes back to Lalaith. Túrin felt sisterly love towards Finduilas because her blonde hair reminded him of the women from his home, like Lalaith. Túrin fell in love with Niënor because he saw her as a second chance with Finduilas. he married his sister because she reminded him of a woman who reminded him of his sister. rip Freud you would’ve had a field day.

[serregon]

I think one of the reasons I like tcoh is the presence of women. Tolkien’s stories are pretty much sausage fests, but tcoh is one of the few times we get a spotlight on the women of Beleriand and how the in-universe misogyny impacts them. Niënor stared down a dragon like it’s nothing, and nothing short of completely wiping her mind clean could stop her. Morwen used misogynistic rumors about herself to her advantage to protect her daughter. Aerin shows the tragedy of women who are overlooked and silenced even by men who claim to be doing things in their best interest.

[serregon]

hm need to rotate Finduilas more. I used to be staunchly team “Finduilas wasn’t ableist in the slightest! she only spurned Gwindor because Túrin gave her more hope and also Gwindor didn’t go die for Finrod” and yeah those are definitely factors, but in-universe ableism is a factor as well. this isn’t me trying to #cancel Finduilas, but giving her flaws that reflect her society. a nice character isn’t magically immune to internalizing their society’s ableism

according to Tolkien, anyone who returns from Angband is suspected to be a spy, and that could be a factor in Finduilas falling out of love with Gwindor. she doesn’t want the stereotypes to be true, but they’re present in her mind

[serregon]

"Fare free," said Túrin. "That wish Mablung gave me at our parting. The grace of Thingol will not stretch to receive these companions of my fall, I think; but I will not part with them now, if they do not wish to part with me. I love them in my way, even the worst a little. They are of my own kind, and there is some good in each that might grow. I think that they will stand by me."

[serregon]

oh but Túrin and Beleg just after dagor dagorath ends. they’re victorious but injured, lying in bed next to each other naked. not to have sex—they’re far too exhausted to revisit those memories yet—but to just hold each other after eons of waiting for an impossible reunion and trace their fingers slowly over each others’ scars

[serregon]

Yet it is said that when he [Húrin] was dead his shade fared into the woods seeking Mavwin [Morwen], and long those twain haunted the woods about the fall of Silver Bowl [Cabed Naeramarth] bewailing their children. But the Elves of Kôr [Valinor] have told, and they know, that at last Úrin [Húrin] and Mavwin fared to Mandos, and Nienóri was not there nor Túrin their son. Turambar indeed had followed Nienóri along the black pathways to the doors of Fui [Nienna’s domain], but Fui would not open to them, neither would Vefántur [Mandos]. Yet now the prayers of Úrin and Mavwin came even to Manwë, and the Gods had mercy on their unhappy fate, so that those twain Túrin and Nienóri entered into Fôs’Almir, the bath of flame, even as Urwendi [Arien] and her maidens had done in ages past before the first rising of the Sun, and so were all their sorrows and stains washed away, and they dwelt as shining Valar among the blessed ones, and now the love of that brother and sister is very fair; but Turambar indeed shall stand beside Fionwë [Eönwë] in the Great Wrack, and Melko [Melkor] and his drakes shall curse the sword of Mormakil [Mormegil].

there is so much to unpack in the final paragraph of Turambar and the Foalókë in The Book Of Lost Tales II

Túrin and Niënor, victims of incest, being cleansed in holy fire before they can ascend to Valinor evokes Dante’s Purgatorio, in which souls guilty of lust are cleansed in fire before they can ascend to heaven.

except Túrin and Niënor don’t just go to heaven, they “dwelt as shining Valar among the blessed ones”. so they ascend to godhood? as far as I can find, nowhere else in the legendarium portrays a character who just turns into a Vala or Maia.

this version of Dagor Dagorath doesn’t explicitly tell us that Túrin will be the one to kill Morgoth; like other very early drafts, this might be the version where Eönwë gets that honor.

Arien’s early name Urwendi is very similar to Urwen, aka Lalaith. Lalaith didn’t exist yet in this draft, it kinda feels like Arien was symbolically reborn as Lalaith in later drafts

I’m interested in Nienna being a Vala of sorrow and pity as well as a sort of chthonic goddess. I mean, sorrow and death go hand-in-hand after all.

ghosts are present in the later legendarium, but I don’t think anyone else has been outright denied access to Mandos. is it because they were cursed directly by Morgoth? it it because Mandos saw incest and suicide as too great of sins to allow their entry? probably the former, but the latter could be supported by the need for prayer and mercy.

[serregon]

it’s kinda funny how quick everyone is to forgive Túrin for murder. Túrin meets the outlaws and immediately kills one of them and they’re just like ok cool, you can join us. then he kills Beleg in the worst meet-cute with Gwindor and Gwindor is just like damn that sucks. anyway let’s go back to my place

[serregon]

there’s a shroud in Italy that is allegedly the burial shroud of Christ himself. it’s called the shroud of Turin since that’s the city it’s held in. Catholic writer Tolkien wrote a character named Túrin avenging all humans at the end of the world. Túrin is a bit of a Christ figure in this essay I will