three houses of the edain ✾ house of bëor ✾ headcanon disclaimer ✾ @tolkienocweek
Arasdil was a mortal woman of the House of Bëor. While in her youth, she was captured by a wandering rogue who abducted her from home and took her away to the lands near Maglor’s Gap. This man, Heledir, took Arasdil as his wife, and before the end of the winter she had borne him a son, Eglosser. Some years later, she encountered a strange elf with fire in his eyes, and she was immediately smitten by the kind elf-lord who helped her find food and firewood.
The elf, also, was intrigued by the doe-eyed woman who admired him with a frankness he had never before experienced. Over the next year, he returned from time to time to the small wood near his lands to see Arasdil, and at length he revealed to her that he was none other than Maglor the mighty singer, Lord of the Gap.
Heledir was a cruel and unforgiving husband, even when his wife was heavy with child. His harsh treatment drove Arasdil from his home and into the wild on the very eve of her labor, driven out of her mind in fear and pain, leaving behind young Eglosser in his father’s hands. She crashed through the woods and was soon beset upon by orcs, and would have perished had not Maglor found and saved her. He saw her through the birth of her daughter, and through supporting her in this trial he realized how deeply he cared for her and her children. Arasdil asked him to name her newborn daughter, and, overwhelmed with strange new emotions, he chose the name Elior, “one who helps and blesses.” Though Arasdil returned to her husband and son with Elior in her arms, Maglor swore to watch over her and aid her should she ever choose to flee Heledir entirely.
Before long, a time came where Arasdil needed Maglor’s help once more. Eglosser, only five years old, fled his father’s wrath and rushed to the nearest elven settlement, begging for aid. Swiftly, Maglor rode to the little cottage in the wood, holding Eglosser tight to his chest. He burst inside to see the house in disarray and Arasdil cowering before Heledir’s rage while Elior wailed in her crib, and without a second thought he drew his sword and slew the dreadful man.
Feeling responsible for Arasdil’s wellbeing and deeply protective of her children, Maglor took them under his wing and arranged a home for them in his fortress. Elior and Eglosser treated him as a second father, unperturbed by his elvish mannerisms, and over the course of several years he and Arasdil became lovers.
Yet Maglor never forgot the wife he had left behind in Valinor nor the lingering feelings he held for the bard of Doriath, and the two never exchanged promises they knew they could not keep. Their affection for one another was sincere and deep, but their friendship remained the pillar of their relationship, with any physical pleasures held as secondary. Indeed, Arasdil eventually took another mortal husband, an Easterling healer who had taken the name Ídhron when he entered into Maglor’s service. Ídhron was a kind and gentle man who treated his wife with the respect she deserved, and even encouraged her strange relationship with Maglor, for such arrangements were not uncommon among his people in the east.
When the Sudden Flame descended upon the North, Maglor could not hold the Gap and was forced to flee with the remnant of his people to his brother’s hold of Himring. There Arasdil bore two more daughters, Ordil and Tharaneth, both fathered by Ídhron. As Eglosser grew into manhood, he entered into Maglor’s service as a man-at-arms; he was slain in the Nírnaeth Arnœdiad, guarding his lord and foster father’s back while Maglor slew Uldor the Accursed as once Maglor had guarded him from his own accursed blood-father.
Of Arasdil’s family, only Elior survived the fall of Himring, remaining as a healer in the dwindling Fëanorian host until the end of her days. Her granddaughter Edhelvain remained faithful to Maglor through the Third Kinslaying, and was the primary mortal caretaker for the young Elrond and Elros, taken in by Maglor and Maedhros in recompense for their misdeeds and in memory of the children—including Eglosser, Elior, Ordil, and Tharaneth—that were with them no longer.
Three times Maglor gave Elrond relationship advice, and one time he didn’t.
a gift for @feanope as part of the @officialtolkiensecretsanta 2020 exchange!!
Rating: T | No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Maglor & Elrond, Maglor/Glorfindel, minor/background ships (see story notes)
Characters: Maglor, Elrond, Glorfindel
Word count: 5.3k
@finweanladiesweek day six | original characters | arasdil, lover of maglor
Arasdil was a mortal woman of the people of Bëor. Her husband was a wandering rogue who abducted her from home and took her away to the lands near Maglor’s Gap. She bore him a son before she met Maglor in a small wood one winter, and she was immediately smitten by the kind elf-lord who helped her find food and firewood.
Arasdil fled from her husband while pregnant with her second child, and would have been slain by orcs had Maglor not found and saved her. He saw her through the birth of her daughter and realized how deeply he cared for her and the child. Though Arasdil returned to her husband and son, Maglor swore to watch over her and help her in her next escape attempt.
Before long, Arasdil’s young son rushed to beg Maglor to aid his mother and sister, and he returned to their home to interrupt Arasdil’s husband in the midst of taking his rage out on her. Maglor slew the horrible man, and, feeling responsible for the situation and overcome with his feelings for her, took Arasdil and her children under his wing.
Though Arasdil eventually took another mortal husband, and none of her children were fathered by Maglor, the two remained close for the rest of her life. Her son entered into Maglor’s service and was slain in the Nírnaeth Arnœdiad, and this experience as a father figure to mortal children helped motivate him to take in the peredhil twins many years later.
Since some people expressed interest, here you go! @himrings :)
This is from the POV of Ryndil, my Haleth/Caranthir baby, and takes place directly after the Nirnaeth after the Feanorians fled to Caranthir’s stronghold in Amon Ereb. I intended it to be part of Cause and Consequence ch5, but having reread it now after I’ve written ch1 of that fic, I know I’ll have to rewrite most of it to fit the Caranthir characterization as well as the general tone. This confrontation will happen, and there are parts of it I’ll probably keep, but overall I’m gonna have to change most of it.
Still, I had a lot of fun with the arguing Feanorians, especially Maedhros who is less “in denial about Fingon’s death and crumbling entirely as a person” and more “completely Does Not Care about anything now that Fingon is dead, would be happy to watch the world burn because Nothing Matters, but still has his wits about him.” and I really let myself go off with my headcanons! I’ll have a note at the bottom explaining some of them :)
~
“Who are you?” demanded Celegorm.
Rýndil glared up at him, undaunted by his blood-stained figure and the astonished looks of his brothers.
“I am Rýndil,” they proclaimed. “Rýndil of Brethil.”
“Didn’t I see you in the fighting?” one of the twins asked suspiciously. “You aren’t one of the Accursed’s people, are you?”
“I’m from Brethil,” they said, affronted. “I’m one of the Haladin!”
“Regardless, this is no place for mortals,” Maglor said flatly. “You do know who we are, don’t you, Rýndil of Brethil?”
A shiver ran down their spine. Seven tall elf-lords, gaunt and scarred and bloody in the aftermath of a disastrous battle. Maedhros, the eldest, was a shell of the glorious figure he’d been on the battlefield; they weren’t sure if he was even awake, his eyes were so glassy and unfocused. Grief, they supposed. They’d heard the rumors about him and the High King, after all.
Maglor, leading in his place, trembling despite the firmness in his golden voice. Celegorm, bitter and angry and mean despite his fair features. Curufin, his dark shadow, flint in his eyes and venom on his tongue. Amrod and Amras, mirroring each other in their distrustful glares. And yet despite the blood and dirt and pain, a light shone from each of them. These were men to be feared, men to be worshipped.
And then there was him. Caranthir the Dark. Rýndil’s father, the blood flowing through their veins, the reason they were here in the first place. Gaunt and red-faced, the weary host of his defeated brothers, he had scarcely stopped moving about and making room for them since they arrived.
As much as Rýndil was of the Haladin, as much as they were the child of Haleth, they were bound to this family and people also.
Rýndil stuck their chin out and glared directly at the unobservant Caranthir. “I know who you are,” they said evenly. “You are the Fëanorians. Well, so am I.”
There was a horrid pause, in which Rýndil wasn’t sure if they were going to be sliced open from gut to throat or welcomed with open arms. Even those that hadn’t been staring at them before turned to look at them with open mouths.
“They’re not mine,” said a wry voice at last. Everyone turned to stare at Maedhros, speaking his first words since their arrival.
“What?” he said. “Fingon is—he’s dead. No point in hiding it any more. Yes, I was sleeping with him. We were in love. You’re all shocked, I know—yes, Curvo, I was being sarcastic, don’t even start, I’m well aware that we were the worst-kept secret in Beleriand.”
“More like all of Arda,” muttered Maglor.
Maedhros ignored him. “My lover is dead,” he said, a deep and righteous grief rumbling in his chest. “And so. This bastard child. Is. Not. Mine.”
Bastard! Rýndil recoiled. They knew it was true, knew that the Fëanorians could see the truth of their relation but also the truth of its illegitimacy in the way that elves had. The way Rýndil only partially understood, like they only partially understood everything about who they were.
No one else spoke. Maedhros stuck his feet up on the table, crossing his arms. “I’m done with dancing around unfortunate subjects,” he said. “Whoever of you bed some mortal woman, fess up. I faced my scandal, time for you all to face yours.”
Still no one moved, until Maglor blurted out, “I know you’re looking to me, Nelyo, but Arasdil’s children had other fathers.”
“What?” Curufin yelped. “You slept with a mortal? And you mocked me for being faithless to Quilla with Finrod! What would Ezellë think of this, at least I didn’t stoop that low—”
“This is rich,” Maedhros drawled, “coming from the person who would never shut up about me being a cousin-fucker.”
“Look, Finrod was the whore, look at him, he had Edrahil and Bëor and at least two of those dwarves, and besides he was already fucking Turgon well before me—”
“I’m asexual,” Amrod said, raising his hands and stepping backward. “It wasn’t me.”
“And unlike some of you, I remember my marriage vows,” Amras snapped. “Thennes may have died in the Bragollach, but if we get out of this blasted Oath and reunite in Aman I’ll be doing it on a clean conscience!”
“Tyelko?” Maglor demanded.
“Hell if I know,” Celegorm growled. “I’m not the type to get tied down—”
“Valar damn it, Tyelko, how many times have we told you—”
Rýndil watched, wide-eyed, as the Fëanorians fell apart into bickering about their various sexual exploits, bringing up long-buried grievances while Maedhros watched with a morbid amusement. Morbid, that was the right word for him; just looking at him unsettled them.
Throughout all this, Caranthir stayed silent in the shadows of his own home, his face growing more and more red. Rýndil looked at him, crossing their arms. They weren’t going to say anything—this was his fault.
“I think I’d know if they were my kid, though,” Celegorm argued. “Has Tyelpë been sleeping around?”
“How the fuck should I know?!” Curufin snarled. “Ever since you fucked up our perfectly good plan with the witch of Doriath I haven’t seen hide nor hair of my unfortunate whelp!”
“I fucked it up?” Celegorm shouted. “Really now?! You sending your boyfriend off to his death had nothing to do with that?”
“It was me,” Caranthir said quietly. The others didn’t seem to hear him at first, though Rýndil saw Maedhros’ eyebrows shoot upward at the confession. “I’m their father.”
Slowly, the Fëanorians fell silent, looking to their middlest brother in astonishment.
“Moryo!” Maglor groaned. “Of all of us, only Ambarussa were less likely!”
“And me, don’t kid yourselves,” Maedhros interrupted. “I had my money on one of the ‘Three Cs’ as I hear they’re calling you all in Dor-lómin. Though I doubt Dor-lómin will be around for much longer.”
“Don’t group me in with those idiots,” Caranthir said scornfully. “Yes, I fathered the brat.”
“I’m not a fucking brat,” Rýndil growled. “And I may be a bastard, but that’s to your shame, not mine, Father. My mother’s people treat me very well.”
“Who is the mother?” Amras asked. “I never pinned you for the romantic type, Moryo.”
“Haleth wasn’t, either,” Caranthir said glumly. “She...conquered me, I suppose. I didn’t even realize that she got a child out of the exchange until I met Rýndil several years later. And frankly, they’re so unimpressive, even for a peredhel, that I’d forgotten about them until—”
Rýndil sprang across the room and bitch-slapped Caranthir to the ground. “Fuck off,” they spat, hitting him where it hurt. “My mother was right to send you away when she did. You’re worthless, all of you Noldor princes, bringing only ruin to this land and blaming it on everyone but yourselves. Look at who brought Beleriand to ashes in this last battle—it wasn’t the Sindar, nor the Edain! It was you lot and your double-crossing friends! And maybe I’m an unanticipated, unimpressive peredhel, but everything I can claim is thanks to Haleth, not you. I may be a Fëanorian, but I’m worth seven of you.” They curled their lip. “And for the record, uncles, I think Celebrimbor had the right idea.”
They gave the stunned Caranthir one more knee to the groin and stormed out of the room. “Thanks for giving me a place to spend the night,” they called as they left, “and for letting me get that off my chest.”
“I like them,” Maedhros observed sardonically once Rýndil had rounded the corner. They hung by the doorway, catching their breath and trying to regain their composure. “They’re not afraid to tell you all the truth.”
“I’ll remind you who led this Union of peoples that failed so disastrously,” Caranthir hissed, “and if tonight has proved anything, it’s that Ambarussa have the right way of looking at things.”
Rýndil didn’t know if they would go that far, but they smiled grimly. So much for finding a place with their father’s people—but at least this venture hadn’t been uneventful.
~
A/N: So really this turned out to be more of a sequel to “Unanticipated” than part of C&C - my Halenthir characterization there is fairly antagonistic and playful, but after thinking about it I don’t think Caranthir is actually...ashamed of Ryndil, or particularly regretful of their existence, he just...doesn’t know what to do with/about them. So I’ll tone down his disdain for the actual fic, because I don’t think this is really representative of how he feels anymore.
A lot of my headcanons for the Feanorians and their relationships showed up here! I went into more detail about some of that in my longfic “ATATYA.” That fic, however, is not set in the same universe as this one; Ryndil is discussed in Moryo’s chapters of “ATATYA” but he didn’t actually know they existed until after his rebirth in that story, where he does know here.
There are references to Quilla and Ezelle; these are my OCs for Curufin and Maglor’s wives, respectively.
I mentioned Amras’ wife Thennes in this fic - she’s another character discussed in “ATATYA,” but her fate is different here than in that fic. Here, she dies in the Dagor Bragollach instead of absconding with Elured and Elurin after the Second Kinslaying. I have some headcanons about her relationship with the Ambarussa and how that plays out in both fics; one of these days I’ll get around to writing them.
Someone else I mentioned was Arasdil, a mortal lover of Maglor’s. That relationship was something I was workshopping around the time of writing “ATATYA,” but I ultimately ended up going with a different version of his life in my fic “Sins and Sorrows,” which is set in the same verse. I still think she existed, but they weren’t married like I originally envisioned. Basically, Arasdil was a woman of the house of Beor that Maglor rescued from an abusive marriage and had a relationship with. His comment about her children having “other fathers” is just that - he slept with her, but she never had his child. This is an affair that Maedhros knew about, but the rest of his brothers didn’t until this moment.
There’s a lot of swearing here that I’ll probably end up toning down, and I don’t think I’ll be as explicit with Amrod’s line about him being asexual, though that’ll still be there in spirit. And by the end, with Ryndil “bitch-slapping” their father and just Going Off at him and his brothers - I don’t think that would fly in actuality, but it was too fun to resist, tbh.
Also, the main thing this fic is missing is Ryndil’s dog!! They always have a dog with them - though perhaps Tallagar also died in the Nirnaeth.... :(
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this snippet, and if you haven’t checked out the actual fic, you should definitely do that!! :)
