The Lost Tale of the Red Book - The Martyred Mother
This is a temporary title for the rewrite of my current WIP The Lady of Ithilien (posted on AO3).
The decision to rewrite the story comes after a lot of thought and after realizing that I have created too many OCs who would have otherwise no space in the current narrative. The moodboard in this post is supposed to represent the themes of the rewrite, the main ones being sadness, love, motherhood, fighting and death.
They honestly haven't really changed that much. They haven't changed at all, actually. The story was supposed to be borderline tragic from the early days of its conception and it will be so in the rewrite as well. Be prepared for a lot of angst and despair with lighthearted, funny and loving moments throughout.
Info dump (Warning for some! spoilers)
If you have read the chapters of the original story which are already posted on AO3, you will already know that the main character is Elenna "Enna" Tindómiel, the (adopted) eldest child of Faramir and Éowyn.
Fancasts for "Enna": Anais Tinguely (toddler); Billie Gadsdon (childhood until 10); Beau Gadsdon (11-12; pre-teen era); Mackenzie Foy (teenage years; roughly 13-19); Synnøve Karlsen (20 years old-her death)
She is what one would call a perfect lady and is betrothed to Crown Prince Eldarion as an infant. Due to Eldarion's...troubled personality, the marriage doesn't last and she later marries Elphirion—heir apparent to Lebennin—and then Eönwë. Oh, and there a little storyline with Mairon/Sauron coming back, which will affect her whole life. No big deal, really.
Changes from the original story
Although most of what I've already written is indeed canonical in my universe, I've recently thought of some changes which I think work slightly better. I will jot any new changes here so that I have everything in one single post.
Her whole arc is about persevering through tragedy and trying to grow as a person, which isn't really easy for her.
She's still the old "Enna" in many ways, she just tries more. She still apologizes at every turn, she still does not understand why Eönwë loves her, but instead of questioning his motives, she just learns to accept that she loves him. She may question them when they're courting, but she does show growth. She eventually relapses into her old ways (her teenage phase) after her children die. She loses hope and has to be persuaded to keep going.
Child and pre-teen: completely and fully innocent and confused. This is, of course, generally speaking. Ioreth starts filling her head with ideas of pomp and grandeur and she becomes a bit entitled, although Faramir, Éowyn and Boromir try to lessen Ioreth's influence on her. Will they succeed? I certainly hope so.
Teenage years: era of abuse, assault, trauma and meltdowns ("original" Enna) with a beginning of character development, but only a little.
Late teenage years: she becomes a bit more confident and dedicates most of her time to being a mom (she loves her children)
Adulthood: extreme trauma comes again (child loss), devotes most of her time to charity and helping others, has new laws enacted, tries to make the world a better place, her peace of mind is fully broken.
MAIN PERSONALITY TRAITS: deeply insecure, very little (nearly non-existent) self-esteem, needs to be reassured, kind, a bit impulsive on occasion, but extremely good at heart. One of the kindest people. She sympathizes and cares for all those who suffer. She's VERY STUBBORN, but not unreasonable.
I've never spoken about it openly, so it's not actually much of a change, but I think her relationship with her mom (Éowyn) is complicated since childhood. Ioreth tells her she is not worth loving and that she shouldn't even bother acknowledging or listening to her. Faramir says the exact opposite. I suppose forgetting about her and choosing to distance herself from Rohan is a natural consequence of that. Elboron resents her because she "left him" and may have learned that from his beloved older sister he loves so much. He has a mind of his own, but he may have internalized that by copying his sister. As an adult, Enna will learn to embrace her Rohan side against (somehow, maybe) because of Princess Idis, whom she helps and corresponds with. Yes, I made up my mind and Idis lives in the rewrite. She exists. She's very secluded and doesn't appear much, but she's alive.
Although the events of chapter 1 do unfold in the same way, Enna does not meet Eönwë in person until FoA 22. He still saves her in FoA 15 when Mairon/Sauron tries to kill her, but she has no idea it is him. She only sees a white, bright light and (maybe) hears his voice. But that's it. I had thought of a very cute scene of Elboron and Eönwë meeting when he's like three or four with Eönwë shape-shifting into an eagle and "taking him to fly" so maybe he meets Elboron not knowing he's related to Enna and that's Elboron that, years later, has them meet. Mmm... that's definitely something to think about. He might also meet several members of the Fellowship.
Maybe they meet in passing and have a few conversations, but it doesn't go past that.
She still insists on marrying Eldarion to gain power to survive but begs Aragorn to speed up to process once she's assaulted by Duinnín, the son of Duinhir of the Blackroot Vale (the same guy who later r*pes one of her daughters and is executed by Eönwë). She tells Aragorn about it but doesn't mention his name (if there's something which hasn't changed is her willingness to protect those who harm her both because it could create scandal, but also because she believes they can be redeemed).
I don't really know when the assault part will take place, but it will happen. Let's see what I come up with.
She is extremely traumatized by the Mairon accident but since no one knows about it (unlike in the original), everybody assumes she just lost her mind. She cannot speak of it and bottles everything up. Rumors go around and her mental health goes down the drain. Some people swear that they saw something and obviously the members of the Fellowship believe her. A few weeks later Duinnín assaults her, having heard others that she's easy. By then only Maira sort of knows what she's been through and Enna has full meltdowns. She'll start getting better thanks to her Uncle Boromir the following year.
She still very much has her haughty, condescending moments but she realizes that she's in the wrong and feels extreme guilt about it (she cries, for instance, after raising her voice at people). Her inability to control her emotions (i.e. screaming and crying in a timespan of a legit second) is also due to her "post-Mairon medications"
She also has hallucinations of "a very pretty lady who talks to me" aka her conscience.
She sucks at comforting people. She means well, but...yep. She can't do it.
She actually loves Elphirion. Elendil (OC; Aragorn and Arwen's second son) arranges their marriage (he and Elphirion are childhood friends) and, if in the original story Enna was supposed to be indifferent towards him, she isn't in the rewrite. She loves him (in a friendly way) and they have a good marriage until he dies. The only problem is that Elphirion is constantly sick and Enna still cries a lot.
She is extremely scared of Elphirion at first and doesn't want him to touch her (she starts shaking and trembling when she sees him), but ultimately decides to trust him. She may not love him romantically, but there's that.
Eönwë is her third husband and she has sixteen children by him (counting miscarriages and stillbirths). She also struggles to trust him at first, but she eventually falls deeply in love (he falls first, I think)
She is still concerned about her husbands taking mistresses and sort of accepts the possibility even with Elphirion and Eönwë. She only asks that they are honest about it and not like (teen) Eldarion.
She was originally supposed to favor her boys over her girls, but she really doesn't in the rewrite. She is an all-around amazing mother. She may still be awkward around her girls from time to time, but she loves them wholeheartedly and wants to protect them so they don't suffer as much as she did. She is a truly great mom, but she doesn't think she is and that leads her down a path of...unhappy choices. But she is there for her children when they need her and if she is hesitant it is only because she feels unworthy of their love, not because she wants to avoid them or because she doesn't love. Her children sense that and they will actually have conversations about it. It may take a while (depending what direction the rewrite takes), but they will have those conversations sooner than later. All the snippets where she is hesitant are still valid, but they are to be looked at in a wider context and they will be integrated in a more positive narrative. We'll see how it goes from there. They will still have some disagreements, but I'll try to balance everything out a bit more. As much as I love angst—and, believe me, I do—I feel like it might get repetitive very quickly.
She does have the "Wyn trauma", but it's more due to the fact that she's afraid she's going to turn out like her rather than spite. She's hesitant to build a relationship with her, but she soon feels ashamed about it and, with her oldest children and Eönwë's support, she manages to be a loving mom to her nevertheless. The "favorite child" thing is more of a running joke rather than a factual thing. She may be closer to some of the kids (it's normal in large families, I think), but she loves them all unconditionally.
She still refers to her unborn children as sons sometimes, especially during her pregnancy with Elendur even she's a scared fourteen-year old who knows that only having a son may help her survive. She may even secretly tell Maira (=her maid, bestie and confidante) and Uncle Boromir. It may take a lot of persuasion, but she may eventually admit that, deep down, she wouldn't really care about the baby's gender if it were up to her. It's all Ioreth and society.
Boromir's role in all of this is expanded and he is the one who immediately sees through her façade in situations such as this one and, when she acts stubborn about it, he encourages her to be honest with him and to, essentially, drop the act. More on this in the Boromir Week stuff.
Even during her teenage years, she is much closer to Boromir than Faramir and keeps her father at distance (both not to have him worry about what happens to her and because she feels more comfortable opening up to her uncle since Faramir can't help but see her as a child).
She intends to keep the people she loves away to protect them (especially after Mairon tells her that all her loved ones will die), but Boromir (or maybe Elendil) try to convince her that if they must die, they'll die anyway. That gives her a lot to think about.
Speaking of children, Elendur (her first child and her first with Eldarion) doesn't die at birth. He dies some fourteen years later in a very stupid accident. Although Eldarion was horrible to her, Enna lies to her son about what happened to her so that Elendur can have a good relationship with dad (surprisingly Eldarion tries to be a good father and turns out to be a fairly decent person when he is sober and not controlled by some *hideous tutor*
In spite of Ioreth's abuse and constant nagging, she is extremely innocent as a child. She is still a bit haughty as a teenager, but her façade crumbles quite quickly (especially around people who know her and read her like the back of their hand) and readily admits it is her own coping mechanism to survive. She doesn't like doing it, but she's forced to do it.
As she grows older and is affected by tragedy, she falls back into her childish innocence (as a comfort and coping mechanism) and this trait of hers is exploited by traitors and people who wish her harm (i.e. the redhead as well as others). Her mental barriers are also affected by the personification of her conscience (she may do dangerous things she does not remember because of it, but she mostly cries into her pillow and tries to atone by helping others).
She also no longer values protocol as much. It was her everything as a teenager because it gave her a sense of purpose and a sense of self, but when she gets truly powerful, she no longer values it as much. She appreciates it when people observe it, but she's more relaxed about it. She's obsessed with the Maiarin salute though and would like for people to observe that.
She also becomes more accepting and open to the idea of women remaining unmarried. In the rewrite, she's no longer stuck in her ways, but actually shows growth more plainly and is more prone to listening to others. She is still very stubborn and defends her ideas, but she is a little less stubborn, I suppose.
She also tries to ask for help if she's sick (especially when she's pregnant—it will happen a lot). It will still very hard for her and she'll still feel very guilty about it, but the first step is what matters, right? She will probably try and communicate non-verbally (through her facial expressions, eyes etc), but she tries. It's a gradual process and she has to be coaxed into it, but she tries.
She has plenty of relapses where she thinks everything is her fault though.
The things she cannot/feels too ashamed to talk about she keeps in her diaries, which will be published after her death. Even though she's more open about her struggles, she still won't tell people everything (no one does) and many things will come to light after her death.
Elendil may not die after all. I have come up with an idea of Eldarion saving him last minute and that could possibly be the start of the two brothers mending their broken relationship. But we'll see.
I will be including facts and things I've spoken of in fandom events and one-shots as well.
As I mentioned, this post is ongoing and I will link my OC fancasts here once the character profiles are all complete (hopefully by the end of the year)
I will also link other moodboards For instance, I have here one of the Faramir and Éowyn's home in Emyn Arnen (Enna's childhood home)
This is how I picture Faramir's palace. The main reference is Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, but I will also take inspiration from other Florentine palaces. I honestly don't know wether their palace will need to be rebuilt as well. In that case, I think Aragorn will give them another place in which to stay in Minas Tirith. That place could be very well inspired by Villa Medici (Rome, Italy)
It was built in white stone (much like all of Minas Tirith) and it has a garden. Éowyn said she wanted to garden so I suppose Aragorn makes her happy.
Enna will leave her childhood home (wether it is Palazzo Vecchio or Villa Medici is still to be decided, but I think it will be Palazzo Vecchio by then) in roughly FoA 13/14 to move to Minas Tirith full time. She will also live in Minas Tirith (or maybe Anórien or Dol Amroth or even Lindon - see, this is why this post is ongoing) while Faramir's old seat at Emyn Arnen is refurbished and made a lot bigger. The new and improved Emyn Arnen (which will become Enna and Eönwë's main residence) is inspired by Topkapi Palace in Istanbul (although some elements from various Medici palaces will remain. Palazzo Vecchio will essentially be expanded to make room for a lot of Maiar and new training guilds will also be built).
The columns remain but the general architecture of the place changes a little bit. Some elements do stay the same (fountains and other things).
You know what? I think Enna and Eönwë's "middle" residence (the one they live in while Emyn Arnen is being renovated) might, after all, be in the region of Anórien, of which Boromir is Prince in my AUs. Eönwë and Boromir have a great relationship (you will get a glimpse of it in my One-shot for day 6 of Boromir Week 2025) and I thought it would be cool for Enna to be neighbors with her uncle. Mírion and the other early children from their marriage could very well be born in Anórien/Osgiliath. That would make me very happy. Elenwë need a place to stay and, since Faramir doesn't really like his son-in-law, I doubt Enna would want to return to Ithilien before her new home is ready and her dad is out. Imrahil will definitely try and persuade her to move in a palace close to his, but I doubt that will happen either. And Eönwë certainly wants to avoid Minas Tirith because of Eldarion and other personal reasons. So I think that, logistically, Anórien could be the only suitable place within the Gondorian borders. They could move to Arnor but...it's probably too far. They might have a vacation home there though. So...I guess...Anórien it is! Boromir will be very happy about it. It will be a bit awkward at first, but maybe Enna will reconcile with her cousins earlier than previously planned, and they'll actually get to have a relationship like a normal family? Why am I feeling so merciful today? I hope I won't regret it later. Don't get overexcited though and don't get too hopeful either. The themes in the main moodboard are still valid and she will still suffer greatly. It's the point of her story. She just will probably no longer have to suffer alone and will be more inclined to confide in her family members, especially Boromir and fam. They sort of stop speaking for a few years, but they get on well again once Enna is free of Eldarion, doing better mentally and married to Eönwë, who encourages her to apologize to Uncle Boromir and to mend whatever rift she had with her cousin(s). Again, why am I being so reasonable? So merciful? It's not in my nature. Maybe I should see a doctor.
I honestly think she will genuinely try to speak about her problems—only when prodded about it though—and their relatives will try and encourage her to open up. The change is that, instead of assuming right away that they want nothing to do with her, she will try to open up before her inner voices prompt her to start pushing everybody away because she feels like a burden. But the main difference between the original and the rewrite is that she will make the effort. At Eönwë's explicit request probably, but she will try.
Since I have mentioned Imrahil in my previous point, I just would like to say that Enna and Eönwë do have their official vacation spot in Dol Amroth. Enna's health is not great (to put it mildly) and she often goes to Dol Amroth in the hopes of getting better (y'know, the warmer climate and such). Their residence in Dol Amroth is based on the Miramare Castle in Trieste, Italy
Enna is friends with Erchirion and Amrothos and is godmother to the the young lady Erchirion and Iorlas adopt. She'll be spending a lot of time with her and will see a lot of Erchirion (and Iorlas). They're a couple (the idea, as far as I know, is originally by @lucifers-legions,so she gets the credit for bringing them together).
Enna will also be vital in ensuring that she gets legally recognized as their daughter and heir (while, at first she is against female succession, she changes her mind later on. It's all part of her character development. At the beginning she is purely against it because...it's against the law. She is not opposed to women ruling per sé, but the law states otherwise so that's her line of thought. She follows the law to a t and doing something which contradicts the WRITTEN LAW is outrageous to her. No spoilers, but you'll get a taste of it in my One-shot for day 7 of this year's Boromir Week).
Her interacting with Imrahil's sons is a change of plans, since I had previously thought she would have no interaction with Imrahil's boys whatsoever. Things do change quite fast, apparently.
I am almost fully set on Château De Chenonceau as Elenwë's residence in their early years of marriage.
Enna loves flowers (roses, lilies and tulips especially) so she'll have a field day in a garden such as this one. Château De Chenonceau for the win? I came across some wonderful Irish castles as well, so I might pick one of those as well. All castles are so pretty.
I wonder what (my) Ioreth will do now that both Boromir AND Eönwë would could potentially kick her out if she oversteps the line. Unless Ioreth only comes back when the revamping of Emyn Arnen is complete and Boromir is longer there to help protect her. See why this post will need further updates!?
I haven't really thought about it that much, but I could see Boromir living in a palace similar to a Medicean one (Sean Bean was in Medici so it would make sense. Nice touch there), but also in a French palace like Versailles or one of the Loire Castles. The Archbishop's Palace of Alcalá De Henares could also be a good reference. I feel like eventually it will be up to his wife 🤣 I'll update this post once again when I have Idhrildin's personality figured out and I have her choose her own house. Boromir is an army man, everything sounds good to him and I headcanon he's not really helpful when dealing with this kind of stuff.
I do like the idea of Boromir and Eönwë being neighbors though so I guess I'll just google whatever Loire Castle is closest to Château de Chenonceau and then add elements of Idhrildin's personality to it. Lis also helps with decorating so I guess she'll have a say in it, too.
Based on a quick Google search three Loire Castles that can be visited on the same day are Chenonceau, Cheverny and Chambord. So, I guess Boromir will get either Cheverny or Chambord? Boromir doesn't strike me as someone who likes opulent things and Cheverny seems to me a little smaller compared to Chambord. But then again, Boromir is the literal Prince of the fief so...if he doesn't live in a grand house, who does? Maybe Chambord is the Osgiliath place and Cheverny the Anórien one? Chambord is the main residence and Cheverny is his wedding gift to Idhrildin which is later turned into headquarters for her charities? Idhrildin, please a decision. You pick otherwise I'll just let you have both castles.
More to follow! (I'll update this post in the following weeks and months until I start working on the rewrite later in the year). I'll update it with several other moodboards and details (and possibly a new title). Other title ideas I've come up with for the rewrite are: A Golden Era, The Golden Era, The Forgotten Tale Of The Fourth Age and A Brief Golden Moment.
I personally think the one I put at the top of the post is still my strongest option, but we'll see. Being a mother is a major part of Enna's identity (she loves having children and loves being a mom) and she's a martyr because...she goes through a lot of things. I think it fits. Mother is also a title to her. Her children call her Valide, which does indeed mean Mother in the Valarin tongue (I am basing it off Turkish) and one of the many titles she is bestowed upon once she marries Eönwë is the title of Validem (=my Valide). That's a title that belongs to Varda as well and that's what the Maiar call her. Just like Varda, she is everyone's mother now. So, Validem is the title and Valide is Mother or Mom.
Please, don't forget to send in more fic requests so that I can develop these points and get the hang of them before I actually start the rewrite! I feel like there's nothing worse than setting one's mind onto a new course and then falling back into old habits. Send in anything! Especially Dol Amroth content (yes, I'm currently obsessed with Dol Amroth and I feel like my obsession won't be subsiding anytime soon. Not going to lie a fic with Enna and Erchirion and maybe even Iorlas would be great. I came up with this thing that they're close and now I need to develop it. I might even introduce their daughter 🫢 she might be Erchirion's daughter and then Iorlas adopts her.
Plot twist: Elendil survives his assassination attempt and Erchiriorlas' daughter (her name is Ellerian) marries him.
Maybe they don't get married because he dies anyway, but they have a brief romance. He may pull an Aragorn because he feels guilty of something or he feels like he's betraying Enna or whatever.
About Erchiriorlas...family drama in Dol Amroth or should I just have them conduct a secret affair and they become public after Imrahil dies? Or Erchirion doesn't really care what his dad thinks and does what he wants? It'd be a first in my writing. Erchirion is not Imrahil's heir anyway, so I suppose he's sort of allowed to do whatever he wants? Ugh. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
And don't forget to dm me or send asks if you want to know more (also, about the asks in my box...I'll try to answer them all by the end of the year.
