The thing is I don't think Maedhros was a parentified older sibling, because Feanor and Nerdanel were royalty, and they would have had nannies and nursemaids and tutors for all their kids. So you wouldn't have had the older kids taking care of the younger ones, because they have The Help. And honestly the parents wouldn't be doing most of the childcare either. They would spend time with their kids of course!! But I don't think Nerdanel was changing diapers.
imo if you want to have your noble character be cool with their servants or a 'good boss' my advice would just be that you can't. it's just inherently an uncomfortable situation & class dynamic & you have to reckon with that
I’m remembering that one post from a bit ago about how the appeal of art/fic depicting Maedhros weeping over Fingon’s body is very real but there was no body. And I raise you: all the art/fic where beren cradles a dying finrod seems to forget that beren was still in chains. He was not stroking Finrod’s hair because he Could Not Move His Arms. Finrod probably died like a foot away from him and it probably haunted him all his life
Nah dude don’t worry about it, she’s always saying shit like “I am bound to oaths I no longer believe in…” and trying to die in pointless battles. I wouldn’t pay it much mind
Nah dude don’t worry about it, she’s always saying shit like “I am bound to oaths I no longer believe in…” and trying to die in pointless battles. I wouldn’t pay it much mind
i've seen lots of depictions of post-thangorodrim maedhros whose very striking eyes convey his spirit burning like a white fire, etc, which i'm quite fond of as an aesthetic but on rereading the silm i just noticed (as always) another line i'd never made the connection with before, which is this:
and although the resemblance might be lost on most of the elves, who knew melkor in his fair form or not at all, i do like the idea of maedhros reflecting something of melkor's own appearance in the process of his 'returning from the dead' & fashioning of himself as a weapon... and if i was an orc and this guy i'm fighting looks at me with the eyes of melkor, my tyrannical god-master, i would also flee before his face
and actually, speaking of characters who are described with particularly intense light in their eyes, ilúvatar is another one (the chord with which he ends the discord of the music being described as "piercing as the light of the eye of Ilúvatar"). something something maedhros coming back from his ordeal with a little bit of imperishable flame animating (consuming?) his spirit... or well, perishable flame in his case, one might say
"But I say to you, King of the Númenoreans, not till now have I understood the tale of your people and their fall. As wicked fools I scorned them, but I pity them at last. For if this is indeed, as the Eldar say, the gift of the One to Men, it is bitter to receive."
- Arwen, Appendix A, the tale of Aragorn and Arwen
just THINK about what this small quote implies for a moment. Arwen, at this point, has been Queen of Gondor for over 120 years. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of people have been born, lived and died under her watch in that time. Did not a single one of them, not a single person, cause Arwen any bitter grief to lose? She would have had handmaidens come to her and serve her as teenagers, then grow old and wise in her service until they could serve no more, Sam's eldest daughter among them! Was their loss not bitter to her? Did she have no friends whom she sat with in their final hour and lamented that their souls would be sundered and that they may never meet again? What kind of manner did she employ to the grief of others, grief that drove them to many things, did she scorn them too? HOW can a queen of men be both good and yet so callous to their loss, their pain? She had no pity for them until death took someone she cared about, haughtily holding herself above such mortal frailties until it was finally time she faced the cost of her choices. And, after Aragorn's death, she relinquishes her titles entirely, meaning that apparently there was never a point during her life in Gondor where Arwen did not believe men wicked for the things death made them do, where she had any pity for them at all.
Normally this kind of thing is improved by reading it as propaganda-- our narrators really love orthodox Elves and their Eru-centric morals, which is coincidentally great for Aragorn's legitimacy--but here I don't see how that fits in at all. This seems pretty opposed to Eru!
Is it possible this was written after the rest of the Appendices, maybe by a generation or two, and this line was added as sort of an "even the Elves agree with us now"?
No no it still fits in within the wider tolkien morality because, within the context, Arwen is the one who is 'in the wrong' whilst Aragorn is her superior in morality. SHE is faultering at this last hurdle and HE is telling her to cope basically. And because Aragorn's morality and personhood by the narrative's opinion is actually closer to elven than human (and Arwen is a woman) he is allowed the moral high ground over her. Arwen is in Eowyn's old unenviable position of having to be talked down too by Aragorn in her moment of greatest grief and despair, and reminded of her duty. His response is;
Like he literally gets the saintly incorruptable catholic bodies treatment he's so holy and correct right now, according to the narrative.
Honestly this whole section is equally disturbing for Aragorn's part too, it's a part of tolkien's whole thesis statement on how the grand and beautiful numenoreans should not let themselves 'grow old unmanned and witless', placing what is essentially natural aging as 'unpure' and worse than death according to the faithful. Which, I mean, I don't think I have to explain how eugenic-y that sounds (I say as if it's a surprise to find eugenics themes within lotr) but it still galls me. At least it confirms Aragon and Arwen as equally terrible people and I have to acknowledge that they deserve each other.
Hi I've been exhausted lately but I finally finished some Middle-Earth cane designs for Disability Pride Month and they make me very happy.
Click for better quality, zoom in please I spent way too long on these.
I'm a cane user, and most fictional or antique canes really annoy me, because they're rarely actually usable or practical. So this is my attempt to design usable but still interesting canes for characters I have somewhat arbitrarily projected disability onto. For example, they all have padded handles and most have wrist straps.
Individual design ramblings below!
Nerdanel has some type of genetic chronic illness, I haven't decided exactly what yet. Her cane has metalwork decoration, and a locking hinge mechanism to allow it to fold, because one of my canes is folding and it's super useful. Those parts were made by Mahtan. The Fëanorian star carving and crystal section were later modifications, and I think Nerdanel would continue modifying it throughout her life.
I've drawn Idril with prosthetic legs post-Helcaraxë, and some people with prosthetics use canes or other mobility aids for extra balance. I also headcanon that her silver legs were made by Celebrimbor once he ended up in Gondolin, so before that she may have had lower quality prosthetics and relied more on a cane. Hers has an eagle carved into it (Thorondor maybe), as well as eagle feathers, ribbons, and her heraldry for decoration. Elenwë's name is also carved closer to the base as a memorial (hopefully I did the tengwar right).
Celebrían uses a cane in Valinor due to her injuries. Hers is mallorn wood with metal decorations. Specifically the snake and flowers reference the House of Finarfin. The snake is made of mithril, which i think would be popular for mobility aid details due to its light weight. Also, she got Celebrimbor to help her make it after she dragged him out of Mandos.
Elros' is the only one without a wrist strap because I unfortunately couldn't work it into the design well. He uses it due to a leg injury from the War of Wrath, mostly because I wanted Elrond to encourage him about it in a fic I never finished. The handle is a carved and painted seagull, the column shows fish, and the base has Eärendil's star.
Caranthir inherited Nerdanel's condition, the only one of the sons who did. He didn't start using a cane until they were in Beleriand, so his is a from-memory recreation of Nerdanel's, made with Curufin's help. It also has metalwork details and a hinge. The textile wraps were his own addition, and the claw and beads were gifts from Haleth.
Faramir was born disabled with chronic health issues (again haven't decided exactly what yet), but this wasn't publicly acknowledged by Denethor as it didn't "fit the image". He had very little access to mobility aids growing up because of this. Injuries from the War of the Ring certainly didn't help, and he started using a cane after that. His was given to him by Éowyn, and was made in Rohan, hence the horse. The blue fabric band with stars is a reference to the cloak he gave her, and the lower band was made using remnants of Boromir's horn as a way for Faramir to carry his brother with him.
@balrogballs tagged me for wip wednesday and I went “shoot, what can i share that’s presentable”! i’ve been on a kick of trying to learn new art techniques, but the results have been … highly variable 😓
here are 1.) an isildur-at-the-gladden-fields i’ve been fiddling with for MONTHS since @southaway gave me permission to borrow their incredible design, 2.) an aerin “firing the hall”, 3.) silmarillion concept cover art design, 4.) elwing and 5.) gwindor reuniting with finduilas: both in “help i am trying to learn animation and it’s very hard” edition
i don’t know who’s already been tagged, but no-pressure tagging @southaway (since you’re already getting pinged haha), @peasant-player, @saintvoids, @pukiirice, @laisrinel and whoever else wants to share a wip
THE devotionshipping trope is "are they loyal to me or to my title" and the answer HAS to be that they genuinely don't differentiate between the two and are confused and slightly alarmed by the question
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