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tathrin · 1 year

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What's exactly is an Elf-Lord? I assume that the uncapitalized version is just an elf who holds the title of a Lord.

I don't consider myself any sort of expert on Tolkien's Legendarium (I mean, I haven't even read any of the Unfinished Tales yet, just for baseline starters!) so I am not a good choice to ask this of, tbh. And if you're asking specifically in regards to the way I used it in my fic The Names of My Fathers (which I'm guessing is the case, because I can't think what else I've done or posted recently that involves that particular term; if I'm off-base please feel free to provide more context!) then I should caution you that that was actually the first story I started working on during my recent re-obsession with LotR, and I was sooooo rusty on my Tolkien Canon then that I fucked-up the timeline of the Quenya Ban, for fuck's sake—something I definitely knew better about! So, take the following with an entire shaker of salt is what I'm saying.

Anyway. Elf-lord is a term that crops-up in Tolkien's work (I count seventeen uses in LotR but that's at a quick glance; I may be missing some), but not one that I've ever seen a clear definition on. It seems to be one of those things that falls under a "you know it when you see it" banner. An Elf-lord is an elf of particular power, might, or prominence; someone who can command, whether that be by the strength of their political position, their lineage, or simply their raw power. Someone whom others respect, and whose words carry weight.

Lord, of course, gets used as a term of rank; one could probably assume that any Elf who is called a Lord at any point (Celeborn, for instance) could likewise be described as an Elf-lord—but I don't think it's just a case of "you have x rank, congrats you're an Elf-lord now."

Glorfindel is repeatedly called an Elf-lord, even though he never ruled any lands. He is described to Frodo as being of "a house of princes," so one might claim on those grounds that it's a rank-thing only—but his status as an Elf-lord is also referenced explicitly in regards to the Ringwraiths being "dismayed" to see "an Elf-lord revealed in his wrath," so I think there's a more-than-just-political power aspect to it as well. It's not just about rank; it's also stature, majesty. Power. Any Elf who has a lordship over land or people would be called Lord [name], but would he be called an Elf-lord if he wasn't also mighty on his own merits? Hard to say. (Of course, the fact that those who wield command in Tolkien's stories are almost always people who are mighty, conveniently, muddies those waters a little; we've got aspects of that whole "divine right" thing going on, in a story written by an Englishman! Shocking I know!)

(If you're wondering why I'm only referencing LotR and not the Silmarillion, despite there being way more Elf-lords in the latter, it's because I don't know the Silm off the top of my head well enough to go snag quotes and references without having to actually page through it. Sorry. But we're talking Third/Fourth Age stuff anyway if we're talking about the fic I think we are, so let's say I'm sticking to topically appropriate references rather than being lazy. Shh.)

Anyway. "Elf-lord" also gets used as a comparison term to indicate that someone is particularly great in a particularly elvish way. For instance, after Galadriel arrays him in finery, Aragorn is described like this: "Then more than any king of Men he appeared, and seemed rather an Elf-lord from the Isles of the West." High praise, indeed, and to me the way it's used in that section of the Appendixes is being done to indicate that he is worthy of Arwen, for all that he's a mere mortal. "Not an Elf-lord, but really close! honest!" is basically how it comes off, to me. Likewise Elladan and Elrohir are said to be "fair and gallant as elven-lords." Ergo they do not quite rank the term themselves, because they are peredhil like their father rather than elves, but they are considered to possess comparable greatness.

Conversely, I'm assuming it's not a term that is simply a fancy way of saying elf, because it only seems to be used for elves who merit greater regard than the average. The term is used more than once during the Council of Elrond in reference to some of the elves gathered there to discuss the fate of the Ring in a general way ("What of the Three Tings of the Elves? Very mighty Rings, it is said. Do not the Elf-lords keep them?...I see Elf-lords here. Will they not say?") but not in such a general way as to be referring to just any elves; it seems evident to me that Glóin is using the term to specifically indicate elves of greater-than-average position or might, rather than simply talking about elves as a whole people, although he doesn't specify anyone in particular (since it's a secret who has the Three and he does not know).

Legolas is (unless I've missed an instance somewhere) never referred to as an Elf-lord. When Elrond is discussing who to send with the Fellowship, Gandalf says, "Even if you choose for us an Elf-lord, such as Glorfindel, he could not storm the Dark Tower..." and he says this after Legolas has already been named to the Fellowship as their elvish representative; ergo while once again the text doesn't explicitly state that Legolas doesn't qualify as an Elf-lord, I think it's fair to infer that he isn't considered one; neither Elrond nor Gandalf, at least, think of him an Elf-lord, because they wouldn't have been talking about Glorfindel being an Elf-lord who could theoretically be sent along if the Fellowship already had one Elf-lord in their number.

Indeed, in Appendix E there is a sentence that specifically delineates Elves and Elf-lords as separate, distinct terms: "...the tongue of all those Elves and Elf-lords that appear in this history," Tolkien writes.

So that's how I used it: as not necessarily a specific rank that someone can be given or earn or be appointed to, but as a way of signifying extra respect and might. Hence Legolas's not-exactly-joke that Oropher would probably have called himself an Elf-lord, but that none of the other Elf-lords were likely to have agreed with his claiming the title. Now technically as a king, Oropher would qualify as an Elf-lord...but in that part of the story, I wanted to lean into the lingering bitterness that Mirkwood feels about the disdainful way they feel they were treated during the Last Alliance, and the high price they paid because of it. So, would the Elf-lords who marched to war with Gil-galad have ranked Oropher as one of them, just because he had a bunch of scruffy archers under his command? I mean, they very well might have, even if solely as a gesture of respect—a courtesy title, so to speak. But Legolas wasn't there, so he's just going off the vibes that have endured, and in my take on Green/Mirkwood those vibes are not exactly enthusiastic towards the other elves of Middle-earth; the ones that they think looked down on them and didn't stand by them and left them to fight alone against the Shadow for so long.

Legolas does use the term to refer to his father near the end of the book, when talking about how he's going to ask Thranduil to let him bring some elves from Mirkwood to help spruce-up Minas Tirith; but he says it as "my Elven-lord," rather than just saying "and Thranduil, an Elf-Lord who blah blah..." so it seems in this case to be more about the fact that Thranduil has the rank of a lord over Legolas, being king of Mirkwood, and less that he's an Elf-lord, specifically. Of course, as a king, Thranduil would likely merit the term—but is it one that non-Mirkwood elves would use for their "more dangerous, less wise" kinsmen sitting out there in the half-feral spider-tree kingdom? Hmmm, maybe; he is a king, even if he's not going around tearing down walls with his willpower and chasing the Nazgûl out of Dol Guldur by force of his shiny presence alone...but I think it also probably depends on the situation. If we were talking about "mighty Elf-lords" like Galadriel and Glorfindel? Maybe not so much. If it were a discussion of various elven leaders, including him on behalf of Green/Mirkwood, then he'd have a better shot.

So that's how I see it, anyway. As with any term without a precise definition, there's wiggle-room to interpret it in different ways, clearly. You may look at it completely differently, and that's fine! But you asked for my definition, so there you go.

Oh, also re: capitalization...yeah, that's just called me being inconsistent with capitalization, because Tolkien capitalizes pretty much EVERYTHING and I...don't. I put it down to reading too much other fantasy that doesn't capitalize every use of Elf and Dwarf, and the inconsistency of species capitalization across spec-fic in general. I should capitalize it in Tolkienian fanfiction, because the source material does; but that doesn't come naturally to me when I write those words (as you'll notice when you read this post), so sometimes I remember to do it and sometimes I don't. Sorry for the confusion!

*I invite anyone who knows more about Tolkien minutia to chime-in with their greater knowledge on the Elf-lords subject btw!

#lotr #jrr tolkien #elves #lotr canon #lord of the rings #elf lords #my stuff #oropher #glorfindel #thranduil #legolas #elladan #elrohir

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tolkien-feels · 2 years

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@cuarthol made the mistake of encouraging me to share my headcanons about Beor and Orodreth so here they are. Some of them.

While of course Orodreth has Minas Tirith to take care of, canon very much establishes that the princes of the Noldor left their kingdoms all the time to have fun (mostly hunting), so I find it plausible that Orodreth would visit Finrod often enough, especially if Finrod specifically invites him, which brings me to my next point

I like to headcanon that Finrod, who knows Beor's family so well, would want Beor to at least meet his immediate family if at all possible, and "I'm back home after a year! We should all get together to celebrate 🥰" is a convenient excuse

Finrod is a very approachable elf, but his siblings are... intense. All of them. Beor wouldn't exactly find them intimidating but he'd just not be entirely sure how to act. They don't seem to particularly want his friendship, but that seems like a cultural misunderstanding of some sort...?

Anyway, Orodreth. Orodreth, who is old enough to hold land on his own, but also young enough that he just doesn't feel like the same age as his father, uncles, aunt, and a lot of assorted Nargothrond elves. You know who else is around that age? Beor's sons

"What?" you say "No, 22 and 19 are younger than Orodreth's elvish equivalent!" Well, yes, but I headcanon that while Beorians were still traveling west, life was hard and children were considered adults very young, so Beor sees his kids as having been adults for a while now, so once you account for race and culture, the vibe Beor gets from Orodreth is "son-shaped" basically

(To be entirely honest, Beor had initially kind of assumed Finrod was younger than he is and never quite manages to get past that, ergo Finrod's younger brother's son is probably Young™️)

More importantly than any of that, Orodreth is friendly. If it's important for Finrod that his mortal friend feels welcomed into the family because Finrod had been welcomed into his family, then Orodreth will do his very best to play his part

Finrod is Finrod so he's like... Quietly taking note that they Got Along™️ and although he only understands the fleeting nature of mortality in a very theoretical way, he makes sure to invite Orodreth to Nargothrond way more often than he needs to

So basically, this ties back into my headcanon that Finrod would actually have been very close to, and protective of, Beor's sons - which I got from Tolkien's initial idea that Bregolas and Barahir were Beor's sons

In this scenario, Orodreth is to Beor what Baran and Belen are to Finrod. If ever there was a case where a mortal looked at a fully grown elf and decided "Oh, this elf is mine to look after" it'd be this one. Not in a patronizing way, though - it's not babying

Like most relationships I like, there's nothing flashy about it. They're not walking around delivering speeches about being Like Family™️, they just... Enjoy each other's presence in the years they have together, without making a fuss about it. Just. They like each other.

And this isn't quite about their relationship but - I headcanon Orodreth is actually a major source of support for Finrod once Beor's death has its devastating effect on him. Orodreth not only provides genuine sympathy due to being very upset himself, but also shows he's quite capable of helping Finrod rule Nargothrond when ruling is the last thing in the world he cares about at the moment. Because you know I can't help myself when I see foreshadowing opportunities

I'll shut up now, but just to reiterate, I have spent way too much time thinking about them

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holytolkien · 4 years

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Original Elvish courtship/relationship facts & other things from Tolkien that I found interesting

Trigger Warning: mention of rape. Sex is also talked about.

Authors note: All these facts were actually written by Tolkien’s son and he wrote a book of his fathers unpublished manuscripts. The book is called “Morgoth’s Ring” It’s worth a read. J.R.R. Tolkien even wrote an essay about Elves courtship! Also, these are about the lives of common elves... The main Elves we read about aren’t necessarily commoners. (They are main mentioned characters for a reason lmao)

• Elves hold a whole public feast to announce that they are dating

• They give eachother silver rings in front of everyone to promise marriage

If they choose not to marry (which is actually kinda rare), they hold a ceremony with vows and everything & they will melt their silver promise rings so no one will ever wear them again. Dramatic.... I know...

• Gold rings are given at the actual ceremony of the marriage and they are placed on the right index finger

• Elves have the parents of the opposite sex give the newly weds a jewel on a chain to bless the marriage. (For example, the mother of the bride gives the groom the necklace, and the father of the groom gives the bride the necklace...)

• Sex is marriage

Yes, to Elves, the act of sexual intercourse is the actual marriage. You know for us how the marriage is solidified by “you may kiss”? Yeah, for Elves it’s actually the sexual intercourse part (which of course, isn’t part of the public ceremony lmao)

Here’s one of his quotes about marriage and sex, “Marriage is chiefly of the body, for it is achieved by bodily union, and its first operation is the begetting of the bodies of children, even though it endures beyond this and has other operations. And the union of bodies in marriage is unique, and no other union resembles it....It was the act of bodily union that achieved marriage...it was at all times lawful for any of the Eldar, both being unwed, to marry thus of free consent one to the other without ceremony or witness…in flight and exile and wandering, such marriages were often made” (Tolkien)

So basically, casual sex (as in sex with random Elves) is nonexistent

This does NOT mean Elves don’t have sex. They are actually sexually active, but they take sex a little bit more seriously. But they really only have sex with people they are in courtship with I guess.

This maybe why Elves don’t celebrate the day they were born, they actually celebrate the day they were conceived.

• Arranged marriages are not really a thing. Parents actually have very little say on who their children marry. Yes, parents can criticize, and choose not to give a blessing, but it doesn’t go together with the whole soulmate seriousness thing. No arranged marriage has ever been recorded.

So like...... Legolas could’ve had his way with Tauriel (but Tauriel wasn’t in the books to be fair) But y’all know Thranduil....

• Of course, the parents of the newlyweds can give duties or certain demands to their kids spouse and the spouse doesn’t have to listen, but is is considered super disrespectful not to.

• TW: it’s against Elven nature to rape.

I was informed a few days ago that people wrote fics about Thranduil being a rapist.... but, If you go down that road in mentioning this in your story, please read:

“Among all these evils there is no record of any among the Elves that took another's spouse by force; for this was wholly against their nature, and one so forced would have rejected bodily life and passed to Mandos. Guile or trickery in this matter was scarcely possible…for the Eldar can read at once in the eyes and voice of another whether they be wed or unwed” (Tolkien)

What does this mean? Well, it means that there is no record of an elf taking someone by force and if it ever happens, the victim of rape will literally die. (This only applies, of course, if you are an elf)

• Divorces are also extremely rare and kinda taboo.

Not even death can do elves apart.

For me, This makes more sense as to why Thranduil was so determined to get the jewels back. Yes, of course he wanted them back because they are literally his wife’s that died, but according to Tolkien, they are practically still together. The way I look at it is that, Elves don’t look at themselves as widows or widowers.

• Elves also don’t commit adultery

Good job Eleven people! I have no choice but to stan even more!

• Elves lose their desire for sex after kids

Again, kind of sucks (for those who care) but honestly I feel

• Even with the whole “I will be with you forever and beyond that” Elves get married pretty young! (God, how much I wish I was actually an elf)

•Elf pregnancies last a whole year!

I mean just a couple months over our 9 months but even 9 months is pushing it i’m so sorry elven women.

• Elves don’t say “I had a baby!” They say instead, “A baby was given to us!!”

May or may not say that when I have a child.... who knows.

• There are actually Quenyan words for sex & genitalia.... you can probably look them up and find them

• Incest is extremely gross and taboo

I mean... this isn’t really “interesting” because it’s taboo kinda everywhere but in many fandoms incest is hella prominent so thought I’d add that....

• Long hair & beautiful voices are actually considered of great value (sexually as well... which means its a turn-on....)

Again, some of these facts are outdated and some of them kind of take the fun out of writing fanfiction (like for Thranduil and the whole widower thing) but idc im still gonna write what I wanna write lol Peter Jackson with the movies did the same it’s all good.

If I find anymore facts I will put them in 😌 feel free to add more onto it if you may!

Remember, this is what Tolkien and his son wrote.

The three main sources I used are here;

Summary

For the actual facts

For the book quotes

And in these websites they actually state all the sources they used from Tolkien and what not! :)

(Not my gifs)

#middle earth #thranduil #legolas #tolkien #lord of the rings #lord of the ring #the hobbit #elves #elf

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of-elves-and-mad-hatters · 3 years

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“The Azure Sky”- Chapter 5 -Lego Elves

Shadows to the Brightest Flame: Series

- The legacy of Lumia’s influence is scarred eternally into the lands of Elvendale. Burdened by a prophecy foretelling her demise and need for a successor, she watches for one capable of such power. Yet her enemies are working steadily to undo all she’s labored so long for, and it is millenia too late to make peace.

Emily Jones, heir to Eimileen, is a bold girl dedicated to protecting Elvendale, but the world she has grown so fond of is not so black and white as it seems, and the titles of Guardian of Portal and Guardian of Light may hold darker legacies some ancient elves have worked tirelessly to hide.

In conjunction with the extended version of the Guardian of Light prophecy I wrote previously

Basically a rewrite of all of the Lego Elves & Secrets of Elvendale storylines with an additional arc beyond the Season 4: Into the Shadows. There will be a varying degree of deviation from canon.

Technically a crossover with Lord of the Rings/Hobbit/Silmarillion in terms of worldbuidling, as I set Elvendale as being north of Middle-Earth, cause this is fanfic and I can. So there will be mentions of the Noldor, Sindar, Silvan, and some Tolkien characters, but they will be mostly background. Definitely not an issue if you aren’t familiar with the Middle-Earth fandom; everything will still be easy to understand.

Book 1: The Azure Sky

Grieving over the unexpected death of her grandmother, Emily Jones is accidentally trapped in another world. Befriending a few young elves in an attempt to find her way home, Emily discovers many secrets about her grandmother’s past, but for every truth she learns two more questions take its place, leaving her vulnerable to darker force inhabiting this realm.

A rewrite of Unite the Magic

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

______________________________________________________________

Chapter 5

Their glasses of fireplume cordial clink in a toast.

“To Naida!” Azari and Aira cheer. Naida’s face flushes.

Farran has the map spread out on his knees. “The next key is somewhere in the Crystal Hollows.”

Naida nods, “I noticed. We’ll have to sail through the night to make it there by morning.”

“Aren’t those woods inhabited?” Aira inquires.

“Not for a few centuries. Some consider the land cursed after what happened to the colony that tried to settle there.”

“What happened?”

“A company of exiled dwarves, overwhelmed by the beauty of the gems, tried to drive the elves out. The resulting conflict turned quite bloody.”

“Hmm, mad axe-wielding midgets and enchanted rocks; sounds like you might have a chance to prove that bravery you’re always talking about, Farran Leafshade,” Azari teases.

The earth elf huffs. “I don’t need to prove anything just because you’re a daredevil. There’s more to courage than simply being insane.”

Azari’s face shifts into mock surprise. She grins. “That’s just what buzzkills say.”

Farran shakes his head before the entire table breaks into giggles.

Emily swirls the cordial in her glass. “I was wondering something,” she begins, “Azari calls you ‘Farran Leafshade’, but when you introduced yourself you said ‘Farran Folasion’. Do you have like, two last names, or is one your middle name?”

The four elves furrow their brows. Emily blushes. “I didn’t mean to be rude or anything, just forget it…”

“No, Emily, you’re fine, it’s just…we don’t know what you mean by ‘last’ and ‘middle names’.” Naida explains.

“Oh, um, a last name is your family name, I guess. My last name is ‘Jones’ because my father’s last name was Jones, and so was his father’s and so on. It helps identify what family you belong to. As for middle names, they go in between your first name and last name, though I don’t really know why.”

“So, a house name,” Aira considers, “Where all the relatives identify themselves by the name of their founding ancestor…”

“That sounds pretty similar,” Emily nods in agreement.

“We don’t use house names in this part of Elvendom; actually only a minority of one of the Elven peoples, some of the Noldor, do. Most elves here use their given name, the one bestowed to them by their parents at birth or in early childhood. To further identify ourselves, we may also add a second name, which could be a nickname or a name given as a result of some significant deed or unique occurance. Those can be either in Common-tongue or their original elvish dialect. ‘Leafshade’ is the common-tongue translation of a second name given to me by my father when I officially reached adulthood; that practice is pretty common up here.

Now, in a formal setting you don’t just use any other name of yours to introduce yourself. The second name you use is the name of your parent with the suffix ‘son of’ or ‘daughter of’. If you’re a guy, you use your father’s name, and if you’re a girl you use your mother’s name. My father’s name is Folas, so when I introduce myself formally I say ‘Farran Folasion’. ‘Ion’ means ‘son’ in most elvish languages.”

“And I would be ‘Aira Arlaynaiel’, since my mother’s name is ‘Arlayna’ and ‘iel’ means daughter. But most of the time I go by Aira Windwhistler,” the wind elf chimes in.

“That’s really interesting,” Emily muses, eyes alit in curiosity as she turns to Naida and Azari. “What about your names?”

“Formally, I am ‘Naida Marionaiel’. Usually I go by ‘Naida Riverheart’.”

“I don’t go to formal events, so I’m pretty much just ‘Azari Firedancer’; but if I ever did I would be ‘Azari Pyriaiel’.” The fire elf slurps noisily from her cordial.

“That’s cool,” Emily replies, feeling a bit repetitive. She looks out over the horizon, where the pastel blues and pinks of the sky have bled into deep reds and oranges. The sun hangs low, weary.

“It’ll be dark soon,” Naida observes. “We should prepare for the night ahead.”

__________________________

Emily turns over onto her side, restlessly flips back over again. She sighs, allowing her heavy lids to open.

The deep, unpolluted sky spangled with endless stars greets her. The streak of a comet flashes before her eyes.

It is beautiful.

Emily sits up, looking over the side of the boat onto the water. Beneath the surface of the waves seems to be its own galaxy, brilliant, shimmering colors traveling underneath. She remembers learning something about this phenomenon in one of her science classes, but the details escape her mind.

She’s not sure it would matter, for in this world the natural and unnatural are so inexplicably intwined that most scientists from her world would never be able to understand it.

So strange, so magnificent, even here in the still of the night.

Maybe that’s why she can’t sleep, the silence so foreign to her ears used to traffic noise and the flurry of nocturnal critters scampering in the garden. Or perhaps part of her is still expecting to wake up and find that all of this had been a dream.

She glances over at the four sleeping elves, reassured by their presence. She lays back down on the bench, pulling the blanket back over her body. She shuts her eyes, praying away her insomnia.

She finds her eyes fluttering open again and she groans softly in frustration. She finds herself tracing a knot in the smooth, finished wood, mind racing with all sorts of jumbled thoughts. One keeps circling back to the surface.

Why did her grandmother never tell her about this place?

Did she plan to, but her death came about unexpectedly, or did she intend to keep it a secret forever?

Would her grandmother have wanted her to end up here? Was this what was supposed to happen?

Why had she been left to deal with this alone?

Emily feels tears beginning to well up in the corners of her eyes. She shuts them, curcling into a fetal position.

She begins to hum, just the tune at first, the lullaby being so distant in her memory. As her breathing calms, drifting closer to the bliss of sleep, the words reveal themselves.

Earth moves the air, and the wind feeds the fire;

Magic is here, if you dare to believe.

Sail out to sea, on an ocean of mystery,

And bring your heart, to the ones that you meet.

#lego elves #unite the magic #fanfiction #fanfic #background crossover lotr elves #elven culture #emily jones #azari firedancer #naida riverheart #farran leafshade #aira windwhistler #elvendale #quest for the keys

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fauzhee10069 · 3 years

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Made too soon? My ‘woke’ OC in a not so woke times

When I was browsing my old drawings, I found one particular work, a work I made for an OC contest back in early 2016:

dA link: Pre-battle Briefing

She belongs to Tolkien’s world, in The Silmarillion. You know? As his fictional universe was created in 1937, surely the standard of female’s portrayal was quite different than today’s standard. You can read further about that here but in short:

"Tolkien's heroines have been both praised and severely criticized", and that his fictional women indeed have an ambiguous image, of "both passivity and empowerment". - Weronika Łaszkiewicz

I was into ‘prominent female character’ at the time, yeah… I prefer to call it ‘prominent’ rather than ‘strong’ because the later often associates with being physically strong/dominant/masculine. I mean, I want my female character to have importance in her role to the plot, but she doesn’t have to be necessarily strong in hand-to-hand combat, genius or superior to the others… problems that are in Dysney’s Rey and many live action princesses (particularly Mulan) at the moment.

What was her story?

My name is Megileth (or Macilё in quenya), I am a Noldorin elf who was born in Valinor near the end of the Years of the Trees. As a Noldo, I’m not really skilled at activities such as gardening and weaving, the results of my work is always messy, let alone to do the work of men like carvers and blacksmiths.

The contest was creating an OC based on yourself (a self-insert), of course I was being honest that I suck at sewing, weaving, and any handicraft works, something that is highlighted in the Tolkien’s world through female characters like Vairë, Míriel and Arwen. However, my OC Megileth also sucks at men’s works (just like me irl).

I feel that accidentally, Megileth is like Dysney’s (animated) Mulan in 1998 that she hardly fits in with the expectations of Chinese female as ‘the perfect bride’ of the time, but when she finally joined the army (aka ‘the world of men’), she was also struggling to be ‘a man’ and to blend into their world. You can watch more about the analysis of Dysney’s Mulan (both 1998 and 2020) here:

Mulan: A Case of Failed Empowerment

During my childhood, I’m interested in studying political science and strategy of war. My father believed in my potential so he made me study and also taught me swordmanship alongside my brothers. When I reached majority, my father and I joined together in Fingolfin’s entourage to middle-earth. Later, I served as military strategist and an advisor in Hithlum from Fingolfin’s through Fingon’s reign.

This is my build up to give her that ‘prominent role’ in story, as The Silmarillion has many battle in it, I wanted her to be involved with those. During the battles, I didn't make her a strong fighter, but rather a character behind the scenes who works as a military advisor. Surely she can fight too but I gave her that ability more as a requirement because she had to be on the battlefield, I thought it would be convenient if she could fight and strong enough to protect herself.

But at this point, it is also my concern that she could be a borderline Mary Sue as her prominence may competes with Galadriel, Eowyn and Haleth. As a side note, Megileth was not meant to work as a sole strategist, she worked alongside several other advisors in strategizing (mostly men with some women too).

I am also one of the advisors who participated during the Nirnaeth Arnœdiad. I'm proposing a marching formation to Anfauglith. Although I know how to fight, but since my martial skill is mediocre at best, I prefer to stay behind the army and observing the situation.

As I wanted her to be ‘prominent’, I gave her role in “Nirnaeth Arnœdiad”. Even though I wanted her to be a character who gets prominent role, I also refrained from making her a Mary Sue, that’s why I gave her limitation that she was just pretty average in hand-to-hand combat.

At the end of the battle which I barely survived, I wandered as nomadic until I reached Eregion and stayed there. Later, after Eregion was destroyed by Sauron, I along with the other survivors fled and settled in Rivendell. I spent my life there to teach the younger generations to prepare themselves if someday war will happen again.

After her role in climactic event ended, I always like the idea of peaceful retirement, that’s why I made her survive and settle down as a tutor.

The Background of Megileth’s story

In the description in my submission, I’ve written as follow:

The reason I chose this role if I live in Tolkien’s world is because I want to defy the stereotypical views on majority of women during middle-age that they are often portrayed and positioned as healers, wives, beautiful maiden, being powerful with magical powers or stayed behind (that's why women like Haleth and Eowyn are awesome).

Perhaps, I was having mentality of “i'm not like other girls” at the time but I am always like this since my childhood… I like to defy what is defined as “mostly/stereotypical/standard/commonly”... whatever. If all my classmates chose blue, I would choose red.

Perhaps, my upbringing from my father also had an effect on that: he wanted me to be an independent woman, not always dependent on men (it was also due to him being made to work so far from our home that we have to be separated for months). I can't always depend on my father so I have to be able to live without always relying on men.

In addition, the role as military advisor is kinda unique. The real me also very fond of real-time strategy and simulation games. The figure who inspired me in this role and background is Qin Liangyu, female general of Ming dynasty.

I am a history lover, I like to study history from different cultures. I'm not always fixated on prominent female historical figures, but whenever I stumble across them, I'm always interested to learn more about them.

Although my OC might deviates from most of the female characters in Tolkien’s world, I am against Mary Sue and as much as possible I tried not to make my OC to be that. Before I gave Megileth an important role as military advisor, I asked myself: “is that even possible?” Then I found some excerpts from The Histories of Middle Earth vol. 10 “Laws and Customs Among the Eldar” that may support the possibility of Megileth’s role:

In all such things, not concerned with the bringing forth of children, the neri and nissi (that is, the men and women) of the Eldar are equal—

There are indeed some differences between the natural inclinations of neri and nissi, and other differences that have been established by custom (varying in place and in time, and in the several races of the Eldar). For instance, the arts of healing, and all that touches on the care of the body, are among the Eldar most practised by the nissi; whereas it was the elven-men who bore arms at need.

Indeed in dire straits or desperate defence, the nissi fought valiantly, and there was less difference in strength or speed between elven-men and elven-women that had not borne child than is seen among mortals. On the other hand many elven-men were great healers and skilled in the lore of living bodies,

but all these things, and other matters of labor and play, or of deeper knowledge concerning being and the life of the World, may at different times be pursued by any among the Noldor, be they neri or nissi.

- (Morgoth's Ring, "The Second Phase", Laws and Customs Among the Eldar, pages 209-214)

Based on my interpretation, this indicates that although certain custom may develop traditional roles for elvish men or women, it does not mean that these roles must be strictly performed. For example, when generally the arts of war are most practiced by men and the arts of healing are most practiced by women, there are also men who choose to become healers instead of warriors and women who are more interested in learning things that considered masculine.

I was happy that I found those excerpts, they gave me ‘a green light’ for the role of Megileth. However, despite the existence of the excerpts, criticism of sexism in Tolkien’s works remain because the lack of actual story/narrative that reflects that.

Then, what was the outcome of the contest?

I did not win.

That’s it. The reason why I did not win and why the winners won remains a mystery to this day.

I didn't expect to get the first place, but I did hope I could at least be runner-up or third, or even to be part of honorable mentions if there is any. If I'm being honest, of course I was disappointed… for not winning any place, but the bigger thing was that I don't know why?

I think I was too ambitious or overconfident at the time, I thought that my concept of Megileth’s story was quite unique and deserves the attention from the judges, I thought that my drawing was quite good (not a top-tier but still acceptable at least). In the end, I did not win anything.

What was the reason they won? What was the reason I did not win? Actually, what were the qualifications to win? My lack of knowledge about this made it even more difficult for me to accept my loss. Had I known the reasons, I will be more relieved to accept my loss: “so, that’s why she won… hmm, congratulation!”

Then to ease my disappointment at that time, I wrote a post about BEST WAYS TO ANNOUNCE CONTEST WINNERS. Although that post looks like a genuinely helpful post, I actually wrote it as "f*ck u!" to the judges, “you hurt my feeling for disregarding my work without reason!” Yeah, I was a whining womanchild and acting immature like a special snowflake.

Was this related to ‘wokeness’?

Of course up to this day, finding the real reason for that loss is absolutely impossible, but in this year 2020, I try to reflect on this matter.

Was my OC too far-fetched? Was Megileth a Mary Sue? Was Megileth incompatible within Tolkien’s world?

With the lack of actual reason and qualification, I have tried to guess it through the winner.

I am Natalie, Queen of Erebor and Wife of Thorin Oakenshield. I am standing with Thorin on our bedroom balcony, in my nightgown with the view from Erebor behind us. This is after the Battle of the five armies and I have just told Thorin that I am pregnant.

The drawing is beautiful so I don’t have any complain there. The winner created her OC as the Queen of Erebor and Thorin’s wife. The illustration is quite romantic, she was also inspired by Agmir's Seasick fanfiction, a self-insert fanfiction with Thorin/Reader.

The concept is pretty average but quite romantic. I've been reading various fanfics for more than a decade, surely self-insert, OC and reader-insert have become common things in various fandoms. Many readers like to project themselves to be paired with fictional characters with charming appearance.

Apart from that, the role of a queen and someone’s wife is also quite common in the Tolkien’s world. Natalie has a role that most of the female characters there have had, as a queen and a loving wife. She stayed inside the palace, welcoming Thorin in their bedroom, giving him happy news of her pregnancy.

Is it this average role that trumps the (so-called) unique role of my OC?

Natalie wears nightgown (feminity) whereas Megileth wears armor (masculinity).

Natalie fits so well in the world of Tolkien whereas Megileth might be trying too hard to be special in that world.

I’m not criticizing the role of Natalie, being a wife and stay-at-home mom does not make you an inferior woman (the funny thing is, I am dreaming of that life right now). But do you think that Megileth is a Mary Sue… as a female character who wants to get a role in the major event of Nirnaeth Arnœdiad?

Was that what the judges thought at the time?

Another interesting thing behind Megileth's story is that initially, I intended to make a female elf OC as a healer.

…the arts of healing, and all that touches on the care of the body, are among the Eldar most practised by the nissi (women)…

- (Morgoth's Ring, "The Second Phase", Laws and Customs Among the Eldar, pages 209-214)

Had Megileth been a healer (perhaps her name might not be “Megileth”) as I had considered back then, would she fit better in the world of Tolkien? Would I have a chance to win?

It was early 2016, although the term "woke" has already been around back then, it was not yet a trend as it is today. I also wonder, is it possible that the judges at that time become woke today if this contest was held this year?

Or perhaps they themselves actually despise the 'woke culture'.

Afterall, it was just a small contest, something that I no longer need to ponder about it.

Most obvious woke culture in these days can be seen in various Hollywood reboots and Dysney’s live actions (particularly, the princesses).

Looking at those princesses and their portrayal in live actions, looking at Mulan in her 2020 live actions version… perhaps a character like Megileth is finally able to get her time to shine.

But expect the criticisms that might attack her as well.

Megileth and Tauriel

Reflecting on this made me think of Tauriel, she is an OC created by Peter Jackson in The Hobbits film trilogy. Tauriel was a wood-elf (silvan) of Mirkwood and captain of the Elven guard of Thranduil’s Woodland Realm. Throughout the film, a subplot develops involving romance between her and Kíli.

The introduction of Tauriel brought quite a cacophony to the fans, various criticisms had attacked her conception. Just like my OC, she got ‘special’ position that isn’t common for the female elves in Tolkien’s world, as a warrior and head of the Woodland Realm guard.

Tauriel’s portrayal in PJ’s The Hobbits struck her like a double edged sword. The canon extremists criticized Tauriel's status as a female warrior and leader of Thranduil’s elven guard, “Tolkien did not write his female elves like that!” On the other hand, feminists also criticized her for being the love interest, “her love story with Kíli was unnecessary!”

There is a legit criticism regarding Tauriel’s character but there is also fan who defended her in the movies, that her existence has brought improvement for The Hobbits.

Tauriel was probably one of the woke characters who came really earlier.

We may not be able to create a perfect character. Among appreciations for your character, there will definitely be criticisms that accompany it. I think, it is enough for us to be happy that the characters we make successfully bring the attention.

As if someone would care about my OC Megileth XD

Self-Insert and Mary Sue

Why do people write SIs? Because to write a decent main character, you need to have a good idea of who you're writing, and everybody knows themselves well enough to write about. A Self-Insert is not only the easiest character to write about, it is the default character to write about. This is particularly prevalent in fanfic, where the setting is already filled in, and the inspiration comes from someone automatically applying their default character. You have to deliberately create an original story, but a Self-Insertion fanfic writes itself (at least loosely).

Going for an SI over an OC can be a lazy choice, and if that laziness continues to the rest of the work, it can be an indicator of a poor story, but this isn't a flaw inherent to SI stories so much as SIs simply having a lower entry bar.

A Self-Insert is also generally considered to be a fair character to write about. ...An SI is assumed to be an audience member, an 'everyman' to some reasonable degree (even if it is assumed that gun-enthusiasts like to write stories in which guns exist, and so on), and this is a key detail. There's never a hard rule on what's considered wanky, but everyone agrees on a gut level that it's fair to write a story on the premise of “this is what I would do in this situation”. Fanfic is often written on the premise of an altered, different or additional protagonist doing things differently/better/more interestingly than the original story, and the use of an everyman as protagonist is usually considered a fair standard, as it usually below the accepted 'power level' of the setting. ...Even the addition of meta-knowledge, whilst sometimes absurdly potent, is sufficiently within the domain of 'the everyman' that people will read it without harming their SoD, so long as there is a tolerable excuse for why that knowledge is present (though many people do include it as their one unicorn).

Furthermore, there is sometimes an element of challenge to it. Many competent original writers avoid giving their protagonists the idiot ball by making a situation really, really crappy. Thus it becomes for many a question of “can I write an interesting story in which the problem is solved better than in canon?” So not only is the SI trying to do a better job than the original characters, the SI-writer themself is trying to do a better job than the original writer.

To be honest, I think the clearest indicator of a Mary Sue is when they stop being an 'everyman', and start being someone whom the audience cannot bring themselves to relate to.

...A non-Mary Sueish Self-Insert is narratively justified. Narrative justification is easier when the character isn't highly-competent, uncommonly popular, or possessed of traits that would not be expected to come about naturally from the circumstances of that story or character, but I feel that the ability of the story to make any oddities of the characters, setting or plot seem reasonable, logical and believable is the ultimate determiner of whether a protagonist is a Mary Sue.

– frozenchicken, from ‘Sufficient Velocity’ forum.

The contest that I participated in was to make a self-insert character (a character based on yourself), in Tolkien’s world.

Megileth is a character that I created based on myself and what was on my mind (at that time).

I was into prominent female figures (be it in fiction or in history), therefore I also wanted to make a character that fits into that.

The idea of Megileth was also influenced after I read several times about the criticisms of Tolkien’s female characters.

…it becomes for many a question of “can I write an interesting story in which the problem is solved better than in canon?” So not only is the SI trying to do a better job than the original characters, the SI-writer him/herself is trying to do a better job than the original writer…

Perhaps I accidentally made Megileth an improved female character of Tolkien, something that is very trending in the circle of feminism today (Hollywood reboots & Dysney’s live-actions) but very much despised by canon purists and casual audiences.

And the judges may have thought that “Megileth can’t be Tolkien’s character,” “Megileth is Mary Sue,” etc (despite her weaknesses and my careful survey not to defy the canon).

I was considering Megileth as a healer, there are many female elves in Tolkien’s world who are healers, according to “Of the Laws and Customs Among the Eldar”:

The scholiast claims that most female Elves do not fight or kill, because it diminishes healing power in which they have chosen to specialize, and that those male Elves who are healers "abstained from hunting, and went not to war until the last need."

Going by the ‘canon’ rules, Megileth as healer can’t be a warrior, she cannot go to war unless until the last need.

Megileth as a healer would lowkey reflect my childhood aspiration to be a doctor. But for a self-insert character (based on myself), she would hardly reflect me at the time (in early 2016). Because by then, I had long neglected my old aspiration that is already impossible to realize.

I thought that ‘Megileth as an elf warrior and advisor’ would reflect me better than ‘Megileth as a healer’.

Then, comparing Megileth with Natalie (the winner) without knowing what the reasons were from the judges regarding the result, I can only assume that Megileth failed to portray Tolkien’s (female) character while Natalie did it very well.

I Nestad in-Edhil: The Healing of the Eldar

To be honest, I felt there was a sense of contrary to this contest. As the contest was about self-inserting, surely I created Megileth to reflect myself (as much as possible) in Tolkien’s world. Then what about the standard for not making her ‘Mary Sue’?

I didn't think about making Megileth so fit into that world, as in giving her the average roles (healers, wives/lovers/queens or handmaidens) because such a role would not reflect who I was at the time, giving her those roles would make her no longer me.

I was not in love to anyone, I did not fantasize about having romantic relationships with any fictional characters. Therefore I can’t be just <insert canon male character name here>’s lover.

Then, my solution to not making her a Mary Sue was that her fighting ability is average, that she was not the only advisor the Noldor relied on in every battlefield, that she is not an exceptionally genius but her capability is quite acknowledged, that she was involved in a losing battle (Nirnaeth Arnœdiad), and although she survived, she does not make a big name like the legendary Galadriel.

Plus, she doesn’t heal people because she can’t be a healer!

I think it was my mistake for participating in the contest, I was tempted by the gifts they offered for the winner. I shouldn't have been involved in that contest.

Self-Insert character is our personal character, they are “us if we are in a world of fiction”. There should be no character better than another. No one should win over another.

Of course my loss at the contest felt like a personal attack on me. “So I made a bad character? But that character is based on me, am I bad then?”

Since then, I have never taken part in any OC contests, especially if it's based on myself.

…an SI can be written like any other character, with flaws and mistakes, while a Mary Sue is by definition flawless.

Of course, it is perfectly possible for a character to be both an SI and a Mary Sue, and it is my understanding that this is the general state of affairs. It is something about writing about themselves that makes authors unwilling to acknowledge their flaws.

…SIs do frequently fall under the Mary Sue label, but not all SIs are Mary Sue fics, and not all Mary Sues are SIs. Thus, it is possible to write a non-MS SI, but it is not possible to write a good MS fic.

- Grey Rook, from ‘Sufficient Velocity’ forum.

Self-inserts are simply characters based on ourselves. People write SIs for the wish fulfillment and power fantasy. It depends on our imagination and how we fantasize, it is possible to make realistic self-insert without making them a Mary Sue, but there will always be a risk of turning your self-insert into Mary Sue.

I think it's not really fair to use “Self-Insert theme” as a contest, it would be better to have it as an event. Artists and writers can have fun with their self-inserts without having to win or lose, without having to feel that their characters are better or worse than the others.

#tolkien elves #oc contest #mary sue #feminism #woke culture #self insert #female character #tauriel #lotr oc #silmarillion #the hobbits #lord of the rings #tolkien elf #elf oc #tolkien oc #wokeness #bad timing #my thoughts #personal thoughts

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russingon · 5 years

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THE NOBLE-FLAME: EREINION GIL-GALAD AS AEGNOR AND ANDRETH’S SON

as a result of a combination of tolkien changing his mind and later editorial choices, the parentage of gil-galad is ever a point of questioning and concern. as high king of the noldor, a hereditary role, it’s a bizarre problem to have. kingship of this kind is obviously based on a solid birthright claim to the throne. the published silmarillion lists gil-galad as the son of fingon, while later versions call him the son of orodreth. both of these are unsatisfying for a number of reasons, mostly because gil-galad is not canonically incorporated into the narratives of either of those characters. there are a number of theories as to the true parentage of gil-galad, but a rather obvious answer which is often overlooked is gil-galad being the son of andreth saelind and aegnor.

i’ve compiled a list of reasons why this back story for gil-galad would make sense below the cut:

1) there is reason to think that gil-galad is arafinwean, regardless of who his specific father is. both orodreth and finrod were, at different times, considered by tolkien as gil-galad’s father and, before it was edited by christopher tolkien to be consistent with the published silmarillion, the mariner’s wife referred to him as a member of the house of finarfin. being aegnor’s son would allow gil-galad to remain arafinwean, without removing finrod’s love and devotion to amarië or providing orodreth with another child inexplicably kept separate from finduilas.

2) gil-galad’s father-name is artanáro. while already a terribly arafinwean sounding name (of course artanáro belongs in the same house as artanis, artaresto, and artafinde), it is incredibly close to aegnor’s mother-name, aikanáro, meaning “the fell-fire” or “the sharp-flame”. “artanáro”, roughly meaning “the noble/exalted/lofty flame”, seems easily related to both the house of arafinwe and to aegnor himself, particularly given that father-names seem often to declare something about lineage (read: the fëanorians).

3) while, canonically speaking, andreth and aegnor were supposedly never married, we know that they were in love. that they conceived a child together (which, to the standard of aegnor’s people, though not necessarily andreth’s, would make them very much married) is no ridiculous stretch. part of the canonical tragedy of andreth and aegnor is that as the eldar are not technically meant to marry in times of war and thus, while they are in love, they do not get to be together and live out andreth’s days side by side as do other mortal and immortal pairs. part of this fate is aegnor’s choice, one that andreth laments in the athrabeth finrod ah andreth, but, if you ask me, a secret marriage seems precisely like the sort of thing two people who felt that their love was forbidden or that they were running out of time would do. it would not negate that andreth and aegnor were not able to spend much of their time together. if andreth and aegnor were married, it’s quite possible they were married in the way of the noldor and not in the way of the house of bëor (more crudely, they swore themselves to each other and slept together, but did not make public vows or ceremonies).

4) gil-galad being andreth’s son would explain why gil-galad is not much on the scene at all until the kingship comes to him. as we’ve said, he’s not really integrated into fingon or orodreth’s narratives very well, which is explained as him having been “sent away for safekeeping”, but that is a bit strange especially if he is orodreth’s son. the explanation that this parentage would provide is that andreth raised her son among her own people, meaning that for the first sixty odd years of his life, gil-galad is not involved much in-narrative simply because he doesn’t live among elves or operate in elvish society. andreth and aegnor’s deaths would be the event that triggers him moving into the elvish political and societal scene. he’s still very young when he’s crowned king, of course, but gil-galad being peredhel (and thus coming of age faster) could explain why the noldor felt confident making so shockingly young an elf king.

5) this would also provide some explanation as to any in-universe confusion (that the fandom is forever fond of speculating over) about gil-galad’s parentage. because if aegnor and andreth’s marriage was never publicly known, there might be some attempt to think of him as orodreth’s or angrod’s, arafinweans whom we know to have been married. an interesting idea is that because andreth was dark haired, her son might also have been, thus potentially leading to belief that gil-galad was, in fact, nolofinwean. given the place elrond seems to later hold in society, it seems unlikely that gil-galad being peredhel, even if it was publicly known, would really be a problem for people.

in conclusion, while all different gil-galad theories are interesting and valid, this one doesn’t get as much attention as it might, which is curious given that it answers a lot of the questions surrounding gil-galad and actually works quite nicely with the canon in many ways. it places gil-galad as a direct descendant of finwe, puts him in the house of finarfin, and makes his claim on the kingship very clear.

#andreth/aegnor #andreth #aegnor #gil-galad #silm #meta #mine

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theartofbeinganeldar · 4 years

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The Art of Being An Eldar: Legolas x Reader Chapter 3

Summary: You, a fantasy-loving LARPing human from Earth, got dropped into a fantasy land that seems familiar to you, but you had no recollection of it. Lord Fabulous Elvenking gave you three days to find the portal that would take you home with the aide of Blue-Eyes and a host of Elves, but what you found instead was the portal was closed for another thousand years. On the way back, you saved Legolas's life, prompting Thranduil to grant you freedom, and after, you finally realized where you were; Middle-Earth. Thranduil summons the council, which is made up of powerful wizards and Elves, to decide what should be done with you...

Chapter No.: Chapter 3

Key: [Y/N]=Your Name [F/N]= Friend's Name [B/N]= Bro's Name [S/N]= Sis's Name [M/N]= Mom's Name [e/c]= eye color [h/c]= hair color [s/c]= skin color

Notes: I think Pippin's song matches the reader's situation very much, which is why I use it so often. I mean, your character fell from everything they know, their "home," and now they can't go back, but now they have this whole magical world and life ahead of them... Grief and sorrow, but things to look forward to in the future.

Warnings: Fluff, angst, graphic depictions of gore and violence (Cuz of orc battles y'know?), more angst, slow burn, some light depression in the first few chapters, some amnesia about Middle-Earth because the Valar say you're not supposed to have foresight, hard-core language, feels, lots and lots of feels, mentions of NSFW content, maybe some eventual NSFW content, LGTBQ+ characters, Thranduil being a jackass at first because he's fabulous, Legolas being a hot edgy prince that nobody can handle, Kili being an innocent bean, Hobbits being smol innocent beans, except for Bilbo 'cause he's been through some tough shit, Bard being dad of the year, Thorin being one dumbass boi, The fucking Silmarillion, awesome dragons, awesome Nazgul, awesome scenery, awesome stuff in general, Elrond isn't listened to by anybody, confused Aragorn is confused, Denethor's a bitch as always, brace yourself for creepy as fuck Cream of Wormtongue Grima Wormtongue, Boromir lives, Gandalf. (yes these are all legit warnings don't judge me.)

Pairings/Ships: Legolas x Reader, Legolas x you, Aragorn x Arwen, Faramir x Eowyn, Thranduil x Elvenqueen, Galadriel x Celery Celeborn, Boromir x OC, Thorin x OC, Fili x OC, etc. general LoTR standard shippings plus some of my own cuz I can't stand my boys being lonely

Word Count: I try to keep my chapters short, under 2000 words.

Rating: Teen (14+) for now

When you woke up, you found yourself blinded by a stupidly bright light that singed your retinas off. "What the hell?" You shielded your eyes as you tried to find the source.

Oh.

It was Thranduil, and beside him, Legolas, the two so bright they could be hung on your porch as bug-zappers.

Ohhhh...

You were in Middle-Earth. Right. Without any memory of it except for bits and pieces. You did remember that you'd watched the movies so many times that you could've recited each line in your sleep and then some, but you couldn't remember anything but what pieces you randomly dreamed of or remembered, which were already starting to fade.

"Hi. Can I help you with something in my half-starved state?"

Blue-Eyes desperately fought a smirk. Thranduil was less impressed. "My son tells me you lost consciousness because of a lack of sustenance. What sort of repayment is that for my favor to you, may I ask?"

You cocked an eyebrow. "Excuse the fuck outta you, Thrandy, but I just learned about a week and a half ago I'd never see my family again. Forgive me if I got upset."

Blue-Eyes turned his head away, trying really hard not to laugh...

"Also," You went on with a forced cocky smile, "I just learned that I'm in Middle-Earth. Where I come from, all this-- the palace, the land, even your fancy Elven toilets-- were created by some old guy called J. R. R. Tolkien, collectively referred to as 'Jrrt.' Now, I don't remember a goddamn thing except for bits and pieces of dialogue and song, even though I knew the stories by heart."

Thranduil and Blue-Eyes-- who was no longer trying not to laugh-- eyed each other suspiciously. "You knew of this place in your world?"

You nodded. "It's very well-known. But, everybody thinks it's fiction. Unaccesible. And be glad about that, too, because if there were a well-known way to get here, there'd be lots of war, new diseases, and this place would be turned to shit, too."

Thranduil stared at you for a minute, before abruptly turning to Legolas. "Son, I am off to the throne room. I shall summon the council at once."

You waited until he left to ask what that meant.

Blue-Eyes smiled slightly. "Meaning, he is not quite certain what should be done with you. The council is made up of some of the oldest and wisest of Middle-Earth, including the wizards and those of my kin, Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn of Lothlorien, and Elrond Half-Elven of Rivendell. Do any of those names sound familiar to you?"

You shrugged. "It doesn't matter if they sound familiar or not. I never remember what anybody looks like. I just get an eerie sense of deja vu."

Blue-Eyes raised an eyebrow. "Deja... Vu?"

You sat up more, rolling your eyes. "It means having a sense of familiarity, like, really strongly. Whatever. Tell me who the wizards are."

Blue-Eyes sat at the end of your bed. "The most powerful of the wizards is Saruman the White, who resides in Isengard, on the edge of Fangorn Forest and the Gap of Rohan. The second is Mithrandir, who is most commonly known as Gandalf the Gray by most folk. The third is the much less-known-of and reclusive Radagast the Brown, but I doubt my father will request his presence; he dislikes his excessive behavior." He raised an eyebrow. "Have you heard of them?"

You nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah. So if I'm an Elf, do I like, have to learn how to act like an Elf, or should you let these really important people decide what to do after they've seen who I am?"

"The latter," Blue-Eyes specified, "But it would still be beneficial to learn Elvish. It should take them quite awhile to arrive; between now and then, you should learn as much of it as possible, after I've given you a tour of Mirkwood."

You made a wheel-like motion with your hands. "After I've eaten and taken a bath, I know."

Blue-Eyes patted your leg. A jolt of electricity shot from where he touched you. What the hell? "Good," He stood and started to leave the room. "I will leave you to your own; there is food on the nightstand, and after, a bath across the bridge there," He pointed, and as you looked across the way seen Elves.

Bathing.

Blushing, you looked to Blue-Eyes wildly. "I-I'm supposed to take a bath with other people."

Blue-Eyes frowned in confusion. "Do you not, from your world?"

"Um, no. We all bathe alone. Where I come from, one's own body is considered... Private, to everybody except your doctor or significant other."

"Oh, I see. I could have a private bath prepared for you, if you wish for it," He answered with a smile. "Even here, we may want to bathe on our own to relax. It would not be a problem." He sneered down at you. "I would not want you bathing in the shared springs anyway. You'd dirty the whole lot of them."

With a very childish glare, you stuck your tongue out at him, causing him to have the oddest look he'd had yet. You'd noticed something about him; he had the unique ability to create a range of dynamically comical expressions. "What are you doing?"

You took up a dramatically serious tone. "I am expressing the 'fuck you' gesture in an immature and childish manner used worldwide, even among the youngest." With that, you stuck your tongue out again.

Legolas rolled his eyes. "Very well, then, Sairen, your bath will be ready for you when you are finished with your meal. I will send someone for you in an hour, if that suits you."

"That suits me perfectly fine, but I beg your fucking pardon, was that 'fuck you' in Elvish?"

Legolas grinned. "Not at all, mellon. It means 'fiery' in our tongue."

"Okay." A wry smile spread across your face. "That I can deal with. But what does 'melon' mean? Both you and Tauriel have called me that so far."

Legolas smiled as he began to close the double-doors, though what they did to block you when the room had only two-foot tall walls, you had no idea. "Mellon. It means, 'my friend.'"

A warm feeling blossomed in your chest as he smiled-- for once, genuinely-- at you. You found yourself smiling back as he closed your doors. When he was gone, your smile toned down a bit, and you took a long, deep breath.

You were still upset. Very. On the inside, you felt torn to pieces. You figured it would be a long, long time before you grief lessened, if it ever did. But now that you knew where you were... It was different. You were sure of something. Where you were, and the fact that the Firemoon Portal would only open every thousand years. If you went back then, you'd already be connected to this world, and everyone in it. If time passed the same, your family would be gone, and you'd be mortal again, without a way to wait for the portal to reopen so that you could return to your new friends here.

But... You knew your family. They'd never forget you, and never stop grieving your loss. But, if they thought you might be somewhere better than Earth, and there was no way back... They'd want you to be happy. They'd want you to make a new life. They wouldn't want you to waste your life starving yourself.

You'd miss them... More than anything...

But for now...

You moved the silver platter on your nightstand to your lap, and started eating.

Home is behind...

The world ahead...

And there are many paths to tread...

***

"No, no," Tauriel corrected you. "Mae govannen."

"Mae govAHnnen."

Tauriel bit back an exasperated sigh. "Well... You're close enough."

You'd been in Mirkwood for nearly a month now, not counting the days of your imprisonment and searching for the portal. You wondered what made Thranduil (Who you still called 'Lord Fabulous' on occassion.) release you and treat you as an Elf, and as it turns out, it was Blue-Eyes himself.

Speaking of, you hadn't seen him in days... He kind of... Disappeared. There was still talk of him, and no one seemed to be worried, so you weren't; for Elves that lived forever, you bet anything that he had princely exploring and regular adventuring to do to keep him occupied.

Around the time he left, Tauriel approached you and asked if you knew any Elvish. Aside from sairen and mellon, you knew less than zero. Apparently, it was considered good Elven manners to at least speak a greeting to guests in their own language, despite what Leggy had said. Meaning, to different members of the council, you had to speak a greeting in Quenyan-- which was different from Sindarin, the most common Elvish language-- Common, and Sindarin. You'd memorized the lines, but it was the pronunciation that really befuddled your non-billingual ass.

Now, you'd pretty much gotten the Quenyan greeting: Mae govannen. It meant well met or something along those lines, but you had to add Lord Elrond Half-Elven of Rivendell. I am at your service. Which was much longer and much more complicated. All in all, it pretty much came out to, Mae govannen, Cundo Elrond Peresta-Elda mi Arcimbele. Nanye ketya veume.

English (Common.) was equally as long: Greetings, Gandalf the Gray, Mithrandir, and Saruman the White of Isengard. Welcome to these halls. I am at your service as well, should you need it.

And lastly, to Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn, you had to say the most: And ana lye, Heri Galadriel and Cundo Celeborn, elen sila lumenn omentielvo. Nanye aistana et ketya toled.

And to you, Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn, a star shines upon the hour of our meeting. I am blessed from your coming.

It was all a mouthful. A regal, elegant mouthful, but a mouthful that your tongue had trouble forming. In addition to all the greetings, you had to address them each in order; first Elrond, then the wizards, then Galadriel and Celeborn at once.

They'd arrived a few days ago, but you hadn't actually been summoned yet. You wondered what Thranduil had told them about you so far. He seemed like the type to exaggerate and make shit up: They're nothing but an abomination! They almost killed Legolas! They tried to kill me! They're dangerous and should be restrained! They toilet-papered my throne room!

The elaborate horns blowing signaled something evidently important; Tauriel's face lit up. "Mellon, it is Legolas! He has returned!"

Despite yourself, your heart jumped like a schoolgirl's. Blue-Eyes was back! "Really?! How do I look? Does it look like I've been taking care of myself?" Legolas would kill you if you weren't. Over the weeks, the blue hair dye had left your hair, returning it to its [h/c] color, even if you did still spike it up-- you'd been an outcast your whole life, so having short spiky hair when everybody else had long, flowing hair made you feel at home. You were dressed in dark browns, nearly blacks, in an outfit very similar to a tunic over leggings, knee-high boots, and all finished up with a long jacket, closed with Elven buckles.

"You look fine, [Y/N]," Tauriel assured you absentmindedly, and the two of you trotted down the many, many stairs and bridges to get to the massive front doors of the palace.

Thranduil and a host of other Elves were greeting Legolas, who looked as if he'd been in Sparkle Land for the last couple weeks. His clothes were in prestine condition. His hair was perfectly plaited away from his face. He wore a faint smile, as if whatever he'd been doing hadn't been stressful at all.

You and Tauriel arrived just as Thranduil finished speaking. "And you failed to locate them?"

Legolas held himself regally. "My apologies, my king. It will not happen again."

Thranduil glared down at him. "I should hope not. You will leave again in three days' time, after you have properly greeted our guests." As Thranduil spun on his heel to leave, Blue-Eyes bowed, rising up again as he seen you and Tauriel.

"Tauriel," He said, his face lighting up. She bowed slightly; apparently Elves didn't hug. He grinned snarkily when he seen you. "And [Y/N]. Last I saw you, your hair was strangely sky-hued."

You scoffed. "You can't even say sky-colored? You have to say sky-hued? Stupid Elves and their fancy ways. Good to see ya anyway, Blue-Eyes, even if you're a priss."

"I believe you mean prince."

You laughed, but it faded when he turned to Tauriel and started speaking in Elvish. He lead her away, talking, leaving you on your own. Your face fell. You wanted to tell him that you knew some greetings. You wanted to say you wanted to go with him when he left again. And the fact that you were already alone here only amplified the feeling of... Jealousy? Disappointment?

You watched them leave for a minute, before deciding you'd take a walk in the Mirkwood-- maybe it'd clear your mind. You nearly rammed into an Elf in turning around. "Whoops."

"Nothing to apologize for," the Elf said; thankfully, they'd caught on to Earth slang and understood you most of the time, instead of just assuming you were insulting them. "Thranduil Elvenking has summoned you to his councilroom. The council awaits you."

Your mouth went dry. All the feelings about Legolas ignoring you vanished in an instant. Oh shit. "I-I don't know where that is. You'll take me there, right?"

"Of course," Said the Elf, and lead the way through the twisting halls. He stopped before the one room of the palace that was actually sealed off from the rest besides the dungeons, with doors almost as big as the ones that lead out of the palace. "Here you are. They're waiting for you." He smiled slightly. "A word of advice for the introductions: let King Thranduil introduce you to them before you say your greetings." You bowed slightly in the Elven way as you thanked him.

You'd be lying if you said you weren't nervous as hell. Meeting a bunch of people, really important people... You'd met some important people before: soldiers were the main ones you'd met, aside from a couple of astronauts. Other than that...

Taking a hugely amplified deep breath, you opened the door.

Inside was a wide winding staircase lit by gorgeously-crafted Elven wall sconces of stained glass and copper metalwork shaped into vines. Every step seemed to echo, and when you reached the top of the staircase, your breath was ripped from you. It was a pavilion. A pavilion in the one place you loved above all else: the sky.

Rails kept anybody from falling off, and it was roofed, so that you could come up here even in the rain. Birds chirped melodiously, and from here, you felt as if you could see all of Middle-Earth. Behind you was a huge mountain range-- you'd never seen mountains before. They were beautiful, snow-capped, and gigantic; the Misty Mountains, obviously. All around you, stretching as far as you could see south and a long way east and west and north, was the Mirkwood, and to the west and north were vast plains, hills, and valleys. Leaves, gold and copper, swirled around the pavilion, giving it an ethereal look. To the west, where you were facing, was a silver lake, wide and glittering in the midday sun. Standing tall and proud beside it was Erebor, home to the King Under the Mountain; currently, Thror. You didn't know why that name seemed so important, though.

You must've turned around in at least a dozen three-sixties, trying to take in what you were seeing. Even if you didn't remember most of it, here you were. You were seeing it, for real and for true, in person, in the home of one of the most revered Elves of Middle-Earth. It seemed unreal, like at any moment, you'd wake up.

A bird, queerly tame, flitted up by your face and up into the rafters; she carried food for her young, and you watched them with a smile, still in disbelief of the views.

A long sigh snapped you out of your trance. Shit. Thranduil waved at you absentmindedly. "Are you daft, vermin? I just introduced you to the council."

"O-oh--"

"Now, now, Thranduil," A wizard chuckled warmly; he wore blue and gray robes, with an immense beard and long hair. Gandalf. "If they really are of another world, then they are obviously stunned by the land. Have you not shown them their new home properly?"

Thranduil nobly facepalmed.

Meanwhile, you realized that it wasn't just Gandalf sitting there smoking his pipe.

Another wizard, this one with long, straight white hair and an equally perfect white beard, in blinding white robes with a white staff: Saruman the White. You didn't know why you got bad vibes from this guy. Beside him sat another Elf, casually, an ankle on his knee and an elbow resting on his higher leg to hold up his head with two fingers. He wore robes of brown and purple, and his long brown hair was held back with a silver Elvish circlet. That had to be Elrond; he looked amused, so you felt kind of relieved. On his left sat a guy who practically glowed, with long blonde hair and white and blue robes. Celeborn. Standing off to the side, with a kind smile like Gandalf, in a billowy white dress with a beautiful Elven circlet made of fine chains and teardrop jewels was a woman, a she-Elf, putting off wisdom-vibes stronger than Gandalf's. Her curling golden hair went well past her waist, and she held herself regally. Out of everyone in this room, she seemed to be the oldest, and the most knowledgeable.

Your Elvish greetings flew right out of your head for a minute, before Thranduil reintroduced you. "This is the council. With us are wizards Saruman the White and Gandalf the Gray, Lord Elrond of House Rivendell, and Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn of Lothlorien. Councilmembers, this is [Y/N], the one who appeared from a portal we knew nothing of-- and if I must repeat this once more, I swear to the Valar, I shall throw you off of this pavilion."

Gandalf actually chuckled at that, as did Elrond, while Celeborn cracked a smile. Galadriel seemed to find this all regally amusing. You bowed like Tauriel had showed you. At least, you'd mastered that part. "Mae govannen, Cundo Elrond Peresta-Elda mi Arcimbele. Nanye ketya veume. Greetings, Gandalf the Gray, Mithrandir, and Saruman the White of Isengard. Welcome to these halls. I am at your service as well, should you need it. And ana lye, Heri Galadriel and Cundo Celeborn, elen sila lumenn omentielvo. Nanye aistana et ketya toled."

Elrond looked impressed. "Well, Thranduil, you have certainly trained them well." Thranduil watched you with wide eyes. He hadn't known of your lessons. Suck it, Lord fucking Fabulous.

Celeborn bowed his head. "Your pronunciation is nearly perfect. Well done, young one. However, I doubt you know much else of our tongue yet, so for your sake, we shall converse in Common, if that suits you."

You almost said, It does. Thanks! But that sounded too disrespectful. "Thank you very much." You smiled, and took a seat when Thranduil waved you to the only empty one aside from Galadriel's.

Saruman started off with a wary tone. "Thranduil tells us you come from another world. Is this true?"

Out of the corner of your eyes, you seen Thranduil roll his eyes. "Yes, sir. I come from a place called Earth."

The councilmembers exchanged glances. "That sounds strikingly similar to Middle-Earth," Said Gandalf, and raised an eyebrow. "Are there any similarities between this world, and yours?"

You shook your head sadly. "Not anymore. My people ruined it. There aren't many places like this anymore."

Saruman stiffened. "Then what happens if your people find the portal? Surely, they will try to ruin this, as well?"

You made a face. "They would, yeah, but my people are also really stupid. It'd take a stupid accident and a lot of chance to fall through that portal again, and Legolas said that it only opened once every time a Firemoon happens."

"Legolas?" Elrond asked, curiously, as if this hadn’t been mentioned before. Of course it hadn’t.

You nodded, unsure of why you suddenly had to fight a flush at the mention of his name. "He helped me find the portal with some of his Elven friends when I first got here. We found writing-- he said it was used before the time of even Gondolin. I don't know when that is; is that a long time ago?"

"Very," Replied Gandalf. "Odd... A portal of that magnitude would have to be created by wizards of some sort, especially at such a time..."

A thought suddenly popped into your head. "Some people think we have magic," You piped up, and all eyes were suddenly on you. "But it never works. Not effectively. Just standard hocus-pocus and the power of suggestion. But hundreds of years ago, there was this really mysterious guy who they say really did have magic, which he used to help others. His name was Merlin; he looked kinda like you, Gandalf. But he was in another country, where I come from; where I was when I fell wasn't anywhere near where he traveled."

Saruman narrowed his bird-like eyes. "Then what relevance is this?"

"Because if there was one wizard like you guys in the past," You pointed out, "Why couldn't there be others? There's so much we don't know about history-- we're more intent on wiping out what we don't understand. What if the wizards traveled between worlds and time? Hell, they could be you guys from the future, and it just hasn't happened yet."

"They have a point, Saruman," Gandalf agreed, much to your relief. You didn't think they'd understand the concept of time travel.

"There is nothing we can do about the portal now," Elrond said decisively. "It is closed, and if we tried to destroy it, we could only do damage. It is an easy enough position to defend; should an army come through, they'd have only one entryway."

"Says who?" Saruman challenged. "There could be other portals we do not know of, some that people have not had the misfortune of falling into yet. How do we know that this invader is not a spy to seek out these portals and prepare them for war?"

You fought a sigh. Damn this small-minded son of a bitch... You tried to think of something smart ass to say, but nothing fit the situation.

"They are not, Saruman." Lady Galadriel's voice was sudden, light, and smooth, like honey. It radiated outward with an undeniable power that could make anybody listen to her. "Their thoughts do not lead there." Shit. I mean crap. I mean dang. Mind reader. "They are afraid, and worried... They miss the family they left behind, but they are willing to make a life here, since they have no way of returning."

You nodded. "My thanks, my lady."

Lady Galadriel bowed her head in response.

"Build a life?" Saruman inspected you carefully from where he sat. "You are nothing but an infiltrator. Why should we allow you a place among the citizens of Middle-Earth?"

"It does not have to be here," Thranduil pointed out, and your heart shot to your ankles. "You have an unfortunate habit of collecting needy strays, Elrond; why don't you take them with you when you return to Rivendell?"

Elrond shot him a glare.

Um, I think the fuck not. Lady Galadriel, tell them I say no! Tell them I want to stay here! You thought of the views, and of... of Blue-Eyes...

"Perhaps they should be isolated," Saruman said. "Somewhere they cannot concoct any mischief. Rohan is quite strict, as Gondor is watchful. Either would suffice. Perhaps centuries of isolation in Isengard itself would keep them in line."

"Maybe the Shire would be good for them," Gandalf said. "The hobbits are quite peaceful little creatures. Then again, if isolation is what we are looking for, then Laketown couldn't be better. Or Dale; the dwarves don't let anyone commit any mischief from Erebor."

I don't want to leave...

"Lothlorien would perhaps be suitable," Celeborn added. "Or, maybe even the mines of Moria. I do not have much love for dwarves, but they would be kind enough to them."

"What," Interrupted Galadriel, "Does the subject of our conversation think of this?"

Silence fell. You took a deep breath. "I... I'd like to stay here." You seen Thranduil's head turn slowly to look at you, and you could hear him thinking, the fuck did you just say? "Please, my lord."

A tense silence fell over the room. Finally, Thranduil sighed. "I do not want you here, invader. You would have to prove your loyalty and skill beyond a shadow of a doubt."

You perked up. "Legolas is going on some super-secret missions, right? Maybe I could go with him. You trust him of all people to tell you the truth about me, right? So maybe I could prove myself then."

Thranduil thought about this for a moment. "Legolas is hunting for the orcs who are trying to overtake our borders. He found them, but he let them escape, even though they were a small group. He is leaving in three days with reinforcements; you may join him."

You almost visibly sagged with relief. Almost.

"However," Thranduil added, "If I find his report unsatisfactory, you will go with one of the councilmembers and leave Mirkwood. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good."

Elrond nodded to you. "You would have a home in Rivendell. It is the last safe haven of the Elves in Middle-Earth." He gave Thranduil a pointed sideways glance. "My people are welcoming and kind. They would be glad to have you." With a slight roll of his eyes, he gestured to Gandalf. "And of course, Mithrandir..."

Gandalf looked excited. "I would take you on my journeys with me, if you so desired. First, I would take you to the Shire. Very nice people, those hobbits. And of course, dwarves would be next."

"I thank you both," You smiled slightly, and you truly were grateful, but... "Then it is settled," Thranduil said authoritively. "Elrond, Gandalf, you are welcome to stay here until Legolas returns."

"I would be grateful," Elrond said, but Gandalf defiantly snorted. "I, dear Elvenking, already have arranged for lodgings in Laketown. Send for me once they arrive, so that I may know what I must do."

You felt buoyed a little. Gandalf didn't one-hundred-percent think you'd fail. And you wouldn't. You'd kick ass. You'd save Blue-Eyes's ass again. You'd come back triumphant, and Thranduil would have to let you stay.

Wouldn't he?

Thranduil left first with Elrond and Celeborn, followed by Gandalf and Saruman closely. Galadriel looked out over to the lake, all shiny and pretty and with her hair billowing majestically. "Why do you wish to stay among those who do not wish for your presence?"

You were stunned by the question. "I-I don't know... I've lived all my life an outcast... The hated one... I've just grown used to it. Being somewhere where people would be nice to me makes me uncomfortable. But there are a couple of people nice to me, and that's enough."

Galadriel was silent for a moment. "You think of him."

"Uhhh..."

"The prince."

You did blush this time. "I-I don't--"

"You are one of the Eldar now, mellon," Galadriel stated slowly. "Eldar only fall in love once. I have known many who have been broken by that which is unrequited. Do not be one of them."

You thought about her words for a second. "I don't love him... I don't even have like a crush on him or anything..." I've only known him for a couple days, overall.

Galadriel nodded slightly into the breeze. "Sieze it, if the chance arises. But if it does not, or if you do not think it will... I advise you to seek for a home elsewhere." You got the gist. If I do fall for him on my mission, and I know it won't go anywhere... Leave, even if I succeed.

Your heart was heavy at that thought, but you knew she was right. "Thank you, my lady."

"You need not thank a friend for giving advice." She smiled at you, and you left the pavilion with a deep bow, trying desperately not to let your heartstrings fall apart.

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ellrond · 5 years

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Of Celebrian

Having a lifetime love of Elrond means that, of course, I have a keen interest in the characters around him. Perhaps the easiest character to love, simply because of the lack of textual evidence of her and so as a reader your imagination can go wild, is Celebrian.

I have gathered all mentions of her in Tolkien’s works and they will all be undercut, with any additional information, in the hope that it will be a resource for all fans of Elrond, Celebrian, or any other character that she may have come into contact with. Please reblog if you have found it helpful, and let me know if you would like further posts like this for other characters.

This should be all you ever need to know about her all in one place!

If you have found any errors please message me. If there is any missing information please message me.

Lineage:

Celebrian is the daughter of Galadriel who is the daughter of Earwen and Finarfin (daugher of Olwe and son of Finwe), and of Celeborn the grandson of Elmo (brother to Thingol).

Through her parents she is of the Sindar, (1/2) the Noldor (1/8), the Vanyar (1/8) and the Teleri (1/4). Her extended family includes the kings of the above races. She is the great granddaughter of the first High King of the Noldor (Finwe) and the granddaughter of the remaining High King in Valinor (Finarfin). Thingol King of Doriath is her great-great uncle.

Name and appearance:

Her name means ‘Silver’ [Celeb] ‘Queen’ [Rian] in Sindarin.

No physical description of her is given. Her mother id described as taller than all other female elves in the Silmarillion, and in the Fellowship of the Ring her father is described as the same height.

In the Silmarillion Galadriel’s hair is described as having silver and gold tones almost like the Light of the Two Trees (leading to Feanor asking for strands of it) and in the Fellowship, Celeborn’s is described as silver.

The Unfinished Tales: The History of Galadriel and Celeborn

The earliest mention (in the timeline of Middle Earth) of Celebrian is found in The Unfinished Tales in the chapter called The History of Galadriel and Celeborn. In part of this telling, Amroth (later King of Lorien) is the son of Galadriel and Celeborn, however in every other telling (and even later in that chapter) he is written as the son of Amdir and is of no relation to the House of Thingol. It is also mentioned in this telling that Celeborn was actually a Telerian prince and Galadriel’s first cousin. However Christopher Tolkien points out that this contracdicts the telling of Celeborn found in the Silmarillion and the Lord of the Rings. This telling (where we find the rather comical Quenya name of Teleporno) is discounted by most because it is in direct contrast to the above publications. Christopher Tolkien points out in the text that JRR Tolkien revised this telling of Galadriel and Celeborn in the last months of his life.

In this text it states that Galadriel and Celeborn were pushed out of power in Eregion by Sauron (under the disguise of Annatar who was working closely with the powerful master smiths known as the Mirdain) between 1350-1400 Second age.

“Galadriel thereupon left Eregion and passed through Khazad-dum to Lorinand, taking with her Amroth and Celebrian; but Celeborn would not enter the mansions of the Dwarves and he remained behind in Eregion, disregarded by Celebrimbor. In Lorinand Galadriel took up rule and defence against Sauron.”

There’s a lot to unpack here, mostly regarding Celeborn. If we accept Celeborn as the kinsman of Thingol, the anti-dwarf sentiment has more context due to the role some dwarves from Nogrod played in the death of Thingol and the fall of Doriath. That’s a very long story that is described in the Silmarillion but you can get the gist of it on the Tolkien Gateway page of Doriath. Celeborn didn’t like dwarves (we see this very clearly in Fellowship as well) but Galadriel was a friend of those in Moria at this time.

The next we hear of Celebrian is in around 1800 Second Age by which time Sauron has control of Eriador save for the stronghold of Imladris on the western face of the Misty Mountains. This place was founded by Elrond, Gil Galad’s friend and herald. Gil Galad is cited in the Silmarillion as the last living son of the House of Finwe in Middle Earth being the son of Fingon, son of Fingolfin. Celeborn may have also played a role in the founding of Rivendell but, as with most things about Celeborn, it is never stated or implied, we can only infer from where he was at any given time what he actually did.

“The army that was besieging Imladris was caught between Elrond [holding Imladris] and Gil Galad [an army coming from the west], and utterly destroyed. Eriador was cleared of the enemy, but lay largely in ruins. At this time the first Council was held, and it was there determined that an Elvish stronghold in the east of Eriador should be maintained at Imladris rather than in Eregion. At that time also Gil Galad gave Vilya, the Blue Ring [the Ring of Air] to Elrond, and appointed him to be his vice-regent in Eriador [...] In its concluding passage the narrative returns to Galadriel, telling that the sea-longing grew so strong in her that she determined to leave Lorinand and to dwell near the sea. She committed Lorinand to Amroth, and passing again through Moria with Celebrian she came to Imladris. There she found him, and there they dwelt together for a long time; and it was then that Elrond first saw Celebrian, and loved her, though he said nothing of it. It was while Galadriel was in Imladris that the Council referred to above was held. But some time later Galadriel and Celeborn together with Celebrian departed from Imladris and went to the little-inhabited lands between the mouth of Gwathlo and Ethir Anduin. There they dwelt in Belfalas at the place that was afterwards called Dol Amroth; there their son Amroth at times visited them, and their company was swelled by Nandorian elves from Lorinand. It was not until far on in the Third Age, when Amroth was lost and Lorinand was in peril that Galadriel returned there in the year 1981 Third Age.”

The History of Galadriel and Celeborn tells us that Celebrian and Elrond wedded at last in 109 Third Age.

It also dates the birth of Elladan and Elrohir of 130 Third Age, and of Arwen Undomiel in 241 Third Age.

The Elessar

The History of Galadriel and Celeborn in the Unfinished Tales also tells us of the Elessar and how it came to be in Arwen’s possession. Two tellings of the Elessar there are and described below.

The Elessar was first crafted in Gondolin by an elf smith named Enerdhil. He made a green jewel within which the light of the sun was captured when the sun was still young. It was set in the shape of an eagle with outstretched wings. He gave it to Idril the daughter of Turgon the king, and she wore it with delight. IT carried the power of healing and prosperity and she then gave it to Earendil the Mariner her son. He eventually left his home of Sirion and passed into the West. The full story of his life is told in the Silmarillion, and you can get an overview of it here. Earendil is the father of Elrond and Elros. When Olorin (Gandalf) came to Middle Earth in the Third Age, he brought it with him from the West. It is told that Yavanna gave it to him as a sign to those in Middle Earth that the Valar had not forsaken them. He took it to Galadriel who was in Thranduil’s kingdom of Mirkwood at that time and gave it to her for safekeeping. He told her:

“It is not for you to posses. You shall hand it on when the time comes. For before you grow weary, and at last forsake Middle Earth one shall come who is to receive it, and his name shall be that of the stone; Elessar he shall be called.”

And so in this telling it passed from Idril to Earendil to Gandalf, and in the Third Age to Galadriel and then to Aragorn who fulfilled the prophecy. In this telling it bypassed Celebrian.

The second telling agrees that the Elessar was first made by Enerdhil and ended up in Earendil’s possession and thus left Middle Earth. This one, however, states that a second one was created by Celebrimbor in Eregion before he made the Three Rings. Celebrimbor made it for Galadriel as Galadriel was distressed by the swift passing of life in Middle Earth and the decaying of living things so quickly and she wished to prolong life and help it thrive. She wanted a land of her own where life lasted longer and flourished. Celebrimbor told her:

“You know that I love you, though you turned to Celeborn of the trees and for that love I will do what I can, if haply by my art your grief can be lessened.”

Celebrimbor knew Enerdhil in the old days and knew of the Elessar, and so set about creating a gem to echo it. He too made a jewel of green and in it captured the light of the sun, so that it emitted light as if the sun was shining through the leaves of the trees. It was set again in the shape of an eagle with outstretched wings. It, like the first, had the power of healing and prolonging good life and Galadriel used it and “all things grew fair” about her. It was the greatest of Celebrimbor’s work, surpassed only by the Three Rings. When he gave to her Nenya one of the Three, Galadriel had no further need for the Elessar and she gave it to Celebrian at that time. This was after Celebrimbor had discovered that Sauron had forged the one ring in 1600 Second Age, and he had travelled to Lorinand [later know as Lothlorien] to seek her council. At this time we know Celebrian was with her, and so it was then that Galadriel was given Nenya and Celebrian was given the Elessar. Celebrian would have had it the first time she arrived in Rivendell.

In Fellowship we learn that Celebrian passed it onto Arwen at some point, but that it came back to Galadriel’s possession.

It is worth noting that in The History of Middle Earth we learn that it is customary for the family of the bride to give the groom a jewel prior to a wedding, and so the passing of it to Aragorn by Galadriel is not just fulfilling Gandalf’s prophecy but also a prophecy in itself of the marriage of Arwen and Aragorn. Galadriel gave it in Celebrian’s absence.

Lord of the Rings

Outside of the appendices Celebrian is rarely mentioned.

“Long had [Arwen] been in the land of her mother’s kin, in Lorien beyond the mountains.” - Many Meetings, Fellowship of the Ring

“Elladan and Elrohir were out upon errantry; for they rode often far afield with the Rangers of the North, never forgetting their mother’s torment in the den of the orcs.” - Many Meetings, Fellowship of the Ring

“Then [Galadriel] lifted from her lap a great stone of clear green, set in a silver brooch that was wrought in the likeness of an eagle with outspread wings; and as she held it up the gem flashed like the sun shining through the leaves of spring. ‘This stone I gave to Celebrian my daughter, and she to hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope. In this hour take the name that was foretold for you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the House of Elendil!’” - Farewell to Lorien, Fellowship of the Ring

The appendices list Celebrian’s capture of orcs as 2509 Third Age at the Redhorn Pass on the southern side of Caradhras in the Misty Mountains (this is the pass that the Fellowship attempted to take to cross the mountains). She was journeying to visit her parents in Lorien who were at this time formally Lord and Lady of Lothlorien after the disappearance of Amroth. Her company was scattered and she was given a poisoned wound. In the orcs’ captivity she suffered ‘torment’ and was saved by her twin sons Elladan and Elrohir, and they brought her back to Imladris. There, Elrond healed her in body but she lost ‘all delight’ in Middle Earth and sailed West a year later in 2510 Third Age (cited in Lord of the Rings and Unfinished Tales).

The History of Middle Earth

In early notes by Tolkien the marriage of Elrond and Celebrian was 2500 Third Age by which time her mother is described as Galadriel of Lorien. Tolkien originally planned to have Celebrian travel to Lothlorien in 2600 Third Age when she was actually killed, a mere hundred years after her marriage to Elrond. This timeline was quickly altered and in all other publications the marriage takes place much earlier and Celebrian is not killed.

Another passage dates their wedding as 2300 Third Age, during the Watchful Peace:

“Elrond, who had remained unwed through all his long years, now took to wife Celebrian, daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn of Lorien. His children were twin brethren, Elladan and Elrohir, and Arwen Undomiel, the fairest of all maidens of the Third Age, in whom the likeness of Luthien her foremother returned to Middle Earth. These children were three parts of Elven-race, but the doom spoken at their birth was that they should live even as the Elves so long as their father remained in Middle Earth, but if he departed they should have then the choice either to pass over the sea with him, or to become mortal, if they remained behind.”

Other mentions include Elrond saving Celebrian:

“Celebrian, wife of Elrond, journeys to Lorien to visit Galadriel her mother; but she is taken by orcs in the passes of the mountains. She is rescued by Elrond and his sons, but after fear and torment she is no longer willing to remain in Middle Earth, and she departs to the Grey Havens and sails over the Sea in 2509 Third Age.”

Of the twins:

“From that time forth, [Elladan and Elrohir] never cease from war with the orcs because of Celebrian.”

“Now the sons of Elrond did not hunt wild beasts, but they pursued the Orcs wherever they might find them, and this they did because of Celebrian their mother.”

Of Elrond sailing:

“For after the destruction of the Ruling Ring the Three Rings of the Eldar lost their virtue. Then Elrond prepared at last to depart from Middle Earth and follow Celebrian.”

“For when the Great Ring was unmade the Three Rings of the Elves failed also, and Elrond was weary of Middle Earth at last and departed seeking Celebrian.”

Letters

In Letter 345 dated 30 November 1972 to a ‘Mrs Thurston’, Tolkien confirms that Celebrian means ‘Silver Queen’.

Other major works

Celebrian is not mentioned in any of the other major or minor works, including The Hobbit or The Silmarillion.

Of the Fates of her family

Regarding the fates of her family, we know some answers and some we do not. Elrond and Galadriel sailed along with the other Ring-Bearers in 3021 Third Age and it was this that marked the end of the Third Age. Arwen we know chose mortality and lived out her days as Queen of Elves and Men, Queen of Gondor once the War of the Ring had been won. She had two daughters and one son, Eldarion (meaning Son of Elves) who became king after Arwen died. After the death of Aragorn, Arwen went to live out the last year of her life in Lothlorien.

There, we do not know if she saw her brothers and maternal grandfather, as their fates are unknown. After the War, Celeborn expanded territory into Mirkwood and established East Lorien, coming to an agreement with Thranduil, but he grew weary without Galadriel and he retired at last to Rivendell where his grandsons still dwelt. Celeborn did not take the White Ship with Galadriel and Elrond and in the Fellowship of the Ring but he did sail eventually with Cirdan on the last ship to Valinor, and they were the last of the high elves to sail in the Fourth Age. There is no mention of Elladan and Elrohir or their fates.

Given what is said about the fate of the children of Elrond and the choice they had to make, it may be that the twins chose mortality as they did not sail with the father or grandfather. However, their departure may have just been unremarked upon given their minor character status. Their fates remain open-ended.

#celebrian #elrond #galadriel #celeborn #lotr #unfinished tales #tolkien #ellie writes #THIS TOOK SOOOOOOOOOO LONG #PLEASE APPRECIATE IT #i mean no one asked for it BUT #it's here!#this should be all you need to know about celebrian #i know there are some stans out there #guess what i even kept fairly neutral about it #lol about the celeborn ambiguity tho #tolkien really didnt like that boi #lmfao same

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naldoreth · 4 years

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So, top three songs that remind you of Elin & Legolas? ❤️

Thanks for the ask! I love it. So, first of all, a bit of explanation as to wtf Elin & Legolas is for those of you who don’t know. I’m writing a very lengthy, very slowburn fic Legolas x human OFC - yes, it’s got everything, it’s got “girl falls in Middle Earth”, it’s got “Tenth Walker”, it’s got dwarven culture and slowbuild and a lot of mutual pinning. So for this fic I have a Spotify playlist with, as of today, 40 songs on it that remind me of Elin and her relationship with Legolas, her journey through Middle Earth and her searching for home. But now, to the question in case: my top three songs for these two lovebirds. I have considered things carefully and, right now -this could change in the future as I expand the playlist- these are my fave songs, and I’ll explain WHY cause we’re here for the rant. 1. Young and beautiful - Lana del Rey Will you still love me When I’m no longer young and beautiful? Will you still love me When I’ve got nothing but my aching soul? I know you will, I know you will I know that you will Will you still love me when I’m no longer beautiful? Dear lord, when I get to heaven Please let me bring my man When he comes tell me that you’ll let him in Father tell me if you can All that grace, all that body All that face, makes me wanna party He’s my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds So, I know this one is the most obvious for an elven/human couple, but it just fits so well. I can totally see Elin asking herself these same questions, having so many doubts about engaging in a relationship with Legolas ‘cause she knows she is gonna age and die in front of his eyes and he will remain young, beautiful… and heartbroken. The verse where she’s addressing God I think is specially heartbreaking, because in Tolkien legendarium elven and human souls don’t go to the same place. Elin and Legolas will never have the comfort of knowing that they will see each other again. In case you don’t know, the elvish fëa, their soul, goes to the Halls of Mandos when an elf dies and it rests there until the soul is healed and ready to be reborn. Then the elf will be born again (the canon differs between being reborn as a child that will gain their memories with time or just come back as the elf as they were before). Elves really don’t die unless they choose not to leave the Hall of Mandos or, in rare cases such as Arwen or Luthien, trade their inmortality completely. But it’s different with humans. Humans in Middle Earth die just as we do, and nobody knows where do their souls go or if they go somewhere. That is something only Eru Illúvatar knows and not even Mandos or any of the Valar have any clue. That is the Gift of Men. And Legolas and Elin are very aware of this. They know that the brief time of Elin’s life is ALL they have, and it breaks my heart just imagining Elin praying to Eru to let her be with him one more time, after her death. ‘Cause she forsook her time and her home to save Middle Earth and be with him, and she knows that she’ll die and that will leave a hole in Legolas’ heart taht will never heal. (I’ve made myself really sad writing this and I HAVE to add that since mortal people on Valinor do die, there will come a day when Legolas will also lose Gimli and I’m note sure that the poor thing will be able to recover. I can totally see Legolas choosing to die in Valinor and just staying in the Halls of Mandos, never returning to his hröa, his body, until the Dagor Dagorath, the Battle of all Battles. Imma gonna cry for a bit now, brb). 2. Home – Phillip Phillips Hold on, to me as we go As we roll down this unfamiliar road And although this wave is stringing us along Just know you're not alone 'Cause I'm going to make this place your home This second song is more about the theme of the whole fic than just their relationship, but I see it as Legolas talking to Elin. Elin comes from our world, but she doesn’t really leave anything behind – anything but her uncle and her job. She’s always lived in the same house, even after her parents passed away, and she’s always been kind of a loner. She’s got friends, sure, but she kind of lives her life just passing by, not really taking risks or doing the things she really longs for. She loves her home, but when she was younger she dreamt of living in the city. She just never left when her parents died, cause the house was all she had left from them. She loves to travel and dreamt of seeing the whole world, but then she was an orphan and had to manage college and work at the same time, so she chose to study from home. She just accepted what life threw at her and never tried to fight her fate. She complied, and was contented. But then she was pushed into Middle Earth, on a journey she didn’t want to take, and everything changed for her. She had no home. She had no way of knowing if she could ever go back to her world. Where does she really fit in Middle Earth? Where does she really fit in her life? Her disappearence barely had any effect on her time. Where is home for her? So, throughout the story she will struggle with these questions, this searching for belonging, and to her surprise she will find it in Legolas. His hand will be the hand showing her home, and he will try his best to make her feel like she belongs. Cause she does. 3. Stand by you – Rachel Platten. Even if we're breaking down, we can find a way to break through Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through hell with you Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you Even if we can't find heaven, I'm gonna stand by you Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through hell with you Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you Yeah, you're all I never knew I needed And the heart, sometimes it's unclear why it's beating And love, if your wings are broken We can brave through those emotions too 'Cause I'm gonna stand by you Oh, truth, I guess truth is what you believe in And faith, I think faith is helping to reason No, no, no, love, if your wings are broken Borrow mine so yours can open too 'Cause I'm gonna stand by you This last song kind of comprises the themes I’ve talked about in the others: death and belonging. It can be seen from both points of view, though I usually imagine is Elin who sings it (maybe ‘cause the singer is a woman). The War of the Ring is the hell they have to brave through and leaves them tired, broken and hurt – but they’re are gonna be there for each other, even when they know that, at the end of everything, Heaven is not something they can reach. They will power through the war, fight alongside one another, be each other wings and hands and eyes and, when it all ends, that’s all they will have left. Each other. Elin knows there’s no Valinor for her. Legolas knows it too. But their love will be their Heaven, if nothing else can be. They will stand by each other through hell, through heaven, through life and through death. If you're still reading after this long AF post and would like to check the playlist, here's a link! And, in case the fic caught someone's attention, here it is. This looong post talks about things that hasn't happened yet - but it's a Tenth Walker Legolas x OFC fic, so you could see them coming! Also, the fic is written in Spanish, sorry folks! Although I'm not completely against the idea of translating it to English someday, if there's demand.

#lordbhreanna #lord of the rings #legolas #legolas x oc #el señor de los anillos #fic #desde aquí hasta mi hogar #upon the hearth the fire is red #elin priddy #playlist #meta #omg this post is long #im sorry #i just cant shut up about these two

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atimefordragons · 4 years

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[ T S E S A R E V N A ... ]

My incomplete audition for Gem Quest, didn’t have the time to participate properly, let alone finish my audition from all the other groups (yeah, I don’t know what time management is and have no idea how to pace myself).

“В небе далеком горит звезда, | In distant heaven star shines Не одинока и не одна | It's not alone and not the one Каждый себе выбирает путь | Everyone choose their own way И она не даст свернуть | And star won't allow them to turn Не закрывай глаза | Don't close your eyes Смотри она ведет тебя.. | Look, it leads you...”

- Звезда (Dima Bilan ft Anna Belan)

Real Name: Yekatrina “Katya/Rina” Anatolyevna Raevskaya

Age: 26

FC: Alia Bhatt

Species & Class: Dragonborn & Mage-Knight

Guild: Moonstone

Description of In-Game Powers: (what their fantasy species lets them do, basically, and all the associated drawbacks)

A dragonborn is a cross-bred species, born from the bloodline of either a human or an elf, and a Great Dragon (highly evolved, ancient dragons that can cast spells, and shit, and even speak the human tongue). Because great dragons are rare, most dragonborn are second generation or later. In the case of Tsesarevna, an ice dragon and a human (not a first gen).

Dragonborns have a natural affinity for magic, particularly elemental, even more specifically for the element of the dragon type whose blood they inherited, in the case of Tsesarevna, frozen water related magic, ice, frost, snow.

Place of Birth: Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation

Appearance: (optional textual description/notes of wardrobe, features not represented by fc, etc)

Places Most Likely to be Found In-Game: Level 20 - A Midwinter Night’s Dream (I see what you did there Ayz) and Level 38 - Murias Pass (the snow reminds her of home, ya know. The cold never bothered me anyway), also sometimes Level 39 - The Dragon, but she’s technically stuck on that level because she refuses to kill the Dragon, issa zaldrīzo ānogar.

Current Inventory:

History Book: The Dragon King Festival

Strongest character trait: eurovision knowledge Confidence (in herself and some others)

Strengths: Katya is almost surprisingly determined, it contradicts with the rest of her “I’ve never had to work hard to get what I want in my life” type personality, but she is persevering and stubborn, when she wants something, she won’t stop until she gets it. Which in her real life was never very difficult getting.

Weaknesses: Where to even start? Spoiled Princess Brat (she has never not gotten what she wants in her life, and it shows), impatient, impulsive, not exactly a team player (I mean, she is now, but that shady shit she pulled back when she first started playing kinda got her a rep), arrogant, prideful, kind of a bitch (doesn’t really think of it as a weakness, but ya know, it’s hard to make friends), dragon obsession (refuses to kill dragons, even in order to advance the game, got herself and party members killed early on in the game ‘cause of it), kind of an adrenaline junkie, and reckless af. She doesn’t really consider the consequences of the game, wholeheartedly believes her dad, fam and connections in the real world will get her out soon enough, so has no problem running head first into fire (”I’m too hot to die in a video game”).

Player Stats: (on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the weakest, 10 being the strongest. try to balance it out!)

STRENGTH: 9

DEFENSE: 7

CHARISMA: 3

PSYCHE: 5

WILLPOWER: 9

CAUTIOUSNESS: 2

AGILITY: 5

ENDURANCE: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 8

LUCK: 4

Personality: “Haven’t you ever seen a princess be a bad bitch before?”

Haha, yeah, but mostly, she’s just a massive nerd. She’s such a fucking nerd. Bitch learned Quenya and Sindarin just for kicks, and her own amusement. Literally no one else in her irl circle even fucking knows what those two things are (Elvish tongues in Tolkien).

As the baby of a two large families, and the only daughter of a Russian oligarch, Katya is incredibly spoiled, and very much self-centered. Something of a downplayed celebutante, she is not quite as present at every single high society, high fashion event in Russia, or elsewhere in Europe, she only goes to a handful. And really only for the free stuff, she loves stuff. Katya maintains a somewhat disinterested high social status, as she is the daughter of a major industrialist, and friends with other, higher profile wealthy Russian heirs and heiresses, and there are benefits (so many), but she isn't quite interested in attaining spotlight or attention. However, she also perceives it as something that is just naturally part of her life. She uses a lot of hand gestures when speaking, and tends to give off a naive-princessy vibe who seems to think the world revolves around her. Which, to be fair, it does in her house -she does know that it doesn’t actually, but ya know, can’t quite turn off that bitch, I’m a princess mindset.

“I don’t skate through life... I walk through life. In really nice shoes.” - Alexis Rose (Schitts’ Creek 3.04)

Notably, she speaks with a vocal fry when speaking English. She says “like” a lot, has a bit of a condescending tone, but, she like, does care. About a lot of stuff, but also humanity in general. Spoiled baby she may be, she does have a moral compass, and was amongst the public figures who signed an open letter against the Saint Petersburg Anti-”Gay Propaganda” bill (it’s some bullshit about “protecting” minors from “non-traditional sexual relationships”). She believes in doing the right thing, that the goal of any organization or even person should just be to decrease the net suffering of humanity, but also, she is a super proud Russian. Very anti-american, thinks they’re all stupid, always says shady shit in Russian whenever she runs into americans online. However, it’s not like she’s a fan of United Russia (Putin’s party), they’re right-wing nutjobs, she does not like them. Her main political party is A Just Russia, who are much less then left than her (officially, they be centre-left), but they’re the only ones (of her favoured parties) who have seats in the State Duma (the lower house of the Federal Assembly, Russia’s legislative body - the Duma is like parliament, or congress, I think, I don’t really know what congress is tbh, house of representatives maybe? Idk, the place where Nancy Pelosi is charge, equivalent to that). Katya also supports Patriots of Russia, a socialist, left-wing party, but they only have seats in regional parliaments, and only one seat in the Federation Council (similar to the senate, the upper house of Russia’s legislative body). There’s also Russia of the Future, but it’s not been formally registered yet. In the 2018 election she voted for the communist party’s candidate just for kicks (it’s different in Russia, there’s was zero possibility of Putin losing, come on, grow up).

As a side note, if this helps with the explainary-stuff, I basically envision her as a slavic-desi cross of Alexis Rose from Schitts’ Creek, and Gina Linetti from Brooklyn-99, also this hindi song; Sheila ki Jawani. The song is basically about owning the fact that you’re super sexy.

Biography: Katya is half-Russian, half-Indian, born to a Russian father, industrialist (and oligarch) Anatoli Ivanovich Raevsky, and an Indian mother, activist and journalist Mishti Syeda Khan. Her parents eventually separated, though technically are still married, when she was about 14, and her mother moved to Manchester in the UK, while Katya remained in Russia with her father. Katya is from a large family, on both sides, and at the time of her birth, was the first baby to be born in quite a few years (the elder cousins were like tween-teen, too old be constantly coddled and cuddled, and too young to make babies), so she was hella spoiled by everyone. The problems her maternal family had with her mother marrying a non-Muslim white boy? Well, we still hate him, but look how cute Rina is.

Despite the... complications between her family members - the whole religion/marrying a shada (white) boy thing, not to mention that Mishti herself is like agnostic at “best”, in general, as the baby, Katya (or Rina as her mother and maternal family call her), get along - well, okay, there’s always the shady auntieji’s, and bullshit drama, but like, that’s just brown families yo. We like that. We’re all 100% those bitches (see ya at Eid Nanu [grandma], ya messy bitch). While there is some distance between Katya and her mother, metaphorically and literally, she really does look up to her mother and her work, and followed in her footsteps, studying journalism at Moscow State University, and moving on to work at Известия (Izvestia), the “national” paper of Russia, formerly the state newspaper of the Soviet Union. Currently, she’s a glorified fact checker, and maintains the website with a handful of other colleagues. She’s also authored small “puff pieces” for Nedelya (a weekly Friday section about leisure actives, culture, that kinda stuff).

Katya is not exactly an avid gamer. She likes games, but it’s not like a 24/7 thing, whereas she is 24/7 thinking about like ASOIAF or Stars Wars (fuck you JJ, you were supposed to destroy the Sith R*ylo, not join them), not to mention Eurovision. Anyone who thinks Eurovision only lasts for a week is a fake fan, and anyone who thinks it’s a one day thing is an american. Ziben ziben ilulu motherfucker. Anyway.... she prefers immersive, high fantasy worlds, she likes the story and plot, so her types of games are The Witcher and Dragon Age Series, Elder Scrolls, that sort of thing. She doesn’t put in daily hours, ‘cause she got other stuff to do, but will dedicate weekends to leveling up her characters in order to accomplish quests and missions quickly and not waste time to get to the story cut scenes. She hates, hates, hatessss microtransactions and those stupid fucking mmorpg phone games which are literally just farmville repackaged with a dragon or an orc; FUCK YOU. What a fucking waste of time, quit advertising as having a plot and story, or cool character customization, ‘cause you don’t have any of that you basic ass bitch!

Gem Quest was regifted to Katya by a coworker, who had gotten it as a present, but didn’t have a VR set (of course she had one, she’s rich, and also she needed it to play Batman: Arkham VR - she’s still waiting on a game that’ll let her make out with Nightwing while playing as a custom character). She got a bit of a bad rep (understatement) in the beginning of the game. Katya hates being stuck because she doesn’t have enough exp or whatever, so she always levels up in the beginning of a game before taking the time to fuck around and do whatever, which, in the case of Gem Quest, means teaming up is the easiest way to do that. So, whenever a party member was holding them back from leveling up, she would straight up kill them in order to move on. She killed her own irl friends, to be fair, she doesn’t do that anymore, that was just in the beginning, but ya know, the rep of being that bitch kinda hard to get of.

G.’s announcement didn’t particularly freak out Katya. Whatever kind of evil Kaiba Corp execs bullshit he was pulling didn’t matter, he still had a body out there in the real world, and there’s no fucking way her dad would let die in a fucking game. There’s perks to being Oligarchs in Russia, and even if she did die in-game and was unable to return to reality, wherever G. and his real body were, motherfucker will die in excruciating pain. Polonium-210 ain’t pleasant, and the Novichok series is so much worse.

Relationships: (OPTIONAL, fill out whenever you want to)

Silverwing - rn. Anastasia “Anya” Gagarina (fc: Anna Belan), a fellow moonstone, and real life friend - well, the younger sister of an ex-boyfriend whom she still gets along with (the sister, not necessarily the ex).

Inferna - I don’t really have any plotting ideas, but Inferna’s whole; “It’s very important that I am both cute and powerful” is so relatable (to me and Katya xp)

Enthroned -

Morningstar -

Extras/Trivia (aka unnecessary information):

Her mother, and thus maternal family, are from Kolkata, in the state of West Bengal in India, thus making Katya fluent (relatively) in Bengali as well (well, a dialect of it - West Central, you’d think as an actual Bengali person, I’d know the proper name of it, but nope. Idk, shudobasha maybe, but I think that’s for people from Dakha, which is in Bangladesh, not India. Whatever. Not like my dad will check this and be disappointed in me.)

Apart from her native Russian, Hindi, and Bengali, she speaks English, and Japanese (100% learned it because she’s a weeb), as well as the fictional languages; Quenya, Sindarin (and can use the Tengwar script to write them), High Valyrian, Mando’a, Dovazhul, and Klingon. As a teenager she also created a dictionary for ancient “Black Speech”, an in-universe constructed language in Tolkien’s legendarium, but her version is not canon, so it doesn’t count - she’s also forgotten a lot of it. She was a baby, she still has the hard copy she made somewhere in the Raevsky Manor in Saint Petersburg.

After graduating from MSU, her father bought her, her own apartment in the Kudrinskaya Square Building in Moscow, adjacent to the ones he owned already, which she had lived in when she moved to Moscow for school.

Katya’s family is religiously mixed (well, she’s the one who’s mixed), her maternal family are largely Muslim, some Hindu (very few though, like, you can count them on one hand), and her paternal family are either Orthodox Christian or atheist (usually depending on how long they were alive and how into the Soviet Regime they were). Katya’s parents are agnostic (Mishti), and atheist (Anatoli), Katya herself is also atheist, but sometimes she’ll say she prays to the Seven or R’hllar, or Lord Jashin, or some other made up nerd ass religion (’cause she that bitch).

But for real, she can be a real bitch about religion. The Soviets got a lot wrong, but banning religion was not one of them <- so she says. She gets super pissed when someone brings up religion during a politics chat, that fake shit should have nothing to do with running a country.

hates starbucks with every fibre of her being, it’s such an american staple and the first time she saw one in Russia, she nearly had a heart attack.

Will die mad about:

The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker; the fuck was that bullshit? We trusted you JJ!

the garbage show’s gaslighting and murder of Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, First of Her Name, Rightful Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men. Queen of Meereen, The Prince who was Promised, The Unburnt, Slayer of Lies, Breaker of Shackles, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, and Mother of Dragons.

Hrithik Roshan still being so fucking hot (he’s 45, please like chill a little, holy fuck)

Catarina de Lurton dying

Former american politician John McCain constantly saying “Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country” - bitch, we’re a thousand years old, how’s your 250 year old failed experiment of a garbage nation going?

Freud.

Links:

Playlist

Urstyle Collection (aesthetics, and other shit)

Social Media

#gem quest #katya raevskaya #audition #my edits #clara's edits #mine #incomplete #writing #graphics

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hildorien · 5 years

Text

I am in the minority but I’d love to know more about the pre-noldor elvish edain culture, history, and just life.

I wanna know more about men in the context of men, I wanna see history through human eyes without the elvish perspective.

I wanna know the full experiences of all humans in middle earth not the ones the elves interacted with. And if you have to have elves, I wanna hear about what humans thought of elves that isnt ‘oh they are so perfect and amazing and beautiful uwu’, because that’s kind of boring and we can all agree first age elves? on the whole? pretty shitty. (I love em but they have one brain cell to share among them and fuck up on the regular).

I wanna see Humans who were born into a dumpster fire that is the world of arda, these are a people who didn’t get Orome leading them to heaven on earth, they got Morgoth. These are a people who lived in Morgoth’s land for centuries who probably experienced horror and oppression from basically their species infancy. Unlike the elves of valinor, or even the Sindarin protected by Melian, horror and despair would have not been their abnormal, it would be their everyday. But they aren’t broken, they survive. They make families, connections, lives in this wasteland. They adapt and change, because I think in some ways that is the race of men’s true advantage over elves. That we don’t have a gap on our ‘greatness’ persay, humanity’s ambitions get’s mutated into greed a lot (I mean numenor is a dumspter fire for a reason) but I think that human ambition is a strength because it means we don’t accept our circumstances. The Edian sure didn’t.

The edain, the Boerians, the people of haleth, and the hadorians, all marched themselves out of morgoth’s land hoping for something better, with NO GUARANTEE they find anything better. But they still did it. And while we are here, let’s talk about how the race of men has not guarantee of anything, like elves (and dwarves) kind of know where they end up. They go to Mandos and get reborn, they go to aule, respectively. Men...don’t have that. Men really didn’t get anything (but Morgoth and suffering). They leave this world forever, thats what they know. Thats what they are told.

But no one knows what the means. (Personally, I think its like a good place situation kind of. Eru is just michael and turin is janet)

But anyway back to the POINT, (if there ever was one) the edain end up finding beleriand but beleriand isn’t the paradise they wanted. But hey, its not morgoth so let’s celebrate said the beorians before promptly getting found by finrod. And look elves did a lot of good for humans, but I also think there is this really bad dynamic of elves holding all the power and men just being in it for the ride.

Ive made the joke that the elves of the first age are kind of like the edian’s sugar daddies but it’s kind of true. They give them land and like ‘wisdom’ (whatever the fuck that means) and in return men give them their ever increasing numbers. The Silm is a very elven story we don’t really get a lot of human, but when we do I think it’s pretty interesting. Because the relationship between Elves and Men is really uneven in the first age...and all ages even though in later ages forces of men like numenor at their height could I think easily sweep the floor with the elves of the second age combined. I think culturally Elves give a lot more, like men end up picking up their language, though im one hundred percent sure human languages didn’t die out and never do, humans must have shit talked elves a LOT in taliska (oh yes, that is the name of at least the language spoken by the hadorians and beorians, the people of haleth spoke a different dialect) and I think a lot of humans give more in resources (aka men, power, infantry). I mean personally if I was having at a guess I don’t think (as the latecomers) men got very many places to actually farm and have good land and relied on elvish goods to survive. I think this unevenness kind of spurred this idea that ‘elvishness = superior’, so to make this full circle I think a lot of pre edain culture was lost to make place for diet pepsi version of elf culture that we see human cultures like numenor and gondor have, because that’s better than their orn because elves are SPECIal BETTER AND DON’T DIE LIKE US BROKEN AND FALLEN PEOPLE. ((screams))

Okay let’s talk about the death thing. Human and Mortal and Men all mean the same thing, humans die is not a statement that should be up for debate. But the humans of edain, at least from what we see of Andreth is that this was not how it always was. Humans were once immortal like the elves until they were bad and listened to morgoth and then they became mortal and all sick and ew.

yeahhhh, I don’t think thats true. I think in-universe its a great myth. I love finrod ah andreth for this reason (also andreth is tolkien’s best female character he ever created and the fact that she’s not in the published silm is why we are in the bad timeline) , but I think humans...always were mortal.

And thats okay.

We talked about human ambition above, I think that is fueled by the fact that we all die. We have a timer, so we have to do things now, and that’s not a bad mindset to have. I think it gets humjans into trouble but also, imagine your a human in beleriand, you have children, a family, they might have children someday you want to do what you need to do to make sure THEY have a chance.

(also lets talk about the fucked up fact that humans are punished for lsitening to morgoth in the first place like im sorry that humans didnt have any other valar looking for them, there was no orome, no fucking chance that they could have met anyone else because no valar came for them only morgoth with his lies so yes humans are bad for listening to the only god like entity that seemed like he wanted to help them, the elves did that too but they had nice gods so they are wise while humans who have illness and sickness and death over their heads listen to a guy with power okay jirt i see your double fuckig stnarad and its STUPID)

And you can’t wait for that chance, so you leap. I think this is best illustrated by Turin of all people. Turin gets called elvish a lot in looks but in actions, he, like most of his family, are allllllllll human. The bridge in nargothrand even though it’s stupid and ends up horribly kind of reminds me of this. Turin doesn’t have time to wait like Gwindor, and Orodreth, etc do. his people have already been fucking disomated, he’s lost his father, his mother is trapped in enemy territory. He wants to help.

Sure it blows up in his face, but yknow...the want to do good is there.

I think on the whole humans get a bad rep...like they’re called stupid and dumb and ugly by both fandom and in universe elves alike. But I don’t think that’s the case. Humans have a lot more balls and have collectively been through more trauma as a species than I think all of the elves (especially valinorian) elves combined. I think when humans fuck up, whether it be turin or numenor, it’s proof of their incompetence, that their inante (eru-given ability) to have ambition to seek beyond the world they live in for something better for something more is evil and they should be more like the elves, stagnant, already at the height of ‘perfection’, never changing....instead of being humans. Like look at these fools trying to act like than can be GOOD at something, sit down and let these elves be best at everything obviously. How many of you would look at me funny if I said, maybe the race of men was BETTER THAN THE ELVES AT SOMETHING? A lot of you im sure, and someone would have a rebuttle for how I was wrong and how this elf was considered the best.

(like that post going around how could turin actually be #that pretty to thot his way through all of beleriand? Maybe he just Was like that, sure he may have a little elvish ness but honestly I think that be a funny thing elves say to cover up the fact some elves found a icky human was actually just that fucking hot, because obviously humans could never be that actually hot ever, not to intangle a sindarin mast of a guard, a NOLDORIAN VANYAR-DESSCENT PRINCESS, ect)

Also just to go back to numenor, ever want an example of why it doesnt work for men to act like elves...look at numenor, early numenor was as elvish as humans could produce....but then they got bored. And then numneor became an empire and everyone eventually had so much of a bad time, eru reshaped the fucking world just to wipe the valar’s ‘humans but better’ ocs off the face of the planet. Like just to stray off topic I personally think men can’t go to valinor 1) because the two trees are actually nuclear, and the whole damn island is chernobyl instant death right there and thats why the valinor elves are like #that (they GLOW for gods shake) 2) the monotonous never changing perfection of valinor while amazing in the short term for humans would eventually drive them crazy. Not to say that the race of men doesn’t like some peace and quite or even humans (like myself) can be obverse to change, even I can admit doing the same thing ever day would drive me crazy.

This got super rambly, but its been a lot of thoughts Ive been having for a long ass time. Basically, I just want people to talk to me about the atani, edian, race of men, whatever you want to call them. They deserve a lot better and a lot more respect than just playing a supporting role to the elves.

They didn’t kill all those dragons to be ignored like this.

#silmarillion #race of men #what ye do in the dark #tea with milk #not undercut because I want you people to READ this #please validate meeee #silm #edain #atani #i have a lot of feeling about humans in an elf world....

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oraclesoftime · 4 years

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Futures Known But Unspoken

CHAPTER 36 Tolkien or Jackson? “No,” Legolas scoffed. “No!? What do you mean no!?” Lane barked, glaring at the blond. “Because no one is going to Esgaroth!” Legolas growled, giving her a glare. He spoke a few words in hurried and slightly pleading Elvish before Tauriel shot back at him in Elvish as well, giving the prince a small glare. “The king has never led orc filth from our lands, yet he would let this orc pack cross our borders and kill our prisoners.” the redhead argued. “It is not our fight!” Legolas barked. “It is our fight. It is all our fight,” the she-elf claimed, motioning over to Lane and Belle as well. “It will not end here. With every victory this evil will grow. If your father has his way, we will do nothing. We will hide within our walls, live our lives away from the light, and let darkness descend.” Legolas shifted on his feet for a few moments, his eyes even straying over to their two audience members, Lane looking on with a mildly condescending look as Belle now stood beside her friend. “Tell me Mellon, when did we let evil become stronger than us?” Tauriel finished, giving her friend a hard look. Legolas brought his eyes back to his friend and caught her determined gaze, heaving a great sigh causing a smirk to grow onto Tauriel’s lips. “Your names, friends?” she asked, turning towards the two watching women. “Lane.” “And Belle.” Tauriel nodded and motioned for the women to follow after her, Lane sticking her tongue out at Legolas when she passed him causing him to roll his eyes and scoff at her childish behaviour. The quartet started their fast pace down the rocks and soon landed on a grassy path, Tauriel in the lead with Legolas behind her while Belle and Lane brought up the rear. Despite the longer strides that the two elven warriors took, the two shorter women somehow managed to keep up with them, more than likely from all the jogging and dashing they’d been doing while with the others. “How… much farther?” Belle panted, voicing Lane’s own thoughts hours later. “We will reach Esgaroth by mid-afternoon tomorrow,” Tauriel reported, not taking her eyes away from the darkening road in front of them. Just as the words escaped Tauriel’s mouth, Legolas spun around and shoved both Belle and Lane back so that they fell to the ground. Lane was about to bark at him when a thin black arrow zipped by her nose. “Orcs!” the elf prince growled, readying his bow. Lane quickly stood and gripped her stolen sword as Belle climbed to her feet beside her. “Looks like our positions have been switched huh?” Lane laughed as the shrieks of orcs became closer and closer. “For the longest time you were armed and I was dashing around like a chicken with my head cut off.” “I’m not dashing around like a chicken!” Belle barked, glaring up at her friend. Another arrow shot out of the trees and Lane just barely managed to deflect it with her sword, both women looking baffled at the action. “I guess Fíli’s training’s been paying off,” Belle hummed, mildly impressed. “Buuuut… maybe we should run…” “I don’t think running is much of an option right now,” Lane growled, keeping her eyes peeled for their enemies while taking a protective stance in front of her friend. A flurry of orcs suddenly came dashing out of the trees, Legolas and Tauriel both simultaneously firing arrows at them before drawing their daggers and fighting back, Lane remaining by her friend’s side as a last defense. One orc managed to slip past Tauriel while she was distracted with decapitating one of his fellow fighters, Lane not able to hold back the smirk that grew onto her lips as she jumped forwards. Using her smaller stature to her advantage, she ducked and blocked each attack, just like Fíli had taught her how to. Ducking under another swing, she shifted the grip on her sword and slashed the orcs hand off of its wrist before slashing upwards into its torso. “Lane!!” At her friend’s cry, Lane swung around and raised her sword in time to block an orc that had tried to sneak up behind her. “Oh now that’s just plain rude,” she growled. “Sneaking up from behind. Buy me dinner first~!” Ducking once again and rolling between the orc’s legs, Lane quickly spun on her knees and slashed up at the orc’s back, the fell creature falling to the ground with a lifeless thump. Before she could revel in her short win, there was a thump from behind her causing her to spin around. Another orc lay on its front behind her, Belle wielding a thick tree branch in her quivering hands. “This is why I like using a bow! I’m not an up close and personal type of girl,” the smaller woman whimpered, her eyes wide. Lane snorted something along the lines of ‘virgin’ and rolled her eyes as she quickly spun around again to block another oncoming orc’s attack. Working together, the two woman managed to make their way over to Tauriel and Legolas as the two elves finished off the last of their enemies. “We make… a pretty good team,” Lane panted with a grin, throwing her arm across her friend's shoulders as they killed the last orc, careful not to accidentally cut the smaller with her sword. Legolas rolled his eyes and quickly fired an arrow from his bow. The arrow sailed between the two women’s heads and sunk into the skull of one last orc that had attempted to charge them from behind. “Umm…. thanks…” Lane muttered, looking back as the orc’s body fell to the ground with slightly wide eyes. Belle’s eyes widened as she noticed a black figure sneaking up behind the elf prince. Without thinking, the smaller woman rushed forwards and pushed Legolas out of the way of the creature’s black blade, the tip of it just skimming Belle’s arm. Before the orc could raise its sword to finish her off, another blade was thrown into its chest, the orc dropping to the ground. “You moron! You could have lopped my head off!” Belle barked, spinning around to see that her taller friend had thrown her sword to save her. “I’m the moron!? You’re the one who dashed forwards and nearly had your fucking arm amputated!” Lane barked, marching around her friend to pull her blade free from the orc’s chest. “Tell you what, leave the stupid shit to me. We’ve learned that I have a higher probability of surviving them already.” Belle was about to speak against her, but when Lane swung around to glare at her, allowing Belle to catch sight of the large scar that stretched across her friend’s temple, she remained silent. “Are you wounded?” Tauriel asked, walking over to stand by Legolas’s side while looking down at Belle. “I think it nicked me, but it’s nothing serious,” Belle hummed, raising her arm slightly. There was a small dribble of blood dripping down from Belle’s upper arm, but as she said, it didn’t look like any cause for concern. “You should clean and sterilize it just in case,” Tauriel hummed, reaching into her small pack at her hip to pull out a small vial and some wrapping. Belle allowed Tauriel to clean and wrap the small cut as Lane watched. The taller’s eyes happened to shift over to the elf prince who was standing not too far away. “You’re bleeding your heinous,” Lane snickered, noticing the small red stain collecting on his sleeve just above his vambrace. Legolas swung around to give her a harsh glare as both Belle and Tauriel turned to look at the blond. “I’m fine,” he huffed. “Tis nothing but a scratch.” “See Izz. This is why you leave the stupid stuff to me. You charge in to save the elf prince and he still got hurt,” Lane snickered. “You’re useless.” Belle gave her friend a glare as Tauriel couldn’t help but snicker, standing and walking over to her friend. “It’s not deep,” Legolas sighed as she took his arm and inspected the wound. “It should still be tended to, considering what it was that harmed you,” the red haired she elf hummed, beginning to clean his own wound. “We should head out, this attack has set us back,” Legolas declared, nodding his head in thanks to his friend. Belle and Lane both nodded and quickly followed after the two elves as they set out again towards Laketown. When the sun began to set however, despite Tauriel and Legolas knowing they should continue, Belle and Lane’s exhaustion was evident in the women’s faces as well as the pain in Lane’s. “We will rest for a moment,” Tauriel claimed, slowing her brisk pace to a stop while looking back at them. “Wait, but what about-” “I understand your need to meet up with your companions, but you will require rest in order to make it there,” Tauriel interrupted. Lane and Belle sighed, knowing the redhead was right and simply flopped down on the ground where they stood. A few seconds later, Tauriel was kneeling before them with a small pouch in her hand, lifting the top and pulling out a few familiarly wrapped squares. “Lembas bread!” Belle exclaimed with a wide grin. Both elves jolted at the sheer joy in her tone and looked at Lane, the taller woman simply rolling her eyes. “She really likes carbs.” “Wha-Lane don’t you remember-” Belle’s words were quickly cut off by Lane taking a piece of the hard bread from Tauriel and stuffing it in her friend’s mouth, the smaller woman instantly entering a coughing fit and blindly reaching out to try and hit her. “I’ll scout around,” Legolas scoffed, the women practically able to hear him roll his eyes before he walked off. Tauriel offered a piece of the elvish waybread to Lane, the woman taking it with a grateful smile, but noticed that the redhead's eyes remained on her form even as she handed Belle another piece that she could eat rather than choke on. “If you think I’m good looking now you should see me when I’m in top form Tauriel,” Lane teased, nibbling on the piece of bread. Rather than getting flustered like Lane expected, the she-elf simply frowned. “Your shoulder concerns me,” she claimed, not taking her eyes off of the woman. Lane blinked a few times before shifting her own gaze down to her right shoulder. “Oh yeah, I kinda panicked when they were taking Izz away to see Thranduil and broke down my door. I’m pretty sure it’s dislocated.” Belle entered another coughing fit, quickly thumping her fist on her chest in an attempt to clear her airway. “Lane!!” “What!?” “You said your arm was sore!” “Well I mean, it wasn’t really a lie…” “LANE!!” The women’s eyes turned towards the she-elf as she openly laughed at their banter before shuffling forward towards Lane’s right side. “May I?” she asked. Lane shrugged to the best of her abilities, wincing when her shoulder shifted and took another nibble out of the bread. Belle watched as Tauriel carefully untied the makeshift sling, carefully holding Lane’s arm out and managing to help the woman slip her arm through the sleeve of her tunic so that Tauriel could lift it up over her shoulder to get a better look at the damage. Belle nearly dropped her lembas bread from her mouth when she saw the extent of it. The entirety of Lane’s shoulder was a massive black, blue and purple bruise that even stretched back towards the woman’s shoulder blade, up a portion of her neck and down her collarbone. Tauriel gently traced her fingertips along Lane’s clavicle and deltoid, around her shoulder and down a bit of her humerus and up her trapezius muscle, Lane wincing a few times despite the feather-light touches. There was a visible bump at the top of Lane’s shoulder which Tauriel also gently touched. “I believe you are correct to assume it’s dislocated, I can reset it,” the she-elf claimed, bending slightly to look at Lane. The woman groaned but nodded, thrusting her sword into the dirt and gripping the hilt with all her strength as she hung her head. Tauriel quickly put her hands into position and didn’t bother to count down, simply jerking her left hand forward and her right hand backwards, and audible ‘POP’ sounding through the silence of the night along with a short yelp from Lane. As the woman took a deep breath, Tauriel took Lane’s arm in her hand and carefully bent it at different angles, pleased to see that all that showed on the woman’s face was discomfort rather than outright pain as it had before. “There shouldn’t be any lasting damage, I didn’t feel any broken bones or rips which astonishes me considering the extent of your bruising,” Tauriel reported, helping Lane back into her tunic. “I’ll consider myself lucky then I guess,” Lane hummed, fixing her tunic and picking her piece of bread up. “You guess? Lane you busted through an iron door!” Belle scolded. “You should be counting your blessing that you only dislocated your shoulder! Maybe Tauriel should check your head next!” “You were screaming for me what was I supposed to do!? Materialize through the fucking door? Yeah OK, lemme embrace my inner Martian Manhunter gimme a sec…” As the two friends squabbled with one another, Tauriel stood and looked around their small resting area. “I would suggest getting some rest, Legolas and I will keep watch until you are ready to press on.” The two women instantly went silent and were about to protest when they felt a sudden wave of exhaustion flow through them. Choosing to listen to the she-elf’s words, both women simply hunkered down on the ground where they had been sitting, closing their eyes even though they both doubted they would be able to get any sleep. What felt like minutes later, they were both gently shaken awake, Belle the first to blearily open her eyes while Lane groaned. “The sun is rising, we should move forward,” Tauriel spoke. Belle nodded and sat up to stretch her arms above her head as Lane released a world-swallowing yawn before pushing herself up as well. Quickly gathering themselves and standing, the four were quickly on the road east again, Legolas this time leading the way as Tauriel stayed further back with the two women. The journey was vastly uneventful, the four keeping their pace quick and only bumping into a few occasional orcs along the way. “There it is!” Belle cheered several hours later. Lane couldn’t help the smile that grew onto her own features as the quartet finally emerged from the forest and caught sight of Laketown just on the horizon with what was left of the sunset. There was a loud screech from somewhere behind them, deep within the forest as Tauriel and Legolas quickly drew their bows, Lane’s hand gripping her sword. “You two go, find your company,” Tauriel spoke, Legolas dashing back into the trees towards the noise. “Bu-wait what about you!?” Belle stammered. “Aren’t you coming with us? The orcs-” “Hurry now, we will deal with the filth!” the she-elf insisted before dashing into the wood after the prince. The two women stood frozen to their spots; that was not how the movie had gone. They both turned and their ears picked up nothing but silence, save for the occasional distant screech from within the woods behind them. “What’s… going on?” Belle asked. “Isn’t… aren’t the orcs supposed to have followed the guys into Laketown?” “This is like the fucking river all over again!” Lane groaned. “Come on, we’d better head over.” Belle nodded and followed after her friend as they made their way over to where they could see the wooden bridge into town. Quickly making their way along the bridge, the two were halted by two guards just after the bridge. “Halt! Who are you and what do you want?” one of the men barked, quickly stepping forward from the fire within the hut off to the side. “Wha-what do we want?” Belle gawked, by now beyond confused at the situation. “Umm… there wouldn’t happen to be… orcs… pillaging your nice village would there?” Lane asked, sounding apprehensive. “Orcs? Why would orcs come to Laketown?” another guard snapped. “There are no orcs or equally fell creatures here, now answer me, who are you!” the first guard ordered again, his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Whoa dude, calm vibes here,” Lane quickly yelped, holding her unoccupied hand up in surrender while keeping her own sword lowered in a non-threatening manner. “We… umm… we’re friends with Bard!” Belle quickly shouted, attempting to salvage the situation. “Bard?? Why on earth-how are you friends with Bard?” a third guard asked, sounding floored. “Uuummm… we’ve met… a few times when he’s gone to get the barrels from Mirkwood,” Belle stammered. If at all possible, the guards would have looked even more confused than the two women. “Barrels?? Bard is the captain of the archers here in Laketown, not some… bargeman!” a fourth guard claimed. “Oh for the fucking love of-is Thorin Oakenshield here?!” Lane finally barked, getting irritated with the predicament the two were in. The guards jumped at her outburst and looked between each other before turning their eyes back to the two. “Well?” Lane prodded, fist on her hip and eyebrow raised. “Come with me.” As the first guard led the way further into town, Lane and Belle couldn’t help but look at each other with equally baffled expressions; what the hell was going on?? Following after the first guard and followed by two more, the women were led into what appeared to be the marketplace of the town. It was a wide circle of quiet water surrounded by tall piles that had large houses built on them and what looked almost like a loading dock further back that led into the water. The two women had been able to hear what could only be described as singing back at the bridge, but were unable to make out any words from there. Now that they were further into the town however, they were baffled when they recognised the familiar words that, to their knowledge, was supposed to spell doom and disaster but was now being sung by the lake people like a joyous flash-mob. ‘The King beneath the mountains, The King of carven stone, The lord of silver fountains, Shall come into his own! His crown shall be upholden, His harp shall be restrung, His halls shall echo golden, To songs of yore re-sung. The wood shall wave on mountains And grass beneath the sun; His wealth shall flow in fountains And the rivers golden run. The streams shall run in gladness, The lakes shall shines and burn, All sorrow fail and sadness At the Mountain-king’s return!’ “I am so confused…” Belle gawked, watching a pair of women prance down the other side of the water with smiles so wide they were practically all teeth. “You and me both,” Lane agreed. “The hell is with this happy atmosphere, isn’t everyone here supposed to be broody and miserable?” Belle simply shrugged and the two continued to follow their guide. They were brought to a large house that had a small swarm of people standing outside, the guard attempting to shoo some of them out of their way, only for one of the women to protest and yell at him while wagging her finger in front of the man’s nose. The group all suddenly erupted into cheers, the hands of several women reaching up towards the house causing Lane and Belle to follow their gazes and catch sight of a familiar hairdo through one of the windows. “Oh! Nori!” Belle gasped with a smile. “NORI!” Lane hollered above the shrieking women. The dwarf instantly spun around and caught sight of the two, a grin plastered on his features as he quickly turned back into the house. There was a small rukus heard inside as the fanbase quieted and now turned their eyes towards the two newcomers, Lane attempting to make her way through the crowd with Belle right behind her. “‘Scuse me love,” the taller spoke, squeezing behind one of the women. The door to the house suddenly opened and the screaming started all over again as Bofur, Nori and Dwalin stuck their heads out, the miner with a massive grin. “Champion! Lady Isabella!” he cheered, quickly hopping down the steps as Lane pulled Belle from the throngs of people. “No time! Go go go!!” Lane yelped as hands stretched out in an attempt to grab one of them. Quickly pushing Bofur back towards the house, the five quickly retreated inside and slammed the door closed behind them as the screaming once again quieted. As the two finally managed a breath of relief, they were quickly engulfed in an entirely new, albet much more welcome mob. “You’re alright!” “Thank Mahal!” “When the pointy-ears took ye’ away we never thought we’d see ya’ again!” “Ye’ had us worried!” “I knew ye’d make it out alright!” “They didn’t hurt ye’ did they!” “Curse the damned elves!” “Whoa whoa whoa guys! Peace! Peace! We surrender!” Lane laughed, her head swimming with the numerous voices shouting over one another. “Bilbo!” Belle cried out, catching sight of the hobbit quickly padding over. Kneeling down, Belle happily accepted the hobbit all but running towards her and Lane, wrapping her arms around him with a relieved sigh. “We thought we’d lost you two in Mirkwood,” Balin smiled. “How in the blazes did you get out?” Kíli asked. “Lane clobbered a guard over the head with his own helmet and kicked the second one in the family jewels,” Belle retold with a giggle, the very memory bringing a grin to her face as she released their hobbit. All eyes turned to give Lane a round of baffled looks. “What? I told you I was going to do some nad mashing if I ever saw them again,” Lane scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “If there’s one thing you should have learned about me by now is that I don’t make empty threats.”The dwarves let out another round of chuckles as Bofur clapped the taller woman on the back. “Glad to have ye’ back Champion, ‘sbeen quite dreary without your shining personality,” Bofur snickered, giving her a toothy grin. “Damn straight you guys missed me; I even got to kick some serious orc ass while we were dashing to come save you guys,” Lane harrumphed, raising her nose into the air with a smirk. “Or… at least we thought we’d have to save you guys…” “And what about ye’ Lady Isabella, I noticed that your arm is bound; are ye’ wounded?” Gloin asked, nodding to her wound. “And yer’ shoulder? Perhaps Oin should take a look at it...” “What? Oh, it’s nothing. Just a small scratch,” Belle hummed, patting her arm with a smile for good measure. “I’m more concerned about Champion’s new colours,” Nori hummed, crossing his arms across his chest while giving the woman a slightly worried look. All eyes once again were trained on the taller woman, realization slowly dawning on all of them as they saw the black bloom poking out from the collar of her tunic and just below her right sleeve. “As ugly as it looks I’ll actually be ok; Tauriel looked after it and said that I’ll survive to sock one of you in the nose another day,” Lane laughed, patting her shoulder lightly though she still didn’t quite dare to make any large movements with it. “I’d feel better if ye’d lemme look at yer wounds lassies,” Oin hummed, still holding his horn to his ear. The two women nodded, understanding the healer’s worry and followed him over to a large table in the middle of the room. After inspecting Lane’s shoulder and coming to the same conclusion Tauriel had, he turned to Belle’s small cut on her arm as well as the wound on her shoulder, dubbing the stitches could be taken out of the latter. “You need a hand to hold?” Lane asked as Oin carefully snipped at the stitches. Belle winced slightly but shook her head. “My shoulder is meatier than your head; it stings but I can deal.” Lane nodded and instead cast her eyes around the large house. She was still floored at the new development. In the movies, the dwarves had just barely managed to escape Mirkwood and its elves only to be chased down by Bolg and his troop of orcs. They were smuggled into Laketown by Bard, who housed them for a little while before they slipped out in an attempt to steal some weapons and head to Erebor, only to get caught and brought before the Master of Laketown. They’d party the night away and leave the next morning but leave Fíli, Kíli, Oin and Bofur behind due to the younger prince’s injured leg. A leg injury that Lane had noticed he was missing as he laughed jovially with his brother. There were no orcs attacking, no dwarves sneaking around the town in an attempt to not be discovered, there was no poisoned prince, nothing was the same as the movie and it was putting her a little on edge. “Lane?” The woman blinked as she was brought from her thoughts and turned her eyes to look over at her friend. “What the ever loving fuck is going on??” Lane whispered, noticing Oin had since departed to no doubt put his tools away. “I don’t know,” Belle whispered back, leaning on the table slightly. “This has been happening a lot though, have you noticed?” Lane’s confused look caused the smaller woman to roll her eyes. “The Misty Mountain song back at Bag End? Bree? The trolls? Rivendell? Beorn’s? The river? Mirk-” “OK, OK I get it,” Lane laughed lightly. “I see you’ve been keeping track of all this BS.” “I’ve watched the movies at least ten times, I notice when things are different!” Belle hissed. “This? This isn’t just different, it’s bonkers!” “Agreed. It kinda worries me about what else is gonna be different,” Lane sighed, resting her chin against her palm. “I mean, we rushed over here expecting to find Laketown being attacked by orcs and having to swoop in and save the Bardlings and the guys and instead they have a house and a fucking fanbase!” A proverbial light bulb lit up in Belle’s brain. “Do you think we’re in the books instead of the movies?” The confusion was evident on Lane’s face before the colour slowly drained from it. “How far did you say you got into rereading the books?” Belle gave her friend an apologetic smile making Lane groaned and allowed her head to slam down onto the table with a hard ‘THUD’ causing Belle to jump and release a small squeak. “Whar you du whibering abou over here?” Bilbo sniffled, pulling himself up onto the bench by Belle’s side between the two. Lane snorted at the hobbit’s words and raised her head as Belle gave him a concerned look. “Bilbo, do you have a cold?” she asked, quickly placing a hand over his forehead. The hobbit sighed though it sounded flemmy when no air could escape his nose in the process. “I do beweve dat de cowd has seeped into be, ohw in de vewy least by head.” “Just hang him upside down over a steam bath,” Lane laughed, good naturedly patting Bilbo on the shoulder. “Lane! That worked once and even then Doogie probably cheated or something!” Belle scolded. “I hab nodiced dat you dalk about dis… Doogie ofden, is he a fwiend of youws?” Bilbo asked, sniffling afterwards. “He’s a-” “He is the devil incarnate!” Belle interrupted. “He is rude, arrogant, crass, foul, disgusting and a horrible human being!!” “Jeez, he stole your waffle once-” “THIS ISN’T ABOUT THE WAFFLE!!” “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lady Isabella so riled up before,” Balin suddenly laughed. “Aye, not even Champion’s managed to make her this upset I’d say!” Gloin added with a laugh of his own. “Is this man truly that horrible a person?” Ori asked. “Doogie is worse than… worse than… worse than Azog!” Belle raged, her cheeks starting to colour from her tirade. At the pale orc’s name, several dwarves stiffened while Lane rolled her eyes. “Oh come on Izz, Doogie isn’t that bad,” the older woman laughed. “He hasn’t gone on a genocidal rampage or oppressed anyone.” “Yet.” Lane rolled her eyes again while many of the dwarves began to exchange glances. The suddenly awkward atmosphere was extinguished upon Bombur poking his head out of what was apparently the kitchen to announce that he and Dori had managed to make some stew for supper. Everyone was soon cradling a bowl of hot stew and all was silent except for the occasional slurp of the broth. “Mmmmm! As delicious as always Bombur! And Dori as well of course!” Belle cheered. “Here here!” Lane added, raising her spoon in a type of salute. A small chorus of agreement sounded before silence once again descended. The moment Lane’s bowl was empty she had to fight back a yawn, raising her hand to cover her mouth in a vain attempt to stop it. “Stop that, now you’re making me yawn!” Belle yawned with a laugh. “I’m tired, sue me,” Lane grumbled, standing with her bowl and walking into the kitchen. “Now now lass, give that here and go find yerself a cot,” Balin quickly ushered, standing from his seat and holding his hand out for her bowl. “I can at least take it to the kitchen Balin…” “I’m sure ye can, but it be best for ye to find a place to rest safe for the night, something I’m sure all of us can agree we’ve been deprived of for some time now,” the white-haired dwarf hummed, not moving from his place. Lane was about to retort when another yawn burst forth, making her eyes water. Admitting defeat, Lane gave her bowl and spoon to the dwarf and after muttering a ‘goodnight’ to the others, shuffled out of the room. Only a few steps later, a pair of arms swung around her middle, making her jump slightly, but upon feeling the feminine assets pressed into her back, chuckled and held Belle’s wrists as they laughed and shuffled down the hall together. “Oh my god a bed!” Belle sighed once they opened the proper door. “It’s been so long!” Flopping down onto the mattress face first, Belle quickly wriggled under the light covers and all but burrowed into the relative softness it offered. Lane followed after her friend, though pulled off her boots as well as Belle’s and shedding her own shirt and pants. “Aww, my poor bra, I think it’s on its last legs,” Lane booed, tugging at the material and sticking a finger through the hole in the band. “It’s all that roughhousing you’ve been doing,” Belle mumbled through the pillow. Rather than retorting, Lane simply sighed through her nose and climbed into the bed next to her friend, laying down on her back. “Night Izz.” “G’night Lane, sweet dreams.” “Mmm.” The room was utterly silent for about 10 minutes, Belle shifting every now and then in an attempt to get comfortable on the mattress. After sleep continued to evade her for nearly half an hour however, she rolled over again to peek at her friend, finding Lane with slow and steady breaths and eyes closed. Pouting that apparently her friend could sleep while she herself struggled with it, she was ready to try and settle into the cot again. “It’s too quiet, even with all your tossing and turning,” Lane suddenly sighed. Belle jumped at her friend’s sudden words as Lane slowly opened her eyes. “I mean, I’m exhausted, but I can’t sleep; I’m too used to there being noise,” the older woman continued. Belle gave a hum in agreement, her eyes half-lidded in her own exhaustion. “Our own little sawmill…” Lane let out a snort of laughter causing Belle to snicker. “...I wonder where the guys are sleeping…” Lane hummed. “Why, you want to snuggle with Fíli~” Belle teased in a sing-song voice. “Nah, you know I get bored of the same scene, maybe I’ll cuddle Kíli instead; throw my leg over him if you know what I mean~” Lane practically purred. “Laaaaaannneee!” Belle groaned, too tired to deal with her friend’s antics currently. “Please keep it in your pants.” “I have no pants to contain my needs,” Lane grinned, lifting her legs up in the air to showcase her bare legs. “Clearly tis a sign that now is the time to act~” “It’s a sign that you need to put your pants back on,” Belle laughed, lifting her own legs to awkwardly try and kick Lane’s back onto the bed. After a short footsie battle and a small amount of giggles, both women were settled back into their bed and silence consumed the small room. “Where do you think the guys are sleeping?” Belle asked, breaking the silence. “Oooooo, I’m telling Leggles~” Lane teased. “I don’t want to cuddle with anyone, I’m just wondering if… if they all have a bed like we do,” Belle claimed. “You totally want to cuddle someone, is it Kíli? I’m willing to share~” Belle groaned and rolled over so that her back was to her friend causing Lane to laugh. The bed behind her shifted around, causing Belle to look over her shoulder to see the older woman had stood from the bed and was slipping on her clothes again. “Where’re you going?” Belle asked, raising an eyebrow. “To snuggle a dwarf,” Lane replied, as if the answer was obvious. “Or Bilbo, then again if he has a cold I don’t want it so maybe not…” Belle quickly shot out of the bed as Lane moved towards the door and opened it, the duo quietly exiting the room. The two caught sight of light still coming from the “living room” where they had all eaten supper and carefully crept down the hall. Poking their heads into the room, they caught sight of all of the dwarves splayed across the room, most of them on the floor semi close to one another while Bilbo had curled up into a chair that looked like it would swallow him whole. “What are you two still doing up?” Thorin’s voice asked. The women’s eyes caught sight of him in the other chair opposite Bilbo, and while he didn’t look quite as tiny as their hobbit in it, he was still greatly outsized. “It’s too quiet in our room,” Belle claimed, stepping forward and picking a blanket up off of the floor and re-covering Bilbo with it. “We’re so used to sleeping with outside noises or at least snoring that it’s hard to sleep without it.” “Yeah, so scooch over,” Lane grinned, stepping forward. They all chuckled at their words, Nori and Bofur shimmying over on the floor to try and make room for the two. “Come ‘ere Champion, I’ll keep ye’ warm~” Bofur teased, giving Lane a wink. “Blegh, I’d rather kiss Thorin,” Lane grunted, twisting her face in disgust. The effect was instantaneous; Thorin’s eyes widened at the remark along with Ori and Dori, Fili, Kili and Dwalin all snorted in an attempt to contain their laughter, Balin, Gloin and Oin all rolled their eyes but had small smiles, Bombur, Oin and Bifur looked confused at the notion while Bofur and Nori let out a sharp laugh. Without a word, Belle settled between Bofur and Lane, ending the discussion and potential midnight verbal war. “I’ll cuddle Lane, thank you very much Bofur.” There were a few more chuckles as Bofur simply shrugged and settled back into the floor, Belle and Lane doing so as well before allowing their eyes to slip closed. The sounds of hushed conversation about the mountain and the legend of Smaug the Fire Drake drifted around them like white noise until both entered a dreamless sleep, feeling content, safe and warm.

#Futures Known But Unspoken #Tolkien fanfiction #The Hobbit fanfiction

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pamphletstoinspire · 5 years

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Tolkien Against Racism

Reading Tolkien’s stories, it is easy to pick up the fact that the various races of Middle Earth often stood in competition with each other, causing various forms of racial tension and notions of racial supremacy to emerge. Some readers, following this line of thought, try to use Tolkien as a prop for their own racism. They see that claims of superiority prove that there should be some races, some groups, which are seen as superior to others, who, then, are justified in keeping to themselves while they expect entitled treatment from others. However, this approach to his works would go against what Tolkien himself has said of his own beliefs elsewhere.

J.R.R. Tolkien, born in Bloemfontein, of the Orange Free State (now a part of South Africa), knew of the prejudices which were found in his birth place, prejudices which he firmly opposed. In his Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford (1959), he mentioned his firm detestation of all forms of apartheid:

If we consider what Merton College and what the Oxford School of English owes to the Antipodes, to the Southern Hemisphere, especially to scholars born in Australia and New Zealand, it may well be felt that it is only just that one of them should now ascend an Oxford chair of English. Indeed, it may be thought that justice has been delayed since 1925. There are of course other lands under the Southern Cross. I was born in one; though I do not claim to be the most learned of those who have come hither from the far end of the Dark Continent. But I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones; and most of all, I detest the segregation or separation of Language and Literature. I do not care which of them you think White.

As Tolkien was a philologist, it is understandable why he mentioned his utter detestation of the artificial separation and division between the fields of Language and the Literature; he understood the study of one needed the study of the other. Trying to divide them, creating disciplines which saw themselves as superior to the other, fell for a grave error which would end up harming both. What is important and fitting about his remarks is that he understood such distinctions often were based upon prejudices and biases, artificial classifications, similar to the kinds which are used by racists to justify their racism. This is what tied his comments together. He did not care for what people looked for as being superior to others, and using that to justify the unjustifiable, that is the creation of artificial division among peoples based upon whatever biases they use to create such divisions. “I do not care which of them you think White,” indeed!

Knowing his biographical history will give a glimpse as to how Tolkien grew to detest such ideologies. While he was born in South Africa, he did not live there long; when he was three, when Tolkien, his brother Hilary, and his mother were visiting England, his father died. While his family was initially taken care of by other family members, when his mother converted to Catholicism (and with her, Tolkien and his brother as well), most of his extended family cut off all aid, so that the Tolkiens had to live on their own, with his mother working hard to take care of her children, both physically and spiritual. With all the stress, and poor physical health due to diabetes, she died young, at the age of thirty-four; by the time of her death, she had chosen Fr. Francis Xavier Morgan, a priest in the Birmingham Oratory, to be the guardian of her children. The prejudice which most (but not all) of his extended family held against Catholicism, he felt, had pushed her to an early death, making him realize how dangerous bigotry was to a healthy society. He held high regard for Fr. Morgan, although, when he met Edith Bratt, Fr. Morgan put a stop to their relationship, demanding they stay apart until Tolkien was twenty-one years old.

The horror of his early life, the horror of feeling betrayed by his own family, is reflected in many of Tolkien’s own writings, including and especially in the story of Beren and Lúthien, characters which he saw connected to himself and the love of his life, Edith. Beren, a human, and Lúthien, the daughter of an Elvish king, fell in love, but Lúthien’s father, Thingol, opposed it as much as he could. While many note that the story reflects, in part, Tolkien’s experience of his own desire to marry Edith, and the challenges he faced with his guardian, Fr. Morgan, the racial prejudices which were manifest in Thingol’s rejection of Beren must not be ignored. Thingol’s objections to Beren marrying his daughter lay in part with Beren’s lowly status as a man, similar to the way many racists would be upset with their daughter dating and marrying a man who was of a race they denigrated:

But Thingol looked in silence upon Lúthien; and he thought in his heart: ‘Unhappy Men, children of little lords and brief kings, shall such as these lay hands on you, and yet live?’ Then breaking the silence he said: ‘I see the ring, son of Barahir, and I perceive that you are proud, and deem yourself mighty. But a father’s deeds, even had his service been rendered to me, avail not to win the daughter of Thingol and Melian. See now! I too desire a treasure that is withheld. For rock and steel and the fires of Morgoth keep the jewel that I would possess against all the powers of the Elf-kingdoms. Yet I hear you say that bonds such as these do not daunt you. Go your way therefore! Bring to me in your hand a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown; and then, if she will, Lúthien may set her hand in yours. Then you shall have my jewel; and though the fate of Arda lie within the Silmarils, yet you shall hold me generous.’

Tolkien understood what it was to be looked down upon by others, to be thought lesser, and mistreated because others believed themselves to be superior and demanded obedience and respect because of it. Thingol, seeing Beren as an inferior unworthy of his daughter, put forward a challenge that he thought could not be met, for Beren to take the Silmaril from the crown of the Dark Lord, Morgoth, knowing that Morgoth never would have it out of his presence. Thingol demanded what he thought was impossible, and yet Beren took up the quest. Beren, despite being a human, despite being apparently inferior to the Elves, proved himself their superior by doing what they thought was impossible: he was able to get the Silmaril, though it cost him much in the process, and Lúthien herself aided him so that without her, he would have failed. But the point is that Thingol had misjudged Beren, the way supremacists misjudge others: his own thoughts of superiority made him ignore the greatness which was before him. Beren was a great hero, indeed one of the greatest, whose glory surpassed most of the Elves. When Beren completed the fool’s errand, Thingol finally understood what he had brought, all the harm which he caused to himself, to his kingdom, to his daughter, all because of his pride, and he actually had a change of heart:

Then Thingol’s mood was softened; and Beren sat before his throne upon the left, and Lúthien upon the right, and they told all the tale of the Quest, while all there listened and were filled with amazement. And it seemed to Thingol that this Man was unlike all other mortal Men, and among the great in Arda, and the love of Lúthien a thing new and strange; and he perceived that their doom might not be withstood by any power of the world. Therefore at the last he yielded his will, and Beren took the hand of Lúthien before the throne of her father.

The challenge, then, which came out of Thingol reflected Tolkien’s own challenges to get his own guardian to accept his relationship with Edith, but yet, connected to it, we sense a little of Tolkien’s other challenges in life, the challenges of prejudice which he felt led his mother to her doom. Likewise, though Thingol relented, his notion of supremacy not only proved false, but also fatal to his kingdom of Doriath, for once the Silmaril was brought into Doriath, it was only a matter of time before Doriath met its own end. In this manner, Tolkien understood not only the way supremacy harms others but also harms those who hold such an ideology because they, in trying to create an artificial distinction from others, only weaken themselves in the process.

Racism and religious bigotry share a common core. Both forms of bias found Tolkien’s strong objection. Yet, he also realized how difficult it is to overcome either. Indeed, he knew how such ideologies infected the minds of great peoples, which is why the manifestation of this problem often found itself in his works with peoples who had reasons to think themselves to be great (such as the Elves). The problem is not in the recognition of their own greatness, but in the way they thought it meant others, in their differences, were inferior; those who had some sort of racial pride often became negligent in that pride, causing their own destruction, while those of other races, those who were considered to be inferior, were often the very ones who achieved the greatest deeds of all, showing how far from reality such prejudices actually were. Perhaps the most important demonstration of this in The Lord of the Rings is found in what Tolkien recorded of the deeds of the Hobbits, the little folk who seemed to be insignificant and yet who, among all others, were the ones who were able to do what needed to be done to save Middle Earth. The Elves, despite their apparent greatness, just stood back and let things fall apart, and in doing so, felt the slow waning of their power and influence in Middle Earth.

Because of Tolkien’s hatred for apartheid, which he felt was so integral to his own being, it should not be surprising to see reflections within his works which demonstrate the failing of such a political ideology, and with it, all forms of racial discrimination. Nonetheless, for this to be found in his works, Tolkien needed to have various versions of racial supremacy in his tales. Those who read his stories thinking the existence of such biases prove Tolkien’s own support of them need only to read his utter detestation of the apartheid which existed in the land of his birth and see how mistaken they are.

BY HENRY KARLSON

From: www.pamphletstoinspire.com

#Tolkien against racism

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littlemessyjessi · 6 years

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Dwarven Desire (Thorin Oakenshield Story): Chapter Five: Be At Peace

Thorin Oakenshield Story

I don’t own Tolkien or his amazing works that he blessed us with but I do own Jezguli and her stories.

Jezguli sat distastefully upon Zul's back as he moved onward in his horse form.

The rain poured down upon everyone making the mood a generally unpleasant one.

The rain was comforting to her for she was used to that in her jungle.

The temperature however ...not so much.

She noted with a bit of satisfaction that for once Thorin seemed to fit with everyone else in the sullen atmosphere.

However, she kept it to herself.

Bofur seemed disappointed that he could not smoke his pipe in the rain.

Bilbo was rigid as he uncomfortably rode in the downpour.

A smiled crossed her lips when one of the dwarves questioned Gandalf if there was anything he could do about the insufferable weather.

Her amusement only increased when the grey wizard responded in that witty fashion of his.

She could hear the chatter continue but instead she chose to tune it out as they all trudged on through the rain.

Instead, she chose to focus on the sounds of the raindrops hitting the earth and the water sliding over leaves.

In a way, it took her back to Rainwood...if only for a moment.

When it finally stopped they had made their way out of the forest and across great spans of lush green grassy hills encrusted with great grey boulders.

Thorin dismounted his pony annoucing that they'd camp there for the night before ordering his nephews to look after the ponies.

Jezguli thought this was a foolish thought for the young princes were quite mischevious at times.

And true to being young and reckless....they often didn't pay attention.

She personally thought this had more to do with the fact that the both of them were more concerned with their pipe weed that the quest but she chose not to say anything.

It wasn't her place and she felt Thorin would deal with it when the inevitable problem presented itself.

She joined Gandalf as he looked at the shambles of a home.

"A farmer and his family used to live here." the grey wizard remarked glancing at the golden eyes of the female in their company.

Her shroud let only that feature be seen.

She inhaled the air around them.

Something did smell a bit off but it had faded throughout the day and she could not detect the scent.

"Oin, Gloin." Thorin said.

"Aye." one replied.

"Get a fire going." Thorin commanded.

"I think it would be wiser to move on." Gandalf said obtaining Thorin's attention as he made his way over to them. "We could make for the hidden valley."

"I've told you already." Thorin grumbled as he passed Gandalf, blue eyes sharp with irritation. "I will NOT go near that place."

"Why not?" Gandalf question with irritation of his own. "The elves could help us. We could get food, rest, advice."

"I do not need their advice." Thorin said.

Jezgul only watched the altercation.

"We have a map that we cannot read." Gandalf reasoned. "Lord Elrond could help us."

"Help?" Thorin said disbelievingly. "A dragon attacks Erebor. What help came from the elves? Orcs plunder Moria. Desecrate our sacred halls. The elves looked on and did nothing. You asked me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather. Who betrayed my father."

"You are neither of them." Gandalf said. "I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past."

"I did not know that they were yours to keep." Thorin spat.

Gandalf shook his head and went off in a huff and Thorin said something to Bumbo about being hungry for a moment.

Thorin's blue eyes slid over to meet the gold ones staring at him.

"Have you something to say, woman?" he snapped.

Jezguli stared at him for a moment, "I can read the runes when the moon is here, Thorin but I do not know what moon it was written under nor when it shall come to pass. Lord Elrond would be very helpful to us."

"Then what was the purpose of you joining us at all?" Thorin snipped at her. "Another burden to bare."

Had Jezguli been a young girl with a soft heart that might've hurt her but she was very old and had seen many things in her life.

She knew well enough to know that when Thorin was as irritable as he was being it was because he was stressed and worried.

Not because he truly thought her a burden.

He didn't know her well enough to make a clear decision on that caliber.

He bore a lot of weight on his broad shoulders.

Her longs legs made a few steps towards him and she placed her hand on his shoulder as she stared down into his eyes, "Thorin, be at peace. If only for a little while. Be at peace."

The dwarven male stared up at that infuriately mysterious woman before she turned and darted off to leap onto Zul's back.

Now, in his panther form the two of them raced up over the hill and out of sight.

"Where is she going?" Bilbo asked the others in a panic.

First, Galdalf and now Jezguli.

He wasn't sure what he was going to do.

"Aye, easy lad. I'll bet she's just going to scout." Bofur offered.

The wind filtered through the black wrapping that coated Jezguli body as she tore off after Gandalf.

"I'm in no mood." the wizard warned her.

"I'm well aware of that." she said to him in a soothing manner. "I will return in a few hours. Zul and I will go and look head. If there are any orcs then I will slay them and return to you. If I am not back by morning then I will be dead. You should not continue after me if this is true."

She spoke of death so candidly.

Gandalf stared at her, "Have you no fear, dragon?"

"I am full of fear, wizard." she said to him. "Fear ignites my soul and burns my heart. Without fear I would be nothing but smoke and ash a long time ago."

The wizard watched as the dark elf and the black panther tore off until they were nothing but a singular black dot in the distance.

He too carried on to clear his mind of Thorin's stupidity and stubborn nature.

However, soon enough the dawn would be approaching and he new he should return.

It was when he returned and found no dwarves, no ponies and no hobbit that he grew worried.

A low growl startled him but the purring that followed soothed him when he realized it was Zul.

"Where is your mistress?" Gandalf asked the large cat.

The luminous eyes lifted and the wizard saw a lithe shadow moving towards him.

"Trolls." she remarked. "I knew that stench was familiar. The sun is just below the horizon. If they should be stalled and drawn out then perhaps we could turn them to stone."

Her ears twitched and full lips pulled up over her sharp teeth when she heard Bilbo.

"He's got worms...in his tubes! In fact they all have!" the hobbit said. "They're infected. I wouldn't risk it. Really I wouldn't."

As they argued and the trolls threatened to rip them limb from limb she took a moment to scale the large rock and assess the situation.

She produced a hand to Gandalf to help him up before she dove out of the way.

"The dawn will take you all!" Gandalf bellow before sending his staff down into the boulder and letting the morning light envelope them all and turn the trolls to stone.

The dark elf sat about cutting the dwarfs free but not before Bilbo.

She always tried to see to him first.

The little hobbit looked up at her even as she knelt before him.

"I worried you'd left us." he admitted quietly.

Her gold eyes snapped up to meet his own full of curiousity and relief.

"Master Baggins, I would not desert you. I simply meant to look ahead and protect us from any potential threats. There was an orc pack but they are no longer a problem." she said to him as she cut the ropes and he stepped out of them.

Bilbo was so like a child to her and when he looked at her with wide, inquisitive eyes she felt a strong urge to comfort him as one.

She pulled down a section of her wrapping to bare her mouth and she laid her full lips upon his forehead in a comforting kiss, "Worry not, my little hobbit."

Bilbo's cheeks tinted as she pulled her covering back up and went about cutting the others free.

The little exchange did not go unnoticed by Thorin who scowled.

He wasn't sure why he was overcome with such emotion but he was.

However, when he saw Gandalf he knew he needed to make things right.

If not for him, they would be troll food.

"Where did you go to if I may ask?" Thorin asked.

"To look ahead." Gandalf said with raised eyebrows.

"What brought you back?" Thorin questioned.

"Looking behind." Gandalf asked and Thorin nodded in a humble manner. "Nasty business. Still though, all in one piece."

"No thanks to your burgular." he added.

"He had the nads to play for time." Gandalf corrected. "None of the rest of you thought of that. They must've come down from the Etonwoods."

"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?" Thorin wondered.

"Oh, not for an age. Not since a darker power ruled these lands." Gandalf said ominously. "They could not have moved in daylight."

"There must be a cave near by." Thorin said looking around.

Jezguli had thought the same the moment she'd caught the scent so as soon as enough dwarves were cut loose to free the others she went about search for the cave.

"Wizard!" she called out when she found the hole filled with the undeniable stench.

They followed after her and made their way down inside the rotten dwelling.

Jezguli had smelled far worse and so it did not turn her stomach as it did theirs.

She could not deny that her eyes wandered over the gold and jewels inside of the cave.

True to her draconian nature, it almost sang to her but she forced down deep inside her and locked it away and instead chose to follow behind Thorin at a safe distance as he examined some weapons.

However, when Gandalf informed them that they were made by an elvish hand he was repulsed by them.

She knew then that he would never, ever accept her.

She was two of the things he hated most of the world: a dragon and an elf.

It was not long before the company was climbing out of the stench filled hole and Jezguli watched as Gandalf presented Bilbo with a small dagger.

"I can't take this." he said.

"The blade is of elvish make which means that it will glow blue when orcs or goblins are nearby." the wizard said.

"I've never used a sword in my life." the hobbit admitted.

"And I hope you never have to." Gandalf said. "But if you do, remember this. True courage is about when knowing not when to take a life but when to spare one."

The wizard cast a look at the dark elf before Thorin called out, "Something's coming!"

The company took up a defensive stance and Jezguli scaled a tree.

She locked her legs around the thick trunk and drew an arrow to shoot their attacker but she relaxed when she saw it was none other than Radagast, the brown.

A wizard.

A strange, kind wizard that she'd met a few times in the past in both of her forms but she frightened him so she tried to stay out of sight.

She listened from a distance as the wizard spoke of the sickening Greenwood and the Necromancer.

She hoped he was wrong for if the Necromancer was near...darkness was upon them and nothing good would come of it.

But when he produced the blade she knew belonged to no other...she knew it was true.

Then it came.

A warg howl.

The great wolf like scouts came down the hill though Kili was quick to shoot one down while Zul simply bit the head off the other.

Jezguli patted the great panther.

He would never let anything or anyone harm her and it had been that way since he was a dying man in the jungle so long ago.

While panic ensued among the dwarves, Radagast spoke up, "I'll draw them off."

"These are guldeban wargs." Gandalf said. "They will outrun you."

"THESE are ruscalbelle rabbits. I'd like to see them try." Radagast said.

"Zul and I will go first. Radagast will split the pack when he emerges. He may take half and we will take half. I will be able to attack while we draw them away. That should provide enough of a distraction." Jezguli spoke up.

Radagast started slightly at her sudden appearance and looked on with widened eyes but said nothing.

He might have been afraid of her but he knew her to be a protector.

"No." Thorin said. "I will not allow you to do that."

"I did not ask for your permission, dwarf." she said as she mounted Zul.

The great panther leap up and sank his claws into the bark of the tree as they scaled it easily and took off.

The orc packs tore off after them.

"Go then." Gandalf said. "Now, before they overtake her."

Radagast and his rabbits tore out of the forest in hot pursuit of the elf and the panther to draw some of them off her.

When he neared he saw her whip soaring around her and cracking against the wargs.

Half of them took off after Radagast and it gave her ample opportunity to make quick work of the orcs left with her.

Soon they were dead and she almost rejoiced but an awful sound tore through the air.

A warg cried as it was attacked and Jezguli's breath grew sharp as the company had just put a target on their backs.

The orcs in pursuit of Radagast abandoned their cause and charged towards the dwarves.

Zul and Jezguli tore off after them and she leaped from his back to swipe the head clean off an orc while the panther made quick work of the orc.

"Zul! To the forest! Hide!" she said as she landed amongst the others.

Zul looked at her with luminous sad eyes that pleaded her not to do as she would.

She placed a hand upon his giant head and locked their eyes together and with a silent command he was forced to leave her there.

She would do everything to protect him.

She drew her dagger and placed herself back to back with Thorin slicing at anyone who dare come near him.

The orcs drew closer and closer and when Gandalf called them in she felt great relief.

She and Thorin stood guard defending the opening until all had entered and they slid in together.

She heard hoofbeats and caught the scent before the others.

When a fallen orc tumbled down into the hole and the arrow from his chest was drawn her suspicions were confirmed.

"Elves." said Thorin with anger in his eyes.

The dwarves followed Dwalin down the pathway until a welcoming light shone upon them.

Jezguli closed her eyes as the smell of fresh water enveloped her senses.

Rivendell.

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Hey, smoochies!!!! I hope you enjoyed this update!!! Every day I fall more in love with Thorin and Jezguli!!! I’d love to hear from you! If you liked this chapter please tell me in the comments! Happy Reading!

#thorin #thorin oakenshield #hobbit #lord of the rings #erebor #lonely mountain #poc character #elf dragon tolkien #tolkien fan fiction #fan fiction #thorin x oc #thorin x ofc #thorin oakenshield x ofc #thorin oakenshield x oc #oc #original fictional character #plus size

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