#elemmakil

[windrelyn]

Gondolindrim <3

Please do not re-up my art without permission!

The commissions are still open! DM me of visit my Ko-fi for more information!

#tolkien #silmarillion #gondolin #turgon #tuor #idril #earendil #galdor #ecthelion #glorfindel #rog #penlod #pengolodh #elemmakil #salgant #maeglin #egalmoth #duilin #voronwe #my art #middle earth #elves #fanart #the silmarillion #the fall of gondolin #gondolindrim

[swanmaids]

…because they’re running out of time.

Motherly kiss: Elwing, Elros & Elrond

38. because they're running out of time

Elwing's kitchen felt cramped and oppressively warm. Fear, hot and sour, radiated from all six people within - Elwing thought she could almost taste the sweat of the others in the back of her mouth. The little box she held was slippery in her damp hands.

Nobody spoke. Gereth's expression was grim. Idwen, the twins' nurse, was crying silently; rivers of tears and snot running down her crumpling pretty face. Elrond and Elros, who had up until then been so good and quiet, were beginning to fuss and whimper even as all four adults frantically shook their heads and pressed their fingers to their lips. My nurse drugged me, Elwing remembered suddenly, when she took me from Doriath. I should have given the boys something too, to keep them quiet. To give them a chance.

She should have done a lot of things.

Outside, she could hear the slaughter drawing closer. The clashing of steel and shouting of murderers and innocents alike was still muffled enough to suggest that the bulk of the fighting was still streets away, but it was closing in. She had to send the boys away now.

She was not the only one who thought so. Elemmakil kept glancing towards the door, one hand on his sword hilt. Yes, I know, she thought but did not voice, but let me just have one more minute with them.

What could she say to them, those two perfect little boys? She looked then at their soft round faces, their wide dark eyes, and her heart ached. She had no wisdom to impart; she could not even think of a kindly lie.

Elwing was not sure why she could not weep like Idwen. Perhaps there was simply nothing left inside of her.

"Lady Elwing," Elemmakil whispered to her, and she nodded.

"It's time to be very brave now, boys," she told her sons as quietly as she could, and her voice did not waver. "Idwen and Elemmakil are going to take you to the Shrine of Uinen, and you're going to wait there for - a little while. And it's really important that you keep being as quiet as mice while you do. Círdan will come and find you, and you're not to leave for anyone else, no matter what they say. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, mummy," from Elros, always the slightly bolder of the two, even as he clung to Idwen's leg.

"But..." Elrond mumbled, eyes beginning to well up, "aren't you coming with us?"

"I'm sorry, my love," Elwing said, and paused. "I... I very much hope that I can come and find you afterwards. And -" now here was the sob, finally, breaking out of her chest, "I love you both, so very, very much."

Then Idwen passed her Elros, and she cast aside the box and kissed his hot cheek, and tasted the salt of their mingling tears. Elemmakil lifted Elrond into her other arm, and she pressed her lips firmly against the top of his head, feeling his soft dark hair brush her chin. This can't be the last time, she thought, it can't be, it can't be.

Then they left. Elemmakil first, sword drawn, then the boys on foot, holding hands, and then Idwen, armed with a cleaver that Elwing used for butchering chickens.

Elwing and Gereth remained in the kitchen for ten more excruciating minutes as they listened to the fighting draw nearer. Gereth knew her well enough not to offer her empty words. Instead, the Noldo woman simply laid a large hand on her shoulder as the tears finally overwhelmed her.

"I ought to release you from my service," Elwing said at last, "you ought to get yourself to safety."

The woman who had helped her nurse save Elwing from Doriath all those years ago simply scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous."

Elwing picked up the box again, and they left the boathouse where Elwing and Eärendil's marriage bed lay, where she had birthed their sons. Gereth drew her sword to guard her back. Elwing raised her voice to shout for her enemy over the chaos, hoping that Elvish hearing would carry her voice. She turned towards the direction of the cliffs, away from Uinen's Shrine, away from her children.

"Hear me now, Sons of Fëanor! I have what you came for!"

She opened the box, and the light of the gem was blinding. Then she began to run.

#elwing #elrond #elros #elemmakil #gereth #third kinslaying #my fic #kiss prompts #the silm

[prastevnik]

Elemmakil: Don’t worry, it’s a standard procedure for all the non-elven newcomers.

Tuor: What kind of procedure?

Elemmakil: An instant execution.

Tuor: Oh...

Fortunately, deux ex machina is a thing in Tolkien’s books.

Also Elemmakil is an unerrated character.

#tuor #voronwe #elemmakil #tolkien #silmarillion #gondolin

[arofili]

@gondolinweek​ day seven | freeform | elemmakil & the dark guard

Now Aredhel and Maeglin came to the Outer Gate of Gondolin and the Dark Guard under the mountains; and there she was received with joy, and passing through the Seven Gates she came with Maeglin to Turgon upon Amon Gwareth.

—The Silmarillion

And Elemmakil, captain of the Guard, who bore the bright lamp, looked long and closely at them.

—The Fall of Gondolin

#gondolinweek #gondolinweek2023 #tolkienedit #oneringnet #silm #silmarillion #tfog #elemmakil #the dark guard #my edit #tefain nin #gondolin #^^check out the link for a fic abt elemmakil !!

[lenachangms]

#glorfindel #Finrod #galadriel #finwë #Feanor #elemmakil #silmarillion

[melestasflight]

I remember your voice

Read on AO3

‘As the high tides pulled him adrift, he recalled Elemmakil breathing low into his ear, ‘Ay, Voronwë, remember me, remember my voice.’

‘I would never forget, never…’ He felt the tempest raging within him and around him. 

‘Voronwë…’

-

Voronwë is far from home, alone at Sea, after an unsuccessful mission to find the way to Valinor. He remembers the one he left behind in Gondolin and finds his way home again.

@myslashyvalentine gift for @talullah-red, inspired by @naryaflame's Comfort and Joy.

If you're looking to hop on the Voronwë/Elemmakil train, please check out the collection with other stories by Narya, @raisingcain-onceagain, and @arofili.

#voronwe #elemmakil #tuor #gondolin #myslashyvalentine #msv2023 #for talullah #my writing #the silmarillion #unfinished tails #fall of gondolin #tolkien #gift fic

[valinorianyears]

Elemmakil, resident buff beauty and warden of Gondolin

#valinorian years #elemmakil #silmarillion #silm art #gondolin

[silmarillionwritersguild]

Character of the Month: Elemmakil

Tolkien peppered his work with minor characters whose brief appearances help create the illusion of depth for which the legendarium is renowned. Elemmakil is one such character. The guardian of the Gates of Gondolin who leads forth Tuor upon his arrival, Elemmakil was written into the legendarium relatively late in its history, playing a small but important role.

This month's character biography, authored by @naryaflame, explores what the legendarium has to say about Elemmakil. While there is little to go on in the canon, Narya observes that Elemmakil plays the role of a "threshold guardian" and connects with many of Tolkien's other uses of surveillance and light.

You can read Elemmakil's biography here: https://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/node/5537

#silmarillion #swg character of the month #tolkien #elemmakil #gondolin #naryaflame

[aredhels]

And high and noble as was Elemmakil, greater and more lordly was Ecthelion, Lord of the Fountains, at that time Warden of the Great Gate. All in silver was he clad, and upon his shining helm there was set a spike of steel pointed with a diamond; and as his esquire took his shield it shimmered as if it were bedewed with drops of rain, that were indeed a thousand studs of crystal.

#silmedit #tolkienedit #oneringnet #ecthelion #the fall of gondolin #tfog #userlyndeth #tuserosie #usertilions #mine #*pspam #100

[eerieechos]

"And high and noble as was Elemmakil, greater and more lordly was Ecthelion, Lord of the Fountains, at that time Warden of the Great Gate.”

#shoulder armor is based on misswhalie’s incredible design #ecthelion #ecthelion of the fountain #gondolin #Tolkien #jrr tolkien #the silmarillion #the lord of the rings #lotr #Tolkien elves #fanart #art #my art #drawing #portrait

[nothinghereisworking]

Voronwë Appreciation

(Shoutout to @starspray for sparking the idea and gratitude to @polutrope and @melestasflight for fic suggestions)

From Tolkien Gateway:

Voronwë was related to the House of Fingolfin through his father, Aranwë, a nobleman of Gondolin and to Círdan himself through his mother, who was one of the Sindar Elves of Falas. He was sent by King Turgon to seek a passage to Aman and call on the Valar for aid against Morgoth. He delayed on the road, tarrying in Nan-tathren and because of this he was the final one to embark on the last ship that Círdan, at the request of Turgon, had built for them. After sailing for seven years without reaching the lands in the West, his ship attempted to return to Middle-Earth defeated. In a storm within sight of the coast the ship was wrecked and all save him were drowned. By the grace of Ulmo, Voronwë was saved from the wreck and washed ashore in Nevrast, near Vinyamar. He was sitting at its wall when he encountered Tuor and heard his story as the messenger of Ulmo and led him back to Gondolin.

Important moments: ✨There Was Only One Cloak ✨ and ⛵ Sailing West With Tuor and Idril 🌊. This character deserves way more love!

____________________________________________________________

Fanfiction

Kisses Chapter 2 Idril/Tuor/Voronwë (T) by @polutrope

Indemmar Tuor/Voronwë (M) by @cuarthol

I remember your voice Elemmakil/Voronwë (M) by @melestasflight

Shipwrecked Voronwë (G) by @i-did-not-mean-to

FotFictober 2022 Chapter 9 Tuor & Voronwë (NR) by @swanfloatieknight

Gentle yearning of the heart Voronwë (and others) (G) by @ettelene

Comfort and Joy Elemmakil/Voronwë (M) by @naryaflame

We Kiss in a Shadow Elemmakil/Voronwë (E) by @naryaflame

beneath the gates of gondolin Elemmakil/Voronwë (T) by @raisingcain-onceagain

A Flower, Set Upon A Stone Elemmakil/Voronwë (M) by @idrilsscribe

The Time of Moths and Warm Evenings Tuor/Voronwë (T) by @maggiehoneybite

Like The Sea Over Sand Tuor/Voronwë (T) by platinum_firebird

Tolkien Gen Week Day 1: Family Voronwë, Tuor, Aranwë (NR) by @avantegarda

Green-Gray Idril/Tuor/Voronwë (M) by @bayta-darell

Fanart

art - Voronwë by @rittare

art - Idril, Tuor, Voronwë by @yuviur

art - Elemmakil, Tuor, Voronwë by @prastevnik

art - Voronwë (also Beleg) by @cochart

art - Voronwë by @amaite

art - mermaid!Voronwë, Tuor by @oopsbirdficced

moodboard - Voronwë, Tuor by @arofili

art - Tuor, Voronwë by @shootingstarsue

art - Voronwë, Tuor by @cochart

art - Voronwë, Tuor by @matrose

Bonus Very Important Quote

"As for me, I am of the Noldor, and long must be the hunger and cold the winter that shall slay the kin of those who passed the Grinding Ice." - Unfinished Tales

#voronwe #appreciation #tolkien fanfiction #tolkien fanart

[warrioreowynofrohan]

For the Choose Violence ask game: 22 for any of Tolkien's Middle Earth works? (Histories of Middle Earth included.)

Two asks for this one!

@nopewood: 22 for the ask game pleaseee ^^

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

It's not entirely ignored, but the poetic Leithian deserves way higher profile than it has! It's absolutely magnificent as poetry and also elaborates a lot more of the events of Beren and Lúthien's Quest than the text of the Silmarillion does (for example: the spell Lúthien uses to grow her hair is incredibly complex, cool, and rather spooky).

Another part that I really like that almost everyone ignores is "The Coming of Tuor to Gondolin" in Unfinished Tales. I love the characterization that we get of Tuor during his time as a outlaw and his journey to Nevrast and thence to Gondolin - he, well 'chill' compared to the other Edain we get, but he's not entirely chill and it's really not sufficiently recognized that he waged a single-handed guerilla war in Hithlum for about three years when he was little more than a teenager.

A specific bit of that that I like and that no one else seems (understandably!) to care about is the description of the gates of Gondolin. I love it. The imagery of the different materials, colours, the structure, the designs and what they symbolize/convey. And we're also told that the Elves created a lot of magnificent things, but they're rarely described in detail, and we get such great descriptions here.

Gates!

Thus they came at length to a wide art with tall pillars upon either hand, hewn in the rock, and between hung a great portcullis of crossed wooden bars, marvellously carved and studded with nails of iron. Elemmakil touched it, and it rose silently, and they passed through. "You have passed the First Gate, the Gate of Wood," said Elemmakil. ...Some half-league from the Wooden Gate Tuor saw that the way was barred by a great wall built across the ravine form side to side, with stout towers of stone at either hand. In the wall was a great archway above the road, but it seemed that masons has blocked it with a single mighty stone. As they drew near its dark and polished face gleamed in the light of a white lamp that hung above the midst of the arch. "Here stands the Second Gate, the Gate of Stone," said Elemmakil; and going up to it he thrust lightly upon it. It turned upon an unseen pivot, until its edge was towards them, and the way was open upon either side; and they passed through, into a court where stood many armed guards clad in grey. ...After a little space they came to a wall yet higher and stronger than before, and in it was set the Third Gate, the Gate of Bronze: a great twofold door hung with shields and plates of bronze, wherein were wrought many figures and strange signs. Upon the wall above its lintel were three square towers, roofed and clad with copper that by some device of smith-craft were ever bright and gleamed as fire in the rays of the red lamps ranged like torches against the wall. Again silently they passed the gate, and saw in the court beyond a yet greater company of guards in mail that glowed like dull fire; and the blades of their axes were red. Of the kindred of the Sindar of Nevrast for the most part were those that held this gate. [NOTE: Another reference to the Sindar using axes as their main weapon, something that I almost never see in fic.] ....Thus at last they drew near the Fourth Gate, the Gate of Writhen Iron. High and black was the wall, and lit with no lamps. Four towers of iron stood upon it, and between the two inner towers was set an image of a great eagle wrought in iron, even the likeness of King Thorondor himself, as he would alight upon a mountain from the high airs. But as Tuor stood before the gate it seemed to his wonder that he was looking through boughs and stems of imperishable trees into a pale glade of the Moon. For a light came through the traceries of the gate, which were wrought and hammered into the shapes of trees with writhing roots and woven branches laden with leaves and flowers and as he passed through he saw how this could be; for the wall was of great thickness, and there was not one grill but three in line, so that to one who approached in the middle of the way each formed part of the device; but the light beyond was the light of day...Now they passed through the lines of the Iron Guards that stood behind the Gate; black were their mantles and their mail and long shields, and their faces were masked with vizors each bearing an eagle's beak.

What the Fourth Gate reminds me of at the moment is Menegroth - trees carved in iron, as Menegroth is trees and birds and other animals wrought in stone, the combination of the love of nature with the love of craft through the work of two different peoples. And the sequence - the different materials (wood, stone, bronze, iron), the number of towers matching the number of the gates, the guards outfitted in a way that matches the gates - really appeals to me. The connection of Gondolin both with Ulmo, who showed Turgon the location and concealed his people so they could get here, and with Manwë via Thorondor (who is really Turgon's link to the outside world, and brings him news on more than one occasion) is just fantastic.

Then we have the gates of Silver and Gold:

Tuor saw beside the way a sward of grass, where like stars bloomed the white flowers of uilos, the Evermind that knows no season and withers not; and thus in wonder and lightening of heart he was brought to the Gate of Silver. The wall of the Fifth Gate was built of white marble, and was low and broad, and its parapet was a trellis of silver between five great globes of marble; and there stood many archers robed in white. The gate was in shape as three parts of a circle, and wrought of silver and pearl of Nevrast in likenesses of the Moon; but above the Gate upon the midmost globe stood an image of the White Tree Telperion, wrought of silver and malachite, with flowers made of great pearls of Balar. And beyond the Gate in a wide court paved with marble, green and white, stood archers in silver mail and white-crested helms, a hundred upon either hand. Then Elemmakil led Tuor and Voronwë through their silent ranks, and they entered upon a long white road, that ran straight towards the Sixth Gate; and as they went the grass-sward became wider, and among the white stars of uilos there opened many small flowers like eyes of gold. So they came to the Golden Gate, the last of the ancient gates of Turgon that were wrought before the Nirnaeth; and it was much like the Gate of Silver, save that the wall was built of yellow marble, and the globes and parapets were of red gold; and there were six globes, and in the midst upon a golden pyramid was set an image of Laurelin, the Tree of the Sun, with flowers wrought of topaz in long clusters upon chains of gold. And the Gate itself was adorned with discs of gold, many-rayed, in likenesses of the Sun, set amid devices of garnet and topaz and yellow diamonds. In the court beyond were arrayed three hundred archers with long bows, and their mail was gilded, and tall golden plumes rose from their helmets; and their great round shields were red as flame.

As I reread this...I had thought before of Gondolin, the image of Tirion in Valinor, being a symbol/indication of Turgon's inability to let go of his homesickness, and the images of the Trees being connected to that. But it doesn't feel like that now - it feels like a fusion, of the past in Valinor (the two Trees) and present in Beleriand (the Moon and Sun, and also the pearls of Nevrast and Balar; the latter indicate that Turgon must also have had a close relationship with Cirdan and the Falathrim) - and by the way, how did Turgon realize the connection between the Trees and the moon and sun, when as far as the Noldor know the Trees were entirely dead? It's an impressive connection to work out by himself.

These gates - and their matching flowers, which is an amazing touch - are more decorative and less military than the others, as though, having passed the gate of iron, the focus is now more on beauty rather than defence. And then we're slapped in the face with this:

The way was short to the Seven Gate, named the Great, the Gate of Steel that Maeglin wrought after the return from the Nirnaeth, across the wide entrance to the Orfalch Echor. No wall stood there, but on either hand were two round towers of great height, many-windowed, tapering in seven storeys to a turret of bright steel, and between the towers there stood a mighty fence of steel that rusted not, but glittered cold and white. Seven great pillars of steel there were, tall with the height and girth of strong young trees, but ending in a bitter spike that rose to the sharpness of a needle; and between the pillars were seven cross-bars of steel, and in each space seven times seven rods of steel upright, with heads like the broad blades of spears. But in the centre, upon the midmost pillar and the greatest, was raised a mighty image of the king-helm of Turgon, the Crown of the Hidden Kingdom, set about with diamonds.

This is grim and forbidding and hostile after the Gates of Silver and Gold - like passing from an intricately carved gate of a garden to a fence of razor wire. It's the only gate that Elemmakil can't open for them, and there's no elegant way to knock - you just have to bang on the bars. The pillars of steel might be the size of young trees, but they aren't carved to look like trees or anything else - they're just spikes. The other gates had images of nature, and sometimes of the world outside; this gate is hostile to the world outside.

And, after the three previous gates with Thorondor followed by the images of the creations of Valar - the Trees and the Moon and Sun - we have an image of Turgon's crown on this one.

This is a very clear warning to the reader - something is wrong in Gondolin. Turgon has grown proud and shut out the outside world, and is putting himself and his desires as of the foremost importance. This Gate tells us what Turgon's answer to Tuor's message from Ulmo will be even before Tuor delivers us. And the statement that Maeglin made this gate shows him symbolically as an influence upon this change of attitude in Turgon. Everything about this gate foreshadows the fall of Gondolin.

Thank you for indulging me on this super long post! Look, I just really enjoy imagery and patterns!

#tolkien #the silmarillion #unfinished tales #gondolin #the fall of gondolin #turgon #the lays of beleriand #history of middle-earth #beren and luthien #ask game

[swanmaids]

Elwing/Eärendil, 40

40. because the world is ending

And it is sung that she fell from the air upon the timbers of Vingilot, in a swoon, nigh unto death for the urgency of her speed, and Earendil took her into his bosom; but in the morning with marvelling eyes he beheld his wife in her own form beside him with her hair upon his face, and she slept. - The Silmarillion, of the Voyage of Earendil and the War of Wrath.

~

Elwing awoke screaming. She thrashed within Eärendil's hold in his cramped cabin bed as the waves rocked the boat beneath them, and he pulled back and stood up, giving her room to move. There were too many thoughts racing through his mind at once.

How had she come to be here? Was she badly hurt? Where were the boys?

~

When he had first beheld the face of his wife where the bird had been, he had wept with relief. The sight of the great albatross with the nauglamir clutched in its beak had been a horror, for the jewel was ever around Elwing’s neck, or in a locked box beneath the floorboards in their bedroom - she would not have relinquished it while she lived. Eärendil had sobbed into the feathers of the bird, despairing.

Then the image of the albatross had shimmered as though in a dream, and before him had laid his sleeping wife.

~

Elwing's screams stopped almost as soon as they had begun. She sat up suddenly, her dark hair damp with sweat and her face leached of all colour. Eärendil felt his chest ache- he longed to rush to her side, to give whatever comfort he could, but years of waking up to Elwing's nightmares had told him that at least right now, she would not wish to be touched.

She stared around the cabin, eyes wide and wild. "Eärendil!" she cried, as their eyes met, "Eärendil, we've failed. They are lost..."

Eärendil suddenly felt very cold.

"Elwing, beloved -"

She stood up from his bed, swaying a little on her feet, and clasped his hands in hers.

"The Fëanorian...beasts... they came upon Sirion by night. They wanted the jewel. They broke through our defences… there was so much killing. Eärendil! The boys!"

In Elwing's great distress, through their ósanwe, Eärendil could feel a glimpse of the carnage himself. He could almost feel the heat of the burning boathouses, could almost smell the gore in the air. But the boys! Where were his sons?

Elwing shook, but she forced herself to continue her tale.

"I sent Idwen and Elemmakil with the boys - to hide, somewhere, anywhere! I took the jewel, and I ran, in the opposite direction. I thought that the light might draw them away. But they must have been spotted. I reached the cliff, and then one of the - of the sons of Fëanor - it was the bloody minstrel - and he said -"

She broke off, and collapsed into his arms in sobs. Eärendil clasped her to his chest, cradling her head in one hand, and their minds melded once more.

~

The minstrel standing before her, sword unsheathed, blood on his weaponry and mail, even in his hair.

We have your children. Your city is lost. Can we not make one trade?

We have your children.

Twin boys snatched from their nurse in a slaughter. Twin boys thrown into the snow to die. Elwing has been here before.

Elwing stepping backwards. The rush of the air as she falls. The sea rising to meet her, the burn of salt in her lungs.

And suddenly, grace, unwanted and unlooked for.

The rise.

~

When he came back to himself, Eärendil was sobbing like a child. Something within himself was splitting in two, or maybe into a million pieces. Only the solid, breathing form of his wife as he held her kept him from flying apart. He breathed in her scent as he kissed her hair, if only to remind himself that they both still lived; here at the end of all things.

In the quiet darkness of Eärendil's cabin, they might have been the only two people left in the world.

"Eärendil," Elwing whispered, barely audible, "what do we do now?"

~

Yet Eärendil saw now no hope left in the lands of Middle Earth, and he turned again in despair and came not home, but sought back once more to Valinor with Elwing at his side. - The Silmarillion, of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath.

#its so over. #elwing #earendil #starwing #third kinslaying #the silm #my fic #kiss prompts

[prastevnik]

Tuor and Voronwë meet Elemmakil.

#elemmakil #voronwe #tuor #gondolin #The Fall of Gondolin #tolkien

[arofili]

The Dark Guard

The Dark Guard of Gondolin, and Elemmakil's place within it.

for @gondolinweek Day 7, a fic about Elemmakil!

Rating: G | No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: queerplatonic Elemmakil + Voronwë Characters: Elemmakil, nb!Voronwë Word count: 835

READ IT ON AO3!

#gondolinweek #gondolinweek2023 #elemmakil #voronwe #vorommakil #qp vorommakil #silm #silmarillion #tfog #gondolin #my writing #my fic #tefain nin #the dark guard #trans tolkien #qp fic #qp

[lenachangms]

Elemmakil

#Elemmakil #silmarillion