#unlike attempting to rescue Maeglin

[fuckingfinwions]

Successful escape in the future of the harem au

Gil-Galad knocked on the door.

“Yes?” said the woman who answered it.

“Is this the Lady Nerdanel’s house?”

“Who are you to ask?”

“I’m her grandson, Gil-Galad. The toddler is my brother Finnelach, and that’s my cousin Idril, and Fingon my - parent.”

“Fingon isn’t my son.”

Fingon spoke up, “No, but Maedhros is. You knew quite well what your husband did with my father. Is it really so surprising that I’ve borne two of Maedhros’s children?”

“Perhaps not. What’s the purpose of this family outing? I didn’t think Feanor approved of any of his children visiting me.”

“He doesn’t really. Can we come inside to discuss this?”

“Sure.”

“The purpose is that Gil-Galad doesn’t want to have sex with Feanor, and once he’s of age he’ll have to. I’ve always lived in the palace and would have no idea how to keep house on my own, but I’m not going to force him. I remembered that you had opposed Feanor and Maedhros having sex even though Maedhros wanted it, and hoped you’d be a safe place for your grandchildren.”

“And did you have any plan for if I wasn’t willing to raise three more children after all of mine are grown?”

“Just two, Idril can go to her grandparents in Alqualonde. And if not,” Fingon spoke quickly, “could you watch them for two weeks or so, then send them all to the coast? Olwe might not raise them personally but he wouldn’t send them back, not once he hears how Feanor is treating his grandson.”

Nerdanel looked at the three children. A fourteen year old boy, a ten year old girl, and a one year old boy would not do well on their own. “They can stay, though if Olwe asks for his great-granddaughter I won’t stop him. At least you’ll be around to help.”

“About that...”

“Mom!” Gil-Galad said. “What are you saying?”

“You three are all children. Feanor might ignore your absence until you’re of age, by which point you’ll be well known in town and obvious if you went missing. But every day I’m gone is day Feanor can't use me - a full day in which I’m defying him. He won’t stand for that; it’s safer for everyone if I go back." Fingon gave Gil-Galad a hug. “And I love my brothers and father, and your father, and will miss them if I stay.”

“What about me?”

“I love you too, and Finnelach. I hope that I’ll see you some day again. Feanor will be angry, and I’d rather Turgon not take the blame for something he had no part in. Or Maedhros I suppose, though that wouldn’t be as bad of course.”

~~

Nerdanel: “I’ll get started on setting up beds for tonight. Idril and I can sleep in one room, Gil-Galad and Fingon in the other. I don’t have a bassinet, but I can put some blankets in a basket and that might work for Finnelach.”

“No, those sleeping arrangements will not work!”

“You’re not in the palace anymore; I only have the two bedrooms.”

“You can’t have adults sleep in the same room as children! Idril and Gil-Galad can take one room, with Finnelach in a basket.”

“You expect to share my bed then?”

Fingon paused, as he had been wondering if Nerdanel would want to be thanked for her hospitality, but she didn’t seem pleased by the prospect. “I can sleep in the stable, or on a couch. It only has to be for one night anyway, then I’ll ride back.”

“I have never heard of adults and children being forbidden to share rooms. It is however highly inappropriate for a boy and a girl to share a room, once either of them has reached puberty.”

“But adults might wake up in the middle of the night filled with desire, and there’s a nice warm body in their bed. That would harm children.”

“I have more self control than to rape someone just because of a wet dream!”

“That would make you unique in my experience! If there’s no one in the room you might just jerk off, but if there’s someone in easy reach, they’re used.” And if there wasn’t someone in reach they might be used anyway. Fingon had been woken more times than he cared to count by one of the Princes walking into his room, pulling the sheets down, and starting without even a 'hello.’ He himself had woken up whoever was in his bed with a kiss or caress for another round scant hours after the first. But if Nerdanel thought sex without discussion was always beneath her, she wouldn’t take well the suggestion that she would disturb Gil-Galad if she came in and used Fingon while the two of them were in one room.

“Even if they’re children?!” Nerdanel asked, appalled.

“No, because the children are in separate rooms where they don’t have to watch their parents have sex. And Feanor is always the first one to get pleasure from our bodies; no one would disobey him on that. You don’t care what Feanor thinks, and are suggesting children sleep in the same rooms as adults.”

“You brought them here because you trusted me to keep them safe.”

“Because I hoped you wouldn’t use them - you never cared when Feanor fucked my father, just when he started on your own children. And Idril’s not your blood.”

“I am not going to harm her, or Gil-Galad or Finnelach, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up on standards of decency, and I simply don’t have three bedrooms.”

Gil-Galad spoke up, “It about being naked isn’t it?”

“What?”

“Lady Nerdanel doesn’t think Idril and I should see each other changing into our night clothes, even though neither of us wants to touch. Adults aren’t supposed to see people of the opposite sex naked unless you’re planning to have sex with them, even if they’re related. Isn’t that right?”

“I thought it was obvious,” Nerdanel said.

“Well I’d never heard of it,” Fingon replied. “How did you know that?”

“I like hearing Grandpa’s stories about growing up, even if he sometimes gets sad telling them. And I asked him if Findis and Lalwen look much like Aunt Aredhel, and he said he couldn’t be sure because he hadn’t seen them in as much detail."

“But not at all? Even changing clothes, even children who need help dressing? How does that work?”

“Children so young they can’t bathe on their own are an exception. And it works well enough, men help their sons with inconvenient buttons and women help their daughters with the same.”

“Is men getting pregnant really so rare that works?”

“It is. I have heard of less than a dozen cases outside of Feanor’s... private life.”

“Huh. If the problem is nudity, would it be solved by a screen between Idril and Gil-Galad’s beds and dressers?”

“It could be, but I don’t have such a screen on hand for tonight.”

“We could hang up a curtain,” Gil-Galad suggested.

“That would be rather easily pushed aside; the point is to deter peeping even if someone thinks their child would never do that.”

“We could cover it in bells or beads, so you’d hear it,” Fingon suggested. “My necklace might work?” He pulled a necklace made of hanging strands of glittering crystals from under his shirt.

“That should work,” Nerdanel said, “But why are you wearing that for a secret escape?”

Fingon shrugged. “I normally wear jewelry, and leaving it in the middle of the library would look weird. But it clatters very annoyingly when I try to run, so I tucked it against my chest.”

#feanor's harem au #to be clear gil-galad hasn't seen aredhel naked on purpose #they don't put on shows in front of the kids but it is common for one of the Princes to have fun ruining someone's clothing #and that person to just walk naked through the living room on the way to their bedroom for a new outfit #Look gil galad has so many canon names I can borrow one for his little brother #Maedhros is in meetings for the day #Fingon suggested to maedhros that Fingon and Gil-Galad could have a one-on-one talk #Gil-Galad has been nervous about this for some time and has asked bothe his parents if there's anyway to stop it #Fingon tells Maedhros that reassurances from another Bastard would work better than from a Prince like Maedhros #so Maedhros told his brothers that they weren't allowed to bother (aka fuck) Fingon all day #he doesn't have like general authority over who gets to fuck Fingon or anything they're not married #but Maedhros does have nearly complete authority over how to parent Gil-Galad #Feanor could overrule him but as long as Maedhros doesn't teach Gil to be disobedient he won't #Finrod also escapes with this #Fingon told him to bring Idril to the library and that Finrod might want to visit their grandpa #because Finrod has somewhere to go - with approval from two kings even - if he gets out #Once Fingon was in the library with the kids they went out for walk in the park - a completely permitted activity #then fingon stole two horses from the stable and they left as sneakily as he could so they could get far before the alarm was raised #and did his best to make it look like they were heading straight to Alqualonde #unlike attempting to rescue Maeglin #and because if Gil-Galad objects that strongly maybe the next kid will too? Finellach can always come back if they want #Fingon has always considered his life unfair but compared it to the Princes rather than a life outside the palace #not archived yet

[warrioreowynofrohan]

I want to outline why I, personally, do not favour the “unreliable narrator” theory about The Silmarillion. I’ve heard two versions of it, one with the narration being biased against the Fëanorians, the other with it being biased against the Sindar (and specifically against Maeglin and Eöl).

The difficulty with the first theory is that the tone of the narration isn’t anti-Fëanor; in fact it’s very balanced. His story, and that of his sons, is described in the style of a tragedy, not a denunciation. The entire tone of it, culminating in the eulogy, “the mightiest of the Noldor, of whose deeds came both their greatest renown and their most grievous woe,” has a sense of tragically wasted potential for good, not of hostility towards the character. Even the Second and Third Kinslayings are written about in a tone more of tragedy than of pure condemnation - for such was the sorrow and confusion in the hearts of the Eldar in those days - and events that would have been known only to Fëanorians, such as Maedhros searching for Eluréd and Elurín, are included, though they could easily have been omitted by an actively hostile narrator. To the extent that the Fëanorians come across negatively, it is because they did terrible things, waging wars (well, battles) of aggression against other elves and against civilians and betraying their kin and friends.

There is a distinct difference between the tone the narrative takes of the Fëanorians and the tone it takes on Maeglin, with the former being more What tragically wasted potential and the latter being more just one of Fuck that guy. But the problem with attributing the account of Maeglin’s actions to narrative bias is that such doesn’t line up at all with the portrait of the Sindar generally. The Sindar are a major part of the two most complete Great Stories within The Silmarillion, the Lay of Leithian (Beren and Lúthien) and the Narn i Hîn Húrin (Tale of the Children of Húrin), and are portrayed positively in both - indeed, Lúthien is probably the single most unambiguously and impressively heroic character in the entire Silmarillion. (Thanks to the genuinely biased real-life storyteller, who loved his wife very much.) In the Narn i Hîn Húrin, Beleg and Thingol and Melian are all portrayed positively. So there’s no hostility to the Sindar here (though there is some cultural chauvinism).

Thus, to claim Maeglin was slandered, you have to theorize that the narrator had a very specific vendetta against only Eöl and Maeglin, and no one else, rather than them both being shown in negative terms because, like the Fëanorians, they did objectively terrible things. And the narrative includes statements (such as saying that Maeglin wasn’t a coward) that it would have no need to do if this was just a hit job. It acknowledges that elves taken captive by Morgoth can be controlled by him. It shows sympathy or pity for traitors under duress such as Gorlim (‘the Unhappy’) in the Leithian. And it specifically distinguishes Maeglin from this, as someone who chose to collaborate with Morgoth for evil ends. Maeglin’s actions in trying to take Idril captive at the sack of Gondolin are also actions in support of what Maeglin wants, not just Morgoth’s goals. Is he influenced? Yes; both Morgoth and Sauron show skill at corrupting others to evil ends. Is he controlled and brainwashed, and not to blame for his actions? No.

(There are other elements in places like Unfinished Tales that also support that this was Tolkien’s view of Maeglin. For example, in ‘Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin’, Maeglin is described as having made the Seventh Gate of Gondolin, the Gate of Steel, after the Nirnaeth. No negative or positive value is attached to this by the narration, but the symbolism is very clear and deliberate on Tolkien’s part. The first three gates - Wood, Stone, and Bronze - are geometric. The next three - Writhen Iron, Silver, and Gold - have symbols of the Valar: Thorondor, Telperion, and Laurelin. And the Seventh, specifically built late in Gondolin’s history, has Turgon’s crown, and unlike the others, does not have a gate: symbolically, putting Turgon above the Valar and indicating both his growing pride and shift to absolute isolationism, with Maeglin’s construction of it presenting him symbolically as an influence in both those things.)

Now sure, you can break things up and say “everything positive written about X character is true, and all the negative stuff is calumny by their detractors!” but that feels rather self-serving; and if you’re making assumptions like that, it elimates the point of discussing or analyzing the text as all, since anything can be claimed and no evidence is needed. At that point, you might as well write your own original story with the characters you want, rather than pretending they’re Tolkien’s.

Personally, I take the narration of the Silmarillion as being broadly omniscient when it’s convenient to Tolkien (characters’ thoughts are recorded even when they are unlikely to have confided them) and vague when he prefers to leave certain elements undefined (such as the fate of Eluréd and Elurín, though it’s possible that Tolkien just didn’t want to say outright “yes, these young children froze to death.” It was midwinter - they would have certainly have frozen before they starved, absent other rescue.)

In addition to the textual support for this view, I find it more personally interesting to play off of. I’m not generally drawn to rewrites or reinterpretations of stories that go with ‘actually the heroes did a bunch of bad stuff offscreen - and the villain did a bunch of good stuff that wasn’t recorded - and the villain had good reasons for all the evil stuff they did on-screen - so the villain is really the hero!’ (It’s why I didn’t watch Maleficent and am not especially interested in seeing Wicked.) And especially for The Silmarillion, where it’s theoretically possible for any of the Elven characters to return to life, I find it far more interesting to ask the question: “Starting from the basis that this character did do all the things depicted in The Silmarillion, could they come back (or be brought back) from that? What would redemption involve? What would it look like?” I’ve imagined redemption narratives for Maeglin, and for Maedhros and Maglor, starting from that premise (I tried one for Celegorm, but it doesn’t work, even in my head), and I far prefer fully grappling with and adressing the wrong they’ve done over attempting to rewrite, ignore, minimize, or justify it.

#tolkien #the silmarillion #noldor #sindar #fëanor #fëanorians #sons of fëanor #maedhros #maglor #eöl #maeglin

[grundyscribbling]

I’ve been tagged by @vanimore

The rules: answer your set of questions, add 11 of your own, tag 11 people

1) Replace Beren with….? No one. I like Elrond, and without Beren, there’s no Dior, no Elwing and thus no Elrond. Sorry.

2) Open your front door to see what realm of Middle-earth? Ossiriand. All the fun of Beleriand and conveniently close to the mountains to nip over into Eriador if Morgoth gets too close for comfort.

3) Silmarillion series? Yay or Nay? I’m not entirely sure what you mean, but I’ve read the Silmarillion and HoME books. 4) Sauron was…what he was, but would he actually have been pretty successful as a world ruler, had the War of the Ring gone the other way? No. Due to the way he gained power, (not to mention that whole Numenor kerfluffle) Sauron would always have been looking for enemies, be it the Valar or lesser beings, and would probably end up creating them if he didn’t already have them. I don’t think even his orcs particularly liked him. (Also, the LotR books take place in a constrained area of Middle Earth , and we know little to nothing about the rest of the world. So we don’t know what other groups of men may be in the world beyond the ones shown in LotR, or what their attitudes would be toward Sauron. For all we know, the next step beyond Gondor’s downfall would have been another round of war against other Men who had no interest in taking orders from him.)

5) Rescue just one character from the Silmarillion - who and why? Maeglin. Because I feel sorry for him. Poor kid got handed a rotten fate.

6) After the War of the Ring, one assumes Aragorn would have exterminated all the orcs he could find. Do you look on it as genocide or as in destroying vermin? One assumes a lot. Without the will of Sauron driving them, the orcs are not inherently evil. Unlike the Men Sauron had in his service, they fled at the downfall of Sauron - they did not attempt to continue the fight. Remember, they were elves once. It is fair to expect that Aragorn would hunt down any orcs that continued to prey on others, but to exterminate them without regard for their actions once free of Sauron’s influence unquestionably crosses the line into genocide.

7) Do you think, honestly, that had you been alive then, that, if Sauron had offered you one of the Nine Rings you would have refused? I’m rather a cynic, so probably. Who is this person offering me such a gift, and what strings are attached? (Also, I’m not much into jewelry in general, so a ring in and of itself is not terribly useful to me. It’s likely to wind up as one more thing that needs dusting.)

8) As a Quendi, remain in Cuiviénen or go West? Go West.

9) Did you find the Silmarillion hard to read when you first read it? No.

10) One sentence from Maedhros after Fingon rescued him from Thangorodhrim “You should have killed me.”

11) One thought from Mairon when Melkor returned to Angband with the Silmarils “They’re pretty, I’ll grant you, but are they worth the trouble?”

Afraid I’m bowing out of tagging on the grounds that I’ve already done one set of questions. (Also, between questions and tagging, this isn’t a short exercise for me, and I really ought to get back to my to-do list if I want to have a Christmas tree up before the holiday.)

#11 questions #meme