Why Do The Sons Of Fëanor Gotta...be Like That

This is my belated @officialtolkiensecretsanta gift for @arlenianchronicles. Both my laptop and my phone up and died on me (in December... I've got conspiracy theories if anyone wants to hear them), so this was rewritten and posted on a computer loaned to me by a very generous and patient family member. Merry Christmas, y'all!

by Penelope_S

In the midst of a desert, a wanderer comes across a journeyer whose face is hauntingly familiar, though they have never met.

Words: 2320, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Daeron (Tolkien), Aragorn | Estel, OC inhabitants of southeastern Middle Earth

Additional Tags: Daeron’s been mourning Lúthien’s disappearance for ages, I decided that he needs to do something more constructive with his life, Storytelling, deus ex machina-ed culture in an unspecified part of southeastern ME

One of the ballsiest things Tolkien ever did was write 473k words about some hobbits called frodo, sam, merry, and pippin and then write in the appendices that their names are actually maura, ban, kali, and razal. 

Before any Finwean family dinner can commence, all seatinging arrangements must be approved by the Councle of Eldest Sons (Maedhros, Fingon, and Finrod). This is a really serious matter of safety. Without them the rate of kinslaying among the Noldor could easily have tripled what it was.

Names for Nandor

I don’t like the term Nandor and I’ll explain why after I explain a little about the etymologies of Tolkien’s Elvish. There are three different timelines to know about when talking about it; internal, external and publication history. Internal History is the history of Tolkien’s languages in-verse. So when Paul Strack (and I will be following his example) says “primitive,” “ancient,” “archaic” or “old,” he is describing the languages history in-verse. External is how Tolkien’s languages changed throughout his life. So when Paul Strack describes a language as “early,” “middle,” “late,” “earlier,” and “later,” he is referring to the external development of Tolkien’s Languages. Publication history is self-explanatory in that it’s the order that information about Elvish languages was published to the general public.

Having explained that, my first issue with the term Nandor is that no one in-verse uses it, except for some Noldorin Historians in Aman and knew nothing about what happened to the group after they refused to cross Hithaeglir, and they could only remember that the leader was named Lenwë (WJ). This is like Washington Irving’s “A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus,” where Irving uses sources to write an adventure story framed as a historical biography and now Columbus “discovered North America.” And that’s not even my biggest issue with the word Nandor.

My biggest issue with using Nandor is it’s etymology and internal history. As many people know, the Quenyan word Nandor means, “those who go back.” (SI). This is supposedly referring to how this group refused to cross Hithaeglir. That bits not what I have an issue with… Nandor is derived from the root (n)dan- which describes the reversal of an action or to undo something. The full definition from the War of the Jewels, is “…indicating the reversal of an action, so as to undo or nullify its effect, as in ‘undo, go back (the same way), unsay, give back (the same gift: not another in return).” (n)dan- itself is derived from the primitive form ndando, which means “one who goes back on his word or decision (WJ).” And that last bit is why I hate Nandor. It’s implying that “these are people who will go back on their word, and will flake out at the slightest misfortune.” Words and meanings change, of course, but would a race that has a long memory, loves to give names and plays with language for fun, really not know what they were doing naming their kin that?

Here’s a list of alternative terms;

Danwaith (S.) this was used by the Sindarin lore masters, though sometimes they confused it with Denwaith. This is formed from the words [dan] and [gwaith], which becomes [waith] later in Sindarin. [Gwaith] refers to a group of people and [dan] means “back to,” so the name means “People who go back.” Lenwë (Q.) is the leaders Quenyan name, but his other name is Denweg, hence the confusion. Danwaith, as far as I can tell, is a carryover from when Denweg’s name was Dan, which I’ll get to in a moment (WJ). This term is used to describe those who initially did not cross Hithaeglir.

Dana (Nan.) This is actually from Tolkien’s Middle period (external), and the only Middle period one I’ll go over, so I wouldn’t recommend using it, But I’ll give a quick overview. During this time, the leader of the Dana was named Dan (or Dân) and this is what the Dana called themselves. However, as you might recall, in-verse, (n)dan- come from ndando, so it’s unlikely that they’d refer to themselves as that. It’s other forms are Danas (pl.) and it’s angelized version Danian (LR, WJ, PE). This term is used to describe those who initially did not cross Hithaeglir.

Lindi (Nan.) This is the one I use to refer to the whole of the clan. When the Lindi first came into Beleriand, they called themselves Lindai, which is the old Teleri clan name (Lindâi -> Lindai -> Lindi (Nan) or Lindar (Q.)), but it had become Lindi in their tongue (WJ). Derived from the Sindar or directly from the Lindi, this is also what the Noldorin exiles used. This is derived from the primitive Elvish word lindā meaning “sweet sounding.” The singular is probably Lind (WJ, PE). 

Lindil (S.) After the Sindar recognized the Lindil as kin, they adopted the name Lindi and gave it the form Lindil or Lindedhil (WJ). This is used to describe the Elves who followed Denethor to Beleriand.

Laegel (S.) This term later replaced Lindil among the Sindar. It means “Green-Elf,” which is a familiar term for us all! It’s plural is Laegil and it’s class plural is either Laegrim or Laegel(d)rim (WJ).  This is used to describe the Elves who followed Denethor to Beleriand. Green-Elf is also used to describe them.

Laiquendi (Q.) This is the Quenyan translation of Laegel. It was translated by the Noldor, though it was not used very much (WJ). This is used to describe the Elves who followed Denethor to Beleriand.

Tawarwaith (S.) This term translates to “Forest (tawar) People (gwaith),” and is a term used to describe Silvan Elves. (UT)

Galadrim (Nan.) is a collective plural that means “Tree-People,” and is used to refer to the Elves of Lórien. The Sindarin equivalent is Galadhrim

Silvan (Eng.) Alt. Sylvan. This is used to describe Elves who never made it to Beleriand, but may have stayed in the Vale of Anduin or settled elsewhere. Other non-Elvish words to call these Elves include, Wood-Elves, Woodland Elves and East-Elves.

First draft commentary

[ID: screenshot of part of a Craigslist ad. Text reads, "Make/manufacturer: Mama Goat

"Model name/number: Baby

"Size/dimensions: small"

End ID.]

saw this on a craigslist ad for baby goats

Ozai is so pathetic, like that “take his bending away haha he’s harmless now” trick would never have worked on Zuko, if you took his bending away he’d just grab his swords and come at you twice as hard, Azula doesn’t have swords or anything but she’s pretty good at hand to hand and amazing at talking her way out of problems, Iroh bust himself out of prison with no bending at all, meanwhile Ozai? Gets his bending taken away and then just collapses, doesn’t even try anymore, then just sits in prison and tries to get into Zuko’s head some more, he could have trained up and tried to break out too! But no! Bet he can’t break steel bars with his bare hands. Bet he can’t kick a steel lever in two. Bet he can’t even do a flip.

Also we never really see him do any really impressive firebending apart from when he has magic comet power, I guesss he shoots some lightning at Zuko, but that’s it and Azula is still better at the lightning thing. Azula has blue flames. Zuko can do firebreakdancing and bend with his swords. Does Ozai, who is not 14 years old, have blue flames? No he doesn’t.

He didn’t even do his coup himself, Ursa had to kill Azulon for him! Could have just challenged Iroh to an Agni Kai for the throne but he didn’t bc he knew he’d lose.

And then he only ruled for like 6 years! He lost a war that had been going on for 100 years bc of a bunch of kids.

Loserlord indeed

Hey bitch!!! I’m back and I still love you and your writing!! Any way, I was wondering if you had any ideas of which elves can tell Elladan and Elrohir apart and which can’t? You’re still amazing byeeeee!!! -🏳️‍🌈

Yaaasss hello again my good bitch!! 🎩🎩

Thanks I love and apprecate you so much!! Let me know if I forgot anyone byeeeeeee

People that can

Elrond -- Even when they were 1 hour old Elrond could tell them apart. 

Celebrian -- By the time they could talk, there was no fooling her  (Heartbreaking sidenote headcanon: After she was rescued from the Orcs she couldn't tell them apart anymore. So they each began wearing a different color. Nothing drastic. Elrohir tended to use grey tone while Elladan uses lighter blue tones so that she wouldn't have to guess and get it wrong because they knew how bad it made her feel.)

Glorfindel -- Can always, always, always, tell them apart. 

Arwen -- Same with Arwen. 

Legolas -- If they stay completely silent, then sometimes he can't tell. But as soon as they talk its game over. 

Erestor -- Can almost always tell them apart but sometimes he pretends he cant. 

Galadrial -- Mind powers, enough said. 

Celeborn -- Usually, but the twins are very aware that their grandfather has been tricked before on several occasions, and therefore can be tricked again. 

Aragorn -- They've never really tested it with him, but this far he's never mixed them up that they've noticed.  

Merry & Pippin -- For some reason the two hobbits have proven to be unflappable by any scheme to confuse them. 

Galion -- You can hide nothing from him. Nothing.

People That Can’t 

Tbh, most people 

Gimli -- No idea. None at all. Never has, not once. People can tell him but as soon as they start moving around again he's lost it. 

Gandalf -- Sometimes he can but more often than not he can't tell unless he's told who is who. 

Thranduil -- Doesn't know and honestly doesn't really care. 

Frodo -- Has a 50/50 chance of getting it right. 

Sam -- Refuses to guess in case he offends anyone.  

Fact: Lúthien mostly uses her magic through music, as a possible nod to the Ainulindale; the power of this music was enough to move the heart of Mandos himself

Fact: Arwen is often compared to Lúthien in LOTR and the Professor, to the point where it's stated that "in her the likeness of Lúthien walked in Arda once more" or something, not an exact quote

Fact: The Silmarillion does not, as far as I can tell with my bad reading comp. skills, state directly that Elrond never saw Maglor again during the Second and Third ages

Fact: Maglor was also one of the best musicians in Middle-Earth and, given his epithet "the mighty singer" could very well have possessed similar song magic to Lúthien's

Perfectly reasonable conclusion: Maglor drops by Rivendell; finds Arwen, who inherited Lúthien's gift of music; proceeds to become some incomprehensible combination of music tutor, magical teacher and disaster weird uncle to her; and sticks around for her and Elrond. There are emotional father-son reunions. There are inside jokes like "don't let the TWINS near that WATERFALL!!". Neither Maglor nor Arwen ever has to be lonely again. I continue to procrastinate on the fic.

On a scale of Tolkien protagonists, how has your adventure been treating you?

I’m so sorry in advance to anyone who says Túrin.

Keep reading

Bilbo Baggins has ADHD! It says in the first chapter of The Hobbit that he didn’t remember things well unless he wrote them down! – Absolutely! He also:

randomly bursts into song

is driven by his emotions and impulses

took like 70 years to write a book

his mind works in ways that other people don’t follow easily

talks too much and has no idea that his listeners aren’t into it because he’s so into it

h y p e r f i x a t i o n