Another Man's Cage by Dawn Felagund
Fanwork Notes
This was the very first Silmarillion story that I posted and, to date, it is the longest story that I have ever written. I have avoided posting it on the SWG for a long time now, despite requests to do so, because the original was desperately in need of some spit and polish, and it takes a long time to spit on and polish up a 350,000-word novel. One of my goals for the Season of Writing Dangerously was to finally finish editing and polishing this story, so here it is, at last.
Part of me cringes when I read this story--I can write much, much better now--but I also can't deny that this is probably the most important story that I've ever written. This is the story that thrust me headfirst into the Silmarillion fandom, and it is probably the story to credit with inspiring most of my fannish friendships and nearly all of the long-enduring ones. I've also been told that it has helped to encourage others who don't view the world Tolkien created in canatic-compliant ways to share their own heretical visions, and that it has inspired a lot of stories and artwork based on it. I don't know about that, but it's a nice thought. Finally, and perhaps most importantly given the context, the attention I received as the author of this monstrosity was what kindled the SWG.
When I started this story, back in 2005, I never intended to share it. In fact, it started as a series of character studies inspired by a comment on a story on fanfiction.net. By "inspired," I don't mean that said comment encouraged me to look at the House of Fëanor not as villains but as complex humans; I mean that said comment made me so angry (because of its insistence on pure villainy for the pack of Elves that were and are my favorite characters in all of Tolkien's works) that it was either stoop to the level of flaming--a pointless, ignorant endeavor--or take out my anger by showing their side of the story. After a while, these character studies took on a life of their own, picked up something resembling a plot, and became this story. The rest is history.
I'm going to try to post this story a few chapters at a time till the whole thing is up. It's a long story and my real life is a seething maelstrom of chaos, so it might take a little while, but it will get there, I promise.
- Fanwork Information
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Summary:
In the Time of the Trees, during the Bliss of Valinor, the young family of Fëanor experience the everyday triumphs and tragedies of life in paradise. But as Fëanor's genius blossoms and his sons grow into their roles in Tirion society, tensions build that will sunder the House of Finwë and drive the House of Fëanor to open rebellion.
Completed!
Major Characters: Anairë, Caranthir, Celegorm, Eärwen, Fëanor, Finarfin, Fingolfin, Fingon, Finwë, Indis, Maedhros, Maglor, Nerdanel, Original Character(s), Valar
Major Relationships:
Artwork Type: No artwork type listed
Challenges:
Rating: Adult
Warnings: Torture, Mature Themes, Sexual Content (Moderate), Violence (Moderate)
Chapters: 53 Word Count: 355, 782 Posted on 25 September 2011 Updated on 10 March 2013 This fanwork is complete.
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