Cutting Ties by Himring

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Fanwork Notes

SWG prompt: Amandil's parting words to his son Elendil:

"But it is most likely that you shall fly from the Land of the Star with no star to guide you; for that land is defiled. Then you shall lose all that you have loved, foretasting death in life, seeking a land of exile elsewhere. But east or west the Valar along can say."

(The Silmarillion, Akallabêth)

 

Also written for the prompt "Cut: Ties" at Tolkien Weekly and to go with Oshun's recent bio of Anarion.

 

Warning for the fall of Numenor (grim enough in canon!)

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Anarion, son of Elendil, on his way into exile.

Major Characters: Anárion

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: Fixed-Length Ficlet

Challenges: Song of Exile

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Creator Chooses Not to Warn
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 197
Posted on 9 September 2017 Updated on 9 September 2017

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Comments

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I liked the use of the quotation from Amandil and the Akallabêth very much. I also like his wife nursing baby his son and that reminding him that he had not indeed lost everything.

Thanks also for the link to the Anarion bio!

I almost chose to write a piece about the ships of Elendil's people sailing to Middle-earth. I'm glad I chose something else! (Hope to post mine in a timely manner tomorrow!)

This is one of those cases when the drabble (or double drabble, as the case may be) medium is especially effective. It works perfectly without long descriptions, a few evocative hints - the distant rumble; the sky falling on them; "Númenor was lost to sight, and so was Elendil's ship" - are enough to convey the idea of desaster approaching, then hitting with full strength. And then, fortunately, the suggestions that life will nonetheless continue, making this end on a note of promise. I liked it very much!

Thank you very much, Lyra!

Tolkien has some very evocative descriptions in this passage himself. The "black gale" is his, but I mostly didn't use them, for the reasons you say!

The Amandil quotation has always resonated with me really strongly, but when Oshun's bio reminded me that Anarion had one-year-old Meneldil with him, I felt impelled to argue against the totality of loss it seems to imply, in the name of hope and life continuing...