First Risings From Hildórien by Anérea

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Fanwork Notes

Written for the Stars, Moon, and Sun Holiday Party prompts.

“To Hildórien there came no Vala to guide Men … Ulmo nonetheless took thought for them … and his messages came often to them by stream and flood. But they have not skill in such matters … Therefore they loved the waters, and their hearts were stirred, but they understood not the messages.”
~The Silmarillion, Chapter 12: Of Men

Fanwork Information

Summary:

FA125: West of the Orocarni Mountains, and FA0: on the shores of of Hildórien
A great great grandmother relates her memories of the first time she saw the moon rise.

Major Characters: Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s), Men

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: Alternate Universe, General

Challenges: Holiday Party

Rating: General

Warnings:

This fanwork belongs to the series

Hildórien to Beleriand Series
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1, 681
Posted on 9 January 2022 Updated on 14 January 2022

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

First Risings From Hildórien

In my headcanon Men 'awoke' much earlier than the sun and moon, although they lived a much simpler, slower paced life while many growing things still lay under the Sleep of Yavanna. And since mortal memories fade, the First Risings soon became merely the mythical stories of past generations.

Fraiwen is 8 and Awo a sprightly 128 here. (I explain how and why she gets to be so old in another story that’s still developing details!) Although Awo means 'grandmother', she’s actually Fraiwen’s great great grandmother and Saifreth’s great grandmother. But the whole tribe call her Awo and it’s kind of become a respectful term.

~*~

My gratitude, as ever, to daughterofshadows for their enthusiasm and recommendations.

Comments

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Anérea has requested the following types of constructive criticism on this fanwork: Characterization, Description/Imagery, Mood/Tone, Organization/Structure, Pacing, Point of View, Research, Setting, Spelling, Grammar, and Mechanics, Style, Worldbuilding. All constructive criticism must follow our diplomacy guidelines.

You know by now how much I adore this series, and I've told you while proof-reading, but what you are doing with the world building here is simply magical and has this wonderful, almost fairy tale vibe to it!

I'm so glad you decided to share your writing with us, too!

Glorious descriptions! And they really bring out the marvel of it, both in Middle-earth and here. (I like the banner, too!)

Also, I think your ideas about the Dream Time are very interesting!

Thank you! I'm relieved some of the marvel is conveyed—it's really pretty hard imagining what something that is (and has always been) so every-day must have been like to witness for the first time ever. Without Ulmo's aqua-musical reassuring I'm sure some may have quite lost their minds. (And I didn't have time to write that for this ficlet, although I may explore the theme more fully another time.)

My description of the moonrise is derived from a very vivid memory of the first full moonrise I witnessed outside of an urban area without light pollution, while hiking overnight in remote mountains—about 30 years ago! We watched the glow grow brighter and brighter and kept thinking any second now the moon would appear, but it took much, much longer, and was still a surprise because it was so much brighter than we thought it would be. I watched the moon pop over the horizon three times that night, because we could run a little way down the hill until the opposite hill hid the moon again. Magic!

And I'm so glad you find the the Dream Time concepts interesting; my mind keeps asking for explanations and it's been interesting working through the issues of mingling versions of the legendarium and figuring out reasonable solutions/compromises. A few more ideas are vying for my attention, although that's further back than I intended to go, but I'll see where it takes me.

Thanks for sharing your impression!