Translations from the Elvish by Himring

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Fanwork Notes

Apart from the B2MeM prompts (details below), this owes a great deal to Dawn Felagund's fascinating bio of Pengolodh in this month's newsletter.

This fic is an attempt to incorporate, as much as possible, various stray bits of information about the in-universe authorship of the Silmarillion that probably really contradict each other. As such, the piece is obviously not canonical but do feel free to let me know of any aspect I failed to incorporate. (I have occasionally tried to hint at how Tolkien might have wanted some of this to tie in with other parts of the Legendarium.)

 

Rated Teens for references to canon violence and death

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Elrond and Bilbo discuss "Translations from the Elvish" and its sources, especially the writings of Pengolodh.

Major Characters: Bilbo Baggins, Elrond, Pengolodh

Major Relationships:

Genre: General

Challenges: B2MeM 2016

Rating: Teens

Warnings:

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1, 736
Posted on 13 March 2016 Updated on 13 March 2016

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Comments

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I really like this! I really enjoy stories where Elrond lives up to his title of lore-master, and this one certainly fits. The topic of just how difficult keeping an accurate account of history is also one I find very interesting.

It was a nice bit of characterization for Elrond to applaud Pengolodh's determination in starting over and over again, and to admit that he didn't have the patience for it himself. Also, the idea that even the most accurate history wouldn't give a truely fair account of what happened is an idea that suits Elrond, I think...

"'Many of these people you have been reading and writing about are my relatives, certainly--but too many of them I have never laid eyes upon.'"

So true!

"Aragorn would probably think he had been tactless again, he thought. Maybe he was. It was difficult not to be, when one person's world history might well be another's most private grief. But whatever Aragorn might say, Elrond never seemed to resent a hobbit's curiosity--although sometimes he would simply not answer questions or break off the conversation, when one of Bilbo's questions had inadvertently probed too closely."

I really liked that part! Not only for summing up the difficulties elves have when dealing with mortals like hobbits or Men, but for what it says about Elrond and Bilbo's friendship, and about Elrond as a person.

Great story! Very thought-provoking :)

Thank you very much!

Actually, you left a really nice comment when I originally posted it to the B2MeM community.

I remember in particular because this bit stuck with me:  "Elrond trying to find a way to say 'life is just too short to blog everything'"!

But it's difficult to keep track, isn't it, especially during events like B2MeM?

I'm very glad you liked it again when you read it here, after you had been writing about Elrond and Bilbo and painting them!

Thank you very much!

I have a couple of mini ficlets or drabbles: two featuring Pengolodh (more directly, that is) and one featuring Dirhavel / Dirhaval. 

If you want help finding them, let me know, but I think they should be tagged.

ETA: The Dirhavel one is tagged on both SWG and AO3. The Pengolodh ones I can only find on AO3 right now. (I think I that may be a cross-post failure.) They are here