Embers by Elleth

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Fanwork Notes

I apologize for the strange wordcounts. Open Office told me different things, which did lead me to believe these were exactly 100 or 200 words in length.

Although the story is marked as finished, I may be adding chapters to it, depending on future SWG projects.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Elleth's stories, drabbles and double-drabbles for Seven in '07 and B2MeM 2008. Please refer to the chapter summaries for further info.

Major Characters: Amras, Amrod, Elendil, Fëanor, Maedhros, Maeglin, Nerdanel

Major Relationships:

Genre: Drama, Experimental, Fixed-Length Ficlet, Poetry, Romance

Challenges:

Rating: Teens

Warnings:

Chapters: 8 Word Count: 1, 531
Posted on 31 July 2007 Updated on 7 June 2008

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

Maedhros: Losgar

Maedhros during the burning of the swanships. (Si07)

Nerdanel and Umbarto: Return

A double-drabble, HoMe-verse AU. If he had not perished in the burning of the ships, Umbarto would have returned to Nerdanel. What if? - MEFA 2008 Nominee. (Si07)

Nerdanel and Fëanor: Ghost

Nerdanel is granted a chance for a farewell. - MEFA 2008 Nominee. (Si07)

Nerdanel and Fëanor: Burned

Towards their estrangement. One occurence among many. An attempt at a portrait of their relationship. (Si07)

Discovery

Nerdanel and Fëanor, and her POV about the creation of the Silmarils. What is there to see for someone locked out? (B2MeM08)

Discovery - discovery of what? Tolkien's world and source material are so vast that you can quite literally get lost in it, so that you stray from one topic to the other and never cease to find new things. Sometimes that may be frustrating; when you are looking for a specific piece of information, or a passage of text to quote somewhere. And above all, you can only scratch the surface, even after years of study. That, to me, is like the crack of light of light beneath the doorstep that Nerdanel sees in the story--teasing, nearby, and still out of reach. Still, sometimes the door opens and someone or something beautiful emerges to rekindle your interest in the stories and tales, and reward the passion, patience (or stubbornness) you had in searching for it.

The Gift

The rivalry between Fëanor and Fingolfin is no secret, but what of their families? A different kind of rivalry. (B2MeM08)

The Silmarillion and the History of Middle-earth both take note of more than one occurence fitting today's topic, and being historical accounts of Arda, they are necessarily biased in some way or another, and thus open for further exploration. One such case: The conflicts between Fëanor and Fingolfin have many stories written about them, but it is easy to forget that there are other sides as well. They may remain unseen or unspoken-of, but in some cases trying to pin them down may bring a wholly different level (or levels) to the story - what, for example, about their wives?

Betrayal

The reason for the betrayal of Gondolin. (B2MeM08)

Dark and dangerous though Tolkien's world may be, within it few things - if any - happen without a reason. There is always a note in the Music that is changed... without Maeglin's betrayal and the Fall of Gondolin, Eärendil might not have sailed West, and the dominion of Morgoth might have endured. Even death and betrayal serve a purpose that in the end turns out greater than it might have been - and that is, I believe, a comforting thought. Not only that - it shows the completion of Tolkien's subcreation.

Batîna (Roads)

A haphazard attempt at poetry and Adûnaic (and a translation). The Downfall of Númenor and what follows after. (B2MeM08)

Comments

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Oh this is beautifully captured: from frustration and exhaustion to wonder & discovery. At first her weary voice shows what it is like to life with a craftsman like that, yet there is love and such proud feelings at the end. A small story told in this short form: well done!

Rhapsy, thank you for the review. I am glad you liked the story, and that Nerdanel's voice rang out so clearly - you definitely picked up on the main moods I hoped to convey. It must be especially frustrating as 'my' Nerdanel is also a near-perfectionist craftswoman and can imagine part of what it must be like to be Feanor at work and totally immersed in creation - but she also knows her limits and is constantly worried that he overtaxes his own.

As for the story length - sometimes the story determines and writes itself, so really, there is little to credit me for, but thank you anyway. :)

You can actually speak Adûnaic?  Now that is impressive.  I can’t help you linguistically, although I can tell you that I like the way the words flow together (even though I can’t actually understand them).  The poem itself (well, the translation, obviously) is nice: straight-ahead, but with an ending that I like very much.  (“One road was crooked, one road was straight, / Now all roads lead to longing.”)  It’s sad, but so beautiful.

First of all, thank you for the review - unfortunately, speaking Adûnaic is not quite the case; I started learning the grammar last year and gave up quickly because it was just too complicated, though some things did stick. Ardalambion is a wonderful resource when Tolkien's languages are concerned, and I wouldn't have managed to piece the poem together without that site.

As for the ending - I could go on and on about Tolkien's myth of the Straight Road, the Númenoreans, and the impact of choices (Ar-Pharazôn's choice to serve Sauron and so himself, and Elendil's choice to remain true to the old ways, with both being punished, each in their own way), but that would probably end up far too long for a reply here. The message just seemed fitting to sum up and end the poem, and I'm very glad it worked. Again, thank you. :)