Five Times Nerdanel Said 'Yes' by oshun

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Fanwork Notes

Tree and Flower Awards, Feanor, First Place

Tristan-and-Iseult-for nerdanel feanor icon 

 

Fanwork Information

Summary:

This was written for the SWG 5th Birthday celebration based on the Theme: Five Things, updated to include numerous B2MeM 2012 prompts. Chapter 8 added (30 March 2018).

Major Characters: Amras, Amrod, Anairë, Caranthir, Celegorm, Curufin, Eärwen, Fëanor, Finarfin, Fingolfin, Finwë, Indis, Maedhros, Maglor, Nerdanel

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: General, Romance

Challenges: B2MeM 2012, Fifth Birthday Celebration

Rating: Creator Chooses Not to Rate

Warnings: Expletive Language, Sexual Content (Mild)

This fanwork belongs to the series

Maitimo and Findekáno
A Nerdanel Series
Chapters: 8 Word Count: 21, 805
Posted on 26 August 2010 Updated on 30 March 2018

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

The Begetting of the Heir Apparent to the House of Fëanáro

Thank you to IgnobleBard for Beta reading this story, as well as to the esteemed writers of the Lizard Council for reviewing the first four chapters of this story, especially Elfscribe, Erulisse, Kymahalei, Hallbera, and Rhapsody.

The Mightiest Singer of the Noldor
The Night They Begot The Fair Woodsman
The Dark Finwë
Little Father

First, I want to thank Ignoble Bard for reading the first and roughest (his-eyes-only) copy. Thank you, Pandemonium, for doing a thorough copycheck and giving me such encouraging squees and, Elfscribe, for pointing out your favorite lines, catching nits and re-writing a particularly garbled sentence and making it work. Thank you also, Russandol, for catching still more of those illusive pesky nits and giving me support as well. You guys are wonderful.

Interlude: Sea Fever

And all I ask is a windy day
with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume,
and the seagulls crying. –Sea Fever by John Masefield

Alqualondë under the Stars

Raise me a dais of silk and down,
Hang it with vair and purple dyes.
Carve it in doves and pomegranates
And peacocks with a hundred eyes.  — Christina Rossetti


Epilogue: A Last Farewell

The sweeping up the heart
And putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until eternity. --Emily Dickinson

Comments

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It's so sad to see how they ended up with so much life and love and happiness behind them. Nerdanel knew Feanor's flaws but one always holds out hope. I like that she tried one last time to get him to change his mind, and how even though she's strong and has a lot of inner resources, she has to fight with herself to keep her bearings around him.

I can't even imagine the heartbreak one would go through in a situation like this, watching your husband and all your beautiful sons leave with little hope of ever seeing them again. Yet you manage to give us a heartrending taste of the sorrow of the inevitable. It's so sad and bittersweet. I know you worked on this a long time but it was worth it. Your stories always feel so much like the way things must have happened that reading source material feels anticlimatic. Congratulations on this wounderful story. It's awesome.

And the bitter end. There's something so painfully realistic in Nerdanel realizing her mistakes too late. Things that seemed all right when times were good - Feanor's irreverence, the way their children were 'bound' to him - are suddenly disastrous, and there is nothing that Nerdanel can do.

I give her credit, though, for saving herself. Her attempt to reconcile Feanor and Manwe is also impressive, if doomed.

At the same time, I'm glad that the end isn't completely bitter. You bring out both their irreconcilable differences and the connection they still have; I could feel the thwarted love between them. And the lines about "sounding like my stepmother" and acting like the children throwing a temper tantrum ... such a married way to argue.

I liked the "So, you're not staying?" moment. Such confidence. :)

If you find the time to continue the story, I'd be very interested to see Nerdanel's parting with her sons, or the birth of the twins. (The story is all yours, of course, but I'd be curious to know why Feanor, always wanting another child, names Amras 'Last'.)  You've created such a wonderful portrait of Feanor, Nerdanel, and their family - so sympathetic and complex. Thank you for sharing it!