Of Oaths, Common Sense, and a Silmaril by

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Fanwork Notes

Disclaimer: JRR Tolkien created Middle-earth and anything you recognise from here. I make no money from this, and am doing this for my and your enjoyment.

A/N: This starts shortly after Elwing receives Maedhros' demand for the Silmaril.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

The third Kinslaying was a hideous self-inflicted wound for the elves of Beleriand. With a little common sense and pragmatism, could it have been averted? Or is that asking too much of all parties involved?

Major Characters: Celebrimbor, Círdan, Elwing, Enerdhil, Gil-galad, Maedhros, Maglor, Oropher, Pengolodh

Major Relationships:

Genre: Alternate Universe

Challenges:

Rating: General

Warnings: Mature Themes

This fanwork belongs to the series

The Rise and Fall of Celebrimbor Curufinwion
Chapters: 3 Word Count: 3, 211
Posted on 16 December 2014 Updated on 2 January 2015

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

Cirdan has an Idea

For the reader: What do you think the Feanorians will do?

Celebrimbor at the Havens

A/N: This was supposed to be a quick little one-shot. So much for that idea. I had Celebrimbor use Quenya names in the oath because those are the original form of his names.

Maedhros' Response

Comments

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Maedhros mind is racing in about 10 different direction at once here: is it a ruse? would this actually fulfill the oath or does he have to go attack his nephew? is Celebrimbor all right or does he need to be rescued? Is Celebrimbor even there at all? Does Celebrimbor still count as a member of the family given that he renounced his father? Should Maedhros err on the side of trying to get the Silmaril? What will Morgoth do if this is for real? Err... what does Maedhros do with himself and his followers if this is for real?

It's a totally unexpected response that creates a completely different situation for him. There will be more of this story up in the next while, and the question of what Maedhros will do next will be answered.

I had temporarily forgotten that by this stage the whole magical artifact combo is cursed as well, if you believe in that sort of curse.

Celebrimbor had better watch out--although I really like the idea of Enerdhil and him poring over the thing with a jeweller's loupe.

Also, might the Sindar consider he was breaking Thingol's ban by using Quenya names in the oath? He doesn't seem to get a reaction on that, though.

Ah yes, the curse. I tend to think that holding an object that screams 'steal me!' at anyone who comes near it and 'keep me!' to anyone who owns it is quite curse enough. You'll notice it didn't burn Celebrimbor, though. I think the Silmaril rather likes him, not that this is an unalloyed good thing.

I don't think either Celebrimbor or Enerdhil had any likelihood of not playing with their new toy.

Thingol's Ban: I'd wondered about that, but I kind of see the original form of a name being like one's legal name, to be used in legal documents or binding oaths. Elwing can't really do anything about the language Celebrimbor was named in. So she'll just have to put up with that small deviation for now. But Celebrimbor had better remember to speak Sindarin the rest of the time if he doesn't want trouble.

You might be right about the Feanorians, but eventually they will have to produce some kind of organized response.

And yes, I see Celebrimbor spending the last century or so of the war of the jewels stuck in the middle of a very awkward situation. This story does place him even more in the middle of events, of course.

I really like writing Celebrimbor. I think a lot of myself ended up in the way I write him, especially the curiosity, idealism and being somewhat socially inept. Oddly enough, the depressive tendencies and pragmatism ended up with Gil-galad, not that you see much of him in this story. I'm glad you're enjoying it.