The Work of Small Hands by Dawn Felagund

Author's Foreword

Foreword

I began this story a shamefully long time ago, back in late Autumn of 2005. My intentions were originally to write a story that not only showed the romance that I believe existed between Eärwen and Finarfin but also showed something of the delicate process of reviving the ancient friendship between the Noldor and the Teleri following the Kinslaying at Alqualondë. Being as the House of Finarfin represents a joining of those peoples, it has always made sense to me that Eärwen and Finarfin would have been the key players in this reconciliation.

As stories have a tendency to do, though--at least, my stories have a tendency to do--the story quickly took itself into an unexpected direction. The story became less about Finarfin and more about Eärwen and Fingolfin's wife Anairë, and soon, my purposes behind writing the story had changed to match it.

As with most of my work, "The Work of Small Hands" operates under the assumption that The Silmarillion--and all of Tolkien's stories--are not merely stories but historical documents. Therefore, no single "truth" as told by an omniscient and omnipresent narrator can be reached, and one must take into account not only the story's narrator but how he or she came to knowledge that is presented. In the Foreword to The Book of Lost Tales 1, Christopher Tolkien expresses regret that the true "narrator" of The Silmarillion was never revealed as Bilbo Baggins, with The Silmarillion itself declared to be part of the Red Book of Westmarch:

In The Complete Guide to Middle-earth Robert Foster says: 'Quenta Silmarillion was no doubt one of Bilbo's Translations from the Elvish preserved in the Red Book of Westmarch.' So also I have assumed: the 'books of lore' that Bilbo gave to Frodo provided in the end the solution: they were 'The Silmarillion'. But apart from the evidence cited here, there is, so far as I know, no other statement on this matter anywhere in my father's writings; and (wrongly, as I think now) I was reluctant to step into the breach and make definite what I only surmised.

So any story in The Silmarillion must have passed from its original source through to Bilbo, via the Elves of Rivendell. This complicates canon immensely because what is written has likely been subjected to the biases, errors, and exaggerations of numerous narrators in the course of transmission. It also supposes that we can only know what the historians and loremasters of the original age themselves knew or were willing to reveal. My use of this idea in filling in the stories of The Silmarillion has been the subject of contention to some less flexible-minded individuals. I doubt that this story will be any exception.

Bearing that in mind, "The Work of Small Hands" attempts to address two issues about The Silmarillion that have always weighed on my mind. The first is the Darkening of Valinor: We hear very little about it, yet it must have been a dramatic and traumatic occasion for the Eldar and certainly a turning point in their history, not least of all for the "tithe" of the Noldor who chose to remain in Valinor after the Kinslaying. Aside from the destruction of the illusion of safety in the Blessed Realm, it presents the challenge of a civilization accustomed to perpetual light suddenly in complete absence of it. Most of the Elves of Valinor had never experienced "darkness" as understood by Elves who had once lived in the Outer Lands, and aside from being psychologically traumatizing, it must have posed interesting dilemmas in terms of daily life. "The Work of Small Hands" attempts to address some of these dilemmas, as well as considering the psychological effects of complete and sudden darkness in a place where there isn't even periodic nightfall and most citizens do not even understand the concept of unrelieved darkness.

Secondly, as a fantasy author and a woman, I have always been miffed by the treatment--or lack thereof--of female characters in Tolkien's Ardaverse. While I do believe that The Silmarillion represents something of an improvement over The Lord of the Rings (and are there even any women worth mentioning in The Hobbit?), women in Tolkien's stories are still underrepresented, and even when their wisdom and powers exceed that of their male counterparts, as in the case of Melian, they are subject to the will and whims of men. My Silmarillion stories attempt to address this gap by not only filling in the faces and names of the women of The Silmarillion but recognizing that, in all likelihood, they filled roles beyond that of wives, mothers, and background characters, even if the history does not necessarily tell of it.

Which brings us full circle to the interpretation of Tolkien's stories as historical documents. The reasons why women might have been omitted from such accounts are multiple; one needs only to look at our own histories for examples. And so while pondering how Eärwen and Finarfin might have healed the rift between their people, I found my interests drifting away from Finarfin's role and towards Eärwen's role, as well as Anairë's as the closest remaining "heir" to the Kingship. How might they have aided the people of the Noldor and the Teleri during this dark time? True, it was Finarfin who ascended to the throne following Fingolfin's exile, but it's not beyond belief that Eärwen and Anairë assisted greatly with this, as well as with the recovery of Eldarin civilization following the loss of light.

And whether by ignorance of her role by historians or a conscious attempt to give glory to the king--or simple omission in the interest of brevity--the roles of Eärwen and Anairë in restoring the Noldor were lost. This novella attempts to create one possible version of their story.

I have chosen to share it now in light of the Majority Rules Ficathon on LiveJournal, an occasion that celebrates the possibility of the United States finally having a woman or person of color as President. While I'm not particularly inspired to try a prompt for the challenge, then I am inspired to show my own enthusiasm for this historic occasion, and so I have decided to finally finish the story.

Notes on Obscure Canon

On Anairë’s choice to remain in Valinor:

“Fingolfin’s wife Anairë refused to leave Aman, largely because of her friendship with Eärwen wife of Arafinwë (though she was a Noldo and not one of the Teleri). But all her children went with their father….”
HoMe XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, “The Shibboleth of Fëanor,” pages 344-345

On the Quenya names of the children of Eärwen and Arafinwë:

Findaráto Ingoldo = Finrod
Artaher = Orodreth*
Angaráto (Angamaitë) = Angrod
Ambaráto Aikanáro = Aegnor
Artanis = Galadriel

*Artaher (Orodreth) has an interesting history. While, in The Silmarillion, he is clearly listed as a son of Finarfin, Tolkien later revised this notion to have him as a son of Angaráto and the father of Gil-Galad. In this capacity, Artaher’s Quenya name was given as “Artaresto” and later revised to “Artaher.” For the purposes of this story, although I assume The Silmarillion canon that Artaher is a son of Finarfin, I have retained use of this final Quenya name “Artaher,” given to the son of Angaráto. (HoMe XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, “The Shibboleth of Fëanor,” pages 346-351)

Other names that might not be familiar to readers, also from "The Shibboleth of Fëanor":

Nolofinwë = Fingolfin
Arafinwë = Finarfin

On Fëanáro's speech ...

Fëanáro's speech to the Noldor in the "King of the Noldor" chapter comes from The Annals of Aman (HoMe V), Annal 132: "Let the cowards keep this city. But by the blood of Finwe! unless I dote, if the cowards only remain, then grass will grow in the streets. Nay, rot, mildew, and toadstool."

I found this quote while working on this story, and all I could think of was Eärwen's reaction to his words.

Finally, for those of you out there with a penchant for curwë, following the completion of this story, a fairly extensive discussion was held on the SWG discussion list about the effects of sudden darkness on Elven society. Neuropsychological impact of prolonged darkness in Homo sapiens eldarensis discusses a lot of the ideas and canon that shaped this story.