Five Bells by Dawn Felagund

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Fanwork Notes

The Wordsmith

2011 MEFA nominee--thank you, Lyra!

Anuhealani did a wonderful recording of "Five Bells" for the June 2013 newsletter! Listen to "Five Bells" here.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

The people of Tirion learn of Miriel's death. For the Five Things challenge for SWG's fifth birthday. 2011 MEFA nominee.

Major Characters: Fëanor, Finwë, Indis, Mandos, Míriel Serindë, Original Character(s)

Major Relationships:

Genre: Drama, Experimental

Challenges: Fifth Birthday Celebration

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Character Death, Mature Themes
Chapters: 5 Word Count: 1, 543
Posted on 26 August 2010 Updated on 26 August 2010

This fanwork is complete.

Show all chapters on a single page

Table of Contents

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Comments on Five Bells

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Oh wow, this was intense. And remember when the suggestion for this theme first came up along with the note that stories written for this meme tend to be light-hearted? You've certainly produced more proof that in Silmarillion fanfiction, even the most light-hearted meme can turn deadly serious.

Your writing is wonderfully evocative, as usual, effortlessly bringing the characters (with the possible exception of Míriel >_>) to life. The part on Finwë was especially poignant. Poor Finwë. *would huggle him if she dared*

Oh wow, I just re-read it again and I still have goosebumps. The juxtaposition between birth and death, the reactions to both and the way you portrayed this, it is so well done. Indis reaction, her curiosity mixed with her foresight of what she knew, still hoping that one day Finwë will be happy again yet also wishing that it did not happen. And ah Fëanor... But the last one, the moment that Míriel's moment came, that.. I can't come up with the proper words, but I found it beautifully done with so much respect for those who have moved on when it was their time...

Thank you, Rhapsy! Goosebumps are good! I'm a sadistic author who loves scaring readers, making them cry, et cetera. >;^D

I've found myself recently interested in Indis and what she must have thought and felt when Miriel died. It must have been a complicated emotion: at once hopeful, because she had a chance to marry the one she loved, and yet that must have also provoked guilt. I couldn't resist exploring that here, even though it was a bit of a stretch to move outside of earshot of the bells and when I also felt like I should have had another vignette from the PoV of an OC. Alas, the author's whim prevailed. ;)

Well, been postponing reviewing this one all day. It's terrific. How can I explain the ways? The bells. I am a serious bell person myself. Love staying places with bells--thinking of several towns in Spain. Also Mexico is big for bells--mourning, warning and celebratory bells.

It is a dark story. I was thinking of it visually. Be a great little film. "Who says it's all sunshine and flowers in Valinor?" We know it wasn't. My visual image about filming it would be to use distinct lighting inside and out to reflect your beginning lines of each segment. The inside scenes with a rather medieval northern European light and the outside ones--golden light and very Mediterranean. Or something like that. My point is you caught me up in the ambience.

Of course, I am working on a Feanor story at the moment and that always puts me inside of a character's head, so that little segment hit me the hardest (well, his section and Finwe's).* I'm a hard nut to crack on behalf of Indis. Have more sympathy with her much, much later in the whole saga.

*Don't know if it was your intent, but Feanor comes across to me as a rather deliciously creepy little creature in this one--too precocious by half--not his fault, of course.

Thank you, Oshun! I am a fan of bells myself. Sometimes, when the wind is right, we can hear the 5 o'clock bells from the town up here on the hilltop. *bliss* :)

I'm glad you picked up on the ambiance! I always have very strong visuals in my mind when I write, usually connected to a similarly strong emotion that I want to convey. The challenge, then, is to communicate the visuals/sensations and somehow have the emotions come along with them.

Finwe's section was my favorite. Feanor's was probably the most fun to write, kind of like writing my Caranthir where I can allow myself to write some really weird perceptions. I definitely did want a bit of creepiness to come across; what I have of the AMC prequel, Feanor is definitely a bit odd in his youth, which probably isn't itself strange, considering what he'd endured even by a very young age and his powers of perception coupled with an inability to fully understand what he was perceiving. Indis is really beginning to interest me, mostly because of the complexity of emotions that she must have had when Miriel died. Of course, as soon as there is a hint of complex psychology, I am begging to dive in. ;)

Amazing as usual, Dawn. The repetition of the first line was really powerful throughout, and I like the idea of the bell- I think I've always been enamored of bells. That might be why the juxtaposition of the bells tolling for mourning gets me- I think of bells as light and happy things, but here it's something entirely different.

Thanks for taking the time share =) I expect that can be difficult to do when you're organizing the birthday event.

Thank you, Michiru! You are so right! Finding time to write when organizing an event is a challenge. At the same time, though, it does force me to focus on my writing (it's so easy, in the chaos that is my life, to let other things take precedence, but having a challenge and a deadline sort of nudges writing to the fore in terms of priorities.)

I love bells also, and I also had in my mind the ambiguity of the sound of bells, which I tried to hint at too in the story, how something that had, to this point, been perceived as a sound of joy suddenly took on a new meaning. I suppose if one is being analytical (me?? never! :D), then that could extend to the atmosphere in Valinor in general, where Miriel's death really removed a lot of illusions of paradise that many of the Elves seem content to have maintained.

This was very poignant. I loved how their different reactions revealed so much about their personalities, despite it being short. Also have you ever heard of Rachmaninoff's Bells? There's a series of compositions, The Mournful Iron Bells, The Silver Sleigh Bells, the Mellow Wedding Bells, the loud Alarum Bells - etc. Somehow that reminded me of this piece.  

Thank you, Aerlinn--I'm glad you enjoyed the piece! Rachmaninoff's Bells is new to me, but I am familiar with the Poe poem "The Bells" on which the music composition is based. I think "Five Bells" might be five slightly different movements of the "Mournful Iron Bells" section. ;) Thank you again for reading and commenting!