More about Maglor by Himring

Silmaril

A little reflection on two central symbols in Tolkien's work, the Silmaril and the Ring.

Drabble written for the Homophone Challenge at Tolkien Weekly on LiveJournal (100 words according to MS Word)

Prompt: threw/through

Rating: Teens (PG)

He lifted his hand and threw. The impossible jewel went flying through the salty air, shining once more in all its facets: peace, love, honour, art.

The joy of belonging, the joy of making. Exhilaration of daring, quiet satisfaction of faith. They went flying through the sea air, jewel-like. Home. Exile. Hope. Despair. Promises. Broken promises. Death. So much death.

The light hit the surface of the water and sank.

He lifted his hand and threw… Being already almost lost, he did not. He stepped back from the chasm, put the ring on his finger and said: It is mine.

Chapter End Notes

The last paragraph is set in the Sammath Naur--so the reference of "he" has changed and could mean either Frodo or Isildur.

I felt it was interesting to compare what these two central symbols, the Silmaril and the One Ring, stand for and their respective effect on the characters of the story. It's obviously not a comparison you'd want to take too far--one commenter pointed out that in some ways the Elven Rings were more similar to the Silmaril.