Even More About Maedhros by Himring

Land of Mist

During his recovery, Maedhros for the first time encounters a natural phenomenon of the land of Hithlum.

Written for Virgiliana for Fandom Stocking 2018 and not cross-posted here yet, I think.

Teens: warning for aftermath of torture.

Maedhros emerged from the small building and took a step backward, warily retreating again. He could not see, and he wondered whether he had succumbed to a delusion of the enemy. Or maybe it was a physical condition, a medical problem with his eyesight? His body still kept failing him in unanticipated ways, and a sudden fit of blindness would not have been the strangest symptom yet.

Fingon had quickly reached out to support him. However, almost immediately he realized that Maedhros had not stumbled out of momentary weakness, but was reacting to what was to be seen outside, in front of them.

‘Oh,’ he said, enlightened, ‘you will not have seen it like this before, will you? This is just very thick fog. The area is prone to it, especially now in autumn, because it is so wet, and even more so here, so close to the Lake. Nothing to do with the Enemy! It looks quite unfamiliar, doesn’t it, though, with that kind of pale, milky morning light filtering through? I hope it will lift soon, because, although it is not evil, it is not very convenient for the day’s work! It usually does go away some hours after sunrise.’

Maedhros studied the dense whiteness that blanketed their surroundings, carefully extending his perceptions outward. It indeed looked, smelt and felt quite different from the fumes of Angband—he had a clear sense of clean moisture—and he could make out a little more now of his surroundings, faint outlines of familiar objects, but only those that were very near.

‘It is fog,’ he repeated, grateful that only Fingon had been close enough to notice his disproportionate reaction to such a harmless phenomenon, quite unbefitting a prince who still hoped to lead. Which, it occurred to him just afterwards, was actually an advantage of the thickness of the fog, as it would obscure the movement and expressions of people only a few paces away! Fingon, on the other hand, had already pretty much seen it all, by now, so worrying about saving face with him was pointless and would have been a waste of effort.

‘Yes,’ said Fingon, matter-of-factly. ‘They have been calling the land Hisilome because of the natural fog and mist, not just because of Morgoth’s fumes drifting over from Angband and settling in the hollows.’

And half-alone as he was with Fingon in the privacy afforded to them by the mist, the name seemed to Maedhros very appropriate.

Chapter End Notes

Hithlum (in Quenya "Hisilome") is the canonical name of the country around the Lake of Mithrim where Maedhros is recovering and translates as "Land of Mist".