All Hues and Honeys by Dawn Felagund

The Forgotten God

Maglor by the sea. A triple drabble for Jubilee instadrabbling, for the challenge Holiday Party: Create a fanwork featuring the sea.

The Forgotten God

The wind moaned across the cave entrance like the lowest note played on Maglor's biggest flute, the note that required fingers splayed and fingerpads turned just right to cover the holes. The kind of note that shivered one's insides.

"I know," said Maglor in consolation. Or, what passed for consolation. Used to be his voice could reach the full range of human emotion. Now it was like a boulder plunked in the sand, always.

But the moaning wind died as though listening.

"People used to remember you. They used to remember me too." He straightened his weary spine like he was preparing to sing. "Salmar."

Salmar had marched forth during the War of Wrath with a contingent of Noldor from Tirion. Resting by a mere to play his harp, the notes were beautiful as the rain of Laurelin so that even he was ensorcelled. So smitten, he was ambushed, dragged down. So the legend went that he was drowned by Morgoth himself in the mere, its waters still enchanted so that it refused even to raise a ripple in acknowledgement.

Or, that's how the story went. Truly, Salmar had disappeared from the Eldarin legends at some point: the god who marched forth to war and brokered the peace between the Fëanorians and Manwë and taught music to Maglor himself. First, he became an ellipsis to save time and paper. Then he became nothing at all.

"They've forgotten us," said Maglor, "so that they can turn us into the lesson they intend us to teach." The wind moaned in answer. Maglor flexed his hand and would have pitched a rock (one of his favored forms of rebellion against the myth he'd been made into) but a noise behind him made him turn.

"I have to go, Salmar."

His children were calling.

Chapter End Notes

Salmar, in the Lost Tales, was a pretty active fellow, and this triple drabble uses those early stories and assumes that the later "Silmarillion" texts are likewise later in the Eldarin tradition. Salmar (also called Noldorin) was a warrior-bard who marched forth to chain Melkor, loved the Noldor and taught them what they know about music, and penned the song that swayed Manwë to forgiveness after they fell for Melkor's lies. While Tolkien never completed his story, outlines indicate that Salmar (alone of the Valar, save Tulkas) did not abandon the Noldor during the War of Wrath but went forth to fight on their behalf. The outcome of that depends on what set of notes/outlines you read.

By the second draft of the "Silmarillion" materials, Salmar was almost gone, reduced to the maker of Ulmo's conches and that's it. (In the published Silmarillion, the conches are mentioned more than he is.) In this ficlet, I wanted to consider why he was dropped from the story and, as always, what it means to read Tolkien's legendarium as actual historical texts.