History and Conspiracy by Himring

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Fanwork Notes

A response to the following prompt for the Silmarillion Writers' Guild "Rise Above" Challenge:
”We have no template for what a powerful woman looks like, except that she looks rather like a man.”
~ Mary Beard
The challenge features quotations from women who have advanced the participation of women in the sciences. Mary Beard is a well-known historian focussing on the classical period.

I've also incorporated an allusion to the

 LLA picture prompt for 23 April, 

which features a girl in front of a high, thick wall, which seems to have at least one crack.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

In the Fourth Age, young Barahir comes up with a conspiracy theory about a Numenorean queen and explains his theory to Ivriniel of Dol Amroth.

Major Characters: Tar-Vanimeldë

Major Relationships:

Genre: General

Challenges: Rise Above

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Creator Chooses Not to Warn
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1, 558
Posted on 29 April 2018 Updated on 29 April 2018

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Comments

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Imaginative and entertaining! I've always thought that story had a shady sound to it. I think I would tend to find a more straightforward explanation--e.g., they lied or exaggerated, perhaps she actually spent more time ruling than the history books said she did--than that of Barahir, but love that he tried to explain an unsatisfactory bit of history and particularly with a theory which reflected a clever woman's successful method of subverting a misogynistic system. (The older I get and the more I read, the more often I encounter contemporary sources which disprove historical pseudo-facts I learned at highly regarded universities!) Maybe Tolkien throws those details in to mimic real-world puzzles and half-truths that historians love to chase.

I'd like to try to read some of those Tumblr discussions. Perhaps I'll look, but usually the time expenditure in tracking them down and then following the threads wears me out. The more that people use Tumblr for intriguing discussions, the more I wish it were more easily searchable.

I'd loved the ending! Her reflections on her own history and her desire to be more supportive of his assumption that one might find stronger and more capable women than the histories reflect.

I'm so glad you enjoyed both parts, Oshun, Barahir's theory about Vanimelde and the ending, with Ivriniel looking back on her own life!

My actual take on the politics of Vanimelde is: Vanimelde Dances, and it's more straightforward, saying that what she was attempting was a kind of cultural politics and the historians missed the point, because they failed to grasp that there could be such a thing.

I did wonder briefly whether I should try and write Barahirs' theory as the plot of a canon divergence AU. But then I decided I would be more interested in writing  the story, as well as get more of the theme of the challenge in, if there was a overarching narrative featuring a female historian rising above her beginnings and coaching a young historian.

I'm afraid I didn't file any links to those Tumblr discussions for future reference (I'm pretty sure there were at least two), because it was some time back and I didn't realize they would feed into a story. I might try and find and link them, but it would be a bit like a needle in a haystack, looking for them!

 

 

That's an excellent theory, young Barahir, even though Ivriniel rightly points out the holes in the fabric. I do hope he'll continue to think about the hidden injustices of history. It is rather suspicious that so many Númenórean princesses weren't interested in the sceptre apparently, or that those who were supposedly didn't do a particularly great job! (But then, as the great Mary Beard has also observed, women not only have to fight harder to succeed, but also face much harsher judgement if they fail...)

Excellent use of the quote and the story!

Thank you very much!

Yes, I regret that I don't remember who raised this on Tumblr, about the Numenorean princesses, I think I saw it raised at least twice.

It's sort of striking, how the Numenorean succession is invoked to support Aragorn's right to the the throne of Gondor (via Firiel), but when Tolkien comes to write out the details of that succession, he seems so very lukewarm about all that. Well, I guess he always preferred all that about the straight male line from Isildur and the other claim was always very secondary to him. Nevertheless, he could have really done something with Telperien, for example, and that would have made Arvedui and Firiel's claim look better, but no. 

Ah, well, there's always fanfic!

I'd be quite happy if someone decided to adopt this as a plot bunny and write it as a story!

I don't often write AUs to my own 'verse, though. As you see, it's not because I can't imagine other plots or fanons. It's more that once I've gotten a feel for a character, I usually find it difficult to tweak or switch their personality.

I'm glad you enjoyed this piece! Thank you for reading and commenting!