Before the Great Music: An Account Before the Ainulindale by Alcarin

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Fanwork Notes

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Melkor, the greatest and most powerful of the Ainur, becomes the first of his divine kindred to depart from the Light –– and to embrace the Darkness, thereby becoming its first and greatest manifestation.

Major Characters: Melkor

Major Relationships:

Genre: Experimental

Challenges:

Rating: General

Warnings:

Chapters: 5 Word Count: 15, 425
Posted on 16 April 2014 Updated on 23 April 2014

This fanwork is a work in progress.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Lure of the Void

 

In this story, Melkor is depicted in his early beginnings, and his desires and motivations are explored. Space and time are immaterial here, for the story is set beyond the confines of Ea, long before the Count of Time began.

 

DISCLAIMER: I own none of these characters or places. All these belong to Tolkien. I am merely taking delight in the things Tolkien had left for us to explore.

 

 

Chapter 2 Down Into the Void

Melkor treads the eternal nothingness of the Void, and discovers an irrefutable truth.

Chapter 3 Melkor's Bait

Melkor attempts to draw other lesser Ainur into his fold, most notably Ungwelian, she who among the Children of Iluvatar would later become known as Ungoliant, the Spider of Night.

Chapter 4 Varda's Choice

Melkor first encounters Varda, that great Ainu whom the Elves call Tintallë, the Star-kindler, and his desires and perceptions of her are revealed.

Chapter 5 Mairon's Liege

Melkor encounters the Maia named Mairon, one of the many spirits originally under Aule. Here, Mairon's desire for order and structure is revealed, and how, by this very same desire, he was drawn away from Aule –– and into the shadow of Melkor.

Comments

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Thanks CiH. I'm glad you liked my story. I usually plan the general theme of each chapter first, then I flesh it out as I go along.

It was really challenging for me to make Melkor as interesting as possible, being cunning, envious, impatient, arrogant and all that, yet avoid presenting him as already "evil." I usually had to avoid using the word "hate," since that emotion was first explicitly mentioned only after Melkor was publicly chastised by Iluvatar, after the Music abruptly ended.

I just hope to write something about Osse and Namo before wrapping this up.

I remember reading the first chapter or two of this on lotrgfic a while ago, and somehow I didn't end up reading the rest until now.

The characterizations are wonderful; I especially liked how Mairon professes his favorite thing to be fixing Aulë's unfinished work. Melkor's interactions with the other Ainur and his attempts to make them useful to him are inspired. One almost must feel sorry for Ungwelian. I also like Melkor's preoccupation with creating a completely new thing out of nothing, rather than use that which Eru created.

I really enjoyed this and hope you will continue it at some point.