Flight Through The Dark by Tyelca

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Fanwork Notes

For April's challenge: A Woman's Sceptre.

“I sell the shadow to support the substance.” - Sojourner Truth

Fanwork Information

Summary:

In the form of a swan Elwing flies over the Sea, carrying a Silmaril and looking for her husband.

Major Characters: Elwing

Major Relationships:

Genre: Drama, General

Challenges: Woman's Sceptre

Rating: General

Warnings:

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 2, 391
Posted on 8 May 2017 Updated on 8 May 2017

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Comments on Flight Through The Dark

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Beautiful writing! But it's your end note that I want to address first, because it resonates with me so strongly. The fact that Elwing had already survived a Kinslaying, and yet provoked another one, keeps boggling me. (I can handle the "she abandoned her children" thing, even as a mother, but I can't get over the fact that she could have prevented the whole thing in the first place!) It's heartbreaking to consider that some sort of peaceful closure could have been reached at that point, and instead, there was more bloodshed. Of course, after Doriath, it is also understandable that Elwing might take a sort of "I'd rather die than give you what you killed for" stance, but it is not exactly sensible.
But this is not the place to rant about that (especially since we seem to be on the same page)! Instead, let me express my admiration that you nonetheless depicted Elwing in a very sympathetic manner here, neither as some kind of saint nor as a monster who spares no thoughts for her people and her children, but as a highly conflicted woman who has to deal with the consequences of her choices. Well done!

YES EXACTLY! One would think that she did not make this decision alone, but talked about it with others; this means that she either ignored other's advice and knew what she was doing when she refused to give up the Silmaril, or that those others all agreed with her choice and are just as much to blame as Elwing herself. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's not exactly thrilled with Elwing's choices! (But it does give for very nice AU-ideas...)

Thank you so much! As you've probably already noticed, my thoughts on Elwing are a little harsher than I depicted her in this fic, but this way she was much more interesting to write, and I do not believe in 'black-and-white' characters. Everyone is a shade of grey, though some might be more close to the black or to the white than others.