Fire and Deep Water by Nienna

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Fanwork Notes

Warning(s): Referenced/Flashback Suicide, Depression

Note: In some versions of the legendarium, Maglor "into the tombless sea was cast." This gives him a symmetry with Maedhros, and I think fits the prompt slightly better. In this ficlet I have combined that with his fate in the published Silmarillion.

Constructive criticism, or comments of any kind would be greatly appreciated.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Maglor is reunited with Maedhros, after a sundering of many centuries.

Written for B2MEM 2018.

 

Major Characters: Maedhros, Maglor

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: General

Challenges: B2MeM 2018

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Creator Chooses Not to Warn

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 508
Posted on 12 March 2018 Updated on 12 March 2018

This fanwork is complete.

Fire and Deep Water

Read Fire and Deep Water

Maglor felt dizzy inside. How long has it been since he last looked on his brother?

The years had passed, almost in a daze, years unnumbered. He had seen kingdoms of Men rise and fall...centuries after his own kingdom had crumbled into dust. And centuries after one by one, his brothers had fallen, until at last he stood alone.

Perhaps a few centuries ago he would have still been bitter, bitter for the fiery chasm that had left him alone in the world, bitter for his beloved brother who had left him, left him as yet another loss to add to the endless list of names. As the years went on, though his grief did not lessen, Maglor's anger receded into nothing, pulled off in the foaming waves. Maglor knew all too well what had driven Maedhros. As the years went on into eternity, Maglor lost even his sadness, and fell into the numbing depths of the sea.

He did not know how much time had passed since then, in Mandos's endless halls.   Time had long ago lost all meaning.

Finally Maglor spoke, jolted back into the present. He spoke the verse that came to him, though he knew not from where. It seemed the only suitable thing to say. "I have passed through fire and deep water, since we parted." At this Maedhros cracked a smile. "That we certainly have. Both the literal and the less so." Maglor smiled in return, feeling a little bit of the ever present weight on his heart lighten.

And Maglor knew that somehow, after all these years of emptiness, of recounting his history when he himself was lost, nothing but a faded shadow, he could begin living again.

He could begin living at last.

 


Comments

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First of all, thank you so much for commentin. You have no idea how happy it made me to see this!

As for your question, Why Maglor hadn't seen Mae already is because of two things. The first is that, while it is only hinted at slightly in the fic, the idea I had in mind is that it has been a LONG time since Maglor cast the Silmaril into the sea. It was definitely past the 3rd age when Maglor arrived in Mandos. Therefore, it is unlikely that Maedhros was still there, but even if he was, in my headcanon when an elf first arrives in Mandos he is not immediately put out into the "group area" if that makes sense, and is instead given some time where he is alone, to sort out himself so to speak. As far as I know this is neither supported nor rejected by canon, but it is what happens in the version of Mandos's halls that exists in this fic.

I hope that explains things! Honestly, I played around with a few different ideas but this is the one I decided on. It's fairly ambiguous in the actual fic, and is left somewhat open to interpretation.

I really love your writing Himring, and am honored that you enjoyed mine!

Yes, I really wanted to combine his HoME fate with the one in the published Silm, and I thought this would be a good way to do that, both because it gives him that "symmetry" with Maedhros, and also fitting really well with my interpretation of his character. 

I had to give them some form of a happy ending(although I'm not sure how much I believe in its canon likely-hood)! It came out as a sort of "life can find a way to begin again", which is part of the idea that "roads go ever on", which in my opinion is one of the central themes of Tolkien's  legendarium. The truth is I didn't think about any of that while writing, while I was writing I just wrote, and it is only now that I'm replying to your comment that I think about any significance to what I wrote😂.

He did not know how much time had passed since then, in Mandos's endless halls.   Time had long ago lost all meaning.

 

I rather enjoyed the mental state evidenced by thi line; Maglor being the one left in a kind of timeless limbo is very in-character