Where the Heart Is by Noliel

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Fanwork Notes

A quiet attempt to put forth a not-very-likely-idea-but-one-that-tickles-my-fancy about where Maglor went after... well, after everything. The italicized quotations are taken from the Silmarillion. Short and based on a vision of a man beside a starlit lake, gazing up at the night sky.

Straight to the Heart

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Maglor wanders physically, seeks subconsciously, and finds. Really.

Major Characters: Maglor

Major Relationships:

Genre: General

Challenges:

Rating: General

Warnings:

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 601
Posted on 23 February 2008 Updated on 23 February 2008

This fanwork is complete.

Where the Heart Is

Read Where the Heart Is

Where the Heart Is


They are sick of wandering; he himself is. Since the end of the First Age, that is all they have done- first travelling the shores of Beleriand, which now lies under the waves- then making their way into the South and finally into the East.

The people in the South had differed from those of the West in both appearance and customs, yet had held true to the manner of the Atani when confronted with the Firstborn, treating Maglor and his people with awe, fear, and respect. But where the Edain had kept their distance, here they’d been more welcoming. Especially the children, who had followed in the Elves’ wake, laughing and hiding if any of them caught their curious gazes.

They’d turned East after many decades, following the path laid out through the boundaries set by the Sea, and it seemed as if the people of those lands had been made aware of their coming. The children there grew more daring in their hospitality, shyly presenting Maglor’s followers with small gifts of food or scented woven cloth.

But that was long ago, and those same offspring of Men are now dead and buried countless years. Only a dim recollection of the strange and beautiful beings that once walked the lands remains, a bedside legend.

And now they are in the farthest East- the uttermost, truly- and Maglor cannot believe his eyes at what lies before him. A large body of water, surrounded by areas which were most certainly once part of a lake, but are now dry. Small rivulets feed into the water from the remains of mountains behind them, the whole area looking as though broken by a tumult of the earth.

Over the centuries, his eyes have witnessed both the cruellest and the most beautiful of truths- and yet now… Maglor cannot believe. But he knows.

Like a whisper carried on the wind, the curse of Mandos comes to him out of the vestiges of memory:

“On the House of Fëanor the wrath of the Valar lieth from the West unto the uttermost East, and upon all that will follow them it shall be laid also.”

They know this. He knows this. And still they follow wherever he may lead, damned and without hope, yet always, unwaveringly loyal.

Two Ages of this world…

Someone walks up to him as he muses, contemplating the ripples in the water.

“Do we set up camp, my lord?”

The speaker is the eldest of their party besides Maglor himself. His face is questioning, almost tranquil- but Maglor can see that it is not hopeful, and there is a worn expectancy in his eyes. He and the others have most probably circled nearly all of the Hither Lands.

They will wander no longer.

“Yes.” Maglor pauses before adding, “Permanently.”

The look on the elf’s face changes gradually, as though he does not trust what his ears hear. First there is confusion, then shock coupled with disbelief, before a brilliant, joyous smile lights up his features. Impulsively, he grasps Maglor’s hand, the gloved one, and presses his lips to the knuckles before turning swiftly to give this news to his fellows.

Maglor faces again the water, gleaming and cool and familiar. A shiver crackles along his spine and he closes his eyes as the words of his father in Tirion come back to him, more potent than those of the Prophecy of the North. A flame long-forgotten flickers and flares back to life inside him.

“In Cuiviénen sweet ran the waters under unclouded stars…”

Maglor opens his eyes, and they blaze quietly up at the star-studded sky as he smiles. He is home.

 


Chapter End Notes

Yes, I know Cuivienen was said to have been destroyed ("...to Cuivienen there is no returning...") but it seemed fitting to me, to have Maglor find it.

 

 


Comments

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Oh this is beautiful, what a plotbunny!!! This piece has a fabulous feeling that matters come to full circle, after all these ages, Maglor, grandson of Finwe, returns home in the East. It is very fitting, to me it feels like an interpretation the professor would have liked!

I agree with Rhaps :) This is a very beautiful story. I love to see Maglor finding his home after ages of wandering ME. And *where* he finds it! I also love the spontaneous reaction of that elf when he heard they would set a permanent camp at Cuiviénen

Great job! It'll be a splendid B2MeM submission. Thank you for sharing :) 

Thank you for reading and commenting! ;) I've always wanted to give Maglor a sort of closure, but wasn't sure how to until this idea came along. And I'm sure the elves were all really relieved that they would finally be setting up a home. I'm also glad you liked the reaction, which was itself written spontaneously- thank you! :D

I cannot believe that I never commented on this story. This is completely beautiful. I also very much like that he is not alone.

I love the image of the children presenting them with "small gifts of food or scented woven cloth."

Another evocative description is: "A large body of water, surrounded by areas which were most certainly once part of a lake, but are now dry. Small rivulets feed into the water from the remains of mountains behind them, the whole area looking as though broken by a tumult of the earth."

And, last but not least, the look on the elf's face and the changing emotions when Maglor tells him they are staying.