The Last Words by Rhapsody

Author Notes - B2ME 2008 narrative for Rivalry

This story came into being when I was writing my NaNoWriMo novel, work title Bard Rising, where Maglor remembered that his mother and father had a quarrel before they went to Formenos, being banned from court. I decided not to elaborate on it in the novel, but marked it as a side story. Writing this novel felt as a journey, having never done the NaNoWriMo before, it was so tempting to weave in this memory in the story. Afterwards, I am glad I ignored my muse and gave it a story of its own. For long have I pondered on Nerdanel’s hardship and despite that she must have known the consequences of being married to a smith and the irregularities in work hours. To me it must have felt like sheer agony to see your husband being ensnared to his own work. The Silmarillion says that:

For Fëanor began to love the Silmarils with a greedy love, and grudged the sight of them to all save to his father and his seven sons; he seldom remembered now that the light within them was not his own.
Chapter 7: Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor

With the piece, I tried to bring across how Nerdanel reacted to this fight for her husband’s heart, sharing the love of her husband with these jewels and in the end the two of them became estranged. This first and final meeting of Nerdanel and the three jewels and the rivalry between them is the result of it. The novel Bard Rising is however still awaiting further editing.

Another source of inspiration has been the Dutch playwrights Harry Bannink & Annie MG Schmidtwho together wrote 'Het is Over' for the play 'Heerlijk Duurt het Langst'.