Past Deeds by Marta

Fanwork Information

Summary:

During the attack on Sirion, Maglor is reminded of past deeds. (300 words)

Major Characters: Maglor, Original Character(s)

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fixed-Length Ficlet

Challenges:

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Character Death, Mature Themes, Violence (Graphic)
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 312
Posted on 25 July 2008 Updated on 25 July 2008

This fanwork is complete.

Past Deeds

Beta'd by agape4gondor; written as a gift fic for Rhyselle.

Read Past Deeds

Maglor looked out the palace window, entranced by the sight: ships burning; the whole harbor alight. He swallowed hard against the bile in his throat.

He closed his eyes, as if doing so would take away the ships that burned now, and the ones that had burned at Alqualondë. The harbor had not simply burned at Alqualondë; he and his brothers had turned it red with blood. And for what? Some pretty bauble, his father's pride, oaths sworn at Túna when mist and grief clouded his heart? And why was he still so willing to spill blood for that curséd promise uttered so long before?

He had heard screams since then, seen elven-blood on his sword, but the flames.... It was the flames that pulled him back to that bloody night. Maglor remembered a Telerin youth who'd stood on a berth, blocking his way. Had the boat been his father's? Had they used it to pull fish from the sea, or perhaps explore up the coast? Had it really been worth dying for?

In the end, none of that mattered. In the end, Maglor had sunk his dagger into the youth's gut. He'd frozen in horror, then, and the lad's blood had run through Maglor's fingers and over his hands. The Telerin had died, and Maglor – he'd been cursed to live.

Maglor grasped his sword more tightly, to steady his hands. 'Twas too late to save that boy, he knew that, or even to turn aside from this latest battle. His hands were bound by that ancient oath, and he could no more change his course now than a twig could alter a river's path.

His only hope lay forward, he knew: to find Elwing, to reclaim his father's cursed jewel. Then, perhaps, the oath would rest for a while.

Comments

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So exicted to see that you are posting here and taking on some Silmarillion themes as well.  You argue your case well, for the level of grief and horror that Maglor would experience when viewing such a scene and remembering what he had already done and realizing what he could be called upon to do in the future. Vividly written. One part was a bit different from the way that I imagine it (to think that anyone could consider the Simarili pretty baubles, much less a son of Feanor--I guess I am of the school who thinks of them as combining a level of technology and magic that strains the imagination to even comprehend or describe). When Tolkien speaks of the Noldor surpassing even the Valar in their skill and creative capacity in some instances; it is always the Simarili that pop first into my head.

Thank you very much for your kind review. I finally find myself writing some stories that are more Silm-focused, and I love this group so I am eager to participate here as a writer.

On the silmarils being baubles: If it was any Feanorian other than Maglor, I would probably agree with you; and I think that in most of his history he would not view them this way. However, after so much violence and loss, I think that Maglor is thinking that even the Silmarils, as glorious as they are, pale in comparison to what they have caused to happen. Maglor is most likely being a little bit deprecating to his people; "look what we've done, and it was for these things that really weren't much compared to the horrors they've caused!" Whether he'd say that out loud I don't know; but it was interesting to make him think it.

That said, I probably haven't thought about the silmarils that much, and maybe with a few more Silmarillion stories under my belt I would have viewed things differently. I know that how I viewed themes and characters/objects in other fandoms has changed as I've written more stories in that fandom and really wrapped my head around the ideas involved.

In any event, thank you for your review, and also for challenging me on my description of the silmarils. You've definitely made me think. :-) -Marta

An interesting glimpse inside Maglor, the gentlest Feanorion and how the Oath must have pursued them through all those years like a curse.  The line "...he'd been cursed to live," perfectly sums it up I think.

The scene at Alqualonde with the  the Telerin youth was the most "human" moment, perfectly summed up by the line:  "Had it really been worth dying for?" Kind of reminds me how our human obsessions seem to "bind our hands". 

Thank you, whitewave! I so appreciate the review. My parents work for an international aid organization, and I've heard their stories about people who have survived tsunamis, earthquakes, and the like - I was thinking of them with that "cursed to live" bit, because when everyone around you dies, I think it really can seem like a curse to have to live on, especially if you feel like you're bound by an oath that makes everything you do turn out badly. I'm not talking suicidal or anything... just general grief and despair.

 Anyway, thank you for your opinion of my story. :-)