Flights of Fancy by Ithilwen

Chapter 2 - Author's Comments

So where did this crazy idea come from? It's a result of my throwing into the fanfiction stew pot the following observations and Tolkien bits and letting them simmer on low:

1. The observation that most of us do indeed spend a great deal of our lives concentrating on the adventures of completely fictitious people – which is a very odd pastime when you really stop to think about it.

2. The statements in The Silmarillion chapter "Of the Beginning of Days" that Ilúvatar gave the race of Men "strange gifts" (which include both Death and the freedom to shape the world in ways that can't be predicted from the original Song of the Ainur), that Men resemble Melkor most of all the Valar, and that Men will sing in the Second Music of the Ainur after the current, marred world comes to its end.

3. The conversation between Finrod and Andreth on the differing perceptions of Men and Elves in the middle of the "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth" in Morgoth's Ring, where Finrod observes that mortals "look at no thing for itself, and… if they love it, it is only (so it seems) because it reminds them of some other dearer thing…" and Andreth in turn remarks that Elves are like "grown-up children" and don't understand how Men can use the same words to mean both "long-known" and "stale".

I found myself thinking that perhaps Elves were "tied to Arda" in more ways than just the obvious – and that conversely, Men's gifts might be strange indeed to Elves but completely unnoticed by Men themselves. And that if Men were going to Sing in the Secod Music, clearly they were going to be in the jazz improv section (since Men resemble Melkor), adding all kinds of unexpected harmonies and minor themes – but this time, doing it right. And any musician knows that before you can even think of playing a lengthy, complex piece of music flawlessly at a public recital, you need to spend a lot of time at home practicing your scales and playing lots of shorter, simpler pieces to hone your talent.... hence our obsession with creating imaginary worlds!

ff.net: the home of lots of beginning "musicians" learning to play the scale of C Major, as well as a smaller number of more accomplished performers, all working hard to get ready for the big recital in the sky. Cute idea, no?

This story was first published on May 22, 2009.