Listen to the sky by Anérea

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Fanwork Notes

Written for the Zingers challenge prompt "You're short on ears and long on mouth." - Big Jake

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Arvedui decides to sail, despite warnings to wait.  (As told by a woman of the Lossoth.)

(The fate of Fíriel, wife of Arvedui, was never recorded; I like to think she was a tough cookie and had fought and fled with him to the Ice-bay of Forochel.)

Major Characters: Original Female Character(s), Arvedui, Fíriel, Lossoth

Major Relationships:

Genre: Ficlet, General

Challenges: Zingers

Rating: General

Warnings:

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 331
Posted on 16 August 2022 Updated on 28 December 2022

This fanwork is complete.

Listen to the sky

Ziggy's worldbuilding in Not All Things (and even more now in Brief Encounter ) really brings the frozen Northern Waste to life for me.

And the tale of Arvedui has also always grabbed at my heart as one of those times where I just want to shake some sense into the characters and change their fates, but — oh well...

(In the The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, we're told that Arvedui escaped the Witch-king by fleeing North with his men and received aid from the Lossoth in the Ice-bay of Forochel. When Cirdan learned this he sent a ship to look for them. The Lossoth called the ship the "sea-monster" and counselled them all to remain on land with them until the Witch-king's grip weakened with the coming of summer. But Arvedui didn't take the choice that seemed less hopeful, as prophesied by Malbeth the Seer at his birth, and the rest is history...)

Read Listen to the sky

Listen to the Sky (sailing ship on an icy sea)

 

Láilá sighed as she watched the sledders return, having drawn the southern king and his company as near to the sea-monster as was safe on the frozen water, where the seamen had met them with a small boat. The ice was still solid and thick in the bay, despite the sun moving into spring; the Witch-king’s grasp on winter was tighter this season, and today his fingers reached across the deceptively calm blue sky in faint feathery ice clouds: a sure sign that a severe storm was coming.

She would miss her new friend, Fíriel. In the short time they had dwelt near them, she had added many more Westron words to the few she already knew — yet not enough, it would seem, to translate the severity of the hidden danger the sky spoke of. Yrjänä had urged Arvedui to wait until the storm passed, and although Láilá had not understood all the words, Fíriel had clearly repeated her warnings too. But to no avail. Fíriel had said her husband was less amenable to the council of others since receiving a head wound in the battle with the Witch King’s army, and this was clearly evident now. Arvedui had gone on at length — only partly intelligible, even to her — about how his people needed him, how they had been away far too long already, how skilled the Elven seamen were, how the weather was so calm, and how valuable the pretty but otherwise useless trinket was that he pulled off his own finger and pressed into Yrjänä’s hand in thanks.

Láilá leaned in as Yrjänä put his arm around her, both gazing westwards where the sea-monster was now slowly gliding away between the floes towards open water. He heaved a deep sigh too. She looked at him, and he at her, but there was no need to speak; they shared the same sad yet resigned thought.

Chapter End Notes

Láilá is a Sami name meaning "Wise"
Yrjänä is the Lossoth chieftain in The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar

In the Western Cape, high wispy fingers of cloud streaking across an otherwise clear sky always warn of an approaching cold front in the next two days, so I assume the Lossoth would be very clued up on the sky's messages.

Details about Arvedui, the Lossoth, and the Ice Bay of Forochel can be found on Tolkien Gateway.

Comments

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Thank you! I really like her too. She just arrived in my mind around 3am and said "Hi, I have a story for you."

I think they're very practical, down-to-earth people; living in the harsh conditions they do rather demands it. I imagined her being very curious to learn what she could from Fíriel and the pair really enjoying each other's company. Especially when Fíriel experienced exasperation at her husband's erratic moods and behaviour since his head injury.

The brain damage also makes feel feel better about his apparent arrogance at ignoring the Lossoth's advice — and I guess everyone was just really weary and worn out and really just wanted to get home.

Beautiful but sad.  I really enjoyed the imagery you used: 'deceptively calm blue sky in faint feathery ice clouds'  ?

(I confess, I never thought much about the Lossoth until I played Lord of the Rings Online but that is still one of my favorite regions!)

Thanks Cuarthol. I'm so glad you enjoyed that line — it rearranged itself a few times before it said it was satisfied.

Yes, I find Arvedui's story one of the moments of great loss — all the more poignant because he had the prophecy from Malbeth the Seer as well as the warning from the Lossoth. But I imagine they were really worn down by that stage, and one's judgement can be heavily influenced by the thought of getting home after such a long ordeal.

I haven't played any games (I banned myself after a sleepless week of Civ back in the day!) but Tolkien Gateway mentioned the chieftain's name in LOTRO, and that their inspired by the Finnish, Sami, and Inuit peoples, so I grabbed that idea gratefully.

So happy to see a new bit of writing from you! As I hoped, it set up a lovely environment and mood and featured an intriguing original character. I really appreciate the attention you give to these lesser-known cultures and periods of the legendarium. 

It was eerie how you chose to have Láilá speak of the weather brought on by the Witch-king by personifying him ("his fingers") the way one might personify the sun or moon. 

Clever use of the prompt, too.

Aww! What a heartwarming comment, thank you Polutropos! I'm delighted that you like this little view into this rather untrodden part of the legendarium. As you've noticed, I do enjoy exploring the fringes, although it's also partly because I don't feel confident writing the more well known characters. (There's so many really good versions of them!)

I took the idea that the Lossoth believed the Witch-king could control the winter weather, mixed it with what I know of prefrontal warning clouds, and that image just popped out. Writing is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get! (With apologies to Mr Gump.)

I like Láilá. She seems a sensible person, her sorrow of having to let her friend go... It's so sad how Arvedui won't listen to people who would know better (I also like that part of that is due to his head-injury). I also liked that glimpse of the giving of Barahir's ring and what the Lossoth thought of it, not having the context.

Thank you for your lovely comment. I'm glad you like Láilá .

I keep trying to override Arvedui 's decision and bring that ship back to the surface, and save all the Elves and Men who drowned, and the Palantíri. Perhaps if the chieftain had spoken directly to the captain...

I found it quite refreshing that the Lossoth had no use for gems — practical items like furs and food would be far more valuable in their terrain; they were probably very surprised with what they received from the Rangers whey they eventually ransomed the ring.

So pleased you enjoyed those aspects.

So sad, if Firiel tried to argue with him as well and nevertheless drowned with him, out of a sense of a duty!

I like the idea of her having made friends among the Lossoth.

Arvedui's head injury is an interesting suggestion and its effects are very believable.

I had always thought that maybe he was putting too much trust in the elvishness of Cirdan's ship and his mariners (rather than outright disbelieving the Lossoth, that is).

And, of course, there would be the emotional strain that you hint at, too!

 

Aiya! I so appreciated all the points in your comment and they have remained in my mind, but I see now I never let you know.

I did need to give him a bit of an excuse, but it is very interesting to think about all the contributing factors that led to his decision. I had never really considered the possibility that he might put too much faith in Elvish sailors and the capabilities of the ship, which actually makes a lot of sense, especially by this point in the Third Age when elvish powers may be becoming more legendary from the perspective of Men.

But ultimately, I think there is often just a tendency to not fully comprehend the degree of something hitherto unexperienced.

And as for the prophecy, thinking about it now, it may well have seemed to him that the ship was in fact the less hopeful option... (Darn prophecies, can't they speak in plainer language!?)

Fíriel had said her husband was less amenable to the council of others since receiving a head wound in the battle with the Witch King’s army, and this was clearly evident now. 

 

Ohh, I love this headcanon (no pun intended!)

 

This was a lovely character piece - very atmospheric.  I especially loved the Witch-King's Winter...a bit like Jadis, in Narnia?  

 

Really beautiful writing <3