Too Long a Winter by clotho123

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Fanwork Notes

This falls into the 'Inverted Fanon' category, and the character inverted is Maglor, who is here much more his father's son than he is usually written...

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Mid-winter at Himring was never going to be all peace and goodwill

Major Characters: Original Character(s), Erestor, Maedhros, Maglor

Major Relationships:

Genre: General

Challenges: Fanon Inverted, History of Tradition

Rating: General

Warnings:

This fanwork belongs to the series

Interleavings
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 3, 779
Posted on 4 July 2011 Updated on 2 June 2024

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Comments on Too Long a Winter

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I've always wondered that as well, since up to Sirion it's always Maedhros who is the family voice of reason and/or conscience (when anyone at all is) but after Sirion Maglor moves into the role.  Writers often assume Maglor had always been a reluctant Kinslayer and it had just never been mentioned before, which is certainly possible, but I wanted to try something different.  Another story of mine (Beyond Hope) was intended to show Maglor rethinking things a bit after Sirion, and I'd like to explore the idea a bit more someday - if I ever get time!

First of all, because it's the first thing that jumped out at me - your prose is amazing. It's lush and evocative and I transported me straight to Himring in all its wintery glory in the first few paragraphs.

And inverted!fanon Maglor - well, he obviously is something else; I'd be lying if I didn't think the way you portrayed him here didn't intrigue me. I did start wondering if that wouldn't be - beyond all the starry-eyed fannishness - being a pretty accurate and sometimes more honest representation of the Elves, to humans at least, and you continued to illustrate that strangeness beautifully. This line especially drove that home for me (and gave me the shivers at that): 

I had heard him sing many times, and what they say of him is not too great praise, indeed it falls short as all words must.  A singer to draw the stars from the skies and turn back the moon in its course, a singer to make stones dance and streams stand still, despair laugh for joy and gladness weep like rain.

I loved the rest of it as well - the nuances and intricacies of their family life are definitely something worth pondering for longer. Thank you so much for sharing such a thought-provoking story. 

....that is very bleak on one level, but so fascinating seen through the eyes of an elderly man who has served Maedhros for his adult life. Even a three-day Midwinter feast holiday highlights tensions between the brothers. Lovely worldbuilding and atmosphere.