Friendship and Stern Demand by polutropos

Chapter 1

Names that do not appear in the The Silmarillion are footnoted at the end of the chapter.

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"Now when first the tidings came to Maedhros that Elwing yet lived, and dwelt in possession of the Silmaril by the mouths of Sirion, he repenting of the deeds in Doriath withheld his hand. But in time the knowledge of their oath unfulfilled returned to torment him and his brothers, and gathering from their wandering hunting-paths they sent messages to the Havens of friendship and yet of stern demand. Then Elwing and the people of Sirion would not yield the jewel which Beren had won and Lúthien had worn, and for which Dior the fair was slain; and least of all while Eärendil their lord was on the sea, for it seemed to them that in the Silmaril lay the healing and the blessing that had come upon their houses and their ships."

- The Silmarillion, ‘Of Eärendil and the War of Wrath’

To the people of Sirion with especial greetings to the Lady Elwing Dioriel and the Lord Gaerdil¹, Turgon’s heir, from Maedhros Faenorion² and his brothers.

It is with sincere gladness that the House of Faenor has received tidings that the noble Houses of the Eledhrim³ and Edain have united and thrive at the mouths of Sirion.

I must express my regret at making no attempt to reach you until now. In truth, we were for a time a divided and leaderless people. Under my leadership, we have lately retaken our fortress on Amon Ereb. We fortify its defences even as we arm ourselves for war. It is with renewed determination that we prepare to make a stand against Morgoth, who remains our greatest Enemy. So, too, are we determined to restore old bonds of kinship and to build new bonds of friendship.

To Lord Gaerdil, our kinsman, we extend (though late) our shared grief over the loss of King Turgon and the terrible fall of so great a city. That a scion of Fingolfin’s valiant line yet lives fills me with relief and hope.

To Lady Elwing – There is no adequate manner by which I might express my and my followers’ remorse over the loss of your home and kin. Know that I am resolved that no such conflict should come ever again between the kindreds of the Elves. It has ever been my hope to unite the peoples of Beleriand against our common Enemy, whom my father named the Black Foe. By our actions in Doriath, we failed that hope. Please receive the gifts we have sent, meagre as they are, as a token of our repentance.

Victory against Morgoth is, it seems, beyond reach. But I cannot believe that the Powers of the West will abandon Ennor⁴ entirely to his dominion. Help will come. Until it does, let us join together to preserve what remains. If you accept the friendship of the House of Faenor, we will faithfully serve the heirs of Fingolfin Finwion and Elu Thingol.

Upon confirmation of your willingness to receive us, I will lead a delegation to Sirion to discuss terms of an alliance.

Let us chart a course towards reconciliation.

* * *

To Maedhros Faenorion and his brothers, from Elwing, Lady of the Havens, of the line of Lúthien and of Melian the Maia, greetings on behalf of the people of Sirion.

I have discussed your recent missive with the council of the Havens. We are in agreement about the importance of unity and acknowledge your words of repentance; however, we have returned the offered gifts. This is done out of compassion for the refugees of my father’s Kingdom in particular, for whom these gifts serve only as reminders of past hurts – which, I am sure you will agree, is counter to your intent in offering them. Though we hold out some hope of cooperative relations with the remaining sons of Faenor, the memory of the fall of Menegroth and of the deeds of Celegorm the Cruel is yet a fresh wound in the hearts of many. We are a strong and resilient people but we are not impervious to pain.

For the same reason, we are, at present, unwilling to receive any delegation of the Faenorians, whatsoever the matter may be. As for an alliance, we will make no such decisions without taking counsel with Ereinion Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor in Ennor, and Círdan, Lord of the Falathrim. Should we hear from the High King regarding your House’s offer, which I encourage you to convey to him directly if you have not already done so, we will revisit the matter.

Know that your efforts at reconciliation have been noted and given due consideration. I trust you will understand our people’s need for patience.

May time, reason, and earnest goodwill heal the rift between us.

* * *

To the Lady Elwing of Sirion from Maedhros Faenorion and his brothers Maglor, Amrod, and Amras, our gratitude and regards.

We thank you for your reply to our missive. We appreciate that the matter of an alliance with our House is a delicate one. Thank you for your forthrightness in this regard. I, too, hope that reason and goodwill will heal our relationships.

As for time, I fear we have little of it remaining. Beleriand has all but fallen to the Enemy. Here, even the seven tributaries of Gelion that flow through Ossiriand are slowly consumed with poison. We cannot rely on our supplies of food and resources. The black tide of foes closes in on Amon Ereb. Soon, our two settlements may be cut off entirely, with no hope of unification.

Lady of the Havens, I will be plain with you. We, the last of the free peoples of Ennor, cannot stem this tide in isolation. You say your people are brave, and I believe this – but the forces that spill forth unceasingly from Angband are formidable and tireless. We are a House of warriors. Though diminished from our former glory, we have rebuilt some strength of arms and cavalry, which we would offer for your protection.

There is but one thing that weakens the strength we might provide you. Our unfulfilled oath torments us. If you would but return the Silmaril in your keeping, I believe that its grip on our hearts would abate. Together, we would might hold off the utter conquest of Beleriand for many years yet. Nor would this constitute a sacrifice by your people, for we would not withhold from you the power and beauty of the Silmaril. We would ask only that the jewel itself be given into our keeping – as is our right by birth, even had we sworn no oath to regain it.

I say again that I do not believe that the West will allow all Ennor to fall to Morgoth's rule. The Belain⁵ will not abandon you and your people, who are under no Doom. But until that time, we can offer you protection. Only yield up the jewel of our father's and your people will have the full strength of the House of Faenor behind them.

You have said that you would confer with the Lord Gil-galad Orodrethion and the Lord Círdan regarding an alliance. Should you see fit to do so, please grant the messengers bearing this letter passage to Balar to speak with them. But, since our offer depends upon the return of the Silmaril that you now hold, I leave the decision as to how best to settle this affair in your hands. I trust you will consider carefully.

* * *

To Maedhros Faenorion, his three brothers, and their followers, from Lady Elwing and the people of Sirion.

I have taken counsel again with our people regarding your demand for the Silmaril. For howsoever you craft your words, it is a demand – is it not?

In brief, we can find no reason to agree to your terms. That which you would profess to offer, we already have. Our homes and our ships prosper. Our foes do not come near our haven. Even now, my husband, the Lord Eärendil, whose father has the favour of Ulmo, seeks aid from the West. The Havens are blessed by the power of the jewel that is my inheritance. The jewel that Beren Erchamion, guided by the hand of fate, cut from Morgoth’s crown. The jewel with which Lúthien the beloved, wearing it upon her breast, made of Tol Galen a vision of the Blessed Realm. Now I, wearing that same jewel, provide this refuge at the mouths of Sirion with the protection that you presume to offer us. The people ask me – What need have we of the aid of kinslayers?

I am myself too young to recall, but it is said that when your messenger came to Menegroth to demand the Silmaril of my father, he sent him away, daring you to seek the two jewels that burn yet in the Iron Crown. He spoke fairly – but proudly. I am not my father. And you, Maedhros Faenorion, though firm of will and a skilled wielder of words, have shown yourself thus far to be less monstrous and more careful than the tales tell of you. Perhaps you, also, are not your father.

I will not dare you to brave the pits of Angband alone. You are not Lúthien. Your doom is not Beren’s. I bid you instead take thought of the doom that is yours, the Doom that lies over your people. I urge you to reflect upon your deeds. You claim to believe that the Belain will send aid. Let them decide if the jewels that Elbereth hallowed ought to be returned to you.

As for the Silmaril that now guards the Havens, it is the birthright of the House of Lúthien, of which I am the only heir remaining, and my House does not recognise your claim to it.

* * *

To the Lady Elwing of Sirion, from Maedhros Faenorion and his House.

You have spoken truly. In temperament, I am not my father, nor are my remaining brothers. But we swore the same oath as he. We are compelled by the same imperative that drove him and our other brothers to their deaths. Given no other choice, we will follow it to ours.

You have made it plain that you have no intention of willingly returning the Silmaril to its rightful inheritors. Let that be so.

Our oath, however, has power greater than the bonds of kinship. Our oath will not let us rest. It is our oath, and not ourselves, that will at the last pursue any who hinders its fulfilment. Whatever power is in the Silmaril that protects your people, the oath we swore to reclaim it is greater still.

You bid us take thought of our Doom. I urge you, Lady Elwing, to do the same. For as long as you wear that jewel around your neck you are bound up in that very same Doom. It will pursue us until the End. It need not pursue you and your people. Take thought of your choices.

"And so there came to pass the last and cruellest of the slayings of Elf by Elf; and that was the third of the great wrongs achieved by the accursed oath.”

- The Silmarillion, ‘Of Eärendil and the War of Wrath’

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Chapter End Notes

¹Gaerdil is a Sindarin cognate of Eärendil.
²Faenor is the "genuine Sindarin form". The form Fëanor "probably arose from scribal confusion" ('Shibboleth of Fëanor' in Peoples of Middle-earth).
³Eledhrim is the Sindarin equivalent of Eldar (class plural; singular Edhil, plural Edhel).
⁴Ennor is Sindarin for Endor, Middle-earth.
⁵Belain is Sindarin for Valar.

* * *

I tried to ‘work backwards’ from canon in terms of the content of these letters – the tone, the motives given, etc. I wanted to create letters that might have been used by Pengolodh as a primary source for the eventual Quenta Silmarillion text. This is particularly true of the letters from Maedhros, since those would have ended up in Sirion. The ones Maedhros received from Elwing were very unlikely to have been preserved, and I find it also unlikely that Pengolodh would have seen copies of them. I think he was more likely to have obtained information about the Sirion side of things verbally, from Elwing herself or her council.

You may have noticed there is one point of canon that I did not keep - namely, that one of the reasons for the people of Sirion’s refusal was that “Eärendil their lord was on the sea.” Basically, my desire for Elwing to have autonomy overrode my desire to adhere to canon. She isn’t giving the Silmaril back to the kinslayers, and she knows Eärendil would support her on that. (Even if she did think this, or if she or one of her council said it, I don’t think she’d put it in a letter to Maedhros.)

Perhaps needless to say, much of what’s in these letters may or may not reflect how the characters actually felt, what their motives were, and so on. For example, I’m not convinced that Maedhros actually believed the Valar would come to save Beleriand. I’m not at all convinced that Maedhros wrote all of these letters himself, either. I’m not convinced that the oath actually ‘tormented’ the sons of Fëanor in the way Maedhros describes it (and the way it reads in the Silmarillion) – but I can certainly believe that he said it did.

The letters end where they do because either Elwing did not reply or there was no record of her reply.

Some further musings:

Timing - By combining texts C and D as given in the ‘Tale of Years’ in War of the Jewels, we can extrapolate the following relevant dates (though they shouldn't be treated as strict canon, especially since the earlier dates come from a later manuscript): FA 512, the sons of Fëanor learn that Elwing has the Silmaril at the Havens and "Maidros forswears his oath" (D); 527, the oath began to torment the sons of Fëanor (D); 532 the births of Elrond and Elros (C); 534, Eärendil begins his search for Valinor (C); 538, the Third Kinslaying (C). If these are roughly accurate, I imagine these letters being exchanged between about 533 and 537.

Idril and Tuor - According to text D of the 'Tale of Years', they left in 525 - but Maedhros wouldn't know this. I think all he knows is that Eärendil and Elwing rule the Havens, so he probably assumes Idril and Tuor died. But, since he isn’t certain, he doesn’t mention them. And honestly, he probably does not consider Idril to be of much consequence.

Elrond and Elros – I think Elwing would have kept their existence unknown to the Fëanorian messengers.

Gil-galad and Who’s In Charge – As you saw, I’ve made Gil-galad Orodreth’s son. And no, Maedhros does not acknowledge his claim to the High Kingship (it’s his opinion that if anyone has this claim, it’s Eärendil – or himself). And, while Elwing calls him High King and respects him, she is not 'answerable’ to him. Balar and Sirion are effectively autonomous city states that work closely together. I think Gil-galad inhabited a more official High King role after the end of the First Age.

Anyway, that’s enough for now but I’m happy to share more headcanons and thoughts behind this in the comments!