Motley Crew by Himring

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Fanwork Notes

Double drabble written for the Jubilee Challenge during the Insta-drabbling session for the following three prompts:

  • By The Sea: In the southern hemisphere, it’s summer - the perfect time for a seaside holiday or a BBQ on the beach! Create a fanwork featuring the sea. (Holiday Party challenge)
  • Image prompt showing delightedly smiling old woman against railing under autumn leaves. 
  • Song prompt: Frank Sinatra, That's Life.

 

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Maglor survives the tsunami that hit the coast of Middle-earth during the Fall of Numenor, in the company of a somewhat unexpected group of fellow survivors.

Major Characters: Original Character(s), Maglor

Major Relationships:

Genre: Fixed-Length Ficlet

Challenges: Block Party, Holiday Party, Jubilee

Rating: General

Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings

This fanwork belongs to the series

Instadrabbling
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 305
Posted on 8 January 2023 Updated on 8 January 2023

This fanwork is complete.

Motley Crew

Warning for reference to the eating of animals; the effects of the tsunami itself and Maglor's darker past are only hinted at.

Read Motley Crew

Although Maglor now spent his life by the sea, he stayed away from all ships. But after the Fall of Numenor, great tidal waves fell on the shore and, unexpectedly, Maglor found himself again in a boat that did not belong to him, rowing for his life. He wondered whether Osse was after him to punish him for his crimes. Then he had to rescue three hens from a floating henhouse and was distracted. When Maglor’s boat reached safety, it also contained a young Avar, an old woman and a fox.

He did not mind boats so much after that.

Himling Isle

 

‘We are not barbecuing our fellow passengers’, said Maglor firmly, ‘or eating them raw either!’ he added with a glare at the fox, who sat back on his haunches and pretended he had never even thought of hens being edible.

‘All right, Master Elf,’ sighed the old Atani. ‘But I’m afraid I cannot go without food as long as you. Are you prepared to carry me from this place?’

‘I will go find food,’ said the Avar and was the first to clamber out of the boat into the muddy mess that the slowly receding flood waters had left behind.

 

They took the old woman back to her cottage. They left the hens with her. Their owner could not be found; it would make up for her losses. Her smile as she said farewell was astonishingly sweet and joyful.

The Avar looked at Maglor.

‘Who are you?’

‘I was many things,’ answered Maglor. A poet, a prince, a puppet. ‘Now I’m just a wanderer.’

‘The Wanderer by the Seashore?’ The Avar seemed less disturbed than expected. ‘I return to my kin, but I will not forget.’

Maglor turned. ‘Still there?’

The fox looked past him, pretending it was a coincidence.

 

Chapter End Notes

The italicized first drabble was originally called posted under the separate title "Back in a boat" to tolkien_weekly on LiveJournal and forms the first section of my earlier story Himling Isle.

The following double drabble is a kind of sequel to this, written for the current challenge (and unrelated to the rest of Himling Isle), respectively a closer look at the end of this little episode in Maglor's life.

I am thinking that Maglor might be going to have the company of that fox for quite a little while, but I am not planning any further stories about that, right now, so I have marked this piece complete.

Atani is technically plural (meaning "Men"). I suppose it should be Adaneth or maybe Firya.

The line "A poet, a prince, a puppet" is adapted from the lyrics of the Sinatra song.

Leave a Comment

Thank you!

Yes, there is a riddle that goes like that, isn't there? I'm pretty sure I had it at the back of my mind, when I populated that boat, originally. (There are several different versions of that riddle, I think.)

A poet, a prince, a puppet.

I didn't spell the implications of that out too much, so I'm glad you clearly got it anyway!

 

Oh I remember this from the instadrabbling! Nice to revisit it all together. And Maglor's self assessment as to who he is. (Also noted that he answers what he was, rather than who.)

Thank you! 

The interaction with the Avar partly relates to the suggestion elsewhere that the Avari knew quite well where Maglor was, after the end of the First Age, but treated him as taboo. Here he discovers that this particular Avar does not seem to be as upset about having been so close to him, as he expected, and also that they have given him a name of their own, in the meantime.

Lovely! I also totally believed the fox never thought the hens were food. 

Maglor and boats... Not a love story here uh? 

I wish him luck for the future, if possible without further troubles of the sea sort.