My Captain and My King by oshun

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Fanwork Notes

Fanwork Information

Summary:

A biased account of the leadership qualities of Maedhros written by a die-hard supporter. Some might call this piece the epitome of the literary form of the unreliable narrator. This is one follower's reflections upon Maedhros. Since The Silmarillion is filled with events in the life of Maedhros, one may draw their own conclusions, but remember that history is written by the victors.

Major Characters: Maedhros, Original Character(s)

Major Relationships:

Genre: Drama

Challenges: B2MeM 2012

Rating: General

Warnings:

This fanwork belongs to the series

Maitimo and Findekáno
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 437
Posted on 8 March 2012 Updated on 8 March 2012

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Table of Contents

Our King

Prompt B2MeM 2012: Sons of Feanor: Maedhros as a leader

A biased account of the leadership qualities of Maedhros written by a die-hard supporter. Some might call this piece the epitome of the literary form of the unreliable narrator. Perhaps it is not. This is one follower's reflections upon Maedhros, but The Silmarillion is filled with events in the life of Maedhros. One may draw their own conclusions, but one would do well to remember that history is written by the victors.

Comments on My Captain and My King

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As a die-hard supporter of Maedhros, I agree with this anonymous follower. Maedhros could not have achieved what he did if he had been the empty shell of a man after he was rescued by Fingon. He must have had a brilliant mind and be in possession of all the skills of leadership in order to negotiate the unification of the divided Noldor and to retain the respect of his followers almost until his end.

All of that you've said much better than I ever could. I'll never tire of reading your Maedhros.

 

I'll post my LJ review on here, and on the B2Me community.

 

Oh, this is wonderful. It's glorious actually.
And I do think this is a true account from one of his followers. To me this one short piece outshines all the bland and ridiculous stories of the anti-Noldor crowd. This encapsulates what Maedhros was, and what he did, brilliantly.

He was beautiful and brilliant, the most outstanding specimen of an incomparable family. After Thangorodrim, he carried an added element of enthralling darkness, the appeal of tragic heroism. He came back to us wounded, but he had survived. He returned maimed, but not damaged in the thousand subtle and nameless ways of most escaped captives that caused people to shrink back from them. Oh, he did suffer, but his suffering had tempered him. It gave him insight into the tasks to which we had pledged ourselves—to avenge our murdered king and mete out the vengeance due the black Vala from which his brethren had apparently turned away.

*Round of applause*.

Such aggrandisement, I feel, would make Maedhros uncomfortable; this of course is why he deserves it... those that seek power are the ones that should hold it least, etc.

Your commentator puts me in mind of a blindly loyal sports-team member that would follow the coach into any match, whatsoever the stakes or cost; I feel quite sure that he/she would have been present at the Sack of Menegroth.

You said that this was a biased account, and that is true, but then again it is only the greatest leaders that inspire such loyalty; especially when tempered with the knowledge of loss.

A most insightful piece, I enjoyed it.

CiH 

Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I got a kick out of writing it. Yeah, I am one of those loyalists who read everything Tolkien wrote and then a lot between the lines and come away worshiping Maedhros. I think Tolkien probably intended the reader to place Maedhros somewhere in between the adoring the view of readers like me and the standard Feanorian basher (more often than not those who focus on LotR and are not that intrigued by the Silmarillion). But I am quite sure he wanted the reader to place him on an heroic scale and feel his pain, not just to casually shrug and pronounce him, his father, or any of his brothers wicked.

Your response raised some interesting points that I had not considered before; for example, I have never heard the term 'Feanorian Bashers' or even considered why there should be.  Indeed the many accusations levelled against their 'House' could be lain at the table of Thingol who often lacked cordiality and proved greedy for wealth and objects d'art...

I have to agree with your assessment of JRRT's intentions for Maedhros, although I do not find myself so enamoured as some; but for the sake of a tenuous sporting metaphor I shall finish by saying...

Go, Team Maedhros!

Best Wishes,

CiH

Oh, I somehow missed responding to this. Think I missed a notification. I got the term 'Feanor Bashers' from Dawn Felagund who claims she wrote her epic novel Another Man's Cage as a polemic against the entire school of readers of The Silmarillion and/or Silm fanfic who do not find Feanor or his House interesting because they are just wicked. To the degree that they are wicked, it's a wickedness than Tolkien paints with a certain respect and their demise is written as part of an ongoing tragedy, not a lasting victory for the good guys intended to be uncritically applauded.

I think my attachment of Maedhros et al., is very, very personal. I feel like I have often fought has a question of principle and been considered a trouble maker or someone who wouldn't just sit down and shut up.

They are for me at least endlessly interesting to write about. Love to examine and re-examine, from my own modern perspective, these personalities who are supposed to be, in this invented world, part of our own pre-history. I love Tolkien's Elves for having impossible virtues and all of our very human flaws as well.\

Thanks again for the thoughtful comments!