The Fall of Minas Tirith by Michiru

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Fanwork Notes

Morgoth learning now of the defeat of the sons of Finarfin, and the scattering of the people of Fëanor, hemmed Fingolfin in Hithlum and sent a great force to attack the westward pass into the vales of Sirion; and Sauron his lieutenant (who in Beleriand was named Gorthaur) led that assault, and his hosts broke through and besieged the fortress of Finrod, Minas Tirith upon Tol Sirion. And this they took after bitter fighting, and Orodreth the nephew of Finrod who held it was driven out. There he would have been slain, but Celegorm and Curufin came up with their riders, and such other force as they could gather, and they fought fiercely, and stemmed the tide for a while; and thus Orodreth escaped and came to Nargothrond. Thither also at last before the might of Sauron fled Celegorm and Curufin with small following; and they were harbored in Nargothrond gratefully, and the griefs that lay between the houses of Finrod and Fëanor were for that time forgotten.

                                              —Adapted* from The War of the Jewels, page 54

Fanwork Information

Summary:

In after days historians would forget much about the Dagor Bragollach, and many things were left out of the Quenta Silmarillion, written with the gift of hindsight. But the coming of Celegorm and Curufin to Nargothrond was at first held as the greatest fortune to come to the Noldor out of that battle, for by their aid alone did Orodreth survive the fall of Tol Sirion.

Major Characters: Celebrimbor, Celegorm, Curufin, Orodreth

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: Drama, General

Challenges:

Rating: Adult

Warnings: Violence (Graphic)

This fanwork belongs to the series

The Line of Kings
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 4, 853
Posted on 2 November 2014 Updated on 2 November 2014

This fanwork is a work in progress.

Table of Contents

The Eleventh Hour

Comments

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This story was fantastic!

I think you conveyed the character's feelings perfectly. You do a great job in the beginning of the story showing just how hopeless their situation is, and later on of showing how even though they've been rescued it hasn't solved all their problems. The descriptions of the aftermath of the battle were great as well. They told enough to give an impression, but left enough to the imagination to make it truly horrifying.

The interactions between Celebrimbor and Orodreth were touching, as was the final scene with Curufin and Orodreth. The scene where Celebrimbor runs out to greet his father was heart-wrenching as well. The part where Huan bounds in and starts attacking the enemy was great, too.

I liked seeing Curufin and Celegorm play the heroes, if for no other reason than it makes what happens later all the more complex and tragic.

I'm completely babbling, sorry...I just wanted to tell you that I think this story was wonderful and insightful!

Thank you so much!

I had the same thought when I first ran across that snippet in the Histories -- to think that at one point Tolkien had Celegorm and Curufin saving the day! It does just make their inevitable fall so much worse and more heartwrenching -- which is, of course, a wonderful reason to explore it and inflict it on others ]:} Much like their abandoned friendship with Angrod and Aegnor, it brings a lot to their characters that can get lost in light of their more infamous moments.

Thank you so much for your review! It really did make my day at a rather stressful irl time :)

I really like this! As Himring says, it's very intense. It gives a real sense of the emotions and costs of some of those battles that are briefly described in a few sentences.

I appreciate your competent and determined Orodreth -- fandom tends to write him as kind of wishy-washy sometimes, but he is of the House of Finwe, and I feel it strengthens the tragedy if he's not incompetent or weak but eventually just has too much piled on him. I also really like how you wrote the Fëanorians, and that's a great cameo of Huan in battle.