Celebrimbor: 30-Day Character Study by cloudyhymns

Day 6: Artistic Licenses

Notes and discussion on Celebrimbor in fanart versus how I imagine him.

Content Warning: mentions of past injuries and scars

I'm taking a peek at fanart of Celebrimbor on Twitter/X and Tumblr at the moment. The most common depiction of him is as I expected--long-haired, pointed ears, and usually wearing some sort of circlet plus robes. Aprons seems to be rarer outfits for his fanart, and there's a surprising lack of leather. Most fanart with him wearing aprons and/or other PPE is for RoP.

His hair color is the most variable feature. Black is the most common choice by far, making up roughly 80% of the fanart I looked at, followed by silver, white, and varying shades of light blonde.

I am definitely in the minority over here with how I imagine my Celebrimbor, but that's fine with me! I purposefully do my best to write him As Vaguely As Possible so readers can fill in their own image of him.

Well, that said, how do I imagine him?

As is discussed in both fanon and The Silmarillion, not all Fëanorians are redheads. In our world, the most common way to have red hair is to get one copy of a mutated MC1R gene from each parent (see, for example, the National Library of Medicine's writeup on the MC1R gene). Therefore, using Maedhros as an example, Fëanor AND Nerdanel would have been carriers. If Curufin inherited a copy of MC1R from either parent, and his wife was also a carrier, Celebrimbor could have had red hair. Is this likely? I'm not sure, particularly given Samuel Cook's previous consideration of Teleri hair color in "A Question of Colour: Elven Hair Colourations." But I'd like to think it is so, at least with Celebrimbor.

But why am I a fan of redhead Celebrimbor? I'll start by saying I don't think of him as a blazing ginger or copper, more of an.... apricot? Cinnamon? I think it's cute, it reminds me of more of his family members than any other hair color, and I think it reflects his heritage by being a visual mix of browns, reds, and whites. I'm partial to cinnamon because, to me, that includes a mix of other highlights and lowlights, but maybe that's because I typically see cinnamon paired with other colors in a baked good. So it's that slightly dusted, warm red over light browns look you get when you are looking right at the edges of the cinnamon layers in a cinnamon roll.

In that vein, I would race my elders in a shopping cart race and take out some kneecaps or shins for Celebrimbor with freckles after sun exposure. As my generation says, is that why he doesn't go touch grass?

One aspect of fanon Celebrimbor that I do overlap with is him having grey eyes. That's non-negotiable to me, even if I can't explain precisely why.

When it comes to his history, I will always argue that Celebrimbor needs more scars. Not from battle--he's no fighter--but from learning how to do things the right way by first doing them the, er, harmful way. Like the "Oh, maybe the blasting powder needs to be kept in an underground, locked room so visitors don't catch it on fire by smoking" kind of way. These scars wouldn't always have to be where you'd expect, like on his hands or arms--for example, perhaps he has a few dots here and there on his neck or face from splashes, or a longer burn scar along his leg where something fell before he learned that Yes, When His Father and Grandfather Told Him to Use a Leather Apron, They Actually Meant That! Of course, his hands are still important (look at his name), so they wouldn't be exempt. I like to consider him more prone to knocks and notches in them due to Eregion's cold, dry air (lee side of the mountains); one thing he doesn't skimp on is lotion for them. Not because he particularly cares about the pain of cracked and injured hands, but because he's tired of bleeding on his things and getting chemicals in the cracks! He's smeared too many blueprints with his blood to let it continue on, and it DOES sting when substances get in there!

When it comes to styling and attire: PPE. You cannot tell me Celebrimbor did not use, if not invent, multiple types of PPE. Aspects that come to mind for his work include:

• Keeping his hair short (see my following discussion)
• Wearing primarily wool (don't burn easily and can smother), or silks if he's dressing up (also difficult to burn and somewhat self-extinguishing)
• Wearing leather outer layers (gloves, smithing aprons)
• Wearing reinforced leather boots* with strong soles
• Avoiding loose-fitting pieces
• Avoiding metal accessories, zippers, or jewelry that fall directly against his skin
• Avoiding jewelry that dangles or goes on his hands (while working, at least)
• Avoiding laces for fast removal (Annatar approved. For safety, of course.)
• Using zippers layered over undivided, easy-to-remove clothing layers for a solution to "avoiding laces." He could always invent them, if need be.

I also don't think he'd have huge differentiation between his everyday outfits and his work outfits, but he would certainly have more formal outfits for when those were required.

* I'm of the opinion that most Elves with access to horses would wear heeled boots on most days, or have ready access to them. I don't see Celebrimbor changing often during the day, so he'd probably just wear heeled boots. Of course, he could always safely ride in flats if he rode bareback, but I feel like he'd just make it a general rule to wear heeled boots out and about.

Other items I would consider staples in his wardrobe include:

• Long robes designed for layering (wool or silk)
• Riding leathers and riding gloves
• A circlet for diplomatic or other formal excursions
• Breeches (various)

With regards to the length of his hair, I personally can't see Celebrimbor keeping it long. Maintaining an updo that will actually *hold* in a hot environment for long hours is difficult, and maintaining braids very time-consuming. I don't think Celebrimbor would like putting so much of his time to "waste" when he can just lop it off and call it a day. That would also allow him to wash his hair more frequently, which.... I mean, I don't think Annatar would particularly mind if he smelled like ashes and iron and burnt black powder, but uh, everybody else might. And he is a leader and diplomat in addition to a craftsman, so cleaning up with regularity would definitely be necessary, even though he's an Elf.

TL;DR: Cinnamon roll Celebrimbor who will not be caught without his hand lotion or his leathers. Yes.

"A Question of Colour: Elven Hair Colourations" - Samuel Cook (Anor 53)