Noldolantë – Maglor’s Lament by oshun

Chapter 1

In her summary introduction to the first story on the list below, Dawn Felagund writes: “The Noldolantë seems to be one of those Must-Write Silmarillion Stories.” Here is my quick and dirty effort to collect a random selection of fanfiction featuring the Noldolantë.  The Noldolantë is, of course, Maglor’s famous epic work of the Fall of the Noldor, beginning with the first Kinslaying at Alqualondë. One usually presumes it continues through the building of the kingdoms of the great Noldorin princes in Middle-earth and their heroic feats against Morgoth in the North, their tragic defeats, and perhaps unconscionable missteps on the part of the Fëanorians in their attempts win back the Noldor’s greatest artifact the Silmarilli, created by Fëanor and stolen by Morgoth.

There is no reason to presume, however, that the tale could not have started much earlier, even in the Golden years of Valinor with the seeds of that tale, or that the story we know lacks certain key aspects that call into question our most common assumptions about that history.

A Tale Written from Strength Rather Than Weakness?

"Real strength never impairs beauty or harmony,
but it often bestows it; and in everything imposingly beautiful,
strength has much to do with the magic." ~Herman Melville, Moby Dick

Tolkien names it a lament. A lament can be a song or poem of grief, anguish, anger, or pain. It does not necessarily mean an acknowledgement of wrongdoing and expression of guilt. It might be a railing against the gods in outrage at being falsely accused. You decide. A lament might be sung more in anger than in sorrow.

Maglor is the guy who sought out on the field of battle and personally killed Uldor, the one who had betrayed them at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. These characters are complex. One ought not assume too quickly that Maglor is the sweet, gentle Fëanorian. Most importantly, Tolkien wrote the story of the Noldor at length in The Silmarillion but from other points of view. Yet, he gave us not a line, not a word of the Noldolantë, despite the fact that it was composed by the greatest singer of the Noldor and the one loremaster in a position to have had the most intimate familiarity with the facts of their history.

We know there is another perspective on this history. History is usually written by the victors and yet the Noldolantë tantalizingly enough contains the version of that grand history as experienced by the vanquished, through the words of its greatest bard. It is the ultimate challenge for a Tolkien fanfiction writer to take a stab at writing any small part of this chronicle.

A few stories concerning the Noldolantë (The Fall of the Noldor).

Noldolantë by Dawn Felagund–For Oshun, how Maglor devised the Noldolantë. (2008)
Noldolantë by Nelyafinwe Feanorian–In poetic form. (2004)
Noldolantë by Epilachna–From a longer story, this chapter recounts a performance in Valinor by Maglor of the Noldolantë. (2008)
The Artistic Temperament by tehta–They don’t all have to be somber; the Noldolantë with humor. (2013)
The End of All Things by Marta–They don’t all have to accept the  Silmarillion view, but this one more or less does, with a special twist. (2013)
Faraway Voices by ncfan–Nerdanel becomes aware of the Noldolantë. (2013)
The Tale Of The Telerin Flute Player by Himring–Maglor’s wife becomes aware of the Noldolantë. (2012)
Bard Rising by Rhapsody–Maglor picks up the Noldolantë and decides to write a more personal prequel. (2007) Unfinished but reads well as is.

How do you imagine the Noldolantë? What are some of your favorite fan fic versions of this epic? Do you intend to write a Noldolantë story? I suppose I do. Actually, I imagine that is more or less what the body of my Silm fic is as a whole (with a few exceptions)—the story told from the perspective of the Noldor. Aside from that, I mention it from time to time in the context of my other stories. In my ongoing interpretation, Maglor’s brothers and cousins have been hearing bits of it from him since his adolescence.