If their skill were great enough by Lyra

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Fanwork Notes

Posted as part of the Silmarillion40 event.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

The Dwarves decide how to go about setting a Silmaril in the Nauglamír. (Ficlet)

Major Characters: Dwarves

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre:

Challenges:

Rating: General

Warnings:

This fanwork belongs to the series

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 490
Posted on 14 September 2017 Updated on 14 September 2017

This fanwork is complete.

Chapter 1

Read Chapter 1

At that very time great craftsmen of Nogrod were lately come into Doriath; and the King therefore summoning them declared his desire, that if their skill were great enough they should remake the Nauglamír, and in it set the Silmaril.
~ The Silmarillion, “Of the Ruin of Doriath”

“A prong setting,” Barzi said, “obviously.”

“Obviously not,” Zigil retorted. “The bezel technique is much better suited to the purpose. The gem will be better protected – the wearer will be better protected, for that matter! And it will be less easily lost.” She could not help but smirk, pearly teeth glinting between the neat black braids of her beard. “If the Dark Lord had used a proper bezel setting in his crown, even one of Telkhar's* knives would have been hard put to cut the gem from it. Prongs split much too easily.”

“Besides, the old masters used bezel settings for the other gems,” Tharka spoke up. “We should maintain the same style.”

Barzi waved that argument away with a leather-gloved hand. “This is an exceptional gem, and will be the centrepiece, so there is nothing wrong in using a different setting. Zigil, you should know that prongs are the perfect choice for diamonds; that way, they can sparkle much brighter!”

Zigil raised a bushy eyebrow. “You forget that we are not speaking of an ordinary diamond. Yes, a diamond needs to catch the light from all around in order to shine bright. This one, though? It shines with its own light.” With a dramatic flourish, she yanked the protective velvet covering from the Silmaril, which duly filled the deep cave with light. The perfect white remained untouched by the flickering yellows of the torches, the red gleam of the embers in the furnace.

Barzi was still not satisfied. “Well, surely we want to maximise that light,” he said, stroking his beard, “so we should still use as little metal as possible.”

“On the contrary,” Zigil protested again. “Since the light comes from the gem itself, the metal behind it will in fact act as a mirror. So once more, a bezel setting would be the perfect choice.”

The forge-master mulled this over, lifting up the Silmaril, holding it this way and that before he unwrapped the Nauglamír. Laying the exceptional gem very carefully in the middle, he grudgingly said, “I suppose you are right. Really, it is a sad waste, though. Two such marvellous pieces could make two priceless treasures. Instead, our forefathers' work must henceforth be outshone by that Elvish jewel, which would be just as precious on its own.”

“It is a shame,” Zigil agreed readily, mollified by Barzi's concession. “Should we refuse, then?”

“And leave this work to some second-rate jeweller?” Tharka's eyes flashed at them like the lesser gems in the Nauglamír. “No; if this work is to be done, it is better done by us. And since it is our task, let us set to it.”


Chapter End Notes

I have taken the liberty of assuming that “Telchar” is simply a Sindarinized form of the master smith of Nogrod's Khuzdûl name. It is not Sindarin, but it does not conform to the linguistic conventions of Khuzdûl, either. Since no meaning for the name is offered (and the Khuzdûl corpus is tiny anyway), there seems no sense in attempting a translation, so I've just adapted it.


Comments

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You get right to what tears me up about this part of the story of the Nauglamir: the idea of the craftspeople, the ones who had been coming to Menegroth for generations, and who had names and hands and skills.

And just get obliterated in the mess of politics, doom, vengeance and cultural appropriation that is the first sack of Doriath!

A sad lens on creation indeed.

It's such a stupid mess indeed, and the Dwarves get blamed way too much (by an Elven chronicler, so I suppose it makes sense, but it's still unfair) for some rather understandable reservations. I'm glad that you enjoyed (albeit in a sad way?) my attempt at depicting the Dwarven craftspeople who got involved in the Nauglamír project, and thus, the whole political and intercultural desaster. Thank you!

I enjoyed the bezel discussion. They're so very engaged with their task, real professionals despite their reservations.

And then, after that, it all goes very horribly pear-shaped.

(I suppose the project was Thingol's way of trying to salvage something from the Turin disaster, but it's always seemed to be such an obviously bad idea!)

Glad that impression got across! :) Yes, my heart hurts a bit about what's going to happen afterwards, which is one reason why I stopped where I stopped.

To be fair, Thingol's got a track record of obviously bad ideas! I don't want to blame him for the Ruin of Doriath... but in all honesty, I don't see how he isn't to blame.