The Death of Finwë by oshun

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Fanwork Notes

Behind the Scenes – November 2017 SWG Challenge
The Silmarillion is full of pivotal moments, of events where the characters we love and loathe literally and figuratively shaped the world of Arda. This month's challenge asks you to ... take one of those moments, one of those big events or turning points in the story, to think about where and what happened ... and then create a fanwork about what was happening at that moment in time, anywhere but at the site of the action.

Dedicated to Ignoble Bard, who has helped me with so many stories, for his 2017 birthday.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Fëanor, summoned out of banishment by the Valar, arrives at the home of Eärwen and Finarfin the day before Manwë’s long to be remembered high feast on Taniquetil. No one knows what to expect from the Valar, but they certainly least of all expected the darkening of Valinor and the death of Finwë. (Written from Eärwen’s point of view.)

Major Characters: Eärwen, Fëanor, Finarfin

Major Relationships:

Genre: Drama, General

Challenges: Behind the Scenes

Rating: General

Warnings:

This fanwork belongs to the series

Maitimo and Findekáno
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 3, 597
Posted on 12 November 2017 Updated on 12 November 2017

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Comments

The Silmarillion Writers' Guild is more than just an archive--we are a community! If you enjoy a fanwork or enjoy a creator's work, please consider letting them know in a comment.

I'd been waiting to see your story since you first mentioned it, and when it got down to the deadline for the challenge I started to fret that maybe you hadn't finished in time or given it up - glad to see I was just being too impatient.

The dynamics of your Finwions are interesting, both Fëanor's relationship with Eärwen and his brothers as well as him admitting his faults/weaknesses. (You also see Fëanor being on much better terms with his brothers at this late date than I do!)

Oh, thanks for commenting! I made it by a couple of hours last night and just a couple of minutes ago corrected a handful of typos and other mistakes! (No time for a Beta!).

I suppose coming from a large contentious family myself, I am well aware that family conflicts often do not mean a lack of affection. Anyway, so I suppose it is true that we all write what we know in fanfic and/or what feels right to us. So I write them as still caring about one another and the fact that 90% of the Noldor followed Feanor into rebellion means the family and the people pretty much stuck together. Finarfin very belatedly turned back, despite initial disagreement about the entire idea of leaving.

Anyway, thanks for reading. It was going to be much longer, but I was determined to turn it in within the deadline. I am NOT going to create new WIPs until I clean up my enormous backlog of stories which I am very committed to finishing.

Oh, I loved the tension (and I'm figuratively chewing my fingernails thinking about what's ahead of them ;_;) and the humour. I must admit that I tend to envision Finarfin as rather stuffy and uptight, but I may be tempted to adopt your cheerful version! I guess you need a good sense of humour when you're the youngest son in that family. As you can imagine, I liked their observations about the Valar a lot! And I liked this last slice of normality before the shit hits the fan... now I wish I could stop time for them!

Thank you so much for reading this and commenting on it. I like to think that the "official" histories write all of them much stuffier than they actually might have been--that's my excuse anyway for writing them as relaxed and easy with one another as I do. I know with my family and my in-laws and those of my kids, we may have a whole lot of issues with one another. But generally when we are all together in one place, we put most of those aside. Doesn't mean the differences disappear but that weight of shared families, childhoods, and years of affectionate interaction kicks in. Especially, in this case, where Feanor is bound to be worried and no one feels like the Valar have dealt fairly with their people--a violation of sovereignty occurred according to the way I view it. I think the affront to Finwe must have been hard to swallow for all of the Noldor even those who might otherwise thought Feanor was a bit of a jerk.

"And I liked this last slice of normality before the shit hits the fan... now I wish I could stop time for them!"

I felt this very strongly myself. I am glad I reached you with it. Thanks again for the lovely remarks.

Oh I love this. Wonderful family dynamics that really shows their shared history yet do not negate the disagreements. I love how Fëanor can be honest, to a point, with them - and I really love Earwen's less than charitable thoughts about the Valar and their lack of comprehension. (also laughed at the image of the talking squirrel!)

A nice moment that we know with terrible foreknowledge to be on the edge of a precipice...

Thanks! I am really glad you found it readable and entertaining. I really do like to do couple and/or family relationships. It's very addictive for me really. So much literature is written for people of a certain age who have not the perspective of looking back on life experiences--which often are just as compelling but perhaps not as handwriningly intense as fiction writers would like recount them. I had fun imaging my version of the inner working of the Finwean family drama. Probably most of them time the interactions were closer to holidays with my family than huge operatic scenes where Feanor pulls a sword on his brother. That probably only lasted three minutes out of a lifetime of ridiculous arguments and lesser explosions.

I enjoyed writing it, although it had several more scenes which i did not have the time or energy to finish before the deadline! But I am forcing myself to work within a framework.

Thank you so much for reading it and writing such a lovely comment!

" So arrogant yet fragile, so irritating but still so compelling—that was the elder of my brothers-in-law. He could rip one’s heart out of one’s chest in sympathy with him, while making one want pull one’s hair out in frustration."--this is such a perfect description. I have always thought of Fëanor as a study in contradictiono--arrogance and vulnerability, brilliance and terrible decisions, measured thought and research and spontaneous poorly thought out reactions. 

i loved this story but I can't tell you how very sad it made me. To read about the love between Aro and Feanaro, to see how well he and Earwen get along, to read of how he is looking forward to dinner with Anaire and Nolo--and how it gives so very very wrong in such a short period of time.

brilliant as always. I would read more of this time.

Thanks! Thank you reading this story and for the lovely comment! I do enjoy getting inside of this family and imagining all kinds of details that one would not read in a history of this period, especially one written by historians who know and sympathize much more with one with one side of the story than necessarily having access to all of the details.

I had originally wanted to carry this story all the way through the evening and the following day. Perhaps I will be able to re-visit this and finish my original concept. I simply ran out of time and energy!

Thanks again so much!

Poor, optimistic, about-to-be-squashed Arafinwe. Dramatic irony gets you every time.

I'm glad these three could have a last friendly meeting, though with some (painfully well-done) awkward moments. Really, Feanor, shut up about Indis.

I enjoyed your comments about the Valar, especially the line about Aule looking at Feanor as though he were a talking squirrel. I don't think either the Valar or the Elves fully understood each other - not out of stupidity or moral failing, but simply because they were fundamentally different creatures. (And it was worse with Valar and Men!)

I love your little character touches - Feanor's illusory humble side, Arafinwe's sense of humor, poor Fingolfin mistaking his fellow Noldor for rational beings. I liked the mention of Nerdanel, brief as it was. It makes me sad that she didn't see her children for twelve years because she was mad at (punishing?) their father. And it was the last time she could have spent with them before they left ...

A good, calm-before-the-storm story - thank you for sharing it.

Thank you so very much for reading this and leaving me such a substantial comment! I am so appreciative of you mentioning the things which caught your attention and made it more fun to read. I love to write about this people and try to crawl inside of their heads and imagine how they might have thought about these circumstances when they were happening!

Thanks again. It was my pleasure to share it!

Thanks! I am so happy you are interested infollowing these. I have not begun the next story in the series yet. I do intend to write more and will be posting it here first. I want to include Anairie and Fingolfin before they leave for the feast and then tell the story of the moment when darkness falls. That's more ambitious than it might sounds since I am not a fast writer and I have a lot of projects at the moment!

Thank you so much for reading and commenting.

 

This was both heart warming and heart wrenching, made more so by Earwen's and Arafinwe's eagerness and excitement anticipating Feanaro's visit. 

The descriptions of Feanaro throughout this chapter were just beautiful, Oshun.

I just could not get enough of this story. Wanting to immerse myself in the warmth and affection between Arafinwe, Earwen and Feanaro, before darkness descends.

I could not stop thinking of Nolofinwe either. Wondering at his feelings concerning his brother. Wanting to be a fly on the wall at the evening supper.

It would be lovely to see how it all turns out with Nolofinwe and Anaire. I hope you consider writing more.

Thank you for sharing.  

Thank you for commenting. I am super excited that you enjoyed the story and found my point of view tolerable! I would love to pick up the same narrative and continue on through the following day until the darkness falls--including that evening with Anarie and Fingolfin. We know that Manwe became aware of Finwe's death before it was generally known. When and how did Feanor and his family in Tirion find out?

I have a lot of other projects at the moment. In addition to other questions in my Silmarillion fanfic--like political and romantic stories--I love to examine family relationship which would not have survived into the histories or necesarily found interest or sympathy among the various narrators who passed the story down within Tolkien's fictional world.

My crush on Feanor is quite transparent in the story--I am happy you didn't mind me rhapsodizing about him!