Forbidden Lore

She knows that the information she seeks is secret, forbidden. Great consequences may arise from this knowledge. Yet she opens the book, turns the page, and begins to read ...

This challenge asks you to consider knowledge that is forbidden or taboo. What sorts of information might have been hidden over the course of the history of Arda? Why might a character wish to discover this knowledge? And perhaps most importantly, what are the consequences when he does? There are a multitude of possibilities, but here are just a few to get you started.

  • Knowledge about a certain craft is considered secret. Maybe it is the making of lembas by the Yavannildi or the secret behind the Silmarils or the Rings of Power. Your characters seeks, and finds, this information. What will she do with it?
  • Or maybe it is a dark secret in the histories being hidden. A Noldorin child in Middle-earth first learns of the Kinslaying ... or a Noldorin child left behind in Aman first hears about his exiled kin. A descendant of Uldor learns of his relationship to the infamous traitor. An Avarin child discovers stories about the light of Aman, forsaken by his ancestors.
  • What about culture and tradition? Essays such as "Laws and Customs among the Eldar" are fan favorites, but do they tell the whole story? What might have been hidden from the loremasters collecting this information? What are the real customs among different clans of Elves, Men, Dwarves, and Ainur? What notable exceptions to cultural mores may have been hidden throughout history to preserve the reputations of peoples and families?
  • Or keep it simple! A child is due to receive a special gift and learns where it is hidden. Does she look? What does she find? Or a young adult discovers the privileges and pursuits allowed only to adults.

What will forbidden lore teach you?

This challenge opened in .

Fanworks Tagged with Forbidden Lore

This is a Writing fanwork

Cat's Paws by pandemonium_213

Tyelperinquar/Tyelpo (Celebrimbor) and Aulendil (Annatar/Sauron) discuss brotherhood and the secret of the deep arts on an early summer evening in Ost-in-Edhil.

This fic, told from Celebrimbor's point of view, predates The Apprentice by about 240 years, give or take, but it's the same setting. Rating is Teen due to a touch of horror-lite.

MEFA 2008: Second Place, Villains, General.

Illustration by Robinka added on 14 February 2009.

 

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

It Gives A Lovely Light (Drabble/Ficlet Collection) by oshun

Latest addition: "The Boy My Daughter Married," (featuring Curufin’s mother-in-law, Curufin/OFC, and a blink-and-you-will-miss-it reference to Celebrimbor). 

Chapters are added within chronological order of the events.

A series of drabbles/ficlets: seeds of stories based upon characters and events from the Silmarillion. The title of the collection is taken from a line in a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, because it reminded me of the exiled Noldor, particularly, although not exclusively, the sons of Feanor:

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--
It gives a lovely light!

 

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents