Yahoo Forum Archive

First Age

S1-2: As Little Might Be Thought by Deborah Judge

This line is one of my Silmarillion favorites, and Deborah Judge has
done well to put flesh onto the unique relationship of Elrond, Elros,
and their foster-father, Maglor. One can only imagine how hard it must
have been for Elrond to remember his own parents and know he was being
raised by "the enemy"; it must have been hard to feel something for
Maglor, despite that knowledge. I adored the appearance of Eärendil,
and the reaction of Elros and Elrond to it, as well as Maglor and
Maedhros—heartbreaking, and yet awe-struck. You can feel the
proverbial earth shifting. Well-told!

First Age

S1-4: Dark Forge by Ithilwen

One can't blame Maeglin for breaking under torture, particularly not
when a loved one was threatened. That was never the trouble with
Maeglin, I fear. One does feel for him in this moment of treason and
surrender, though it isn't enough to excuse his later deeds.

First Age

S1-5: Driven By Fire by Starlight10

One usually doesn't think of the courage it took to turn back from the
Kin-slaying, when one had been already a rebel at heart. A well-picked
moment of introspection!

First Age

S1-6: Finrod's Oath by Jmac

Beautifully written commentary on love and regret. Beren, Finrod, and
Aegnor form the points of the constellation that sketches out the
combinations of love, commitment, and remorse: Aegnor forecloses on
love, and realizes only too late his mistake; Finrod postpones it in
favor of either another love (familial love, a love that remains, if
you will, grounded in childhood rather than an adult love that can
speak truth to family in actions); Beren alone pursues the possibility
of love to its end, yet even he knows anxiety—the grief of knowing
that his own life is too short for Luthien's; yet he is honest enough
to admit it and admit equally that he has no real choice in the
matter. Love binds if one allows it in fully. Finrod at least has a
chance to repay Beren and his father; he may also, though he doesn't
realize it in the story, have a chance to repay Amarie's faith in him,
for in sacrificing himself for Beren, he throws his lot in at last
with those who will have no more of regrets about love, but act to
further it at every opportunity, and whatever the consequences.
Wonderfully drawn, Jmac!

First Age

S1-7: Naming the Stones by Deborah Judge

This is a very powerful story, and it particularly strikes me as
appropriate, given the wretched conditions of the present time. How
does one forgive an age of betrayal and bloodshed, inhumanity and
hatefulness? How does one learn to see those who have wounded us most
deeply in a clear light, so that forgiveness can come about? These are
important questions both for fiction and for real life, and it's
wonderful to see them addressed so beautifully here. To name the
stones—to be truthful, to understand desire, and to renounce it while
forgiving all that was wrought in their names, is indeed the hardest
lesson to crack. And it can't be directly addressed or pursued,
either; it isn't something that can be directly aimed at and striven
for, especially given the lineage—a veritable genealogy—of guilt
passed down through blood and association. It takes years of allowing
oneself to come to understand oneself and others, and to learn to be
truthful in naming them and oneself. Galadriel here functions as her
own mirror, reflecting to Elrond what he is and needs to accept in
himself before he can genuinely accept the "sins" of others, including
Galadriel's. Celeborn, too, has a part to play in living forgiveness
for Elrond to see and understand. This is the Elrond of the books,
"kind as summer" and yet great—here he is at the beginning, when he
first enters into the realm of wisdom. Wonderful writing—clear,
simple, and there's a serenity or a song-like sense to it all that
fits Lothlórien perfectly, even when tension surges up in the third
chapter. Marvelous work!

First Age

S1-8: Pause by Sphinx

Interesting glimpse into Tuor's mind. I particularly enjoyed his
reflection on what the difference is between Elves and Men, that Elves
so seldom pledge themselves to a cause not their own, whereas mortals
seem to do so more often.

First Age

S1-10: Slouching Toward Gondolin by Fileg

This is a great little vignette. I adore this orc, who would give a
lesson in existential aesthetics to the Elves, if only they could
grasp it. "You are pig-iron and we are steel"—perfect inversion! The
orcs do come off rather badly in the Silmarillion, especially around
Doriath, where it seems one screaming human waving a sword can get
them to run; this orc, however, is purpose itself, and very much
grounded in his world of metal and hatred, attuned to the awful beauty
of destruction and drivenness (is that a word?). Eloquent madness from
the belly of a beast—well done!

First Age

S1-11: Steadfast by Zimraphel

Another lovely tale of forgiveness. Tuor is not one of those
characters I ever managed to fall in love with, but you might convince
me yet! The depiction of the wreck, and of Ossë's fury, was very well
done—it had a very visceral effect on me, and I found myself thinking
I could feel the water and the wind and taste the salt. But I think
what I liked best were the echoes of "Lord, I am not worthy to receive
you"—and yet, Voronwë has been chosen, just as Tuor has, and they are
given the grace to accept the call and the mission set them.

First Age

S1-12: When I Am Wise by Deborah Judge

I think this was the first story of the choice of Elros and Elrond
that I had ever read. It remains a beautiful piece of work, and in
Elrond we see the tearing pressure of conflicting desires: the desire
to be free of Arda as Men are free, and as Elros will be free, and the
desire for the wisdom to be a teacher for all those left in
Middle-earth. Good set-up, too, for the sequel, where we learn that
Elrond does indeed learn to forgive himself and others. I loved the
image of Galadriel at the end, dancing for joy, but also the fact that
it was Elros who first learned to forgive, as we see here when he
chides Elrond for thinking he might have killed Maglor.


Romance

SR1: Blood and Smoke by Dargelos

In this short fic of under 700 words, every single one of them counts.
This story stands out among the Elrond/Isildur slashes out there for
the well-handled present tense narrative that brings us close to
Elrond. You can taste the ashes to which Isildur will shortly return
when reading this story; mortality and loss are everywhere evoked.
There's a sense of rush and fear, not just of death but possibly of a
mistake, too; and coupled with it, the comfort that even a mistake can
bring when everything is reduced to the present, and to one
cataclysmic moment looming before Elrond and Isildur beyond which
there is no future but that indicated in the last line: mourning.

Romance

SR2: Fell Fire by Finch

Andreth deserves to speak her piece without the interruption of
Finrod, who earned my dislike as never before in the Athrabeth. The
bitterness is there, but so also the understanding of one who is
honest with herself, and who still loves Aegnor deeply. Lines that
made her rather pathetic in the original get a new meaning here, and I
am glad to have read it. Interesting way of putting the elvish point
of view in contrast with the mortal one, through the reflection on
what children mean to the two races. Well done!

Romance

SR6: The Unforgettable Fire by Ithilwen

"Caranthir in love" is just not a sentence that wants to be
constructed, and yet there it is. Love and politics, sexism and
racism, and the necessity of surrendering that which one loves most
dearly. Quite engrossing; never had any sort of feeling for Caranthir,
but this story can change that.

Second Age

S2-1: A Last Reckoning by Nol

You know, the more I think about this, the more I find myself wanting
to slate this in with "Iliad or the Poem of Force"—a book the author
would doubtless enjoy, given her interests, if she hasn't already.
What is it that tips the scale in an endeavor, particularly the
desperate one of war? We open "A Last Reckoning" with the telling
lines: "There were elves in his army who had seen the War of Wrath,
and still came to fight again. It was out of sheer vengeance."
Vengeance, force, violence—nobility it is not, whatever it is that
lends these elves the will to fight another year and yet that isn't
the point, as it is in so many other stories. We see in the flashbacks
to the arguments with Fingon the fundamental tenet: it is the
strongest force which wins, whether base or noble. Despair can be
strong enough to yield victory, and so may paradoxically give birth to
hope—the relationship of hope and despair is unstable, undermines
itself logically, but it is not logic that counts: the sheer, numbing,
feeling of being possessed by despair, of being dispossessed of hope
is what matters. Force is brute; it is purely quantitative here; its
quality does not matter—it's whether it is enough to effect
transformation, to give Gil-galad mastery of himself and others for
the necessary moment. Let force claim him, and then claim its due from
him, even as it did with Achilles—submit to what is strongest, and his
end may be delivered, if for a price. And as we know from
pseudo-history, and borrowing from another character who ought to
know: "[it, strength, force, despair, pick one] was enough—barely."


Second Age

S2-4: Oath Renewed by Inglor

I had never seen a story written around this particular question.
Great answer! Galadriel's line, about bestowing Narsil when it was
most needed reminded me vaguely of Gandalf's line to Thorin, that he
had chosen his own time to surrender heirlooms into the heir's
keeping. A very satisfying gap-filler.


S1: Cuivie by Zimraphel

Treebeard waking for the first time was just wonderful! I loved the
line about the many heartbeats, and the sort of sluggish, tree-ish
sense of existence evoked in this story. And what an appropriate note
to end on—literally!

S4: If Women had Ruled Middle Earth by Mouse

This is one of my favorite comic pieces. Smart, witty, and merciless.
I am particularly fond of the lines '"You don't have much to say
today, Undomiel."/ Arwen, her face serene, continued her neat,
practised little stitches in a soft black material. "Of course not,"
she said. "Aragorn is perfect." /"So is Tuor," said Idril, and the two
shared a smug, conspiratorial look of Elves who wed with Edain." It's
probably the Edain-centric fangirl in me that can't resist the jab at
the Elves, but it is just one great set of lines in a fic that should
have any reader with a modicum of humor laughing fit to choke. Ending
on Goldberry's misfortunate to put matters into perspective was
brilliant. I salute you!


S5: In the Seventh Age by Deborah Judge

A fitting end for Maglor, and not a word wasted. So much history is
evoked in so few words—you can feel the aging of the earth, and feel
jarred by railroad tracks in Doriath, in a city built over the bones
of Sirion, and the idea of the abandonment of earth by both Elves and
Men opens an incredible gap and feeling of distance. It's shocking,
almost, and then into it all comes this quiet in the person of
Galadriel. And yet after all that tremendous sense of movement, it's
the simple question—"Will you come now?"—that effects the final, most
profound movement: Maglor is moved to accept, at long last. The
opening out of the story onto the stars was a perfect ending. Well done!



AUTHORS (remember to comment on the writer as regards to the category, not
the story, here):


SA6: Deborah Judge

As Little Might Be Thought, Naming the Stones, When I Am Wise, In the
Seventh Age

Deborah Judge has captured that sense of otherworldliness that an Elf
should have, and yet also the depth of their emotions, the greatness
of their grief, and also that serenity that comes of hard-won wisdom
Ages in the making. Thematically, she holds close to the theme of
forgiveness, of coming to wisdom, which I think suits the Silmarillion
as the necessary antidote to its furies and cruelties. And she does it
all in relatively little space, which gift of brevity I envy.

SA7: Fileg

Slouching Toward Gondolin

Fileg outdoes herself in this fic—what a great way to write an orc!
And what a scathing review of the Elves, that takes their virtues and
turns them into vices, while transforming them into "pig-iron" that
precedes the perfection of orcish steel. The Silmarillion does well to
showcase the hubris of the Noldor and other elvish "mistakes", yet
fileg goes a step further and gives us an eloquent critique from the
mouth of corruption. A very fitting commentary indeed.

SA8: Finch

Fell Fire

Finch makes the most, I think, of the Athrabeth, reading it against
itself somewhat, and in doing so is able to lift Andreth right off the
page and breathe a new life into her while still commenting on the
mortal-immortal divide.

SA11: Ithilwen

Dark Forge, The Unforgettable Fire

As I've noted before, I'm not the hugest Silm fan, but Ithilwen can
make me forget that. The world of the Silmarillion is brought to life
in her stories; the politics, the prejudices, and the torment of
love—she brings them together in vivid detail and the introspective
aspects of her stories feel perfectly natural.

SA12: Jmac

Finrod's Oath

Jmac can write wonderfully about the nuances of motivation, and she
has an excellent way of drawing out the dynamic between love, hope,
and despair. As an added bonus, we have another lovely commentary on
the nature of mortal and immortal relations, whether friendly or
romantic, whether "consummated" or denied or held in abeyance. She can
take a scene in the Silmarillion which is relatively brief, actually,
though admittedly among the more moving moments of Beren's story, and
break it open for the reader, give it nuance and a desperation that it
lacked for me hitherto.

SA16: Mouse

Beneath the Light, If Women had Ruled Middle Earth

Mouse is a great humorist who has an excellent grasp on the foibles of
the men of Middle-earth, whatever the species.



SA18: Nol

A Last Reckoning, Seashell,

What can I say of Nol's writing that I have not said before? She has a
knack for highlighting just that portion of a scene that you need in
order for the story to progress, and yet doing so in such a way that
the reader never feels cheated. The Silmarillion is often a distant
text for me precisely because of its Biblical tone; this is not to say
it isn't attempting to rework some great themes, but Nol has a knack
for bringing certain elements into focus by way of commentary on those
themes, and sometimes she puts them into question. A thoughtful writer
who is not afraid to play with the text.


SA24: Zimraphel

Steadfast, Cuivie, Gold Like Tears, Not for Pride Alone, Song of the
Waters

Zimraphel has a very smooth style and a knack for getting inside of
her characters' heads. Elves feel like Elves; Ents feel like you'd
imagine a tree would feel if it could talk and think; and the Powers
That Be In Arda have that double aspect of humane inhumanity that one
would expect of an angel.