ithilienns reblogged
An Idril portrait, idk why but I always had a bit of a Barbie aesthetic in mind for her, in the way that she’s pretty in pink and also a strong capable woman ^^
ithilienns reblogged
Anonymous asked:
So Maeglin apparently was handsome af, popular, charismatic, and a close confidant of Turgon during his time in Gondolin. In fact, he was a lord and was close to Turgon's ear so he was heard more than Idril. I just wanna know why the fandom loves to portray him as this kid who was hated by everyone (he was not), whom Turgon hated (didn't Turgon love that kid so much?), and whose love for Idril was seen in a good light (when in fact, he was willing to kill earendil just to get Idril). I was honestly shocked when it was such a popular narrative that he was being abused and hated pretty much by everyone in Gondolin and he didn't mean to cause the fall of Gondolin because he was a poor mew mew when the real poor mew mew was Turgon for listening to him in the first place. Lmao I was just genuinely shocked when it was the other way around. I like his character, he's interesting and complex but it kinda takes away the complexity of his character when he is being woobify but that's just me. What do you think?
Anon, idk if you looked at my blog and could tell I would be receptive to these takes, or if you just happen to keep landing on things I agree with XD
But yeah, I have thoughts on Maeglin's reception by the fandom and it's mostly in agreement with what you said.
With Maeglin, he is sympathetic in a lot of ways, which makes you want to root for him. He did have a difficult childhood--Eol was a shithead spouse so it's not hard to imagine he was not a great father either. Maeglin grew up almost totally isolated from anyone but his mom and dad, who did not have a good relationship, thanks to his dad's abuse. When he and Aredhel make a run for it, we want them to succeed! We want good things for them (we've been rooting for Aredhel since the beginning of the chapter)! When Maeglin witnesses his father kill his mother in an effort to kill him, we want him to find peace and security in Gondolin.
The thing is--Maeglin grows well past his difficult childhood. As you noted, Maeglin does very well for himself in Gondolin. At the end of the chapter Of Maeglin, it is described how he "grew great among the Gondolindrim" and there are various indications he was generally trusted and well-liked.
"Thus all seemed well with the fortunes of Maeglin, who had risen to be mighty among the princes of the Noldor..." ("Of Maeglin," The Silmarillion)
At this point, this is we want for him! We like the idea that he's shrugged off his past, that he's doing well, and that he's not like his creepy bride-abducting father.
We don't get much in Silm about what Maeglin's relationship with Turgon is like, but I talked here about why I can't buy that Turgon neglected or abused Maeglin.
"Then the King listened with wonder to all that Aredhel had to tell; and he looked with liking upon Maeglin his sister-son, seeing in him one worthy to be accounted among the princes of the Noldor. 'I rejoice indeed that Ar-Feiniel has returned to Gondolin,' he said, 'and now more fair again shall my city seem than in the days when I deemed her lost. And Maeglin shall have the highest honor in my realm.'" ("Of Maeglin," The Silmarillion)
The only fly in that pudding is that he and Idril get off to a bad start which never improves. He's into her, she's not into him, but he can't let it go. He lets it fester and generate anger, jealousy, and hatred, and in this way, he's like so many creepy guys who can't take rejection.
"But as the years passed, still Maeglin watched Idril, and waited, and his love turned to darkness in his heart. And he sought the more to have his will in other matters, shirking no toil or burden, if he might thereby have power." ("Of Maeglin," The Silmarillion)
But even so, Maeglin is trusted by Turgon! He's on the king's council! He has his own craft and people who admire and follow his ideas! In almost every way, Maeglin should be happy. But he cannot stop obsessing over Idril, and he lets that spoil everything else that he's achieved, to the point where he's wiling to betray the entire city to possess her.
I think there's also a disconnect between those who've read The Fall of Gondolin and those who haven't, because TFOG expands on a lot of things only really hinted at in Silm proper. For instance, the attempted murder of Earendil (who, it should be noted, is seven years old during the sack of Gondolin). In Silm, we get this:
"Tuor sought to rescue Idril from the sack of the city, but Maeglin had laid hands on her, and on Earendil; and Tuor fought with Maeglin on the walls, and cast him far out..." ("Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin," The Silmarillion)
In The Fall of Gondolin, we get a much more detailed account:
"Messengers by great stealth he had dispatched to Melko[r] to set a guard about the outer issue of that Way when the assault was made; but he himself thought now to take Earendil and cast him into the fire beneath the walls, and seizing Idril he would constrain her to guide him to the secrets of the passage, that he might win out of this terror of fire and slaughter and drag her withal along with him to the lands of Melko[r]... Now then M[a]eglin had Idril by the hair and sought to drag her to the battlements out of cruelty of heart, that she might see the fall of Earendil to the flames...When M[a]eglin saw [Tuor] he would stab Earendil with a short knife he had...the mail of the small coat turned the blade aside; and thereupon Tuor was upon him and his wrath was terrible to see." ("The Original Tale," The Fall of Gondolin)
In TFOG, Maeglin's malice is even more apparent as we get a blow-by-blow account of his effort to force Idril to watch him kill her child and then drag her to Angband, but even looking exclusively at canon Silm, Maeglin clearly swings into the villain path. I don't like to criticize him too much for caving under Melkor's threats, because being threatened with torture by Melkor would be fucking terrifying and I don't think any of us can say for certain how we would respond in that kind of situation. Tolkien even tells us Maeglin wasn't a coward, but Melkor is Melkor. Not everyone can be Hurin "Noted Badass and Snarkmaster" Thalion. What I am happy to criticize him relentlessly on is that he allows Melkor's plan to move forward.
"But Morgoth sent him [Maeglin] back to Gondolin, lest any should suspect the betrayal, and so that Maeglin should aid the assault from within, when the hour came; and he abode in the halls of the King with smiling face and evil heart..." ("Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin," The Silmarillion)
He never warns the Gondolindrim of what's coming, and in fact he encourages Turgon to refuse Ulmo's advice and stay in the city (where Melkor expects them to be). In TFOG, when Melkor does invade, Maeglin and his house fight on Melkor's side.
Maeglin fucked up by selling the city out, no argument. But it's more than that--he could have tried to fix it. But he doesn't. Because? Because he doesn't want his treachery revealed, and because Melkor promised him possession of Idril if he helped.
"Great indeed was the joy of Morgoth, and to Maeglin he promised the lordship of Gondolin as his vassal, and the possession of Idril Celebrindal, when the city should be taken; and indeed desire for Idril and hatred for Tuor led Maeglin the easier to his treachery, most infamous in all the histories of the Elder Days." ( "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin," The Silmarillion)
People resist the narrative of Maeglin the villain I think because they are still in phase 1 where we want good things for Maeglin and for him to overcome his past. And he does...but then he chooses his own shitty path and throws away all the things he gained because he can't be content without everything that he wants, which includes Idril. Making all Maeglin's bad choices someone else's fault--Idril's for rejecting his advances, Aredhel or Eol for parenting him wrong, Turgon for not understanding him, Tuor for who knows--means not having to acknowledge Maeglin chose to become the person who betrayed Gondolin and tried to murder his family.
"Then the heart of Idril was turned towards [Tuor], and his to hear; and Maeglin's secret hatred grew ever greater, for he desired above all things to possess her, the only heir to the King of Gondolin." ("Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin," The Silmarillion)
Maeglin's story is a tragedy of someone consumed with their own malcontent, someone who had so much opportunity to be happy but chose to perserverate on the things he couldn't have, who became so obsessed with his own desires that he was willing to hurt everyone around him to get what he wanted. Maeglin's story is of a man who could not handle rejection by a woman he wanted, so he decided to ruin her life and kill her family. Maeglin begins the story as someone we are meant to sympathize with--but he doesn't end it that way.
ithilienns reblogged
Content Label: Mature
spinning thoughts of little celebrimbor and little idril being best friends in my head....... celebrimbor growing older and losing contact with idril so trying to recreate that friendship and kinship with finduilas in nargothrond........
@thelordofgifs EXACTLY EXACTLY EXACTLY
- curufin making a prosthetic hand for maedhros. celebrimbor, seeing that it's possible, begging his father to help him make feet for idril. turgon being apprehensive but fingon and maedhros encouraging it
- as a thank-you, idril giving celebrimbor a little green gem she brought with her from home and carried in her pocket the entire time
- celebrimbor and idril, the two littlest ones who have been taken along on two different journeys and who have both seen such awful things, sitting together at lake mithrim and learning to be friends again
- sending each other letters when they move away but all correspondence ending when idril moves to gondolin 😔
and then when celebrimbor gets to nargothrond:
- immediately takes a liking to finduilas, and remembers how much he liked finrod when he was younger
- finduilas is young, and it makes celebrimbor realise how much time has gone past – how much he has changed, and how much idril must have changed too, wherever she is
- he feels so guilty at not speaking up when finrod leaves – at abandoning finrod after all the kindness finrod showed him – so after he refuses to join his father in exile a second time, he stays in nargothrond, keeps his head down, and focuses all his energy on finduilas and little gil galad. being a good friend and a good older brother figure to them – being what finrod was to him
- he respects turin, though he is apprehensive at all the change that turin's arrival and influence spark. like gwindor, he carefully warns finduilas against him, not because of turin himself, but because he doesn't want to see her hurt
- he is visiting gil galad and cirdan (on behalf of orodreth) when nargothrond falls. he has lost his home once more, and is too far away to help. the best he can do is help the people of nargothrond who made it to the coast, and hope finduilas comes
- years pass before he learns what happened to her. he had feared the worst, but the news only brings pain. he and gil galad stand by the sea in grief, watching the dusk settle in the west
AND THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME THEY COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE REUNITED!!! THIS IS THE BEST POSSIBLE SCENARIO AND I AM GOING TO DAYDREAM ABOUT THIS ALL WEEK!!!!
- celebrimbor is already there when the refugees arrive from gondolin. he's made a bit of a name for himself, not because of his lineage, but through his skill and passion and help
- he and idril hesitate for a moment when they first see each other – so much time has passed, and has she heard about celegorm and curufin in nargothrond, and how they repaid the kindness of finrod, turgon's dearest friend? – but then celebrimbor takes out a green gem from his pocket, and idril runs to embrace him
- it isn't the same stone. celebrimbor lost it when they had to flee during the dagor bragollach, and he feels ashamed to admit this to idril – the stone she held through the ice has been lost to fire and dust. but idril knows all too well the pain of losing your home, and asks him where he found this stone, which looks so similar to the one she gave him all those years ago, but which has an enchanting, lively sort of beauty to it, like the sun shining through leaves overhead. celebrimbor ducks his head and admits he made this one in nargothrond, after finrod was dead and celegorm and curufin exiled. it was made half in memory of idril, and half in apology for finrod. a stone in his pocket to remind him of the friends he lost
- he gives it to idril. it only feels right to. he feels a curious sort of attachment to it, and pride at his work, but he remembers what happened to feanor, and to turgon, and he gives it as a gift.
- he likes tuor, even if they are nothing alike. he finds it curious that both finduilas and idril love(d) mortals. when he learns who tuor is, he tells him he knew his cousin, turin. tuor looks at him blankly.
- celebrimbor adores earendil, and makes new toys for him. earendil is irrationality scared of him at first, until he realises this is a different person, and will not try to harm him
- he knows idril wants to leave and take tuor with her, and it pains him to lose what he found so soon, but he understands. time is running out for tuor, but idril doesn't leave yet. she waits until after earendil's wedding, and after celebrimbor tells her he will be there for her son, and her daughter in law, and their future children
Content Label: Mature
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ithilienns reblogged
Idril Celebrindal`s dream: Elenwe blesses daughter (on the eve of the wedding withTuor) by moimq
【婚礼之前，ondolinde的公主在梦中见到，她逝去已久的母亲，戴着父亲放置在王座旁的后冠，容色依旧，持花前来给予她祝福】偶尔发作的叨逼叨：成年母女逻辑上没法同框？没关系，一个梦搞定天鹅只是暗示公主的夫家。至于环山城内到底能不能有天鹅？科学的说，基本不会有，但是既然是梦里，一切皆有可能。王后手里的花经历了马蹄莲、橙花、玫瑰等等【艹O三次元战线拉太长导致选择困难发作的坏处】最后还是定下百合。画完又发现微妙的应了Annuntiatio Domini。不过反正都是生救世主，没差。王座旁的空王冠？那是个梗，等下一个地狱期结束再说。
ithilienns reblogged
@finweanladiesweek day four, later generations
Idril, Celebrian & Finduilas
ithilienns reblogged
For the six characters thing I humbly request Idril (your art is the prettiest ever!)
Aww thank you dear 🥺 gave idril a go, hope you like her ❤
ithilienns reblogged
Earendil with his mother Idril and father Tuor by Navyinks. This is do sweet!
ithilienns reblogged
eärendil, on vingilótë, slays ancalagon the black, colorized
ithilienns reblogged
Some accomplished women of the house of Finwë
for @finweanladiesweek. All of these are quotes from Tolkien, quote and image sources are behind the cut.
ithilienns reblogged
Some first age Men/Elf relationships
ithilienns reblogged
Don’t,
Don’t you let it go.
Of the crossing of Helcaraxe.
ithilienns reblogged
Don’t,
Don’t you let it go.
Of the crossing of Helcaraxe.
ithilienns reblogged
On a scale from Turgon to Elrond, how well did “raising your sibling’s offspring/descendant in your hidden valley and having them fall in love with your daughter” turn out
On a scale of Thingol to Elrond, how well did “setting an incredibly difficult quest for your daughter’s mortal suitor” turn out
On a scale from Dior to Elrond (detouring briefly at Elwing and Maglor) how well did “raising twin half-elf boys” turn out
justadutchperson
On a scale from Maedhros to Elrond, how well did “gathering a group of people to go defeat the Dark Lord” turn out
Elrond is so successful in everything because he’s not King
sorcha-eilis
RIP to everyone else, but Elrond is different
actuallyfeanor
Tolkien’s universe is full of oddly specific repeating motifs and for some reason Elrond does ALL OF THEM better than his predecessors:
- On a scale from Finrod to Elrond, how well did “building a hidden stronghold by a river” turn out?
- On a scale from Fëanor to Elrond, how well did “raising twins on your own because your wife left” turn out?
- On a scale from Beleg to Elrond, how well did “hanging out with stubborn mortals who refuse to listen to your advice” turn out?
On a scale of Luthien to Elrond how well did your relationship work out?
Yeah I went there.