The Star-kindler's Daughters
Title: The Star-kindler's Daughters
Author: Dwimordene
Characters: OC Dúnedain of the North, Halbarad, Aragorn.
Sources: LOTR, Appendices for setting; Semper Fidelis, Triage, and Violations for the back-story of Thorondis and Eledhril (modified timeline, because it just works better this way…)
Warnings: shifting metaphors, it’s a society under siege…
( Read more... )
Ahem.
Seriously though, what a lovely holiday surprise! I've actually been thinking about these folks again, recently. As always, your Angle worldbuilding is superb--and harrowing. What struck me most of all, throughout, is how the Dunedain, through their mission and their incredibly precarious position in the world, do not have the luxury of segregating the martial from the domestic. All aspects of these men's and (most notably) women's lives have been weaponized, in some cases, literally: everything from agriculture, to housework, to childbirth and childrearing: Every pail of milk, every stack of firewood, every chamberpot of night-soil - such is defiance of the Enemy, who would wipe the earth of them. And all this apart from the emotional labor and tolls of grief and infidelity, which Thorondis also turns into defiant weapons in her people's struggle against the darkness: ‘Tis hard, the work of mourning that, like alchemy, must turn lead into adamant, grief into hard purpose. In parallel with this, it's a powerful testament to the fortitude of these people--and again, particularly to Thorondis and her foremothers and sisters--that they have also managed to maintain their humanity, spirit, and, yes, hope. It's a quasi-Spartan ethos, with the important distinction that the Dunedain, to paraphrase Faramir, don't glorify battle and death for their own sake, but accept them as a necessary part of the life they are trying to preserve.
All really great, but other parts that stood out for me:
-- “I’ve overmuch knowledge,” he admitted. Heh. Well, that's one way to put it, Eledhril. (And in front of the moms!)
-- And the fact that he wants to marry Thorondis because he knows she's up to the task of mercying people--including family members. And who says romance is dead?
-- Loved getting more details and backstory on the defining events in Thorondis's life, as well as her family and friends.
-- The rituals and traditions of the Dunedain (are they...are they Vaguely Jewish? ;) ), especially the fact that it is the duty of the women to give their sons to the Rangers.
-- Also the coda, with Thorondis and Eledhril at peace in Tharbad. And finally, Thorondis leaving the world, happy and fulfilled in her duties.
Brava, Dwim, and the fact that I can maybe take a little credit for the development of these characters and their stories makes me very happy, indeed.
***
ALIANA: And now, I'm like, even more curious as to how you ever, ever managed to get away with not marrying. [whistles innocently]
HALBARAD: [grinds his teeth] We are so not going there.
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You're welcome. Happy Channukkah. No really, you can thank me later... if Eledhril doesn't kill me first, that is.
What struck me most of all, throughout, is how the Dunedain, through their mission and their incredibly precarious position in the world, do not have the luxury of segregating the martial from the domestic. All aspects of these men's and (most notably) women's lives have been weaponized, in some cases, literally
Yep. It just makes a lot of sense in terms of their position: they can't go toe-to-toe with Sauron on a field of battle. So they have to be able to maintain themselves, and a place, without getting into major positional warfare. That being so, they wouldn't have survived without making everything about that goal of deliverance, without being to marshall every man, woman,and child behind it and link every aspect of life to it in some way. They've got a thin margin for error - there just aren't that many of them, and their only defense is unity against the efforts by the Dark Lord's minions to just totally exterminate them.
It's a quasi-Spartan ethos, with the important distinction that the Dunedain, to paraphrase Faramir, don't glorify battle and death for their own sake, but accept them as a necessary part of the life they are trying to preserve.
Exactly. They have a goal - this is about getting to that goal the only way they can get there: together.
-- “I’ve overmuch knowledge,” he admitted. Heh. Well, that's one way to put it, Eledhril. (And in front of the moms!)
Yeah, I worked for that one! I figure he has to take the offensive here - otherwise, he'll either just be politely dismissed without real consideration, or else Thorondis will ask him, or (possibly worse) his mother or potential mother-in-law will ask him. So he decides to open with owning his errors and just be honest with the woman he's hoping will say yes to a serious life commitment.
-- And the fact that he wants to marry Thorondis because he knows she's up to the task of mercying people--including family members.
Once I'd decided to do this drabblela (drabbles + novella?), I had to go back and ask myself: what exactly would make him choose Thorondis? Other than dynastic considerations, what is it about her that makes her stand out to him? What's Eledhril really driven by in the end, beyond his personal inclinations, which we know are fraught with problems? So then I had to ask myself: she's a troll-killer, she's taken some lumps, she obviously can stand up as a warrior. So why wouldn't he apply criteria appropriate to that? Would he marry someone whom he trusts less than a brother-Ranger to do the right thing in a worst-case scenario? And she's resilient, too - she doesn't go around crying a lot. She's a fighter on a lot of levels, and he's attracted to that - which also kind of helps give her parity with his male lovers, because he loves them for similar reasons. Just, unfortunately, reasons that cannot be assimilated into the Angle in any direct way.
And who says romance is dead?
Right. I mean, doesn't everyone have this conversation?
-- The rituals and traditions of the Dunedain ... especially the fact that it is the duty of the women to give their sons to the Rangers.
Thanks! I thought that was important to establish.
(are they...are they Vaguely Jewish? ;) )
Sort of. I mean, there's Candles, which is totally a non-Jew's rip-off, you know... I really don't know enough about Jewish history to be able to say anything written here directly tags off that tradition. But to the degree that they're a minority fighting large empires that would like to assimilate/enslave/destroy them, there's such a thing as convergent evolution.
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-- Also the coda, with Thorondis and Eledhril at peace in Tharbad. And finally, Thorondis leaving the world, happy and fulfilled in her duties.
You know, I didn't originally include those sections. Originally, this ended with the last of the "Way of Leithian" drabbles, but later, I thought it would be nice to say something about how she eventually handled Eledhril's infidelity. And I'd tried writing this really angsty, painfully drawn out confrontation for your original "Bad Sex" challenge, but it was going nowhere. Then this idea inserted itself, and since I'd always intended for that to be her response to him, it let me get that out of my system. And it gave me another opportunity to make her awesome, because she has no regrets, she's not clinging to life, and she trusts she's done what she needed to do for the next generation.
ALIANA: And now, I'm like, even more curious as to how you ever, ever managed to get away with not marrying. [whistles innocently]
HALBARAD: [grinds his teeth] We are so not going there.
You're welcome to try writing that one. It would likely be better than my excuse for him.
Halbarad: Shut up! Don't give her ideas!
Dwim: Look, would you rather I wrote it?
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He had his chance... :p
She's a fighter on a lot of levels, and he's attracted to that - which also kind of helps give her parity with his male lovers, because he loves them for similar reasons.
This makes sense. Way back (for Triage), I was re-reading Semper Fi to try to nail down some of the particulars of E&T's marriage. I came to the (correct, I think) conclusion that he loved her because she was intelligent, empathetic, spirited (read: potentially hot-tempered), physically attractive (read: strong), and capable. Though, really, given the nature of the society you've outlined, these are probably the characteristics of most of the women of the Angle, particularly those who've survived to adulthood. So it would have been extra illuminating to Eledhril to have had these additional, harrowing battlefield encounters in which he's able to make these even more clear (favorable) comparisons between her and his fellow male warriors.
Right. I mean, doesn't everyone have this conversation?
*Swipes heedlessly through dating apps* Right. I mean, is it a little weird that I'm momentarily envious of fictional characters living in a high-mortality fictional society because they know, firsthand, how their potential love interests/suitors will behave in the most intense life-or-death situations, which I (knock on wood) will probably not encounter in my own life?
I really don't know enough about Jewish history to be able to say anything written here directly tags off that tradition. But to the degree that they're a minority fighting large empires that would like to assimilate/enslave/destroy them, there's such a thing as convergent evolution.
Fair enough. Aside from the minority/empires element, I was mostly going off the ritual questioning/ritual lights elements in your story, which, to be fair, are not by any means exclusive to Judaism.
Then this idea inserted itself, and since I'd always intended for that to be her response to him, it let me get that out of my system. And it gave me another opportunity to make her awesome, because she has no regrets, she's not clinging to life, and she trusts she's done what she needed to do for the next generation.
And I'm really glad you went with your original instinct for that, because it does, indeed, feel right (read: awesome) for her character, at the end of the day. Regardless,
Halbarad: Shut up! Don't give her ideas!
Dwim: Look, would you rather I wrote it?
Aliana: *cough*impotence*cough*
Eledhril: [scoffs] Hah! Dude's got 99 problems, but that ain't one.
Halbarad: Well, if I've got 99 problems, how many do you have?
Thorondis, before Eledhril can answer: At least 100.
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You're right, those general traits just had no real content at that time. He knows she can handle him, basically, on a lot of levels, and he likes her for that. And now we know he also appreciates, up close and personal, her responsibility in matters of life and death.
Re: jealousy of fictional characters
I think it's the R-word. I'm sure there are things couples could look at that would be analogues, but mostly they don't, because they haven't learned lesson one from Valaris's rules of life book: you need to know how to triage, which is really about how to take responsibility and make a hard decision because you know you can't pass it off onto someone else without there being greater damage to multiple people. Most couples take a pass on that until absolutely forced to it. The Dunedain of the North... do not have that luxury.
Nice t-shirt, btw.
Re: Halbarad's amazing ability to remain single
Halbarad: Okay, look. I'm going to say this one time, and one time only: "I refer all questions to Aragorn. He stayed single, he set a precedent, so go away now. Kthxbai."
Eledhril: Actually, what you said was -
Halbarad: Don't make it 101, pal. [fingers dagger meaningfully]
Eledhril: ... it was right on. Really a good point. Why didn't I think of that?
Thorondis: Because he did play the impotence card.
Halbarad: [facepalm] Thanks, sister dearest!
Thorondis: Honesty is the best policy in relationship matters. Right, hon?
Eledhril: Eventually. Yeah. Think I'm going to go find a quiet hedge to slip away behind, Ranger-like...
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