Where Gulls Cry (a Tolkien fancomic)
B2MeM Challenge: B2MeM 2015 - Elwing prompt by Zopyrus
Format: Fancomic - watercolor and ink
Genre: General
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Nudity and suicidal thoughts
Characters: Elwing, seagulls
Pairings: No
Creators' Notes (optional): Thank you binkaslibrary for the beta, and all the other helpful suggestions! And heartofoshun for a thought-provoking bio on the SWG. More notes on the story below the cut.
Summary: Life on the Blessed Shore is not as restful as it would seem.
Click on images for full size.
This story started to take its form as a response to Zopyrus' prompt for the B2MEM 2015: "Elwing, bird transformation, spaceship design, family." and especially the line: "When she makes friends with all those seabirds and they teach her the secret of flight, how exactly does that work?"
I began to look into mentions of Elwing in Tolkien's work, and found a lot of help in the excellent bio written by Oshun on the SWG. Two things really drew my interest: Was she really able to transform into a bird (even for Tolkien this seems a bit fantastical, though I'm no expert ;)), and her choice of leaving her sons and her people behind her when the Havens of Sirion were attacked, to save the Silmaril.
From "The Silmarillion", the following passages of Elwing's transformations:
1: "For Ulmo bore up Elwing out of the waves, and he gave her the likeness of a great white bird, and upon her breast there shone as a star the Silmaril, as she flew over the water to seek Eärendil her beloved"
2: "And it is said that Elwing learned the tongue of birds, who herself had once worn their shape; and they taught her the craft of flight, and her wings were of white and silver-grey. And at times, when Eärendil returning drew near again to Arda, she would fly to meet him, even as she had flown long ago, when she was rescued from the sea. Then the far-sighted among the Elves that dwelt in the Lonely Isle would see her like a white bird, shining, rose-stained in the sunset, as she soared in joy to greet the coming of Vingilot to haven"
I went with the idea that Elwing does not actually have the power herself to transform but that Ulmo keeps helping her. She did not really mean to save herself when she jumped back in the Havens, and maybe she does not mean to save herself now either. Also, the ideal that she is held up against amongst other elves fall far short of who she actually is.
Which leads to my second thought - Elwing had had the Silmaril for nearly her entire life; certainly since she was very young when her parents and siblings were killed in pursuit of it. I think it must have had a great influence on her, and it may have similar effects to the One Ring in its usurption of its "owner's" thoughts and priorities. Basically, I think Elwing may have been halfmad with it (hey it happened to older beings than her under more stable conditions!). And I think it still haunts her, along with the terrible decisions she made under its influence. So here she seeks solace in a simpler place: the form of a bird, seeking a meal on the great ocean.
Format: Fancomic - watercolor and ink
Genre: General
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Nudity and suicidal thoughts
Characters: Elwing, seagulls
Pairings: No
Creators' Notes (optional): Thank you binkaslibrary for the beta, and all the other helpful suggestions! And heartofoshun for a thought-provoking bio on the SWG. More notes on the story below the cut.
Summary: Life on the Blessed Shore is not as restful as it would seem.
Click on images for full size.
This story started to take its form as a response to Zopyrus' prompt for the B2MEM 2015: "Elwing, bird transformation, spaceship design, family." and especially the line: "When she makes friends with all those seabirds and they teach her the secret of flight, how exactly does that work?"
I began to look into mentions of Elwing in Tolkien's work, and found a lot of help in the excellent bio written by Oshun on the SWG. Two things really drew my interest: Was she really able to transform into a bird (even for Tolkien this seems a bit fantastical, though I'm no expert ;)), and her choice of leaving her sons and her people behind her when the Havens of Sirion were attacked, to save the Silmaril.
From "The Silmarillion", the following passages of Elwing's transformations:
1: "For Ulmo bore up Elwing out of the waves, and he gave her the likeness of a great white bird, and upon her breast there shone as a star the Silmaril, as she flew over the water to seek Eärendil her beloved"
2: "And it is said that Elwing learned the tongue of birds, who herself had once worn their shape; and they taught her the craft of flight, and her wings were of white and silver-grey. And at times, when Eärendil returning drew near again to Arda, she would fly to meet him, even as she had flown long ago, when she was rescued from the sea. Then the far-sighted among the Elves that dwelt in the Lonely Isle would see her like a white bird, shining, rose-stained in the sunset, as she soared in joy to greet the coming of Vingilot to haven"
I went with the idea that Elwing does not actually have the power herself to transform but that Ulmo keeps helping her. She did not really mean to save herself when she jumped back in the Havens, and maybe she does not mean to save herself now either. Also, the ideal that she is held up against amongst other elves fall far short of who she actually is.
Which leads to my second thought - Elwing had had the Silmaril for nearly her entire life; certainly since she was very young when her parents and siblings were killed in pursuit of it. I think it must have had a great influence on her, and it may have similar effects to the One Ring in its usurption of its "owner's" thoughts and priorities. Basically, I think Elwing may have been halfmad with it (hey it happened to older beings than her under more stable conditions!). And I think it still haunts her, along with the terrible decisions she made under its influence. So here she seeks solace in a simpler place: the form of a bird, seeking a meal on the great ocean.