Blizzard Challenge - Solstice, Sunrise

[ladyelleth]

Title: Solstice, Sunrise
Author: Elleth
Characters: Maglor, Sons of Fëanor
Rating: PG
Warnings: Non-graphic character deaths in the second drabble.
Book/Source: The Silmarillion
Disclaimer: It's the Professor's world, and I am making no money off this.

Author's Notes: For the Blizzard Challenge, a response to Dawn & Dusk by clodia_metelli, with her

Comments

[clodia_metelli]

Beautifully done! I love the wind with his myriad knives and needles, and the repetition of 'if only...' The reasoning there, that with just this one terrible thing they can end it all now, is very plausible. Although it makes me wonder -- if they had gained Luthien's Silmaril, what would they have done about the two still sitting in Morgoth's crown?

And bringing in literal wolves howling around the camp against the metaphorical wolfishness, that is a very vivid touch. It would be the season for wolves to starve and become desperate enough to close in around anything that looking vaguely edible.

Thank you!

[ladyelleth]

Thank you!

Perhaps gathered more confidence to try and attack Angband again. The Silmarils were tremendously powerful, after all, and at least gaining Lúthien's would have ended the necessity for kinslayings.

The wolves appeared the moment I read your drabble. Your metaphorical ones seemed a good deal more alive, so that was one image that needed to go in. Again, thanks!

[clodia_metelli]

I can't help but think they would have lost as badly as at Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Oh well, it's not an AU I plan to play with anyway. But the fact that the Feanorians chose to attack Doriath instead of focusing on Morgoth's crown is one of the things that really undermines their Heroic Status for me. /is terribly partisan ;)

The wolf-metaphor for me was part of the longer story and bound up with the fact that wolves were Morgoth's creatures -- bringing in actual wolves solidifies that so clearly, even though that probably wasn't your intention (and something that would probably have been too obvious for me to get away with). Really, beautiful. Again -- thank you! :D

[ladyelleth]

The Doom of Mandos would see to that, I suppose. And I'm not saying they are completely blameless - the kinslayings were horrible, terrible deeds, but simply vilifying them into child-eating monsters doesn't work either (not that you did, but there are enough people with that standpoint). I like my anti-heroes and I like them fascinating and tragic. ;)

Wolves as Morgoth's creatures is a tricky thing - on the one hand it's incredibly obvious, on the other hand it's perhaps too obvious to think of - though of course it makes sense especially with regard to Doriath and the stories connected to the Lay of Leithian, what with the Isle of Werewolves, Draugluin, Celegorm and Curufin discovering Lúthien while on a wolf-hunt, and of course Carcharoth... and the Feanorians are doing Morgoth's work, if with a certain reluctance and not directly serving him, so you're definitely right on both points there.

And again, thank you! :D And oh, the icon! Drive safe or Zeus will smite you? ;)

[clodia_metelli]

The Doom hadn't actually occurred to me -- it was the more that their armies were already in pieces after Nirnaeth Arnoediad and they paid a pretty high price for the sack of Doriath. (I assume that for three of the commanders to have died, the fighting must have been pretty fierce, although I suppose it could conceivably be put down to a fluke of luck.) And they wouldn't have got Turgon out of Gondolin again, I shouldn't think. So really -- if they couldn't beat Morgoth at Nirnaeth Arnoediad, when their hosts were (relatively) unified and at full strength, I see no reason why they should have had any better luck after Doriath.

About vilifying the Feanorians -- strangely, I very rarely see that happening. I tend to see rather more Feanorion redemption stories; maybe just a peculiarity of my internet haunts, I guess. *shrug*

The icon -- I think Phaethon crashed himself, but maybe he'd have blamed Zeus if he'd survived. :D (All credit to gogollescent for all my animated icons!)

[ladyelleth]

That's true, but then Morgoth's armies must have suffered heavy losses in the Nirnaeth as well, it is even stated that the Elves and Men could have won the day if not for Ulfang's treachery, I think. And come to think of it, there is no need for a large army. Fingolfin nearly defeated Morgoth in single combat, and if he really spent as much of his power as Morgoth's Ring implies, he might have been weakened. But I'm drifting off into conjecture now.

It's become rarer, true, but I still happen across the occasional Feanor-unrepentant-murderer-who-abused-his-sons viewpoint. Eh. It's not in my usual haunts either, mostly ff.net.

:D Very possible. I'm only familiar with Ovid's Metamorphoses version, but I'm sure there are different ones. (And gogollescent is an awesome icon maker!)