"Hastaina" for pandemonium_213

[dawn_felagund]

Pandemonium is to credit (or maybe to blame? ;) for initiating my interest in the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft, as well as first suggesting that the mythologies of Tolkien and Lovecraft could be combined quite intriguingly. When I finished a collection of Lovecraft stories over my winter holidays, I was immediately inspired to try blending the two

Comments

[lilith_lessfair]

Fascinating, unsettling and gorgeous. The language is wonderful!

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you! It was a bit of a challenge for me since it's not my usual style, but it was a fun experiment. :)

[nelyo_russandol]

What can I say? My copy of the Necronomicon sits on the same shelf as the three HoME hardbacks!

I truly enjoyed the style of the story, it comes across heavy with anguish and speaks of something dark that lurks underneath the surface, just like Lovecraft's! :-)

[dawn_felagund]

Yay--another Tolkien-Lovecraft fan! :D Pandemonium's original Tolkien-Lovecraft crossover is here ... I think she unleashed something perilous ... with tentacles ... ;)

Thank you for the comments! I really wanted to emulate his style for this one; I once read an essay written by him about horror-writing in which he says that his goal is to build that emotion in people, so that was my goal here as well.

[nelyo_russandol]

OMG, I just read the utterly protoplasmic entrance of Namo at Cthulhu's b'day bash. What a jewel... thanks for pointing me at it... I find there are so many treasures still hidden in SWG!

[vamp_ress]

Oh, I *so* have to read this. They're making really gorgeous Lovecraft audiobooks in Germany, which is how I discovered his works. I've become a big fan over the years, so I'm curious how to see you "blend" this with Tolkien!

[dawn_felagund]

If you get a chance to read it, I hope you like it! :) I think the style is easily adapted at least ... and, actually, the mythologies aren't impossible to reconcile either. It was an interesting challenge, to be sure. :)

[surgicalsteel]

Absolutely fascinating and amazing. Just gorgeous!

[dawn_felagund]

Thanks so much! :D

[pandemonium_213]

Oooh, an excuse to use one of my Cthulhu icons! :^D

Yet again, you've crafted another tailor-made gift of a story for me, Felagund. You captured Lovecraft's tone and atmosphere perfectly, and this goes far beyond the adroit use of "cyclopean", "stygian", and "eldritch" (all Loevcraftian words that I'm in love with). You really captured that shroud of darkness and decay that Lovecraft furled over his writings. The voice of the protagonist? Perfect. He could be an Elvish Daniel Upton. And what he discovers? This searing line says it all:

...all of the Valar, the Authors, writing their tales in our blood.

And Eru bellowing Pain. *shudders in delight and dread*

I can well imagine there are those who would cry heresy at this, but in many ways (preaching to the choir here), The Silmarillion is a tabula rasa, and yours is an interpretation that resonates with me in a big way

[dawn_felagund]

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply to this. *headwall* But I discovered, quite by accident, that the WebSense is down at work. Party time! :D

the adroit use of "cyclopean", "stygian", and "eldritch"

I just had to throw them in! :D Actually, you were the first person I saw use eldritch in a story, that I recall--I remember that I had to look it up! And "decadent carvings" ... in "Mountains of Madness," I was actually starting to get tired of all of the "decadent carvings," so I had to nod to it here. :)

You really captured that shroud of darkness and decay that Lovecraft furled over his writings. The voice of the protagonist? Perfect. He could be an Elvish Daniel Upton.Color me happy because I was deliberately trying to do both! My Lovecraft collection has an interesting essay that he wrote on horror-writing; of course, being all geeky over writing meta, it was a highlight for me. It spoke of how he sought to create a particular mood in his writing that he thought people would find frightening. That idea formed the basis for