A fic in need of a name (I'll be grateful for ides, not necessarily will use, but I'll be grateful) and maybe some proofreading
<2k words. No TWs, very fluffy. LĂșthien and Finrod talk about art.
One warning: IDK how to explain, but: my friend dfw and everyone else who sees LĂșthien as unfairly treated well by the narrative: I do kind of admire this unfairness in this fic. Also, she has an âŠintense personality here. Read at your own discretion.
LĂșthien looked at Finrod with her strange, Light-filled-but-not eyes. âWhy are my songs so boring to you?â
They stood under the stars and the new moon, in a small glade, now filled with nightingales that looked at the princess of Doriath and whistled, as if pleading her to continue.
âI would not call them boring.â
âYou do not say it, but they seem dull to you. Dear cousin, you don't need to speak in courtly lies with us. Never. We are notâ hypocrites.â She almost said âNoldorâ, he could feel it from her. So who was the hypocrite there? The princess continued: âI simply seek to know how to sing better.â
Despite being born from an union of an elf and an Ainu, she was in many ways like a child. All the Sindar were so. Finrod smiled, but didn't try to conceal his thoughts about the conversation. There were some secrets he needed to keep from her keen mind, but if his feelings could be revealed without enraging anyoneâŠÂ âThey are beautiful, but there is never any conflict in then,â he said gently, observing LĂșthien's reaction.
It wasn't anger, but surprise. âWhy would a song need strife to be good?â
This gave Finrod pause. How could she have questioned something as obvious as one of the fundamental laws of art? But indeed, the ancient songs â from the Journey, and even the early ones from Aman â did not have any strife in them. Just like hers, they were about things and people simply âŠbeing.Â
He pondered about it for a while, until the answer came to him. âWithout conflict, there's no change. No progress. No clear point to end the song.â
âYou end the song when you don't want to sing anymore. Or when you want to sing a different one,â said LĂșthien in a tone that was half curious and half patronizing. âBesides, we didn't really have time until recently. At least we didn't have anything to measure its passing. Maybe except me and Daeron maturing. Hey! This is a change. Cherries blooming, bushes growing â that's progress. Walks in the woodsââ she put the last idea into action, leaving the glade.
Finrod joined her and they went between the tall beeches, on the forest floor filled with violets and niphredili. âA song about nature never really reaches any destination. Flowers grow and die, and then new ones come to life. It's not a true change.â
âYou can't simply replace a rose with another, or a yesteryearsâ snowdrop with the next springsâ one. Hmmm, you're a Noldo, you do not know flowers well enough to notice them, so maybe you could. But even then: we do change. We grow. I was a child and now I'm a woman.â
Finrod didn't reply and for a while they just walked.
âYou need songs that are about sorrow, don't you?â asked LĂșthien softly. âDue toâ your king and all that.â
âAnd all of that⊠Yes. I think we do. We do need art which promises a change mightier than just the turn of seasons, which tells us that the darkness may one day end and makes it almostâ makes it possible to believe. And to achieve this, you do need to start with the darkness.â
âI was born in darkness, dear cousin. Under the stars,â she said, gesturing at the sky, but the moonâs narrow crest peeking between the branches spoiled her reference.Â
âI mean a different kind of darkness, sweet child of the stars. Deeper. Not a darkness that never saw light, but darkness that saw light andââ Finrod shivered. âDarkness that comes after the light is gone, not before it's born. Darkness without a single star to break it.â
âI don't think I can imagine it. Still, I'm sure there is a way to sing interesting songs without making them all about violence.â
âNot all conflict is violence.â
âBut it's allâ you, Noldor, absolutely love to argue. We try to understand each other instead.âÂ
âSo do I.âÂ
They awoke a sleeping deer at a distance, but it didn't run away like most beasts of Beleriand used to, it only watched them cautiously.
âWell, this is true, you don't argue that much. Anyway, maybe that's it. When people meet and get to know each other more, it also grows in time. And it means more than flowers.â
âMaybe. Is that how you see art here in Doriath?â
âNo. As Daeron sees it, the supreme art is: you see a thing. Then you see another thing. Then you see them together in a way that awakens new meanings in both of them. And then you weave all that into words with enough alliteration. The same with music: you play a motive, then another motive, and then you marry them to each other. This makes the verse, the chorus and the ending.â
They entered a denser part of the forest and now walked a narrow path, surrounded by blackberries, bushes and ferns.
âWhat if the motives don't fit together?â
âHe would say it means you're a mediocre musician. But⊠I think if they don't fit you need to find a way to force them. Or, rather, help them. Change one or the other into a different mode. Or change the tuning. Or keep playing the harp but add singing to it and tell everyone that it had been your plan since the beginning.â
âYou can't change the rules of art.â
âWhat force is going to forbid me?â
Finrod laughed. âI don't think it's that easy, but maybe you are right. Maybe there is a way to reconcile both of our ideas. To create art that is not boring, but not violent either. But I do not know where to even start looking for inspiration.â Right now, the bushes clinging to his clothing and pulling on the delicate embroidery weren't particularly inspiring.Â
âYou always seek something, wandering here and there. I'm sure you will find a lot of wonderful inspiration.â
âDon't you want to travel?â
âOh, I love to travel!â said LĂșthien in a laughing voice. âBut in Doriath you can discover wonders too! Maybe the same answers that you seek far away I'll find in here. Or maybe we'll both find sorrow.â
Finrod blinked. That had been a strange turn of the conversation, but not the first of them. âI don't think beauty can exist without sorrow.â
âThen should I wish sorrow beyond measure for both of us?â
âThat would be a very Noldorin approach to art, wouldn't it?â he asked half-jesting, but curious.
âSorrow and strife aren't the same.â
âHow are they not? Sorrow is born from loss, and loss is born from violence.â
âWhen I was a child, I cried about clouds disappearing, because I knew I'd never see any of them again. And yet nobody took them away from me by force. And I wouldn't fight for the clouds, as that would make no sense. So I remembered them. But it's not really the same.â
As LĂșthien spoke, they entered a small clearing and, as if responding to her, a small cloud hid the moon and hung above them, backlined with silver. A few others passed nearby: fuzzy dark shapes, but not as dark asâ Finrod looked away from the sky, back at the princess.
âYou could see clouds in the starlight?â
âOf course. Can't you?â She looked back at him with wide eyes.
âNot with enough detail to miss them. I never looked much into the sky anyway, not back then.â
They left the clearing. The forest was even darker now, but there was a peace to it.
âYou Noldor are so strange. I wish I would know you better.â
âI wish I could understand you better too.â
âI have an idea.â Without saying more, LĂșthien led him to a small grassy hill, not even as tall as the surrounding trees. A narrow path went upwards. âI'll show you another way in which we entertain ourselves hereâwell, I doâ but first tell me, cousin, what would you want if you could wish for anything?â
âTo meet my loved ones again,â said Finrod quietly. âI'm not sure how this would happen, unlessâ but even then⊠I'm sorry. You deserve better than hearing about any of that.â
âOnly so little?â LĂșthien laughed, though it felt forced. âI want everything! I want a love like my parentsâ, but let it be even more so. I want songs to be sung about meâ not only by Daeron â songs that even to you would sound interesting. I want to behold the most beautiful treasure in the world. I want to be free and to fly. I want to sing a song mightier than my motherâs. I want to seek a star and wear it as a trinket. I wantââ She paused as they reached the top. âNo, now it's your turn. What would you want if you could ask for anything?â
âI want there to be a solution to all that.â
âAll what?â
He looked away. âAll the darkness I won't trouble you with.â
âIf you won't, surely someone else will.â
âEven so, I shall not.â
âThen try not to trouble yourself with it either, at least for now. Only look.â LĂșthien lied on the hillside and tumbled down, like a log, if logs could laugh loudly.Â
She rose from the grass at the bottom and began walking back. âYou are humble and I do ask for so much. But it's alright if I can't have any of that. I'm not stubborn. Well, I am not as stubborn as some believe. But if I can, I do want all of my wishes to come true. And I want to travel. To see strange lands beyond stormy seas, cities both old and young and alien, new countries my mother never knew, never dreamed of⊠To have my home there. I hope I will not miss her too much.â
âYou know such places may not even exist. Except maybe oneââ Finrod shivered at the very thought, even though they were miles South from there and under Melianâs Girdle. ââbut nobody would ever go there of their own will, especially not someone like you, sweet princess. And about all other lands your mother could surely tell you. After allââÂ
LĂșthien waved her hand dismissively. âYes, she saw the world before it was born and sang it into being. It's boring how everybody keeps reminding me about that. But she is also my mother. Of course I desire to reach beyond her, that's how it is with mother's and daughters. Also, how would you know there's no place unknown for her, Noldo? You've barely seen any of Beleriand, and yet you try to tell me how the world is?â Her words were a challenge, but her tone was friendly.
Finrod bowed his head. âThat is true. Neither of us have seen much yet. But if you ever find such a placeâŠâ
The princess stood next to him again, picking leaves of grass from her hair. âI will surely show it to you. Though you could probably wish for a better guide.âÂ
Finrod smiled, remembering the chaotic string of excited tangents that the last few days have been. âMany things could be better, your guidance isn't by far the first of them. And anyway I am really glad to be here with you, LĂșthien. You are very kind and fascinating. And I'm honored to learn the customs of your people.â
âLike tumbling from tops of hills? It's not a very Noldoââ
âThat's the point.â Finrod lay on the grass and let the steepness of the terrain pull him down.Â
It felt only half as bumpy as he'd expected, and in its strange, wild way liberating.
I have a musical piece, composed a few months ago, about exactly what Luthien describes here: the change without conflict, the cycles that return, but at the same time flow forward. It's even titled "Before the sun first shone".









