#emeldir

In the beginning, before he came to his full power, it was the faintest of suggestions. Fingon before managing to drive Glaurung off, beginning to hear whispers from the soldiers around them, except none had uttered a word.

Emeldir during the Bragollach losing precious time reaching Morwen, Rían and the other vulnerable Bëorians because of a cascade of frenzied voices projected over the burning lands.

Orodreth’s troops becoming frenzied during the Battle of Nargothrond, the forested hills becoming a maze of sorts

Strange voices in the mist covered lands around Nargothrond following the fall. Níniel hearing the echoes in her dreams.

TRSB25 #131 Title: The Beorians Flee Ladros

A ficlet for @tolkiengenweek, Day 1

If any had asked of him, in that other life ere the Burning, which were those things that formed his life, the answer would have been quick and certain: his father’s guidance or his mother’s wisdom, his sister’s wry warmth, the solemnity of the gathered elders.

And it was true, of course. These had been his mainstays for as long as he could recall and there was no balm for the ache of their absence.

But as Beren lay hidden within the gorse, looking out over Ladros that was, he found his ears strained rather for the sound of Emeldir’s hammer, undoing as it had each spring the winter’s toll on the Hall, or for his father’s quiet humming as he pruned the garden herbs, rubbed down the newborn lambs with straw.

Sleepless on the scorched heath, it was Andreth’s voice that he sought, weathered as those fingers which in childhood had traced slow patterns along his hands, both soothing him into slumber.

Hiril’s shriek of laughter called to him from the icy springs when he drank. The little river beside the fell had held a similar chill and he would haul her after him whenever they fought, where any squabble would eventually wind its way to laughter within its waters.

Where was the bellow of his uncle’s voice? The bickering of his cousins?

No hammer could undo this toll, nor any song coax the thyme and hyssop from the soil or draw the bleating lambs back from the ashes. The chatter of the stream was choked, the water fouled as all the valley below him. His uncle was dead and burned. The cairn above his cousins’ broken bodies was raised by his own hands.

Bitter was this learning and bitter still the admission: it had been the unnoticed things his heart could not do without, the lost mundane that tangled grief within his breast.

I'm doing my end of year recommendations a little differently this year, posting one short set a week - with different themes - throughout December. Today, let's not talk about Elves, for a change! 2025 was a particularly good year for reading and writing fics about other Tolkien peoples, so have a few to chew on as the days get dark:

5 new fics of my own:

Proving (G: 1,000 words). A character study of Emeldir, mother of Beren, wife of Barahir, and a force in her own right.

Late Harvest (M: 700 words). Aging Beren and Luthien, post-return from the dead, enjoying each other.

Dorveille (G: 900 words). Aragorn weaves through his mother-in-law's dreams, although they will never meet.

Inheritance (G: 200 words). Firiel of Gondor marries Arvedui Last-King, and learns to love him.

A Most Enjoyable Garden Party (G: 2,000 words). Gimli adapts to life in Valinor (and meets some famous Finweans).

5 fave fics from others (both old and new):

City of Withering Stone (T: 8,500 words) by @starsuncounted. Finduilas of Dol Amroth, Denethor, Aragorn, and a whole host of FEELINGS.

In the Beginning (G: 1,300 words) by @grundyscribbling. Elros and his future wife, very early on.

A Last Light and Shadow Lingering (G: 4,300 words) by @tathrin. More Gimli, building an ever-after friendship with Finrod.

The Old Road Under Stars (G: 600 words) by @cycas. Dwarves and hoards and dragons...eerie and marvelous.

After a million years' absence, I come back to you now at the turn of the tide ... with some @allthatglittersisnotgoldrush fanart! Rest assured I have other Silm art to share once the time comes (they're for TRSB and S&D, so I can't post them until the events are over loll)

The recent AU installments got me back into the Beren-Luthien-Finrod mood, which led to these portrait attempts! For starters, we have Barahir, Emeldir the Blind, and Beren, once again inspired by the Pacific Northwest tribes. For Barahir in particular, I based him off of Michael Greyeyes in the movie, Woman Walks Ahead, hence why his hair is down for now XD

A year ago we attended the 2025 Estelcon (8-11th May 2025), the annual convention of the Spanish Tolkien Society, held in Canet de Berenguer (Valencia, Spain) ✨😊📚🎶📸🌊.

1. Nerdanel: Quenya, element nér means man, male person

2. Nerwen(Galadriel): Quenya, "man-maiden" according to Shibboleth of Fëanor