#ianneth

It's the whole gang from The Kids Are All Right, made in Rinmaru's Mega Fantasy Avatar Creator!

OR

More of your marvelous Feanorions! What happened to Curvo's firecracker of a wife?

❤️

@sallysavestheday || I wish you would write a fic... || accepting

You know, now that you mention it, I've never actually written anything from Annael's POV! He's not as fully developed in my mind as some of the other characters I write about, but the general backstory I've imagined is that he's been the leader of the people of Mithrim for about a hundred years prior to the First Battle. After Thingol and his host had retreated behind the Girdle, but before Fëanor's host arrived and defeated Morgoth's forces in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath, he and his people were in a rather dire situation, because Morgoth's orcs had unfettered access to most of western Beleriand, apart from Doriath and the Falas (and the Falas itself was under siege).

When Fëanor and his followers arrived in Mithrim, after several long months of the Northern Sindar being assailed, welcoming the Noldor seemed like a logical idea. They were fellow Eldar and capable of battle, and maybe their leader was a bit intense, but when Morgoth's orcs came pouring over the Ered Wethrin in a surprise attack, the Noldor were indispensable in achieving victory in the resulting battle. And yes, Fëanor did get himself killed through a mix of rage and recklessness, and his heir did end up being captured by Morgoth, but more warriors are more warriors, and the second son took over and was competent enough.

This was, I think, the beginning of Annael's break with Thingol. He never renounced Thingol as his king, but the fact remained that Thingol had retreated behind the Girdle in the First Battle and left the people of Mithrim to fend for themselves, despite being their king. Between that and Thingol's known disdain for the Northern Sindar (as laid out in "The Problem of Ros" in The Peoples of Middle-earth, for those of you who are curious where that particular detail is coming from), Annael was feeling a bit bitter, and he and his people, I think understandably, judged the Noldor to be more reliable allies than Thingol and the Iathrim.

(Side note, but I think this bitterness toward Thingol was not uncommon among the Elves of Mithrim. Annael certainly passed it on to his daughters, and Ianneth in turn passed it on to Ereiniel, in whom it was reinforced by Doriath's refusal to join her father in assailing Angband, the battle in which Fingon was killed and in the aftermath of which the majority of the Elves of Mithrim -- Annael included -- either were slaughtered or were driven from their home. Sixteen years passed between the Nírnaeth Arnoediad and Annael's arrival to the settlement on Balar, and that was an agonizing length of time to not know what had become of him (and his wife and younger daughter) for both Ianneth and Ereiniel. I think, in the Second Age, some of what Oropher perceives as Noldorin arrogance in Gil-galad is actually an echo of the inherited anger of the Northern Sindar.)

The arrival of Fingolfin and his host did make the situation rather fragile, but Annael had enough experience leading his people that he was able to successfully take a neutral stance and maintain friendly ties with both groups, favoring neither one nor the other. Still, though Fingon's rescue of Maedhros was quite astounding, Annael and his people's prior experiences with escaped thralls left them deeply wary of Maedhros, and they were quite relieved when Maedhros ceded the crown to Fingolfin, who seemed an altogether wiser and more stable choice for the role.

Fingolfin's fortitude in leading his people across the Helcaraxë, too, left Annael feeling more inclined towards the Fingolfinians than the Fëanorians, as he felt that Fingolfin had proven himself to be made of similar stuff to the Northern Sindar, who had been living on Morgoth's doorstep under constant threat for hundreds of years. Fingolfin and his children had faced and overcome a long, dire hardship in a way that Fëanor and his sons had not, and Annael had no qualms about building a stronger alliance with him.

Little bit of a ficcish thing:

He says nothing to Fingolfin, nor to his son, but the truth is that the rescued prince -- the one the followers of Fëanor's sons in the settlement on the other side of the lake call king -- worries him. While he has offered the aid of his people's healers to assist Fingolfin's own in treating the man, as befits an ally, what neither Fingolfin nor Fëanor's sons know is that the healers sent have been selected not solely for their knowledge of illness and injury, but also for their ability to defend themselves. Mithrim's Elves have lost too many of their own in the past to the sudden violence of thralls who had escaped Angband with their bodies, but had not escaped Morgoth's control over their minds.

Still, he cannot deny that there have been some benefits to the prince's rescue. The tension between Fingolfin's people and the people of the Sons of Fëanor has dropped to a low simmer rather than the rolling boil it was three weeks ago, and Annael no longer feels that maintaining his people's peace with both camps is like walking a tightrope of spun cobwebs. If the Noldor can unite under one king, they'll be a stronger ally to his people, and his people are in need of allies. They have seen that they cannot rely on their own monarch.

@polutrope

It wasn't really upsetting, just annoying and honestly a little bit funny. This guy left comments on all six chapters of By Love or at Least Free Will, every time I updated the story, just objecting to the entire premise of the story and ranting about how Elves have incorruptible pure souls and are immune to lust. I was sorely tempted to respond with this quote from "Laws & Customs Among the Eldar":

Even when in after days, as the histories reveal, many of the Eldar in Middle-earth became corrupted, and their hearts darkened by the shadow that lies upon Arda, seldom is any tale told of deeds of lust among them.

'Seldom' is not the same thing as 'never', and furthermore, I don't think lust is even a major theme of my story. It's more about conflicting obligations and unruly hearts.

In the end I deleted the comments without responding, because I have a personal policy of not engaging with people who are acting in bad faith. But I have to assume that this guy has no actual hobbies if he spends his time hate-reading entire stories instead of just...closing the window and moving on with his life. Maybe take up crochet, bro? Or volunteer at a soup kitchen? Watch a TV show that you like? Grow some tomatoes? Do something that will be more fulfilling than typing long screeds on AO3. I promise it will make you a happier person.

Anyway. On to the actual topic of your ask! As you've probably noticed, I am very fond of Russingon. However, I am also very fond of Fingon as Gil-galad's father. At first I balanced these two ideas by keeping my Russingon ideas and my Fingon-father-of-Gil-galad ideas in two separate universes, but then I started really fleshing out Gil-galad's mother, and it made me think some thoughts. To repeat something I said to @cuarthol in a comment on AO3:

...half the genesis of Ianneth was seeing so many stories (in multiple fandoms, not just Tolkien) where the woman is written out of a canon or semi-canon couple to make room for a popular M/M ship instead, without the female character being treated with any respect. I decided that the female perspective on that situation would be a nice change of pace and interesting to write.

I'm not trying to point fingers -- I'll readily admit that I have my male faves just like the next gal and that it's fun to make them kiss -- but the wives and girlfriends don't get a lot of love in fandom, do they? And it doesn't help that the legendarium in general tends to be a bit of a sausage fest. So I decided that Fingon would have a wife and be in love with Maedhros. But instead of focusing just on the forbidden love, I was going to focus on the wife's feelings, too.

Ianneth ("bridge-woman") is one of the Northern Sindar, from the community that lives around Lake Mithrim. She's the daughter of Annael (yes, that Annael), whom I've imagined to be one of the more influential leaders among the Northern Sindar, and particularly among the Elves of Mithrim.

Her betrothal to Fingon starts as a political arrangement. Fingolfin loves Fingon dearly, of course, but he's also been hinting for a while now that Fingon really needs to settle down and start having kids so that there will be a strong line of heirs should Fingolfin die. After all, Argon's dead, and Turgon and Aredhel abruptly fucked off to god-knows-where some three hundred years ago and haven't been seen nor heard from since. Your dad needs some grandsons, Fingon, and this also seems like a ripe opportunity to strengthen the Noldor's alliance with the Northern Sindar.

I don't think political marriage is unknown among the Elves of Beleriand. (For one example in the text, see Celegorm trying to marry Luthien to force Doriath into an alliance.) And the quote I drew the title of the aforementioned Fingon/Ianneth story from, also found in "Laws and Customs Among the Eldar," is:

The Eldar wedded only once in life, and for love or at the least by free will upon either part.

Free will could easily mean, "Are we in love? No. But I'll still marry you, for the good of our peoples, and I'll bring some of Dad's soldiers along with me." That sort of thing happened all the time among real-world nobility, so I see no reason why it can't happen among Elven nobility in Beleriand, too.

At any rate, Fingolfin arranges for Fingon to meet the daughters of some of the more powerful leaders of the Northern Sindar, and he's hint-hint-hinting that Fingon really needs to pick one of them to be his wife. Fingon, having been in love with Maedhros since they were young in Valinor, is not exactly keen on this plan. But he goes along with it anyway because he is a dutiful son, he knows that his father is right about needing to strengthen the line of succession, and he also knows that revealing his (quite taboo!) relationship with Maedhros to his father would probably break Fingolfin's heart.

It takes Fingon a while to decide who to court, but he picks Ianneth because he likes her sense of humor; she has the guts to gently tease him at their first meeting, which he finds quite charming. He doesn't think he can love anyone besides Maedhros, but he does look at Ianneth and think, "This is a woman I could grow to care for and whose companionship I think could enjoy."

The trouble begins when, over the course of their courtship, Fingon starts falling in love with Ianneth without falling out of love with Maedhros. And he doesn't know what to do about this. He can't call off the marriage, and he doesn't want to break things off with Maedhros, so he decides to just...keep the whole thing with Maedhros a secret and marry Ianneth anyway. It's not a good decision, but really, are there any options here that won't end with someone getting hurt? I don't think so.

So we have Ianneth, blissfully ignorant of her husband's infidelity (for now); Fingon, in love with two people at once and feeling horribly guilty about it, but unwilling to pick one partner over the other; and Maedhros, resigned to the situation but still hurting because Fingon is no longer his alone.

Maedhros' feelings are complicated by the fact that, once he meets her, he finds that likes Ianneth. It would be easier, he thinks, if he could write her off as just a political necessity for Fingon, but it turns out that she's charming and intelligent and kind, and he can understand why Fingon loves her. His feelings soften further once Ereiniel is born, because Fingon is so happy being a father, and he loves Fingon, so how can he begrudge him that? There's a line from "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Leonard Cohen that I always think of when I'm getting into Maedhros' head at this point:

And thanks for the trouble you took from [his] eyes. I thought it was there for good, so I never tried.

Things tick along about as smoothly as they can for thirteen years, until, in the aftermath of Fingolfin's death during the Dagor Bragollach, as Fingon prepares to send Ianneth and Ereiniel to the Falas for their safety, Ianneth learns his secret. This is understandably devastating for her, and leaves her wondering if Fingon ever really loved her as she loved him, or if his marriage to her was simply a politically expedient sham.

Add to that the fact that she leaves for the Falas less than ten hours after this revelation and spends most of that ten hours either crying or asleep, as she's too upset to really talk to Fingon about what she's discovered, and it leaves her with this horrible knowledge and all the worst thoughts that come from it gnawing at her nearly a full year until Fingon next comes to Eglarest -- time that she spends as the sole caregiver for her young daughter, among strangers in a foreign city, without her mother or her sister or any of her friends who might have theoretically been able to offer her some emotional support.

Theoretically is a key word there, though, because even if, say, her sister had come to Eglarest, Ianneth isn't sure she'd even be able to tell her. For one thing, she can't help feeling ashamed, because infidelity is very rare among Elves, and she can't help thinking that maybe she failed as a wife somehow, and if she'd done something different, Fingon wouldn't have strayed. Then there's the fact that he's the High King of the Noldor, and if this gets out it could cause a crisis in the Noldorin government and possibly tank the alliance between the House of Fingolfin and the Northern Sindar. Ianneth is a practical woman, and she's of the Northern Sindar -- the people who have been living practically on Morgoth's doorstep for centuries, with no Maia queen's magic girdle to protect them. Their alliance with the Noldor is vital, and she would never want to jeopardize it.

Tagged by @sallysavestheday! Every single WIP of mine is currently fighting me and I haven't written much in months now, but here's a little snippet from the unfinished second chapter of The Longest Journey I Have Known, which has been languishing in my WIP file since 2018:

The next day dawned as clear and sunny as the one before. Ianneth supposed that it had to rain at least occasionally -- how else could the plants grow? -- but so far Valinor was as bright and warm as summer, without even the morning mist that had been a constant in Lindon and Imladris both.

Tangled String - a fanmix for Fingon and his wife, Ianneth, for @nolofinweanweek

"Your Love is Sweeter Than Wine" - Black Tape for a Blue Girl

I believe in the beauty in your eyes, In the power of your words, I believe in your purity You'll set me free; You'll set the whole world free. I believe in the beat of your heart; I trust the words I kiss from your lips.

"Song for the Asking" - Simon & Garfunkel

Here is my song for the asking; Ask me and I will play, So sweetly I'll make you smile. This is my tune for the taking; Take it, don't turn away. I've been waiting all my life. Thinking it over, I've been sad; Thinking it over, I'd be more than glad To change my ways for the asking. Ask me and I will play All the love that I hold inside.

"Torn" - Natalie Imbruglia

I thought I saw a man brought to life. He was warm, he came around And he was dignified; He showed me what it was to cry. Well, you couldn't be that man I adored; You don't seem to know or seem to care What your heart is for Well, I don't know him anymore.

"Ravens Land" - Voltaire

Ravens land upon her hair, Clouds adrift on her skin, A smile that tugs upon my soul And whispers gently in my ear. … And if you ask me how I know What she looks like, I will tell you She left yesterday.

"Rain" - Patty Griffin

Sometimes a hurt is so deep, deep, deep You think that you're gonna drown; Sometimes all I can do is weep, weep, weep With all this rain falling down.

"I'm Sorry" - Voltaire

I'm sorry I'm selfish; I'm sorry I behave this way. I'm sorry, couldn't help it; I'm sorry that you lost your faith in me. We lost our faith in me.

"Unraveling" - Deb Talan

Take it from me; it is no use Washing your hands so often They are clean and cracked. You never get your old skin back Once you have loved like that. … He is inside you; he loved your marrow. You think you could cut him out with a knife If you went deep enough? I don't think so.

"Anthem" - Susan McKeown

We asked for signs; the signs were sent – The birth betrayed, the marriage spent, The widowhood of every government – Signs for all to see. … Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything; That's how the light gets in.

"Forgiven" - Deb Talan

The OFC squad (plus Girl-galad), made using Rinmaru’s Medieval Woman Dress-Up.

A brief interlude between Fingon and his wife. Rated G.

Her child hadn’t even been born yet, and Ianneth was already tired. Her back ached. Her ankles were swollen. Simply walking up a flight of stairs was enough to leave her breathless and fatigued. And her nights brought no relief; her body and the baby seemed locked in a conspiracy to deny her any rest.

She shifted on the mattress, seeking a more comfortable position, but no matter how she lay, her back still hurt. Closing her eyes, she tried to ignore the pain, breathing deeply in the hopes of easing herself into sleep. But the baby chose that moment to begin a flurry of kicks, and she groaned.

Beside her, Fingon stirred. He blinked his bright eyes open and, rolling over to face her, asked, “What’s wrong?” His voice was still a little rough with sleep, but he was looking at her with concern.

“This baby is determined to stop me from sleeping,” Ianneth grumbled, shifting again as her back gave yet another twinge. “Every time I start to drift off, it kicks and wakes me up.”

Fingon pushed himself upright and then leaned over until his lips were an inch or two above Ianneth’s stomach. “You need to be nicer to your poor mother,” he said, so comically solemn that Ianneth couldn’t help smiling. “Is this any way to treat her after she’s given you such a warm, cozy home these past eleven months? Keep this up and she might decide to charge you rent.”

Ianneth laughed, and Fingon looked up at her, visibly struggling to maintain a straight face. “It’s never too early to start teaching proper manners,” he said.

“So you’ll bore the baby to sleep with an etiquette lecture?” Ianneth teased.

A grin like a sunbeam split Fingon’s face, and his eyes sparkled with amusement. “It’s worth a try,” he said, placing a hand on her stomach. Inside her, the baby continued to kick, and Fingon once again lowered his head towards Ianneth’s swollen belly. Softly, he began to sing.

Ianneth knew only a few words of her husband’s mother-tongue, not nearly enough to understand his song, but the tune was that of a lullaby, gentle and soothing. Slowly, the baby’s kicks abated, and Ianneth felt her own eyelids grow heavy. She was half-asleep by the time he reached the final verse, and she was only barely aware of his lips brushing across her temple.

“Sleep, Ianneth,” she heard him whisper.