#moraiwe

{I wouldn’t get too attached to anyone tbh.}

{Yeah well I signed up for the pretty men and the blood and I got a whole lot of feels instead. XD Beware.}

{Just wait until it starts trampling your heart instead.}

-swoons- So perfect.

{I’m gonna figure it out if you don’t translate it. XD Argon is so flattered.}

(Headcanon: Male orcs court their mates by reciting love poetry.)

Narmokizub kulat ilzkaal Arkûdâl Drauat, dushatizish Kul fraatûrz, flogr Kulatdhog Fûth Kulatdhog Kul ghaamp Narmokizub kulat ilzkaal

Discussing the way different cultures perceive different things yesterday with my adviser, and then watching DoS and the conversation between Tauriel and Kili about the different ways they see stars, got me to thinking about Azog's pet name for Argon, Ilzkaalizub (or Ilzizub, if he's trying to save time).

The words mean "my starlight" and "my star", and I've always been a bit iffy about using them, since I established way back when I played the Great Goblin a headcanon that orcs hold no great love for the stars (and this is a headcanon I maintain now). They don't hate them, but they don't care about them one way or another- why, then, when giving his love a name, would Azog choose to name him for something that he held inconsequential?

So I decided to think about what stars and starlight meant to orcs.

Orcs are nocturnal- though late third age orcs are able to withstand the sun better than their forebears, they still prefer to be active at night and sleep during the day. There's no sun out at night, so they use the stars and moon to see. Their vision is such that starlight is enough- in fact, depending on what the situation is, they might prefer moving during the new moon, and using only starlight to guide them- because they can see, but their enemies likely can't.

But that wasn't enough for me. This is more tactical than having any actual fondness or real opinions on stars.

And then it occurred to me- stars are fixed. Yes, they move, but very slowly. Compare that the sun, which crosses the sky each day, or the moon, which crosses the sky and moves around and changes shape.. compared to that, stars are very reliable. So much so that you can use them for a guide, if you're lost- which is very handy for orcs, who are at least partially nomadic and remember, they travel at night.

So, what are stars to Azog? Stars are continuity. Stars are solid, fixed, and reliable. Stars are there, and they continue to be there, whether for good or for ill.

For someone like Azog, who has seen much upheaval in his life- just by the very nature of orcish lifestyles- having one thing that doesn't wander off and move around too much would be reassuring.

For Azog, stars are comfort.

By calling Argon his starlight, Azog is saying that Argon comforts and reassures him, and that he trusts him to always be there.