It is hard to wash the blood off your hands if the water is full of it...

Some more dark folkloric Maglor for @tolkienhorrorweek !! I made another illustration of this same concept before -- but I had this other sketch in the WIP back-burner as well, and what better time to finish it but now, during the spookiest time of the year! Look at him scarily hiding in the shadows...

@tolkienhorrorweek : Day Two - Ringwraith

Day 2: Angmar & Minas Morgul | lit with a fell light | specters and wraiths

Tolkien Horror Week is back for another year of celebrating all the terrifying and unsettling bits of Tolkien's work! The event will run from October 26th to November 1st and accepts all types of fanworks. There is an AO3 collection for the event here.

Below are some suggested prompts for each day of the week. They are not mandatory; feel free to combine them or disregard them entirely.

Day 1: Angband, Utumno, & Tol-in-Gaurhoth | beautiful and yet horrible of shape | captives and thralls Day 2: Angmar & Minas Morgul | lit with a fell light | specters and wraiths Day 3: Mordor & the Dead Marshes | enmeshed in shadows | spells and enchantments Day 4: The Barrow-downs & the Old Forest | cold be hand and heart and bone | mists and mires Day 5: Mirkwood, Nan Elmoth, & Taur-nu-Fuin | hunted like wild beasts | beasts and monsters Day 6: Nan Dungortheb & the Paths of the Dead | phantoms of terror | webs and snares Day 7: Isengard, Moria, & Númenor | old and forgotten | rituals and sacrifices

Please mention @tolkienhorrorweek in the body of your post and tag #tolkienhorrorweek and #tolkienhorrorweek2025 in the first 10 tags. You may also submit a post. Please tag any content warnings/gore and place any NSFW content beneath a read more/link to AO3.

For more information, see the FAQ. If you have any questions, drop them in the ask box.

"She retired to her father's house; but when it became clear that Feanor and his sons would leave Valinor for ever, she came to him before the host started on its northward march, and begged that Feanor should leave her the two youngest, the twins, or one at least of them. He replied: 'Were you a true wife, as you had been till cozened by Aule, you would keep all of them, for you would come with us. If you desert me, you desert also all of our children. For they are determined to go with their father.' Then Nerdanel was angry and she answered: 'You will not keep all of them. One at least will never set foot on Middle-earth.'" - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Peoples of Middle-earth, "The Names of the Sons of Fëanor with the Legend of the Fate of Amrod"

@tolkienhorrorweek day 7: rituals and sacrifices ⇢ THE DEATH OF AMROD

Here's a little snippet!

Of course Maglor is different! Six thousand years of exile, wandering alone along Middle Earth’s coasts with only the waves and wind for company. Was Maedhros not changed after only thirty years in Angband? Did Maglor not defend his right to be scarred, inside and out, to heal at his own pace, to be no less a person despite how little he resembled the Maitimo of Valinor? They called me a thrall in Mithrim and Maglor broke their teeth for it, thinks Maedhros. How can I do any less for him? He is home now. That is what matters. That is all that matters. Then he finds the first dead bird.

I am away busy in the VeryFar and not permitting myself to post new stuff for @tolkienhorrorweek (Witness My Self-Discipline!) so I am queuing up this little list of 10 eerie, grim, and ghoulish ficlets from my back catalogue, instead. Mind the tags on each one.

Such Dulcet and Harmonious Breath (G: 700 words), in which Elenwë learns what lurks beneath the Ice.

Tender on the Tongue (T: 1200 words), in which Lalwen reflects on hunger on the Helcaraxë.

Don't Fear the Reaper (T: 600 words), which explores the obsessive loyalty of the Fëanorian host, from Alqualondë to the sinking of Beleriand.

Metempsychosis (T: 750 words), in which the Noldor learn not to bury their dead.

I Do Not Grudge You The Game (T: 600 words), in which Gimli gets to see another side of Legolas.

Deeper Roots Than Reason (G: 5,500 words), in which the Oath of Fëanor drags Doom behind it, across cultures and generations.

Scourge (G: 500 words), in which Maglor responds to the news of Maedhros' capture.

If Ever She Sang (G: 400 words), in which Melian meets Elwë.

In the Green Tomb, Slumbering (G: 700 words), in which Celegorm meets Dior Eluchil.

Tender Morsels (M: 600 words) in which Fingon and Maedhros explore the bittersweet taste of love.