One Flavor To Rule Them All

…and frankly nothing speaks more to said talent than how even though they haven’t been mentioned in a single adaptation and are barely even there in the books, the entirety of the fandom knows full well that the Sons of Elrond, had they existed in modern day, would 100% be the kind of guys who hold up fish in their Facebook profile pics.

Elrond is mentioned in History of Middle-earth as ‘herald and minstrel of Gil-galad’, and is also a skilled healer. He’s the descendent of Lúthien, also an exceptionally skilled singer and healer. So why does fic and meta continuously associate this only with Maglor, who does not demonstrate healing abilities at any point?

Elros canonically has Thingol’s sword Aranrúth, but this gets less recognition than complete headcanons about him inheriting a sword (sometimes Narsil) from Maedhros.

Elrond and Elros both have associations with water (Elrond via his ability to affect the waters of the Bruinen, Elros as the founder of a seafaring kingdom). They are the descendants of freaking Eärendil. This seems more relevant than their connection to Maglor (whose association with the sea via beach-lamenting comes after he has parted from them).

Turgon temporarily fosters human children; one of them has a son who marries Turgon’s daughter. (Thingol also fosters a human, less successfully.) Elrond, Turgon’s great-grandson, fosters successive generations of Dúnedain, one of whom marries his daughter.

The people of Gondolin spoke Quenya (in their own dialect), I think.

Númenor had millennia of close contact with the Valinorean Noldor, who spoke Quenya.

Elros and his line for seven thousand years inherit the Ring of Barahir.

We thought it might be a fun to do an ask game. If you want people to send you an ask, simply reblog this post. :-)

THE QUESTIONS

How did you find out about Rings of Power? What was the one thing that drew you to the show?

Who is your favourite character and why? 

If you could spend one day with a character, who would it be? What would you do together?

What’s your favourite location in RoP? 

What’s your favourite song or piece of music from RoP? 

Where would you most like to live in RoP and why?

What minor character would you like to see more of? 

What accessory would you like most to own? (sword, brooch, crown, etc.)

Whose costume would you like most to try on?

Choose three characters. What jobs would they have if they lived in our time?

Which social media site would your favourite character use the most?

What colour do you associate with your favourite character?

There is a lot of music in Tolkien. What character would you wish to sing in RoP? What would they sing about? To whom?

Do you have a song you associate with a favourite character?

Who would you write a poem for in RoP and why?

Name three characters that have dog energy and three that have cat energy.

What do you think “Halbrand” said to the warg puppy?

Which character would you most like to go to a pub with?

Which characters who haven't shared screen time yet would you most like to meet one another?

Name three of your favourite scenes (or lines, or scenes and lines).

Based on the various dinner scenes we have seen so far, to whose table would you most like to be invited as a guest?

Were you familiar with Tolkien's writings before you watched RoP? What’s your favourite, or what might you like to read after seeing the show?

If you could give a present to a favourite character, what would it be?

What is your favourite story line in RoP?

What people or community in Tolkien’s world is your favourite and why?

If you could ask the creative team behind RoP one question, what would it be?

Which person involved in the show would you most like to meet in person? What would you say to them?

Do you have any headcanons about a character, or the world? What are they? 

Describe your favourite character using three emojis.

He's just trying to keep everything from falling apart while Elrond is doing weird eldritch Maia shit, Erestor is watching him while eating popcorn and occasionally throwing knives at people, Glorfindel is running around being an elven glowstick and putting bells on his horse for stealth missions, over in Eregion Celebrimbor is building the Middle Earth equivalent of a nuclear bomb, no one knows what the fuck the Greenwood is up to, and Galadriel is sitting in her forest giving cryptic advice and being generally unhelpful

also Sauron is there

He's like Finwe's great great great grandson; that's clearly too many generations away.

Also he's technically a Feanorian and they're like, super cursed and also dispossessed so maybe he shouldn't be in the line of succession.

No one can agree on whether his claim comes from the Nolofinwean or Feanorian lines. Clearly the best solution to this is for him to not be king.

Galadriel is right there.

He turns into a bird sometimes and everyone knows that birds can't be elf-kings that would be silly.

Yes, he does have one of the three rings "for elvish kings" but Cirdan also has one of those, and he's not an elvish king, so frankly it doesn't matter.

Gil-Galad's will, which states that Elrond inherits the crown, was clearly forged. I will not explain how. Trust me on this one.

C'mon guys he's not even technically an elf. Yes Melian was a queen over elves without being an elf. Yes Dior was a half-elf elf king. I don't see what that has to do with anything.

Do we really need a king?? Apparently some edain are experimenting with a new system called "democracy" and fraknly that sounds a lot better and cooler than having another king.

We'd have to get the crown resized again and that would be a lot of work.

He wears his hair partially down. In public. If that's not scandalous I don't konw what is.

I know his followers keep talking about how great of a leader he is, but they're mostly Feanorians, so clearly that doesn't count.

Galadriel. Is. Right. There.

He probably doesn't even speak Quenya. Don't ask anyone at court to confirm this.

He's very busy revolutionizing the field of medicine in Rivendell right now, please leave me him alone.

Elladan: not to indulge in schadenfreude, but can I just say...

Arwen: no you cannot

Elrohir: if we are in the mood for silver linings on this gloomy day

Aragorn: we aren't

Elladan: tomorrow Elrohir will be buying the most expensive horse in Arda, I will be going on a 12 day bender in the Prancing Pony, and we have both ordered a bushel of pipeweed to be delivered to the house

Aragorn: the occasion? other than Ada skinning you alive, that is

Elrohir: perspective, little brother. In the eyes of Ada, nothing Elladan and I do from now until the breaking of the world, could ever be as bad as your betrayal. sorry, betrothal.

Elladan: we could go outside and throw Glorfindel of a cliff right now and Ada would still be more angry at you. we could use his favourite robe as a saddlecloth and he will shower us in praise

Elrohir: i could eat Bilbo Baggins tomorrow and Ada would say 'well at least you didn't fucking die just to get some action'. we are set for life, my friends. we are the apples of his eye. literally untouchable.

Elladan: and as for skinning us alive, Estel, certainly. that is, if he has energy left after sitting in his study like a brooding gargoyle and running his beloved foster son up the flagpole with a sword up his arse like —

genuinely the level of crack this fandom inspires in me is absurd. Anyway here is my chart. I know Galadriel doesn’t fit the definition of the initial meme, but she can be a little daddy if she wants, as a treat.

Elrond: Already? But there's been like three kids?

Do you reckon that once Elros was king in Númenor he and Elrond did the twin switch thing? I like to think Elrond recieved a letter one time that said something along the lines of:

I need a holiday. I'll work for Gil-Galad for a week and you rule my kingdom, deal?

And Elrond was just like yea go on then.

A few days in and Gil-Galad is wondering why Elrond keeps making bad puns, why his handwriting is atrociously illegible and is just generally being extroverted.

Meanwhile in Númenor the subjects are confused as to why the King sings at random intervals, gives looks of sharp disdain to annoying politicians rather than swearing like a sailor and no longer gets carried to bed after drinking with the sea-guard.

Then they switch back just as everyone has grown accustomed to it. Elrond (the real one) tries hard not to laugh when the king makes a bad pun, Elros having influenced him. Elros finds himself VERY drunk on his first night back, the sea-guard believing his capabilities to be far higher than when he left.

P.s the bad pun Gil-Galad says?

Some courtier named Nindrol: "High-King-"

Gil-Galad: "Hi Nindrol." (Thank you random elf name generator)

Ok y'all, if EVER there is a reason to get a Shakespearean actor to do Tolkien, Charles Edwards demonstrates it in this very under-discussed little monologue. (I know, it's not the world's greatest screen record. So sue me, I tried.)

It's not even 30 seconds, but it's a masterclass in how to go zero to sixty in a quarter mile. Even the writing itself is reminiscent of classic Shakespearean monologues. Celebrimbor is talking to a metal blank specifically and his project more generally, and you're just as invested in these questions as Celebrimbor is. You BELIEVE that he's genuinely asking and looking for an answer. There's something almost Hamletian about this monologue, and I absolutely adore it.