Theory: Aredhel Was The Most Skilled Among The Noldor At Spells Of Concealment

Please consider: If Tolkien wasn't a coward Feanor would have been female and it would have been way cooler. a) Gives some real weight to the idea that Feanor was worried the crown would go to one of Finwe's other kids. b) More ladies in Tolkien, always a plus. c) You'd better believe Feanor's the greatest craftsperson of the Noldor- she made 7 of them! (Also the sheer drama of newly single mum Feanor and her 7 boys in Middle Earth) d) Silmarils as kids2.0 e) Blacksmith lady hot

Lady Feanor would indeed be awesome. The historical part of my brain can't help but think that critics of the time would have unfortunately interpreted ambitious kick butt single mom Feanor as a prime example of the "monstrous woman" type, ala Medea or something, who "got what was coming to her" in the end, so in a way I'm glad that the Prof. decided to write Feanor as a man so that we didn't have to deal with that nonsense.

I can't help but wonder if he'd lived at a later date if he might have considered female Feanor, I mean, this is a man who took one look at one is Shakespeare's most famous plays and said, "the answer to the prophesy is a C-section?? Booooo! Macbeth should have been killed by a woman! (And also the trees should have actually come alive)" and "its bogus that Orpheus turned around after all that and Eurydice had to die! Rip to them but if i were trapped in the underworld my wife would be different!"

And then proceeded to write his own genderbent fix it fic of both of those perennial works x)

So yeah, I think if the character had come into his head as female then Tolkien would have 100% been down with it

*Advisor to high king Elessar voice* You can go play with your friends after you finish your politics

kidnap dads pillow/blanket forts !!! 🥺

48. Pillow/Blanket Forts

Maedhros halted abruptly as soon as he crossed the threshold of the boys’ room. “What are you doing?”

Elrond and Elros froze guiltily. Elrond looked down at the ground, while Elros scrunched up his nose.

“Building a blanket fort?” he said.

A blanket fort? Maedhros blinked, re-examining the mass of pillows shoved beneath chairs, blankets draped over them, the cozy little cavern the twins had created for themselves. He’d done similar things as a child, he recalled, though there had been no concept of “forts” in Aman. It stung his heart to think that they had never known peace, had been born and raised in a land where even forts did not stand for long...

But this would would, this blanket fort within a fortress. Maedhros would defend Amon Ereb, so the children could defend their quilted creation.

“A fort should have defenses,” Maedhros said, crouching down to inspect it. “It should be strong enough to withstand enemy attack. I would know—I held Himring for centuries, and hold Amon Ereb even now.”

Elrond looked up, eyes wide. “Will you help us, Atya?” he blurted out. “So if Atar comes we can—defend it from him?”

Maedhros laughed, ruffling his son’s hair. “Of course,” he said. “First—let’s spread these chairs out, and find some poles and books to build with, so we can expand our fort and I can fit inside...”

~

“What are you doing?” Maglor asked, baffled, as his brother and their sons marched past him with arms full of blankets, books, and...stilts?

The twins scampered on ahead, completely oblivious, but Maedhros paused, a cheery sparkle in his eyes that Maglor hadn’t seen there since...before Fingon died.

“I’m instructing them in siege warfare,” he pronounced. “Keep out of their room for an hour or two, alright? You’ll be playing the enemy, eventually. Just like our drills back in the day!”

“Atya!” Elros called. “C’mon!”

Maedhros grinned—grinned!—and all but pranced away, more excited than Maglor could remember him being in a very long time. A little morbid that it was battle tactics that put such a spring in his step, but, well, that was Maedhros...and Maglor saw the truth. His brother was happy to feel useful, instructing the twins on something important, something he knew well, and able to spend time with his sons as well.

He shook his head with a smile, already turning over ideas of how to play the game along with them. If Maedhros had a hand—hah—in the fort they were building, it would take a little more than knocking over a chair to take it down...not that he’d really do that. He’d let the boys take him hostage.

After all, of the four of them that comprised this strange little family, he was the only one who’d never been kidnapped before!

Whenever my day is going bad, I remind myself my name is not Maedhros and I don't have brothers named Celegorm and Curufin. It works very well.

"omg youre pissed off about the elves HAIR LENGTH???" yes! yes i am! because tolkien created an incredible subversive fantasy world (IN THE 1930s) that rejected the influence of modern society - beauty norms were different, gender norms were different, its what made tolkiens world a WORLD. it was unique. but instead of actually caring about tolkiens unique and beautiful world, amazon has chosen to busy themselves with making sure the beauty standards are THEIR beauty standards, the gender norms are THEIR gender norms, the messages being spread are AMAZON'S messages, not TOLKIEN'S messages. sometimes things have nuance to them - maybe not to you, fine, but that doesnt mean the nuance isnt there.

I can’t write these scenes bro I just can’t

Hey bitch!!! I’m back and I still love you and your writing!! Any way, I was wondering if you had any ideas of which elves can tell Elladan and Elrohir apart and which can’t? You’re still amazing byeeeee!!! -🏳️‍🌈

Yaaasss hello again my good bitch!! 🎩🎩

Thanks I love and apprecate you so much!! Let me know if I forgot anyone byeeeeeee

People that can

Elrond -- Even when they were 1 hour old Elrond could tell them apart. 

Celebrian -- By the time they could talk, there was no fooling her  (Heartbreaking sidenote headcanon: After she was rescued from the Orcs she couldn't tell them apart anymore. So they each began wearing a different color. Nothing drastic. Elrohir tended to use grey tone while Elladan uses lighter blue tones so that she wouldn't have to guess and get it wrong because they knew how bad it made her feel.)

Glorfindel -- Can always, always, always, tell them apart. 

Arwen -- Same with Arwen. 

Legolas -- If they stay completely silent, then sometimes he can't tell. But as soon as they talk its game over. 

Erestor -- Can almost always tell them apart but sometimes he pretends he cant. 

Galadrial -- Mind powers, enough said. 

Celeborn -- Usually, but the twins are very aware that their grandfather has been tricked before on several occasions, and therefore can be tricked again. 

Aragorn -- They've never really tested it with him, but this far he's never mixed them up that they've noticed.  

Merry & Pippin -- For some reason the two hobbits have proven to be unflappable by any scheme to confuse them. 

Galion -- You can hide nothing from him. Nothing.

People That Can’t 

Tbh, most people 

Gimli -- No idea. None at all. Never has, not once. People can tell him but as soon as they start moving around again he's lost it. 

Gandalf -- Sometimes he can but more often than not he can't tell unless he's told who is who. 

Thranduil -- Doesn't know and honestly doesn't really care. 

Frodo -- Has a 50/50 chance of getting it right. 

Sam -- Refuses to guess in case he offends anyone.  

It sure is convenient that all these songs that ostensibly weren’t written in English all rhyme when translated into English, isn’t it, Mr. Tolkien?

Can I please ask for your top five theories on why the Ringwraiths become so much more powerful over the course of the LotR trilogy? By the end of the books a single Ringwraith holds an army of 6000 men in paralysing dread from a height of a mile, they're dismaying hosts of men, etc. And in the beginning, they're easily defeated by "jumping behind a tree," "pretending to be in a different room," "getting on a little boat," "man with a stick on fire," etc.

hmm ok

1) their power depends on how physically close they are to sauron/mordor

2) they consciously weren’t unleashing their full power early in Fellowship bcos it didn’t seem worth it when they were just dealing w hobbits

3) they just woke up from a REALLY long nap and it takes them a while to fully come ‘online’

4) their power just waxes & wanes sometimes

5) hobbits are their One Weakness