A Stiff Northern Breeze by Himring

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Fanwork Notes

This story follows the published Silmarillion with regard to Orodreth's background. (He is Finrod's brother, not his nephew.)

Orodreth is the person who got stuck with two unenviable tasks--trying to hold Tol Sirion against Sauron and trying to rule Nargothrond while it was actually Celegorm and Curufin who were in power. This is an attempt to think about his character and relationship with Finrod. That got a bit angsty for Maedhros and me, so I asked Fingon to try and cheer us up a bit.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

During the time of the Siege of Angband, the princes of the Noldor meet once again in council, this time at Tol Sirion. Maedhros has a disturbing conversation with Orodreth, their host. He discusses Orodreth with Fingon, while they take a walk along the river. 

A Christmas present for Alasse--Christmas 2010, that is. Only about two months late,  that's almost punctual, for me... Thank you for the discussion of weather conditions in northern Beleriand, Alasse! 

Maedhros/Fingon. 

Now added: Engineering and Diplomacy (Fingon & Curufin, double drabble)

Major Characters: Curufin, Fingon, Maedhros, Orodreth

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: Fixed-Length Ficlet, General, Romance, Slash/Femslash

Challenges: Gift of a Story

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Expletive Language, Mature Themes

This fanwork belongs to the series

Doom, Gloom and Maedhros
Chapters: 2 Word Count: 3, 716
Posted on 18 February 2011 Updated on 19 November 2016

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

A Stiff Northern Breeze (main story)

(Names: Aikanaro=Aegnor, Artaresto=Orodreth, Curufinwe=Curufin, Findekano=Fingon, Findarato=Finrod, Russandol=Maedhros)

Bonus ficlet: Engineering and Diplomacy

Curufin is a genius--he doesn't need to be there to solve technical difficulties.
So why should he bother to be tactful?

These are the letters Curufin and Fingon exchanged about Fingon's building project, an episode alluded to in the conversation between Fingon and Maedhros above.

Gen.

Comments

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::clutches story:: Mine! Thanks for the present, I loved it :D

It was interesting this version of Orodreth and his dependence to Finrod. In that regard he reminded me of your Maglor and his relationship with Maedhros. I loved the idea of the north wind bringing the sound of orcs and wolves! And I loved the scene with Fingon and Maedhros, peaceful despite everything as if when they are together nothing exist but them.

::great sigh of relief:: You liked it? Oh, good!!!

I hadn't thought of the resemblance to Maglor (Maedhros in the story thinks that Orodreth is like him), but now that you say it it seems obvious.

Although I don't state it clearly in the story itself, by the time of that last scene between Fingon and Maedhros years have passed and Tol Sirion has fallen to Sauron (I'm not sure whether Luthien has already taken it away from him again or not). Maedhros is thinking of kingfishers because blue is one of the colours of Fingon and is also the colour of happiness - but he is also thinking of kingfishers because they fly very quickly, they are there and then gone again like a flash of blue...

I really enjoyed reading this. Maedhros self reflection and inner talk is fascinating and gives such insight as to who he is right now.

poor Orodreth--it's hard being in Finrod's shadow and maintaining a bold front--but I think it is more that.

The line about the function of ink in general was brilliant. 

I always enjoy how you write Maedhros and Fingon--together and separately. There is a tenderness to their tentativeness around their physical proximity that breaks my heart. The flashback at the end was lovely--hard to think they don't have that now.

Thank you very much! So glad you enjoyed the characterisation!

And good to hear that that line about the ink worked for you.

I don't think I fully explained Orodreth here, but I think he must have been in a difficult position and a conflicted state of mind.

 

The bit at the end is intended as a flashforward, not a flashback-- that may not have been very clear, sorry.

By that time, some of the bad things Orodreth feared have happened, but Maedhros and Fingon understand each other better.

 

Thank you very much for the comment about my writing!

As for the other comment, I'm not sure whether you mean shipping Maedhros/Fingon generally or Maedhros's thoughts about cousins as they feature in this story.

I realize that relationships among first cousins are a real taboo for some Tolkien fans (although I actually did not realize this until I encountered the first warnings on fic for cousin incest). It's not part of my personal cultural background--according to the standards I was brought up in, incest is just between siblings and between child and parent and for first cousins it's merely genetically a bit more risky to have children. I'm aware that historically past societies have both been more lenient about this (for example, ancient Egypt, where even marriages between siblings were encouraged) and a lot more stringent (for example, in the later Middle Ages in western Europe, more distant degrees of consanguinity were forbidden than first cousins). I realize that globally standards still differ today.

My protagonists have come from a society where such relationships were forbidden (Valinor) and now find themselves in a situation where many rules that they used to live by have to be renegotiated. Maedhros is actually finding this quite difficult. So his flight of fancy about cousins in fact arises partly out of that and is meant to be just that, a moment of fancy. It does not imply that there are lots of cousins who are lovers about (not even Aredhel and Celegorm, although they have a complicated history).

Sorry, if I've over-explained this. It's sometimes hard to know where are my readers are coming from.