After the Cataclysm by Himring  

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Fanwork Notes

The prompt I was given was the last line of Langston Hughes's poem Harlem: Or does it explode?

I suppose, strictly, the only thing that blows up in this piece is Meneltarma, and that is only hinted at in the background.

I hope this makes sense as response to the prompt and the poem anyway.

Warning for a theme of canonical late Numenorean violence against the inhabitants of Middle-earth, with  references to past (non-canonical instances) of this.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

In Eriador, rumours of the recent Downfall of Numenor are spreading. In a small town inland these rumours are confirmed by the arrival of Elendil and his companions. Still inwardly reeling with shock, Elendil is confronted here with an aspect of Numenor he finds difficult to deal with.

Major Characters: Elendil, Númenóreans, Original Male Character(s)

Major Relationships:

Genre: General

Challenges: Famous Last Words

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 713
Posted on Updated on

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After the Cataclysm

Comments on After the Cataclysm

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What a powerful reflection on social judgements, perspective, passivity and hindsight. It was uncomfortable (complimentary) in that Elendil's actions toward the begger are the kind of pushing the unsightly or uncomfortable problem under the rug that we're all faced with some point or another. It does not seem he is in accord with the crowd, but unwilling to go against it.

Thank you very much!

It is likely that the reactions of the others are influenced by what they think Elendil wants to hear (the townspeople, at any rate, his fellow Numenoreans less so).

My thoughts in this piece were that Elendil has not established himself as King of Arnor yet. The situation here does not offer him  much of a framework to guide himself by, which is one of the reasons he does not handle it better.

But Elendil does choose to lay claim to that crown, and his descendants also, apparently without fully acknowledging what the Numenorean legacy entails.

 

Three meals and a donkey and let's hear no more of this. That was a knee-jerk reaction and I'm glad Elemdil had second thoughts, and yet ... he's inheriting more than he might be willing to acknowledge and certainly more than he can make amends for, even if it was under his predecessor's rule ...

... which is, as you point out, not the be all and end all since the rot extends far beyond the fugurehead, embedded throughout society. 

Heavy, yet very relevant thoughts. 

He did not ask the name of the beggar who celebrated the death of Ar-Pharazôn and said that the Númenoreans had destroyed his village, and he didn't let someone poison the King when the opportunity arose? Probably far too principled. It ran in the family all the way down to Aragorn. 

Thank you, Wisteria!

It was Amandil, Elendil's father, who according to this piece didn't allow the poisoning to happen.

But, yes, they are a family that mostly tends to stick to the letter of the law!  (Not quite always, though, I think.) And there is much to be said for that principle, except it does not always preserve you from being implicated anyway.

Elendil is regretting not having learned the name because it forecloses any possible attempt at further compensation later, but of course anonymity also helps to protect the beggar from possible pursuit by anyone who thought he deserved punishment. 

Very true! The past cannot be fixed; the world has irrevocably changed.

However, Elendil and his sons, in canon, seem very quick to claim rule in Middle-earth, not just over fellow Numenoreans, but also over other inhabitants of Arnor and Gondor. In some ways, that turns out to be a good thing, I guess, as it also means they are better prepared to fight Sauron in the War of the Last Alliance.

But it also means that they and their followers are carrying quite some baggage with them that will have more unfortunate consequences. Faramir points out some of those later on, in retrospect.

I wanted Elendil to have at least some second thoughts, here.