It Gives A Lovely Light (Drabble/Ficlet Collection) by oshun

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Latest addition: "The Boy My Daughter Married," (featuring Curufin’s mother-in-law, Curufin/OFC, and a blink-and-you-will-miss-it reference to Celebrimbor). 

Chapters are added within chronological order of the events.

A series of drabbles/ficlets: seeds of stories based upon characters and events from the Silmarillion. The title of the collection is taken from a line in a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, because it reminded me of the exiled Noldor, particularly, although not exclusively, the sons of Feanor:

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--
It gives a lovely light!

 

Major Characters: Celebrimbor, Elrond, Elros, Fëanor, Gil-galad, Maedhros, Maglor, Mahtan, Nerdanel

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: Drama, General, Slash/Femslash

Challenges: Forbidden Lore

Rating: Adult

Warnings: Mature Themes

This fanwork belongs to the series

Maitimo and Findekáno
Chapters: 10 Word Count: 2, 608
Posted on 22 May 2007 Updated on 11 February 2010

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

First Impression

A double drabble for Rhapsody: who asked for Mahtan as a father or husband. "My challenge to you is to concentrate on his daughter." Although I did not concentrate on his daughter, Mahtan does. To write you something about a father's concern for his daughter seemed appropriate right now.

Silent Blessing

(An actual true drabble from one prone to use too many words! -- 100 words.)

Forbidden Love

A little bit of comedy, starring Celegorm.

Love In Exile

Maglor and his wife spend their first night in exile.
Written for the HASA “Anti-Valentine Day's Quickie Challenge.”

Child of Hope

The conception of Celebrimbor

The Boy My Daughter Married

Jaiden asked for a drabble or ficlet with the prompt of “wicked.” At the time, I was re-reading Swordspoint and immediately remembered one of the citations Ellen Kushner used on its frontispiece:

“We all have our flaws,” he said, “and mine is being wicked.” –James Thurber, The Thirteen Clocks.”

A Mother's Lament

Double drabble written from the point of view of Celebrimbor's mother.

An Old Familiar Song

Assuming that Maglor and Maedhros fostered Elrond and Elros together, wouldn’t raising the two boys have brought back painful memories of their early life and the younger brothers they had lost? (A double drabble.) Special to me because it was my first Silmarillion-based story.

Fingon’s Heir

Summary: After much soul-searching and review of canon sources, I decided to go with Fingon as Gil-Galad’s daddy. In keeping with my own canon (relating to my Maedhros and Fingon story arc) this piece contains slash and at least one implied threesome.

Forbidden Lore

In response to the September '07 Silmarillion Writers Guild challenge for a story of forbidden lore. Also, must give credit to Keiliss for borrowing elements of the character of Elrond as a young adult from her lovely novel, Even Quicker Than Doubt.

Comments

The Silmarillion Writers' Guild is more than just an archive--we are a community! If you enjoy a fanwork or enjoy a creator's work, please consider letting them know in a comment.

  • For a first story, it was very well done!  That Macalaurë can still cry at the memories of a song after all that he has been through speaks volumes.  He is not hardened or heartless.
  • I like that Maitimo is still a big brother, and accepts the complement even though he has to feel he's led his brothers to their deaths. 
  • Sleeping Elrond and Elros were an eloquent but silent presence. 

 

(I do apologize for the crazy formatting - I was just playing to test out the tinyMCE)

I'd read most of these already, but I just popped in to catch up with those I'd missed: this one and "Silent Blessing." Beautiful work, as usual! "Silent Blessing" made me itchy to read more, know more ... I don't know that I can recall another piece about Finwe's opinion on the illicit love between his grandsons. You were disciplined in writing, but I am not in reading ... I want to know more! ;)

And "Fingon's Heir" ... this has more your usual spirited voice and fits just about perfectly with your stories so far. And again, pesky reader that I am, I would love to see more about this time, how they arrived at the decision, how they arrived at this baby *ahem*, and daily life in their houses. Ai, I am impatient, but it is also a compliment to your storytelling: I cannot get enough of your view of this world! :)

Thanks for reading and for the encouragement. 

You will get your wish #2 before you get #1. My next novella after "A New Day" might be the one which includes the part about how Fingon gets an heir and how the guys come to that decision and how they handle it. (This is the plot bunny that rattles around in my head right now when I am having trouble with my current story.) That little ficlet ("Fingon's Heir") actually got a couple of disappointed reviews in other locations. Also, got a number of positive ones--the same people that always egg me on to make controversial decisions in plotting.

The first one, that would fall between "Maitimo and Findekano" and the flight of the Noldor, is not even a twinkle in my eye yet. But the attitude of the extended family toward the star-crossed lovers does exist as part of my backstory and I will write it eventually.

Writing some of these little bits is almost changing my mind about the value of ficlets/drabbles because it makes me commit to actually admitting that I do have a whole big saga in my head about these people--whether they are worthy of others' time is something I am still struggling with...

Former SWG user

16 years 2 months ago

Permalink

[ I reviewed this on the FF community, but you may be like me and not get notified of reviews on there ] 

Always love the way you portray the Noldor, always; brilliant! I never write Maglor as married, so that chapter of him and his wife was interesting.  I still never will as it would go against his part in my stories unless I rewrote a couple of chapters, [ actually, come to think of it it wouldn't matter all that, I may look into amending some old work ]  but he is one of my favorites and somehow I hate to think of these magnificent creatures tied down to any-one save another of the same gender and fire.
That's just a personal thing, of course. And that's why I love your Maedhros and Fingon stories. 

I had a quite flaming row on a non fanfiction Tolkien site about my own interpretation of Gil galad as Fingon's son. But I must admit I read the Silmarillion for so many years before finding in HoME that it was an error that I cannot for the life of me change it. It's totally entrenched in me.

'' His young son Ereinion ( who was after named Gil-galad ) he [ Fingon ] sent to the Havens ).

It is totally drilled into me, so I always write him as Fingon's son too. It seems to fit much better than anything else and [ again in my own writing ] it's important that his is, to continue a long tradition of either utterly taboo or almost forbidden love and desire between the House of Fëanor and the House of Fingolfin which spans three generations. [ Starting with Fëanor and Fingolfin ] I do say it's only my choice to do it for an AU story, anyway, but I can never see Gil galad as any-one else's son.

As ever,  love your writing, it's so brilliantly clear and almost like watching a film, the writing and atmosphere and characterization and description is always so enthralling.

Drabbles look very hard to write. I am trying and find it impossible to create a short, sharp punchy piece of work [ precising things was always my biggest failure in English ]  These may be all different, but this all ties in so it's terrific. It is like little glimses into a vast story. 

[ Oh yes, tanneries traditionally reek! They used to use urine and dog excrement as agents in it! I think the Noldor must have discovered a way that does not relegate the poor tanners to * beyond the pale. * ]

For the same reason that you stated above, I am responding in both places. Thanks so much for the comments!\r\n\r\nI did have a hard time deciding about who to write as Gil-galad\'s father. I had found the remarks that Christopher Tolkien made about the likelihood that it had been an error to incorporate Fingon as Gil-galad’s father in The Silmarillion. However, much like you, I see these characters as grand and much larger than life. I finally decided that, for whatever logistic problems in might cause me in plotting my story, that I wanted to give Gil-galad a more worthy father than that dull, pale-by-comparison, Orodreth. It seemed just wrong not to give Gil-galad an illustrious father and I desperately wanted to believe there was still a bit of Fingon left in Middle-earth for just a while longer. Hence: Fingon’s Heir. I have one more chapter in my short novel A New Day (actually an Epilogue of sorts). After I finish that, I am thinking of taking on a novella tentatively entitled Fingon’s Heir. That should be different and interesting. Maedhros and I have already picked a Mama for the baby. (Excuse my silliness I am a bit tired today). Anyway, thank you so much for another lovely review and continuing to be so supportive of my work.