Copy of my MEFA review:

I love this story because it is by Oshun, with all that implies, and because it is about Maglor, who is one of the Noldor I am most interested in anyway. The feast in question is the celebration twenty years after the first Rising of the Sun at the Eithel Ivrin, the pools at the source of the Narog at the foot of the Mountains of Shadow, to which Fingolfin summoned elves from all over Beleriand; Sindar and Green-Elves came as well as Noldor, and it is the one occasion on which we can assume that Maglor met Daeron and they heard each other sing. The piece is part of Oshun's "Maitimo and Findekano" series, which is a favourite of mine, and especially closely linked to her Work-in-Progress "Mereth Aderthad", which I hope she will finish soon, because I can't wait to read the next chapter. Oshun's Noldor are strong, courageous, generous, independent-minded, determined, and highly motivated. Here she has condensed all the qualities that I admire about them into one short ficlet. Maglor is, of course, known for writing the Noldolante, which is, according to the "Silmarillion", a famous lament on the subject of the Downfall of Noldor. Here his determination is described to write about hope and joy as well as about the inevitable high price to be paid for the Noldorin venture into Beleriand and those disasters that have already happened since their departure. The piece was originally written for Back-to-Middle-Earth Month 2011, and the challenge for that particular day was to start a story with the opening line of Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities". Oshun has done more than that; she has gone back to Dickens's work and used the following sentences, too, and she has made them work really well.

For reasons I can't fathom, the possibility of Maglor and Daeron being at the same party never quite resgistred with me. I really like the idea though the fic is of course centered on other things. The idea of the Noldolante having been anything other than sad is great. I can't really imagine those proud Noldor thinking all their work/fighting for nought entirely, even if their lives were tragedy stricken. You don't keep building kingdoms and organizing armies if that is all you believe.