Comments on Of Oaths, Common Sense, and a Silmaril

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.

Maedhros mind is racing in about 10 different direction at once here: is it a ruse? would this actually fulfill the oath or does he have to go attack his nephew? is Celebrimbor all right or does he need to be rescued? Is Celebrimbor even there at all? Does Celebrimbor still count as a member of the family given that he renounced his father? Should Maedhros err on the side of trying to get the Silmaril? What will Morgoth do if this is for real? Err... what does Maedhros do with himself and his followers if this is for real?

It's a totally unexpected response that creates a completely different situation for him. There will be more of this story up in the next while, and the question of what Maedhros will do next will be answered.



I had temporarily forgotten that by this stage the whole magical artifact combo is cursed as well, if you believe in that sort of curse.

Celebrimbor had better watch out--although I really like the idea of Enerdhil and him poring over the thing with a jeweller's loupe.

Also, might the Sindar consider he was breaking Thingol's ban by using Quenya names in the oath? He doesn't seem to get a reaction on that, though.



Ah yes, the curse. I tend to think that holding an object that screams 'steal me!' at anyone who comes near it and 'keep me!' to anyone who owns it is quite curse enough. You'll notice it didn't burn Celebrimbor, though. I think the Silmaril rather likes him, not that this is an unalloyed good thing.

I don't think either Celebrimbor or Enerdhil had any likelihood of not playing with their new toy.

Thingol's Ban: I'd wondered about that, but I kind of see the original form of a name being like one's legal name, to be used in legal documents or binding oaths. Elwing can't really do anything about the language Celebrimbor was named in. So she'll just have to put up with that small deviation for now. But Celebrimbor had better remember to speak Sindarin the rest of the time if he doesn't want trouble.

You might be right about the Feanorians, but eventually they will have to produce some kind of organized response.

And yes, I see Celebrimbor spending the last century or so of the war of the jewels stuck in the middle of a very awkward situation. This story does place him even more in the middle of events, of course.

I really like writing Celebrimbor. I think a lot of myself ended up in the way I write him, especially the curiosity, idealism and being somewhat socially inept. Oddly enough, the depressive tendencies and pragmatism ended up with Gil-galad, not that you see much of him in this story. I'm glad you're enjoying it.