Writ in Ash by silmalope  

Appendix

An appendix to Writ in Ash.

An Important Note on Timing: Writ in Ash takes place in 52-102 F.A. It is not a rewrite or fix-it of the canonical incident circa 150-200 F.A., where Mîm tries to assassinate Finrod and his people are exiled from Nargothrond. (The assassination attempt occurs after the Greater-dwarves return to Beleriand and begin working with Finrod in Nargothrond.)

A Note on Dwarf Ages: Mîm is stupidly long-lived for a Dwarf; canonically he’s got to be at least 400 by the time he dies in F.A. 502, and likely much older. Tolkien repeatedly describes Mîm as being older than most Dwarves (and sometimes “fatherless,” which is a very intriguing idea that I have not explored here.) For the purposes of this fic I posit that Mîm is a normal Dwarf, and Dwarves in the First Age just live longer — it’s a mythic era, the earth is young, et cetera.

A Note on Petty-dwarf Names: Canonically, Petty-dwarves are unlike Greater-dwarves in that they use their Khuzdul names with outsiders. (The dwarves in the Hobbit, for example, all have two names: "Thorin" is the outer name used with non-dwarves, but he also has a Khuzdul name not known to the reader.) But Petty-dwarves only have the one. This is also why the OC names in Writ in Ash may not sound like Dwarvish OC (outer-) names seen in other Dwarf-centric fics, such as Hobbit-fic. In creating OC names for this fic (Barkhûnd, Ishar, Amûnd, Khûnd, Lakhîth, Nibun, etc.) I borrowed from existing Khuzdul consonant-vowel structures and phonemes to match the very few Khuzdul names we have in canon (Mîm, Khîm, Ibun).

A Note on Zigilzâram: Zigilzâram is made-up, as is its burning and the odyssey of the Petty-dwarves south to Amon Rûdh/Nargothrond. There is no canon evidence (as far as I'm aware) to support the idea that Silm!Mîm ever lived by Tarn Aeluin. But there are some pretty neat fan theories that some Petty-dwarves once lived at Tarn Aeluin, specifically in the ancient house of tall stones where Barahir and his men hide out.

TIMELINE
*speculative date for a canon event
** fic invention, non-canon event

• 0 - After establishing the Siege of Angband, the Noldor begin settling and expanding in Middle-Earth.
• 10* - Turgon builds and settles Vinyamar.
• 12* - Finrod builds the tower of Minas Tirith (not that one) in Fingolfin’s realm in the north on Tol Sirion.
• 18** - Mîm is born to Zîm and Ikhûz in the Petty-dwarf settlement of Zigilzâram (“Silvermere”) on the shores of Tarn Aeluin. At this time the Petty-dwarves have been undisturbed in the area for at least a generation; the adults are still fearful but the children less so.
• 34** - A group of Elvish scouts bearing Aegnor’s heraldry are conducting a patrol of the area near Tarn Aeluin. They mistake the Petty-dwarves of Zigilzâram for orcs and drive them out. The dwarves flee along the fringes of Ered Gorgoreth; many are killed, and more perish in winter. Mîm is 26, roughly equivalent to a youth of 12 or 13.
• 35** - Seeking a new home in the south where Elves are fewer, the Zigilzâram folk wander south through the Pass of Anact, down the River Mindeb through the Dimbar region. They cannot enter Doriath, of course, and are driven out of Brethil by Thingol’s March-wardens. Two of Lakhîth's brothers are killed, and her mother dies later that year. At length they flee the woods and find shelter at Amon Rûdh, which they call Sharbhund. There they establish the settlement (Bar-en-Nibin-noeg) that will later become the House of Ransom.
• 44** - Fearful of increased sightings of elves traveling along the borders of Doriath, the dwarves at Sharbhund scout south and discover an abandoned Petty-dwarf settlement in the High Faroth along the Narog. Some remain in Sharbhund, but a greater portion of the dwarves decide to migrate there and establish Nulukkhîzdin, led by their chief Nibûn. Mîm is now closer to the human equivalent of 16 or 17.
• 50 - Finrod is visited by Turgon coming from Vinyamar on the coast, and they go travelling together southward to Beleriand; he leaves the keeping of Minas Tirith to his nephew Orodreth. While resting in the Aelin-uial, they both have separate dreams from Ulmo that made them begin searching for hidden places in which to build a keep.
• 50 - 52 - Finrod spends time as a guest of Thingol in Doriath.
• 52 - Enchanted by Menegroth’s beauty, Finrod mentions his dream of finding a hidden place to build something similar. Thingol directs him to the High Faroth on the west bank of the Narog, and had guides lead him there. He sees the openings of many caves, and finds the dwellings of Petty-dwarves, who agree to help him build his underground keep. This is where Writ in Ash begins. Based on this timeline, Mîm at Finrod’s arrival would have been 34 and just reaching adulthood, the equivalent of 18 or 19.
• 55 ** - Mîm and Lakhîth wed in the spring.
• 59** - Some dwelling-spaces have been firmly established in Nargothrond; a small portion of Finrod’s people, including Edrahil, reside there and assist with the work.
• 65 - Finrod and Círdan collaborate to build Barad Nimras, a watchtower west of Eglarest, designed to protect the havens from naval attacks.
• 80 ** - Mîm and Lakhîth’s first child, Khîm, is born. Lakhîth and Finrod meet for the first time and begin their correspondence, with Mîm as their translator.
• 102 - Nargothrond is completed; Finrod celebrates with a great feast, which his siblings attend.

GLOSSARIES

DWARVISH GLOSSARY
Words marked with * are invented for this fic (wholly invented, as I chose not to use Neo-Khuzdul.) All others are canon or semi-canon. Corrections and feedback welcome & appreciated!

• *da, enough
• Felakgundu, “Cave-hewer,” the Dwarvish origin of Felagund
• Gabilgathol, the Dwarf-city of Belegost
• *hadar tamûn, the Inner Hall of a Petty-dwarf settlement
• khuzd, a dwarf (including Petty-dwarves)
• khazâd, dwarves (including Petty-dwarves)
• Khuzdul, Dwarvish (as a general adjective), and also the language of the Dwarves
• *izîl, an elf, adopted from Sindarin “edhel” with no native Dwarvish etymology.
• *izûl, elves. The plural form of izîl.
• *Naruk, Dwarvish name for the river Narog.
• Narkuthûn, the Dwarvish name for Nargothrond. (Usage for this fic is slightly different from canon usage.)
• Nulukkhizdîn, the underground halls of the Petty-dwarves beside the Narog, which predate the Elvish Nargothrond. (Usage for this fic is slightly different from canon usage. Also spelled —kkizdîn, but the -kh spelling is said by some to be “more correct,” so that’s what I ended up using.)
• Sharbhund, the hill Amon Rûdh.
• Tumunzahar, the Dwarf-city of Nogrod
• -ul, suffix meaning "son/daughter of" (ex. Thorin Thrainul)
• Zigilzâram, literally "the Silvermere," the name of the Petty-dwarf, settlement on the banks of Tarn Aeluin. Borrowed from existing Khuzdul words zigil = silver and zaram = mere, pool.

ELVISH GLOSSARY (Not Exhaustive)

• fëa (Q.) spirit (as defined by Elves); the immaterial part of the self that inhabits a living body. What Finrod calls the fëa of the Petty-dwarves is what Mîm calls "the inner fire."
• Hadhodrim (S.) the dwarves, dwarf-folk, derived from “khazâd”. Singular is hadhod.
• noegyth nibin (S.) Petty-dwarves, literally meaning “the petty stunted-folk.” Singular is niben-nog.
  • In this fic noegyth nibin is a fairly rude (but common) term. The Petty-dwarves call themselves khazâd (“dwarves”, but without the double meaning of stature; derived from the Khuzdul word for “seven”), and Finrod likewise uses the polite Sindarin equivalent Hadhodrim.

* Succession is male-only but passes through the female line. This is why the role of the next chieftain is expected to go to Mîm (the husband of Nibun’s daughter) rather than Barkhûnd (the son of Nibun.) If Mîm had a daughter, she would succeed Lakhîth as lorekeeper, and her husband would be the next chieftain; otherwise, it would pass through the line of Lakhîth’s nearest female relative. (I am the only one who cares about this haha) This is only the general rule, of course.