Shepherd Princess by Himring  

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Fanwork Notes

For the Epic 80s Challenge, for the following prompt: the edition of Unfinished Tales, by JRR Tolkien (author), Christopher Tolkien (editor).

Recently, I came across a discussion on TolkienGuide by Druss, that analysed how Christopher Tolkien had left out a passage on Numenorean dogs in excerpting A Description of the Island of Númenor for the publication of Unfinished Tales in 1980 so that the dogs of Numenor had to wait another 41 years before finally seeing publication in The Nature of Middle-earth. So, of course, my drabble features a sheepdog of Emerie. Totally canonical (their training is mentioned explicitly in NoME), but glaringly absent from the epic 1980s!

My dog is called Gobi (Gnomish gôbi). This is my Middle-earth approximation of the last name of Charlie B. Barkin, protagonist of All Dogs Go to Heaven (that film was another Challenge prompt), as Gnomish gôbi (an early Elvish word for  "large hound") derives from gab-, meaning "to bark, bay (of dogs)”, according to Eldamo.

No special warnings, except for Ancalime's canonical discomfort with some aspects of court life in Armenelos.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

A princess and her sheepdog. (Drabble featuring a young Ancalime.)

Major Characters: Tar-Ancalimë

Major Relationships:

Genre: Fixed-Length Ficlet

Challenges: Epic 80s

Rating: General

Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 102
Posted on Updated on

This fanwork is complete.

Shepherd Princess

Read Shepherd Princess

Ancalime sighed, stretching out her legs in the shade of the tree. Beside her, Gobi lay, panting gently, but always watchful. The sheep were dotted all about, motionless or ambling in a leisurely fashion in the midday sun.

‘I wish I could take you with me,’ said Ancalime to Gobi, who twitched his ears.

Well, she could, but she would never do it. Gobi was a well-trained, hard-working sheepdog. At court, he would go crazy, with nothing to do and no sheep to herd, the way she sometimes felt herself in Armenelos! Seemingly, there was no way to herd courtiers…

Chapter End Notes

Additional note on the movie title prompt: 

Full disclosure: I have never seen that film. But, according to Wikipedia, in the movie  Barkin is a German Shepherd mixture, so that sort of fits...

Leave a Comment

The dogs of Númenor deserve their place in the spotlight, and Ancalimë is the perfect companion. You've conveyed her frustrations with court life so subtly yet clearly. I'm sure she'd rather stay out there with Gobi.

Yes, she enjoys staying out there with Gobi a lot more than court life!  But when it comes to ceding the succession to Soronto under pressure, she finds she cannot do that either... 

Glad you liked the bit of spotlight on a dog of Numenor!

....Ancalimë's future troubles with men, and with ruling Númenor, in mind. I liked this glimpse of an idyllic time for the Princess Shepherdess. And she recognises that being at court will deprive her of peace (and being able to sit quietly on a hillside with her sheepdog).