The "Ask a Character a Question" Challenge
Aug. 8th, 2005 11:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dawn_felagund posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
silwritersguildIn answer to
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
jilba's question for the "Ask a Character a Question" challenge, I wrote three drabbles. The drabbles are from Macalaurë's perspective and answer the following question, proposed by Jillian:Why didn't you rescue Maedhros; why did the poor chap have to wait for cousin Fingon to go get him?
For those who do not know, drabbles are short pieces of fiction that are *exactly* one hundred words in length. They are my new hobby in an attempt to curb my
Title: Oaths Sworn
Author:
dawn_felagundRating: General
Warnings: none
I.
The firelight touches my brother’s face as he speaks to us. The parchment in his fingers does not tremble. It would tremble in mine. “Moringotto will treat with us,” he says.
Our voices rise and collide in the silence. Our words tangle in senseless cacophony: argument and agreement, pale hands flashing like moths to the flame, but Maitimo says nothing. He nods, raises his palm to us.
Silence.
I watched my father flare into brilliance—a star in the night—and end as dust. The firelight blazes on Maitimo’s hair. I can believe that he will share the same fate.
II.
My brother assembles his guard. Tyelkormo and the twins want to ride with him; I see them arguing. I know by the ways their eyes flash and their faces twist that they are losing.
“If you fall, we would be closer to failure. The Oath would be broken.”
He strides to me, and I hold his sword for him while he mounts. We do not speak; words long since unnecessary between us. I hand him his blade, and his eyes meet mine.
“If I do not return, follow me not.”
I have no time for protest before he rides away.
III.
The slow fall of hoofbeats in the street startles me from the surface of restless sleep. It is morning, although morning brings only darkness here.
I push the drape aside and stare into the street. I see horses. The horses of Maitimo’s guard have returned to their homes, but their riders have not. Their legs are speckled by dark splatters.
Feeling not the cold floor on my bare feet, I throw open the door. Maitimo’s horse stares me in the eye, dragging behind him by brother’s trampled banner.
I sob into my hand. Two oaths I should not have sworn.
This is cross-posted to my personal journal as well. Apologies for any redundancy.
Comments are always appreciated. Also,
nelyo's post brought up another good question: If Maglor had been placed in Fingon's position as Maedhros' rescuer, what would have he have done?::opens nuzgûl hutch:: Feed, my pretties! >:-D
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-08-08 06:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-08 06:57 pm (UTC)Me too! :D
I shivered at Maglor looking at Maedhros and being able to see him dying, that's something that my Maglor does too.
Yes, I think that you and I see Maglor's reasons for not pursuing Maedhros very similarly.
I have always cringed at people who assume that it was cowardice or fear of not being able to pursue the Oath that caused the brothers to hang back. I can't see that...especially with Maglor. And since the "writers" of the Sil weren't there for that part, then I don't see how anyone can know for certainty.
I had thought about it for a long time, concerned because the events and my ideas of the characters didn't jive, and then thought that perhaps it was *Maedhros* who stopped their pursuit of him. A thought, apparently, that is not mine alone :)
these are great
Thank you! :D
no subject
Date: 2005-08-08 09:33 pm (UTC)*curls up in a furry ball, shivers, weeps quietly* LOVELY drabbles, Dawn! And a very original way to reply to the challenge :)
arandil13 and I were joking once about starting a support group for hopelessly addicted Fëanatics but why, when it is such a lovely disease?
Who said it is a disease? I remember long ago, in a email list where (of course teasing each other) both "factions" FA and TA addicts were in "war", one TA fan said to the FA fans:
-You are so tiring! You know, there is a life beyond First Age!
And he got this answer:
-Yep, we know. But the question is: Is there intelligent life?
The truth is outside :P
And, definitely, fëanorians were not cowards. Those who understand what is to keep your word, even if it pains you, will understand it :)
Btw, I always thought, too, that Maedhros restrained them before to head to that meeting.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 01:42 am (UTC)Oh, now I feel bad...tissue? :)
LOVELY drabbles, Dawn! And a very original way to reply to the challenge :)
Thank you! That's me, always the weird one :D
But the question is: Is there intelligent life?
Oh, this is *excellent!*
I got hooked on LotR with the movies, solidified the addiction with the books, but it was still nothing that stole my life like the Sil. And I do not mean that in a bad way :)
::trots over to the side of the First-Agers::
Btw, I always thought, too, that Maedhros restrained them before to head to that meeting.
That makes best sense to me. I cannot believe it otherwise. Or, maybe, I do not *want* to believe it otherwise.
Dawn Felagund, who *hearts* her delusions...kind of like someone else we know ::coughcough Feanor! coughcough::
no subject
Date: 2005-08-08 10:02 pm (UTC)Fëanatics??? *keels over laughing* Oh, I LOVE that!
Cowardice? The Fëanorians? With all due respect for those people who think that, even if you don't like them, I don't see how you can have read the book and think that. They are many things, but never cowards. That said, I have to say I can take or leave the younger five most of the time, it's the older two I love and of course Findekáno whom I tend to think of in the same breath.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 01:48 am (UTC)The whole reason I started the
monsterstory Another Man's Cage is because I got so pissed off at the constant portrayals of abusive husband/father Feanor that I sought to write an answer to them. And the sons as heartless, evil monsters. I saw a filk once that said Maedhros was *the* villain of The Sil.Okay, so did I hallucinate Morgoth then?
Of course, most of these people I found at Pit of Voles. (fanfiction.net to the Muggle world.) Since meeting Sil people who have actually read *and* pondered the meaning behind the book, I find few who lump the Feanorians under the heading of "evil." I am grateful for this; I was beginning to doubt my grasp on morality!
Oh, wait, I still doubt that, but it's a different issue entirely! :D
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 12:52 am (UTC)hotdroolworthycompelling in their tragicness.:)
Date: 2005-08-08 09:02 pm (UTC)>I can't see that...especially with Maglor...perhaps it was *Maedhros* who stopped their pursuit of him.
No, I can't see the other Feanorians as cowards either - after all, wise or not, it took a lot of courage to follow their father into the oath, and then away from Valinor. If they could do that, there must be some other reason for their not rescuing him personally: enter Maedhros!
Great drabbles, Dawn,
Curuevo :)
Re: :)
Date: 2005-08-09 01:51 am (UTC)No, short writing is not my forte, I think. I read drabbles by people like
My heart still lies with long writing but drabbles are fun, kind of like a hobby :)
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 12:51 am (UTC)Anyway...these were great. You packed a lot into the 100 words (or 300 if you count them all). I think the second is my favourite, the way you have the younger brothers trying to accompany him, and that phrase about "words long since unnecessary" is just wonderful.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 01:54 am (UTC)Oh, and you sound *so* disappointed by that thought!
How about you hug Maglor and I hug Maedhros? :D
Anyway...these were great.
Thank you! Drabbling is still kind of scary to me...I literally do a word count every few sentences because I dread coming up with 150 words with nowhere to cut.
Inquiring minds want to know: Are you drabbling on Saturday? :D
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 02:21 am (UTC)Very. Can't you tell.
How about you hug Maglor and I hug Maedhros?
Whatever. As long as I get to hug a Feanorian, I'm happy. I hear they're all very tall...
Are you drabbling on Saturday?
Wouldn't miss it! I have a bday party for my nephew in the afternoon, so I'll be on in the morning. I talked to Juno already. I may only be able to do a few. :(
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 01:24 pm (UTC)Just don't hug him too hard, or you'll get an exact demonstration of just *how* tall!
Being Noldor, I hear that they are also good with their hands ;D
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 01:47 pm (UTC)*big grin begins to spread...*
Being Noldor, I hear that they are also good with their hands ;D
*...and drool forms in the corners of her mouth...*
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 01:32 pm (UTC)First of all, where in Mandos is "Spirit of Fire?" Okay, that wasn't what I intended to pester you about, but I get *skewered* if I'm a day late with a chapter ::coughcough Tarion! coughcough:: Excuse me. So how do you get away with it? :D
Anyway, onto the true pestering:
It's one of my favorite drabbles *ever*....
:D <--me trying to look all cute and sweet and such...heck, who am I fooling?
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 02:22 pm (UTC)Right here (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2501664/1/), as well as scattered randomly around my journal.
I get *skewered* if I'm a day late with a chapter […] So how do you get away with it?
You see, that’s what happens when you are a good writer. Me? I keep my writing sub-par so that nobody misses it when it doesn’t come. It is all part of my evil lazy plot.
…Maglor influencing Elrond's feelings on oaths…
Throwing in my unasked for two cents. I think Maglor definitely influenced Elrond on this matter, even if not in the way my drabble portrays. The influence is obvious when Elrond says that no oaths bind the Fellowship. They had sworn no oaths, so his statement is almost redundant, as if he wants to stress that point. Why, unless because of his own personal experience with oaths, or that of those around him.
As for the drabble, I still have it. I don’t think I posted it on PoV or HASA yet… but here it is in my LJ:
Ickle Maglor (http://www.livejournal.com/~arandil13/22366.html)
There are a bunch of drabbles and memes in that entry, but it is there! (One of the birthday ones).
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 02:54 pm (UTC)Oh, don't give me that crap! :D If only all writers should be so "sub-par!"
Anyway, thanks for the link! I haven't been to PoV in a while, so we'll blame that.
I think Maglor definitely influenced Elrond on this matter
Me too. I have always wondered about how Elrond thought back on Maglor, in the Third Age. If I had the time (and blood!) that might be a nuzgul, but I am covered in them now, and I don't think this one can nudge its way in.
As for the drabble, I still have it. I don’t think I posted it on PoV or HASA yet… but here it is in my LJ
Yay! Thanks, it is one of my favorites :)
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 11:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 11:56 pm (UTC)Fancy Boromir meeting Maglor in the Wild? But probably not, not really. I wouldn't be surprised if he followed that company, And maybe guided Boromir's steps to Rivendell's hidden ways without Boromir's knowledge. The cute bit was Boromir's thought that Faramir should be there. A pity he wasn't.
Another Maglor bunny: I have always thought he was one of those sent from Rivendell when Glorfindel was, to look for Aragorn and the Hobbits. To Maglor, the Ringwraiths would have no more scary than a bunch of rowdy schoolboys. Further along those lines (watch the bunnies breed...)who would have Elrond have sent with the Fellowship from his household had not Merry and Pippin gone along? His sons? Great warriors? Or those born in Valinor like Glorfindel...and Maglor?
So, I'm getting far fetched here, and I'm going to go further. I don't believe Maglor could have missed the news his foster granddaughter was Queen of Gondor. Whether she knew him before then or not, I can see him visiting Gondor and singing for the Queen. Bunnies anyone?
no subject
Date: 2005-08-10 02:59 pm (UTC)Nooooo!!!!!!!!
I am covered in them already!
I like your AU world, though. I always prefer to think that Elrond had fond remembrance of his foster-father, despite Maglor's deeds at the end of of the First Age.
::shoos bunnies back in Jillian's direction::
no subject
Date: 2005-08-12 02:17 pm (UTC)As for my AU world, well, whether it happened or not, I think you're right. Elrond would have had fond memories of his foster father. I mean, he looked after Elrond and Elros. Technically they were prisoners of war, or hostages and could have been treated as such. I like to think it shows the fact elves are basically good, that Maedhros and especially Maglor treated the boys so well.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 04:14 am (UTC)So, by "support group" you meant "a semi-small organization of people fighting to hug Feanorians" right?? ;)
I'm writing my piece right now. At least, I'm attempting to.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 01:26 pm (UTC)Hopefully, yes, but "semi-small" has a tendency to burgeon when Feanorians are mentioned :D
I'm writing my piece right now. At least, I'm attempting to.
Hooray! Excitedly awaiting.... :D
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 04:48 pm (UTC)Well, who could resist those angsty Feanorians??! ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 08:25 am (UTC)Reading this, I can so see why Elrond threw a hissy fit at Gimli's suggestion of the Fellowship taking an Oath. I imagine poor Maglor was always haunted by Oaths.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 01:28 pm (UTC)Like rabbits, they say ;D
Reading this, I can so see why Elrond threw a hissy fit at Gimli's suggestion of the Fellowship taking an Oath. I imagine poor Maglor was always haunted by Oaths.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-09 09:54 pm (UTC)*bristles at Maedhros being called *the* villain of the Silm*
no subject
Date: 2005-08-10 02:54 pm (UTC)That story had me in a state for much of the day, overreaction it may be....
Now for my snobby but heartfelt confession: One-dimensional portrayals signify both shallow reading *and* shallow writing to me. Who cares about reading about an evil character? He is evil. It is black and white. There is nothing at stake; nothing to make us care for that character.
I felt so alone in this thought for such a long time. It does my
heartsanity well to hear that others share the same view :)no subject
Date: 2005-10-05 03:30 pm (UTC)*fangirls Marnie's Celeborn*