i took elvish in school and i fucking hated it. the teacher was like 700 years old and he'd like take us on field trips to sit on the banks of babbling brooks and watch the fall of sunlight through the leaves. my friends in spanish class were like conjugating verbs and shit and meanwhile i was in an old-growth forest being overcome with awe at the sight of a majestic stag. like uhh yeah mr autumnheart when are we gonna learn like any grammar "listen to the murmur of the wind in the treetops, and you shall find the grammar you seek" like fuck dude your pedagogy leaves much to be desired

Silmarillion Daily - Of the Arming of the Sindar

And ere long the evil creatures came even to Beleriand, over passes in the mountains, or up from the south through the dark forests. Wolves there were, or creatures that walked in wolf-shapes, and other fell beings of shadow; and among them were the Orcs, who afterwards wrought ruin in Beleriand: but they were yet few and wary, and did but smell out the ways of the land, awaiting the return of their lord. Whence they came, or what they were, the Elves knew not then, thinking them perhaps to be Avari who had become evil and savage in the wild; in which they guessed all too near, it is said.

Therefore Thingol took thought for arms, which before his people had not needed, and these at first the Naugrim smithied for him; for they were greatly skilled in such work, though none among them surpassed the craftsmen of Nogrod, of whom Telchar the smith was greatest in renown. A warlike race of old were the Naugrim, and they would fight fiercely against whomsoever aggrieved them: servants of Melkor, or Eldar, or Avari, or wild beasts, or not seldom their own kin, Dwarves of other mansions and lordships. Their smithcraft indeed the Sindar soon learned of them; yet in the tempering of steel alone of all crafts the Dwarves were never outmatched even by the Noldor, and in the making of mail of linked rings, which was first contrived by the smiths of Belegost, their work had no rival.

At this time therefore the Sindar were well-armed, and they drove off all creatures of evil, and had peace again; but Thingol’s armouries were storied with axes and with spears and swords, and tall helms, and long coats of bright mail; for the hauberks of the Dwarves were so fashioned that they rusted not but shone ever as if they were new-burnished. And that proved well for Thingol in the time that was to come.

This is anothing thing that highlights that the Valar urging the elves to come to Valinor wasn’t something that was really necessary - prior to Melkor’s parole, the dangers of Middle-earth are something that the Sindar and dwarves working together are able to deal with.

It’s also worth noting that, dating from this time, the Sindar had a good 170 years of experience defending themselves before the Noldor arrived in Middle-earth. The Girdle of Melian doesn’t exist yet at this point; that only goes up when Morgoth returns to Middle-earth.

Interestingly, the Sindar - out of necessity - actually learn weaponsmithing and the making of armour well before the Noldor do, though they mostly don’t have the same level of interest or expertise in metalworking. And additional point is that, while Beleg’s speciality is archery, the Sindar as a whole are not mainly fighting with bows and arrows, but with axes and spears and swords.

It also means that Lúthien is not nearly as sheltered and insulated from the wider world as as is sometimes imagined. She’s met dwarves; she’s likely responsible for some of the tapestries in Menegroth; she’s likely seen most of Beleriand at various times; and she’s aware that dangers exist.

All of this is going on while, in Valinor, the grandchildren of Finwë are still growing up. Turgon and Finrod are still a little shy of adulthood.

Saruman

commissions open!

Fingolfin

Based on a Chinese Drama costume. I haven't watched the show, in fact I don't know from which show is. But when I saw the outfit, the colours screamed House of Fingolfin, so I went for it.

more three hunters stuff cuz i love them

Little Idril gives Turgon the first chamomile flowers in @that-angry-noldo's Flowers sprang beneath his marching feet for @tolkienrsb

This heart-wrenching fic of the arrival of Fingolfin's host to Beleriand and the main art will be revealed tomorrow, September 8, 2023!

Fic snippet below the cut.

Turukáno looked away. Itarillë ran up to him, and her face was bright. She was holding a white flower in her hands, her eyes gleaming with warmth and happiness. Turukáno smiled and tucked a strand of her golden hair behind her ear. A camomile, he explained, mind to mind, and her features lit up. It grows in great numbers during the spring.  Itarillë beamed and ran off, and Turukáno followed her with a soft, fond gaze. He looked back to Findaráto and noticed the same tenderness on his features. “Children,” Findaráto murmured. “In Aman we thought them a blessing; a gem to carve, a fruit to reap. Now, though, I look at your daughter and feel - hope. Your father,” he said, and looked at Turukáno again, “might feel like he lost that. What is the meaning of trying to go on if you have lost the one whose eyes gleamed with fire, who looked forth through the veil of the unending snow and said, “I see hope; I see life; I see, far away, the warmth and the peace that awaits us”? And now, that hope lies buried under the ground, and all we can do is - remember.”

From Flowers sprang beneath his marching feet

⋆˚｡⋆ ⋆˚｡⋆⋆˚｡⋆ ⋆˚｡⋆⋆˚⋆｡The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) dir. Peter Jackson⋆˚｡⋆ ⋆˚｡⋆⋆˚｡⋆ ⋆˚｡⋆⋆˚｡⋆ ⋆

the very rare phenomenon of a volcano producing vapor rings/volcanic vortex rings. Mount Etna today (April 5, 2024) by Boris Behncke

Elven circlets from The Lord of the Rings.

The voyage west at the end of Return of the King is extremely funny to me, because just look at who's on board. You've got:

Frodo Baggins, hero of the Shire, in need of healing but also excited to see Valinor and meet the legendary elves who live there, a gentle soul

Elrond Halfelven, as kind as a summer, looking forward to peace west of the sea, probably wants to go chill out in a cottage with his wife for the next thousand years

Which seems fine. And then we get to everyone else.

Gandalf, cheeky bastard who's gotten so used to being a weird old wizard in Middle-Earth that's he's forgotten what Maia are supposed to act like, will immediately cause problems

Bilbo Baggins, noted storyteller, definitely planning to break into Aule's halls to see his dwarf friends, will ask all the elves weird questions and then sing about their lives and deaths in front of them, will immediately cause problems

Galadriel, who came to Aman half for Celebrian and Elrond's sake and half to taunt all her cousins about being the only one of them to survive the First Age, enjoys causing problems, will immediately cause many problems

(Also, to be clear, these are not three isolated problem-causers, they absolutely spent the entire trip to Valinor actively planning to give Amanyar society and the Valar an aneurysm.)

I just love the idea of Elrond, now reunited with Celebrian, and Frodo happily having tea with Elwing and Earendil, with nothing to interrupt them but the gentle sounds of the tides.

Meanwhile Galariel, Bilbo, and Gandalf are collectively bullying Mandos into releasing Maglor Feanorian from the halls because:

Bilbo wants to read him his translation of the Noldolante, which is written as a cheery Hobbit drinking song

Elrond always complained about how Gandalf and Maglor were both insufferably vague about advice and Gandalf needs to make sure he's more infuriating than Maglor as a matter of his wizardly pride

He still owes Galadriel money

telling my friend about silm and his commentary is sending me 🤣🤣

Autumn in the Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. Photos by Cynthia Radford.

“there is no moral. the wolf eats you one day and until it does, the forest is beautiful.”

theres lots of first contact stories, and usually they mostly gloss over the establishment of a pidgin, like theyll mention it but its not the main focus, and thats fine, not every first contact story should be about linguistics, but it fills me with a longing for more stories about trying to bridge a communication gap like that, especially ones that question the ability for advanced abstract translation at all

One of my favorite things in the LOTR books is Sam being obsessed with Elven magic and wanting to see it and when Galadriel finds out she basically tells Sam "I don't know what the fuck magic is but I can show you the future in this bowl of water if you want" as if that's just a normal ass thing to be able to do.