Heget's Blatherings

Silmarillion Sigil Set 21

2018-12-08T14:10:56Z

Disclaimer: Here is a blend of Original Tolkien creations (aka my best efforts at recreating the author’s drawing), modifications on the original, and designs completely from cloth. Previous Entries can be found under the sigil tag. Please credit if use.

In order:

Tidal Pools, Seashells 01, Seashells 02

Notes:

Yes, I'm reposting these once more. Because if people in the Silmarillion/Tolkien fandom continue to use them, I want nice official links to them. And so another crosspost from tumblr project is born.

These are all for the most part without attached stories, at least when I made them, though all have the sea in common. Today’s options are Falmari- the Teleri of Aman, or Falathrim - the Teleri of Beleriand’s coast.

Tidal pool is exactly that- whirlpools, ripples, water reeds, the colors of Alqualondë. The family is Falmari, and the circle has expanded beyond the frame of the lozenge diamond like ripples.
Seashell 01 is the other Falmari design- a stylized conch shell, light beach sand colors. There is still no OCs attached to this sigil.
Seashell 02 is for a Falathrim family, hence the darker colors to fit with Círdan and not Olwë. It’s also a very oblique reference to another book series. Consael and his sister Faelineth come from a family on the coast, even if they were born in Himlad. (They are based off the Westerlings, whose sigil was six white seashells on gold.)

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Silmarillion Sigil Set 46

2018-12-08T00:51:00Z

In order:

Ilsë, Swans

Notes:

Here are two sigils of which I am quite proud of how lovely they turned out, both for Teleri OC ladies strongly connected to the Swan-ships of Alqualondë.

The first is my OC, Ilsë, of which I have written about predominantly in this fic here. She is the oldest daughter of Elmo, born in Cuiviénen during the period when her uncle Elwë first goes to Valinor, and was named for the same starry silver hair. When the Teleri are sundered between those that wish to keep looking for the missing Elwë and those that chose to follow Olwë onto Valinor, Ilsë leaves behind her parents and two younger siblings. In Valinor she becomes Olwë’s right hand, one of the foremost captains of the swan-ships, a woman who delights in the sea and teaching the younger elves how to sail. They are both precious to her, and her grief is cold and terrible and only partly assuaged when Elwing comes and convinces Ilsë to return the land of her birth and the family she had forsaken. Her device uses the colors of her father and uncle, the aqua on black and grays, instead of Olwë’s lighter beachy palette. The flowers, though in that Sinda turquoise, has the stylized shape of red spider lilies, which especially in Chinese and Japanese culture are strongly associated with death and cemeteries, and many legends attached to them about separation or meeting someone you will never meet again. They’re also called hurricane lilies for they tend to bloom after heavy rainfall. Thus the symbolism couldn’t be more perfect for Ilsë. The center holds a compass rose for nautical navigation and the points around it initially were waves but ended up more like shark fins. Which, again, make them perfect for Ilsë.
The second Teleri OC belongs rightfully not to me but to crocordile, as she requested a sigil for her character that attempts to recreate the famed Swan-ships which hold a sacred cornerstone to the people of Alqualondë and which were stolen and destroyed. While she never succeeds in recreating an exact replica of the beauty that was lost, she is still highly respected for her shipbuilding and her skill and love of sailing the deep ocean. Beluwen loves Ossë’s swans, and like my Ilsë sails to Beleriand during the War of Wrath. Thus her sigil needed swans above all. I used some art nouveau panels for inspiration and added hints of ripples and reeds. The color scheme coordinates with one of the earlier Teleri sigils I made, the colors soft and cool and evocative of the sea.

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Silmarillion Sigil Set 12

2018-12-08T00:27:54Z

In order:

Olwë, Eärwen

Notes:
Yes, I'm reposting these once more. Because if people in the Silmarillion/Tolkien fandom continue to use them, I want nice official links to them. And so another crosspost from tumblr project is born.

For the king of the Falmari, the Teleri of Aman, I limited my colors to a sub-palette from a set which provides most of the trims and building details of my Valinorean houses when I was playing a Silmarillion-themed Sims game. Thus the sandy neutrals and watery blues. Olwë has 16 points touching the edges, equal to Finwë. Though early attempts were more wave-like, the design I settled on evokes the compass rose and sand dollar.
Eärwen uses the same color scheme, with eight rays reminiscent of Finarfin. The border along the circumference of her circle are a pattern of stylized water lotus and buds.

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The Swanships

2018-11-20T20:33:24Z

They are the equal -if not greater- in worth to the Silmarils.

“But as for our white ships: those you gave us not. We learned not that craft from the Noldor, but from the Lords of the Sea; and the white timbers we wrought with our own hands, and the white sails were woven by our wives and our daughters. Therefore we will neither give them nor sell them for any league or friendship. For I say to you, Fëanor son of Finwë, these are to us as are the gems of the Noldor: the work of our hearts, whose like we shall not make again.”

Their ships are their glory and their homes. Song cannot contain the importance of their ships to the Teleri. No words would ever hold the entirety of their meaning and worth. The ships are the unsurpassed culmination of the craftsmanship of their hands, their creativity, their love for and striving towards beauty, and the product of the collected knowledge of their people. This knowledge was built upon trial and error and by lessons learned from every watercraft that has come before. The ships of the Teleri are the legacy of their people, but also the kindness and friendship of Ossë, the first to teach then to sail and master the waves. Through this they learned to fly across the surface of the sea. The ships are a connection to their roots and also the wings that take them to the future. But most of all, their ships are the breathing present of their culture. Daily life ties to their ships like the netting that hangs from the masts. The Teleri are their swan-ships, for they have poured their souls into their sails and used the planks as the foundation of their lives. The ships are the physical manifestations of the furthest flights of fancy dreamed up by their builders. Seemingly delicate, yet expertly calculated and engineered, they are also the work of an entire community, those long efforts of many hands, of men and women, from eldest to youngest. Every hand has at least some small part in the building and maintenance of the fleet, and all have sailed upon them. Undeniably the swan-ships are masterful works of art, yet they have purpose and a practical application greater than their unequaled beauty. Tools as well as sculpture, homes as much as monuments to their creators. The movement across the bay comes from the performance of their sailors to ensure their white sails catch the winds and their swan-shaped prows cut through the cresting waves, to create a dance that gives meaning to their glorious appearance. It is with pride that their owners gaze upon the work of their people.

The mingling lights of the Two Trees dimly illuminates the harbor of Alqualondë, and even that light disappears when one takes a ship out into the bay. It would be a waste of not the just effort and craftsmanship but of the soul to chain any seaworthy vessel to the docks, especially those as perfect as these masterpieces. To Tol Eressëa they will sail sometimes, but usually there is no destination in mind. The joy of the ocean and to see the jet inlay eyes of the swan-like prows buffeted by spray is goal enough. Uinen combs her hair by the lines of the ships' wakes, her divine voice raised in joyous laughter. Out on the water there is no Tree-light, only the stars, and this darkness holds no fear if it is surrounded by the creaking of sails and the roar of wind and wave. To sail is to dance and sing and reclaim what once held fear. The Teleri can survive without Tree-light, for they came to Aman for its safety and their friends, but their ships are their lives.

When the true darkness of Ungoliant’s Unlight comes, and Morgoth destroys the Two Trees and steals the Silmarils, there is unease and sorrow in Alqualondë. It is strange to have only darkness come through the Pass of Light, and Ossë and Ulmo do not answer their demands for news or reassurance. The Teleri turn to their ships, for the vast majority live upon their vessels far more often than they do ashore. And standing aboard the gently swaying decks, huddled with their arms around their families in the cool holds, here they feel safe. The ships are the most perfected works of their people’s hands, their homes and their pride. And as long as they are aboard their ships, the lack of aught but starlight feels completely natural, whereas the dark streets of Alqualondë hold no comfort when there is no more even a faint silvery twilight. On their ships the Teleri can pretend they are somewhere else, out on the bay away from shore, out near Tol Eressëa with its high cliffs and sweet-smelling trees. This they tell their worried and afraid. One can almost forget anything dire has happened. The swaying of the ships rock their children to sleep.

The Darkness of Valinor, and the madness that comes with it, feels like a hurricane on the horizon to the Teleri. They know one that was elder and envious, fallen in pride, had come demanding works not his own, and once rebuffed had returned with violence and theft. Greed like that would return to steal what could not be given, but the Teleri think their harbor sheltered. Their ships do not falter on the waves and with hand pressed to their tall masts and proudly carved prows, they know they need but to wait out this storm and the smooth waters will return. Strength pours from the wood of their ships to calm them.

With their swan-ships the Teleri wait.

One difference between Morogth and Fëanor, aside from the scale of destruction and murder between Formenos and Alqualondë, is that Morgoth didn't destroy the Silmarils after he stole them.

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