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Here was one of my very first tumblr posts when I stopped lurking in the Silmarillion fandom:
Because a lot of what I feel I’ve discovered seems to run counter to what the majority of opinion I come across. But it’s hard. I’m biting my tongue and waiting for when I plan on mentioning it where I think the appropriate time to ease into it.
However- I will say this- I was always sympathetic to Elwing and don’t criticize her for leaping off the cliff with the bloody Silmaril.
Y’all, because I’m new to expressing online my fandom opinions, I’m trying to wait a while until I start talking about certain characters.
However- I will say this- I was always sympathetic to Elwing and don’t criticize her for leaping off the cliff with the bloody Silmaril.
I feel fans that like her are few and far. And a lot of my feelings has to do with my biases, which are pretty strong. I’m trying to save my thoughts on the Fëanorians because frankly I’m tired of how they dominate discussions. I know my opinions veer towards being diametrically opposed to the norm- I think I’m the only one who blew them off as the most BORING of the Noldor. And that my personal feelings/head-canon for them is much harsher and far lacking in sympathy, so those that do like them, I apologize now and warn you away from any of my posts that I’ll tag “Fëanor the village idiot”.
But I always thought Elwing with the Silmaril was doing one of two things- keeping it away from people who no longer deserved it (Ho boy, here comes the retaliation. Engage Girdle.) and as the trick mother birds do when a predator comes close to the nest. I always thought she was trying to lead Maedhros and Maglor away from her sons and the rest of her settlement with the only thing that they cared about. Because they proved again and again that people’s lives meant nothing compared to the Silmaril.
My problem with Elwing’s decision is that try as I might, I still don’t get why the Silmarils were so great. As the Plot MacGuffin I understand, and the symbolic holy nature of light and the Two Trees, but I’m not convinced why everyone in Valinor were so obsessed with them. I agree with the idea that they were more than just shiny stones, that there must have a seemingly living quality to them. Because if not then the trouble over them is made even more moot. Yet the Sampo, with non-answer of what it is, works better for me as plot coupon for an epic. Personal impressions. If it wasn’t for the words “break” the Silmarils, I could almost see them as artifical, imperfect seeds for the Two Trees, which ties into what Fëanor was trying to do by preserving some of their light.
(And yes, the way the refugees at Sirion latched onto the gem as a talisman of good fortune and holy blessing bugs me- but because of the talisman they chose, not their feelings. Then again, Varda did hallow them, so some of her power might have helped…)
So yeah, so much for avoiding the minefields early.
