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crack_van2005-01-10 07:22 pm
espresso-addict.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2005-01-10 07:22 pm
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Oak and Willow by Marnie (PG)
Fandom: SILMARILLION
Pairing: Galadriel/Celeborn
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: Silver Tree
Why this must be read:
Galadriel was among the most prominent of the Noldor. Her husband Celeborn was a prince at the Sindarin court of Doriath; with the rest of the court, he would be close kin to the Telerin Elves of Alqualonde, massacred by the Noldor in the first Kinslaying. (Thingol the Sindarin King was the brother of Olwe the King of the Teleri.) How the two ever got together is thus a bit of a mystery!
As befits the self-styled defender of Celeborn, Marnie's version of their stormy courtship is the best I've yet encountered, with strong, plausible realisations not only of the couple but also of all their friends and relations. There's a particularly sympathetic look at Celeborn's friend Daeron the Minstrel, who is later key to Beren and Luthien's tale. The novel paints an excellent portrait of life in Doriath, chockful of believable details. It gives a clear idea of the differences between the two Elvish races, the Noldor and the Sindar, the oak and willow of the title. My favourite passage comes before the pair even meet, with the reactions to the coming of the sun and moon....
Obeying, at last he turned eagerly to see the wonder, looked out over forest which fell away in swells of indigo and dark. There, in the West, the sky had become as polished slate, and a line of molten silver smouldered at the edge of the world. As he watched it moved, spilling over trees, shimmering in the mists over Esgalduin. A curve was uplifted over the horizon, as of some vessel which burned like a thousand candles, serene and pale.
There were no words to describe the beauty and newness of this thing. It made his ribs ache, as if his heart desired to leap from his chest with joy. Astonishment and awe stopped his breath, and he could not speak above a whisper. "What is this miracle?"
He turned to Melian. If any would know, she would, for she was a Maia of the Blessed Realm, strong and wise. But she shook her head, her eyes glimmering, a shadow of unknown colour sliding across her smile. "I know not, my fair one." She said with answering joy, "But look, it has the colour of your hair."
The comparison was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard, freeing him to laugh out some of the painful delight. "Ah, now I see! The Powers have sent it merely to quench my vanity. I am sorely outshone."
At the levity, Thingol gave a snort of disbelief. His face was troubled. "I have no doubt the Powers sent it indeed, but why? Never have they cared for us, forsaken on the long march. Why should they begin now? That they turn their gaze to Ennor at all, I deem portends ill."
For a while all gazed in silence, and the silver light broadened, until the vessel was lifted wholly above the trees and revealed. Round as a plate, or perhaps as a ball, smooth and wondrous and unmarked as a pearl. "A Maia guides it," Melian said at last, her clear eyes fixed on the heavens, "Though he is unbodied and cannot be seen. I know him - Tilion of the Silver Bow, who hunts with Orome." Her smile became wistful, "At least I may now gaze at one of my people from afar."
"Then it is a blessing, is it not?" Celeborn asked, hating the look of homesickness which fled briefly across her face, "A sign of hope. A sign that we have not been forgotten."
"But it is blotting out the stars!" Luthien the King's daughter cried from where she sat a little apart, surrounded by her maidens. Knowing well how she loved to dance in starlight, it was easy to understand her regret. "Are we never to see their glory again?"
"Aye," Saeros the archer called, "Must the Valar intervene only to take from us what we love?"
Oak and Willow
Pairing: Galadriel/Celeborn
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: Silver Tree
Why this must be read:
Galadriel was among the most prominent of the Noldor. Her husband Celeborn was a prince at the Sindarin court of Doriath; with the rest of the court, he would be close kin to the Telerin Elves of Alqualonde, massacred by the Noldor in the first Kinslaying. (Thingol the Sindarin King was the brother of Olwe the King of the Teleri.) How the two ever got together is thus a bit of a mystery!
As befits the self-styled defender of Celeborn, Marnie's version of their stormy courtship is the best I've yet encountered, with strong, plausible realisations not only of the couple but also of all their friends and relations. There's a particularly sympathetic look at Celeborn's friend Daeron the Minstrel, who is later key to Beren and Luthien's tale. The novel paints an excellent portrait of life in Doriath, chockful of believable details. It gives a clear idea of the differences between the two Elvish races, the Noldor and the Sindar, the oak and willow of the title. My favourite passage comes before the pair even meet, with the reactions to the coming of the sun and moon....
Obeying, at last he turned eagerly to see the wonder, looked out over forest which fell away in swells of indigo and dark. There, in the West, the sky had become as polished slate, and a line of molten silver smouldered at the edge of the world. As he watched it moved, spilling over trees, shimmering in the mists over Esgalduin. A curve was uplifted over the horizon, as of some vessel which burned like a thousand candles, serene and pale.
There were no words to describe the beauty and newness of this thing. It made his ribs ache, as if his heart desired to leap from his chest with joy. Astonishment and awe stopped his breath, and he could not speak above a whisper. "What is this miracle?"
He turned to Melian. If any would know, she would, for she was a Maia of the Blessed Realm, strong and wise. But she shook her head, her eyes glimmering, a shadow of unknown colour sliding across her smile. "I know not, my fair one." She said with answering joy, "But look, it has the colour of your hair."
The comparison was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard, freeing him to laugh out some of the painful delight. "Ah, now I see! The Powers have sent it merely to quench my vanity. I am sorely outshone."
At the levity, Thingol gave a snort of disbelief. His face was troubled. "I have no doubt the Powers sent it indeed, but why? Never have they cared for us, forsaken on the long march. Why should they begin now? That they turn their gaze to Ennor at all, I deem portends ill."
For a while all gazed in silence, and the silver light broadened, until the vessel was lifted wholly above the trees and revealed. Round as a plate, or perhaps as a ball, smooth and wondrous and unmarked as a pearl. "A Maia guides it," Melian said at last, her clear eyes fixed on the heavens, "Though he is unbodied and cannot be seen. I know him - Tilion of the Silver Bow, who hunts with Orome." Her smile became wistful, "At least I may now gaze at one of my people from afar."
"Then it is a blessing, is it not?" Celeborn asked, hating the look of homesickness which fled briefly across her face, "A sign of hope. A sign that we have not been forgotten."
"But it is blotting out the stars!" Luthien the King's daughter cried from where she sat a little apart, surrounded by her maidens. Knowing well how she loved to dance in starlight, it was easy to understand her regret. "Are we never to see their glory again?"
"Aye," Saeros the archer called, "Must the Valar intervene only to take from us what we love?"
Oak and Willow