‘Ah, wise lady!’ said Finrod. 'I am an Elda, and again I was thinking of my own people. But nay, of all the Children of Eru. I was thinking that by the Second Children we might have been delivered from death. For ever as we spoke of death being a division of the united, I thought in my heart of a death that is not so: but the ending together of both. For that is what lies before us, so far as our reason could see: the completion of Arda and its end, and therefore also of us children of Arda; the end when all the long lives of the Elves shall be wholly in the past.
'And then suddenly I beheld as a vision Arda Remade; and there the Eldar completed but not ended could abide in the present for ever, and there walk, maybe, with the Children of Men, their deliverers, and sing to them such songs as, even in the Bliss beyond bliss, should make the green valleys ring and the everlasting mountain-tops to throb like harps.’
Then Andreth looked under her brows at Finrod: 'And what, when ye were not singing, would ye say to us?’ she asked.
Finrod laughed. 'I can only guess,’ he said. 'Why, wise lady, I think that we should tell you tales of the Past and of Arda that was Before, of the perils and great deeds and the making of the Silmarils! We were the lordly ones then! But ye, ye would then be at home, looking at all things intently, as your own. Ye would be the lordly ones. “The eyes of Elves are always thinking of something else,” ye would say. But ye would know then of what we were reminded: of the days when we first met, and our hands touched in the dark. Beyond the End of the World we shall not change; for in memory is our great talent, as shall be seen ever more clearly as the ages of this Arda pass: a heavy burden to be, I fear; but in the Days of which we now speak a great wealth.’ And then he paused, for he saw that Andreth was weeping silently.
'Alas, lord!’ she said. 'What then is to be done now? For we speak as if these things are, or as if they will assuredly be. But Men have been diminished and their power is taken away. We look for no Arda Remade: darkness lies before us, into which we stare in vain. If by our aid your everlasting mansions were to be prepared, they will not be builded now.’
'Have ye then no hope?’ said Finrod.
'What is hope?’ she said. 'An expectation of good, which though uncertain has some foundation in what is known? Then we have none.’
'That is one thing that Men call “hope”,’ said Finrod. ’Amdir we call it, “looking up”. But there is another which is founded deeper. Estel we call it, that is “trust”. It is not defeated by the ways of the world, for it does not come from experience, but from our nature and first being. If we are indeed the Eruhin, the Children of the One, then He will not suffer Himself to be deprived of His own, not by any Enemy, not even by ourselves. This is the last foundation of Estel, which we keep even when we contemplate the End: of all His designs the issue must be for His Children’s joy. Amdir you have not, you say. Does no Estel at all abide?’
–J.R.R. Tolkien, The History of Middle-earth X: Morgoth’s Ring, “Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth”
more art for @raisingcain-onceagain‘sTogether All Things Go, because the imagery was haunting me and i had to make an attempt to get it down on paper! kanimelde, or at least my interpretation thereof. if you like findrahil and AUs, I highly recommend!
Another highly vulnerable group in situations like these, and another one I will illustrate a Tolkien character, landscape or OC of your choice for in return for a direct donation (by donating directly to the crowdfund link, not through paying me! Just message/reply what illustration you would like, and donate independently).
See pinned post for examples of my work.
The fundraiser was organised by LLM students at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy at the National University of Ireland.
Now King Finrod Felagund had no wife, and Galadriel asked him why this should be; bur foresight came upon Felagund as she spoke, and he said: ‘An oath I too shall swear, and must be free to fulfill it, and go into darkness. Nor shall anything of my realm endure that a son should inherit.’
Finrod frowned in wonderment. “Is that- is that the baby?”
“Indeed!” Erion bent fully into a crouch and smiled, full of teeth, which always discomfited Finrod greatly. He stroked his chin and gave him a look before focusing back on Curufin. “They have power, but I do not know how much they will be able to do. You are really their blood father, after all. I only enabled their existence.”
“You must count in part as a parent,” Finrod protested half-heartedly. They all knew that Curufin was not going to consider Erion the babe’s father, but he felt indebted to the Maia for agreeing to the insane request. A little pandering never went awry.
Happy@aspecardaweek 2022 everyone! Elmo is totally aroace and Curufin is somewhere on the aroace spectrum. Gandalf is probably as well but I haven’t thought about it lol
Fighting a mild form of art block with something quick and dirty, aka Findarato crossing the ice (He hasn’t got a hat or a hood, I hear you cry. You would be right, please suspend your disbelief for the sake of DRAMA and hair snapping in the wind.
The crossing is a theme that I find deeply interesting, and I hadn’t painted Finrod before, so here we go <:
The Silmarillion aesthetic | Amarië, beloved of Finrod Felagund
Although in love with one another, she wasn’t permitted to follow him. But it is said that released soon from Mandos, Finrod went to Valinor and there dwells with Amarië.
In the meantime, I have a collection of the greatest singers of Arda:) Finrod isn’t really about music himself, but I can’t leave him out of it. People like to compareDaeron and Maglor, but I think it’s an absolutely pointless exercise, they’re all about completely different things, and each of them is the greatest, in their own musical theme. Daeron is about the Hidden Realm, not touched by the darkness and distortion, about that magical world where the nightingale trills, the redolent fragrance of night herbs, and the ancient tribe life in harmony with the Forest. Maglor is about greatness and drama of Valinorian Noldor. And Finrod is about creating bridges across the gulfs that divide people, not without some help of his songs)… It’s my opinion, I see it this way!
Two Houses of the Noldor were into open confrontation and eventually this came to weapon threatening right at the Royal Council. Lords of the Universe had to step in to punish the guilty ones. Waiting for the trial, the Elves fenced off each other, fearing even their own shadow.
A Custom-made comic strip for the episode from the fan fiction “Light of the Damned Stars” The original episode (in russian language) - https://ficbook.net/readfic/6544987/16793569
there isn’t really a reason why I drew Finrod but probably seeing him everywhere for the past few days is the answer
Here you can see Finrod drawn by my Friend from the Polish group of Tolkien’s fans that we both belong to (Drużyna Pyrlandii - The Fellowship of Pyrland). I hope that she is going to share more of her artworks.
