Maedhros has told me that no thoughts are too many thoughts, and so, I will be holding nothing back, but, bear in mind, I'm the unpublished author of two complete full-length
novels, and it's not an exaggeration to say that... I love to write... a lot. So, if this gets long... my apologies.
There. Now that that's out of the way, I'll get into my thoughts on the Prologue.
Prologue Thoughts : Elbereth Vala Varda
Where to begin... what a charming read this was. I appreciate how it instantly starts to captivate and capture your attention, not necessarily because you know these characters, because, you really couldn't know Raiwen, and you are not likely to know Maedhros that well (
Tolkien did not afford us many personal and detailed stories of the Feanorians, sadly), but you are likely to instantly connect with the feelings that they are feeling. Suddenly, it's not a matter of Raiwen or Maedhros. Someone less-immersed might well think that they weren't even the characters in the beginning. But, missing someone, yearning for someone, worrying about someone, it's a painfully human experience and one that I think nearly all of us have experienced in some way.
This brings me to the beauty of this scene unfolding, and how, very subtly, we are reminded that it isn't just any circumstance, and the dread sets in even harder. Now, a blizzard can only be so relatable to so many, but I certainly related to it. And the descriptions are so vivid and tangible that I genuinely think, even if you hadn't been in a storm of that magnitude, you would have some perspective for what it might feel like. It was really a masterfully done work in terms of description, where each word didn't just offer a visual, but a sensual aspect that one could truly imagine.
And then at last, the big reveal comes. In the mentions of the red hair, of the missing hand, and of course in the tangled braid that hangs from the head of the mighty warrior. Suddenly, there is no doubt, and Maedhros is revealed as the unrequited love of our protagonist, Raiwen. There's a subtleness in that scene that I think is so beautiful in the way that it hints to a deeper meaning behind their friendship. On the surface, they are a lord and a healer. Maedhros, the battered battle-lord and Aranya, the charming and caring healer. But, something deeper stretches between them, seen only in the lingering glances, in the silent collections of each other's pain, in the words that don't require a voice.
I get a clear sense that their love is unspoken, and perhaps has remained that way. It brings an interesting aspect, as well, that it is a healer and a lord. While, I admit that I have never dwelled or contemplated on the subject, it is entirely possible that those who would tend to a wounded lord or king may well feel a certain intimacy with him (I mean this in the more spiritual or literal form of intimacy,
into me see, not in the context of a sexual union) after caring for him in such a personal capacity.
I thought the details about the snow left in the curls, the bitterness of the cold, the redness at the fingertips, were really nice to include. Having been in blizzards, I've experience all of that, and to me, it's those little things that make the story stretch beyond the page as if you were really conversing with someone and they really were to share their own experiences.
A brief commentary on the characters
Secondly, I would like to address the characters. These seem so interesting, even just in this first part. We find Raiwen in the beginning as waiting for her lover to come home. One might even first picture her as a queen or a maiden, waited on by her subjects as her troubled heart restlessly tosses in her chest, awaiting the return of her beloved. But, quickly that facade falls away and we see that she is a healer, more here by her capacity to heal than by this blossoming union. That being said, this unspoken closeness must be somewhat honored, since she is not with the other warriors, tending to them, but instead just waiting for the chance to tend to Maedhros himself.
This is seen again when Maedhros summons her and the other healers give
knowing looks, indicating that perhaps they know that this bond is not one to separate, and however much it may be unrequited because of everything in the lives of these both, it is mutual.
I turn my attention next to Maedhros, who I think is excellently depicted here. In
the Silmarillion, it is scarcely visited how the treatment on
Thangorodrim would have shaped our dear
Maitimo, but it is doubtless that it most certainly
would have shaped him. Besides undoubted physical turmoil from the elements, the tax mentally of something so long and so devastatingly painful would undoubtedly crush the spirit, perhaps even quell some of that Feanorian fire, and it seems to have done both.
We find Maedhros as the mighty warrior, who has now lowered himself enough to receive care, despite not being glad about it. I think this is excellent, because it could be, in all truth, interpreted two ways. One could see it as it was briefly put, that he just feels like too much of a burden, now, That the time in his torment has made him unvalue his life, and so he would rather suffer than be helped. It could also be interpreted as a sort of Feanorian tenaciousness, a refusal to be helped, desiring to prove against all odds that one can care for themselves and is not in the need of healing.
Whatever case, however, the strong Maedhros still does receive care, and in a sort of commentary by Aranya, we see that he has asked for it before, or hinted towards it, at least. She also mentions the exact locations of wounds, how hers were the hands that stitched every scar. Poetically, I cannot help but wonder if that statement stretches to unphysical wounds as well.
I think I should also mention, their appearance is such an interesting element as well. Aranya, apparently has the same dark hair as all the others, perhaps a metaphor in disguise for a desire to simply slip into the background and not be noticed. And Maedhros of course has the opposite, fiery red curls announcing his presence, even when he would not like them to.
In these two, I think there's a very interesting contrast, and I'm very interested to see where it will go next.
Well, there you go,
@Maedhros_Nelyafinwë . Hope I didn't overwhelm you. It was an amazing prologue! Well done!
