Úmarth

Mar. 10th, 2013 06:10 pm
kenaz: (Elves: Beleg)
[personal profile] kenaz
Úmarth

Written for [livejournal.com profile] lotr_community's February challenge: The Dark Side of Love
Required elements: flow, end, bind, rushes, utmost, aged, rapid, yaw
Summary: The master of doom, by doom mastered.
Word Count: 400


At the utmost end, Túrin saw before him the faces of those he had loved and failed, and knew himself vanquished. He could not claw through the dirt in Taur-na-Fuin and lay himself down beside Beleg’s aged bones, nor lift the stones of Haudh-en-Elleth to fall once more on Finduilas’ grave, nor give himself to the rapid river that had claimed his lover-sister and their unborn son in its relentless flow. No, not for him, the aches of age and glory’s fading memory; nor the hero’s mantle, nor the victor’s crown. All he had sought had eluded him, and all that he had loved he had consigned to dust while he railed, blow after impotent blow, against a fate he could not master.

“I have but one deed left to me,” he whispered to the water and the wind, “and though it be grim work, it be good. Perhaps the best I have yet done.” A smile, brief and sharp, flashed across his face, like the plummeting star that flares bright and then rushes into darkness. Beneath his feet he could feel the earth pitch and yaw as though it knew his mind and revolted.

Gurthang glinted darkly, and he beheld it with eyes unblinking. Its black point beckoned, inveigling him with keen and hungry words: Bind yourself to me, Turambar. To me.

Date: 2013-03-21 03:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kenazfiction.livejournal.com
I know you do... and I really, really don't. I have tried really hard to like him. I have tried *particularly* hard to see what draws Beleg to him, either in a paternal *or* a romantic way... and I'm still at a loss. I feel bad for him; I know he's laboring under a terrible curse, I know Tolkien has carved out a hugely important place for him at the Last Battle-- so clearly Tolkien loves him as well-- but I just see an overly proud, petulant, self-pitying, dour, ungrateful, hothead who screws over Beleg (and then KILLS HIM-- even if it was an accident), screws over Gwindor, screws over Finduilas, and generally makes everyone miserable. I pity him, but that's about the best I can do. Not that this will stop me from attempting to find sympathy for him, but I will surprise myself if I ever do.

Date: 2013-03-21 03:59 pm (UTC)
ext_93291: (LA)
From: [identity profile] spiced-wine.livejournal.com
Well, you have written about him very beautifully for some-one who does not like him, so thank-you for that. (:

January 2020

S M T W T F S
    1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 9th, 2025 05:51 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios