Tag: the hobbit

What are your Oropher head canons?

I don’t really have that many, tbh Nonnie.

I think he was a lot warmer in his demeanour than our chilly diamond Thranduil. We know he was impatient – heck, that’s why he died at Dagorlad, through impatience. He didn’t wait for the signal.

I also think he had a real open dislike and resentment for the Noldor, heh. After the fall of Doriath, we know that the Sindar didn’t want to stay with Gil-galad and the rest of that lot, and instead they left the safety of Lindon and moved east. I suspect Oropher was all ‘fuck you, i’m out. Gonna be a king far far away from you crazy tragic murdering nutbags and your crazy world-destroying dramas.’

Basically, my mental picture is of an Elf who doesn’t have the icy demeanour, long-hidden wraths and griefs, and incredible ancient endurance of Thranduil. Instead, my Oropher was a quick-speaking, quick-thinking, witty and personable sort of Elf, with an almost-Manlike lack of patience, and TONS of Sindar pride. I suspect he was very well-liked, a very popular Elf. I mean, the Silvan Elves made him King, after all.

I bet he was a great dad.

I feel like people need to know the Great Moose Truths.

nimthecat:

amidstthetrees:

violent-darts:

elodieunderglass:

Despite people in Canada/New England feeling a strong pride and sense of ownership surrounding moose, Europeans have the exact same moose. English speakers completely fucked up the naming conventions for the animal because we fuck EVERYTHING up. 

The Eurasian elk is the exact same animal as the moose. It is Alces alces. Here is a depiction of a Swedish soldier riding a moose into war in the 1700s.

Figure 1. The Swedish army used moose as cavalry animals at various points in history. I don’t know what the armored boar is all about.

However, the English caused a lot of confusion by originally calling it an “elk.” This comes from the older English word eolc/eolh, which shares roots with elhaz/algiz, which, if you know your runes, is the antler-looking rune ᛉ. 

So the English had moose, they just called them elks. But there haven’t been any moose in the UK since the Bronze Age, so the English just started using the word “elk” to apply to “really big deer” – and they forgot that there was a specific animal they used to call “elk.” 

Today, modern people from the United Kingdom have overwritten their own understanding of “elk” with Elk (USA), which are wapiti (Cervus canadensis). 

This is a wapiti, which everyone calls “elk” now:

Figure 2. The wapiti, or elk 

(Cervus canadensis)

“Hmmmmmmm,” British people may be saying right now. “That is a vaguely familiar animal. I feel like that is a STAG. I feel like it needs to be selling me a bottle of whiskey.”

YES. The wapiti is very similar to the UK’s red deer. This is what UK people call a “stag” : 

Figure 3. A stag, or British red deer (Cervus elaphus) – actually slightly less red than the wapiti.

The explanation for this is that the UK colonizers found the wapiti in the USA, but the problem was that red deer were rarely seen by the common people at that time, so they thought they were Unusually Big Deer. And so the colonizing bastards said “Hey, what are these, Nigel?” and Nigel was like “IDK, stags?” and they were like “Yeah but they look really big, don’t they?” and Nigel was like “well, what about calling them big deer, then” and they called them “elk” which at that point had come to mean “big deer” in English. 

Cervus elaphus (name meaning: deer deer) and Cervus canadensis (name meaning: Canadian deer) are very similar animals, and many people muddy the waters by calling Cervus elaphus an “elk.” The word ran all around the world, and American influence meant that it is losing its own definition in its own land. 

Cervus canadensis

are also found in Asia, where the subspecies are called wapiti, from the Shawnee word meaning “white rump.” This is to prevent confusion. If you see one in Mongolia, you must properly call it a “Canadian deer, aka ‘white butt,’ from the indigenous North American word” to prevent this kind of confusion.

Figure 4. The global range of

Cervus canadensis, the wapiti, or elk. 

Okay. Enough about what happened to the word “elk”. The point is that other European countries have reasonable amounts of moose, which they call elk. The “Eurasian elk” is Alces alces, the moose. 

Figure 5. A Swedish army representative wearing Swedish flags and riding a Swedish moose. ALSO, SOMEHOW, THE MOST CANADIAN THING EVER

So when the English settlers colonized Canada and New England, they continued their long history of fucking the fuck up. But in the middle of this, they saw Eurasian elks, had no idea what they were, and went with the local Algonquin word “moose.” 

They also called the same moose “elk” at the same time, and went into a slight confusion where they tried to differentiate them into “grey moose” and “black moose” and “black elk,” but when the dust settled, the world was left with British-colonizers-turned-Americans applying random names to everything, and winning. Wapiti are now called elk, and now red deer are also kind of elk. Eurasian elk are now moose. Wikipedia attempts to explain the moose fuckups here and the elk fuckups here.

The word “moose” is Algonquin in origin. This is why it doesn’t pluralize like English words do. In English, the plural of “goose” is “geese” and thus many people feel that the plural of “moose” should be “meese.” However, “moose” is not an English word. If you wanted to treat it as one, you could remember that moose are hoofed animals of a specific class, and you could follow the rules already laid down for moose relatives: The English plural of elk is elk. The English plural of deer is deer. The English plural of sheep is sheep. You can call multiple moose “meese” if you want to. But that’s why it is the way it is.

Figure 6. The global range of moose, or Eurasian elk.

So there you have it. Moose are an important, scary and hilarious part of Canadian/New Englander culture, but they aren’t just ours – we share them with Eurasian cultures too.

Figure 7: a Russian moose farmer with a promising crop

Figure 8: Finnish people provide a dark warning. “Hirvikolari” is a specific Finnish word describing a road accident involving a moose. There are many dashcam videos of hirvikolari on the Internet.

And now think about all the amazing Moose News you have access to now! You can now enjoy stories of moose destruction, mayhem and general fuckery SO MUCH MORE when you realize they aren’t about deer:

Figure 9: every line of this story is perfect?

Actually, you know what?

 That’s still the most Canadian thing ever.

As someone born in Northern Canada, I vote we adopt “hirvikolari” post haste.

@rinkamari … how do we pronounce that one, as non-Finnish speakers?

In that one painting, is that an armored boar behind the moose?!!!!!
@determamfidd

is this telling me (amongst lots of awesome moose-related things) that Sweden had battle-pigs in the 1700s

Hey Dets, do you have a good list of fics where the dwarrow get the recognition they deserve/go off on a rant about how the other races of Middle Earth keep fucking them over? I’m getting some very strong feels about how they (Thorin esp.) got treated in canon. (Alternatively: AU where they actually got aid from folks after Smaug instead of run out of towns)

idk Nonnie, I am a super fan of Dwarves but I go searching for predominantly Gigolas or Good Guy!Dain fics, and so those are the reclists I keep 🙂

Gimli does go off on a rather dignified sort of rant in ch10 of Sansukh, if you’re jonesing really hard!

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/281585351/stream?client_id=N2eHz8D7GtXSl6fTtcGHdSJiS74xqOUI?plead=please-dont-download-this-or-our-lawyers-wont-let-us-host-audio

determamfidd:

The Forge Sits Silent (from Azhâr)

I wrote a song for harp and voice, for Chapter 12 of @yubiwamonogatari‘s brilliant fic Azhâr! 

It was a joy to compose for you, dear. Your words are gorgeous. 

Lyrics by @yubiwamonogatari, composed and performed by me.

Sheet music pdfs for download:

The Forge Sits Silent (G minor – High Voice)
The Forge Sits Silent (E minor – Alto/Baritone)

Adding a download link for the .mp3 here! 

Thank you to those who requested it, I am so very very glad you like it! 🙂

Dude.

poplitealqueen:

I finally decided to dig into my drafts for this one Hobbit fic (A WIP THANK YOU VERY MUCH) I was writing about a year or so ago called Of Iron.

Summary: Pretty much just the events of the Hobbit trilogy with the big AU element being that Dáin Ironfoot joined Thorin’s Company.

(I do so love my bearded redheads.)

I was worried the drafts were shit, and even MORE worried that time would show me exactly *how* shitty (which is really all me, considering people drew me art for the chapters I actually posted and you don’t get art with shitty writing. I just have zero self-confidence in anything I do, peeps) but… honestly?

They aren’t that bad.

Some of the sections are actually pretty damn good. Personal favorite of mine? Ahem:

Bilbo placed a hand over his mouth. “That’s horrible,” he whispered.

Dáin shrugged. “That’s war.”

That’s actually really good?!?!? I got chills down my spine from my own writing??? Fuck. Kudos to you, past me.

And then this fucking Ori angst like?????

Ori pulled his sleeve under his nose.

“Dori thinks I don’t know. Nori assumes I figured it out after I got tha’ job re-inking the family tree tomes, but I’ve known much longer than that.” His eyes narrowed for a moment, and his usual soft way of speaking took on a much rougher tone. “Mum told me afore she passed. My Da was a bad man. A very bad man. Horrible to them all, especially to Dori.  I mind my nadad as much as I do because of what *my* Da did t’him. I want t’make things right, but I worry I’ll turn out just like my Da anyway .What if already have? What if all that bad is in my blood an’ there’s nothing I can do t’change it?”

He sniffed again.

“An’ yet Dori an’ Nori both love me. I know they do, but…What if I’m dangerous for them? For Bifur?” Ori looked down at his hands, callused and long-fingered; an artist’s hands. “Once I get my share of the treasure, I’m leaving. I’ll head South. It’s better tha’ way.”

BLESS. Dudes, and the amount of Dori and Nori snark? My LAWD:

Nori shook his head, sliding his dagger into the padlock and prying it open. “Dori son of Ari, breaking the rules? If Mum could see you now.”

He smiled broadly when the lock clicked open.

Dori huffed indignantly, but he had a similar grin pulling at his lips just the same.

“Breaking the rules *with permission*, nadadith. With permission.”

And certainly not last nor least, this entire fucking scene (Tsundere Thorin, Argumentative Lil Shut Bilbo, and Good Guy Nori. Plus one-legged Dáin enjoying the show):

Thorin crossed his arms before Bilbo.
“What were you thinking? You could have been hurt!”

Bilbo flushed as bright a crimson as his waistcoat, and pulled fretfully at his wristcuffs.

“I didn’t realize you, uhm, cared so much for me.”

Thorin’s scowl deepened. “You are our Burglar. I am obligated to care, although that is becoming increasingly difficult. Not only did you put yourself in danger, but my own cousin as well.” Thorin shook his head, muttering angrily. “Twas a foolish move by an impracticed thief that nearly cost the life of one I hold close to my heart–”

“Ach, lay off the poor lad, Thorin!” Dain sat up with a grunt, and Thorin was kneeling  beside him on one side in seconds, with Bilbo on the other.

“Dáin! Cousin, are you hurt?”

“‘Course I’m hurt, ya over-the-top worry wart!” growled Dáin. “But it’s you assumin’ that one little tiff with a trio of Trolls would be the end of Dáin Ironfoot that truly cuts me to the marrow.”

Thorin let out a strangled gust of a laugh.

“It is rather rude of me, isn’t it?”

With one hand, he pulled Dáin to his feet. Well, one of them at least. The other was currently being tugged out of the firepit by Thorin’s nephews, the metal molten-red from the dying embers.

Once Dáin was properly perpendicular, Thorin rounded on the hobbit once more.

“You have proven nothing but a nuisance thus far, Burglar.”

Bilbo’s lips tightened around his teeth, and less of the nervous first-time adventurer and more of the obstinate, cultured hobbit began to bubble up.

“With all due respect, Master Dwarf, we’ve hardly been out here a fornight. You were the one that camped us next door to those brutes!”

Thorin’s eyes widened, and beneath his long hair and ear clasps, Dáin could see his ears beginning to redden.

“They would not have known we were here if not for your curious gallavanting.”

Bilbo threw his hands in the air. “They stole our ponies. To *eat*. What else was I supposed to do? Let them?”

“You should have alerted the rest of the Company.”

“Right, because you all did such an impeccable job coming to the rescue. Was the part where you were tied into bundles part of the plan? Hm? And you call me useless.”

Thorin opened his mouth, shut it, then opened it again, only to shut it again with a grunt. Dáin had rarely seen his cousin reduced to such speechlessness.

It was incredibly entertaining.

Thorin finally found his voice again, and in a huff, ground out, “I will *not* tolerate such disrespect. You–”

“Eh, m’king? M’lord?”

Thorin and Dáin echoed each other almost comically quick in answer to Nori’s surprisingly unsarcastic questions as the star-haired dwarf ambled up to them

“Just Thorin, please.”

“*It’s Dain*”

“Right, “Nori clasped his hands behind his back and rocked on the balls of his feet, clearly uncomfortable. "See, the thing is. Well.” Nori squeezed his eyes shut as if it physically pained him to say the next words. “I’ve been listenin’ an’ before you go on, I just want to say that it weren’t the fault of the Halfling.”

Bilbo’s bravado disapated like morning mist, “Nori…” he began.

Thorin’s eyebrows rose slightly, “Go on.”

Nori cleared his throat. “It was mine. He’s as quiet as a mouse he is, an’ while I pride myself on being an impeccable thief–”

“Get to the point,” Thorin sighed, his anger fading but not quite forgotten. “Please, Nori.”

Dáin noted that Nori flapped his hands in a way remarkably similar to Ori when he was flustered.

“Sorry! S’just hard to admit that I was beaten out by an obvious greenhorn. But… that’s exactly what happened.” Nori puffed out his chest, as if daring Thorin to argue. “ Them trolls heard *my* boots, but Bilbo was closer and they saw him first. So if there’s anyone who you should be blamin’ and kickin’ out of the group, it’s *me*.”

I really should update that fic.

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/281585351/stream?client_id=N2eHz8D7GtXSl6fTtcGHdSJiS74xqOUI?plead=please-dont-download-this-or-our-lawyers-wont-let-us-host-audio

The Forge Sits Silent (from Azhâr)

I wrote a song for harp and voice, for Chapter 12 of @yubiwamonogatari‘s brilliant fic Azhâr! 

It was a joy to compose for you, dear. Your words are gorgeous. 

Lyrics by @yubiwamonogatari, composed and performed by me.

Sheet music pdfs for download:

The Forge Sits Silent (G minor – High Voice)
The Forge Sits Silent (E minor – Alto/Baritone)

shipsicle:

Gimizh

For @determamfidd‘s amazing and massive fanfic Sansûkh, which is a blessing to this fandom and everyone should read it. It’s written mostly from Thorin’s POV, the character development is amazingly done and not just focused on one character and I love them all.

I’M GIBBERING HERE, THIS IS SO SO ADORABLE AHHH

look at his wee dubious face, he is so not convinced about this new weird elf lmaaaao I LOVE HIS LIL CLOTHES, the neckerchief and the shoulder-seams and the front-detail and the high-waisted soft belt AHHH he looks so like a wee Dwarf should! His lovely big Dwarfy nose, his hair and the little fuzz on his jawline and oh my good god he’s precious I want to give him the biggest hug, I bet he is the huggiest lil boy ever, you’ve drawn him so cozy and cuddly OH HELP ME MAHAL 

lskdghflajhs HE’S ADORABLE AND GORGEOUS AND I LOVE HIM SO SO VERY MUCH. thank you, thank you SO much, you incredible artist you!