The Prince of the Lake has dwelt in the northern land of Tailte Sioc since time immemorial, a figure of legend reaching out of the mists of the past to greet the present, but all things have a beginning. Stranded and alone in ancient days when even the Sisters were young, the last son of Fëanor must navigate the climate, wildlife and local feuds to build a future for himself, and perhaps others as well.
An Equestria at War story written for Fëanorian Week 2023, it is canon to the Quenta Roccolië.
See author's notes at the end of each chapter for terminology. Appendix blog here!
All Silmarillion content is derived wholly from canon sources written by J.R.R or Christopher Tolkien, or informed extrapolation thereof. Adaptations are ignored.
Thanks to Aydan Zamora for betaing.
Cover art is 'Maglor by the Sea' by Marya Filatova
So why Maglor? He's as guilty of murder and other evil as his brothers. Or is he just in the cover art? Haven't read it yet.
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'Why Maglor' is a question I can't really answer right now (spoilers for a future story), but this story is indeed narrated by Maglor and from his perspective takes place well after the drowning of Beleriand, toward the end of the Second Age.
As for guilt, that depends on how one interprets Maglor's repentance and fostering of Elrond and Elros. Plus of course there's the argument that they were trying to reclaim stolen property and that Dior (and later even moreso Elwing) should have given over the silmaril to avoid a bloodbath when approached diplomatically, that being both the lesser evil and politically pragmatic. How able the Fëanorians were to 'be the better Elf' and walk away (and thus their degree of guilt in the second and third kinslayings) comes down to exactly how tightly bound Elves are by fate and the nature of sworn oaths, which is an overarching plot topic in the Quenta Nairelossëo I've been writing.
My word, I must sound like a member of the Fëanor-did-nothing-wrong crowd, but I really am not!
At bare minimum though, Maglor at least wasn't involved in the attack on Beren and Luthien perpetrated by Celegorm and Curufin, which caused a major diplomatic incident with Nargothrond and most likely (but less vocally) Doriath as well. Nor do we know his position in the events surrounding the murder of Eluréd and Elurin, which was directly perpetrated by Celegorm's servants in revenge for his death. One must wonder why it was only Maedhros who went out to search for them, and perhaps I might explore that in another story.
This surprised me, pleasantly.
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I hope I can continue living up to that for the rest of the ride, thanks for the early fave!
Will I need to know anything about the Silmarillion in order to understand this story?
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Some subtle details may be lost, but nothing critical. I've taken care that almost everything that comes up is either terminology explained in the author's notes at the end of each chapter, or introduced within the story. The main things to bear in mind are that Maglor is a canon character to the setting of LotR, he's one of the sons of the smartest Elf who ever lived and Noldorin royalty.
Unsurprisingly with that heritage, Maglor is very smart (leaning mostly toward the arts, thanks to his mother) and on par with the likes of Galadriel (they are cousins, in fact) when it comes to personal 'power'. He also fostered Elrond and his twin brother when they were growing up and apparently Elrond quite liked him.