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silwritersguildThis ficlet is a cautionary tale of what happens when I try to write a Valinor fic in which the Years of the Trees are actually each 9.582 sun years long. You have been warned.
X-posted to my LJ, so apologies for duplication
Title: An Only Child
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fanged_geranium
Rating: General
Warnings: None
Summary: Fingon has some interesting news about his uncle that he thinks his cousin should hear.
An Only Child
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for this work.
Author's Note: It's always seemed a little suspicious to me that Turgon and Finrod are exactly the same age, and so are Aredhel and Galadriel, and I then started wondering how the Fëanorians fitted into the scheme of things. This ficlet was written to give something of an explanation. It's set in the Year of the Trees 1300, and for the purposes of this story I'm assuming that Maedhros was born in the year 1200. Some excerpts from 'The Peoples of Middle-earth' and 'Morgoth's Ring' have been adapted here for my own (somewhat nefarious) purposes.
"Goodbye, dear," calls Maitimo's wife, "Don't forget to mow the lawn, and prune the apple-tree while I'm out. I shall be back by the Mingling of the Lights, so you should have dinner ready by then."
"I don't think we'll be able to go fishing after all," says Maitimo sadly, "I have far too much to do, but I think I have time for a quick cup of tea."
It was precisely that kind of thing that made me resolve to have no wife or child in the first place, and it is reinforced every time I visit my cousin, or indeed any of my friends and family who have committed themselves to the institution of marriage. I can go fishing whenever I like, and no-one can give me chores to do to stop me. Of course, it means I might go hungry once in a while, when the fish aren't biting, and my lawn frequently goes un-mowed, but on the whole it is worth it.
I assumed that now Maitimo's youngest daughter is married and has children of her own it would mean that he had more time for fishing trips, but I was clearly mistaken. "Never mind," I say, "We can go fishing some other time. I have some news about your parents that you might like to hear."
"What have they done now?" Maitimo asks, "No, don't tell me - I can guess. I'll bet they had a fight in the main square that ended with my mother pushing my father into the duck pond!"
"Not quite, though that might be the next thing on their agenda."
"Well, what is it then?"
"You've heard that my mother and father are expecting an addition to our family, I suppose?" I say cautiously.
Maitimo nods. "Yes, and so are Arafinwë and Eärwen. My great-grandson told me that last week."
"They aren't the only ones. Your father was in his cups at dinner last night, after you and your wife left, and he announced rather loudly in front of the entire company, including Ingwë, Olwë and Ingwion, that he and your mother are adding to their family too."
"What?" says Maitimo, "That's impossible! After all the fuss he has made during this last age about how a man should be satisfied with only one child! Ridiculous!"
"Ridiculous it may be," I say, "but it is true. I thought I ought to tell you before your wife hears it through the rumour-mill."
"Why, thank you Findekáno, that was very kind of you," says Maitimo. He sounds distracted. "Do you think that..."
"That it is only so your father is not out-done by my father?" I finish, "Well it wouldn't be the first time, would it?"
"No, it wouldn't," Maitimo sighs, "I knew it could not be a coincidence that I am two weeks younger than you."
X-posted to my LJ, so apologies for duplication
Title: An Only Child
Author:
fanged_geraniumRating: General
Warnings: None
Summary: Fingon has some interesting news about his uncle that he thinks his cousin should hear.
An Only Child
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for this work.
Author's Note: It's always seemed a little suspicious to me that Turgon and Finrod are exactly the same age, and so are Aredhel and Galadriel, and I then started wondering how the Fëanorians fitted into the scheme of things. This ficlet was written to give something of an explanation. It's set in the Year of the Trees 1300, and for the purposes of this story I'm assuming that Maedhros was born in the year 1200. Some excerpts from 'The Peoples of Middle-earth' and 'Morgoth's Ring' have been adapted here for my own (somewhat nefarious) purposes.
"Goodbye, dear," calls Maitimo's wife, "Don't forget to mow the lawn, and prune the apple-tree while I'm out. I shall be back by the Mingling of the Lights, so you should have dinner ready by then."
"I don't think we'll be able to go fishing after all," says Maitimo sadly, "I have far too much to do, but I think I have time for a quick cup of tea."
It was precisely that kind of thing that made me resolve to have no wife or child in the first place, and it is reinforced every time I visit my cousin, or indeed any of my friends and family who have committed themselves to the institution of marriage. I can go fishing whenever I like, and no-one can give me chores to do to stop me. Of course, it means I might go hungry once in a while, when the fish aren't biting, and my lawn frequently goes un-mowed, but on the whole it is worth it.
I assumed that now Maitimo's youngest daughter is married and has children of her own it would mean that he had more time for fishing trips, but I was clearly mistaken. "Never mind," I say, "We can go fishing some other time. I have some news about your parents that you might like to hear."
"What have they done now?" Maitimo asks, "No, don't tell me - I can guess. I'll bet they had a fight in the main square that ended with my mother pushing my father into the duck pond!"
"Not quite, though that might be the next thing on their agenda."
"Well, what is it then?"
"You've heard that my mother and father are expecting an addition to our family, I suppose?" I say cautiously.
Maitimo nods. "Yes, and so are Arafinwë and Eärwen. My great-grandson told me that last week."
"They aren't the only ones. Your father was in his cups at dinner last night, after you and your wife left, and he announced rather loudly in front of the entire company, including Ingwë, Olwë and Ingwion, that he and your mother are adding to their family too."
"What?" says Maitimo, "That's impossible! After all the fuss he has made during this last age about how a man should be satisfied with only one child! Ridiculous!"
"Ridiculous it may be," I say, "but it is true. I thought I ought to tell you before your wife hears it through the rumour-mill."
"Why, thank you Findekáno, that was very kind of you," says Maitimo. He sounds distracted. "Do you think that..."
"That it is only so your father is not out-done by my father?" I finish, "Well it wouldn't be the first time, would it?"
"No, it wouldn't," Maitimo sighs, "I knew it could not be a coincidence that I am two weeks younger than you."
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An Only Child
Date: 2005-11-30 02:47 pm (UTC)LOL! I knew it could not be a coincidence that I am two weeks younger than you!
OMG, this is hilarious! But I was really disappointed that it wasn't longer! I was looking forward to a good long read! Is this a new fic or one of your ten WIP's? When are you going to post the next chapter? I have always been intrigued by the possibilites there are concerning the Elves' long life spans. Like how do you keep interest in a spouse alive? How do you deal with your children or parents when after 20000 years or so, 50 years between you sort of falls into the area of "practically the same age". Tolkien's interesting way of dealing with it was to kill a lot of them off at relatively young ages. And the idea of the fëa and bonding thing to keep husbands and wives connected, I guess. In my universe, I like to mess them up a bit. Anyway, I loved this!
Re: An Only Child
Date: 2005-11-30 03:08 pm (UTC)When are you going to post the next chapter?
Fingon is usually fairly co-operative (when it comes to writing fic - he won't let me read or watch anything he doesn't consider suitable for a child of my age, which can make things awkward at times), so it shouldn't be too long.
I have always been intrigued by the possibilites there are concerning the Elves' long life spans.
Me too - that's why I started writing Tree-Year Valinor stuff.
Like how do you keep interest in a spouse alive?
I guess if you're going with LaCE, then you don't, at least not in a sexual way. That will probably end up in the story somehow, though obviously not from Fingon's personal experience!
How do you deal with your children or parents when after 20000 years or so, 50 years between you sort of falls into the area of "practically the same age"
And when your siblings are about the same age as your great-great-great (etc.) grandchildren?!
In my universe, I like to mess them up a bit.
And why not? :)
Re: An Only Child
Date: 2005-11-30 03:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 06:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 06:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 06:35 pm (UTC)I'm very fond of all your icons, in fact!
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 08:05 pm (UTC)I mean, if Feanor had seven sons, and we take that each of his seven sons had three children of their own, that's 21 grandchildren for a total of 28 kin.
Now, if each grandchild has just *two* children, that's 42 great-grandchildren, for a total of 70 kin.
(I'd be confused about now, but since Feanor is a prodigy, we can keep going....)
Now, if the 42 great-grandchildren had an average of two kids apiece, that's 84 great-great-grandchildren, for a total of 154 kin. That's quite a crowd at Thanksgiving, and we're just talking four generations!
And if you consider that 36 of the kin probably had a named starting with "Fin" and 72 had a name starting with the letter F, it gets even worse....
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 11:24 am (UTC)I did some calculations a while ago for the Noldorin population of Valinor at the death of the trees, to work out roughly how many went back to Middle-earth.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 01:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 01:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 02:38 pm (UTC)That's a lot of Elves.
I, for one, am happy with that! :^P
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 02:46 pm (UTC)