B2MeM 2012: "The Earth, Singing" by Himring

[hhimring]

B2MeM Challenge: O-72: In what furnace was thy brain? (W. Blake) [Snippets of Verse)
Format: Vignette
Genre: Character Study
Rating: General
Warnings: none
Characters: Aule, Durin, Feanor
Pairings: none
Summary: Aule designs Durin's brain.

In his longing for students to teach the unbounded wealth of the minerals of Arda, Aule takes great pains to calibrate the brains of his dwarves exactly to their task. The dwarven bodies he designs are sturdy and solid, thoroughly functional like a well-balanced hammer or a mattock; later ages will—mistakenly—call them crude. But Durin’s brain is an intricately damascened blade. It is a fine instrument attuned to the tectonic rhythms of Arda. It is a set of chimes that resonates with the song of granite and gneiss, quartz and malachite, jasper and basalt. Aule is proud of Durin’s brain. Even after suffering Eru’s reproof, he still considers it his best piece of work.

Until the day Feanor walks into his forge—and Aule discovers that the triumph of the teacher cannot be complete until he is taught a lesson by his student. Feanor does not resonate, not for long. Feanor rewrites the song.

Note: The author bows to Elleth and Lyra in gratitude for yesterday's B2MeM fics about Aule and Durin.

Comments

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

I don't usually stop for pieces about the Valar, though Aule is as close as I have to a favourite, And hey, you dared killer pods *g* Anyhow - knew I'd like this and I was right.

It's the first time I've seen him, felt his essence or understood about creating the dwarves - need to think about that a while, but it feels right. They are the ultimate creation of the master of master craftsmen. The end, about a teacher needing to have been taught something by a student, was excellent. I was talking about her work with a friend who lectures in economics, and she said how important it was to be open to learning from your students - never forgotten that, and it ties nicely with this.

And yeah, Feanor did his best to rewrite the music to his own score :P

[hhimring]

Thank you very much for stopping for Aule!
I'm happy that you think this point of view is worth considering. When I read about Gimli and his reaction to the Caves of Aglarond--well, at least for me the conclusion is inescapable that there is nothing botched or second-rate about Gimli, never mind the comic bits in LOTR.