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

[engarian.livejournal.com]

Feanor rewrites the song. Loved this!!!!

- Erulisse (one L)

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

What a great use of the prompt!

[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

[silver-trails.livejournal.com]

...the triumph of the teacher cannot be complete until he is taught a lesson by his student.

This is true, very true.

Loved this.

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

WOW.

Your language here is incredibly rich and vivid, and, as you say, perfectly suited to the task. The dwarven bodies he designs are sturdy and solid, thoroughly functional... later ages will—mistakenly—call them crude. stopped me in my tracks first, but then, it got even better!

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.

Just "Wow".

And then, your masterstroke: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.

My brain is totally disconnected. The only word that works is "Wow".

[angelica-ramses.livejournal.com]

Fantastic! I will never look at dwarves the same way!

And on a second reading,
Feanor does not resonate, not for long. Feanor rewrites the song.
the definition of genius!

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Ooh, wow, I loved this. Your descriptions of Aulë's precision and intent are great, as well a refreshing challenge to the Silm assertion that his efforts were "crude." Good work indeed.

[ladyelleth.livejournal.com]

What a fantastic use of the prompt, the descriptions, everything. I feel very honoured indeed that my fic helped inspire it. :)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

The author bows to Himring in admiration of what she did there.

Seriously, I love this. Stunning use of language, stunning look into the creation of the Dwarves (crude? Bah, they just don't understand the original purpose!), and most of all, stunning conclusion. I'm thrilled that you felt inspired to write this, in part, by my little ficlet!