When the Moon Hits Your Eye

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Title: When the Moon Hits Your Eye

Author Name: Zopyrus

Prompt: Durin's Day

Rating: General

Summary: In Hithlum, Fingon receives the first of many Dwarf-made gifts.

Notes: Thank you to suzll for the beta!

~~~

From the Library of Imladris, Special Collections:

The following letter was transcribed from the personal correspondence of Maedhros Fëanorion, the Dispossessed, and Fingon Fingolfinion, High King of the Noldor (FA 456-472).

The original document may be examined only on the seventeenth day of the lunar cycle.  For more information, please contact Merineth Baineliel, Chief Assistant to the Lord Erestor.

~~~

Dear Fingon,

You will be shocked to learn that my good-for-nothing brother Caranthir is good for something after all.  As you know perfectly well, the territory I assigned him was picked almost at random--my only requirement being that he live as far away from our cousin Angrod as possible, preferably without sharing a border with me.  But he has somehow, incredibly, established trade between his people and the Dwarves in the Blue Mountains, without (at least as far as I can tell) offending anyone.

I am very proud.  I am also waiting for the other shoe to drop.  But before it does, I mean to make the most of his neighbors' resources and talents!

The Naugrim are an endlessly inventive folk--perhaps even more so than the Noldor.  Unlike us, they are subject to the pressures of mortality, and thus bring their ideas into development with shocking quickness.

The Moon has only been in the sky for about fifty years (for Dwarves, as for us, the age of young adulthood), yet they have already harnessed its power into all sorts of useful tools.  Best of all are their "moon-letters," created by Kigva of Tumunzahar.  (You may know her city by the name "Nogrod." In deference to our friendly Doriathrin overlords, I suppose I ought to forget it is ever called anything else.)

Her book is enclosed, along with half a dozen jars of ithildin powder, for ink-making.

If you were able to get this far into my coded letter, I imagine you have already begun to read Kigva's book.  She parted with her secrets only reluctantly, and for a very high price.  Anyone you trust may study her book, but do not make copies!  Kigva claims she has worked secret runes into the pages, to prevent her words being stolen.  It sounds absurd, but you and I both know the lengths to which craftspeople will go to protect their work--and given her obvious talent for enchantment, I suspect her threat might be true.

The moon-letters are not, of course, perfect for every situation.  Since it takes at least a month for anyone to be able to read them once they have been set down (or much, much longer, for the more pointlessly complicated kind--Kigva has been marketing them for use in legal documents, especially wills), any time-sensitive information will have to be relayed in a more ordinary way.

However, we can use them for long-term planning--and for more personal correspondence.  The most recent packet of letters from Hithlum contained some rather questionable (if, thankfully, unsigned) verses that I can only assume were meant for me.  Unfortunately, my secretary took one glance at the music paper and forwarded them to my brother by mistake--or so she claims!

Maglor has declared the anonymous author a genius, and whistles highlights whenever he sees me.  Personally, I found the songs rather insipid, and uncharacteristically lacking in metrical complexity: was the author drunk when he wrote them?

Hence the second book in this package.  My own copy of Elemmírë's "Beginner's Guide to Poetry" is long since lost, but my wretched secretary, in a rare display of helpfulness, has donated hers to the cause.  (She implores you to take good care of it, and not to bend the pages.)  I trust you will find it useful, and that any future verses will be at least as well-formed as their subject.

Yours, as ever, &c.

Maedhros

~~~

NOTES:

1.  In the Hobbit, we are told about two types of moon-letters: those that can be read any time the moon shines on them, and those that can be read only under a moon "of the same shape and season as the day when they were written."  On a sliding scale of complexity, the runes Maedhros is using fall somewhere in the middle: they can be read once a month, under the correct moon-shape--possibly with a simple spoken password a la the ithildin gates of Moria.

2.  How did this letter survive?  Some heroic librarian was probably in a hurry, realized it was in code, and misfiled it under "military secrets" on their way out of a burning fortress.  Long ages later, when Erestor's long-suffering secretary finally reorganized the records of the High Kings...

3.  Speaking of which, Merineth daughter of Bainel is on loan from suzll's Gilraen stories, one of which also involves code of a different kind.

Comments

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

OK! You hooked me with "Library of Imladris, Special Collections." What more could anyone want for a great plot. This is a terrific little story. I loved the footnotes as much as the story too, because I did not really focus on the moon letter stuff until the movie. I love Maedhros gently (cough, cough) encouraging Fingon to take the form of his love poems more seriously. Feanorians don't fuck around with details like that and I can well imagine Fingon being a lot more easy-going.

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I am glad that Maedhros' slightly rude perfectionism struck you as appropriately Feanorian.

[wheelrider.livejournal.com]

So.... I confess I wondered if this code was something other than the mere use of moon-letters, and if we readers are meant to solve it... so I made an attempt, and got an interesting start of a sentence before it drifted off into meaninglessness. But anyway! I like this letter-story, very amusing. Love glimpses into characters via correspondence.

2. How did this letter survive? Some heroic librarian was probably in a hurry, realized it was in code, and misfiled it under "military secrets" on their way out of a burning fortress. Long ages later, when Erestor's long-suffering secretary finally reorganized the records of the High Kings...

Ha ha, love it!

[tehta.livejournal.com]

This "actual code" idea has merit. Somebody should write it!

A fic abour Kigva would also be a great idea.

Anyway -- I really enjoyed the snarky voice you have chosen for Maedhros (with his comments on Caranthir, Doriathrin overlords, and poetry), and, especially, the little picture you paint of his rather playful interactions with those around him (well, Maglor, and that secretary.) And your theory of how moon-letters were originally introduced is rather fun.

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

I am glad you like my Maedhros--he is quite snarky in this era of canon as well, with his sarcastic comments about Thingol's demands, and the gratuitous punning on Fingolfin's name when he cedes the High Kingship! It is too bad that his charmingly weird approach to diplomacy didn't last longer, or apply to everyone...

Kigva is a supporting character in one of my WIPs (although at the moment the fic in question is in need of serious overhaul). I have ideas about Maedhros' irresponsible secretary, too.

As for actual, non-magical codes, I am afraid my talents extend only to solving them, not creating them--although anyone else is welcome to try!

[tehta.livejournal.com]

I have a secret headcanon that most Elves--lovers of language--pun ALL THE TIME, and that they consider it not "the lowest form of humour" but something rather high and artsy. Much as Chinese art seems to treat visual puns as rather classy (unless that's my perception because so many Chinese museum pieces are covered in bats flying upside down and similar, and "in a museum" OBVIOUSLY means "classy".)

Sadly, I am rather awful at puns, myself.

Are you posting your WIPs anywhere? You don't have much up at AO3. Also, do you need beta at any point?

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

I should have said "unpublished WIP"--the idea of posting anything unfinished is a bit terrifying. And I would totally love to take you up on your beta offer at some point!

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Unlike some, I am not clever enough to create an actual code, and apologize for any lost time! (I did hesitate over the use of that word, since it is not exactly what moon letters are--but I am not sure there is an appropriate substitute? Rather than hiding in plain sight, they are just....hiding.)

Anyway, I am glad you enjoyed the story, and thank you for commenting!

[shirebound]

This is absolutely delightful. *huge grin*

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

This was just delightful.

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[hhimring]

Warning: in-character comment (snark)


Dear Russandol,

Having deciphered your message, I have endeavoured to follow your instructions to the lunar letter.
Elemmírë's guide in hand, I checked carefully that the metre and rhyme scheme of my sonnet were correct this time.
Then I excised the tenth line.

Yours cordially,
Fingon

[hhimring]

I really like the idea of Kigva!
And I'm very fond of the letter format, librarians and unlikely surviving manuscripts.
Also, Maedhros snark.

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I am very glad you like Kigva.

Also, Fingon's response is perfect--that is a very specific type of revenge, and even better than what I had imagined!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Oh what fun! I do like Maedhros' 'voice' here so much - and the logical reason that such a letter has survived to make it into the Library of Imladris, Special Collections.

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[tanis2014.livejournal.com]

My head immediately began singing, when I saw the title of this, and a sudden craving for pizza inexplicably came over me. Filed under military secrets indeed! Those endlessly inventive dwarves pressed by the hand of mortality in competition with the less time-pressed elves gave me a chuckle over my morning coffee.

Likely I will go about my assigned morning tasks humming as I let my mind wander over how I could make use of enchanted moon runes in my daily life. I do so love the idea of password protecting with a spell!

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I am not sure if I should be proud or apologize for getting that particular song stuck in your head--I suppose it depends on whether I am channelling Fingon or Maedhros.

Middle-earth has some incredibly cool little bits of technology, and I had a lot of fun playing around with moon runes. I am glad you liked them!

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

One of the things about not really writing Maedhros is I don't have too strong a preconceived idea of how he should sound, so when I read this it was easy to say 'Oh yes, that's him. Before all the ugliness and darkness of two kinslayings, at a time when there was still hope and belief ---- and what a good king he would have made, had things been different.' Where to put Caranthir was priceless, as was his dry surprise that there were apparently no offended dwarves. The moon letters were as complicated as I've always thought them (and as useless really - imagine having to hang onto an important letter for six months before you could read it? I mean, what was that dwarf lady thinking?) The 'anonymous' poet has my sympathies - I mean, he tried. Possibly none too soberly, but... I guess it's less easy than he might have thought to impress a highly intelligent man whose brother is a famous bard :D

Also liked where the letter has wound up and why. And would love to learn more about Maedhros' poor secretary. Thoroughly enjoyed this.

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I am glad my Maedhros voice worked for you, and that you liked what I did with the moon runes (I think Kigva is one of those artists who has a good idea and then gets REALLY carried away...). And I would not worry too much about Fingon...he will probably write something even cheesier in revenge, but with better rhymes.

I have quite a few ideas about Maedhros' secretary, and hope to put them into a fic someday! It will probably be sad though, since despite her slightly inappropriate sense of humor, she is a Feanorian and thus doomed to an unhappy end...

[kittotter.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm glad this was mistaken for a military secret! I liked the comparison of the productivity of the mortal Dwarven smiths to the immortal Noldor. It is interesting to see moon-letters brought into a wider context, and that Dwarves would, of course, use them for legal documents.

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I am glad you liked my observations about Dwarves--and that the legal context of moon-letters made sense.

[moetushie]

I loved this so much. ;_____;

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

I am so glad you loved it! Thank you!

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Awesome all the way around--love the format of a letter in Special Collections, loved Maedhros' voice in this and I loved the content. This was great!

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[baranduin.livejournal.com]

I loved this, it was so clever. Especially note 2:-)

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[sigridhr.livejournal.com]

"I trust you will find it useful, and that any future verses will be at least as well-formed as their subject."

DYING.

Oh my god, this is amazing. The level of adorable snottiness in this is absolutely incredible.

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I am glad you like Maedhros' adorable snottiness--I was definitely trying to balance those two qualities as I wrote the letter!

[independence1776]

This brought a smile to my face. I love the snark.

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[talullahred.livejournal.com]

This was truly hilarious and so very clever! Loved it!