An Oath Fulfilled, A Life Well Lived

[engarian.livejournal.com]

B2MeM Prompt and Path:He Chanted a Song of Wizardry, Red
Format:Poetry
Genre:deathfic
Rating:PG
Warnings:death
Characters:Finrod
Pairings:None
Creator’s Notes:Tolkien provided the sandbox, I merely play with the bucket and shovel he left behind. No profit of any kind is made from my fanworks.
Summary:An eight stanza retelling of the story of Finrod, an elf honored by many in both East and West. The poem is not meant to rhyme; rather it should have similar rhythms within each stanza to allow unity in each chapter spoken aloud.



An Oath Fulfilled, A Life Well Lived


Few in lore have reached such heights
Have been so honored or so mourned
As Finrod - whose oath he made and followed,
Into death and torture,
Into terror and deception.
He kept his word – no more, no less.

In stinking fens one life was saved –
Saved by mortals in danger grave.
Immortal First Born - saved by Second,
To share their lives,
To teach and sing.
To cherish as their own – member of the House of Bëor.

To Barahir in thanks, a token
Heavy ring - Fingolfin's signet
Two serpents, emerald eyes and golden flowers.
Symbol of eternal friendship,
Token to be used at need.
Cherished, passed down, father to son – finally to Beren.

Beren was assigned a task –retrieve a Silmaril
Shining stone earns the hand of fair Lúthien
Just one of three from the Crown of Iron.
For aid, a ring presented,
For honor, an oath remembered.
Into darkness with ten more would Finrod go.

Magics did Finrod possess -songs of strength and stealth
Orcs defeated, guise and raiment aiding passage north
Toward Morgoth, but intercepted - suspicions and evil.
His old stronghold,
His new terror.
A battle commenced between light and dark and bloody history.

Holding his oath dear, Finrod Sang.
Song to protect disguise - Song to keep secrets intact
Battling Song of revealing, uncovering, and treachery.
Remembering Valinor’s beauty,
Remembering Alqualondë's bloody tides.
All revealed as Finrod fell defeated at Sauron’s feet.

Disguises dissolved, orcs became men and elf
Yet names were kept hidden and trust was held true.
Torture and death revealed nothing to the Dark.
Finally only two remained,
Death awaited Finrod and Beren.
Finrod fought free, fought the werewolf - both wounded unto death.

Thus passed Finrod to Mandos' Halls
Fairest of elves awaiting rebirth and return
Amarië awaiting, ever faithful love - his honor intact.
Reborn to acclaim,
Reborn to greatness.
An oath fulfilled, a life well lived.

Comments

[kayleelupin.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love this, nettenya. And I think Atto would too. *hugs*

[engarian.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much. Finally getting a chance to catch up with the comments on this one. Once I switched modes to prose, it finally came together. I'm quite relieved. Now on to the next tale.

- Erulisse (one L)

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

I liked this very much.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Linda. I appreciate your taking the time to read and comment.

- Erulisse (one L)

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

I found this poem very enjoyable to read. Finrod's tale is one of the saddest in the Silm, IMO and I think you've incorporated that pathos very well in stanzas such as this:

Remembering Valinor’s beauty,
Remembering Alqualondë's bloody tides.
All revealed as Finrod fell defeated at Sauron’s feet.

It was nice that you ended on such a positive note:

Reborn to acclaim,
Reborn to greatness.
An oath fulfilled, a life well lived.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

The story of Finrod is another one of the great tragedies that pepper "The Silmarillion". The Lay of Luthien is rather specific and I didn't want to stray too far. There were problems with it, though, not least of which that Tolkien never really finished it. I appreciate your reading and taking the time to comment.

- Erulisse (one L)

[shirebound]

Reborn to acclaim,
Reborn to greatness.
An oath fulfilled, a life well lived

Ohhh, beautiful! I got chills at the end.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hun. I've always felt that Finrod got a raw deal out of being honorable, but realistically, he is one of only two elves to have actually been reborn - Glorfindel and Finrod, the only ones ever specifically mentioned.

*hugs* to you, the wonderPup and, of course, Shiremom.

- Erulisse (one L)

[starbrow.livejournal.com]

Very nice! There is a great sense of rhythm to this piece, it feels like something meant to be recited.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

I usually do a bit better with poetry, but the B2MeM format won't allow me to tweak for days on end. Still, I'm fairly happy with the end result here, since it's a part of Silmarillion history that I don't work with often. I appreciate that you feel the underlying rhythm, it was that beat that I was trying to maintain throughout the stanzas.

- Erulisse (one L)

[independence1776]

I like this.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your taking the time to read and comment!

- Erulisse (one L)