Henneth Annûn Story Archive

There are lots of "leaders" in Tolkien's works who have acquired their positions through birth - but how do they actually prove to the people they are supposed to be leading that they are worthy of that position? There are other "leaders" who acquire their leadership positions even though they don't appear "qualified" by the customs or prejudices of that community. How do these characters convince people to follow them into difficult situations, such as into certain death in battle or a new life in a different place? How does "simple gardener" Sam get to be Mayor of the Shire? Why does everyone just accept Merry's leadership in the battles in Scouring of the Shire? What did the Shirefolk make of Merry becoming Master of Buckland and Pippin becoming Thain after they had been off doing un-Hobbit-like "adventuring"? Boromir and Faramir were undoubtedly named as High Warden of the White Tower/Captain-General and Captain of the Ithilien Rangers in part because they were the Steward's sons. How did they convince the troops they deserved the positions over other capable men who were not the Steward's sons? How does Thorongil obtain his position of respect and trust in first Rohan and then Gondor? And what makes Theoden and Eomer accept a rather scruffy looking ranger as the Heir of Isildur and someone worthy to order people around in the Battle of Helm's Deep? When the Wizards first turned up in Middle-earth, how did they convince people to listen to them and take their counsel - and that they were more than just a bunch of mad old men who could do a few conjuring tricks? How did Legolas persuade some of Thranduil's people to leave Eryn Lasgalen for Ithilien; and what did Gimli (without the benefit of being a son of a ruler) do to persuade dwarves from the Lonely Mountain to settle at Aglarond. In the Hobbit, Bard clearly has to work hard to look after the homeless people from Lake-town after Smaug's attack. What did they make of this descendant of the Lord of Dale trying to organise them (shooting Smaug was a start, but doesn't tend to cut much ice when you're tired, hungry and cold)? In The Silmarillion, Turin repeatedly convinces different groups to take him in and accept him as a leader. Elros has to persuade the remains of the Edain to sail to Numenor (and there are hints in LotR that he doesn't convince all of them). Just how did the Noldor Galadriel and Sindar/Teleri Celeborn get the Silvan elves of Lorien to accept them as Lord and Lady (and Oropher do the same with the Silvan elves of Greenwood the Great)? And why did so many elves follow Feanor when the sane response would probably have been "you must be joking!" And, for the evil-lovers amongst you, don't forget that Morgoth gathers a following to him and, later, Sauron worms his way into power with both the Elves of Hollin and the Numenoreans, while the ever-so-charming Grima captures Theoden's ear.... Anyone interested in writing one of these stories about "leadership"? Cheers, Liz

 

I've never really tried an actual challenge before, but I'd been willing to give this one a go!

 

Hi Rainsong that's great ! Did you have a particular character in mind? I think Marta knows already (since she set the blasted nuzgul on me in the first place that inspired me to work up the challenge idea), but I will be entering with a story about Faramir. (Yes, I know. I'm so predictable ) Cheers, Liz

 

I'm not really sure, but I'm leaning more toward Turin and maybe Arathorn (most likely Turin, though). I really like Turin a lot, and he was one of my favorite characters in the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

 

Oh, both of those sound interesting. I would definitely like to see something on Turin as he's one of my favourite characters from the Silm/UT as well. And there are so many episodes in his life that would suit... Cheers, Liz

 

*sigh* Count me in. How could I refuse? ~Lady Aranel~

 

Count me in. How could I refuse? Do I get three guesses who you'll be writing? I'm staying out of this one, but we do have three pledges. Two more takers? Marta

 

Do I get three guesses who you'll be writing? Since Lady A is probably writing my first choice character, if my Muse!Thranduil ever comes back, maybe I can do something with him. Someone will just have to point me in the direction of good reading material on the Last Alliance, since my knowledge of the end of the 2nd age/beginning of the 3rd age is sorely lacking. And I promise not to write "They followed his lead because he was a hot blond elf." -Arandil PS. Nobody tell Thranduil I called him a "hot blond elf"

 

We have enough people to make a challenge now, right?

 

Anyone interested in writing one of these stories about "leadership"? Drat and darn you, Liz! You *know* I have way too much on my plate (after al lyou just told me I need to re-write the opening of my latest) and I can't resist this. Make the deadline long, or accept the fact that my story will be late. Sigh... Thorongil in Rohan... what else would you expect from me? Gwynnyd

 

And it's on. Discuss it here. Because Liz laid this challenge out so beautifully in her opening post and it hasn't changed much, I was able to just use that (with some very minor modifications) as the challenge description instead of waiting on Liz to get back from her holiday in a week. Make the deadline long, or accept the fact that my story will be late. Is a year and a day long enough? Challenge closes 10 June 2005. Marta

 

I am in, too. Just because I really like Turin and Feanor and will probably work with one of those two. Yay for adding another fic to the ever-growing backlog.

 

Make the deadline long, or accept the fact that my story will be late. Is a year and a day long enough? Challenge closes 10 June 2005. And I'm the only fool who has officially ante-ed up so far. C'mon, don't let me dangle alone out there with the nuzguls around my ankles. Gwynnyd

 

And I'm the only fool who has officially ante-ed up so far. I'm in.

 

May I crash this party?

 

Write one of these stories or any number of others where a leader convinces people that he is indeed worthy of being followed. ?he <=== is it possible to buy a consonant?

 

"Write one of these stories or any number of others where a leader convinces people that he is indeed worthy of being followed." ?he <=== is it possible to buy a consonant? This is Liz's challenge, so I hope I'm not stepping on her toes, but I highly doubt she'll mind you writing a woman, seeing as Galadriel was one of the examples given. I'll go change that to "he or she". Liz, if this is not OK please let me know when you get back. (She's away from her computer for another week, I think.) When I use "he" in these types of situations, I don't mean just males. I know, it's an imprecise use of language because "he" is masculine, but to me "he or she" has always just sounded weird. Inclusive language has never been my strength. Regardless, I will change it ASAP. Marta

 

Hi Ruby & Arandil, Welcome to this challenge. Glad you're in. Ruby asked, May I crash this party? Absolutely. Now that we have our five, anyone interested in entering can join the challenge just by writing an appropriate story. If you're not sure how to enter it into the challenge, please just let me know. Marta

 

Well, I was working on a fic slowly enough that it had been back-burnered to oblivion, but I think this just might have nurtured it back to life. I thank you! Anyone got a yen to do a fic about Derufin and Duilin of Morthond, or are they obscure enough that I'd have a chance at being the only one? ^_~ Berz.

 

*squees* on getting back from holiday to discover this has become a challenge and attracted a lot of new people. And of course it should be "he or she" - admittedly the options for canon female characters are relatively limited, but they're not non-existent! The long deadline is good as well Also, just a reminder that you can write the same character as someone else. (So just because Lady Aranel is undoubtedly going to write about Legolas doesn't mean you can't write about him as well, Arandil!) Cheers, Liz (who is happy to see her nuzgul flinging abilities are still intact)

 

uh oh! .. does it have to be a canon character? I may have to back out. ... no problem if so, I probably ddn't read it carefully enough.

 

uh oh! .. does it have to be a canon character? I may have to back out. ... no problem if so, I probably ddn't read it carefully enough. I'm happy with OFCs Please don't back out! I was more commenting that there are very few female canon characters who have leadership opportunities and issues. Umm, Tar-Ancalime strikes me as another one in addition to Galadriel. But they do exist, so the challenge should definitely be gender neutral! Cheers, Liz

 

ok - I'm fine either way, I just didn't want to cause problems if I had misread the challenge.

 

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